The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-09-07 00:00:00

and the windows smashed. The last carriage or two ap-
parently escaped altogether, and very little impression was
made on the guard's vans. The engine tore off the wheels of
the first truck, and bent the axles completely double. The
railway was covered with the debris of the wrecked car-
riages which was lying in confusion in all directions. Ladies'
portmanteaus, gentlemen's trunks, articles of apparel, hats
, and bonnets, fans, umbrellas, children's toys, &a., were
mixed up in A chaotic fashion. It was a very difficult task
to elrar the wreckage, and to get the engine and
tander away from he carriage in whioh they were wedged.
The poor little boy Knevett, who was in this carriage, could
not be got out for two hours. Strong gangs were set to
work, and eventually the down line was got clear, but two
lengths of new rail had to be laid first, to replace lengths
which were so twisted that it was unsafe for trains to pass
over them. The ironwork of the various damaged carriages
was twisted like cane. The collision greatly delayed the
traffic throughout the remainder of the day. It was five
o'clock before a train could be got away from Sittingbourne,
and meanwhile no trains had passed, either up or down. A
single line had to be worked between the scene of the acci-
dent and the station, and the up-line could not be worked
until nearly midnight.

The Post-office was besieged by passengers eager to send
telegrams to their friends, announcing their safety, or sum-
moning nurses or private doctors. Hundreds of messages
were sent and received. Many of the passengers were so
agitated that they omitted to write the names of their friends,
or gave wrong addresses, much confusion being the result.
The sad ail air caused intense excitement in Sittingbourne and
Milton, succeeded by profound gloom, as the appalling nature
of the disaster became known. Business was almost entirely
suspended, It being unknown which train it was that was
In collision, hundreds of people rushed on to the railway to see
if any of their friends were there, the greatest excitement
prevailing.

On Sunday the scene of the accident was visited by im-
mense multitudes of people from far and nean. Superinten-
dent Mayne had summoned extra police officers from other
towns, and they kept order, and prevented the rush of
people on to the railway which had been apprehended,
especially as there is a level crossing at the very spot. The
disaster was the theme of special mention in the prayers and
of special sermons at all the churches and chapels in the
neighbourhood. At the parish church, Sittingbourne, the
vicar, the Rev. W. 11. Dyson, preached from Romans, 12th
chapter, 15th verse : "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and
weep with them that weep."

The London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company have
had,very few accidents on their line, and no fatal collision
for about twenty years, when there were three fatal occur-
rences, two at Teynham and one at Ospringe, soon after the
opening of the line.

•
The Daily Telegraph of Monday gives the following
particulars
The Rev. Allen Edwards, Jun., vicar of All Saints', South
Lambeth, being questioned as to his remarkable escape from
more serious injuries, stated : I got into the train at Rams-
gate, I think at about half-past eleven in the morning. I was
in the first of the first-class carriages of the Victoria
portion of the train. As well as I can recollect the
train consisted of the engine and tender, one or two
third-class carriages, two first-class, in the first of which I
was, then some other carriages, and two brakes. In the
compartment with me were a gentleman, who I afterwards
ascertained was Sir Sohn Stokes, Miss Stokes and three
other ladies. All went on most satisfactorily until we arrived
within 'ZOO yards of Sittingbourne, when suddenly I felt a
motion of the carriage as if it " staggered " or received some
violent check. The idea of a collision flashed across my
mind, and my first impulse was to protect my head.- From
that moment I lost all knowledge of what was transpiring.
When my consciousness was restored I found myself
on the kedge or embankment which runs along that
portion of the line. I next recollect crying out, "Thank
God 1 thank God, lam saved 1" I cannot possibly describe
my feelings when I looked round. Smashed carriages and
crushed passengers were almost all I could see for the mo-
ment. The shrieks of women, cries of children, and moans
and sighs of the injured were all I could hear. Strange,
I had no sense of pain for fully an hour after I had been
restored to consciousness. Immediately on recovering,
endeavoured to lend some aid to the more seriously suffering
poor creatures who were being extracted from the broken
carriages. I should mention that, on looking at the
carriage in which I had been sitting, I saw that
the roof was completely torn off and smashed into
pieces, and the carriage itself quite a wreck. I
understand that, with the exception of one lady who was
said to have sustained injury of the spine, all the other
occupants of the carriage escaped without wounds; of course
they were greatly shaken. I cannot account for my own
miraculous escape, and it is still more remarkable from this
fact that about an hour after my restoration to conscious-
ness a gentleman came up to me and said, "Oh, you are the
the gentleman I saw jumping out of the carriage." I confess
I believe he was mistaken, as I became quite stupified when
the shock took place; beyond the way in which my face is
cut and bruised, a soreness about my head, and the sense of
having received a great shaking, I do not at this moment
feel that I am otherwise injured. I can only repeat
that my escape is to my own mind miraculous. As to
the passengers who were killed, my impression is that they
must have died instantaneously, from the mutilated condi-
tion in which they appeared; for instance, a little boy was
taken out of the wreck about two hours after the occurrence
in a state of jelly or pulp. It was an awful sight. I changed
from the second first-class carriage at Broadstairs, leaving
two gentlemen and a lady in the compartment. This car-
riage, which was immediately behind that in which I was sit-
ting when the accident took place, ran off the line, and its
occupants, I was told, escaped without scarcely ex-
periencing a shock. My railway carriage was stopped exactly
opposite the pathway running up to the parish church and
High-street. Most of the sick from the shock, and wounded
were taken to an hotel, where I also was conveyed. There are
blood marks over my coat. I cannot speak too highly of
the kindness of the persons at Sittingbourne who had lent
us their assistance and came to our help: one gentleman in
particular whose name I do not know, went about to the
injured with restoratives, and was mat kind. He pressed
to allow him to have me conveyed to his house, but it was
better tbat I should get home. There was also much atten-
tion shown by a number of sailors who, I believe, had just
been paid off.