The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-18 00:00:00

Railway Passenger Signals,

Yesterday some trials were made at the Waterloo Station
of the South Western Railway of Mr Edmund Tattersall's
plan of railway signals as between passengers and the
guards. The apparatus, which is to a certain extent simple,
though not inexpensive, nor likely to be kept in good work.-
ing order, unless carefully looked after, was not tried upon
a train in motion. It was simply affi Led to a first-class car-
riage for the inspection of the chairman and directors of the
South Western Railway, that they and others might judge
how far such a contrivance would meet the want now felt
on every live, of some easy mechanism by which any occu
pant of any compartment in a travelling train can at once
' attract the attention and insure the attendance of the guard.
The apparatus has, however, we aro informed, been actu
ally used upon trains in motion for short distances, and,
as far as instantly alarming the guard is concerned, has
answered admirably well. The mechanism shown yesterday
was on a first-class carriage, and consisted of a simple wire
chain, which passes over the heads of first-class pas-
sengers seated at one side of the compartment. A very vigo-
rous pull on this liberates a detent which holds back a small
white staff about a foot long, an inch in diameter, and with a
conspicuous button at the end. The staff is jerked out by a
spring on both sides of the carriage simultaneouely, and the
same movements which effects this does also, by the jerk on
the wire, strike a hammer upon a copper bell outside the car-
riage with a loud resonant sound, which can be repeated as
often as the wire is jerked, till the guard's assistance or
attention is secured. There is no danger of the train being
stopped by this alarm, as it is simply a call to the guard and
not the driver. Nor is there any fear of such a facility being
abused, as the white staff we have spoken of once liberated
Cannot be thrust back by the occupants of the compartment
who have sent it forth, so that if dons for mischief its per.
petrators would be at once detected. In these important re-
spects therefore—first as insuring the attendance of the
guard, if really wanted, and next insuring the discovery of
the persons who needlessly sounded the alarm—Mr Tatter-
sall's invention seems to answer all the purposes required.
As far as the noise of the bell is concerned its alarm isadmi-
table. Its sound,we are told, has been heard by the guard as
far off as nine carriages distant, and this in a train that was
travelling at speed. Yet looked at from either asp:cts, the
invention is not so complete as one would wish it to be in
these days when all are hoping for a good, cheap, and sim-
ple apparatus of this kind as will leave railway directors no
excuse for its non-adoption. In the first place, we fear it
would bo considered too costly, especially when the possibi-
lity of its not doing the work required with invariable cer-
tainty was carefully dwelt on. Thus, to say nothing of its
liability to derangement from dirt and rust, it is almost cer-
tain that one so inclined could from the inside of the carriage
so tamper with the spring so as to prevent the white staff
shooting out at all, and then might pull the bell as he chose.

Again, to be of any certain use the little wire chain should
be on both sides of each compartment, and should be so
contrived as to require a less powerful effort than that
which Mr Tattersall's invention now seems to necessitate.

It is said that this extreme rigidity of the apparatus is ne-
cessary to prevent incessant vibration between the hammers
and bells as the train is moving fast, and so getting the
guards sufficiently accustomed to the sound to leave little
chance of the summons being attended to when it was
really rung as an alarm. It is even said that to prevent
such complete neutralisation of the very purpose of the in-
vention, the apparatus must be made yet stiffer still. If this
is so, and bearing in mind the fact that it now requires a
strong indeed, a very strong—effort to ring the bell at all,
its value to a half stunned man or fainting girl, when it is
made still more rigid, would be almost nil. As a matter of
course, MrTattersall does not overlook the obvious fact that
during the night his white staves would not be seen by the
guard at all, so for night trains, instead of the detent libe-
rating a white staff, it simply drops a little shade from off a
lighted lamp, like a policeman's bull's-eye, which is, as well
as the bell mechanism, to be affixed to the corner of every
carriage of every night train. This idea is not a bad one,
but its practical application is, we fear, full of difficulties,
not alone as to its mere cost, but as to its working feasibility
at any cost. Mr Tattersall, however, deserves the thanks of
the public for having devoted his time, without any hope of
remuneration, to give such a security to the travelling pub-
lie as all have wished for, though until now in vain. His
plan, though scarcely likely to find general favour with di-
rectors, will, at least, be the first step towards fulfilling an
acknowledged want, and the ingenious mechanist who goes
yet further and completes the rough idea may safely look
to his reward. To the mass of those who have really travel-
led, nothing appears more simple than the plain expedient
of the Americans, whic!l is also followed on some Swiss
lines, of having a cord that passes along the roof of every
carriage, and communicates at either end with the engine.
driver orguard. In no country in the world is such a pre-
caution less heeded than in Ames ica, where the carriages
are public thoroughfares, literally contain scores of occu-
pants, and where •any passenger has only to walk back-
wards or forwards to say what he wishes to either driver or
' guard, yet in no part of the world but in America is such
care taken. It has been said over and over again
that in this country such a modo of communication
would be more mischievous than useful, from the man-
ner in whin the privilege would be abused. It is hard,
however, to understand that an Englishman cannot rise up
to the mild standard of an American's self control in this
respect. or that simple mechanism could not be devised to
prevent any chance of the signal's misuse- A plain cord,
such as is used in America, passing along the roofs of the
carriages, with a common index signal to fly out in the car-
riage when the cord was pulled, as the numbers of rooms
in hotels are shown when a bell is rung, would answer
every purpose. But whether of this or some other kardred
invention the public has urgent need just now; and Mr
Tattersall deserves the thanks of the public for having de-
voted attention, whether successfully or not, to this all-im-
portant question,

President Lincoln has put a representative re.
cruit into the army: J, S. Staples, of Stroudsburg, Monroe
county, Pennsylvania, was the man selected to bear the
Presidential musket,—American Taper,

Zadkiel's Almanack for 1865.

Yes—there is no getting over the fact—however
• much we may pooh-pooh the pseudo-science, as
Astrology has long since come to be dubbed
by the great mass of our Natural Philosophers
—Zadkiel Tao Sze still flourishes. Here he
comes forth in his Thirty-iifth yearly edi-
tion—and that edition in its Fifty-fifth thou-
sand. Hie circulation, therefore, it would appear,
has not diminished—even after the lifting brit a few
months ago of the mysterious curtain, that until
then had concealed his identity from the chance of
public recognition. So that, in spite of his appear-
ance in propria persona in the witness-box of a
Court of Law down at Guildhall during the
well known case of Morrisou v.
_Belcher,
the famous trial relating to the Exhibition of
the Magic Crystal by the Plaintiff—in spite of
Z adkiel pubic appearance, there and then, in his
te ()fold eap.ci'y of Witne.sa and Plain iff, he car,
acZually issue his almanac for the coming year to the
number of 55,000 I The continuance of this immense
Bale could hardly have followed, no doubt, the dis-
closure of Zadkiel in the flesh—had he, upon the
occasion referred to, proved to be some vulgar
trickster, with forehead " villanous low," bearing
about him all those evidences popularly believed to
appertain to some more cunning impostor in mysti-
cism, Proving to be—as Zadkiel did—however,
when the eyes of the whole crowded court were
turned upon him, as he stood there in the witness-
box—the very reverse of all this—Ztdkiel's popu-
larity has somehow survived the perilous revelation.
There seemed to be no such disenchantment when
the well-known Reader of the Stars turned out to
be a manly-looking veteran Sea-Captain, bearing
upon his breast more than one honourable decora-
tion. And so—again—this time as his thirty-fifth
annual apparition—Almanac in hand comes
forth Zadkiel Tao Sze, with—rrealctious l)1
the weather for the approaching Twelve
month! With Voices of the Stars! With
numerous useful Tables ! With a Hierog!yphic !
And an ominous hieroglyphic it looks in spite of
the two cupids hand-in-hand, with a dove bearing
an olive branch above them. For, as the upper
group in this hieroglyphic, have''-eve not`-the Fes
intent upon a Royal thread of life—Atropos about
to sever it with her shears.

a**. We observe his prophecy:of this year for the last three
days has turned out exceedingly correct—viz. quoting from
his own words, " 14th, 15th, and 16th Nov., fog and small
rain."

Fatal Accident.

_
A melancholy accident, attended with suspiciow
circumstances, took place on Monday night, at nine
o'clock, a little to the east of Cupar, on the Edin.
burgh, Perth, and Dundee branch of the North
British Railway. A young woman named Janet
was coming home
Lamb, belonging to Cupar, who, we understand,
had been in service in Edinburgh,
by the last train on Monday night, and had with
her a female companion named APLeren, who Was
to stay with her a few days. The only other person
in the carriage with them was a young ma,rx, who,
it is said, was the worse of drink. Oe arriving at
Cupar station, Lamb and the girl M'Laren seem
to have sat still, and instead of coming eut, as they
intended, they went en as if going to the next sta..
tion, They had not gone far, however, when, from
some cause or other net yet satisfactorily cleared up,
they opeuid the door of the carriage t.nd madly
rushed out while the train wee running at full speed.
The girl MeLeree jumped out first almost opposite
the farm of Thomaston, and was sent spinning e
oivn
the embankment of the railway, but happily she
escaped unhurt. Lamb followed immediately
after her, lighting with her face upon the iron
mile post, which knocked out some of her
teeth, broke her jaw, and otherwise so severely in.
jared her that death was instantaneous. M'Laren,
on seeing the sad fate of her friend screamed for
assistance. Her cries were heard, and Dr. Mackie
was called, He pronounced life to be quite extinct,
and the body was removed to the police cffice,
whence it was taken last night to an aunt's house
in the Kirkgate, the only relation Lamb had in the
town, and is to be buried today. One ex.
planation of the accident is that as the last
train does not stop at Springfield, Lamb had mis..
taken Cupar station for it, and that after passing
tla. I^4lo*.a. o.lao .ro.nmn;..a that it was Cupar by
the lights, and resolved—she and her companion
together—to jump out. The girl IVl'Laren adds that
the carriage-lamp had gone out, and that the man
who was their fellow-traveller, and who is stated to
have been the worse for drink, was molesting them in
some way —leaving-ttre-iater-eries-o-be drawn that-'
they both rushed cut of the carriage to prevent him
taking liberties with them. After receiving her an,
count of bow the ;Hair happened, Chief Constable
Brammer immediately despatched two officers in
search of the man. They inquired at Leuchare,
which is the next station where the train stopped ;
but neither had information been lodged there of
the girls having jumped out of the carriage nor had
anyone been seen answering the description which
the girl M'Laren gave of her and her friend's
assailant. The officers, however, pursued their in-
vestigations during the whole night, and about six
o'clock next morning discovered their man wander<
ing on the streets of St. Andrews. They charged
him with the assault and brought him in to Caper,
where after being examined before the Sheriff, he
was committed to prison for further inquiry.
From statements since made by the girl M'Laren on
Tuesday night, there can be only one opinion, that
if the man laid hold of the girls at all, it was only
with the good intention of preventing them from
rushing into almost certain death.—Scotsman.