The Sun.
London, England, 1852-07-29 00:00:00

EVENING, JULY 29, 1852

Etearners, although their attendance must have been
clearly observable from that place.

WRECKERS at the MOUTH of the THAMES'
SHEERNESS, WEDNESDAY EVENING.—The receul
attack by boatmen upon the wreck of the schooner
Renown, which went ashore on the Nore Sand on
Saturday night, and the prompt and vigorous steps
adopted by the naval authorities to stop the alleged
wreckers in their work of destruction, has produced
no small amount of commotion along this and the
opposite range of coast (Essex). Some difficulty has
been experienced by our correspondent in collecting
all the facts relating to the conduct of the parties ac-
cused, involving, as they do, the character of a large
number of boatmen, many of whom have distin-
guished themselves for their zeal and humanity in
rescuing life. For some time past there has un-
doubtedly existed a system of obtaining salvage by
force from vessels thrown on the sands ill the vicinity
of the mouth of the Threes. Numerous remon-
strances have been made, but with no salutary effect;
and the existence of such evils led the commander-4n-
chief cf this port, Admiral Jocelyue Perch,
patch two wet vessels to the wreck.
the
The spot where the schooner went ashore on b
Nore Sand is about three-quarters of a mile on t_ e
to dis-
patch
of the Nore light, and within gunshot
Waterloo (flag) ship, lying abreast of the dockyard
The -crew, it will be recollected, took to theilong
d r
boat for the preservation of their lives, and ma . ,
of the
the port. After communicating with Mr. Ed
Lloyds' agent, the mate and some of the crew rin
turned to their vessel, which they found to
be
she
charge of the Coast Guard. U p -to this time the
gecornn.
bad escaped the notice
,of the boatmen, but after
the men had got into the rigging
menced stripping, a host of boatmen bore °ewes.
and, as before noticed, took possession of the
at
v
at
sel. This reaching the ears of the master'g ail ce
once put himself in communication with Zax• '
and had
.co%,
fhe
combe, who waited upon Admiral Perch eOA was
African, with a party of Marines sen hoar'
end
at once ordered to proceed to the sand ea to
drive away the boats. The Admiral was lirglintil
direct the African to remain by the wreckser of
such steps could be taken by the "II a her
the schooner as would ensure the proper care 0
i.some
property. The African went out, alld marinesa
threats from her commanding officer that thed.snerse,
would fire upon the boatmen if they did not lertime,
they hurried off. After waiting about soul..
vva_,
and seeing that they apparently had
the African returned to her post. Ere many that
that
had elapsed the Admiral received
information
of
the boats had returned, and that the deni°an
th before.
the wreck was proceeding more rapidly '''- not, with
clearest ahoursy
He forthwith ordered the Wildfire to the * several
directions to adopt more rigorous meastll.2%het
boats were spoken, and the men observed t Tthey
he 1
y
d done.
were perfectly justified in what they ha ii3g to the
had worked for the interest of those belohnegers of the
ship, and what they had. removed the 0111„0 the care
Wildfire would find at Southend, lodged be catifi.
of the receiver of droits, and, producing defied the
cate of what they had received, they Theu Wilds
interference of her Majesty's officers.
robibited any
fire remained by the wreck, and Pb
one interfering with it without
: t the owners.
Lloyd's agent, or those representing e brought up
consent of
The men withdrew, and the Wild%e sand, where
an anchor within a short distance of
correspondence
she continued up to the period of epventno Since
leaving Sheerness (five o'clock las' any sunk into the
the occurrence the wreck has g
sands, and there seems very
ePcalled " salvors"
portion being recovered. The $-",i observe that had
little called
of any
appear to chuckle at the event, 111306
it been left to them, they would h- er occasions, when
got everything
out of her, as they had done on form
the owners reaped the benefit•l eu part in the work
Some of the boatmen who "
Tanation of their con-
have issued a statement in exP - interference of the
,duct, but it dues not notice
Government vessels, the cautito
f g
d iven them as to the
their returning to
.the
manner of obtaining salvage, °I dispersed by the
the wreck after they had been
seven o'clocklon the
African. They declare that
aboutvered a vessel to be on
morning of Sunday they discovered
eight they arrived at
shore on the Nora Sand.
and the mate and one of her in the rigging, who
the wreck, and found eight feleetwof water on her deck,
was taken off.
with the mate's consent, to stahe
and stores as possible, for
..
by
concerned. They remsinea.
All bands etyrroemediately turned to,
as much of the cargo
interest of all parties
the wreck for such
r middle in water, for five
in sayi g 116 cases of bottles,
purpose, working up to thei .n
hours, and succeeded chains spars, and
the whole' of the sails,
with the
whole for Southend,
tackle, and proceeded
materials were handed over
where, on her arrival, the
to the authorities, dacially taken charge of by
anchrs,
and. -14 ins the statement before
them. They add that in
the public they do so i_
and te refute the aspersions
The document is signed
the New Dart, n vindication of their character,
by
of the agent at Sheerness
Ge ro Mvall, master of'
Robinson,A master of
and Abraham
Hamburgb, for,;thensselves and;N.
V them Robinson;Thomas Four
master of the Susannah, .
Brothers, John Jenson, William _
.Elliott, Owen
W 11. Nancy, 1 lam Frost, As
Child, Samuel Robinson,
~ar
sistence, Henry Absalom, DI differenceof • •
There does seem to be some_ opinion as
to the conduct of the men in the minds of the repre-
sentatives of Lloyd's at Sot bierneport of the disaster
officer of the former port, i
to the schooner, records The amount of salvage
l JohnElri Robinson,
1 brought in by the boatmen from the wreck, but makes
I 110 mention of the interference of the Government

THE FATAL I?AILWAY ACCIDENT AT
STOCKTON-ON-TEES.
We regret to state that two. of the passengers who
were so severely injured by the collision on the
Leeds Northern Railway, on Wednesday last, have
since died. One, a lady, named Mrs. Cunningham,from the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, expired on
Saturday morning; but, from the medical testimony
adduced at the inquest, which was held on the same
day, the jury came to the conclusion that she died
from natural causes, and not from the effects of the
collision. The other, Mr. Grainger, C.E., of Edin-
burgh, the engineer in chief of the line, sustained a
compound fracture of the leg, and mortification su-
pervening, he died on Sunday morning. An inquest
on his body was held at the Borough Han, Stockton-
en-Tees, on Monday afternoon, before Mr. Sdtt~e,
the coroner for S•ockton ward. The driver of the

uggage train, (George We- 'borne) which ran into

the passenger train was taken beforethe reagistrates on
Friday, and charged under Lord Seymour's Act
in jeopardy the lives of the public, none
at
having died; and he was committed to
wprithoanpttfitotitmrine,g ix
weeks.
At the inquest, Mr. Blanshard, herrister, ap-
peared cn the pert of the Leeds Northern and
Clarence Railway Companies, at the junction of
whose lines the accident occurred ; and Mr. Fowle,
Welborne ; another professional man being
of Northallerton, appeared on behalf-of the engine
:ievseern't to watch the preceedings on behalf of the
friends of the deceased. Several gentlemen connected
with the two companies were also in attendance.
The CORONER requested the jury to dismiss from
their minds all they bad heard of the accident, or the
proceedings before the magistrates in reference to '
.
the inquiry as if it
driver, and to begin
pen'
said
them.
was totally
Mr. Biaushard said the companies for whom he
d were anxious that the jury should have all
dpi eared .
the engine
that could be adduced.
the information The compae
nies had but one
,feeling,
that of deep regret, at the
accident;' and
a full inquiry was due both to the re-
thealeceased and the public. Whether
presentatives of _ .
a end in criminating any person or
the inquiry Inas
mention that, t a , under Lord Camp-
not, he would just
any was liable to damages i
bell's Act, the c.oinhp e
h had no doubt they would be
civil action, which
ll
libera y.
disposed to meet medical attendants, and of a
The evidence of the Navinsed, ig been given,
relation of the deaf:),
ee Clarence
and signal keeper at
George Maughe--
Clarence and Leeds Northern
the junction of theon,
said—l was present on Wed-
Lines, near Stock
nesday when the
collisiontook place between a goods
eller train. The passenger train
train and a pabliSsi ,
1 and due at Stockton at 5 40 r.m.
was from Ferry
: hied five van's or, three trucks, en en-
The goods train
Tee driver of the goods train was
gins, end tender.
Edward Calvert was the driver of
George Welhornt ;i,
but I don't know the name of the
the passnger tra
two signals in use at the junction,
one is red on both si,
fireman. e .1 have .des and the other red on one
side and white on the
other. I manage them both
for the Clarence a
ed the Leeds Northern. The red
for the Leeds N th rif- it is to
or e ,
d white one acts
and r out of the station along a curve
let trains either in °
d unction. The other
between the station and the e.
,j
signal, which is red on both sines, is used solely for
when a passenger train is coming
the Clarence line; F li. • from
.erry. ill or Hart-
down the Clarencethe signal which is red on both
lepool, we use
sides—by turning off the signal slantways—to let the
1: care to satisfy myself that the
train come in. I ta-e ., .
deer before I do that ; it it is not
line is perfectly _D.
i When the train whistles
clear I keep the board.
trf f the line is clear. The pas-
sengerl turn the signal 0- 1
train on iv e
quarter of a mile
off, down to within 40 yards of the
signal post. The svotehes are at the same place as
the signals. I turned off the signal when the trai •
n
first whistled. The train
ran to within 40 or 50
1 post before I turned it on again
yards of the signs
train and the goods train. The
to stop the. passenger.
from the goods station '
goods train was coming up
-•
end was about the same distance .
from
nta was forthe bg sih" *.s
the passenger train. The ma
to stop, and I waived 1111 _-..e.
aas well to o trains
thet • goods
train. The passenger train tried to stop ; it was
or
eight miles an hour just
going at the rate of seven . .
If h -
e points, Sgt
hi wee about the
before it came to the
oint or rather less. I have been a
usual speed at that p ,
and
can
thee' train,
guard of a passeng
on the Clerenee towards
There is a strong incline line
Stockton. I thought the passenger train travelled at a
less speed after I showed the signal. I noticed no dif-
ference in the speed of the goods train. It was tra-
velling at about the same speed as the passenger train.
The trains were meeting each other when I first saw
them on tea same line ; they were both on the down
line of the Clarence. The Leeds Northern use the re-
verse line to the Clarence. The wrong line of the
Clarence is used for engines to get upon the Leeds
Northern. The line upon which the goods train was
travelling was the wrong line of the Clarence. I could
not see either the goods engineman or the fireman
when I looked out for them. I saw Calvert, the en-
gine-driver of the passenger train. I was out upon
the line, not far from the signal post, all the time from
the passenger train first whistling. The passenger
train got first to the points. I planed the points so as
to allow the passenger train to get upon the curve
leading to the station. Almost instantly the last
waggon of the goods train was at the points, and
when it got there the truck struck the passenger train,
as it was taking the points and going upon the Leeds
Northern. The goods train struck the tender of the pas.
senger train, and took the end or side off; it then struck
the luggage_ van, and then the carriages, two or three
of which were mashed, one very much so. Some of
the passengers were hurt. I saw them thrown cut,
but cannot say how they were hurt. I beard that
Mr. Grainger was in 'the train, and I saw him. Both
trains were in motion at the time of the accident. I
saw George Welborne soon after the smash took
place, but I had no conversation with him about it.
lie was walking alongside his engine backwards and
forwards with his arms across. He rendered no as-
sistance to the parties. I thought he seemed much
concerned about the matter.. After I put the red
signal on the trains had not time to stop. The train
going against the incline could have stopped easier
than the passenger train coming down the incline. I
saw no man at the end of the goods train looking
out, or walking before it to guard it. It is customary
in such cases for some one to go forward. It is
safer for a man to go first. It is customary for the
fireman to go forward when goods trains are shunt-
ing. The five vans were close goods vans, and are
high and lofty. It is more necessary to send a man
forward when the train consists of high vans than
when they are open trucks. The signals are disc
signals. At the time of the accident there was a se-
maphore signal. It was near the other. We had
left off using it for about three weeks, and ever since
that time we -Jiave used the disc signals, and flags
were used too; but I did not understand it.
After some further evidence, the jury returned a
verdict of " Manslaughter " against the driver of the
goods train.

The deceased (Mr. Grainger) had effected a policy
for 1,000/. in the Railway Passengers' Assurance
Company, the surgeon of which (Mr. )bolt) was dis-
patched to his assistance. from London as soon as tbie
news of the accident was received ; but the state of
prostration in which the patient remained from the
time of the occurrence till his death rendered it im-
possible to perform the necessary operation of ampu-
tating the limb. The 1,0001., which of course Mr.
Crainger's relatives will have the benefit of, is the
largest claim which has yet arisen on account of this
new vrinciple of life assurance.

COURT CIRCULAR.
OSBOB. N E, WEDNESDAY.
Her Majesty and his Royat Highness Prince Albert,
accompanied by their Royal Highnesses Princess Alice
and Princess Hclena, and attended by the Countess pf
Gainsborough, drove over to Carisbrooke Castle yttend-
ester-
day afternoon. The Hon. Colonel Grey
was
ance on horseback.
Her Royal Highness the Duchess of
the G
Hon. loucester, at_
tended by Lady Caroline Murray and Eleanor
Stanley, also drove to Carisbrooke.
Lord Alfred Paget had the honour of being invited to
dinner yesterday.

Her Serene Highness the Princess Hohenlohe Lan-
genhourg. with Prince Charles and the Princess Ade-
laide, arrived at Clarence House, St. James's, yesterday
morning. Her Serene Highness, with the young Prince
and Princess, returned to Frogmore in the afternoon.
.The Duke ol Leeds bad an interview with Mr. Secre-
tary Walpole yesterday at the Home-office. Mr. Drag,
had also an interview wth the Right Hon. Secretary.
yesterday at the Colonial-office.
The Bishop of Cape Town had an interview with Sir
John Pakingt"
The Hon. H. Butler Johnstone, M.P., and Mr. H. P.
Gipps, M.P., had an intertiew with Mr. Secretary Wal-
pole yesterday.
Mr. Thomas Somers Cocks, jun,, bad an interview
with Sir John Pakington yesterday.
The Judicial Committee of her Mai
nourable Privy. Council sat yesterday in the
Crrth,
Chamber. The Lords present wert—Lord Cra_inirsity
Lord Justice Knight Brace, the Judge of the Ad
gives% in
Court, and Sir Edward Ryan. Jud_gment
alv:t Watson
the appeal from British Guiana, " Wats -
Racket." esty's Most Hnooji

finding himself hard run by
understand
RATHER ExrErzsivs Slaw:
purchase must
tion of the election
that the representative of a certain dittrict of Scotch burghs,
will be of the
an opponent, in the contempl a-
just concluded, purchased a certain
number of houses for 25,000/.. which carried with them some_
where about fifteen votes. The property, we are assured, is
not'worth more than 15,ctoa, so that the additional votes
11 whahvicehstthooedLlhoinm. Garttlileernraatne
soefcnblwebeny
,;,ohoei.
to 8
Go
i.
each.
that he Ilan paid teo.dear for his whistle.
Osannicecooplirneifionecastiotan
_we should fancy that he
..—.Adveraser.

-We.'r"