THE RAILWAY SMASH.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 49, Issue 14959, 10 July 1923, Page 5

THE RAILWAY SMASH.

STBUCCLE FOR LIFE.

FIREMEN’S EXPERIENCE.

(By Telegraph. —Press Association.) TAUMARUNUI, Monday.

The injured fireman, William Campbell, is 27 years of age, and served three years at the war. Since then he has spent about six years in the railway service. His brother from Palmerston North interviewed the sufferer on Sunday, and the fireman told him that the engine w-as proceeding down the incline with steam shut off. He w-as sitting down, with his arm resting on the sill of the cab on the left side, w-hen he saw something (flash past the engine, and this, he thinks, was a boulder. When the engine fell over on its side his coat was caught between the engine and roek, and he was pinned down. The steam injector was broken in the smash, and one end of the pipe was turned towards Ms body, scalding him all the time. He struggled hard to free himself, and felt -Driver tSewart pulling hard at him. '-The driver, however, could not see. him for steam, and he thought he was pulling in the wrong direction. The unfortunate man once more made a struggle, and almost gave himself up for lost, when an extra wriggle freed him from the engine. When he got out of the cab he had to walk in icy cold water as far as the postal van. His boots were filled with wafer and his feet began, to freeze. He felt done and called for help., Eventually someone came and found him lying in the wet and Host. His boots were then removed and his feet rubbed for some time before circulation was restored. He said he felt Ms end had come while lying unattended in the frost. Campbell's injuries are all on the right side. He is very badly scalded from the right eye to the back of the ear and on other parts of the body. He also has bad cuts on the nose and on one ear.”

HOW THE LINE WAS CLEARED.

TAUMARUNUI, Monday.

The huge crane from Auckland did wonderful work at Ongarue in clearing the line of the debris of the engine and broken, carriages. The work continued in shifts all Saturday and Sunday, and the last shovelful of ballast was spread on the new portion of the line about 5.0 p.m. on Sunday, the first train to pass through being a “goods” from Taumarunui at 6 p.m. On Sunday the scene of the disaster was visited by numbers of settlers and residents of Ongarue, and the clearing operations were watched with interest. The damaged engine, and the partlydamaged car D were drawn up to the Ongarue railway station, and the debris was burned in heaps on the bank. Among the debris could be seen the broken iron frames of the wrecked secondclass carriages. These are so badly, broken that one could readily imagine the force of the impact and theteason for so many mangled bodies among the victims. On the side of the track were also seen a gas cylinder intact and another one which had been either smashed or exploded. Further along was the cowcatcher of the derailed engine. It was severely twisted and bent up, evidence of the rough handling it had received in the collision with the three-ton tboulder. The hillside from which the boulder and other material fell shows a fair o-ap, such as is seen in hillside ' slips. It is not a dangerous-looking overhanging cliff, but an ordinary-looking hillside on a grade, and overgrown with fern and scrub. There are far more dangerous looking spots on the Mam 'Trunk line y than this, but local experts say it is nevertheless a bad spot; in fact, some consider that the whole of the face at this bend is on a slide towards the river, and that at some time in the past there has been a, huge slip there, which narrowed the river into a small fast-running torrent, such as it is just below Ongarue township. The railway officers are exceedingly grateful for the fine spirit shown by the men_of the Public Works Department.

PROGRESS OF INJURED. TAUMARUNUI, Monday. The latest bulletin from the hospital regarding the injured states that W. Collins, whose case is serious, had a good night, and his condition has improved. W. F. Campbell, also a serious case, is doing very well. .McFarlane shows an improvement, and. JNeale is doing well. There has been some anxiety over Mrs Smith, but she is now doing well. The fallowing are making good progress:—Dignan, Tyler, Brownlie, _ Walker, Fley, Wheeler, Shepherd, Billing, Hughes, Morgan, Miss Morgan, Miss Gordon and Mrs Henderson.