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

DREADFUL RAILWAY ACCIDENT AT

READING.

In The Sun. of yesterday there appeared a brief inti-
mation of the occurrence of a seri ius accident on the
Reigate and Reading branch of the Londo❑ and South-
Eastern Railway. We regret to say that the results of
the accident are even more distressing than we then
anticipated ; the lives of four human beings have already
been sacrificed—no hope is entertained with regard to a
fifth, arid there are even fears lest that number should
be exceeded, while not fewer than seven others are suf-
fering from injuries more or less severe. It will be seen
from the following particulars that, though the imme-
diate cause of the accident has been thoroughly ascer-
tained, the conduct of the person by whom it was di-
rectly produced was so unaccountable as to baffle all
attempts to explain it, and, as the unfortunate man is
himself among the dead, the origin of the extraordinary
mistake under which he acted will probably for ever re-
main a mystery.
It appears that on the evening of Wednesday, in con-
sequence of the receipt of a telegraphic message at Read-
ing, arrangements were made for sending a pilot or
empty engine to Guildford, whence it was to take the
6,30 p.m. London train along the Reigate line to Read-
ing. The stationmaster gave directions that the engine
should be driven by Jos. Crossley, an engineer of con-
siderable standing, and regarded as a man of unusual
steadiness and sobriey. Crossley, from some unexplained
cause, did not immediately obey the order, and, when he
at length did appear at the station, he proceeded, with-
out communicating with the stationmaster, directly
to the shed iA which the engine was stationed. The
stoker who h'as regularly attended upon the engine
not being present, Crossley to'd a man named Fer-
gusson, a clearer, "to jump up." He did so, and
Crossley, without further communication with any
one—without inquiring after or giving any orders
for altering the points—which was necessary to
enable the engine to get upon the up line—brought
the engine out of the shed, and getting up the steam
dished along the down line. The man who was acting as
stoker suggested that the lamps should be lighted before
starting, according to•the invariable rule, but he disre-
garded the suggestion, observing that the lamps could
be lighted before they got to Wokingham. This occurred
about a quarter past 7 O'clock, though it was a matter of
perfect notoriety to everybody connected with the rail-
way tbat the 4.40 train from London was due at the
station at 35 minutes past 7, and must, as a matter of
course, be at hand on the down line of rails. Ferguson,
the stoker, states that both he and Crossley were perfectly
well aware that a down train was near due, but he had
no idea that they were travelling along the down line,
his attention being wholly engrossed with the duty of
trimming the lamps. Whether Crossley was equally igno-
rant and thoughtless on the subject, or whether he was
under the mistaken impression that he was travelling
along the up line, cannot now be ascertained ; but the
reader must already have anticipated the dreadful conse-
quences. About a mile and a quarter from Reading, at a
place called Hathaway's Farm, the engine and the down
train, which was running at the rate of 35 miles an hour,
came in collision with each other. The latter consisted of
a first-class carriage, a second-class, a compound car-
riage, including both first and second, and a luggage
van. The two opposing engines were literally dashed to
pieces, the luggage van, and the second-class carriage
were entirely demolished, but the first class carriage did
not sustain any material damage. Mr. Hathaway, the
possessor of the farm already mentioned, and a farm
labourer, saw the frightful collision, and both hastened
to the spot, when a most shocking spectacle presented
itself. Joseph Crossley, the engineer of the pilot en-
gine, was found dead at the foot of the embankment,
having an oil•can in his hand, with which, as Ferguson,
the stoker, informs us, he had just been oiling the en-
gine. Under the ruins of the passenger train were
found the mangled remains of Mr. Thomas Fyninore, a
clerk in Simonds' bank, Reading, who was on his way
home from a fortnight's holidays ; also a man, believed
to be Francis Beart, aganiekeeper at Harnpsteal Norris.
Mr. Christopher Baton, a young man who was proceed-
ing to Reading from London on a visit to his parents,
was so dreadfully injured that be died yesterday morn-
ing at half-past nine o'clock. Among the persons se-
verely injured are Mrs. Nort in, wife of the clerk at the
Reading goods station, whose case was last night con-
sidered hopeless ; Jesse Ferguson, the man who acted
as stoker on the pilot engine, and who lies at the bps-
pital in great distress ; H. Harrison, fireman of the pas-
senger train Miss Elizabeth Banning, and Mr. Skinner,
of Bristol; Mr. Charles Sowden, of Reading, and Mr.
W. Graham, driver of the passenger train, all much in-
jured, and one or two of them seriously mangled. The
alarm was soon spread far and wide ; the farm labourers
to whom reference has been made ran to the station
and communicated the intelligence, and without a mo-
ment's delay conveyances were sent off for the removal
of the wounded, and every assistance rendered that was
possible under the circumstances. With the greatest
care and promptitude most of the sufferers were taken
to the hospital, where Dr. Williams, Mr. Maurice, Mr.
Moxhay, and other medical men, were unremitting in
their attentions in the exertions of their medical skill.
The following is a list of the killed and wounded