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81

I.—6a.

S. KENNEDY.

From the centre of the station to the foot of the l-in-45 grade, 565 yards—that is about 25 chains : from the centre of the station to the signal, 367 yards, or, say, 16 chains; from the signal tn the foot of the l-in-45 grade, 198 yards, or 9 chains. I do not know that he is correct, but T think we should have had proper evidence before us of all these distances, so that there would be no such thing as any doubt about it, or one person stating a distance was so-much and another person saying it was less. Then there has been an attempt made to prove that a grade of lin 204 is not a grade. I have looked up one or two dictionaries for the meaning of the word " grade." They are not very explicit on it, but I find that the consensus of opinion is that a grade is anything off the level. Now, why do we not talk straightforwardly and honestly and say that the grade ends where the map shows the level? That map shows the level about a chain and a half off the semaphore. It was contended that the grade was so light that it was not necessary to call it a grade, that we could call it level. Now, by no argument can you made a grade level, any more than you can make white black and white no colour at all. I would just like to convey to you what a grade of 1 in 204 is. In a grade of 1 in 204 you would rise approximately 25 ft. for each mile that you ran, and if you ran between thirty-eight and thirty-nine miles on that grade you would rise 1,000 ft. I do not know the North Island very much, but in Canterbury we have a number of branch lines that run from the east coast up towards the mountains on the Canterbury Plain : they are all reckoned to be very stiff lines, and yet there is not one of them that rises 1,000 ft. in thirty-nine miles —not one. On the main line that I run on myself, between Christchurch and Timaru, we have what we call two banks. One is the Dunsandel bank and the other is the Ealing bank. I will admit that we have a level country, but still we call these banks, and neither of these has a rise of 25 ft. in a mile. The rule says " a grade," and " near the foot of a grade," and here you have a grade which the Department says is 1 in 204. Now, gentlemen, I think you will have no trouble in coming to the conclusion that had the regulations been complied with the accident would undoubtedly not have taken place. The Department have now instructed that the rules are to be carried out. That is all they have done, but it is an improvement on the past method of signalling trains at New Lynn. A number of the regulations are made specially for the benefit of stations situated like New Lynn. Instruction 4 (ft) of the Appendix applies to no other stations —only a station situated like New Lynn. I think. It reads as follows : " When the approaching train for which ' Line clear ' is asked is a non-stopping train, or the station for which ' Line clear ' is asked is on a grade or near the foot of a grade " —these were all stopping trains —" ' Line clear ' must not be given unless the running-line between the home-signal posts is clear, and after the ' Line clear ' has been given to approach, the runningline between the home-signal posts must not be obstructed except to allow a train arriving from the opposite direction to enter the station." And if you look up Rule 250 you will find how that train is to enter the station : " All trains taking sidings to allow other trains to pass or cross must, unless otherwise instructed, enter from the nearest end, and must not draw ahead and back into the siding except under proper protection." Of course, it is contended by the Department that this train was under proper protection. So it would have been if there were no grade after you left New Lynn going towards Scroggy Hill. It would have been under proper protection if there had been no fog, or, in the event of fog, if there had been detonating signals out and men with them. Then it would have been under proper protection, but not if they were not there. Fog-signals are for the assistance of the engine-driver. It is recognized by the Department that the engine-driver in a fog requires assistance. His difficulty in finding his station and running his train to time is recognized by them, and these fog-signals are a means of overcoming the disability that nature has imposed upon the railways—that is, of running your trains in a fog. And the object of the fog-signals is this : the driver cannot see the signal :he is peering out to see it: suddenly he runs over a fog-signal; it detonates, and he knows then that he is within a measurable distance of the home signal, and he immediately acts in accordance with the instructions that he receives. As soon as he runs over the signal, if he does not get a signal from a man with a lamp giving him " Clear " he must stop immediately. If he got that signal from the man with a lamp, that would indicate to him that the semaphore signal in front of him was " Clear " and the way was clear for him to enter the station. Ido not want to dilate on that too much. I know it is a very dry subject and that we are almost bored with it, but to me it is perfectly plain that by not carrying out this regulation at a station like New Lvnn it was seeking disaster —in fact, as far as New Lynn is concerned and the cause of this accident, I would almost say that it was an act of God. It was thn Poison responsible for the fog that morning that caused the New Lynn disaster, and that is usually ascribed to the Almighty. But I am not sure about that. I think the Railway Department have made provision so that when God does send a fog they may run safely; but they did not carry out the Department's rule, and therefore the collision occurred. I havo said that these provisions were specially prepared for this station and other stations like it, and that is so. These fog-signals not only add to tht safety of the train, but they also add to facility in working the train. If the fog-signah are properly worked and the driver knows they will be there in case of fog, he can enter his station much more quickly —he loses less time. It does not matter how well a driver knows the road he never knows it in a fog. If there were continual fog he would in time acquire a fair knowledge of the road; but it is only occasionally fogs come, and therefore no driver ever knows the road in a fog. If he knows the road well he may have certain marks. For instance, in this case if he had run over tho mad a long time he would have known when the grade changed, when he went over the bridge, or when he went over the orossing; but a new man cannot know this. A new man would be perfectly safe iherc if the fog had not arisen; but once the fog arose he was perfectly helpless. The only safe thing that young man could have done was to have stopped. Thai would have been better judgment —to have practically stopped and then crawled along until he found out where he \' as. But 1 want to say this : that driver was a voting man and he was afraid of losing time. If he were an old driver with a reputation behind him in running trains.

11— T. 6a.

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