The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1876-01-25 00:00:00

THE AS-SF:MIMING oF PARLIAMENT.

The folioiwinx letter hav issin addressed by Um Right
lion. B. Disraeli to his supporters :
"In, Downing-street. Jan. 20. Mi.
" Dear Sir.—The meming of lf,irliament has been fixed
for Tuesility, the 4th Fidiroary, when the House of
mons will prorr,sl to the eonsiderstion of business of
importance. I therefor., Islee the liberty of requeiting
your prs•senre on th it ocea.ion.
" I have the honour to he. dear sir,
" Yours Jai 'hfully.
"11. DISRAELI."

YEAR !BILE RAILWAY ACCIDENT.
A terrible railway i,lent took plains 011 Friday niorning
near liuntinudon, a double colliaion, reusing the death of
at least • 11..zen petwins. and serious, in several espies It is
feared fatal, in itiries to a 01,0, cif other,. A coal train of
10 truck's arrived at Al•ls•t's Hinton, at 6.511. The siznaL
man on duty. knowing that the se••tch Hp express, which
is timed to leave Mini-ninth at Inks am.' and to am,'.,e at
Peterborough at 0.13 p.m.. was nearly due, desired the
striver in charm of the coal train to shunt into a sliding so
as to allow the express to r•in by. While the •Iriver WWI
shunting. an•l when alma 2.1 of the trucks had passed into
the siding* leaving yOre. tozether with the engine and
teuder, on the main line, the roar of the exprem was heard
from the direction of Peterhormisili, and the next instant
It. engine dashel into the tracks slth terrific violence.
Both lines were instantly blocked with the debria of the
wreck. The night was very lark: the snow wan falling
thickly : the groans and cries of the wounded conld he
heart even above the shrieks of the 'women and children:
and the Ivo-rors of the seenc inn.t have been such as it Is
difficult even to issismine. Unfortunately the worst was
yet to come. Before the uninjured paasengers had
managot to make their way out of the wreak, and while
attempts to extricate the wo ttttt led were being organised.
the .10wis empress from London, whirls is tines] to arrive
at Peterborough at:. 7, clone ruahinx on at a full speed,
and unshed into the debris with which the line wa•• already
encumbered. The remit was most dimstroua. The up
express we. thrown by the Aral collision completely ••n to
the down line, and it was while standing in diaorler on
the down line metals, and before the first sodden and
terrible shock of c••nsternation hal ••nabled either the
passenger 4 or the servant, of thee moonily t • collect them.
selves. that the •loan express c sine sip and rushed into the
wreck. It is said that the block syetem ia in force on the
Great Northern line, hut, if so, it is atirprising that the
.xpreae should have been allowed to leave Peterborough
before the line had been signalled clear up to Hunting-
don. The weather might have had something to do
with the aceident in cans ng the coal train to he late:
but it is obvio•is that the alwolitte hlock system cannot
be in force, or that it sees neglected on Friday, and also
that unpunctuality los, I something to do with the calamity,
for the drives of the coal train MWIII,I to isave reckoned
upon the express le•ing late Ile should h i.e shonte•l
his train a station further hack, and the express should
not have been allowed to leave Peto-borough while
there was • heavy coal drsint ". somewhere in trout."

TIIR
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Mr. Margett the
cerimer for the district, entratulded a jury at the Tows
Halt Hontingtion, to take evidence a. to the identifica-
tion of the dead. in miter that the NAM, mitht at once
be delivered up to the friends and removed for burial.
Mr. John Cluistbson. a farmer, living at Chale Okay,
Isle of Wight, who identified the body of Benjamin
JAIN., gave an intere.ting narration. He said he wan
travelling in • first-clam carriage along with his friend
bailiffs from Felinhurgh to London on Friday night in the
express, Shortly after leaving Petersistrough he anti the
other four paseeng-rs in the same comiartment felt • t
shock as if the train had , lnto collision with some-
thing. The carriage gradually turned over until the left
aide will upward and then, after dragging along a short
distance, it stopped. All the paraenge md rs in the rope.
nient were apparently unhurt. and had not only time to
r, thenraelve., hut were also able to take away their
mi . lie, in fart, spent 11111^0 as • minute and •
billgltelooking for a hat, which Le could not dud. After
imitating two of the e.t.a niters —hi. friends —front the roof
of the carriage, he helped two young ladies to deenend from
the root of another compartment. Then all took up their
luggage, and were elicit to promed from the down line up
the einhanktuent, when lie heard a crash, and itomestiately
afterwarin was knocked down. Haunt this thee he heard
nothing to indicate the approach of a wetted train. He
now found himralt underneath the engine uuhtirt. He
extricated himself, and when the smoke and steam
cleared away he tli-cerned hi. friend Benjamin lolliffe
also lying antler the engine. Jollide was hurt and died in
about ten minutes. About live or ten minutes elapsed
between the first ILIA second collision.. He found his
amend friend, David Atrill. also from the Isle of Wight,
under the roof of a lwakwvan, and helped him out, He
was silently hurt.—Mr Christison. who is a young man,
was told by the foreman of the jury that he anti the other
jurors wished to expecte their admiration of his "cool,
considerate, and courageous b.:hamar."
Mr. Itiehare B. :Undersea, of I. Brick-court, Temple a
law student, who was himself • parameter ny the trlin
from the north, identified the bodies of his sister.. Mar-
garet and Elisabeth Saadenion. He gave the following
account of his share in the collisions:—" I, with my
father, mother, and two sinters, got into a tiest-class com-
partment of the express train at Newcastle, on Friday
afternoon, at half Test one o'clock. In lean than half an'
hour alter leaving Peterborough there WY a shuck, and I
was two or three times thrown violently against my
father, who was sitting opposite. We were about the
tuiddle of the train, and the compartment in which we
were seemed suddenly to fall into pieces and leave us on
the ground. My father, whotte log Was broken, toy
mother, and myself, were ejected from the ruins the
former ley and the latter stood on the embankment at the
down line. My sisters still remained in the ruins. I
weld just touch with my hand one of my sisters. They said
something had fallen across their feet, awl although I
called for help to extricate them no one came. Ten
minutes at least haul elapeed einre the first eollittion when
a voice cried. "The other train is renting." I theretipm
found myself standing on the embankment, and saw the
second express rush through the debris. AS the engine
passed I was kno teed down, end I lay still until the
splinters which were flying in all directions had coated to
do 00. RA up and found my father partly under some
pieces of wood, from which I extricated him. My mother
I tilacovered under the side of a carriage which had fallen
on the embankment, ant I raised the end of it so far that
she was enabled to crawl out. It warn • considerable
time afterwards before may slaters were (mind. One of
the carriages of the down train had run on the top of the
ruins of the carriage, which I think we hail left, and
under that, partly legume(' in by the wheel of le other
carriage. was toy sister Margaret She wan not then
dead, and although I could scarcely identify her, aka
spoke to toe. Before I rains up she hat told her name.
She now sail she hat no feeling bolow her waist, and
asked if her Mater Elisabeth was hurt. A sailor, who, I
believe went on to Peterborough, with cotes alight assist-
-8044 from use, succeeded in extricating Margaret.
1111041141 been taken to a fire sehtch had been made on the
..heehment, a doctor present said she war dead. I ob-
tained a latnp and went to look for my other sister. Her
found under the wheels of a carriage on the dee, uns
also dead."
IllfTlet inquest is sot concluded.