Person:Norm Wellings (1)

The Inquest. Mr. W. Burton Smith, D.S.M., conducted an inquest at the Courthhouse, Hornsby, on Friday, touching the death of Norman Henry Wellings, who was run over at Hornsby by a mail train on the 18th inst. Fredenck Woolmer, engine-driver, residing at Emmaville, near Newcastle, deposed that he was the driver of the en- gine attached to the mail train, Sydney to Newcastle, on the date of the accident. As he came within sight of the Hornsby station that night, he felt the air-brake go on. The train stopped, and the witness sent the fireman back to see if any air-hose had burst. Witness got down to see if anything was wrong with the engine. When he found that there was nothing wrong with the connections on the train, he went to the front of the engine, and saw that that the air-hose pipe there was broken. Saw that there was some excitement towards the back of the train and went along. Saw the body of deceased lying on the track between two carriages. The guard was then coming along from the van with a stretcher. Assisted in removing the body. The man was dead, the head having been severed from the trunk. The body was placed on a stretcher and taken to Hornsby. The train was travelling at the time at about 15 to 20 miles per hour. Did not feel any bump, nor had he seen anyone on the road. The accident happened in a dark cutting. Witness had just whistled a warning of his approach to Hornsby, when he felt the air-brake go on. The air-pipe must have struck the man. W. K. Cummings, the fireman, stated that when the train stopped, he went back to see if an air-hose had broken. Found the pipes all right. Between the first and second carriages, he found the mangled body of a man. Informed the guard who then brought a stretcher from the van, and witness proceeded to remove the body from between the carriages. Did not know that any accident had happened till he saw the body. Edgar Osborne, a laborer, residing at Normanhurst, deposed that on the 18th inst. he met a man on the line about 9 p.m. about 150 yards from the spot where the accident happened. Was walking along the line to Normanhurst at the time, and the man was coming towards Hornsby. As they approached on another, the man crossed on to the down- line. He said "Good-night". Almost immediately afterwards, the mail train passed witness, and he heard it pull up. Witness thought the signals must have been against it. The mail train was going towards Newcastle, and deceased had his back to it. Witness had gone about 60 yards further before he himself noticed the train coming. There was a big curve in the line in that vicinity. Witness was slightly deaf, and did not hear the train coming, but saw the headlight. The man was dressed in dark clothes, with a hard hitter hat, no waistcoat, and apparently was wearing a sweater or a guernsey. The man was about 5ft. 8in. or 5ft. 9in. in height. The clothing worn by deceased was similar to those on the man he saw. The man was carrying a small bundle. Constable Rowe, of Hornsby, deposed that at about 9.40 p.m. on the 18th inst. he saw the north-western railway train at Hornsby railway station. Saw the body of a man on a stretcher in the brake-van. Took the body to the Railway Hotel. It was that of a man dressed in black serge coat and trousers, black hard hat, black socks, light laced-up boots, and pinkish-white singlet. Searched the clothes, but found nothing in the pockets. The hat was branded "H.C." on the inside leather band, the letters being in ink. The man's head was crushed, and the greater part of it was missing. The legs and arms were broken, and the left arm was nearly severed at the shoulder. Gertrude Wellings, residing at Glenmore-road, Paddington, identified the clothing as that worn by her husband, Norman Henry Wellings. Last saw deceased alive on the 17th inst., about 8.30 p.m., at her mother's, house. He said he was going to Hornsby. Deceased was a little addicted to drink. He was 44 years of ago, and possessed no property. He was a traveller by occupation. Could not account for the initials 'H. C.' in the hat, for as far as she know deceased never went under an assumed name. It was her husband's hat. She identified it particularly because of the fact that when he was leaving the house, she brushed it and a piece of paper fell out of the lining. As it was dirty, she placed another piece of paper in it, and the same piece of paper was in the hat of deceased. Deceased was born at Camden, New South Wales. He was completely deaf in one ear, and the hearing of the other was affected. The Coroner said that it seemed to him that there was no doubt that deceased was Norman Henry Wellings, and was walking along the railway line when he was overtaken by the mail train and killed. The Coroner added that he could not understand people walking alone between the rails, especially at night time, when there was more danger of a train coming along unnoticed. He found that deceased had been accidentally killed by being run over by a locomotive, and that, in his opinion, no blame was attachable to anybody.