The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-12-05 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN DAILY TIMES.

TILE RAIL WAY

J3ERKHAJL(FSTEAD.

A CCIDE_YT AT

On Thursday morning a Nery serious and fatal accident
occurred to the nine o'clock, a.m., down express train from
Euston-squar6. Shortly after leaving the Berkhampstead
station, 28 miles' from London,. the driver perceived a -
violent jumping motion in the 'engine and inimedir,:tcly
afterwards the Pore axle of the engine broke, and the engine
and carriages ran off the line. The .gnard, named William
Blayney, was thrown violently from his seat upon the line,
a portion of the engine !falling over him and killing him
almost instantaneously. Some of passengers were much
injured and shaken, but fortunately no other lives were lost.
The fracture of the axle took place close to the axle-box, the
leading wheel left the engine, ran np an enibankment 20
feet high, dashed through a quick-set hedge into a meadow
bdyond, and after describing a semicircle of about 40 yards'
radius, buried itself in the.green. sward. The engine and
tender, after running a few yards; toppled over .and buried
themselves in the embankment. The guard'S break
and a second-class carriage immediately
.behind it
were thrown across the up-line of 'rails with great violence,
and completely broken up by the force of the concussion.
There were very few passengers. The second-class carriage
had only one young woman, a widow, acting as nurse to, two
ladies, who, were in a first-class carriage. In the leading.
first-class carriage. Were Barons Meyer. and Lionel 'de Roths-
child and four officers of the Guards proceeding to Leighton,
to the "meet" of Baron Rothschild's stab-hounds, at Acton
Abbots. This train does not stop between 'Euston and
leighton. It was travelling at its usual speed of 45 miles
an hour. On the shattered train cording to a standstill, all
the passengers alighted in great alarm. The carriage in
which the Barons Rothschild and their friends were was
thrown completely across the line of rails, and its occupants
l4st no time in extricating themselves from so dangerous a
*Alan. They all received contusions. The two ladies
aboie referred to, Mrs. Harper, of Havering-atte-Bower,
and her sister, Miss Plitt, of Sandkeys; Cheshire, with Mrs.
Harper's infant child, were in the last first-class carriage.
The guard's break and the second-class carriage presented a
complete wreck. ' Even the iron frame-work of the break
had been broked in an incredible manner, and they were so
embedded together, that it was with great difficulty an ex-
amination could be made to ascertain whether any sufferers
lay beneath them.

The crash of the first accident had.been heard by a man
named Page, of Wood-lane farm, 300 yards on the east side
of the railway, whereupon, led by the volume of steam, he
hastened across, and, seeing what had happened, it at once
occurred to him that several up . trains were now due,
and if not stopped, that terrible mischief would ensue.
With most praiseworthy forethought he immediately
ran down towards the tunnel, on reaching which
he saw the up-express enter the other end at full speed. As
his only chance of, attracting the driver's oblervation, he
waved his cap and shouted as loudly as he could, and, for-
tunately, as the engine emerged from the tunnel, the fire-
man observed him, and applied the break, the driver shutting
off the steam at the same time. The distance from that to
the wreck was 500 yards, and it was impossible to avoid
running into the wreck. The speed had, however, been
lowered from 40 miles an hour to 10 when the collision
occurred. The shock threw the engine and tender of the
up-train off the rails, and carried away the compartment of
the first-class carriage in which Baron de Rothschild and his
friends were seated. This increased the dreadful confusion
of the scene. The down train, which starts at 9.15 a.m.
from Euston-square, was now momentarily expected, but the
guard bad fortunately gone back, and, by placing fog signals
on the line, arrested its approach at Berkhampstead. The
Earl of Lonsdale was• a passenger in the latter train. The
telegraphic communication having been destroyed by the
accident, a great deal of time was lost iuf communicating
with London and Wolverton; and,' before any effective
01 cans for clearing the line were at hand, the rails were
blocked for a considerable distance with the up and down
trains. The remains of the unfortunate guard were subse-
quently placed on a shutter, and conveyed to the Crooked
Billet public-house, a
.roadside, inn near the spot. Mrs.
Burr, servant to Mrs. Harper, was also conveyed to this
inn. A very similar accident- occurred within a few yards
of the same spot ten years ago, when the old nurse of Lord
Byron was among the 'sufferers.
Tu CORONER'S INQUEST. —Yesterday (Saturday) the in-
quest was held, at Berkhampstead, on the body of the'unfor-

timate guard. The coroner: for the Hemel Hemp-stead divi-
sion of Hertford, Mr. F. Day, and aury of gentlemen and
farmers residing in the neighbourhood, assembled where the
body of the deceased was lying. Mr. M'COnnell, the loco-
motive superintendent of the company, Mr. Carter, the soli-
citor, Mr. Saville, Mr. Baker, and other officials connected
with the railway. were in attendance.
The jury, of which Mr. F. J. Moore, a magistrate of the
county, was fireman, having. been duly sworn,
The evidence was gone into, and the several parties en-
gaged in working the train which had broken down, and
the others also were examined. They did not throw much
light on the occurrence with the exception Of the following
from the guard and driver of the broken train :
The first witness called was Thomas Blayney, brother to
the deceased, who stated that he resides at Liverpool, and is
a porter on the East Lancashire Railway : I saw my bro-
ther alive last about six weeks ago. .1 have since seen him
dead; he was turned 30 years of age.
Frederick Shoebridge, guard of the train which met with

the accident :—He said, r was acting as guard on the morn-
ing of Thursday last, although I am employed as porter at
the Crewe station. lam one of the extra men occasionally
employed as rear guard. The train left Euston station at
nine o'clock that morning for Edinburgh and Glasgow. The
deceased, William Blayney, was acting as the other guard.
When about a mile from Berkhampstead we ran off the line,
and I was thrown off the seat to the bottom of the van by
the shock. That occurred about three-quarters of a mile
beyond the station. We were within four. or five hundred
yards of the tunnel, and were just passing under the
Crooked Billet bridge when the shook occurred. I was in
the last van, and as soon as I could get up I got out, and ran
back as fast as I could, in order to stop the express train
which leaves Euston-square at a quarter past nine. When I
was running up I met a lad, and sent him down towards the
accident, as both lines were obstructed. I heard the whistle
of the express train before I got to Berkhampstead. I
told the boy to run down the line as fast as he could, to stop
anything that might be coming up. As soon as I had made
the signal at the station I went back to the accident, and
asked Flinn, the guard of the up-line, - where Blayney was,
and be told me he was dead. He told me had sent his
fellow-servant down the line to Tring, and recommended
me to go down the line. I accordingly ran through the
tunnel. At the spot where the accident occurred I found
the up-train had come up, and that the engine was off the
line. The guard who went before me towards Tring had
succeeded in stopping the up mail train. I returned in the
mail train to the place of accident. I knew nothing of the
cause of the accident. I made use of detonating signals as
I went along the line. We always carry them with us. I
put down two before we got to Berkhampstead.
By a Juror : I have no opinion as to the cause of the ac-
cident, beyond the axle breaking. The speed of the train
was about forty miles an hour.

"William Field : I was the driver of the engine which met
with the accident on Thursday morning. We left Euston-
square at one minute past nine. I carry a time-piece be-
longing to the company. When the accident occurred I was
thrown down between the engine and tender, with the foot-
plate across my back. If my mate had not extricated me I
should have been " burned to bits." The ordinary speed of
the train is 44 miles per hour. It was 41 minutes past nine
when we passed Berkhampstead. I felt the engine give a
jump just before the accident took place at the bridge, and I
recollect nothing more till my mate pulled me out. I saw
..u.amat,Cll.
Ire was qm a dead. When the engine was brought out from
the shed in the morning, it was all right. I was on the pre-
mises an hour and a half before the train started. It is the
driver's duty to examine the engine. The axletree was a
little warm the day before, and I spoke to the foreman en-
gineer. He removed the weak spring of one side of the fore-
wheel and put in a fresh one, to diminish the friction. I
never knew the axle to become hot before, although I have
run the engine 82 trips to Rugby and back. After the new
spring was in, I said to the engineer that I thought that side
was still a little low • but he said it was owing to the way
the engine was standing. Sometimes for weeks the axles
will not require grease. When grit gets in we sometimes
hear the axle screech. I have been three years in the com-
pany's service. I have had hot axles, but I never knew an
axle to break before.
The Coroner said in reference to the manner in which the
railway company had come forward to afford every infer-
illation in their power, he could not speak too highly, and it
reflected the greatest credit upon them. It appeared to him
that there could be no doubt whatever from the evidence
they had heard that the poor man's death was the result of
accident, but he left the matter entirely in their hands.
The'jury then retired, and returned in about ten minutes,
with a verdict of Accidental Death ; the foreman adding,
at the same time, " We consider that the company is not
free from blame in sending out an engine with a fast train
when any doubt of its efficiency existed." The proceedings
then terminated.

SPECULATION IN MELBOURNE.—A. Melbourne correspon-
dent of the Australian and New Zealand Gazette writes:—
A Polish-Yankee Jew, who came here about twelve months
ago without a shilling, commenced a restaurant on credit,
and has so marvellously succeeded, that he is at this moment
in treaty with the owner of, the royal hotel to take that
establishment, and offers the following terms :—XIO,OOO to
the present tenant for the two years of his lease still to run ;
£l,OOO to the owner for his consent to the exchange ; £l,OOO
a year for the two years, and £4,500 for five years after; and
to spend £5,000 in improvements. There is another fact.
The speculator is to make the place the best hotel in Mel-
bourne ; and if he does he may give any money almost,
for nothing is wanted more than a first-rate place of that
kind."

VALUE OF LAND.-At the sale of the Mostyn estates,
lately held, the prices obtained for several of the farms in the
vale of Llangollen were at 65 and 70 years' purchase on the
present rental. A small piece of land, a few feet square,
required for the public approach to Trinity Church, Mar-
gate, was valued by the owner at 1001., or equal to 150,000/.
per acre, being double the value of land in the City or
Strand. It WAS disposed of for 301., being equal to the pre-
sent value of land in Belgravia or Regent's-park.—,Tournal
of Auctions.