Railway Accident April 21 1909

Rhymney Railway Locomotive Sheds, Cardiff Docks

CARDIFF BOILER BLAST

Colonel Druitt resumed his inquiry on behalf of the Board of Trade at the Park Hotel, Cardiff, on Saturday into the circumstances attending the locomotive boiler explosion at the Rhymney Railway sheds of the Bute Docks early on Wednesday morning, which resulted in the loss of three lives and injuries to others. The proceedings, which were again conducted in private, only lasted a couple of hours, and it was decided to adjourn till Friday, May 7.

Funeral of the Victims An unusually large crowd witnessed scenes inexpressibly sad at the Cardiff Cemetery on Saturday, when the funeral took place of two of the victims-Mr. Thomas Parry, of 63, Cobum Street, Cathays, and Mr. Harry Hedford Hawks, of 56, Caerphilly-street, Moors. Large numbers of railwaymen and other workers lined the route. In the case of Parry the floral tributes included: In memory of many happy days, from his sorrowing chums"; "Deep sympathy from his fellow-workmen of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants," "and "Deepest sympathy and ever-loving thoughts of pleasant times spent together, from old boys of the Brecon Association Football Club." Hawks's funeral was carried out with military honours, Major Fry being in charge of a detachment of Engineers.

The funeral contractors were-for Parry Mr. A. J. Stone, 5, Working-street, Cardiff; whilst for Hawks the undertakers were Messrs. G. Stone and Co., 11 and 12, Working- street, Mr. R. Jordan superintending.

SOURCE: Evening Express 26th April 1909

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ENGINE DISASTER. A CARDIFF HORROR.

Shattered Locomotive. THREE MEN BLOWN TO PIECES. MANY HAIRBREADTH ESCAPES.

On Wednesday morning a shocking accident, involving the death of three men and injuries to three others, occurred at the Rhymney Railway Company's Locomotive Sheds at Cardiff Docks. The nature of the accident was the explosion of the boiler of an engine. The force of the explosion was terrific, portions of the engine being blown to fragments. and three of the men in its vicinity horribly mutilated. Portions of limbs were picked up 50 yards from the spot, having been projected over lofty buildings. Pieces of clothing and flesh were also gathered a considerable distance away, while bits of the engine were collected from adjacent roofs. One of the most remarkable effects was witnessed over 200 yards away, the smoke stack of the engine having been hurled through the air, over the locomotive offices and the Bute Docks Police Station, falling upon and crashing through the roof of the Bute hydraulic house, leaving a huge gap in the roof. The stack fell a spot where the men engaged in the engine house are accustomed to sit down to supper, and at the time of the occurrence supper was actually being prepared at another part of the building, the men-a driver, two firemen and a boy-thus having a fortunate escape. Other portions of the engine-huge masses of metal many tons in weight-were riven asunder and shot yards away. Other bits of the engine, blown into fragments, fell in a shower upon the roofs and the ground.

The boiler and fire-box, weighing together many tons, were torn off from the body oj the engine and hurled 60 yards away, and, falling, cut through a steel rail and rebounded again a further 30 yards, falling beside some trucks. At the spot from which the boiler re- bounded the permanent way was buried by the force of the impact a depth of 18 inches in the ground. The saddle tanks, which would weigh 10 or 15 tons, were ripped off the boiler and projected through the air to 30 yards beyond the spot where the boiler finally came to rest. Of the six men in the immediate vicinity of the explosion, I three were killed outright, one being literally blown to atoms, and the other two poor fellows were shockingly mutilated. The Docks police, whose gruesome duty it was to collect the remains, stated that they had never in their lives had an experience so sickening. Of the three injured two had to be taken to the Infirmary with serious injuries, and the other had a marvellous escape, getting off with such slight-injuries that he was able to continue his work. The names of the killed and injured are as follow :-

KILLED. Tom Parry, 35 years, foreman shunter, 63, Coburn-street. Henry Hawks, 29 years, fireman, 56, Caerphilly-street. William Murphy, 17 years, cleaner, 14, Windsor-road.

INJURED. J. Williams, shunter, 74, Marion-street, scalds, shock, cuts on face and hands, and fracture behind the ear. David Lewis, driver, 54, Alfred-street, fracture of three bones in right hand, scalds on the face and body and wounds on both knees. Robert Brown, lighter-up, 38, Coveny-street, Moors, slight cut on left eyebrow. Williams and Lewis, who were conveyed to Cardiff Infirmary, are, happily, progressing favourably, and it is not anticipated the roll of the dead will be augmented. Dr. Walker and Supt. Davies. of the Docks Police, with a staff of officers, were soon on,, the scene,, and did, everything possible for the relief of the injured. and the reverent conveyance of the dead to the mortuary.

Cause of the Explosion. The cause of the explosion is a matter for official investigation by the Board of Trade, and at present we are unable to say more than that it resulted from the failure of the engine's injector to act. As to the cause of that failure no information is available. Certainly no accident of the kind has previously occurred in this district. The injector is a pipe that feeds the boiler. The engine was taken out to do shunting duty, but it was found immediately that the injector was not acting properly. When the Rhymney Railway Station was reached the driver determined to return to the sheds at the Docks and have the engine over-hauled with a view of ascertaining the cause of the failure of the injector to perform its function. The sheds having been reached, the men proceeded to draw the fire as a preliminary step. the object of this being of course to reduce the steam and so prevent an explosion. Apparently it was while the men were in the act of drawing the fire that the explosion occurred. The fact that water was afterwards found in the tank suggests that the explosion was not due to the boiler being empty of water. That, however, is a matter for the experts. The theory is that the boiler became over- heated, and that caused the explosion which carried away the upper portion of the engine, leaving the framework and the foundation practically complete. There are usually two lead plugs in the crown of the fire box. When the water gets heated to a certain point these leave the crown of the fire box dry, and the heat of the fire naturally melts these, plugs, thus liberating what water there is left in the boiler on to the fire and extinguishing it, and that automatically prevents an explosion. Why these plugs did not act or why, if they acted, they did not avert an explosion, of course, is an engineering problem which can only be solved by experts. Mr Riches,- locomotive superintendent (son of Mr T. Hurry Riches, locomotive superintendent of the Taff Vale Railway) came down immediately from Caerphilly upon an engine and made inquiries, while later the Board of Trade officials were on the scene investigating. Mr Godfrey Clark, of Talygarn (chairman of the Rhymney Railway Company), and other directors in the afternoon visited the yard, and, accompanied by Mr Riches, conducted inquiries. Some light will probably be thrown upon the failure of the injector at the inquest, which will be opened at 2.45 this afternoon by Mr W. Yorath, Cardiff coroner in any event the whole thing will most likely be cleared up at the Board of Trade inquiry that will ensue, though the engine was so completely wrecked that it may be found impossible to definitely locate the cause. - The locomotive-No. 97-is one of a new type, having been built about eight years ago, and its boiler having, we were informed, been renewed recently. The body of the engine, weighing about 55 tons, was little damaged.

Scene of the Disaster. At 5 o'clock in the morning, although for four hours a gang of men had been engaged clearing up the debris and repairing the permanent which, at one part, had been badly damaged, there were still evidences of the explosion. These were particularly noticeable at the coaling station, a structure with open sides and a roof supported upon tall pillars. In the roof were gaps indicator where portions of the shattered engine had fallen and broken through, the shock displacing slates in all directions. Lying on the ground near the coaling station, and covered with canvas wraps, were some portions of the engine that had been recovered. In addition, a large quantity of smaller fragments and bits of human flesh had been collected from adjacent roofs and taken into the locomotive offices. Several barrow loads had been gathered in this fashion from a radius of two or three hundred yards, the engine and the bodies of the victims having been broken and scattered in all directions. A number of workmen, directed by Mr Sellars, from the Caerphilly Locomotive Works, were engaged repairing the permanent way. A portion of the line had been buried about eighteen inches in the ground. This was said to have been caused by the boiler, which ricocheted upon the lines with such force as to bury lengths of them in the ground to the depth indicated. Several hours elapsed before the permanent way had been repaired sufficiently to enable it to be used. Other evidences of the explosion were small heaps, mostly of asbestos which had been used in the boilers, and had been blown all over the place. There was also a rip in the roof of the engine shed, in which about 35 men, mostly cleaners, were working at the time of the explosion. Hurtling Funnel. Further afield, at the locomotive offices, about 200 yards away, was another effect of the shock in the shape of shattered window-panes, caused either by vibration or from being struck by splinters. Still further away-about 20 yards from the locomotive offices, and over 200 from the scene of the accident-was one of the most remarkable effects of the accident. This was at the Bute hydraulic engine- house. The smoke stack of the engine had been sent clean over the locomotive offices and over the Bute Docks Police Station, alighting on the engine-house on the opposite side of the road and crashing through the roof. Statement by Brown. Robert Brown, the lighter-up, who received a cut on the left eyebrow, lives at 39, Coveny- street, The Moors, Cardiff, where he was seen by one of our representatives early in the morning. His injured eyebrow had been freely plastered, and it did not seem to trouble him much. Indeed, notwithstanding the blow over the eye and the consequent shock, and the terrible scene which he witnessed. Brown continued at work throughout the night. I am thankful I escaped," he said, but what a terrible death for the other poor fellows. I was walking across the yard when the explosion took place, and I was at once struck over the eye. What happened afterwards I would rather not talk about, and may I never go through such an experience again. I went to the office in the company's yards and there my eye-brow was bathed." Brown spoke in the highest praise of his fellow workmen, of their readiness to render all the help possible, and he added that the bereaved families had his deepest sympathy. Horrible Sights. Among those gathered round the premise were several who were on the scene shortly after the explosion, and from their description of it. the sights must have been sickening. Some were coal trimmers, who stated that they had felt the steamers in which they were at work quiver and rock from the shock. Others, who heard the noise without feeling the vibration, attributed it to some happening at the Dowlais Works, most probably of falling ballast. William Herbert, a signaller at the West Docks, said that while he was at the Roath Basin he heard a fearful row. I jumped up," he added, and rushed here. I saw the boiler half way up the yard, and the tank further on. Shen I saw Parry. Every inch of clothing had been torn from him. His left arm had been torn off, too. The fireman, Hawks, was jammed between the jack and sandbags of the engine. They had to scoop him off with their hands in pieces. It was a horrible sight. They rolled his head into a sack. The man seemed to have been all blown to pieces." Another witness stated that the greater part of one of the poor fellows' heads was clean blown away, leading a revolting cavity. All the witness could see at first was a piece of hair and something that resembled a rag. This witness added that the asbestos was scattered all over the place, as if it had been snowing. Over a hundred men were working in the clean- ing shed at the time but beyond the fright occasioned by the noise and the crash of the falling debris upon the roof, no harm came to them.

OPENING OF THE INQUEST. The inquiry was opened on Thursday at the Law Courts by the Cardiff Coroner (Mr W. L. Yorath) into the circumstances under which Tom Parry (35), foreman shunter, of 6 Coburn-street; Henry Hawks (28), fireman, of 56, Caerphilly-street; and William Murphy (17), cleaner, of 14, Windsor- road, met their death by the explosion of a locomotive boiler at the Rhym- ney Railway Company's sheds at Cardiff Docks early yesterday morning, as the result of which three other men were also injured. Mr E. A. Prosser (general manager of the Rhymney Railway Co.) attended the inquest. Mr G. F. Forsdike represented the relatives of Parry, and Mr J. H. Thomas (organising secretary of the A.S.R.S. for South Wales) appeared in the interests o £ the relatives of Hawks and Murphy, who were killed, and of David Lewis, the injured driver of the engine on which' the explosion occurred. The Coroner said he was glad to say that Car- diff had for many, many years enjoyed an immunity from this class of fatality. It was a kind of accident which invariably brought with it feelings of grief and pain of a most distressing character, and it was very sad to think that in the case of two of the men-Henry Hawks and Tom Parry-they were in the fullness of their life, and the poor lad Murphy had his life before him. It was extremely sad to think that they were practically hurled into eternity without a moment's notice. It was equally sad to think that those who were left behind to mourn their loss should be placed in that condition of grief, and he was sure the jury would join with him in trying to alleviate with their sympathy-poor consideration as that was- the feelings of the bereaved. (The Jury: Yes, sir.) They would have to be careful of course to make a very full inquiry into the matter, and he did not propose that afternoon to take more than evidence of identification, and then adjourn the inquiry probably for a fortnight. He hoped that by then the driver, David Lewis, if he would survive his injuries, would be able to say something. He was about the only man who was in a position to say any- thing of what occurred on the fateful night. By the adjourned inquiry he hoped also to have gathered together such information as would throw a full and proper light upon the circumstances.

Mr Joseph Stewart (foreman of the jury) On behalf of the jury, I desire to say that we endorse everything you have said and extend our sympathies with the relatives. Mr E. A. Prosser, general manager of the Rhymney Railway Company, speaking on behalf of the Rhymney Company directors and officials, said that he felt he would not be doing his duty if he did not express in words and feelings deep sympathy with the relatives at- the sad loss of the three men, who had been in the employment of the company for some considerable time. As far as liability was concerned, there could be no doubt about that at all. The company would do all they could in that way to alleviate distress, and would continue to do what they had already done. As far as the personal direct loss to the relatives was concerned, it was beyond human power to restore the loss, and he could but express the most deep-felt feelings of the company. Mr J. H. Thomas promised to convey the words of sympathy to the relatives, for whom he appeared, and said if he could assist to throw any light on the deplorable accident he would do so. There was one sad and peculiar incident in connection with the fireman. Hawks was not the regular fireman of this particular engine, and it was only in consequence of his having joined the Territorial force and being anxious to qualify by putting in his drills that on this particular night he consented to change his turn in order to enable him to attend the Territorial drill. John Probert, insurance agent, of Flora- street, was called to identify Parry (foreman shunter), but when asked if he identified the deceased Probert replied, I believe it to be the body of Thomas Parry." What do you mean ?-I could not recognise the face. The Coroner said that Probert should again go to the mortuary and make another inspection in order to be able to say definitely that the body was that of Parry, when Superindent Davies (Cardiff Docks police) said there was another man in court who would give the evidence required. George Davies, of 75, Nora-street, a coaler in the employ of the Rhymney Railway Company, stated that he had known deceased 12 years, and saw the body soon after the accident, and helped to convey it to the mortuary. Claude Sydenham, of 28, Meteor-street, cleaner in the employ of the railway company, who had known the fireman Hawks for about 15 months, identified the remains of the de- ceased and Michael Murphy, dock labourer, of Adam-street, who seemed dazed, identified the body of his son, Wm. Murphy, who was a cleaner. The inquest was adjourned till May 6th, at 11 o'clock, when it is hoped the driver, David Lewis,, will be able to give evidence. The funeral of Hawks will take place on Saturday, at 2.30. from Caerphilly-street.

SOURCE: Cardiff Times 26th April 1909

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LOCO ENGINE EXPLODES. THREE MEN BLOWN TO FRAGMENTS.

Three Others Seriously Injured. HORRIFIC RAIN OF BROKEN METAL.

Harrowing Scenes at Cardiff Docks. A calamity harrowing in its consequences took place at Cardiff Docks at 12.39 last night, in which three men (an earlier account said four) were blown to fragments, and three others were injured more or less seriously. The immediate cause was the explosion of the boiler of a railway locomotive, and after a terrific roar which almost caused a panic in the minds of all who heard it, the. air in the vicinity was thick with a horrific hail of broken metal and fragments of human bodies. The engine, which was of a comparatively new type, belonged to the Rhymney Railway Company. It was taken out of its shed for traffic last night, but the driver, discovering something wrong with it, ran it back to the shed with the intention of drawing its fires previous to examination. While this was being done there was a terrific explosion, which was heard in various parts of the town, and without a moment's warning the deceased men were sent to their doom. The boiler was hurled high into the air, and the whole structure of the engine wrecked, while the victims were simply blown to pieces. Some portions of the engine, weighing many tone, were torn from the engine bed said hurled to a great distance, while smaller fragments fell around over a wide area in a metallic rain.

Seven men were near the vicinity of the engine at the moment, and at these three were killed, their shockingly iratilated remains being scattered around. Two of the injured marvellously escaped the sornbie but instantaneous death which befel their comrades, and the third injured man was the only one of the many workmen in and around the explosion area who was hurt by the flying fragments of the loco- motive

THE KILLED.

Tom Parry, aged 35, foreman shunter, 63, Coburn-street. Henry Hawkes, aged 25, fireman, 56, Caerphilly-street. William Murphy, aged 17, cleaner. 14, Windsor-road. While investigating the effects of the explosion a portion of the body of a man was found blown right on to another engine which was standing on the yard. This discovery gave rise to the report that four men had been killed.

INJURED.

David Lewis (45), 54, Alfred-street, engine- driver, fracture of three lingers, scalds to face and hands, and some wounds on the legs. also suffering from shock. John Williams (30), 74, Marion-street, spare hand at the engine sheds, scalds to face and shock. Robert Brown, 33, Oo very-street Moors, lighter-up, injury to forehead.

When one of our representatives made investigations into the occurrence early this morning a fearful spectacle presented itself. The railway lines were strewn with wreckage, with the almost unrecognisable form of an engine-or what remained of the bed of an engine for background. Portions of corpses lay in different directions, making a harrowing eight in the fitful glare of hand torches. One almost slipped on fragments of human remains. Amidst the painful surroundings and the confusion which naturally prevailed it was almost impossible to glean a. consecutive story of the occurrence. What happened was, of course, only too apparent, and the numerous men at work in different parts of the yard and at adjoining sheds were only too conscious of the havoc wrought, of which the report of the explosion told its tale.

A Miraculous Escape

David Lewis, the driver, was descending to superintend the operation of drawing the fires when the blast earne. He was severely injured, and his escape from death may be described as miraculous. The fireman, Henry Hawkes, who was on the engine at the other side, was blown against another engine some few yards further off on the pit and was literally dashed to pieces. The. poor fellow's body had to be gathered together in a sack. The escape of J. Williams, the shunter, w.as almost equally wonderful to that of the driver, though he was not actually on the engine. The lad, William Murphy, whose body was the first found, was lying some fifteen yards opposite the spot where the engine had been, the top of his head completely knocked away. Tom Barry, the foreman shunter, a man of fine pro- portions, was lying dead not far from Murphy, his clothes completely stripped off by the explosion. Robert Brown, who escaped with least injury, was approaching the engine at the time, and was some yards off when she blew up. He was struck by a small I fragment in the rain of flying metal, and took shelter under a wagon. Later in the morning, when the breakdown gang, under the direction of Mr. Sellars, had I been at work some hours, evidences of the force of the explosion were noticeable at the coaling station, a structure with open sides and a roof supported upon tall pillars. In the roof gaps indicated where portions of the shattered engine had fallen and broken I through, the, shock displacing elates in all directions Lying on the ground, covered with canvas wraps, were portions of the engine.

Gathering Human fragments.

Smaller fragments of metal and portions of broken human bodies had been collected from adjacent roofs. Several barrow-loads had been gathered from a radius of two or three hundred yards. A portion of the line was found buried about eighteen inches in the ground. This was attributed to the boiler, which was said to have ricocheted upon the lines with such force as to bury lengths of them in the ground. There was a rip in the roof of the engine shed, in which about 150 men, mostly cleaners, were working at the time of the explosion. Descriptions given by those who were first on the scene indicate a horrible sight. Some coal-trimmers declared they felt the steamers in which they were a.t work quiver &ad rook from the shock. A man. named Herbert, a signaller at the West Docks, said that at the Roath Basin he heard a fearful row. I jumped up and rushed here. I saw the boiler half-way up the yard, and the tank further on, Then I saw Parry. Every inch of clothing had been torn from him. His left arm had been torn off, too. The foreman, Hawkes, was jam-bed between the jack and sandbags of the engine. They had to scoop him off with their hands in pieces. It was a horrible sight. They rolled his head into a sack. The man seemed to have been all blown to pieces. Another man stated that the greater part of one of the poor fellows' heads was clean blown away, leaving a revolting cavity. All the witness could see at first was a piece of hair and something that resembled a rag. Over a hundred men were working in the cleaning-shed at the time; but beyond the fright occasioned by the, noise of the falling debris upon the roof, no harm came to them. A dock gateman said he heard the explosion and went to the scene. When I got there I saw two bodies with sacks over them, and one poor fellow had been gathered up in pieces and placed in a sack. One had a leg blown away, and another an arm. I never saw such a thing in my life. Nothing could be seen of oil; only the back of his head, the rest of his face having been blown away. There were bits of flesh in the engine and pieces of body all over the place. It was a terrible.

Another employee at the Docks said:- The explosion was terrific. The quay wall seemed to shake, followed by a loud, hissing noise, a great crash, and faint cries of men. I rushed to the Rhymney yard, and saw men picking up fragments of horribly mutilated bodies. It was fearful. The explosion was so deafening that for a moment I thought the docks had been blown up.

Struck by Flying Missile.

Dr. R. Walker, of Windsor-esplanade, was called to attend to one man named Brown, who was walking to his work at the time the explosion occurred. Brown was struck in the forehead by a flying missile, and a I considerable indented wound was received. However, after the wound was dressed, Brown was able o go to his work after ten minutes' delay. Brown when seen this morning stated that his injury did not trouble him much. Notwithstanding the blow over the eye and the consequent shock, and the terrible scene which he witnessed, Brown continued at work throughout the night. "I am thankful I escaped," he said, "but what a terrible death for the other poor fellows. I was walking across the yard when the explosion took place, and I was at once struck over the eye. What happened after- wards I would rather not talk about, and may I never go through such an experience again. I went to the office in the company's yards, and where my eye-brow was bathed." Brown spoke in the highest praise of his fellow workmen and of their readiness to I secure all the help possible.

Relief Measures.

When the full significance of the calamity I was. realised, prompt measures were taken to render what assistance could be of avail, but, unhappily, half the men affected were beyond such aid. Superintendent Davies, of the Docks police, with several constables at his command, directed operations, and tele- phoned to the infirmary to prepare for the reception of the injured, and Dr. Walker, of James-street, was summoned and tended those who had received minor injuries. The men who thus rendered first aid describe the accident as the worst in which they had ever been concerned. It was dark at the time, and with lamps and torches they had to search for the remains, gathering them up in fragments. In the words of Superintends n t Davies, the bodies were scattered about all over the place. The head of one had been blown off, and it was terrible to see the brains strewn about. One man's clothes had been blown right off him, and he was naked. We had to pick up parts of the bodies and place them in a sack. We could pick up handfuls and had to use a shovel. The officer added in the hydraulic house when the chimney &tack crashed through there were employed two firemen, a driver and boy, but, fortunately, they were in another part .of the building at the time. The officer's reference to the hydraulic house directs attention to one of the most remark- able effects of the explosion. The smoke stack of the engine was sent clean over the locomotive offices and the Bute Docks Police- station, alighting over 200 yards away on the Bute hydraulic engine-house on the opposite side of the road, and crashing through the roof. It fell upon a spot where the men are accustomed to eat supper, and at the time of its descent the men were actually preparing supper at another part of the engine-house.

THE MOMENT OF DISASTER

It seems that after the engine had been brought back to the locomotive yard, the driver and fireman set to work to "drop" the fires with a view to investigating the cause of the machinery becoming disabled. The cleaners were also put to work. The engine was for this purpose standing over a cleaning pit, alongside of an engine-shed. Hardly had they commenced operations when the calamity occurred. As showing the terrific force of the explosion, the boiler itself, weighing thirty to forty tons, after being hurled into the air. fell on to the line, some eighty yards away, twisting up the metals and making a huge cavity in the ground, and then rolling for another ten yards or so. Further on in the same direction lay the water tank, which would weigh ten or fifteen tons, while, in the opposite direction, as described in the foregoing paragraph, the smoke stack of the engine was projected on to the roof of the engine-house referred to. The lower part of the engine lay partly in the pit, a mass of tangled wreckage. The fire bars lay together close by, and the shed, close up to which the engine had been brought, showed hardly any signs of damage.. Had the explosion sent the broken masses of the engine into the sheds, where most of the men were, the havoc and loss of life and limb might have been terrible. Mr. Riches, the superintendent engineer of the Rhymney Railway Company, who was at Caerphilly, was informed of the shocking accident, and at once left on an engine for Cardiff, and Inspector Williams, with other officials of the company, came to investigate the disaster. The injured men, Williams and Lewis, were removed to the Cardiff Infirmary, where they are progressing as well as can be expected. The worst part of the work was the removal of the bodies, which had been reverently I covered with roust sacking.

Injector Pipe Stopped?

CAUSE OF THE EXPLOSION.

One of our representatives was told this morning that the cause of the explosion was the stoppage of the injecting pipe which feeds the boiler. Near the footplate of the engine is the water gauge, by means of which the driver is able to at once tell the amount of water in the boiler. If the boiler is full this water gauge is full, and when it is empty the indicator is also empty. The driver felt that some- thing was wrong with the engine, and determined to take it back to the sheds to be oven hauled. The gauge is said to have been full of water at the time, and continued to be full, but it now seems that. on account of the injecting pipe going wrong the boiler was practically empty. Arriving at the sheds immediate steps were taken to pull out the fire, but in a few minutes the explosion occurred. We are in a position to state that the injured driver, Lewis. attributes the explosion to a defect of the injector, and the consequent failure to convey water to the boiler. Haste was made to get the fire out, but the explosion took place before that could be done.

The Deceased.

The young man Harry Hawkes, was a retired rigger, was 30 years of age, and of most studious inclinations, had served the Rhymney Railway Company faithfully for eleven years, having been previous to that engaged first as a telegraph messenger and later as an assistant postman at the Cardiff Post Office. He was very fond of reading, and was the proud possessor of a splendid collection of books. The deceased also played football for the Post Office team. He was educated at St. Mary's Church School.

Tom Parry was a well-known figure in years gone by on the football field. He was a splendid soccer half-back, and was the hero of many a match. Tom was very popular when he played for the Barry Association team. Latterly he has figured with the Rhymney Railway combination. Deceased was a native of Brecon, and leaves a widow and one child. Tom was one of the hail-fellow-well-met type, and, therefore, a favourite with his workmates.

The death of William Murphy has naturally stricken his household with grief. He had been engaged on the Rmymney about four years, and the young fellow was a member of St. David's Roman Catholic Church.

Footballer Injured.

Jasper Williams, who was injured, is a single man, about 30 years of age. A prominent member of Cardiff Romillys, he played a great game against Grangetown last Saturday in the Mallett Cup semi-final. Williams has also been seen with the Cardiff Reserves, Caerphilly, and Tredegar. In addition, he played baseball for the Cardiff and A.O.P's clubs.

Lewis and Williams are suffering from burns about the face and hands (according to inquiries made at the infirmary this after noon), and also from severe shock. There is, however, every reason to hope that they will make a good recovery under the skilful care of Dr. Wallace, but it is almost impossible to say so soon after the accident to what extent the shock will affect the constitution and stamina of the patients.

Inspecting the Scene.

Several Board of Trade officials, accompanied by Mr. Godfrey Clarke, chairman of the Rhymney Railway Company, Chief-inspector Downs, and Mr. Riches, Caerphilly, the superintendent engineer of the company, were engaged to-day in making an official inspection of the scene of the catastrophe, preparing evidence in readiness for the Board of Trade inquiry which will be held in due course. Hundreds of people were gathered round the works during the day, but entrance to the sightseers is strictly forbidden. Inspectors Davies and Bell, of the Docks Police, were in charge of the police arrangements.

The wrecked engine is hidden from view by a large tarpaulin, which has been spread over it. Some portions of the remains of the unfortunate men are being constantly picked up, and the force of the explosion was so great that the roof of the fuel works, which are 500 yards away, was damaged.

The Inquest.

The Cardiff coroner (Mr. W. L. Yorath will I hold the inquest of the three victims at 11: Law Courte tomorrow, at 2.45

SOURCE: Evening Express 21st April 1909

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