In a case of clowning around, two stubbornly innocent Brisbane City Council Tramway Department employees were suspended from duty. Tramcar Motorman William E.P. Stevenson, and the tram Conductress Thelma M. Howes, were both diligently performing their duties when they became embroiled in a practical joke performed by an off-duty, but uniformed, police officer. Constable William Dangerfield was stationed at Woolloongabba Police Station in 1945 when his silly prank caused turmoil in peak hour traffic, and on the busy West End line.
South Coast District Inspector Florence M. O’Driscoll reported the incident to Police Commissioner Cecil Carroll;
“…Thelma Howes was dismissed from her employment following a hold-up in the Tramway service at West End on the afternoon of the 18th April, 1945, owing to a dispute which arose between Howes and the Motorman of the tram regarding the replacement of the overhead pole of the tramcar. The pole in question having become disconnected from the overhead wire.
The Constable reports that after ceasing duty at 3pm on the date in question he boarded a West End bound tramcar en route to his home and proceeded to Dornoch Terrace. He there alighted from the outbound tramcar and saw another tramcar on the inbound line. He states that the Motorman of the inbound car is known to him by sight and that he also knew the Conductress, having interviewed her in connection with a traffic accident previously. He reports that as he walked past the rear of the waiting inbound tramcar, he tugged the rope attached to the overhead pole and this evidently disconnected the pole from the overhead wire.
Apparently, a dispute arose between the Motorman and the Conductress regarding the replacement of the pole and a hold-up in the tram service resulted culminating in the dismissal of the Conductress…”
For 30 minutes the stand-off between the Motorman and the Conductress continued. Neither would replace the lowered pole, trams began to bank up behind the inbound service, vehicles could not cross, passengers sat patiently on the tram. Tramway Inspector Francis Morris noticed an increase in people waiting for trams along the inbound route, located the deadlock on the West End line, and ordered the replacement of the overhead pole which was actioned by a Motorman from a nearby tram.
Employees Howes and Stevenson were summoned to the main office of the Tramway Department the following morning. Both denied it was their duty to replace the overhead pole; Conductress Howes stated she was wrongly accused by the Motorman for removing the pole and would therefore not replace it, Motorman Stevenson believed he was not required to raise and lower the overhead pole at that stage in the journey, that it was the job of the Conductress.
Statements were taken, including from Constable Dangerfield. An investigation was made into the matter by the Police Department’s Senior Sergeant Francis Fahey who described the actions of the constable as “childish and irresponsible”, and subsequent refusal by the Motorman and Conductress to replace the trolley pole as having “strange and unreasonable attitudes”. The policeman was subpoenaed before the court, to testify as a witness and explain his involvement with the lowering of the tram pole.
Frank admissions by Constable William Dangerfield, his recognition of Rule 77 of the ‘Queensland Policeman’s Manual’ Preliminary Inquiries, a written apology and statements provided by all other parties involved culminated in the officer being charged with misconduct and transferred to Charleville. Thelma Howe’s position as Conductress was reinstated. The Motorman did not appeal his suspension, deciding the whole messy incident did him a favour and he obtained employment elsewhere.
The last strange twist in this story, Constable Dangerfield went on to become a Road Safety Lecturer in 1957, and continued with the Brisbane Traffic Branch until his retirement in 1979. Read more about the efforts to education the public on safe road use in a previous #FROMtheVAULT article ‘Look Left & Right: Road Safety Lecturing in the 1950’s and 1960’s’.
This article was written by Museum Assistant Georgia Grier from the best resources available within the Queensland Police Museum. The Police Museum is open from 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT – Tram Car Turmoil” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode