The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-08 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY BURSTING OF A
RAILWAY ENGINE.

One of the most extraordinary and unaccountable
accidents ever recorded happened at Gloucester yester-
day (Wednesday), at the station of the Great 'Western
and South Wales Railway Companies. It appears that
the 0 a.m., train from Paddington arrived at Swindon in
due course, and proceeded on to Bristol, a branch train
being made up at that place, and running thence along
the Cheltenham branch to Gloucester and Cheltenham.
This train, drawn by the Actaeon, reached Gloucester at
the appointed time-10.20—and the passengers for
Gloucester had alighted, leaving ethers for South Wales
and Cheltenham in the train. From Gloucester to South
Wales the train is made a third-class one, and ac-
cordingly, during a short stoppage, the engine proceeded
about a hundred yards down the line to fetch a third-
class carriage. This had been attached to the engine,
which at once returned at a slow pace towards the sta-
tion, stud had reached within 15 yards at the end of the
platform, when an awful explosion took place. The top
of the boiler wa■ carried away, and fragments of the en-
gine were scattered in all directions. One portion, the
cupola at the top of the boiler, fell through the zinc roof
of the station on to the platform, but luckily without
touching any person. Another large piece of the en-
gine was propelled through the roof of the Gloucester
workhouse, which stands a short distance from the side
of the line ; a third was carried a distance of a quarter of
a mile over streets and houses, and fell in a garden near
the Spa, while a massive iron ring about a foot in (Hanle-
ter was carried across the cattle-market, a distance of about
250 yards, aid striking the corner of the new market inn,
drove a hole completely through the wall anil destroyed
numerous articles of fornitoro i.e the room, some •f the
bricks being protected 50 yards up a narrow lane. A
rod from the boiler was picked up in a yard in Burton-
street, and numerous fiagments were found in various
parts of the city. The woodwork of the engine appears
to ha►e been splintered into a thousand bits, no piece
more than two or three inches in length haying been
picked op. The explosion, which resembled that of a
park of ordnance, threw the whole city into consterna-
tion and was heard for miles around. A great many win-
dows near the railway were broken by the concussion,
but the most miraculous part of the story is that no life
has been sacriAced. The driver and stoker both escaped
with a few bruises. The explosion took place in the
front part of the engine, and these men were providen-
tially protected by the upright part which rises between
their place on the engine and the front part. A. switch-
man named John Cooke, who was on duty near the spot
where the explosion took place, was very severely
Scalded by a complete deluge of water from the boiler,
and is now under surgical treatment, but no one else
appears to have been injured. Mr. Ashbee, the Glou-
cester superintendent of the Great Western Railway,
a'nd other officials, were promptly on the spot, and the
train was not delayed more than half-au-hour, a fresh
engine having been procured. The Actaeon presents a
perfect wreck, having literally been blown to atoms and
burst into two pieces, connected by the pipes of the
boiler. The line was cleared for traffic in a short time,
and the remains of the engine are now being removed
piecemeal from the rails.

RATS V. THE WEST INDIA MAILS. —A letter from An-
tigua, dated Jr.nuary 12, received in Liverpool, says :--
" The steamer Prince, which arrived here on the oth
inst , from St. Thomas, brought hack the mails of Dec.
23, ter Europe, in consequence of rats having eaten off
the parchment labels."

PSTO's Stintrm.—Mr. Pete, it appears, offered his
services to the late Government—which ha 4 aiever
thought of demanding them. The Herald's Office should
give him a new coat of arms, in which navvies might be
quartered with spades, both proper, in the normal way.
As the aid of Mr. Peto was unsought, his motto might
be " Peto non petitu."—Punch.
Lryzitroot, CH:OMER or COMMERCE. —At the ad-
journed meeting of t'oe members of the Liverpool Cham-
ber of Commerce, held cn Tuesday, in the Otliee Ex-
change-buildings,. Messrs. Thomas Botta, John Toil.,
Vim. Rathbone, Jun., and Mr. IL W. Kelley, were
elected directors of the chamber for the next year, in the
room of those who retired by rotation,