The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-14 00:00:00

KILLED.
Joseph Crossley, Reading, the driver of the pilot
engine.

Mr. F. Fynmore, clerk to Messrs. Simonds' Bank,
Rea, jug.
Christopher Bilton, 16 years of age, C tstle-street,
Reading.

Francis Beart, supposed to be a gamekeeper at Hamp-
stead Norris.

INJURED.
Mrs. Norton, wife of the clerk at the goods station—
believed to be dying.
Jesse Ferguson, fireman of the pilot engine—two
scalp wounds, and bruises of the face and head and
about the legs and body,
Elizabeth Banning, of Wokingham, bruises on the
heal, face, and shoulders.
Henry Harrison, stoker of the passenger train—frac-
tured ribs and injuries of the abdomen.
Mrs. Skinner, of Hill-gr ,ve-street, Bristol—compound
fracture of the left leg and wound on the face.
Miss Rsmeon, of Guildford—injury in the back, and
otherwise bruised.
All the above are in the hospital.
Charles Sowden, son of Mr. Sowden, wine merchant,
Reading (lying at home)—severe laceration and contu-
sion of the left thigh and a compound fracture of the
left thigh. Hopes are entertained of saving the limb.
Wm. Graham, driver of the paswenger train (lying at
home), bruised and cut about the face and head.
As will be seen below, an inquiry into the cause of this
distressing accident has already been commenced by the
coroner. The inquiry, it ie probable, will bring out facts
net yet known ; but, in the meantime, there can be no
difficulty in tracing the immediate cause of the accident
to the conduct of Crossley, the unfortunate stoker of the
pilot engine. Whether a switchman ought to have been
at the place when the engine left the shed may be matter
of question, but it is perfectly clear that Crossley him-
,elf ought to have seen to the alteration of the points
before venturing upon the line. According to the testi-
mony of Ferguson, the stoker, given before the coroner,
the engineer has the power, in the absence of the regular
switchman, to order the fireman to alter the points when
it is necessary tt take oat a pilot engine. This power
Crossley neglected to exercise, and hence the engine
went the down instead of the up line. How he should
have persevered in travelling along the down line seems
to be wholly unaccountable.
It is but just to add that no blame whatever attaches
to the driver of the passenger train. As no light was
attached to the pilot engine (which was driven back-
wardr,), it was impossible it could be seen in a dark
night ; and even if seen it would have been too late to
prevent the dreadful consequences that happened.

Crossley said, ' We will light them before we get to Wo-me'praelit.isething
THE INQUEST.
At 3 o'clock Mr. 131andy, the coroner, and a jury,
In the large room of the public offices at Reading, for
the purpose of inquiring into the circumstances con
nected with this unhappy accident. Captain Barlow,
general manager of the London and South-Eastere Rail-
way, attended on behalf of that company, and intimated
to the coroner that everything would be done on the
part of the directors to promote the object of the in-
quiry, as they were anxious that the fullest investigation
should take place.
The Coroner said, the jury had been called together
to inquire into the causes of the deplorable accident that
had taken place in their neiehbourhood, and which bad
created so deep a sensation in the public mind. He pro-
posed that, in the first instance, they should prsceed to
view the bodies of the unfortunate persons who had been
killed, and that he should take the statement of Jes-e
Ferguson, the man who acted as stoker on the pilot en-
gine, and who was lying at the hospital. He believed
that, in consequence of the condition in which Ferguson The sittings of the court for the September general
was, it was not desirable that the jury should be present sessiens were resumed yesterday morning, at the Guild.
at the examination ; but he would of course submit its hall, Westminster, before Mr. Bodkin (presiding for the
contents to them afterwards.
Assistant-Judge), Mr. Witham, and a bench of ningis
The coroner and jury accordingly proceeded to view tratee.
the bodies, and the corner, attended by his clerk, took
William, Lc& 33, was indicted for having stolen from
hospital down the statement of Jesse Ferguson in the ward of the the person of William Harwell, a pocketbook, contain-
hospital in which he is confined. It is as follows : the
115/. in bank notes. He pleaded guilty.
"lam an engine cleaner in the employment of the This was an ordinary caee of pocket picking. The
London and South-Eastern Railway Company, and am propecutor detected the prisoner in the act, and he was
Occasionally employed in stoking. I was employed on taken into custody. The money was recovered.
Wednesday night, when Francis Croke told me an elec-
Mr. Parry, for the prisoner, said this was a most ne-
ttle rneseasse had been received for an engine to go to accountable affair, for the accused, instead of being a
Guibiferd to meet the express train, and that I was common thief, was respectably connected, and was him-
,to prepare the engine. I prepared the engiee ac• self a person of some means, which rendered the case
The"r
personel y.
who
k nee;
cleans
ntsh at
the i
et n
gwi
naes, Cwrhoes
ns etyh' se
firemanngi ee.
or Stoker is tint present, has to go. When the de• ,
to trim the lamp., which I somewhat extraordinary, that might operate against him
,
in the mind of the court in this way, that being a man
ceased Crossley came he tAdme to jump up and good circumstances he could not have committed this
thefti from necessity . but it might lead also to this view
proceeded to do. The c f the matter, that the prisoner, seeing an opportunity,
one in front of the engine was lighted—that at the
back was no•
and that he did riot
t slighted.t I was occupied in trimming the had) ieldedto a‘sudden impulse, lamp and gig to light it when the concussion took The prosecutor had suffered no loss,
place. The lamps should have been lighted before we
left the engine-house. The engine was running back-
wards, and the end lamp was not lighted. Before we
started I suggested that the lamps should be lighted, hut and ohn_
de
watc n chain, a
under therd circumstances,u
(woulds ,
meo
witnesses,
) giveneh
kinghaire' The deceased Crossley was gui ling and bad leans i h
• prisoner were found 15 sovereigns, a gold
and diamond ring, all his own, which,
he (Mr. Parry) hoped the court
to the prisoner's sister.
t, character were called. One of them
paid he knew the poisoner as a merchant at New Or-
I)anted in London as agent to several
the command of the engine. My duties as stoker were , atnhc r e now
40 see that there was a good fire, light the lamps, andhousesm
Bodkine e :
said he ghoul,! postpone the sentence, and
mind the brake. We started about half-past 7 o'clock
in Mr.
mea :timeconsideralr. Parry's eon? iCP Con.
in the evening (hut I don't know exactly) from the
'Valiant Arthur Buchanan, 19, clerk, pleaded guilty
engine-house at Reading station. I did not perceive on
welch line of rails we were fie, as I was engaged clean ,n to having stolen five 10/. Bank of England notes, and agoing
the lamps. It might occupy about 11 minutes it
e Pest-officeo order for 1/. 134. 41., the property of Joseph
from the station to the place where the concussion took Bhh, his master.
place. In going along the road Crossley made the ob-
The' p
aecutor,
a solicitor, in Argyll street, St.
o
servation that we should only be able to get as far as Jaenes s, st rosecutor,ted, in answer t the court, that the prisoner
l had been in hie service as copying clerk. He was re-
did not know on what line of rails we were. We should
Ash, as we should not have tine to get to Guildford. I
i spectably connected, but he had been rather " wild."
He placed 50/. in notes in a letter with a pest-office
not have gone on the down line of rails. In the case of ' • I
r( er, and told the prisoner to get it registered, but he
ins it is the duty of theewitchtnan to arrange o
ordinary , tra
the pints, but in the case of a pilot engine, as on this absconded, and wa, taken at Jersey. None of the
occasion, in the absence of the switchman, the driver money had been restored, but 13/. was found on the
orders the fireman to go down and hold the points. On m prisoner. That porn the officer had. He offered a re-
- _ ward of 10/., which the officer deducted from the 13/.,
.-. . - • -

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.

BROMLEY, Thursday Evening.—Shortly after twelve
o'clock to-day Robert Palin, charged with the murder
of Jane Beagley, at Cudham, on the 25th ult., was
brought up for re-examination before Colonel Cator and
Mr. J. J. Wells, two of the magistrates for the coil-Ay
of Kent, at the Bell Tavern, in this town. Since his
remand, on Thursday last, the prisoner has been con-
fined in Maidstone Gaol, whence be was brought here
this morning, in the custody of Sergeant Handley, of the
Kent constabulary, and a strong body of police. There
was great excitement in the town, and the justice room
was crowded throughout the proceedings.
The prisoner is a mere boy in appearance, though he
is stated to be 23 years of age. He is about the middle
size, and the expression of his face is exceedingly gentle,
and not without a look of intelligence.
George Beagley, the husband of the murdered woman,
was recalled, and identified the tongs with which the
murder was supposed to be committed.
Eliza Jupp, a you g woman, servant to Mr. Lloyd, of
South-street, Cudharn, whose house is about a quarter
of a mile distant from Beagley's Cottage, said—On the
evening previous to the murder, between eight and nine
o'clock, it being then moonlight, she saw a young man
pass along the road in front of her master's house, with
a stick in his hand. He was very like the prisoner, but
she was not positive that ho was the saute man. He was
going toward.; Westerham.
James Gibson, a carter in the employ of Mr. Christie,
of Cudham, identified a pair of black trousers found in
the possession of the prisoner when he was taken. He
knew them by a button on the beck part of them. He
(witness) borrowed them of George Beagley, the preced-
ing witness, a few weeks ago, to go to Sydenham in.
There was a button off them when they were lent to
him, and he put one on of a different colour to the rest,
and that button he now identified. That was before the
murder. Ile returned the trousers to George Beagley
after be had done with them.
Mr. Edwards, of Keeton, surgeon, described in detail
the injuries which had been inflicted upon the deceased.
The blows had been chiefly dealt on the head, and had
been inflicted with a blunt instrument. There was a
fracture of the skull, which would cau4e instantaneous
death. There was al..° an incised wound on the cheek,
which could not have been inflicted with a pair of tunes.
Robert Jackson; a labeurer at Cadhain, said he was
mowing in a field adjoining Beagley's cottage on the
morning of the murder, and about 20 minutes past six
o'clock he saw a man running across the adjoining field.
The prisoner was wonderfully like the man he saw run-
nine across the field.
Superintendent Handley, of the Kent constabulary,
said he went to Croydon on Sunday morning, theday after
the murder, arid about 7 o'clock in the morning, on his
way, he met the prisoner in the Godstoue and Croydon
road. He carried a bundle. The prisoner, at his request,
untied the bundle, which contained a coat, waistcoat, and
a pair of trousers. Witness believed the clothes since
found in the pmseseion of the prisoner when taken into
cestody were the save, though he did not look particu-
larly at them when he met him. Witness asked him
Where he had come from, and he said from Copthorne,
where he had been staying with his grandmother. Cop-
thorne was about 18 miles from the spot where witness
stopped him He asked him what time he left Cop-
thorne, and he said two o'clock. Witness pulled out
his watch and found that he had time to walk the dis-
tance.
Mary Ann Merdon said she reside-I at Copthorne, in
the same house with the grandmother of the prisoner,
Sarah Harbour, She bad seen the prisoner there, but
never since he was transported, some years ago. He did
not sleep in a itness's house on the night Qf the murder,
nor had he been there at all that night.
Inspector Baxter said when be charged the prisoner
on his apprehension with the wilful murder of Jane Beag-
ley, he replied that he thought he had heard the name of
Beagley bet', re. Witness then gave him the usual cau-
tion, and after that he male no other observe ions. Last
Thursday, after his examination, the prisoner told wit•
pees at the police station that he slept at a public-house
in the G eistene-road called the Bell on the night of Vie
murder ; that be was there from 9 o'clock at night till
between 8 and 9in the morning ; and that the landlady
had cooked him a steak for breakfast.
Ross Turner, 16 years of age, the potboy of the Bell,
Oxterl, recollected the evening of Ang. 24. He was about
the house all that ever.ing. The prisoner did not sleep
there that night, nor did he see him there that evening
at all. Witness cooked a steak fur a man on the Satur-
day morning in the tap of the Bell, but he could not say
that the prisoner was the man.
Susan Cockerell, wife of Robert Cockerell, the land-
lord of the Bell Lin, gave similar evidence.
W. King, a police sergeaet, said, last Thursday the
prisoner made a statement to him to the effect, that if
he went down to the other side of Tatsfield he would see
a public-house, which was shut up, and which had a sign-
post nn the opposite side of the road. He added that he
had buried 31. near the sign-post there before he was
transported, and that he had come up from Gloucester-
shire to get it. Witness asked him where be slept on the
night of the 24th of August, and be said at the Bell.
Isolice-constable Johnson, who first took the prisoner
into custody in Gloucestershire, made a statement in ad-
dition to hie former evidence, to the effect that on Wed-
nesday morning the slla of September, after the prisoner
hart dressed himself, and the waistcoat, trousers, and
coat identified as belonging to the Beagleys, were lying
in the room, he asked the prisoner whose clothes they
were, and he said they were his ; that be toll the pri-
soner they were the clothes of the Beagleys, anti that
the prisoner said he bought them of a man. Witness
asked him what man, and he replied the man whom he
supposed the policeman was looking for when he stopped
him (prisoner) on the Sunday morning, and that those
were the clothes he bad when the policeman stopped him.
The depositmns were then read over to the prisoner
and signed, and he was committed to Maidstone Gaol
for trial at the next assizes for the county.

Mr. Tyrwhitt issued a summons for the assault, which
was served immediately, and Mr. Ashdowne made his
appearance, but the evidence not being sufficient t
prove an assault, the cause was dismissed, and the de-
fendant departed, taking with him the carpet hag.
The rev, gentleman shortly afterwards returned to
the court, and said he had been to Mr. Ashdo woe's
house, willing to make some payment, in order to get
hack his carpet bag, but Mr. Ashdowne demanded 3-i.
more, in a peremptory manner, at which he felt indig-
nant, and he now applied to have a summons for ide-
gaily detaining the carpet bag.
Mr. Tyrwhitt instantly granted the summons, and
ordered it to be immediately served.
Just before Mr. Tyrwhitt left his seat Mr. Ashdowne
again attended as a defendant.
The Rev. Mr. Marvell reiterated his former evidence.
Mr. Tyrwhitt—l have no reason to disbelieve the
rev, gentleman's evidence. No one can doubt that he
was bitten. He certainly must be the best judge of that
fact.

Defendant—I deny that he was bitten.
Mr. Tyrwhitt said it had been decided that no con-
tract was binding if a hou4e was infested by bugs. lie
ordered defendant to deliver up the carpet-bag, on pay-
ment of 2s. 6d.
Defendant left the court grumbling.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

DONCASTER RACES.—WEDNESDAY.
ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.
This being the " St. Leger Day," large numbers of
persons began to arrive at Doncaster early in the fore-
noon, and by mid-day the town was thronged by thou-
sands of eager visitors, anxious to witness the exciting
contest for the St. Leger Stakes. The number of horse-
boxes and stalls engaged was larger than usual, the
comae was in good condition, and every exertion bad
been used to render the arrangements complete and
worthy a great meeting like the one of Doncaster. The
west end of the grand stand had been re-arranged, and
was appropriated to the use of the stewards and their
friends ; and the Electric Telegraph Company had erected
a new office adjoining the nobleman's stand. The bet-
ting rooms in High-street were crowded, and the roads
to the course were thronged by thousands of pedestrians
and many vehicles, and they raised a dust that was any-
thing but pleasant. The day was beauqully fine—spe-
cial trains arrived from Manchester, She7ffield, &c., and
the grand stand was crowded with a fashionable com-
pany, among whom were a tolerable sprinkling of ladies.
The card of the day contained seven events, the first
being fixed for half-past one, and shortly afterwards the
following came to the post for
The Municipal Stakes of 200 ROVE; each, h ft, for two-yr-
old colts. 84 71b, fillies 84 41b. Red House in.
Mr. W. H. Brooks' Manganese ..(Osborne) 1
Sir J. Hawley's Kalipyge (A. Day) 2
Lord Glasgow's oh c byßirdcatcher—Maid of Masharn
Betting—'Man (Flatman) 3
ganese agat the field. The favourite
came a.vay with the lead, Kalipvge lying second, and
Lord Glasgow's colt last. No change occurred ; the
favourite winning by half a length ; the colt by Bird-
catcher being three lengths behind the second horse.
Sweepstakes of 10 BOYS each, h ft, with 50 added, for
two-yr-olds. 74 ; three, Oat. Red House in.
Mr. E. Parr's Stork, 2 yrs... .
Mr. Pedlev's 13eneer and Buretn, 2 yrs (Ashman) 2
Mr. Harland's Mirage
(Chad nn)
Capt. Christie's Lawn
(Cliff) 4
Betting-5 to 4on Mirage, 2to 1 bar one. Bonner
and Buxom led, closely attended by the favourite (who
held inside place) and Stork, Lawn being two lengths in
the rear of the third horse. When they arrived within
the distance, Stork came away; and won easily by four
lengths, and a tolerably gond race for second place en-
sued between Mirage and Bonnor and Buxom.
The Doncaster Plate (Handicap) of 10 sous each, h ft,
with 7.0. added, for three-yr-olds and upwards. Red
House in.
Mr. Davidson's Baroda, 3 yrs, Est (Gill) 1
Lord Derby's Acrobat, 4 yrs, Bst 13!b (Bartholomew) 2
Lord Chesterfield's Ida, 3 yrs, sst 51b (Fordham) 3:
Bourgeois, Protest, and Wheatear also ran.
Betting-2 to 1 agst Acrobat, and 3to 1 agst Bour-
geois. All got off well together, with the exception of
Ida, who was three or four lergths behind. From the
distance a good race ensued between Baroda and Acro-
bat, which ended in the former winning by three-qua.-
ters of a length.
The St. Leger Stakes of 25 sore each, for 3-yr-old colts,
84 71b ; fillies, Bst 21b. St. Leger Course.
Mr. T. Parr's Saucebox (Walls) 1
Mr. Osbaldeston's Rifleman (Flatman) 2
Mr. John Osborne's Lady Tatton (Osborne) 3
Mr, W. Baxter's Alice (F. Marson) 0
Mr. Bowes's GrEe-nhis Esuriens (Bartholomew) 0
Mr. Bradshaw's Herald (Aldcroft) 0
Mr. S. Hawke's Marchioness (Templeman) 0
Mr. I'Anson's Blooming Heather (Charlton) 0
Mr. A. Johnstone's Rotherham (J. Marson) 0
Mr. Plummer's Oulston (A. Day) CO
Mr. C +pueblo (Prince) 0
Mr. Villier's nd Clementina colt (Wakefield) 4)
Lord of the Isles was scratched at ten o'clock on Tues-
day night. The following notice, signed by the clerk of
the course, was posted on the stand :—"The stewards
have decided that the' Clementina colt is entitled to
start."—Betting at start :—Rifleman agst the field, 4 to
1 agst Oulston, 6to 1 agst Clementina colt, 8 to 1 a4st
Rotherham, 10 to 1 agst Capucine, and 40 to 1 agst the
winner. Just before the start Mr. Davis offered to 'lay
4001. to 101. agst Saucebox. They got off at the first
attempt, Lady Tatton cutting nut; the work, Saucebox
lying second, Rotherham third, and the others in close
attendance, with the exception of the Clementina colt,
who lost three or lair lengths at start. When passing
the Red 1.--louse Lady "Patton still held a strong lead,
and Capucine and Oulston had crept tin, the latter th n
holding third plane, and all close. For a quarter of a
mile it was exceedingly difficult to select the horse that
had the best chance of succews. At the distance, Saucebox,
who had gradually improved his position, arne up to
Lady, Tatum ; Rifleman also joined ; hefts, and then
looked like a winner ; and from this point the race lay
with the three • but Saucebox won easily by three-quar-
ters of a lens th:Rifleman defeating Lady Tatton for second
place by half a length. Herald, we belietve, was fourth,