The Express.
London, England, 1866-01-19 00:00:00

THE DESTRUCTION OF A RAILWAY•BRIDGE
AND TRAIN AT BECKENHAM.

CORONER'S INVESTIGATION.-(THIS DAY.)

BECKENHAM, FUMY MOBSINO.
At 10 o'clock this morning, Mr. J. C. Carttar,
coroner for the county of Kent, opened an inquiry at the
Railway Hotel, Beckenham, into the circumstances of the
catastrophe on the London, Chatham' and Dover main line
on last Sunday morning, by which a stoker named John
Masted. aged 20, lost his life.
Mr. Church, solicitor, represented the London, Chatham,
and Dover Railway Company, and Mr. Mills, C.E., Mr.
Martin, C.E., and Mr. Bishop, superintendent, were also
present. The jury having been empanelled, proceeded
to view the body of the deceased man, Muted, which pre-
sented a shocking appearance.
Benjamin Muted, Seasalter, Whitstable, a farmer, iden-
tified the body of the deoessed as that of his son John Mu-
ted. He had been an engine cleaner, and Ink just been
appointed stoker on the London, Chatham, and Dover Rail-
way. He was a steady man, and had been two years in the
service.
Thomas Smith, 5, Lucas-place. Battersea, said that he
was a goods guard in the employ of the London, Chatham,
and Dover Railway Company. On Sunday morning he was
guard of a train which left Herne-hill, and approached
Beckenham at 3 minutes to 4 o'clock. He suddenly found
the train by some means fall, snd he did not know well
what happened. The train consisted of an engine, tender,
two break sus and 30 loaded waggons. Witness was in
the front break next the tender. He did not know
where he fell. He got out through a hole which was
knocked in the van by a girder of the bridge, but he was
so confused he did not well know. Witness had seen the
deceased and the driver on the engine at Herne-bill.
Witness and the driver searched for the deceased after the
accident, and in four hours they found his body under the
rains. He mimed to have clutched to the kook. He was
dead. It was impossible to get his body oat then. It was
not in the water. The water of the stream clone by was
running at the rate of eight miles an hour.
Christopher Barrett said that he was a guard in the iron
break behind the train in question. It was going at the rate
of eight miles an hour when his break was suddenly brought
to a standstill by a concueion. He was knocked down and
rendered nearly senseless. When he got out he found the
front part of the train down in the field and river. There
were 17 waggons on the line, the rest were thrown down.
Witness had seen the signal to stop, and that was the reason
the train was going so slow at the time ; but the signal was
taken off again when the accident happened.
Amos Greensteed, signalman at Menge station, said that
a goods train passed down from London at 2.30 all safe.
The next goods train passed at 3.55 at this rate of 10 or 12
miles an hour. Directly after it passed witness heard •
crash. He went to see what had happened. sad he
foand part of the train at a standstill, and
the last witness looking into a waggon aa it
he was stunned, and thought he was at a station.
Witness then found the front part of the train down over
the embankment, and he heard some persona groaning. He
went across the river and found the engine-driver, who told
him to stand back lest the engine should blow up. The
river was six feet deep, its ordinary depth being one foot.
By the engine-driver's wish witness ran for a surgeon.
By a juror—The water covered the fields all over. Wit.
ness's box was situated between Penge and Beckenham.
Up trains had passed ever the bridge that night. The
water had never been so high within the last 14 years. It
was two feet higher on the night of the accident than on any
previous occasion. No inspection of the foundations,
fsc., would have been possible. The signals were at
" stop" when the train approached, because telegraphic
communication had been broken down through the storm,
and for the sake of caution each train was slackened by
I signal as it approached each station. The train was quite
right to slacken at first, and to take off the breaks and go
on again when the signal was changed from "stop" to
"caution." Witness believed the stream had scoured its
bed that night only.
By Mr. Church—The signals did not cause the accident
in any way.
Wuliam Baxter, signalman at Beckenham station, said
that he was on duty in sight of the bridge that gave way.
The signal was up and the train approached and whistled.
Witness lowered the signal, but the wire broke, and it flew
up again. The train finding the signal still up at " stop" eon.
tinned to whistle until witness put the semaphore over it. The
train apparently then moved on, and immediately he saw it
go through the bridge. He ran to the spot, and found
what had happened. The stream was extraordinarily deep
and wide. The ruins blocked it up. The fields were, in
fact, covered, and the river was some ten feet deep. Search
was made for the deceased, but he was not found until
morning. The engine was blowing off her steam, the valves
being open. Witness did not know the height of the bridge
over the river.

Joseph Collier, porter at Beckenham station, said that he
beard the crash on the morning in question, and he went to
the spot. The stream was then very high. It went down
2 feet between that hour, 4 o'clock, and 8 o'clock. He
had never seen the water so high before.
Thomas Lifford, night•watchuun at Beckenham station,
said that when he went to the scene of the accident he
found the guard, who asked him to look at his face and see
if it was cut. He then found the engine driver, who went
to the engine and let the steam blow off. Witness had
seen the stream higher on several occasions than it was then.
It hail overflowed all the meadows this season before this
occurrence.

James Denyer, platelayer, said that he was on the bridge
at 4 o'clock the night before the accident. The bridge was
then sound in every respect, and the stream was not very
high. It wu not rip to the brickwork, and there war no
scour. Next morning the stream was much higher, and was
up to the brickwork. On Monday, when the stream had
fallen to the level at which he had seen it on Saturday, a
large piece of ground had been swept away, forming a hole
apparently under the foundations. He could not tell
whether the scour of the stream or the damming of the
stream by the engine, k. 0., had caused that.
By the coroner—On the Saturday witnesu made his fort-
nightly official inspection of the bridge, and it seemed safe
then. He did not go down or underneath it, for he meld
sae well enough from the top. Besides, he had made an
inspection underneath on Saturday morning. No banks had
been milled away then. At 4 o'clock the water had risen
over the Addisoombe hoe of railway. The witness said that
the scour had lowered the bed of the stream 5 feet. He be-
lieved that was under the foundations of the brickwork of
the bridge, but he did not know.
Mr. W. Moore, station master at Beckenham, Mr. Mills,
resident engineer of the Loudon, Chatham, and Dover Rail-
way, and one or two other witnesses were thee examined.

The coroner, in summing up, said in his opinion the
catastrophe was due entirely to the late extensive floods.
and the company could not fairly be held accountable for
the giving way of the bridge, which had been built by an
eminent engineer, and bad stood the pressure of traffic for
many yea without soy sign of weakness.
j The ury then had a long debt gyration in private.
Upon the public being readmitted,
To. foreman said—We have agreed to a verdict of
"Accidental death" simply, but we leave to the engineer of
the company, Mr. Mills, the consideration of the evidence
taken here to-day, as to the question of the state of these
streams and bridges and such matters._

Coroner—Weigentlemen, your verdict ia one of " Acci-
dental death."

The foreman—Yes, that is our unanimous verdict.
The proceedings then terminated.

The New York Herald of the 4th states that one
of the best steam cutters in the revenue service had just
left that port, under the command of an experienced and
energetic officer, to cruise on the Atlantic coast between
Cape May and near Cape Cod, for the purpose of relieving
vessels in distress.

The Opittivn Nationale says :—" The interdiction
laid on the Incle'pendasee Belgc by the Minister of the
Interior will be removed on the let of February. M. Berardi,
the owner of that journal, came to Paris for the purpose
of obtaining the removal of the prohibition. Solos
of his ft ends advised him to solicit an audience with the
Emperor. He did so, ►nd was most graciously received by
his Majesty. The Emperor, it is said, even assured IL
Berardi that he did sot dispute the right of the jouroab to
criticise the seta of his goverment,

The New York Times of the Bth says :—" The
French merchant steamer C.ravelle, belonging to the
French West Indian line of steamers, which runs between
Kingston, Jamaica, sod Santiago de Cabe, was rather
roughly saluted on her last voyage from Kingston, a cannon
ball having been fired from the fort to cause her to stop,
as the dues, amounting to some sir or seven shillings, had
not been paid. This rough behaviour is the more unpalat-
able because the Caravel!e had been of great service to the
Jamaica authorities during the late riots in carrying troops
and ammunition to different party of the island, for which
services the company had declined, whoa offered, to receive
any compensation."

_ -
Frufam PaLace.—The ceremony of laying the
foundation stone of a new chapel for this palace took place
yesterday morning in the presence of some 50 persons.
The new chapel will join on to the palace. It is to be of
moderate proportions, and from cbrste designs by Mr.
Butterfield, the welbknown architect. The foundation
stone was laid by Mr. Craufurd Tait (►n Etonian, aged 16),
the bishop's only son. His lordship came on the ground in
his robes shortly after 10 a.m., acaompanied by the Rev.
W. F. Erskine Boollys, M.A., Rev. A. Mr* Jammu M.A.,
Rev. W. H. Fremantle, ILA., and the Rev. E. H. Fisher,
M.A., four of his chaplains. The religious service called
" The Order for Laying the Foundation Stone of a Church"
was read on the omission.

FOXES AND THE RINDERPECT.—SeveraI foxes
have been seen within the last few days on and about the
farm of Mn. Clarke, at Breekenborough Plantation, near
Louth, where several diseased animal have been buried.
One of these vermin was seen between Marsh Chapel and
Grainthotpe, sad we have heard of a case of rinierpsst
occurring on the immediate spot just afterwards. Great
indignation is being felt and expressed at the selfishness of
those lovers of sport who cootioue to course over the very
lands where the plague is stirring, the bounds passing
amongst cattle whose owners are using every exertion to
prevent an outbreak of the dreadful plague.— Stamford
Mercury.