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| The Taxi Crash. Photo from Folkestone Herald |
Folkestone
Herald 28-5-1910
Local News
An extraordinary accident occurred near Hythe in the
early hours of Thursday morning. As a party of Folkestonians, including Mr. C.
Major, of the East Kent Arms, was returning from Lydd in a taxicab, when near
the Metropole Laundry, in the Dymchurch Road, the car suddenly swerved and
turned over on its side, throwing the occupants out into the road. Fortunately
nearly all of them escaped with a bad shaking, but Mr. Major was thrown out on
his hand, and sprained his wrist rather badly. The back of his mouth and throat
was also slightly injured by the stem of a pipe he was smoking at the time.
After the accident the party walked to Hythe, where
they telephoned for another car.
The damaged car remained at the side of the road until
late in the morning, when a trolley was placed under a wheel which was smashed,
and the vehicle dragged into Folkestone.
Folkestone
Daily News 4-3-1911
This morning at about 8.15 a thrilling scene was
witnessed in Sandgate Road such that has never been seen before.
The Folkestone Corporation possess two steam rollers,
which are both out of repair.
They have just been repairing the road in Church
Street, which is now lined with metal, and requiring a steamroller they had
hired one from Hythe.
It left Hythe this morning, was proceeding to Church
Street, and when arriving in Sandgate Rd. near Underwood and Penfold`s, the
brakes refused to act and the driver lost control, and although he is alleged
to have shut off steam, the machine dashed at a furious rate down the Sandgate
Road.
It seems that there was some defect in the steering
gear, otherwise the driver might have turned to the right into West Cliff
Gardens, and thus pulled up, instead of which he sped on his mad career until
the road narrowed near Weston`s shop, where he seemed to have collided with the
curb, and into the door of the East Kent Arms Hotel, and pursuing his wild
course he dashed into the bar.
The impact was terrific. It tore away the brickwork,
cracked the principal column that carries the house, and, we understand, moved
the whole floor by some three inches.
It is marvellous and providential that no-one was
injured or killed. We tremble to contemplate what the consequences would have
been if the accident had occurred a few minutes later and collided with one of
the heavily-laden motor coaches.
It seems nothing short of a miracle that in the busiest
thoroughfare of the town on a Saturday morning such an occurrence could have
taken place without some fatality, and of course we are all thankful that it is
so.
It is needless to say that a large crowd assembled,
amongst whom were many distinguished officials and members of the Corporation.
Alderman Dunk and the Borough Engineer were in close
conversation, looking very grave and very wise. The Alderman is the Chairman of
the Highways Committee, and the one who has control over these matters.
A.F. Kidson Esq., Town Clerk, was consulting with other
members of the Council, who were even then discussing liabilities and
compensation.
Cameras and snapshot machines abounded, but the one who
seemed to attract most attention was one of the young gentleman pupils in the Borough
Engineer`s office. He was congratulating himself that he had seven plates
showing the roller in all positions.
Even this failed to satisfy his artistic veracity, and
he was seen to mount and enter the sacred precincts of the Inland Revenue
offices over Heron`s, the grocers.
Reckless of the danger he got out of the window and
stood on the parapet, sighting his machine with the precision of a Sidney
Street refugee.
For the moment he attracted more attention from the
crowd than the damaged engine and hotel, and several cameras were sighted to
focus the artist.
Probably in a week`s time, when the matter is almost
forgotten, some of the leading Corporation subsidised papers may give an
account with illustrations, but in local journalism we are not content to
compete. We lead, and serve up the news, fresh and accurate.
Folkestone
Express 11-3-1911
Local News
An extraordinary accident happened to the Hythe
Corporation steam roller in Sandgate Road yesterday morning, with the result
that the engine was totally wrecked. The facts are very simple. The Folkestone
Corporation, owing to the axle of their small steam roller having broken,
applied to the Hythe Corporation for the loan of their roller to repair Church
Street. Accordingly at a quarter past six on Saturday morning the steam roller
left Hythe in charge of John Blackman and proceeded to Folkestone. The driver`s
own story is that the engine was under his control until it was within some
twenty yards of the East Kent Arms. It is a rather steep gradient, for a heavy
machine, from Lloyd`s Bank to the Town Hall, and the steam roller began to gain
speed rapidly. Until Marks`s shop was reached the roller was on the north side.
Blackman quickly discovered that the steering gear was working irregularly, and
he immediately reversed the lever for a backward motion and put on steam. This,
however, did not have the desired effect, and the steam roller came on to the
pavement right in front of the Maypole Dairy Co.`s shop, travelling at a speed
between ten and fifteen miles an hour. The engine continued its course along
the pavemanent until it reached the East Kent Arms, when it ran full tilt into
the main entrance with a loud crash and then collapsed. The mud plug was
knocked in and, the steam and water escaping at high pressure, caused a noise
which could be heard many yards away, greatly alarming Mr. Bayly`s horse, which
was standing near. The steam roller presented a very forlorn appearance after
the accident. The axle was broken and the wheel on the right hand side was
disconnected. The engine, therefore, leaned over at an acute angle. The forks
were lying nearby, while the engine faced the East Kent Arms. The machine was
thus pitched forward. It weighed ten tons. The course of the runaway could be
traced by the slabs of the pavement, which were broken and depressed. The
damage to the East Kent Arms, although not apparent at first sight, is
extensive. The engine crashed into the brickwork left of the door, and the
stucco and bricks were broken, while the partition was pushed in. So tremendous
was the impact that the interior of the building had the aspect of a dwelling
after an earthquake. The flap of the bar overlapped.
In an interview, Mr. Charles Major, landlord of the
East Kent Arms, said at about a quarter to nine he heard a rattling noise,
followed by a tremendous crash. The foundations were shaken, and he thought the
house was coming down. Volumes of steam issued from the engine into the bar, so
that it was impossible to see across it. So great was the velocity of the steam
that, hitting against the broken brickwork, it shot the sand to the further
side of the bar, and the bottles and decanters were covered with grit. The floor
became very wet, and the bar was soon full of water. Mrs. Major, who has been
confined to her bedroom for some time, received a great shock.
There were several stories afloat as to people having
narrow escapes from being injured. In one instance a little girl, who it was
said had been to a confectioners` shop in Sandgate Road to purchase bread,
became frightened and confused, and dashed across the road in front of the
steam roller. She took refuge in the East Kent Arms, which was somewhat
remarkable. It was fortunate that the steam was able to get free, or there
might have been serious trouble with the boiler, and the driver, who behaved in
a most courageous manner, might have been seriously scalded.
The accident was soon noised abroad, and the wrecked
steam roller was the centre of attraction throughout the morning. Messrs.
Aveling and Porter, engineers, Rochester, the makers, were communicated with.
The steam roller remained in Sandgate Road until Monday
morning, when it was taken to pieces and loaded on to trolleys for removal.
People are now much perturbed as to who will have to
pay for the damage. We must “Wait and see”.
Folkestone
Herald 11-3-1911
Local News
Folkestone was treated on Saturday morning to the
extraordinary spectacle of a runaway steamroller. Considerable damage was
caused, and it must be accounted as distinctly providential that no loss of
life occurred.
The accident was the indirect result of another. The
previous day, while one of the Folkestone steamrollers was working in the town,
one of the axles broke, and the engine was stranded. Folkestone possesses two
steamrollers, one large and one small, and it was the small one that was
damaged. Church Street was at the time in process of repair, and as the large
engine was of too great width to roll the street conveniently, it was decide to
hire the engine belonging to the Hythe Corporation for the purpose. This was
the engine to which the principal accident occurred. It left the Cinque Port on
Saturday morning, driven by John Blackman, a Hythe driver, for Folkestone.
All went well till the steamroller was coming down
Sandgate Road. Then, for some reason which at the time could not be
ascertained, the engine suddenly became out of control. Just before arriving at
Mr. Sainsbury`s shop the huge bulk started to plunge forward unchecked. The
driver flung over his reversing gear, but this failed of its purpose. The
brakes apparently refused to act, and to add to the calamity the engine did not
answer to the steering gear.
The time was about 8.45 a.m., and there was naturally a
large number of people about. Shouts and the clatter of the runaway engine
warned them of the danger, and they fled in all directions, many screaming. The
assistants in the Maypole Dairy were startled by a sudden inrush of people, and
wondered what the cause was, till a second later they saw the engine crash on
to the pavement outside. The stones were splintered, and the curb smashed, but
the steamroller gathered speed every instant, the gradient being considerable.
There were one or two narrow escapes, one in particular being that of a little
girl, who seemed unable to move from where she was in the road through fear.
She escaped death by inches only.
Still the engine plunged onwards, and by the time it
reached the East Kent Arms was travelling, according to the driver`s estimate,
at 15 miles an hour. Ten tons weight careering along uncontrolled at 15 miles
an hour represented a very alarming spectacle of deadly force, particularly as
the Town Hall and a right angled turn, round which the engine could not have
been steered, lay right ahead.
Fortunately, however, the runaway did not reach as far
as the Town Hall. Outside the East Kent Arms the front part swung round
sideways and struck a glancing blow at the outside wall. Had it struck it with
full force, it must have utterly wrecked the building, but as it was the damage
was serious enough. The base of a supporting pillar was knocked down, and a
large fissure appeared in the front wall. One theory is to the effect that the
front wheel came off and that only this struck the building, this accounting
for the fact that the front wall was not entirely knocked down, as would seem
probable had the full force of the engine struck it.
The engine itself immediately collapsed. The front
wheel lay across the pavement, and the front part of the engine fell like a
broken kneed horse into the gutter. The back axle broke, and the whole engine
became a battered wreck, a strange example of power self-hurled to destruction.
There was great danger that the boiler would burst, in which case the damage to
surrounding property must have been prodigious, but, miraculously, in the
collision the mud plug which forms a valve at the base of the boiler was
knocked in against the steam, this showing the force of the impact, and through
the hole thus made the steam and water escaped with a tremendous roar, which
was heard for a long distance. He driver also helped to avert this potential
final catastrophe of a burst boiler, for he very pluckily stuck to his post
till the end, and opened the steam escape valve before jumping clear.
The feelings of the people inside the East Kent Arms
were naturally those of extraordinary amazement and alarm. The shouts, the rush
of people, the crash of the collision and the roar of the escaping steam –
these things occurring at their very door was extremely terrifying.
The whole thing from the time the engine started to run
away till it was finally at a standstill probably did not occupy more than ten
seconds, and in that short interval it was difficult to grasp really what was
occurring. People in several houses further down the road declared that the
ground shook, and thought that an earthquake had happened. Inside the East Kent
Arms, of course, the accident was more appalling. So great was the force of the
impact that the bar counter was actually shifted bodily an inch or two, and
several other things moved. Unhappily, Mrs. Major, the wife of the lessee, was
ill in bed, and she suffered severely from the shock.
The news of the disaster naturally attracted a large
crowd of people, and all day long the police were occupied in moving on numbers
of interested sightseers.
Special appliances had to be sent for from the works of
Messrs. Aveling and Porter, Rochester, the makers of the engine, to remove the
wreck. The firm`s men set to work late on Saturday evening, and after working
nearly all Monday with a tripod crane, powerful jacks, and other apparatus,
succeeded in clearing the road on Monday evening. Their procedure was to take
away the front wheel of the engine, the fly wheel, and some other parts
separately. They hoisted the back of the engine on jacks, took out the broken
axle, replaced it by a new one, put on the old back wheels, then hoisted the
front part of the engine on to a strong motor lorry, and so dragged it away to
Shorncliffe, where it was taken by rail to Rochester.
The extent of the damage to the house and engine has
not yet been finally ascertained, but it is expected to cost something like
£500. The question of liability is also the subject of discussion between the
Hythe and Folkestone Corporations. A private meeting of the Hythe Corporation
has been held to consider the report of their surveyor on the matter, but no
details were communicated to the press.
The driver of the steamroller was seen by one of our
representatives during the week. Mr. John Blackman lives at 68, Stade Street,
and has been there for over twelve years. He told the Herald man that on that
fateful Saturday morning he started away from Hythe at 6.30. On his arrival at
Westbourne Gardens at Folkestone he got some water for the engine, and
proceeded on his way, subsequently coming to the hill. About fourteen yards
down the hill he found that the engine was striking to the right, and
accordingly turned the steering wheel slightly more. But he found that this
would not answer. He then turned the wheel over as far as it would go, but with
no effect. The next thing he did was to reverse the engine, for that was the
only thing left for him to do, but the roller went faster. Mr. Blackman then
knew he could do nothing else, and his only hope, as he explained, was that he
would not run over anybody, for the engine was entirely out of control.
“I remember seeing a little girl”, said the driver,
“who seemed to be sometimes running by the side of the roller, and very near
the front of it, but none of the onlookers had the presence of mind to snatch
her away. Of course, everybody was running away from the roller out of danger.
I can only remember that”, said Mr. Blackman, “and I hardly knew where the
roller was until it went smash against the wall. I did not seem to think about
myself at all; I did not realise that there was any danger for me”.
Continuing, he said that as far as he could remember
the back wheel caught the wall first, and the roller afterwards went smash
against the wall from the rebound. When the front wheel caught this had the
effect of loosening the part which subsequently caused the boiler to empty
itself. Realising this, the driver then put the fire out with the aid of water,
so that no further mischief could occur.
Mr. Blackman, it may be mentioned, has been working on
steamrollers, on and off, for about twelve years, and during the whole of that
time he has been in the almost constant employ of the Hythe Corporation. It is
only very recently that he was at work with the roller on the very steep
Blackhouse Hill. From all sources we learn that he is a very reliable man. As a
boy he used to be fond of taking journeys upon steamrollers when he had the chance.
Folkestone
Express 7-3-1914
Tuesday, March 3rd: Before Alderman Banks,
Lieut. Col. Fynmore, Alderman Jenner, J.J. Giles Esq., and Col. Owen.
The licence of the East Kent Arms was temporarily
transferred from Mr. C. Major to Mr. Frank Funnell.
Folkestone
Herald 7-3-1914
Local News
At the Folkestone Petty Sessions on Tuesday and
application for the temporary transfer of the licence of the East Kent Arms
from Mr. C. Major to Mr. Frank Funnell, the well-known jobmaster, was granted,
and on Wednesday the licence was transferred.
Folkestone
Express 11-4-1914
Local News
On Wednesday morning at the police court the licence of
the East Kent Arms Hotel was transferred from Mr. C. Major to Mr. F. Funnell.
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