The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-10-24 00:00:00

AN APPEAL.

The Rev William Kendall, St. Thomas's Vicarage, Castle-
town, Stafford, has sent the following for publication:—

"Wool,! you kindly permit me in your columns to
inform all those who have sympathized with the suf-
ferers in the Abergele accident that Arthur Thompson,
the driver of the mail train, died on Thursday, the 15th
inst., at 5.30 p.m., aged forty-one. On the previous
Saturday he changed, and gradually sank until he
died.
" The immediate cause of his death was "ulceration
of the bowels." He has left a widow and five children
to mourn his loss, the eldest thirteen years old, the
youngest three years old, totally unprovided for except
what will be received from benefit societies, ltc.
"This requires explanation. Thomps in was naturally
not a strong MAD. Unfortunately he had been in several
accidents very much injured and knocked about, before
the sad one at Abergeli, but in none of which has he
been blamed. In consequence he has been frequently
ill, obliged to leave his work, and to pay very heavy
doctors bills almost annually. He has also had an
' aged mother to support in Lancashire. Though steady
these calls upon him, together with a large family,
have kept him poor. His widow is a respectable and
industrious woman. His five promising and intelligent
children attend my day and Sunday schools. Those
who travelled by the snail train on that fatal day, and
those who were witnesses of that awful scene, will not
soon forget how poor Thompson exerted himself, at
the risk of his life, for the benefft of the passengers,
until he fainted from hiss of blood ; and I feel quite
sure that they and others will not forget his widow and
five dear children. The committee, including myself
and three other gentlemen, who act for widow Huhne,
will do the same for widow Thompson.
"For widow Hulme (previously acknowledged), £B2
(is. 4d. ; G Norman, a thank-offering, £1 10s. ; promised
about £45. For Thompson previously acknowledged,
£l5 ; NV. 8., ret. ; E. L. H. £5; G. Norman, a thank-
offering, £l. Is." -

It will perhaps be remembered by our readers that
Thompson, the driver of the Irish mail, was the only
living being in front if the Post Office van that escaped
the fatal Names. It will be recollected that, on seeing
the runaway waggons sweeping round the curve,
Thompson at once recognised the hopelessness of any
attempt to avert a collision ; yet he reversed his en-
gine at once, and then leaped off the footboard. That
he did no, instead of "sticking" to his post when that
would have been utterly useless, showed that
he knew his duty; and afterwards he became one of
the most active among those who separated the
after-part of the train from the blazing car-
riages. He was but slightly hurt ; but the
awful shock of the moment when he saw in-
evitable disaster irresistibly approaching, and the
horrors of the scenes that followed, seem to have so ,
acted upon a frame already enfeebled by the exposure
and anxietiee of his calling, and the injuries snstained
in several previous accidents, that he gradually sue-
cundied. Perhaps a racking anguish at having, how-
ever blamelessly, been the means of conducting
thirty-three people to a frightful death, and an undis-
tinguist ed grave, pressed upon his mind and wore
away his strength ; and the appeal now being made on
behalf of his wife and five children should meet the
more hearty response, since the public bounty will, in
a manner, testify against the unmerited self-aecusa-
tion and probably embittered poor Thompson's last
days.