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THE LATE RAILWAY ACCIDENT
IN VICTORIA.
[By Telegraph.]
Melbourne, Anril 8,
The inquest on the bodies of Thomas
Kitchen 'and Ellen Johnson, the two killed
in the Little River collision, was resumed
and concluded at Geelong to-day before Mr.
Heron, P.M, Mr. Uhomley, the Urowa
Prosecutor, appeared on behalf of the RiU
way Commissioners and the Crown, and M-.
O'Halloran for Biddle, the Werribee stati ;a
maBter, who had' been suspended. Mr,
Chomley at the outset of the pro
ceedings put in the regulations, and
pointed specially to one which said that the
stationmaster should be held solely respon
sible ior the- custody and use of the staff.'
The staff syBtem regulations had been modi- ,
fied by the book of circulars issued only to !
officers, and in this book was a circular:
which authorized the suspension of the staff
regulations in case of emergency, when the !
tationmaster was to use his own discretion
and take every care aa well as all respon
ibility. He contended that no accident
could happen if proper care were maintained,
especially in view of Regulation 36, which
provided that the stationmaster should
be at his post on the arrival and departure
of every train. S. H. Best, guard of the
goods train, was the first witness called,
and he testified that the driver of his
train got the staff from some one
at Werribee. When the collision wa3
inevitable the brake was put hard down. To
Mr. O'Halloran— It was a common occurrence
for stationmasters to be absent on the arrival
and departure of goods trains. E. O. Moss,
adjuster of claims for the department, who
was in the collision, having given evidence, ;
C. J. Coles, the stationmaster at Little River,
was examined, and produced the tape of the :
telegram . received . from Werribee, stating, ;
'Please send on 7.10 train; I have staff,:
and will keep line clear.' He handed a!
copy of the telegram to Craik, the engine- '??
driver of the passenger train, telling him to :
proceed. Soon after the collision was heard ;
of. Witness's daughter had been appointed
telegraph operator at that station. The staff ?
system had been so often suspended that the ,
exceptions almost became the rule. James
McAree, a porter at Werribee, proved that
Biddle, .the stationmaster, had left for a
short time, telling witness to give the staff to
the goods train. Annie Biddle, the daughter
of the Werribee stationmaster, said when her
father went to choir practice he told her that
if the goods train came before 9.30 it was to
go on, if after to be put on to the siding and
'the line clear' message seut on to Little1
River. The goods train arrived at 9.25, and
the driver threw out the staff and the porter,
gave him the other one. Witness sent the
telegram as stated ; she could not explain
why she did it, for Bhe had not forgotten that
the train had been sent on, Witne33
was not in the employ of the de
partment. She was 17 years of age, and had.
been accustomed to do the telegraphing,
and had done telegraph business for the last'
two or three yeare. She had never made a
mistake in a telegram before. Thomas
Biddle, who Was cautioned before giving
evidence, explained that he told his daughter
that he should be back by twenty minutes to
10, and if the goods train was later than 9.30
she was to detain it. He admitted that he
had accepted the blame for the affair
in writing. There was nothing in the
regulations to prevent him being absent
occasionally. His daughter was not paid for
her services. He told his daughter that
' line clear' should be given to Little River
not later than twenty minutes to 10. On his
returning for the passenger train the mistake
made began to dawn on his daughter, who
became terrified and amazed. He had been
hopeful of getting his daughter into the
department, and had been instructing her
with that end in view. Had not givm the
porter any instructions about the staff on
the night of the collision. Witness
often worked fifteen and twenty hours,!
and (bad never been absent on arrival of a
passenger train. A telegram would not have,
to be sent if he had been at his post, but he
held that he was justified in leaving after
what he told his daughter. H. M. Barker,
Acting General Traffic Manager, said the last
witness told him he (Biddle) was solely re
sponsible . for; the occurrence. Witness
would have punished him for beinaf
away. He did sot think Biddle needed
any more assistance than he had at the
station. Coles, the Little River station
master, was justified in acting as he had. The
Jury found that the accident was due to the
telegram sent by Miss Biddle ia the absence
of her father, who bad absented himself
without leave af tar g'ving her such instruc
tions as he thought necessary. The Coroner
eaid tLe verdict was not definite enough, but;
the foreman replied that it was understood
that the Coroner would, from what he had
said, take it upon himself to commit Bi Idle
under any circumstances. The Coroner
said he should commit Biddle then. Mr.
O'Halloran strongly protested that after the
verdict had been returned the Coroner could
not commit ; but Mr. Heron repeated that he
felt justified in doing so on the finding of Jury.
Biddle was accordingly committed to take
his trial at the next Assize Court held in
Geelong. ?
$