The Express.
London, England, 1864-07-12 00:00:00

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BILITANNUL

TWS ITIGIMPO. THE 111NdFLOWIUL—The C! CI C!
CHRISTY'S CAOUALD CO4SDlANB.—lleedames Loestlnt
and Constance —And THE DOWNFALL OP PAWL

111011 WAY= AT WIDON lEEE.
Tins DAY 73 Sal Allsessis. 71 Vs.
TO-Noliow Morning. 52m... Aftwaimia.

LONDON, TUESDAY, JULY 12.

WREN the P•ssrnENT of the BOARD of TRADR
was asked in the House of Commons what means
he possessed of preventing railway disasters, his
answer was not particularly satisfactory. The
railway department, it was intimated, could advise
and prescribe, but not regulate or administer.
In France, of course, where everybody and every-
thing is administered "up to the throat," the
whole railway system is most searchingly and ela-
borately organized under direct Government con-
trol. And as the preservation of life and property
is really among the most natural and proper tune-
tiona of any government, even the bitterest oppo-
nents of " over-legislation " need not complain of
the results of this interference. A writer in the
Bente des Deux Mantles classifies the dangers of rail-
way travelling as follows :—Deraill. mats ; that is,
trains getting off the rails ; collisions between two
trains ; sod assaults ou passengers it the
journey. With respect to the two first, or locomo-
tive, accidents, be ia able to show that, thanks to the
efficiency of the system of supervision and control,
and to the just severity with which any prevent-
ible casualty is punished, they are of so rare oc-
currence that the public are entitled to travel
with confidence. But with regard to the third
(amanita upon passengers during the journey),
rare as they happily are, and guarded
against by all the preventive measures
the Administration has been able to devise,
there is still great difficulty in rendering them,
as they ought to be, impossible. The polioe
of the stations is so regulated that it is far from
easy for any known malefactor to take his seat in
• train. There are separate carriages for women,
and even for men who have articles of value in
their charge. All the carriages are lighted at
night, and through the tunnels by day. The guards
are continually passing along the steps from one
carriage to another throughout the journey
—a precaution as dangerous to the guards
as it is annoying to the passengers. There are
imperfect, but not wholly ineffectual means of com-
munication between the guards. The canton-
r, along the line are stationed for the purpose
of seeing and transmitting signals of distress or
alarm. All these precautions are avowedly
insufficient, and it has been proposed to furnish
each carriage with an apparatus for giving instant
alarm to the guards. To this there are several
objections. The malefactor would certainly be
aware of the apparatus, and would prevent
his victim from using it, and it is questionable
how far the general safety might be compromised
by a nervous or silly passenger being allowed
to stop the train at any moment. The
problem then remains unsolved. How serious and
urgent is the application of some means or other
to the object of preserving the lives of pae-
wagers, let the appalling and almost incredi-
ble murder committed on the North London Rail-
way, which has horrified the town, bear witness.
We say 'linos; incredible, for how is it possible to
realise the fact that this unfortunate gentleman
took a first class ticket at Fenchnrch-street
Station, to return to his home at Hackney, last
Saturday evening, and during the six minutes' run
from Bow to Victoria-park Station was beaten to
death and thrown out of the carriage by a fellow
passenger ? At Hackney a gentleman is stepping
into a first class carriage, and he finds the cushions,
the floor, sides, and windows covered with blood ;
and a hat, a walking•stick, and • leathern bag
lying about. Some ladies in the next compart-
ment of the carriage complain to the guard that
blood has been spurted through the window on
to their dresses on the way from Bow
Station. The driver and fireman of ani
engine passing near Hackney-wick Station
see something lying on the line, which is in fact
the body of the murdered passenger. It is
not improbable that the victim was known to the
murderer as the chief clerk of • bank, and there-
fore supposed to carry with him large sums of
money. The poor gentleman bad on this occasion
been dining with a niece at Peckham, and from Peck-
ham had gone by omnibus into the City and thence
by the North London Railway. Whether the mur-
derer had actually accompanied Mr. Ilit:ccs from
the omnibus to the railway carriage is matter for
conjecture ; but it is clear that he had marked his
victim, and it is certain that he assaulted, mur-
dered, and threw him out of the carriage in the
space of five minutes between one station and
another, and then got out at or near the
nest station, and made off. Will our readers believe
that it is possible, in July, 1864, for a quiet
gentleman to return home front Peckham to
Bow by omnibus and railway, and to be murdered
in • first class carriage between one station and
another ? If a passenger were murdered between
London and Peterborough, on his way to
Scotland by the night mail, the thing would
be hardly leis horrible, but it would be
less monstrously incredible.
Railway travelling through London on a summer