The Express.
London, England, 1852-08-25 00:00:00

GREAT LUXEMBOURG COMPANY.

The directors have issued an address to the sharo-
holden stating that two °outrages have been entered
into, embracing together the entire works for the whole of
the line from Brussels to Namur. Both contractors are
bound to complete their works at latest by the 3lst Decem-
ber, 1863. The line may therefore be opened throughout
for traffic as early in the spring of 1864 as circumstances
may reader desirable. One of the largest proprietors
of land through which the lino to Namur passes having
claimed en exorbitant price, the baud was compelled
to have recourse to the tribunals, who awarded him
the sum offered by the company, and condemned
him is oasts; Mace which the acquisition of the land has
made rapid progress at fair and equitable prices. The',
• of Mr. Asher.% has bean accepted by the board.
By: • Lead. Quartier Leopold. The works on
thisportion of the property will be completed by
the soma of November next, so that the surplus
land limy be offered for sale under the most favour-
able efromentanws, whenever it is deemed desiiable to do
so. firm is the increasing value of property In this favourite
locality that we have season to expect the profit on its sale
will be enilleient to pay the interest on all the shares until
the ope.Mg of the line without trenching upon capital.
CanaL—The diet and most costly and important section has
bass lot es Moms. Beeson and Company, who are actively
sewed ion ties imeention of the work. The board are ear
hied to enneenes that after payment of the next call of ten
shilltep per dime, on 31st Deo., is this year, so farther
iastahmsell nig be required on the canal shares until
the whet* diaries from Liege to the River
Ambles/14 about twenty miles, le opened for traffic.
Having swami the ametrastion of the main line from
Broods to Namur, we have been actively engaged aper-
fecting SO surveys of the extension to Arlon, by means of
w se pus me aware, oar line is to be put in connexion
with Rion as the one bead, end with Prussia end Am-
nia on the ether, and thus bemoan the greet trunk line of
unbridles elmeiniablation from Antwerp and Ostend, to
Masseffies end Trieste. The whole capital foe this exten-
sion Is guenineeed the enjoyment of interest by the Belgian
4gerend the annual sumas guaranteed w fixed at
0114por emu, being equivalent to 4 per sent. on an
agreed estimate of 900,0001. Owing to the Feat im-
provements in railway science, such important savings may
be allbelled as, together with the employment of the cau-
tion messy available for that portion of the line, and other
labeling's, will render the government guarantee equiva-
lent 4,19 more than 6 per cent. epee the new capital.
They peoples the following plan for providing the capital :
—Firstly, to appropriate 60,0001. cantles money' se-
condly, to issue 60,000 shares at 101. mob, bearing 6 per
cent. interest oat of the governmeat guarantee. When the
diet emotion is opened for traffic, they consider that the pai-
-1 ties sad credit of the company will be as far improved as
that at Imat one-lialf or two-thirds of the remaining capital
may be raised at a moth lower rate of interest. livery
bolder of one original 141. share, or an equivalent in half
&edgewise dame, to be entitled to subscribe for one of the
guaranteed shares, the board being at liberty to dispose of
say which may remain unclaimed for the benefit of the
company.

DUNDALK AND ENNISKILLEN RAILWAY.

The directors' report to be submitted to the pro-
prietor. et the half-yearly meeting of the company on the
' 31st inst. is u follows :
" The directors have again the eatiafaction of reporting
that the steady incresse of traffic on your line for the past
half year, anticipated by your directors, has been main-
tained. On reference to the balance-sheet it will appear
that 3871. 12e. 6d. more has been received for carriage
of passengers and goods than in the half-year ending June,
18:31. A diminution of the working expenses has also
takes place, leaving such a sum applicable to dividends as
enables your directors to recommend 7s. a share to be paid
on each paid-up share of theicompany, which will still allow
of lON. 190. 9d. being carried to the reserve fund. The
working of the line for the half-year has been satisfactorily
carried on without accident, and the rolling stock and perma-
nent way maintained in a state of efficiency. Much improve-
meat has been effected at the stations, and a new locomo-
tive, on an improved principle, purchased, the cost of
which is provided for out of the renewal fund. Your
directors have the further pleasure of announcisg that the
bill for the extension of the line to Enniskillen (alluded to
in a tomer report) has been passed into a law. It contains
provisions which w H enable them to nine funds on the
security of one of the counties through which the line will
pass ; and your directors have not lost any time in entering
upon negotiations tor a loan with the government. For
this purpose they have likewise selected resident and assis-
tant engineer., and taken such other steps, including a
new arrangement with their solicitor, as will enable them
Ito make a speedy commencement of the works, which no
exertion on their part shall be wanting to carry on with
vigour, economy, and despatch. Whilst on this subject,
your directors cannot forbear an allusion to the zealous
esertions of your chairman, to whom it is mainly
owing that the preparations for the extension of the

line are in such a forward and satisfactory t ; and also I
your directors would beg gratefully to ael •.viledge the
kind co-operation and seetstanee, in the carriage of the bill,
received from the Dublin and Drogheda and Ltelfast Junc-
tion Companies. The claim preferred by the Ulster Rail-
way Company for a change of gays on that company's
line, your directors, after *mole esosidcration, and being
well advised, have resisted. T • sanest :.waded, as shown
in the account has bestir l ged porliag the final issue of
this matter, which it Is may terminate favourably fur
the company. There w be submitted to you for approval
certain special resolutions for the forfeiture of shun, and
uther matters, as detailed in the advertisement calling the
meeting, hereunto annexed ; explanations on which subject,
or on any other in connexion with the company's affairs, it
will give your directors much satisfaction to afford."

DISASTROUS RAILWAY ACCIDENT.-

SUICIDE OF THE POINTSMAN.

-
We regret to state that • shocking accident oc-
curred oa the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, on Mon-
day night, near Bolton, by which about fifteen persons were
injured, though up to last evening none of the elan had
proved fatal. Ono of the panengere, • boy, however, was
considered to be In danger, and is not likely to recover.
The accident was one of the most extraordinare and dis-
graceful that has yet occurred on the rail, arising partly
out of the dangerous accumulation of trains at the Bolton
station, and partly out of the neglect and misconception of
duty by a pointsman.
The train to which the accident occurred was the one
leaving Liverpool, via Bolton, to Manchester, at 8.57 in
the evening, and due at Bolton at 8.45 p.m. This train,
however, had lost time so considerably as to be nearly an
hour late. When it arrived within a mile of Bolton, the
station and all the intermediate distance were blocked up
with trains which had arrived before it. The fret of these,
or at lent the principal one, and the one loading to the de-
tention of the others, was the 5.30 train from Liverpool,
which was due at Bolton at 7.20 p.m. This train was a very
heavy passenger train, consisting of 36 carriages, and did not
arrive at Bolton until 9.20. The passengers were partly
travelling towards Manchester, but a great portion of them
were for Yorkshire; and this is the station where the
train had to be separated into two parts, one of which
would have to leave the Manchester idle a mile further
south to go via Bury, Heywood, and Rochdale, to York-
shire. Unfortunately, however, the carriages bad been
indiscriminately pecked with passengers going in both
directions, and fall twenty minutes were lost in disentan-
klieg the mw and getting the right passengers into the
right train. Only those persons who have seen the
Bolton and Preston stations and have observed how short
they are of servants (and not only deficient in number but in
men of the right stsmp)—can form an idea of the diagram.-
fail confusion which such a scene presents. No description
which his ever yet appeared in a newspaper of railway
management, would give the faintest notion of it. Whilst
this train was still at the station a second, a third, a fourth,
• fifth, and ultimately the sixth (the one smashed) Came
up. The second train was an exeunion train of 36 carriages
from Liverpool ; the third train was a luggage train from
Liverpool to Manchester; the fourth was an cecursion train
of 25 carriage* from Fleetwood (behind its time) to Man-
chester; the fifth war • luggage train—principally laden
with timber—from Liverpool to Bradford, Yorkshire.
These five trains probably numbered altogether upwards of
150 carriages, and stretched over neatly a mile of the line,
to a place called Bullfield, where a pointsman is placed,
having charge of two signals upon a high post in the form
of discs. The pointamen's cabin is close to his points, but
the signals are 2.50 yards beyond (or further from Bolton),
and are worked by means of a lever and • wire about six
yards from the cabin. Beyond this cabin the line of trains
stretched about 125 yards, or half way to the signal. Thu
signal would have been seen for upwards of • mile
in the Liverpool and Preston direction, had it
been lighted, bat it appears that the day's duty
of the pointsman ordinarily ends at half-past eight
in the evening, and he had left his post at a
quarter to nine on this occasion, putting out the light at
the signal on this as on other occasions, although it .is al-
leged that he had received instructions that there would be
extra or excursion trains on this occasion, and that he must
remain until they had all passed. The line from Bolton to
Bullfield consists of a curve—not of a very severe character
—extending under • series of eight or ten short tunnels and
bridges, and the five trains, jammed up in this dark and
gloomy space, were thus utterly without protection. The
night was exceedingly. dark, and when the sixth train
(which is not an excursion or special train, but the regular
late passenger train from Liverpool to Manchester) came up,
the driver would not come in sight of the preceding one,
owing to the curve, until he reached the place where the
signal post is placed, a distanceof about 12.3 yards.
Whether the driver was not on the look-out, or whether it
was impossible for him to atop in such a short space with a
train of sixteen carriages going at a high speed, we could
not learn, but the result was, that be ran into the luggage
train with great force, and the collision was so fearful that
the three first carriages (third classes), were smashed very
badly, the second one being turned up on it, fore-end be-
tween the other two, with the ten passengers in it feet up-
wards, and almost on their heads. The terror of the pas-
sengers was beyond description. It is said their screams
wen heard at the distance of more than a mile from the
spot.
The confusion which followed was of course very great,
and but few persons being present on this part of the hue,
it war some time before the pea engem were rescued. Those
who were unhurt, however, so soon as they had neovered
from their alarm, gave thew assistance to those less fortu-
nate, and fortunately there was surgical aid on the spot,
Mr. Crook (of Messrs. Harrison and Crook, surgeons to the
company over this district), being a passenger by the train.
Two other surgeons, also, were procured as goon as possible,
and a reinforcement of the cosurany's servants arriving from
Bolton as soon as possible alter the intelligence had reached
the station, the utmost assistance was rendered to all the
injured which was possible. The only wonder is that the
list was not of • much larger and more serious character.
The following is es full and correct • list of the injured
passengers as we have been able to obtain :-
1. Edward Greenbalgh, engine-tenter, at Bolton, cut
and bruised.

2. Alice Oreenhalgh, wife of the above, cut end bruised.
3. Richard Oreeabalgh, 12 years of age, son of the
above. This la the passenger who sustained the most
injury, sad whose recovery is still doubtful. He received
a severeblow on the chest and bladder.

4. Robert Wright, ironmonger, /Lacoste-street, Man-
cheater, severely bruised.
5. William Lee, Beswiek-row, Manchester, seriously
shaken.

6. like Lee, wife of the above, also much shaken.
7. Sarah Grahams, aged 28, a servant on her way to take
&situation with Mr. Shawn, 78, Loyd•street, °remain's,
Manchester. This passenger received a cut on the fate, sad
her leg was also injured, but sot fractured. This and the
other three paseeugere last mentioned were so severely
shaken that they had to be left m the neighbourhood all
Indward Hindley, 101, Fairfield-street, Manchester,
braised and shaksa.

9. I Bothwell, 36 years of age, ef Brook's-court,
14761Millgate, Manchester, shaken and much tut.
. James Howell, Plixton, bruised.
U. Mies Yates, Davey Lever, near Bolton. This pas-
senger was severely shaken, and was sent home in • cab.
12. Mn. Simpson, of No. 6, New Richmond, Pen-
dleton, mach shaken. This lady went to an hotel, and
afterwards, with MIS of the other mummers, proceeded to '
Manchester by a special train which left Bolton at half-pest
twelve.
13. Mr. Butler, of 13eedley Lodge, Pendleton, received
two contagious on the eyes, and a cut in the face.
14. Mn. Butler, wife of the above, much shaken.
16. Mr. Conan* who accompanied the two last-named
mummers, and afterwards proceeded with them to Man-
chester, braised and shaken.
We learn that among the other passengers in the train
was Mr. Monk, the banister, who was returning from the
Liverpool maims, with M. Monk. Both were a good. deal
shaken and alarmed, bat neither received any vraible
injury.
The first carriage next to the engine was a third class
eanime, a new me, sestaioint two commatneenti with
fear waft awes dna aide In dile, without bathe. The
cal men es the ear** wee ilseMik w euritodrialima after the
eaddeat, quite Pohl' bat lie Idaho titbit ether end of
the amine wee gene 110M1pIsisb eat, aft a fragment of it
rewrialeg la its plow Ow the semen of that end of
the awdepe wee ale partly eawildi away, and the buffer et
that mom mos eat, es if there bed ben ea oblique move-
mat upon it by the next carriage. This latter was
also • third class carriage, and contained seats
awns, with backs about half a yard high. In
SSW respects, this ae was without any division into
compartments. At the end next to the first carriage were
two "dead" buffers upon a transverse bar, with • spring
behind It in the centre. The buffer which would adjoin
the shattered corner of the carriage preceding it, was car-
ried away; but the other was uninjured. Part of the
framework of the transverse bar was destroyed. In other
respects, this end of the carriage was uninjured. The
other end of the carriage was knocked out in the fame
manner as in the first carriage, but in this one both
buffers were also carried away. The step on one
side of this carriage was twisted, and the foot-
board was split along half its length. This
again seems to indicate an oblique movement front one of
the other carriages upon it. The third carriage was also a
third class, of the same construction as the one we have
jest described. The end farthest from the engine was
beaten completely in, and half the flooring of the first
compartment was torn up into fragments. None of the
other carriages were damaged ; and the wheel., lower
framework, and seats of the three shattered carriages, have
not sustained the slightest injury.
It seems extraordinary that the pointsman, whose name
was Lee Bancroft, should have liR his duty under the
circumstances. A printed special notice had been sent to
him at the Bullfield coal-siding, containing a list of the
!Milian trains during the day. At the foot of the notice I
I were the following instructions .—" Keep your signals
lighted; be prepared for these end all future special trains,
' until they have pawed home. Keep a good look-out for any
extra train, engines, &c., of which you may not receive
advice."
_ _ _

Mr. Crowshaw, the clerk in charge of the station at
Bolton, went to the house of the pointsman, Lee Bancaoft,
at Bullfield, after the accident, about tea o'clock, but did
not see the man till about eleven. Mr. Crowshaw then
asked him bow it was he had not the signal lighted. Ban-
croft replied that he did not know. Ito had put the light
out at a quarter before nine o'clock, so usual, and then
went home. On being asked if he had received a copy of
the notice mentioned above, he replied in the affirmative,
and nid he had read it, and the instructions et the foot.
He assigned no reason for neglecting them, but said he did

not think he was required to remain after a quarter to nine
o'clock, which was his usual time for leaving. Mr. Crow-
shaw, however, told him he was to bluets fur leaving the
signals when excursion trains were expected.
About haltput twelve o'clock the same night the unfor-
tunate man was fouLd, by his wife and a friend, suspended
by his neckerchief from a large nail which he had driven
into the top of his wooden sentry box, at DuMeld. Life
was then quite extinct.
Wears informed that it was the duty of the guard of the
luggage train into which the passenger train ran, to have
gone back witb,his lantern when he perceived there was no
light to the signal, and have given notice to the passenger
train. Whether he neglected his duty, and If as, under
what circutuaances, has not yet been ascertained. Our
correspondent was informed that the duty was omitted.