The Press.
London, England, 1857-12-26 00:00:00

THE PRESS, DECEMBER 26, 1857.

distant), and had got within a mile of Charlbury when
the engine broke down and the train came to a stand-
still. An ordinary down train leaves Handborough
five minutes after the departure of the express train,
and while the express was standing on the down
rails the ordinary train came up at full speed and
dashed into it with terrible violence. Several per-
sons were most seriously injured, and though none
were killed upon the spot, it is more than probable
that injuries for life were inflicted.--The next day a
more serious collision on the Stour Valley line, when
the 11 a.m. Birmingham train, when nearing Dudley,
was met by a coal train coming upon the same line
to be shunted. In the collision which ensued up-
wards of twenty persons were more or less seriously
injured.---Two days previously, a serious collision
also occured on the Shields and Newcastle portion of
the North Eastern Railway, a passenger train run-
ning into a coal train. Several dislocations and
severe contusions were inflicted, but happilyino lives
were lost. _ _

A COLLIERY EXPLOSION occurred at Barnsley last
week, at the Stratford-main Colliery, by which two
men were killed. The inquiry is pending.
LORD FITZWILLIADI'S agricultural stock were sold
off last week at Wentworth Woodhouse. The beasts,
sheep, pigs, and farm horses, all sold well ; the com-
petition was spirited. The sale realis ed about
4,0001.
THE CROPS IN THE SOUTH are unusually forward
for this period of the year. A little frost to check
their growth would be more seasonable than this
continued mild weather, but there is at present every
prospect of our enjoying a " green " instead of a
" hoary " Christmas.
THE danger of employing portable steam agricul-
tural machines, in the possession of persons not com •
petent to take charge of them, was exemplified last
Saturday ty a frightful boiler explosion which oc-
curred at Thornemoor-ends, near Thorne, Yorkshire.
A steam-thrashing machine belonging to a person
named Thomas Johnson, residing at Thorne, who
obtained a livelihood by travelling about the
rural districts with it, and which he let out on hire,
generally superintending the operations himself, was
on Saturday morning employed on the farm pre •
raises of Mr. Ridgill, and was immediately afterwards
taken to the stackyard of Mr. Z. Maud, where it was
being got ready for work in the presence of several
labouring men and boys, when the boiler suddenly
burst with a tremendous noise, scattering death and
destruction around. The rupture took place just
above the near side of the firebox, and the engine
WAS rent into numberless pieces, the lower part of
the framework being twisted completely round.
Johnson, who just before the accident was observed
standing in front of the firebox oiling the engine,
and having one hand on the safety-valve, was found
a short distance from the machine quite dead—his I
skull being fractured, the brain protruding, and
blood flowing copiously. A son of Mr. Maud, a boy
about seven years of age, was also killed on the spot.
A son of Mr. Ridgill, a youth fourteen years old, had
one of his legs broken in two places and his left
cheek laid open, and died soon 'after the accident.
Another son of Mr. Ridgill, aged sixteen, was blown
completely out of the stackyard into a ditch about
fifteen yards off, and was so seriously scalded that
he is not likely to recover. A third son of Mr. Rid-
gill, aged twelve years, was blown into a neighbour-
ing field about ten yards off, and also sustained
serious injuries in the face and neck from scalding.
A haystack was blown completely over, and some
men near it had a narrow escape from being smo-
thered. Portions of the engine were found in all
directions ; the fly-wheel was broke* to atoms, and
the " man-bole" door, a piece of iron about two and-
a-quarter stones in weight, was projected a distance
of 154 yards from the engine. An inquiry is pending,
but it is generally believed that the accident was the
result of the grossest ignorance on the part of John-
son—the boiler having become worn out, and utterly
unequal to such a pressure as that applied.
ANOTHER QUARRY ACCIDENT occurred in North
Wales, in the Vale of Nantlle, so lately the scene of
a dreadful accident of a similar character. On Mon •
day week six men were at work at the Dorothea
Slate-works, in a pit known as the Fire-hole, work
ing a fresh opening, when an immense mass of rock
full on them as suddenly as an avalanche. About
thirty or forty tons rested on a gallery above, over-
hanging the opening, and thus divided the rock in
its descent into two courses, which completely cut
off all escape. The sixth man was miraculously
preserved. He was working apart from the
others, on higher ground, and the projecting rock
partially sheltered him. A mass of stone, about six
• tons weight, was seen to bound over his head, and
though seriously injured by being struck with frag-
ments, he ultimately succeeded in reaching the area
I of the quarry. Blasting had to be resorted to to re-
• cover the bodies, for which relays of workmen
searched night and day, without intermission, until
• the close of last week. The bodies presented a
frightful appearance. Some were terribly mutilated
and nearly cut through, and one was perfectly fiat-