INQUEST ON PORTER VICKERS.
VERDICT OF ACCIDENTAL DEATH.
An inquest was held at the Adelaide Police Court on Monday morning by the City Coroner (Dr. W. Ramsay Smith) concerning the death of Frank Alexander Vickers, a porter in the South Australian railways, who died in the Adelaide Hospital on September 23 after meeting with an accident on the Port Adelaide railway on September 22. Mr. W. H. Wadey appeared for the widow of the deceased, and the Railway Department was represented by Messrs. G. Yeomans (outdoor running superintendent) and J. McGuire (superintendent of station services).
Joseph William Shaw, enginedriver, of Croydon, said he was in charge of the 1.35 p.m. down train from Adelaide to Semaphore on September 22. On reaching the Bowden station he saw the deceased on the line within a yard of the engine the witness was driving. As the train was slowing down the deceased was struck by the engine and thrown against an up-train, which was stationary.
Mary Annie Vickers, of Warwick-street, Walkerville, said her husband had often said his duties were dangerous, because the trains came in so quickly one after the other. Having taken tickets on one platform it was part of his duty to cross the line and collect tickets on the other side.
Dr. F. St. J. Poole, resident medical officer at the Adelaide Hospital, stated that the deceased was admitted to the institution at 2.30 p.m. on September 22 and he died at 4.30 a.m. on September 23. The causes of death were a rupture of the liver, internal hemorrhage, and a fracture of the skull. The injuries were of such a nature as might have been caused by impact with a railway engine.
The Coroner returned a verdict to the effect, that the deceased died on September 23 from injuries received through being accidentally struck by a railway train while crossing the line on duty on September 22.