The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-23 00:00:00

Commercial Travellers' School.

The anniversary dinner of the Commercial Travellers'
Orphan School was held at the London Tavern last evening,
the Duke of Cambridge presiding. There was a nun,erous
attendance, end among the guests present were the Lord
Mayor, the Sheriffs of London, Col. Tyrwhitt (in attendance
on the Duke of CambridgP), Mr Alderman Gibbons, the
Common Sergeant (Mr Thomas Chambers), Mr G. Moore,
Mr Charles Woollaston, and Mr G. Hewitt, &c.
In giving the usual loyal toasts, the Duke of CAMBRIDGE
adverted to the fact that the Prince of Wales was the
patron of the institution, and that the late Prince Consort
opened the schools in person, and took a great interest in
them.

The Duke of CAMBRIDGE next proposed " The Army,
Navy, and Volunteers," and said—To a stranger it may
appear singular that in a commercial country like ours we
should upon all occasions like this give this toast, as I believe
we now do, with all our heart. (Hear, hear.) For my own
part I heartily hope that it may continue a stereotyped toast
among us. (Cheers.) lam addressing gentlemen chiefly
interested in the commercial effairs o the country, and I
apprehend that we soldiers cannot be more interested in this
toast than you are. (Hear, hear.) You have large trading
concerns to attend to. You are anxious to see your com-
merce exteneed over every portion of the globe. You are,
also, naturally anxious that commercial transactions should
be conducted with that regularity and pe,fect confidence
which can only exist so long as you know that the country
is perfectly safe from aggression or from insult.
(Hear, hear.) But you cannot enjoy this security
unless you have a powerful army and navy. (Hear,
hear.) And it is well that these views should be dissetni
noted at a time like the present. It is true that it is a time
of profound peace. A great war, with which happily we
have nothing to do, is going forward elsewhere; but we are
in a state of the profoundest peace, and the natural result is
that we are a little disposed to say, " Now is the time for
reducing expenditure. It is very pleasant to take off taxes
—let us reduce our milirary and naval armaments, and we
shall be just as _happy and just as sofa as we were before."
Now if I could persuade myself that we should be as happy
and as safe with less powerful armaments I should be most
willing to see them reduced, but my conviction is that our
security as a nation is duo to the efficiency of our arms
efl.tat and ashore. (Cheers.) For commercial and not for
military reasons I am convinced that the best investment
you can make is to leave well alone, for, believe me, if
by the means I have described y.. 0 were now to take off a
little taxation, the chances are that you would have to pay
double and trelAe the amount of this gain hereafter.
(Cheers.) I hope you will forgive me for these observa-
tions, but while I often hear this subject discussed, it is not
very oaten I have the opportunity in such a society as this
of expressing my sentiments, and I hope you will receive
them in the kindly spirit in which they are offered. (Hear.)
Although the greater number of those present are civi-
lians, I believe I am not mistaken in assuming that the
Volunteers have a considerable following among you, and
I therefore beg you will all cordially jein in the toast, "The
Army, the Navy, and the Volunteers." (Loud cheers.)
Captain GREATI'REI responded far the Volunteers, and
in doing so assured his Royal Highness that the feeling of
the mercantile community was not in favour of a reduction
of the Army Estimates.

" The Health cf the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs" was then
proposed by his Royal Highness, the Lord Mayor and Mr
Alderman and Sheriff Dakin responding.
In proposing the toast of the evening, the Duke of Ctos-
lIBIDOE enlarged on the advantages of the school which
had been established since 1849, and now contained about 60
girls and 100 boys. The commercial classes were especially
liable to the ups and downs of life, and what could be
more acceptable to such persons than a knowledge that in
the event of their death their children would be well edu-
cated and well cared ? It was important that the com-
mercial travellers themselves should, in proportion to their
means, subscribe to this charity. There wt,re 30,000 commer-
cial travellers in England, but far too small a proportion of
them were subscribers. As to the childrea, he understood
that when they left school they had turned out extremely
well ; some of them had acquitted themselves most creditably
in the middle-class examinations instituted by the two Uni-
versities, and others who had become established in life wet"
now subscribers to the institution. (Cllvers.)
" The health of the Duke of Cambridge" having been
drunk with all the honours, Mr G. Moore acknowledged the
next toast of " The President, Vice-President, and Trustees
of the School," and said that the institution could now boast
of a fine building at Pinner, and 25 acres of land, that they
were in a si,und commercial pasit'on, and that they would
have to provide for 172 children during the year,
Subscriptions and donations to the amount of nearly
£1,200 were announced, including 20 guineas fpra his
Royal Highness. Several other toasts were proposed when
the Duke of Cambridge left the chair, the Lord Mayor tak-
ing his place ; and during the evening the children were
introduced and sang two part songs vet y creditably.
Mr Harker officiated as toastmaster. The vocalists were
under the direction of Mr H. Buckland.

Frightful Collision on the Great Western
Railway.

At an early hour yesterday morning a meet alarming
accident occurred at the Slough Station of the Great
Western Railway. It appears that the broad guage
up .parcels train which left Bristol at 9 25 p.m. on
Wednesday evening arrived safely outside the Slough junc-
tion about half-past 1 o'clock yesterday morning, and the
dtiver, Richard Cowell, seeing the signals open for the pas-
sage of his train, proceeded to run through the station, the
rate at which he was travelling being about 30 miles an
hour. Previous to the arrival of the parcels train at Slough
a narrow guage goods train had been shunted on to the rails
in the middle of the line, nearly midway between the up and
down stations, where it remained. It was then the duty of
the attendant switchman to open the points in order to keep
the broad gauge up-main line right for the passage of the
through trains. This, it would seem, from some unex-
plained cause, was not done, and as the up parcels train
came thundering through the station and reached the points
in question the engine,instead of remaining on the main up
line, turned on to the rails along which the goods train had
passed, and after missing two or three of the carriages of the
latter train crashed into it with frightful violence, striking
several of the other trucks and vans, breaking them up and
scattering their contents over the railway. Meanwhile the
parcels train continued its career, although several of its
carriages h tot. sustained the greatest damage, a second class
and composite carriage having had their sides nearly
smashed in, the glass end window being entirely destroyed,
while the large break van had been crushed like an egg.
shell by the dreadful force of the collision, and ultimately
got off the rail into the six-foot, when it stopped. The works
on the side of its engine, where it had dragged against the
goods train, were nearly swept away, and the lobomotive
itself disabled, while several of the carriages, trucks, and
vans of both trains were turned over, and the ruins piled
ue in a confused mass on the middle of the line, thus com-
pletely blocking up. How the driver and stoker of the
parcels train escaped with their lives is almost a miracle,
while the guard of the goods train must also have had a
very narrow escape. Immediately after the accident Mr
Burlinson, the Slough superintendent,reached the scene an
took prompt measures to remedy the disaster and restore the
traffic upon the line. MrGriersen, the gen3ral manapr, and
Mr Tyrrell, the tr,ffic superintendent of the Great Western
Railway,were at once informed of the nature of the eellision,
and reached Slough early in the morning, and with Messrs.
Armstrong and Wright, of the locomotive department, and

other officials, gave instructions for the clearing of the line,
In order to effect this operation as quickly as possible about
150 plate-layers and workmen wer. emoloyed from the time
of the accititnt.in lifting the heavy masses of broken iron
and timber, the remains of the tucks and vans, and placing
them in trucks, by which they were conveyed from the
station. The most powerful jacks had to be used to raise
the heavy tender, and it will give some idea of the extreme
force of the collision when it fs stated that the thick iron
axles of some of the trucks were bent and twis ed like wire.
By great exertions a portion of the line was sufficiently
cleared to enable the traffic to br, resumed both ways after
some little delay, See of the trains were unavoidably
delayed for a short time, the 12 50 Bristol being detained
about half an hour outside the station. In the course of the
morning this was rt medied by passing the up passenger
trains on reaching the bridge over the One, west of the sta-
tion, along the rails running through the station itself, and
sending the goods through the green's curve, and thence
also through the station, the down-trains being treated in a
similar manner. In the course of the morning the rails
torn up were replac,•d, and b) the early part of the after-
noon the line was cleared by the united exertions of the
railway officials. It is most fortunate that the trains wh ch
came into collision were not passenger trains ; for had that
been the ca e the loss of life must have been teartul, while
as it is the destruction of property is great. The engine-
driver states that he saw the switchman's lamp near its
usual spot, though why the points were closed and the
accident thus caused is at present a mystery.