The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-10-12 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN DAILY TIMES.

IRELAND

OM OUR OWN' CORRESPONDENT.)
DUBLIN, TUESDAY.
TE FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.
on the bodies of the persons killed by the
e accident on the Great Southern and Western

THE LA

'The inq
late lameni
Railway

..as resumed yesterday in the Crown Court,
Naas, at eleven o'clock, before Dr. Hayes, Coroner for the
northern division of the county. There was a large attend-
ance of the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood, who
seemed to take great interest in the proceedings.-
Sir Edward M'Donnel, Chairman of the Railway Company,
Mr. George Roe, Mr. Wyndham Goold, M. P. ; Mr. William
Haughton, Mr. Hutton, Mr. John Pennefather, and Mr.
Hardy, Directors, were present, having come down with the
professional gentlemen, witnesses, and others concerned, by
the ten o'clock train from Dublin. Mr. Miller, the en-
gineer in chief, and Mr. J. Ilberry, traffic superintendent,
were also in attendance. The High Sheriff, Sir' Thomas
Dancer, Sir E. Kennedy, Captain Robinson, the Rev.
Stephen Farrell, S.L., brother of Mrs. M'Swiney and Miss
Farrell,-were present.
-The prisoners James Gass, engine driver ; John O'Hara,
the stoker; and James Prey, the guard of the luggage train,
were .brought into Court, escorted by a body of police, from
Naas jail. They were seated in front of the dock.
• Counsellor the railway company, Mr. J. D. Fitzgerald,
QC., and Mr. Coffey. Solicitor, Mr. Croker Barrington.
Counsel for the prisoners, Mr. J. A. Curran. Solicitor,

•Counsel for the widow and children of the late .Mr. 0,
M!Nally, Mr. B. Stephens, Q.C. Solicitor, Mr. LaurencE

Mooney.
• -Mr. Mc

,gher appeared as counsel for the children of Mr
M'Swiney, with Mr. Mooney as agent, Mr

- -
;her also appeat:ed a*counsel

Thomas Turpin

s anent, for nelt of kin of Mr. Jelly.
Alma, of Alma and Hackett's, solicitors, appeared
ext of kin of Mrs. Smith, of Mallow.

aving answered to t

CORONT

read a certificate from. the .Rev. Mr.
stating that Mr. Thomas Cooney,
mror who was supposed to be under age, was born on
September, 1832, and baptised on the 16th of the
me month. This removed the difficulty he felt on Satur-
ty,, and he would therefore proceed with the inquest.
The CORONER, at the request of Mr: Curran, read the
mositions takeh on the first day of the inquest at the

Rourke; P.P., Colbridg

—a-. Barker identified the body of Mr. Jesse Hall, son of
Mr. Robert Hall, of Littlerath.
Mr. K. M. Knapp, one of the witnesses who had been
lined on the first day, was produced for cross-exami-
In reply 'to Arr. CURRAN, he said : —When the
yin first stopped at Clownings, there was quite
_ont light to see the faces and hands of the people at
.d gate of the farmer's house opposite, and I could dis-
tinguish a hill two or three miles off; I think we remained
about twenty-fiv- '

minutes there befoie the goods train came
; beforeAlle collision it had commenced raining smartly,
and at the t ime I should think that an object, such as a
train in the-way, would have been visible at a hundred
yards ; when I first noticed the luggage train, I could not

distinguish whether it was on our line of rail or not, it was
at such a distance ; I think I saw it for a space of five
minutes before it came up ; it was the lights of an engine I
saw first ; I observed no tail lights on our own train ; if
they had been there I don't think it likely I should have
observed them, as I was looking either towards the approach-
ing train or towar6 my own people in the carriage; I think
the man who went down the line was about a quarter of a
mile from us when the train passed him ; I believe the
lantern he waved had a white light ; I did not observe him
take it up before he left our train ; as the goods train passed
him he turned towards us, and I then saw that the light

was white.
- In answer to Mr. FITZGERALD, Q.C., the witness said that
four gentlemen, in the same compartment,' got out along with
him after the train had stopped about 15 minutes. One of
them was Mr. Jelly, who told the ladies there was no dan-
ger, and to sit where they were. Witness distinctly saw the
guard of the passenger train wave his lamp to and fro as the
goods train passed him. When the train first stopped I
made no inquiry as the cause of the stoppage, but I heard
somebody ask what's the matter ?" and' some official—l
think the guard—answered that there was some trifling de-
---hpnt of the engine ; he said nothing more than that in
none of the officers of the company said in my
hearing that there was a train coming on behind, nor do I

nly hearing

believe did any other passenger hear it from them.
After answering a few questions to Mr. MEAGHER this
witness was allowed to retire. He was very much distressed
whilst giving his evidence, and appeared several times to be
completely exhausted and broken hearted. He said, on
going away,_ that he had been up all night with his child,

7vhoiri he id not expect would
Mr. Geoghan examined—On the evening of the accident
I was travelling from Dublin by the half-past 5 train; we
had two engines, and arrived punctually at Straffan ; while
our train was stationary there I heard the noise of an engine

pidly by; Ire-
,;l-it something
e occurred; I think it was then about 20 to 25

a loose chain attached to it passing
ed to a person in the carriage I thou.

me that it was not a train, but I
thought there was more than an engine ; • the train in which
I was went on, and after stopping once or twice arrived at
the scene of the accident ; the driver crept up very cautiously,
and I suppose saw what happened ; on the way I put my
head out of the window and saw two red lights, one elevated
higher than the other ; at Straffan, during the stop, we heard
nothing of the accident ; on arriving at. Clownings I saw a
number of broken carriages and several persons lying, dead
in them, and on the road ; I saw t*o ladies quite dead in a
carriage, with a large broken piece of it pressed against their
chests ; I passed to other carriages and found a lady who
was held by the arm in the ruins, and a saw was procured
with which she was extricated ; as I went on I saw a number

Iter 6; it strue

of persons dead had dreadfully mangled; and on my return
some who had previously had life in them, were dead; a great
number of persons, including passengers and persons in the
company's employment, were rendering all the assistance
they could; I was at the Straffan station-house until 11
o'clock attending upon the sufferers; Dr. Muritz and Dr.
Kelly came up about an hour after the accident occurred,
and Dr. Clarke arrived afterwards; at about 11 o'clock, I
think, we began to pit the wounded persons into a special
train which had arrived from Dublin.
Mr. William Kennedy examined—l got into the train to
which the accident occurred at Newbridge, and until it stop-
ped at Clownings I had no idea that anything was wrong
with the engine ; a gentleman asked a man, who I think
was an official of the company, about the stoppage, and he
said that the train would go on directly, but that if it did
•not, a cattle train would be up which would -push us on to
Dublin. The door of the carriage next to where that man
was standing on the line outside was locked. In about a
quarter of an hour afterwards (I think) I heard a train ap-
proaching, and knew by the sound that it was coming
rapidly ; I had not got out of the carriage in which I tra-
velled, which was the Killarney one ; I remarked that I
thought the approaching train was coming from Dublin, but
a gentleman in the carriage with me, who I heard was Sir
John Walsh, looked out and immediately afterwards at-
tempted to get out of the window of the locked door; a
friend of mine attempted to hold him, but he succeeded in
jumping through the window ; he had previously said
nothing ; directly afterwards I heard the crash, and our
carriage was impelled down the line ; not one of those in
our compartment were knocked from their seats ; after we
had been impelled about 150 yards, I looked out of the win-
dow, and saw that the carriage next to us was broken to
pieces, and there was a cloak flapping about one of the
wheels ; at the same time I saw broken carriages in the
ditch ; some of the passengers in the carriage in which I
was were going to jump out, but I shouted to them not
to do so, that we were going on by our own impulse, and
would stop directly ; the part of the train I was in was sent
down a hundred yards below the Straffan station ; when it
stopped I told the people to get out ; I. went to the station
and directed the station master to get the place ready ; he ap-
peared agitated when I told him of the accident ; I got a
table and brought it down to the carriage in which I had
travelled ; attached to it were the remains of a second-class
carriage, the whole of the upper part of which had been
carried clean away, and the flooring only remained ; there
were six wounded persons in it; I carried five of these into
the station ; the first was a gentleman, both whose thighs
were broken—l believe he was Mr. Bateman, of Cork;
afterwards I carried up Mr. Egan, Mr. Neville, an old man
and a woman, whose back was hurt ; when I could do no
more for the people at the station-house, I ran up to where
the collision occurred; I found there several wounded people
lying on the bank, and I had a stretcher made of part of the
carriages, and brought them into the farm-house ' • the first
I carried in was a woman whose foot was torn away,
after she had been attended to, I went away accompanied by
a ctuntryman to my brother's house for wine, and brought
some to the station-house, and also to the farm-house ; a
carman named Connor, of Colbridge, refused to give the
assistance of his car, and I had to pay him half-a-crown for
taking it from the station-house to the farm-house ; I had
sent for it to remove a sister of Lord Guillamore from the
farm-house to my brother's residence ; when the car arrived
the lady had been removed, but Connor grumbled so that I
had to give him half-a-crown ; all the other country people
rendered every assistance in thelr power on the occasion ;
there was no stipulation for money, but after all was over
some did ask for it.
To Mr. MEAGHER. 'The passenger train was 11 minutes
late at Sallins ; it must have been at least 11 minutes late
at Newbridge ,• I heard no whistle from either engine.
James M. Cusack, junior, 23, Kildare-street, was next
examined—l was a passenger in the express train of Wed-
nesday last ; I got in at Maryborough ; I was in the centre
division of the second-class carriage ; there was a first-class
carriage, and a guard van in front of it, and two first-class
carriages behind it ; when I got into the train it was late, but
I cannot say how long ; it might be about fifteen minutes of
so ; at Portarlington station I got out on the engine, and
travelled on to Newbridge, where I got in again ; at Sallins
we. stopped, and took in Mr. Jesse Hall; at some distance
from Straffan, where I knew we were not to stop, I found
that they were slackening speed, and in a short time the train
stopped ; after remaining for a few minutes in the carriage ;
I got out to see what was the matter, and went to the
engineer ; The engineer said " Will you let go the break,
Doctor ?" I did so, but the train would not start; I then
said 4i You had better send a light to the rear of the ear-

riage," and I saw the guard light his lamp at the engine ;
he walked on. about 150 yards, and I lost sight of him;
Mr. Wills and I walked to the station-house at Straffan,
to get the danger signal put up ; I called out to the
station-master to put it on, and he did so ; I stayed to
see that it was the red light which was signalled; we then
got on the platform, and stopped there three or four minutes :
the Dublin train had not arrived at this time; when it did
come up I saw that there were two engines to it ; I went to
the driver of the pilotengine and told him that he must ac-
company me and run to Sallins, as the express train had
broken down ; he said that they had a very heavy train, and
that he couldnot ; he, however, came with us, the Dublin train
coming slowly after us ; we had not proceeded more than
forty yards down the line, when the engineer said, "There
is your train gone by ;" I said, " That is not possible, for
there are all the lights .down the road ; I did not recollect at
the time that we had no lights at all ; I saw the engine
driver under the train, and I thought he was killed ; as we
went on, O'Connor, who made the signal with the flag, came
towards us, and said, "For God's sake stop—they are all
killed ;" I ran to where the break was, and found the people
on the bank and lying about; Gass came up to me, and
asked me what he could do ; I said " Try to back
her out;" he jumped on the engine, but it could not
be moved; after ten or twelve minutes I turned back
and went to the Dublin train, and asked them to
come back with me to. Hazelhatch ; they said they would
not, for M'Donnell was on the road with the goods ; I left
them there, and went on to where the disabled engine was,
and saw the engineer on it ; I said, " Can we do nothing ?"
and he replied, "My fireman is not with me ;" I told him I
would do what I could, and I came to Dublin, and sent down
medical assistants by direction of Mr. Miller ; I saw Berry
go back with the usual guard-light ; the white light was to-
wards me as he walked from me, and I suppose the red
light was directed the other way ; when the collision took
place, I think I must have been on the pilot engine at
Straffan ; the walk from the carriages to Straffan station
occupied about ten minutes ; as the train stopped, I advised
the guard to go down the line with the signal light ; I saw
a man- go first with a signal flag; we turned on the
red light at Straffan ; I think that we were about four
or five minutes there before the Dublin train came up ;
the station-master did not know anything about the
collision then.
Mr. FITZGERALD after the close of Mr. Casack's exami-
nation, read a list of the company's regulations concerning
the duties of. the various train attendants. Rule No. 6 was
to the following effect :—" In case of any. accident occurring,
so as to impede the progress of a train, the under guard
shall be despatched to the nearest station astern of the train,
to give notice thereof ; and in his progress thither shall fix
at a distance of half-a-mile from the point of obstruction, a
red flag by day, or a red light by night (in addition to the
fog signals,) so as to indicate danger to a coming train.
Measures should also be taken to advise the clerk at the

nearest station ahead of the occurrence."
Mr. George Ilberry, Superintendent on tile Railway, ex-
°mined :--Fog signals consist of a piece of metal charged
with combustibles, placed on the line, which explode when
tite train passes over them ; for a heavy train there are two
guards ; in a light train, like the express train, with only
four carriages, there is only one guard, and it is his duty to
put on the fog signals ; the guards of all trains are supplied
with these signals, and I take their receipts for them ; they
are carried in the guard's own box ; the present guard had
them, for I inspected them ; they are placed at intervals of
200 yards distance in ; I think that a train
could be pulled up in half-a-mile ,• I examined the guard's
box at the place of the accident, and found these signals were
in it.

ANOTHER ARREST.

1842. to 1849. He had only found two entries of his of pri-
soners complaining of want of food, though he frequently
visited the gaol, and listened to all complaints that were

In the tvo
soners to the
Lord Londesborough was examine(
that he had never heard of food being kept back to the in-

urgeon

same of

jury of the prisoners.
The Rev. H. J. Hoskins, a visiting just.,
examined. He said he was at the gaol on the ,Ist
August, 1851. He had no doubt that he so
soners that day, and that there were no complaints, or 11
should not have made an entry to that effect in the book, a:
he had done. Did not think it possible that a man who was
without food until the fourth day could be in the gaol at that
time without its coming to his knowledge. If that was the
case, the man was a fool.
Mr. WELSBY.—That is possible

was nex

all the nri-