The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-29 00:00:00

71 7-44 lc)

•
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supply of fresh air along with it,
• '"
•
• q.1:11. • the foul air before it. • -
;I'.• ;Tit *).A710.1 6:617 ;.1,•4
sue-ff, The public will have ma
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judging for themselves of the weritt
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tion. The railway will be oi e.,
d 411/#;tli 5: 94:,
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41111(.' 13,
- of this week, when visitors to thi 3 raltiCk -1W
- Vk -.AO 4 IP
4 D ,4S • -
able to test it by personally tra, lel ling upalt,

PRICE ...4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

Alarming Railway I ident.

The Pneumatic Railway at Sydenham:

ACCELINGTOI4, Saturday.
An alarming accident took place apt the railway
hero last night, which might, if :t had lint occurred
tit so late an hour, have been attc tided with a ter-
rible sacrifice of life. Between and tet o'clock
last night an excursion train, con sist.ing of about
30 empty carriages, which had hi en standing for
some time near the Accrington Railway 6U/601J
were taken up the incline on the Mt nehester brunch
of line by two engines, ono; being it front and. the
other at the rear. Wien the train had been run up
the embankment a short distance", the rear engine
left the carriages attached to the one in. iront fix- the
momentsPvrP eofgetting upon another line. In a few
after the last engine had left the train, the
coupling chain between the second and third car-
riage from the head engine broke, and 28 of the
carriages ran hack at a tremendous speed. The
down engine shunted off the line aeon after they
broke loose, and the carriages, when they passed it,
were running ate rapid rate. Two guards happened
to be on the runaway carriages at the time, and they
put on breaks for the purpose of checking their im-
petus; but in this respect their efforts were quite
useless, and finding that their position was becoming
more alarming every aecona, and that a terrible
smash must soon ensue somewhere, they jumped
off the carriages, and luckily were not at all injured
in doing so. The carriages ran ahead down the line,
Pontanian, but they had not
gone far before a great crash took
ntheearmtahine Blackburnlinehyai
siding ; they were turned off
place. On. the
line they were running there were two carriages
standing, The down carriages came into collision
with them, bat they were not at first thrown off
the rails, and all dashed forward at a speed towards
the station. The two carriages alluded to bounded
forwardveoo k whenthm tnr
and
struck,
ranbut
them the n
trhuen
mile,
awi ;leys speedily
rt,
following
the same course themselves immediately afterwards.
Here the accident assumed a most alarming cha-
oe sa
ratter—the carriages were crushing into each other,
rearing up and rolling over in all directions, and

On Saturday the Crystal Palace grounds were the
scene of a novel and very interesting experiment. A
series of trial trips on the model Pneumatic Railway
recently constructed there, under the superinten-
dence of Mr. Rummell, C.E., took place with perfect
success in the presence of several eminent engineers
and scientific men, A brickwork tunnel, about loft.
high by 9ft. wok, and capable of admitting the
largest carriages used on the Great Wester❑ Mil-
way, has been laid with a single line of rails, Sued
with opening and cloning valves at either extremity
and supplied with all the other requisite apparatus
for propelling passenger trains on the pneumatic
principle. The tunnel, or tube, extends from the
Sydenham entrance of the grounds to the Armoury,
near the Penge-gate, a distance of nearly 600 yards.
The object of laying down this experimental line is
to afford, both to the scientific world and the tra-
velling public, a practical demonstration of the ap-
plicability to passenger traffic of the motive power
already employed by the Pneumatic Despatch Qom-
pany in the conveyance of letters and parcels. The
pneumatic principle of propulsion is very simple. It
has been likened to the action of a pea-shooter—a
rough kind of comparison, -perhaps, yet one suffi-
ciently accurate as a popular illustration. The
tunnel may be taken to represent the - pea-shooter,
and the train the pea, which is driven along in one
direction by a-strong blast of air, and drawn back
again in the opposite direction by the exhaustion of
the air in front of it. The train may be said, in fact,
to be blown through the tube on the down journey,
and sucked through it on the return journey. It
must not, however, be supposed that the passengers
are deposited at their destination with a sudden
jerk, as the simile we have used might seem to
imply. Such an inconvenience is entirely obviated
by the mechanical arrangements employed. The
motion is throughout smooth, easy, and agreeable,
and the stoppages are effected gently and gra-
dually. Indeed, when it is considered that the
curve in the tunnel is unusually sharp, being
of eight chains radius, and that the gradients are as
high as 1 in 15 (those of Holborn-hill being only 1
in 18), it is surprising that the motion should be so
much steadier and pleasanter than ordinary rail•
way travelling. The journey of GOO yards was per-
rormed either way in about 50 seconds, with an at-

the fearful momentum they had obtained caused
them to spread general destruction. Wheels, huge
pieces of iron, foot-boards, glass, carriage sides,
bolts, and chains literally strewed the ground. Thu
crash was terrible and the damage immense. Fiv e
of the carriages—a first, three second, and one third
—were completely broken to pieces, Happily, n o
one was in the carriages. if they had been cccupie d
every soul would have been cut up and killed on
the spot. If also the pointsman had not turned th e
carriages upon the siding when they were coming
down the embankment there would f have been a
dreadful catastrophe at the station. A passenger
train was waiting there when the carriages broke
loose, and it could not by any possibility have got
off the line, neither could the passengers have got
out of the carriages in which they were seated in
time to have escaped the collision which must have,
ensued. After the accident several of the railway
officials were soon on the spot, and they secured a.
number of men to clear the road, A huge fire wa'
made of the broken timber of the carriages for th.e
men to work by. It was not until this morning th at
the debris was got out of the way. To-day numb ors
of people have visited the scene of the accident out
of curiosity. The affair created much excitement
throughout the town and neighbourhood, for it has
put many in mind of the dreadful accident which
happened on the same branch of railway, and almost
under similar circumstances, at Helmshorc, a few
years ago. On that occasion the carriages. of an
excursion train broke loose from the engine, and ran
down an incline, the results of which are knc.wn to
all. There can be no doubt that the check which
the rear carriages would experience when left by
the engine was the sole cause of the accident last
night. The ecup:ing, between thectirragus is brolien
at the end of the screw, but the iron appears to be
strong and sound, and nothing but a strain upon
the metal which it was never intended to bear could
have snapped it.

mospheric pressure of only 271 ounces to the square
inch ; but a higher rate of speed, if desirable, can
easily be obtained consistently with safety. Indeed,
one great incidental advantage of this species of loco-
motion is that it excludes all risks of the collisions
occasionally attendant on railway travelling, for it
is plain that no two trains could ever run fall tilt
against each other where all the propelling force is
expended in one direction at one time. The worst
mishap which it is said could well happen is that,
owing to some sudden failure in the machinery, the
train might be abruptly brought to a dead stop in
the middle of the tunnel, when the passengers
would have to alight from the carriages and grope
their way as best they could out of the tube. Such
a predicament certainly would not be enviable, but
it might be more ludicrous than dangerous. Whe-
ther in such a contingency there is any possibility
of another train being started before they had safely
made their exit, or any risk of their sharing the
fate of frogs placed under an exhausted air pump,
we do not venture to assert, bet probably the scien-
tific engineer could guarantee the traveller against
any such novel peril. The train used on Saturday
consisted of one very long, roomy, and comfortable
carriage, resembling an elongated omnibus, and
capable of accommodating some 30 cr 35 passengers.
Passengers enter this carriage at ,?ither end, and
the entrances are closed with sllding glass doors.
Fixed behind the carriage there is a framework of
the same form and nearly the gam! dimensions as
the sectional area of the tunnel ; and attached to the
outer edge of this frame is a fringe of bristles form-
ing a thick brush. Aa the carriage moves along
through the tunnel the brush comes in close contact
with the arched brickwork, so as to prevent the
escape of the air. With this elastic col'lr round it,
the carriage forms a close fitting piston, against
which the propulsive force is directed. The motive
power is supplied in this way :—At the departure
station a large fan-wheel, with an iron disc, con-
cave in surface and 22 feet in diameter, is made to
revolve by the aid of a small stationary engine et
such speed as may be required, the pressure of the
air increasing, of course, according to the rapidity
of the evolutions, and thus generating the force ne-
cessary to send the heavy carriage up a steeper in-
cline than is to be found upon any existing railway.
The disc gyrates in an iron case resembling that of
a huge paddlewheel ; and from its broad periphery
the particles of air stream off in strong currents.
When driving the air into the upper end of the
tunnel to propel the down train fresh quantities
rush to the surface of the disc to supply the partial
vacuum thus created ; and, on the other hand, when
the disc is exhausting the air in the tunnel with
the view of drawing back the up•train, the air
rushes out like an artificial hurricane from the
escape valves of the disc case, making the adjacent
:nes shake like reeds and almost blowing off his
Feet any incautious spectator who approaches too

Lord Marnebile on the New Penal
servitude Act.

At the Wrest Riding Intermediate Sessions, at
Sheffield, held on Friday, Lord Wharncliffe pre-
sided, and took the opportunity of making a re-
mark or two with reference to the changes that
have been lately introduced by the legislature in
the operation of the sentences pronounced at assizes
and quarter sessions. Formerly there was a great
deal of uncertainty in regard to the strictness or
otherwise with which sentences of penal servitude
were carried out. This was considered to be a great
evil, and the legislature had passed an act during
the last session, the effect of which was that where
a sentence of penal servitude was passed there could
be no doubt of the proportion of the time that the
convict must serve. It had been wisely decided,
however, still to leave room for certain remissions,
as rewards, not for ordinary good conduct, but for
increased industry and special good conduct, which
would doubtless be accepted as denoting a desire to
reform. Under the new regulations, no sentence of
penal servitude could be passed for less than five
years, and the first nine months must be passed by
the convict in'solitary imprisonment. The remain-
der of the term is capable of diminution to the ex•
tent of one-fourth in case of the convict's superior
conduct and industry, bat he must serve three years
and four months out of the four years and three
months. Again, a prisoner who had been previously
convicted of felony, could not be sentenced to a less
term of penal servitude than seven years. There
were other provisions as to the granting revocation
of tickets-of-leave, which ho need not dwell upon ;
but the act appeared to him to be a most salutary
one, and well calculated to deter persons from crime
because of the certainty of their punishment being
made a reality. Another topic of considerable in-
terest ho would briefly refer to, namely, the change
that had taken place since the last sessions by the
holding of assizes at Leeds. The-grand jury were
aware that there had been an antagonism between
various towns, and that the Privy Council had de-
cided to give the assizes to Leeds; and it was not
for him to say—although he opposed the change—
that they had not decided wisely. The town of
Sheffield had done all that was within their power
to get the assizes held here ; but he wished it to go
before the public as widely as possible, that, in his
opinion, the town could not fairly call upon Govern-
ment to incur any expense or to give them the ad.
vantage of assizes, whilst they neglected to do that
which almost every other large town had done,
namely, to appoint their own recorder, and have a
separate quarter sessions for their borough. If Shef-
field wished to attain the position which Leeds had
secured, she must begin by doing as Leeds did—apg
point a recorder and get a court of borough sessions.
Justice would be better administered by a recorder,
who would be, of course, well acquainted with the
lsaiown,stwhaans
sboymaatbereinaclhly olifghicteynemd.aglitstwraatseas
would be found that the attendance of magistrates
and it
would be much larger when the work of the see-
such as would be disposed of by the Recorder of
Sheffield, because they arose within the limits of the
borough. In disposing of the cases that came be,
fore him, his lordship carried out to the full the new
fact w
that
e were
e
50 per cent. of the cases tried at these sessions
instructions, and several notorious thieves were sea.
,enced to long terms of penal servitude.

near it.
When the down journey is to be performed the
breaks are taken off the wheels, and the carriage
moves by its own momentum into the mouth of the
tube, passing in its course over a deep air-well in
the floor, covered with an iron grating: Up this
opening a gust of wind is sent by the disc, when a
valve, formed by a pair of iron doors, hung like
lock-gates, immediately closes firmly over the en-
trance of the tunnel, confining the increasing at•
inospheric pressure between the valve and the rear
of the carriage. The force being thus brought to
bear upon the end of the train, the latter, shut up
within the tube, glides smoothly along towards its
destinaticn,the revolving disc keeping up the motive
power until it reaches the steep incline, whence its
own momentum again suffices to carry it the rest
of the distance. The return journey, as above indict
cated, is effected by the aid of the exhausting pro■
cess. At a given signal a valve is opened, and the
disc-wheel set to work in withdrawing the air from
the tube. Near the upper end of the tube there is
a large aperture, or side vault, which forms the
throat through which the air is, so to speak, exhaled,
the iron doors at the upper terminus still being kept
shut. In a second or two the train posted at the
lower terminus, yielding to the exhausting process
going on in its front, and urged by the ordinary
pressure of the atmosphere from behind, moves off
on its upward journey, and rapidly ascending the
incline approaches the iron gates, which fly open to
receive it, and it emerges at once into daylight.
Such is the mode in which the system works, and it
seems capable of being adapted to railway commu-
nication within the metropolis and other large towns,
or wherever tunnelled lines with steep gradients
exist. The chief obstacles encountered in practically
working the atmospheric railway, introduced some
16 years ago, are considered to have been effectually
overcome by the present modification of the princis
pie. Under the former system the tube was of a
very small size, and fixed upon the ground ; a longi-
tudinal:or continuous valve opening at the top, along
which a rod, connecting the piston with the car-
riages, passed, and the valve closing behind the rod
as it moved onwards. The amount of atmospheric
pressure required to be exerted where the area of
the tube was so small was enormous, being from 711)
to 10Ib per square inch; whereas upon Mr Ram-
mell's principle the pressure is only 2oz per square
inch, and, moreover, the great leakage and waste
of power which rendered the old atmosphere system
BO costly in working are here in great measure
avoided. It need hardly bo added that the worst
drawbacks to travelling through tunnels—viz.,
the smoke and sulphureous vapours emitted
from the locomotive and the clime, unwholesome
atmosphere of the tunnels themselves—are in this
1 case got rid of. Every train, in fact, carries its own

30 years. In the past week a
great number of tacksmen
SALMON FISMINO IN ME TAY.--The salmon fish 4
i
altogether. In fact, the taclumen of
most of the stations gaga LIP fishing on Tuesday night, and
by net in the Tay and its tributaries Was ended
on Friday, after the most unsuccessful season for the last
between the Liun of CampBie and the mouth of the Earn
have given up fishing
there is no doubt that there has been a loss of several
thousand pounde to the occupiers of fishings in the past
season. With regard to the rod fishing—which is now
about to commence—there are are doubts es to whether
Scotsman,
it will end on the 30th September or the 10th October.--.