The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-22 00:00:00

WE'',TMIMSTER.

HEARTLESS ROBBERY.—Charles Devine, a middle aged
man, was charged with the following heartless robbery :
George Walker, a footman, living at 15, Thnrlos-place
Mews, said that the prisoner had been as helper in the
stable, and he was usually lefr in charge of the place. Oa
Monday night at half past 10 witness was ordered to drive
his mistress to a ball and left prisoner in his lodgings to take
care of them. Witness came home at two o'clock and found
the prisoner gone, the place in a state of the greatest con-
fusion, and all his property, consisting of a greatcoat, waist-
coat, and trousers, sundry small articles, £4 lOs in gold,
and a valuable meerschaum pipe—value in all about £9.
Information was riven at the station, and witness went to
prisoner's lodgings yesterday evening, where he found him
drunk, with witness's clothes on. He was then given into
custody.
Sergeant Smith, in reply to the magistrate, stated that
the clothes were found on the prisoner, and a ticket for the
meerschaum pipe, but they had not had time to warn the
pawnbroker. Not one halfpenny of the whole money had
been found.

James Graighead, police constable, proved taking the
prisoner into custody. He was on the top of the stairs at
his lodgings, drunk. He gave the ticket up at the station.
Prisoner being asked if he bad anything to say, replied,
in the coolest manner possible, that it was quite correct
what the prosecutor had said.
Mr Arnold remanded him for a week.

- -
Collision on the North British Railway,

Yesterday afternoon, about half-past four o'clock,
a collision occurred at the Edinburgh terminus of
the North British Railway of a somewhat alarming
nature, though fortunately unattended by loss of
life or dangerous injuries to the passengers. The
accident occurred to the train which leaves Dunbar
at five minutes before three o'clock and is due in
Edinburgh at twenty minutes past four. It is
well known that between four and h,lf-past four
o'clock local trains leave the Edinburgh station in
rapid succession at interva,:s of about five minutes,
and a number of trains also arrive close upon each
other about that time, ao that the extremely
limned accommadatioa at the station renders the
utmost caution necessary on the part of all the
officials in carrying out the arrangements for the
safe arrival and departure of the numerous trains.
A passenger train from Musselburgh arrives daily
at 353 p.m., one from Dalkeith is due at 4 11, and
a third reaches the station from Dunbar at 4 20.
_ _

In addition to these passenger trains, in order to
accommodate the traffic from Leith to Glasgow, a
special goods train was yesterday despatched at
4 11 p.m. from Leith to Edinburgh by Portobello,
intended to arrive at Edinburgh between the passen-
ger train from Dalkeith and the one from Dunbar.
The goods train, according to the arrangement,
actually did follow the Dalkeith train from Porto-
bello to Edinburgh, reaching the station about
seven minutes before the Dunbar train was due.
Owing, however, to the numerous trains leaving
Edinburgh about that time, and the limited accom-
modation at the station, some delay occurred in
getting the goods train taken to a siding. IV bile
the train was thus detained at the east end of the
station, nearly opposite Drybrough's brewery, the
passenger train from Dunbar entered the station
and came into collision with the goods train. For •
tunately, the speed of the train was greatly
checked ; but a considerable number of the
passengers were severely cut and bruised by
the collision. Two of tle passengers, Mr and Mrs
Smeaton, were cut and bruised in the forehead, and
drove off in a cab; but, eo far as we could learn,
their injuries were not of a very serious nature.
The other passengers who were hurt, to the
number of ten or twelve, were all able to walk
from the station. One of the waggons of the goods
train was pushed off the rails by the collision, and
a number of sacks of wheat and flour with
which the waggons were loaded were thrown off,
and their contents scattered on the ground. The
waggon was soon replaced on the rails, and the
traffic was in a very short time resumed, the dareege
to the engines, carriages and trucks being compara-
tively trifling. There will, of course, be a strict in-
vestigation into the cause of the accident, with the
view of ascertaining whether blame attaches to the
pointeman or the driver of the passenger train. It
is said that the signal to stop was made in due
time; and if so, the engine-driver must either
have failed to observe it or have miscalculated the
distance. But whoever may be foetid blameable for
this accident, there is no doubt that it is partly
attributable to the limited station accommodation,
which interferes with the expeditious removal of
the trains; and as the extreme danger of the pre.
sent state of matters to the public is thus made
evident, it is to be hoped that the municipal and
railway authorities may be induced to come with-
out further delay to a settlement of their differences
in order that due provision may be made for such
station accomodation as will ensurethe safety of the
public.—Scotsman.