The Express.
London, England, 1848-11-22 00:00:00

COLLISION ON TILE RATCHET RAILWAY.

Yesterday an inquest was held before Mr. W.
Cuter' at the Marqu.s at Granby, Richmond, on the body
of Richard Perry, aged 33, a labourer, who was killed in
the collision the Richmond line on Friday last. The
jury visited the locality of the accident. The engines Hornet
and Vulture, which in their strongest parts were literally
I shivered, were also inspected.
D. Pitt, a porter in the service of the South Western Rail-
way, stated that on Friday evening, about a quarter to six
o'clock, ha was on the departure platform of the old shed at
the Richmond station, waiting far the mord of the six
o'clock train, when he saw the Vulture engine standing on
the opposite road on the arrival side. His attention was
called by Mr. Cooper, the superintendent of the station, to
the engine, which was blowing off her steam. There was
so person in charge of her. He looked into the gauge glass,
' and ascertained there was about an lath of water in it. He
then went to a beer-shop adjoining the station, where he
found Healey, the driver, and Watkins, the fireman.
Witness asked Healey if any one was with his engine, and
he said" No." Witness said, ' She is blowing offeery much.
and I don't think she has much water." Healey said, " Run
i in, mate, and see to her." The fireman did not move im
mediately, end Healey said, •' On on, I'm coming." Wit-
ness then followed the fireman into the station.
T. Webber. a pointillism, stated that on Friday evening, a
few minutes before six o'clock, he was on duty at the
Richmond station, when he saw Watkins, the fireman,
get on the Vulture, which was under the shed blowing
off the steam, and move her out of the station. He was
I going up the road when witness told him he must not go up
the line as there was a down train coming. Watkins an•
swered that his mats was not there, and he wanted water in
I the boiler. Witness insisted on his returning to the shed,
and he did so. Witco's afterwards went a short distance
up the line to an engine driven by Hunt, to turn it on the
turn table, when be heard a rush of steam, and
the Vulture rushed put them with all her valves open and
enveloped in steam. He turned hi. red lamp on and held it
towards the engine as it was coming up, and helloed to
them to stop, but the man at the engine paid no attention.
The Datchet bell had rung, and the express train was a
minute over due. He afterwards went up the line, and
saw that two engines had come in collision. Both engines
were on the down line. There is only one main line from
the station to New Richmond, and the Vulture would have
to cross 'aver both the up and down lines of the Patchet
branch, which joins the old line at this point. The Vulture
left the station at about eight miles per hour. It was not
must for a train or engine to go out at ouch a rate. When he
resched the place of accident the Hornet engine and
express train were five or six yards off the line, and
the Vulture had ri bounded at least 35 yards. Witness could
not say whether the steam that was blowing off from the
Vulture would obscure the light of his hand lamp. When
he showed the red light the eecood time thedriver was bound
immediately to stop.
S. Luck, poinuman and signal man at New Richmond,
stated that at six he saw an engine leaving Richmond old
' station. He showed his red light, and the engine went bath.
Two or three minutes afterwards he saw the express train
coming, and rung the bell to announce its arrival at the
Richmond station. As soon as he had ceased ringing he saw
au engin- again coming up from Richmond, and then turned
the stationary light to red and full up n the coming engine ;
he also waved his hand lamp. Finding they did sot stop, he
turned the red signal. against the express train, and almost
immediately the collision took piece; the Hornet engine and
trsia went off the line, and the Vulture rebounded nearly
40 yards. He afterwards went to Lane and Dear, the
driver and stoker of the Hornet, who yen both 'tending
on the engine unhurt. On examining the Hornet,
witness saw the lever reversed. He did not see that the
Vulture slackened her wed as she mart'? him. The Vul-
ture must have rem; the Hornet's lights. The blame, if any,
he con Were..., ruts on the (hirer of the Vulture. It an-
, peered to him that the driver of the Vulture had thought to
clear the points and reach the up main line.
H. Brantford, parcel porter, proved that, on the evening
in question, he was in the old shed at the Richmond station,
and he distinctly saw the light at New Richmond, a mea-
sured distance of 4.30 yards
J. Andrews, who was still suffering from the injuries be
received, proved that on Friday last he and the deceased
had been assisting the engineer in Lying out the new line

hoot Hatchet to Windier, and returned to Richmond
with Healey, the driver of the ballast engine, who
to take wha and other back to Richmond.
rhalimgwham and
on the engine sad tender, the party consisting, to
the beet of witnese's knowledge, of himself, Bone, the
deceased, and Sutcliffe, a flag-man. They went at a rather
brisk pace out of the station, and had gone but a very short
distance when Healey blew his whistle, and immediately
afterwards said, h We are going into the express train." He
lint fifth* steam, and told the airman to put on the brake,
which be did with all his form and then jumped off on the
right side. One man pushed witness down on the coke, and
fell upon him ; and he knew nothing MVO till he found him.
Belton the ground. Witham remembered seeing the deceased
attempting to leave the tender, but his neat seemed to have
been caught by something which drew him back.
Mr. E. H. Hills, surgeon, proved being called to attend
the sufferers, end afterwards, having had his attention
drawn to the deceasedewho was wedged in the left hand
side of the tender it took half an hour to get him clear of
the engine, and then his lower extremities were par-boiled.
He bad made a post martens examination, and found a No-
uns of the whole of the right aide of the base of the skull,
and a piece three inches in length had been driven into the
halo. Hie death was the result of a violent blow inflicted
by being thrown against some hard substance, such as iron
The Coroner thought it would be advisable to adjoin% the
proceedings until the condition of the driver Healer, who
war not yet out of danger, was more clearly ascertained.The irqaest was adjourned until the 30th instant.

REPRESENTATION OF WEST YORKSHIRE.
Yesterday, the Hon. Charles Wm. Wentworth
Fitzwilliam commenced his ceneening tour of the West
Riding of Yorkshire, as a candidate for the representation of
the Riding in gummiest to Lord Morpeth, now Earl of
Carlisle. After walking through the coloured cloth hall,
accompanied by Jas. Brown, Esq., T. W. Tuttle, Esq., John
Sykes, Req., and other merchants, the party ascended the
snip' in the area, where Mr. Brown briefly introduced his
friend, Mr. Fitzwilliam. He wag a worthy scion of a noble
family, whose name was of itself sufficient to ensure him a
cordial reception. Some objection had been taken to his
friend Mr. Fitzwillianee reluctance to pledge himself to any
particular course of action ; but with regard to that he would
observe that they could not expect a candidate to be depien.
dent upon them, and independent of everybody else;
but they might rely upon it that if they re.
turned a man of guilt a pliant mind and flexible conscience
as seemed to be required by some, ho could not be expected
to be insensible to other influences that might be brought to
bear upon him, and would probably desert their cause upon
the first opportunity. He had much pleasure to introduce
Mr. Fitzwilliene ; his position in the riding was such ea to
point him out as an eligible candidate ; he believed him to
bee strictly liberal and independent man, and that if he was
elected he would make a zealous and active representative.
H. begged to introduce to them the Hoe. Charles Wm.
Wentworth Fitswilliam..

A person here inquired if Mr. Fiftwaliam would remain
to answer questions like was patiently heard ?
Mr. Faxwatiam stood forward amidst partial cheers
and expressions of dissatisfaction. He said : I have been 1
asked to give • pledge that I will stand here and
answer any question that may be asked when I have done
'peeking. I will give you that pledge. (Applause.)
I find myself placed in an exceedingly difficult position.
Your late representative is a man of stick extraordinary
talent, end a man who was so justly peptide: amongst all his
constituents, that it would be exceedingly difficult for me to
tread in his steps, although I hope I may have that power.
(Hear.) Ido not inlaid to give you a set speech, but I
will endeavour, to the beet of my abilities, to touch upon the
lending topics of interest at the present time. With regard
to free-trade, 1 give it my most cordial support; and,
although its action has not been so beneficial as was at fint
expected and hoped for, it has been owing to many and
great disadvantages. The unsettled state of the continent
prevents some of our best customers from trading with us
to that extent that they would otherwise do. The famine
in Ireland has been another of the obstacles to its full deve-
' lopment ; the failure, also, of the cotton trade is
another cause. With regard to the endowment of
the church by the state, I wish to go into par-
liament entirely unpledged, for it is a question that has
been deliberately considered in parliament, and it does
not befit me to give an opinion and to pledge myself upon a
subject that has never been fully considered. (What fur ?
Ilan You not made up your mind ?) If I 'do make up my
mind I won't give a pledge. What I have said I meant
more exclusively to apply to Ireland. The state of that
country calls for some extraordinary remedy; and when you
have two denominations of religion, the presbyterian and the
protestant church of England, receiving support from the
state, it seems but reasonable that the religion of the majority
should participate in that support; and, perhaps, some
means might be devised of rendering the state of Ireland
better, by, in some way, paying the Roman catholic priests.
(Disapprobation.) I don't wish to tax Ragland
for it, bat some means might be devised to put
that unhappy country in • more prosperous state,
With regard to organic changes, I must confess that I am
not prepared to give them my sappers. When we turn our
attention to the continent, and see how distracted those
countries have been which have brought about great
changes, it is not likely to dispose one to advocate any ex.
t wive changes. Some years ego great refer= were
brought about in the representative system of this anntry,
which I certainly think went far enough ; and though I
should not wish to prevsat those who are able to use the
privilege of the suffrage from acquiring it, I should be
opposed to bringing about any violent or organic changes.
Econ‘imical reform is • subject to which I should like to
mace a few allusions. I think that in the prevent state of
the country great and extensive retrenchment is necessary
in the public expenditure ; in what way perhaps it
is impossible to my ; but, certainly, r think that
if due consideration is given to it, it will easily
he found that great retrenchments may be made.
Though it would not perhaps be expedient to diminish
the army or navy in the present state of the continent of
Europe, especially when it appears exceedingly probable
that at the election of the president of the republic of France
there will be • great outbreak which may affect the whole of
Europe. At such • time it would be unsa• iefactory to
diminish the force of those great national safeguards, the
army and the navy. We must have our trade preserved, and
that cannot be done without ships of war to protect it in those
seas where piracies occur. I think it would be very heart-
rending to the trader of Leeds to find that all their goods
consigned abroad had bean seined and taken by parties who
had no right to them, and that the goods themselves would
never arrive at their destination. I would again ask
you to give me your indulgence, for from my youth
and inexperience I greatly need It. And when I address
such an enlightened constituency ea this of the West Riding,
lam sure I shall not ask that favour in vain. I shall not
detain you any longer, but I am willing to answer any ques-
tion that you may propound. (Cheers.)
Mr. F. Celiac-re then presented himself, and related in
detail all the steps that had been taken at and in the inter.
sal of the several meetings at Normanton end Wakefield,
and rimmed himself strongly that Mr. Fitawilliam, in
of ring kims.lf to the constituency, without reference to the
Normanton resolutions of Sept. 17, had offered a great in-
dignity, not only to the gentlemen who composed that meet-
ing, but to the electors generally. It was owing to fortui-
tous circumstances, over which they had no control, that
they had not yet been able to start another can-
didate •, but it was, perhaps, not yet too late.
Mr. Fit:wallets' was not yet quite safe. Those
with whom he (Mr. Carbutt) had acted were yet con-
sideriog whether they could find a man, and whether they
could find the money. (Cheers.) They had convened a
meeting of deputies to be held on the morrow (Wednesday),
at Normanton, to decide whether they should bring forward
• man or not, and, therefore, though no other candidate was
before them to-day, they must not give up the hope yet. In
conclusion, he asked Mr. Fitzwilliam, "Have you consi-
dered the question of the differential duties for the protec-
tion of the colonies ; and what are you, as a legislator, pre-
pared to do respecting them ? "
Mr. FITZWILLII.3I—What do you mean?
Mr. Curet:TY—Are you prepared to abolish all differen-
tial duties in favour of any article whatever, the produce of
our colonies?
Mr. FITZWILLIAM—I am not prepared to abolish them
all. lam not prepared to abolish all the differential duties.
Mr. CABBUTT—Whieh are you inclined to retain ?
Mr. FITZWILLIAM.—I am not prepared to say, as they
have not been dimwitted in parliament.
Mr. CARBCT? —The question of differential duties hes
long been before parliament.
Mr. FerzwittiAm.—Gentlemen, it is a matter of free
trade. _

Mr. CAREUTT.—Mr. FitSEillilEl is not prepared to do
away with them entirely. What, air, are you prepared to
do with the navigation laws ?
Mr. FITZWILLIAM —With regard to the navigation laws
I am certainly prepared, not to do away with them
altogether, but perhaps with all but one clause. " What is
that?" 'the silo ring foreign ships to carry on the coasting
trade of Great Britain. (" Good.")
Mr. Caarivrr.—Will you otlige us with your views on
the proposition for making an seri, and considerable exten-
sion of the suffrage
Mr. FirzwaLtam.—l have already answered that in my
speech. (" No, iio."—" Let us have it again then.") I cer-
tainly am not for making an early and osnsiderable exten-
sion of the suffrage. (" Why? ") But, as circumstances
may point out that some extension of the suffrage would be
expedient, I shall not be averse to it. In the terms of the
question, I am not prepared to support an early and con-
dderable extension of the suffrage.
Mr. JOSEPH BARKER, the chartist, then spoke at COESi-
derable length, deprecating not only the pretensions of Mr.
Fitswilliam, but the manner in which he had been brought
forward, and the terms in which he had bees introduced by
Mr. Brown. He concluded his harangue by asking Mr.
Fitswilliam if he was prepared to vote for the abolition of
the law of en.ail and primogeniture, and for a tax upon
land, whether cultivated or uncultivated, of fie. an acre at
least.

Mr. FlrzWll.uale : No, I will not.
Mr. J. RICHARDSON, solicitor, next presented himself,
and after enlarging upon the impaetinee of the present crisis,
called attention to that part of thereport of Mean. Carbutt
and Baines, the deputation to Mr. Fitswilliam, which re-
lates to the endowment question. He read that passage of
the report, and tLen asked if it tiorrectly represented Mr.
Fitzwilliam's opinion upon the question of the endowment
of reheat by the state ?
Mr. FITZWILLLANI, after perusing the report (see Etym.,
Noe. 16), said—What I said referred more especially
to Ireland ; and cerpWy I Wine I said what is reported.
Mr. RlCHAaneO.c—'this necessarily gives AN to another
question, which I will ask. Holding the opinions on the
endowment of religion by the state expressed in the report,
how would you, as a legislator, deal with the establahed
protestant Ouch of Ireland, which is the church of a very
small minority ?

Mr. Firzwiudus —The protestant church of Ireland has
now property, and prrhaps by some arrangement of that
peoperty the clergy of the Roman catholic church might be
paid.
Mr. RICHARDSON—The number of Roman catholic
people in Ireland is about seven millions, and of those con-
nected with the protestant church about half a million; will
you be prepared to give the Roman catholic@ a fair share,
according to their numbers, of the church property ?
Mr. FITZWILLIAM—I have already said that as the pro-
testant church in Ireland hu property, by some arrange-
ment—l cannot my how, as it hu been proposed, the
Roman catholic clergy might be paid.
Mr. RICHARDSON repeated his question in another form.
Mr. Ftrzerataaw replied—Gentlemen, this question has
never been discussed ; therefore, it is impossible to give a
definite answer upon it.
Mr. RICHARDSON said he would take it for an answer that
the question had never been discussed. Re thought from
what had transpired that the hon. candidate was not the
man to represent the Riding ; and it was only due to him
that they should declare their opinion by a show of hands
He, therefore, called upon all those who considered Mr.
Fitswilliam a fit representative to hold up their hands.
Only throe or four hands were ^eld up. Mr. Richardson
then called for those who thought him unfit, to show their
hands, and nearly all were held up.
Mr. Alderman ROARK and Mr. W. BROOKE frith spoke
in deprecation of Mr. Fitzwilliam's claims, as did a Mr.
BARRON and *Mr. PURLAND,• working man, who promised
to give M. if another candidate were brought forward.—Mr.
11.-Batteas was also called forward, and he declared that he
could not support Mr. Fitz elitism, though fully sensible of
what his father bad done for reform in past times. At
length it was announced this Mr. Roebuck, the late meta.
her for Bath, was in the crowd, and there was a call for him
to come forward. _ _

After some delay, Mr. Roebuck was formally introduced
by Mr. Peter Feirbairn.
Mr. ROEBUCK raid, that in obeying the call made upon
him, he appeared there in a private rapacity only. He could
not presume to obtrude himself for their suffrages before a
constituency of that sort, without that species of formal and
direct and deliberate indication which became them, and
which was requisite for him. He could not prone to
have that sort of standing in the world, to thrust himself
among them. (Laughter.) if they had any desire for an
other candidate, why did their leaders confine themselves to
talk and whining lamentation ? (Hear.) The learned gen-
tleman then went on to canvass the mode in which Mr.
Fitawilliam had come before the constituency, deprecating
the attempt to dictate to the Riding under the influence of •
great name, and expelling his opinion that he war not • fit
man to represent the Riding.
At • quarter before 2 Mr. Fitswilliam and his friends re-
tired from the hustings, and the meeting broke up. Though
Mr. Roebuck made no particular reference to his own politi-
cal views, an opinion is beginning to prevail that he will be
nominated u a candidate at th. Normanton meeting this
day (Wednesday).