The Sun.
London, England, 1852-05-01 00:00:00

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
On Tuesday James M. ReudeJ, Esq., President, itf
the chair. The paper read was "Railway Accidentss ,
their cause and means of prevention; detailing particu-
larly the various contrivances which are in use, and
have been proposed; with the regulations of some of
the principal lines." By Captain Mark Huish, Assoc.
Inst. C.E.
The author first considered those points connected
with the road, and the machinery employed upon its
from which loss of life, and injury to person and pro•
perry, most generally arose. With regard to the road,
or permanent way, from which fewer accidents occurred
than from any other cause, its complete effectiveness was
the basis of all safet.k in railway travelling; and for
keeping it up constant vigilance was necessary, especi-
ally when any great and sudden change of weather took
place, as then the weak points were sure to show them-
selves. It was a very rare occurrence for trains to run
off the line; and when they did so, it was more generally
due to obstructions designedly placed on the line than to
any neglect of the superintendents, or the platelayers. It
was little suspected how frequent, how ingenious, and
how varied the attempts had become, to iaflict a fearful
injury by these means; and though, providentially, but:
comparatively trifling damage had resulted from
such causes, yet it was lamentable to find, that int
addition to all ordinary risks, so diabolical
a mode of wreaking a petty vengeance,
or gratifying a mischievous disposition, had to be guarded
against. Of late the punishment for such offence had
been made more severe; and it was to be hoped that
this would have the effect of lessening their numbers
Owing to the rapid development of the trafic, and par-
ticularly of the heavy goods traffic, on the main arte-
rial lines of the country, increased siding accommoda*
dation, had become necessary; in the case of the Lon"
don and North-Western Railway alone, upwards of
fifty-three miles had been laid down within the last few
years, although, by multiplying points and crossings, this
hod, pro tango, increased the liability of accident; for
might be received as an axiom, that anything which broke'
the continuity of a rail tended to develops danger. Ast
however, there were no means of avoiding these fre-
quent "turns out," judicious regulations combined
with effective signals must be relied on, and now that
facing points were reduced in number, the liability,
.0
danger had been diminished. The use of self-acting'
switches was attended with evils of no trifling magni-
tude, and many accidents had occurred from reliance on
them; indeed, as a general rule, machinery to supersede
personal inspection [yid manipulation was fraught with
danger.

With respect to the rolling stock, it appeared from a
return of one thousand cases of engine failures and de'
fects, within two years on the London and North-Western'
Railway, that burst and leaky tubes nearly doubled aDY.
other class of failure, and that these, with broken springs-
and broken valves, amounted to one-third of the whole
number; and though they caused no direct danger to the '
public; yet as producing a temporary, or permanent lo:
ability of the engine to carry on its train, they 'nigh'
be the remote cause of collision. The passenger carriage,
from its perfect manufacture presented almost completeimmunity from accident, for during the last four years ems
of the large stock of the London and North-Western
Railway only six wheels had failed, and though at first'
some annoyance and alarm had been experienced from
heated axles, yet by the recerat introduction of the
patent axle-box, it had been much reduced'
The same praise could not be bestowed on the
merchandise waggon, as in no portion of the
system had so little improvement been rusde!
the fracture of axles was frequent, the o°s7,
of coupling very defective, and the want of *rills
buffers, or even of buffers of the same height and wid„s,:
rendered the destruction of property enormous. J`:
loss of life from fire, either from heated coke. '3'
spontaneous combustion, had occurred to a Pas,
senger train, but there had been some parrot!
escapes. These and other circumstances had led al
persons to suggest various contrivances for conston:.
eating between the passengers, the guard, and i""
engine-driver, almost all of which were identical in Pr,..111- •
ciple, consisting of a connecting wire, or rope.
plan had been tried and failed. A more feasible an„,
favourite one was that recommended by the eailvt7
Commissioners, which was to continue the foot-boatel:'
so as to form a narrow platform, from end to end of the
train, but a committee of railway officials had stibse.
quently expressed their unanimous condemnation of the
measure. The plan now adopted on the Lona?:
and North-Western Railway, was for the pad'
van at the end of the train, to project about a toot be;
yond the other carriages, so that the guard loolts,
through a window in this projection, might notice we
waving of a hand, or a handkerchief ; this was, of coureet
useless at night.
All these causes, however, did not produce a tithe of
sounracre o
the accidents which resulted from a want of attention
01
signals, and a neglect of rulations. which st s-
p
prolific. Railway
u y s
silgadaalnsgherad were
been the
most
greatly
improved of late years,_'
the introduction of the lofty semaphores and the'
auxilliary signals really left nothing to be desired. Be. •
sides these there were the hand signals to be used by the'
guards, in case of stoppages between stations, and the'
detonating signals to prevent collisions during a fog,whicla
latter supplied a deficiency that had been experienced.:
and they were found to answer exceedingly well. licr,
Electric Telegraph had greatly facilitated working under
variable circumstances, and so beneficial had its effe'Oe'_,
been, that, during the year 1851, out of 7,900,000 pSI.
sengers, or nearly one-third of the population ofEngl.esero .
who had travelled over the London and North-Western
Railway, only one individual had met with der
death (from which casualty the author also sneee of
and this was the effect of the gravest disobeThelhaton
orders. In the six months during which the v
was open, 775,000 persons were conveyed by e%Tnrz in
trains alone, in 24,000 extra carriages, all cen!re:iiisost
a single focus, arriving at irregular hours, and railways,
unlimited numbers, from more than thirty "%poet
without the most trifling casualty, or even WWl"'
to the ordinary extensive business of the line. sits
The author thought undue importance had been the
tached to the question of irregularity in of
times of the trains, as an essential element
gaiety, for with perfect signals, and a lead
disciplined staff, no amount of irregularity should
to danger; but, on the contrary, it should, to a Tsai
fain extent, by its very uncertainty, induce incr,Ons
vigilance, and therefore greater safety. Acclotst
very rarely happened from foreseen circumstances, ":".1
generally from a simultaneous conjunction of sefe:.,7
causes, and each of these was provided r
as it arose. The statistics of railways, Itt
the periodical publication of the Governto.sf,,
returns, drew public attention very pointedly'
to the aggregate of accidents; but it sr,r.
believed, that if due regard was bad to comparative re.
sults, if the accidents to steamers, or in mines, to 0030,.1_
recorded, and then, whether as regarded the et,
even in its preseus
bus passengers, or even to pedestrians, were as carefully
and celerity of transit, or the facility of con
slatutisr,
_l3 the
system in the previous, or present history of locotno,,eot
nwuomulbderbse, ftohuenrdaitlowbaye isnyosotmemp's r a bly safer
It was announced that the discussion on this OW
sx 4th,
would be resumed at the meeting of Tuesday, stsY, a,
when the following paper "up' °rt..
when the monthly ballot for Members would take Pidscbs:
raenaciti:Lf .liombeservations on Artificial Hydraulic, or brick
land Cement; with an account of the testing of they brir.
beam erected at the Great Exhibition," by Mr.
White, Assoc. Inst. C.E.

SEABORNE MALLS.
olgnlfles that the malls are sent from the General F-
nit-40
by the night—and M by the morning—.dispatch.]

ny the nignt—ana at by the warning-.dispatch.]
When made up in 1 From what Whoa
PLACES. General Post-office port die- due.
London: patched.
...................
America (by Brit. pkt.) /ill May 7 .. .. Liverpool • • MaY 412
America (by U.S. pkt.) Nl3lay 4 ..
.. Liverpool •• MaY 7
America (by U.S. pkt.) M 'May 14
Africa (West coast).- 1,1 14th of the month Plymouth 34,,,ray.„, Ig
Alexandria* • • •..... 11 19th & 30th of mo. Dover • • r,-'
Belgium •., • • •• N Daily .. .. IDover • • ;',.--; 16
Brazil • • . • .. M 9th of the month ISonthampt. ..., ig
Buenos Ayres • • .. Mi9th of the month ifionthamPt• I"Y 5
California(viaChagres)M 2d & 17th of month 'Southampt. May 3
Cape of Good Hope N 14th of month Plymouth • • 14.21, 0
Constantinople* .. •• N 7th 17th 27th of mo Dover • • '-`,--.„' 5 ~
Central America .. M2d & 17th of men. Southampt. 5L__0,0.11111
Channel Isles • • .. NlAton.,liVed., & Fri. Southampt. Ta* 5
FranceGrcece
.... .. bi 8; IC Twice daily
Chili .. .. . Mil7th of the month Sonthampt: 51aYeedaui
..
.. Dover
.. mae 10
Tues. Sat.
Hamburg' .. .. N,Tuesday & Friday London .
Mon.ThUr
Rolland .. .. „
•• •• Nl7thlith27th of mo Dover
..
31'We:hies. & datur. London •
20
Honduras .• ~ . N 17th of the month Southampt- May
wicedfai
sad.. T
Ireland .. .. .. head 0
M & N Twice daily .. rapt. May 2
India (via Southamp.) M;2oth of the month Southa>nPt.
May I
India (via Marseilles)) NlB th& 24th ef month 'Dover ..
Mediterranean (via 1
Meiliteri ‘uican (via 1 r .. May 1
Southarrriton) .. Ml2oth Of the month Southaing• MaY 20
s thampt. May 5
month- oa
Mexic° • • •• .. )1.112d of the
Southampt. May 16.
Madeira .. .. .. M 9th of the month2_
Marseilles) .. .. N ,Bth& 24th of month Dove
Malta* .. .. i &30th of month D er • Ma 2
c 7th,l7th,l9th. un IDovor May 10,
iv sth 15th 25th °fine ov•
,
Naples* .. •• •• - th2sthofmo Dover .. May 2 ,
7th 17th 27th e me
renin.sular.. • • • • MI 17th of the month I Southampt. May 5
Papal States* .. .. M 511115 f Southampt., I May 6 , I
Peru • . .. • • • • '",, ;th 15th 25 thofreo Dover .. May 2
Tuscany* .. •• :: M 17th of the month Southampt. May 20
West Indies • •
West Indies (exc'ell At 2d of the month .. Southampt. May 5
Ilavaana & Nassaa
. The mass to those isotintries thus marked (4) are conveyed. LI
French packet via Marseilles.

BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPIL—The Solicitor-General
(Sir F. Kelly) has been returned this day for East Suffolk•

BIRTH&
OF A BOIL
On the 27th ult., at Finchley-road, St. John's-wood, Mrs'
John Henry Roberts.
On the 28th ult., at Penne, Warwickshire, the wife of
Baron Webster, Esq.

OF ♦ DAUGHTER. Williams
On the 28th ult., at Bath, the lady of the Hon.
Stourton.
Dares
Ou the 27th ult., at Cheater, the wife of Henry
Esq., 23d Fusiliers.

MARRID.
On the 28th ult., at St. MargaE
ret's, Westminster. the Rev-
James Allen, vicar of Castlemartin. to Isabella Dorothet
third daughter of the late Peter R. Hoare, of Kelsey, l'len
and of Clayton-hall, Lancashire.

DIED
On the 26th ult. at Leamington, Mary Ann, eldest daugh
ter of the late Sir 'Richard De Capell Brooke, Bart., of Great
Oakley-house, Northamptonshire.
On the 24th ult., at Mayfield-road, Dalston, W. Jennings,
Esq., Assistant Commissary-General to her Majesty's FOrCCF,
On the 26th ult., at Honfieur, Mr. John It Wheeler, of
Wokingham, Berks, aged 57.
On the 28th ult., at the Grove, Croydon, aged 88, PhiliPPa
Chollet, widow of the late S. Chollet,

London: Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG, ti
No. 112, Strand, Printer, at. The Sun Wee,
Strand, in the Precinct May 1,
Savoy, In the coati' o'
Bliddleseas Saturday, May 1,102.

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