The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-17 00:00:00

Accident on. the North Kent Railway.

A frightful accident occurred at half-past four
yesterday in the Blackheath railway tunnel. The
fast train leaving Maidstone at 2 40 p.m. ran into
a ballast trai❑ a quarter of a mile from the Charl-
ton end. The last stoppage of the passenger train
was made at Woolwich, at a quarter past four, and
the officials and passengers assert that the way was
signalled clear both at Charlton and the entrance
of the tunnel. Be that as it may, it is certain
the fast train was in the act of going through the
Blackheath tunnel at the rate of about 40 miles an
hour, when it ran with terrific force into the bal-
last train from Higham on his way up to L
don. In the collision five platelayers in the
ballast train were killed on the spot. The
passengers were thrown from their seats against
each other with great force, and all were more or
less injured. One poor woman had both her legs
cat off, and the driver and stoker of the up-passen-
ger train are fearfully scalded. The latter is not
expected to recover. The screams, fright, and con-
fusion among the passengers in the dark tunnel at
the time of the accident were most distressing.
They could not be extricated from the tunnel for
upwards of an hour. Daring this time fires were
kindled of the broken fragments of the carriages,
but the wet dripping from the roof of the tunnel
prevented them from burning brightly, and the
glare and smoke only added to the horror of the
Licence, which was further increased by the shrieks
of the women and the groans of the wounded.
The engine of the passenger train was overturned
and thrown across the two lines, and the greater
part of the ballast and passenger carriages were
broken into fragments. The engine, worth about
£1,500, is totally destroyed, and, to say nothing
of damage to injured passengers, the loss to the
railway compacy in the destruction of rolling
stock is not less than 1,3,000. Messengers were in-
stantly despatched to Charlton and Blackheath to
stop all up and down traffic. The 4.20 London train
was only stopped entering the tunnel by one or two
minutes. Mr Chapman, the stationmaster at Black
heath, telegraphed to London-bridge, whore an en-
gine was in readiness, and without waiting for a
carriage to be attached to it, Mr Knight, superina
tendeat, Mr Harris, assistant-superintendent of the
traffic department, and Mr Corner, the locomotive
superintendent, at once proceeded to the spot, fol-
lowed by Dr Adams, the company's medical man,
and a staff of surgeons, who, with the uninjured
passengers, were most assiduous in their attention
to the wounded. After the lapscaof an hour, a por-
tion of the succeeding train stopped at Charlton,
went into the tunnel, and conveyed the passengers
in charge of Inspector Ware back to Charlton station,
where the injured were taken care of. Several took
cabs, and those who were able walked to Blackheath
Railway station, and thence proceeded by train to
London and the intermediate stations. Four of the
bodies of the deal platelaTers were conveyed in the
break van to Blackheath. The fifth body, that of
William Webb, could not be extricated from the
rubbish till a very late hour, and to all appearance,
from the scene presented when the writer left at
10 o'clock last night, the line could not be cleared
till 2or 3 this morning. There baing no ventilation
the men had to work in the midst of great heat and
a thick and suffocating smoke, bat they did their
duty manfully. The guard of the ballast waggon,
named William Lancaster, escaped injury, but the
stoker was very much crushed. One passenger had
a broken jaw, others broken ribs, and several frac,
tared limbs. As soon as! the line could be cleared
it was intended to convey the injured persons lying
at Charlton to Guy's Hospital, and until they arrive
there the full extent of the casualties cannot be
accurately ascertained, but it is feared that the list
will be a mournful one.

Both of the trains have been keeping good time,
and up to 10 o'clock the precise cause of the accident
had not been discovered.

WILLS AND BEQUESTS.

(From the Illustrated London News,)

The will of Baron Du Buis de Ferrieres, of Chepstow,
Monmouthshire, was proved in the London Court by his
son, Charles Conrad Adolphus Baron Du Bois de Ferrieres
the sole executor. The testator confirms the settlement on
his marriage, and leaves to his wife, the Baroness Du Bois,
an annuity of £l5O and the furniture. 'to his son, the B iron,
he leavesitte plate, pictures, books, &c. (his relict and si.,ter-
in-law se ting what they may require), and to his sister•-
in-law he .eaves an annuity of £5O. To his son, the Baron.
besides a legacy of £3,000, he has bequeathed a moiety of
the residue of his property, bequeathing the of her moiety to
the five orphan children of his late daughter Augusta,
widow of the late Rev. J. Bright.

The will of Col, Onslow Baker, of the Indian army, late
of Tenterden-street, Hanover-square, was proved in London
under £30,000 personalty. The executers appointed aro his
nephews, the Rev. Sir Henry Williams Baker, Bart., and
Henry Sheraton Baker, E,q. Liberal legacies are left to his
brother, and to his nephews, nieces, and their children; and
a legacy of £2,500 to Mrs Garland, wife of the Rev. I. Gar-
land, in remembrance of her kind attention to the testator
when he greatly required it. The residue of his property,
real ar..d personal, he leaves to his said nephew, Sir Henry
W. Baker, Bart. There are the following charitable be-
quests :—To the Dudley Stuart Nightly Refuge for the
Houseless Poor, £loo—London Society for the Protection of
Young Females and Prevention of Juvenile Prostitution,
£loo—Society tor the R acne of Young Women and Children,
£loo—Cripples' Home, £lso—Little Sisters of the Poor
(Sutherland-gardens), £lOO —All Saints' Home, £so—Con-
sumption Hospital, Fulham, £loo—Shipwrecked Mariners'
Society, £lOO—S )c:ety for the Propagation of the Gospel in
Foreign Parts, WO—Loudon Clergy Relief Society, £2OO
—and like bequests to a few other societies.

- -
The will of Pe'er Dale, Esq., of North Shields, ship-
owner, was proved in the London Court under £60,000 per-
sonally. The executors and trustees nominated are his relict;
his brother, John B. Dale, Esq., of South Shields, banker
—and the testator's san, George D. Dale, on his attaining
the age of 23. The will is dated August, 1864, and he died
on 10th October. He has bequeathed to his relict a life in-
terest in the whole of his property, and upon her decease
it is to be divided equally amongst their children. Ha has
intimated in his will that it is not desirable to increase the
number of ships, or to extend the shipping property.
The will of the late Miss Elizabeth Mary Gee, of Hyde.
park-gardens, who died on let Nov., has just been proved
in the London Court under £80,600, the whole of which has
been bequeathed to iler only sister.

THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH, Yesterday the
coiling of the new Atlantic cable was commenced from th e
company's premises, Greenwich, to the Amethyst, Admi-
talfy vessel, for conveyance to the Great Eastern, at Sheer-
ness. The coiling is proceeding at the rate of two miles
per hour.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS FOR THE
ENSUING WEEK —Monday —Asiitic, at 3—Royal
Academy, at 8, Anatomy, Professor Partridge—Architects,
at 8. Tuesday—Satistical, at 8, Extension of Modern Sub-
jects for Regular Study in Educational Institutions, Mr
Heywood—Engineers, at 8, annual meeting—Anthropolo-
gical, at 8, Pro Historic Remains, Caithness, Mr Laing—
Kistvaens, Shetland, Messrs Roberts and Carter Blake—
Pre Historic Hut Circles, Mr Roberts—Tumuli, Chelten-
ham, Dr Bird—Remains from Italian Turbaries, Mr Cham-
bers. Wednesday—Society of Arts, at B—Geological, at 8,
Coal Measures, N. S. Wales, &0., Mr Keene—Drift of the
East of England, and its Divisions, Mr Wood, jun. Thurs-
day—Zoological, at 4, general—lloyal, at 81—Antiquaries,
at 81,—Atkencewn.

TERRIBLE CALAMITY.—On Thursday morning,
at half-past 8 o'clock, at the Leeswood-green Colliery, near
Mold, Flintshire (Messrs Taylor and Craig's), about 140
men were engaged either on the bank or below in kinking
a new pit for coals. All at once, without any w.rning, a
great quantity of water broke in from the old colliery ad-
joining, and the result was that eight men and a horse
were enguiphed and drowned.

SUPPRESSION or lIOUSES or ILL-FAME. —We
observe that great efforts are being made to enforce
the law against houses of the above description in the West*
end of the metropolis, The evil had become so intolerable
and damoralisinA7, as well as so injurious to the best inte-
rests of the community, as to call into existence an institu-
tion for putting it down. It is designated "The West
London Association for the Suppression of Public Immo-
rality," and directs its efforts to the suppression of brothels,
the street prostitution nuisance, &c., in the parishes of St
James, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, St. George, Hanover-
square, and St. Anne's, Soho. The association is conducted
by a general committee of influential householders of the four
parishes. The St. James's branch has prosecuted and sup-
pressed more than 40 of these infamous dens. St. Martin's
branch, having set to work in serious earnest, has already
shut up and prosecuted 10 of 'these nuisances, which have
disgraced Oxendon-street during the last 50 years; while
St Anne's and St. George's are organising an uncompro-
mising crusade. The proprietors of these houses have
auf4ssed fortunes by the depravity and utter ruin of their
victims. We hail this movement with unbounded satisfac-
tion. and wish the association every success,