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RHYMNEY. I

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-;8;-In Place of Potatoes.…

ABERBARQOED GIRL'5 I OVERSIGHT.

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ABERBARQOED GIRL'5 I OVERSIGHT. U HER SAD END. j jar. j. D. Walford, coroner, held an inquest at the Police Station, Aberbargoed, on Monday, touching the death of Rachel Jane Williams, a single woman aged 24 years, who was knocked down by a pas. senger train on the Brecon and Merthyr Railway, on Friday morning, between Aberbargoed and Bargoed, and died in a few minutes.—Inspector Sparkes repre. sented the B. and M. Railway Company; Mr Pitt Lewis, Newport, represented the driver and fireman, on instructions from the N,U.R.; while Mr W. D. R. Lewis and Mr Walter Lewis, J.P., watched the in- terests of the relatives. Lewis Williams, father, said deceased was a shop assistant at Bargoed, and he last saw her alive on Thursday evening at home, She was fairly healthy and active and her hearing and sight were good. De- ceased worked for Mr Mazey at Bargoed, and she generally started from home—83, Pengam road, Aberbarjrood—for her work about y a.m. It would make a difference of about 10 minutes in the time if she went round the road instead of going past Angel Cottars. There was a track the way she went, and witness knew she had gone that way several timps before. Near Angel Cottages there was a gate and stile on one bide of the railway, but he coqld not say whether there was a step on the opposite side. In reply to lu.-pect If Sparks, witness said deceased went through a field which she would enter by a gate near a quarry There was not much of a track irotn the quarry to the railway. Ih was t'nlyoccasionally, when the time was short, that his daughter took this path. Mary Elizabeth Williams, sister, said she was also a shop assistant, and on the morning in question both were on the way to business in Bargoed when the accident happened. Deceased, started before wit- ness, and waited for her by the gate. They then proceeded together. Witness had oeen pretty often that way, because it was i short cut. In reply to the coroner, wit. nf'SII sRid 8h !lid D0t -kno, was trep:5s- nesii said she did ing ehe bad an idea that she could go that way There was a pathway, and several others used it. It was suggested by the foreman-M.r ra Pugh—that the Angel Cottages were once a public house, and that the plltb ic-d to it, Coroner: I presnme it was called the Angel Hotel ? Inspector Sparks; It was before the buildrng of the railway. In futther evidence the sister said she hrst crossed the line, as she thought she had plenty of time before a luggage train, which was comfng up the line, passed She did not notice a train coming down the line. bhe. Jbold her sister (the deceased) to stop by the gf lie on the opposite side of the line untfl the luggn^e train passed np. She did not think of the other train. coroner Htr^deceased'e) mind was con- centratga on the Prtrliin which her sister told to pagit in front of, and she, and-HHwsed not of the sisters, thought of the other train. William Rees, driver of the 8.45 am- Rhymuey passenger train, said hfe left Aberbargoed at about 9 o'clock and" Was- travelling down the line at the rate of about 12 miles M feour at the spot; where decease^ was killed. He saw deceased whe»« tfbout 40 jfards away. She was leaning against a gate by a stile. Just as be approached to within the length of the engine she stepped towards the line as if to look towards the up train that WAS pass- ing at the time. Witness blew the whistle, applied the brakes and stopped the train. On going back (he found the young lady lying in the gutter near the stile. She was al ve, but seriously injured about the head and was bleeding from the ear. She was taken to the signalman's house and the doctor was sent for. In answer to the coroner witness said he was well used to thaI- piece of the line. It was not fre- quented by the public generally, and he bad rot se?p many people crossing thereat. He bad only seen railway employees cross- ing there. The only reason witness cou!d give for deceased stepping forward was that she wanted to look at the up train. There was nothing toJead witness to think she did it purposely. Mr Walter Lewis asked several questions as to whether or not there was a right of way at that particular spot, in view of the fact that there was once a public house. The Corouw suggested it would be far- r I fetched to say that theft was a footpath from the cottages in the direction of It he quarty down to the railway. To prove that I deceased was not a trespasser meant they would have to reasonably prove that she had a reasonabe right not to cross the line, but to come from her bouse that way and cross the line. Following some further questions by Mr Walter Lewis. the significance of which the coroner acknowledged, the coroner re- marked that the only importance of pur- suing this point is as to whether the words while trespassing should be inserted or not. In the circumstances I shall leave it open that the Registrar General will write to ow, and sball say I cannot say whether she was trespassing or not. I suggest we do not decide the question. It st-erns to he disputable that she had or. thought she had II. rig-bt to takl the shorter way and intended like her sister, to cio.-s tiie line, and thttin doing so she did not pay suffi- cient heed to the fact that there were two trains. Her mird was set on one and she omitted the other, and she unfortunately walked right iuto the other engine. Whether she had a right or not does not affect us much, if at all. The only point is that if she clearly had no right there the railway c mpany would be entitled to have a column in my report filled up to that effect."—A verdict of accidental death" was returned. Mr Pitt Lewis, on behalf of the driver, expressed sympathy with the relatives, and added, "It shows once more lhe deadly results of taking short cuts."—The jury also exp-essed sympathy with the family in their bereavement.

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