The Express.
London, England, 1849-02-23 00:00:00

PROVINCIAL.

LANCASHIRE.
ALARMING COLLISION ON THE EAST LANCASHIRE
RAILWAY.-00 Tuesday night, as the passenger train to
Manchester, • little after eight o'clock, was slackening
speed to run into the station at Haalingdon, it was met by a
heavy goods Maio, coming from a siding. The two engines,
on coming in contact, were dreadfully 'shattered, and both
thrown off the line. The first passenger carriage was of the
third-class, and contained eighteen persons, but the
force of the collision was broken by the fore-part
of this carriage being lifted up, so that it rode partly upon
the tender. The under part of the carriage, however, was
much shattered. There were about 60 or 70 passengers in
the entire train, bat happily none of them suffered any in-
jury beyond contusions of the head and knees and severe
shakings. The goods' train was a very heavy one, of 17
waggons, some of them laden with iron ; and 'several
of them waggons were knocked to pieces, the frag-
ments raising a heap of ruins scrota the double line
of rails, which completely blocked them up. Most
of the passengers were much frightened. It was
a dark, bitterly cold, and rainy night, and the whole of the
lights being extiumusbed by the collision, nothing could be
seen until the lapse of some minutes, when the Invents of
the company brought lamp from the station, and assisted to
get the passengers out. One of the worst of the sufferers
wee a mu, partially intoxicated, who had lain down at
full length on one of the seats of the third class carriage, and
the colluno• drove his forehead against the opposite seat.
Ultimately an engine and train of fresh carriages was brought
up to take the passengers on to Manchester, where they sr-
rived about halt past ten o'clock instead of nine, most of them
beming in their hands fragments of the broken carriages as
joyful memorials of their providential escape from an acci-
dent which might have been much more serious in its cone,-
quences. The cause of the accident was, it is said, that the
goodie train was too long for the siding, and did not clear
the nearest or up line, though it had allowed of a train pass-
ing along the down line.
WARWICKSHIRE.
ASSESSMENT Or RAILWAYB.—MEETING OP SHARE-
HOLDIIRS.—Testerday an influential meeting of gentlemen
interested in the great lines of England was held at the
Queen's Hotel, Birmingham, for the purpose of considering
the propriety of petitioning both houses of parliament for
an alteration in the present mode of assessing railway pro-
petty • Samuel Thornton, Esq., mayor, in the chair. The
first resolution, condemnatory of the present mode of rating,
was moved by J. F. Latium, Esq., and seconded by Mr.
David Relies, who took occasion to expose the present sys-
tem of assessing railway. property, and instanced several
cases wherein wooing assessments had been re-
duced from large to nearly nominal rates at the
expense of railway companies. lie was of opinion
that the legislators and the public required too much from
railway proprietors, whilst they were unwilling to give their
claims that consideration to which they were entitled.—Mr.
Alderman Beale followed in the same strain, and urged the
necessity of a general effort to effect an alteration an the
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under-
takings were so vast that they were adequate to any burden
that might be imposed upon them. He alas was of
opinion that • combined effort ought to be made
to obtain a redress of their grievances.—Mr. Alderman
Matthews suggested to the meeting the propriety of
directing their arention to the general law of rating, and
to endeavour to effect an alteration in that law rather than
seek for any specific arrangement in their own favour. Rail-
way property ought to be assessed like other property,
upon the sum for which it would let ; and the question was,
what would be the tenantable value of a railway if all the
carriages, trucks, machinery, Ac., were removed off it.
Petitions to both houses of parliament, praying for an
alteration in the present mode of rating railway property,
were unanimously adopted.
81/BEET.
A FARMERS' CLUB PETITIONING FOR REFORM.—
The members of this club met at the Duke's-head, Bear-
green, Capel, on Tuesday last, and after dimming each
clause seriatim, unanimously adopted the hallowing petition
to the House of Commons, David James, Esq., in the
chair ; Richard Weller, Esq., in the vice.chair, and • lA% •
morons and respectable body of members being
" To the honourable the Commons of the United
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of Great Britain and Ireland, in the present par kw '.:•)',-,-. - Si
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sembled.—The petition of the members of
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