The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-09 00:00:00

COLLISION IN THE SOLENT.

SOUTHAMPTON, JAN. 9.
A frightful collision has occurred in the Solent,
off Calshot Castle, result ing in two deaths.
The brig Rydesdale, which put in here leaky a few
days ago and has been repaired, sailed this morning
with the steam-tug Aid lashed to her side towing
her out. Just as she was passing Calshot Castle,
about 7 o'clock, the Peninsular and Oriental Com-
pany's steam-ship Ceylon, from Alexandria, was
coming up, and the bowsprit of the latter caught
the funnel of the Aid, and in falling the funnel
struck William Goodridge, a pilot on board, and
killed him on the spot. The brig shied round under
he bows of the Ceylon, which had full way on her,
and she was cut asunder at midships, and sank
almost immediately, the people on board raving
themselves in the tug.

The fireman, Frederick Gaston, was either
knocked overboard or jumped over; his body has
not been recovered. The master of the brig, Cap-
tain Reader, is much injured. Robertson, the pilot,
had one of his legs completely smashed by a portion
of the tackle of the Aid's mainmast falling on it.
The brig went down in a few minutes.

The brig was laden with railway iron, bound to
the West Indies.

The Ceylon is now in the river, and has lost her
bowsprit, with other damage.

The Liability of a Railway Company.

At the Manchester County Court, yesterday, before Mr.
E. Ovens, judge, Mr. John Alex. Fullerton, iron merchant,
of Manchester, who resides at Park Field, Altrincham, sued
the Manchester, South Junction, and Altrincham Railway
Company for £43, for damages alleged to have been sus-
tained by him through the negligence of the Company's
servants --Mr. Pope, for the plaintiff, said there were two
charges of negligence against the company's servants,
one being against the gateman at the level crossing at the
Altrincham Station, and the other against the driver of
the 130 p m. train from Bowdon. As Mr. Fuliarton's
carriage was approaching the crossing, the gate was sud-
denly closed; so as to startle the horses, and, directly
afterwards, the driver of the train from Bowdon tarned on
the " ibudcocks" of the engine, which caused a great noise,
and emitted a cloud of steam, the combined effect of which
was to frighten the plaintiff's horses, and they bolted, and
ran against a wall, smashin4 the carriage, and injuring the
horses—one of them seriously. The injury to the horse was
set down at £3O, and the other items in the account were for
work done in repairs, &c. The plaintiff and his family for-
tunately escaped without injury.—David Haler, the plain-
tiff's coachman, and Thos. Marsden, a young man who wit-
nessed the accident, confirmed Mr. Pope's statement.—Mr.
Fullerton said he had given £9O for the injured horse, and
had sold it since the accident for £l9, so that he considered
£3O too little recompense for the injury sustained by the
horse. In cross-examination he admitted that the horses were
thorough-bred and high-spirited, but said they had been
well broken and were quite safe.--Mr. Holker, for the de-
fendants, submitted that no case had been made out. The
Plaintiff's horses would not stand the approach of a railway
train—that was no fault of the company. It was the plain-
tiff's fault fel not getting his horses properly broken. The
evidence showed that the gatekeeper was blameless, for he
had merely done his duty by shutting the gate on the ap-
proach of a train. As to the turning on the " mud-
cock," by the engine-driver upon leaving the station, even
admitting that he had done so, it would not be an act of
carelessness, for it was necessary at times to blow off the
foul steam. The fact, however, was, that he blew off the
steam before entering the station, and that the " mudcooks”
were not turned on at all on leaving it. The Lepislature
had sanctioned level crossings; and noises of various kinds,
which would tend to frighten animals, were unavoidable
at a railway station; but the company were not on that
account liable for accidents which might happen to ani-
mals unaccustomed to those noises.—Henry Jackson, the
gatekeeper at the Altrincham crossing, and Wilson Rose,
the fireman on the half. past one p.m. train from Bowdon,
said the " mudcocks" were not turned on upon leaving
the station.—Two other witnesses, however, residents in
Altrincham, who happened to be present at the time o
the accident, stated the reverse.—The learned Judge said hef
was exceedingly anxious that his Com t should never be
made the organ of imposition upon railway companies, and
therefore he always watched cases of that description very
closely. Having carefully watched the present case, he had
arrived at the conviction that the defendants were liable.
There was no doubt that the Legislature had sanctioned
level crossings, but at the same time it was the duty of_ •rail_
way authorities to be exceedingly cautious in tbfir manage-
ment, so that no accident should take 1-;]ace. He believed,
from the evidence of the disie_terested witnesses, that the
" mudcocks" had been turned on when leaving the sta-
tion. If it had been proved that it was necessary to do
so, of course the case would have been at an end, but,
on the contrary, it appeared to him that it was not only
unnecessary, but unusual. His opinion, therefore, was
that it being a level crossing, the company were bound
to exercise peculiar care, and not to do any act which
would interfere with the traffic upon the road. In the pre-
sent case they had been guilty of such an act, and there-
fore he found for the plaintiff—damages, £4O. Mr. Holker
said the question whether such an act on the part of the
company's servants should be considered negligence was
one of great importance to the company, and he asked for a
case upon it. His Honour said he considered it merely a
question of fact, and not a case for a superior court. He
,could net therefore help Mr. Holker, but he had the rig ht
to appeal if he thought proper. Mr. Holker then gave
notice of appeal,

ANNUAL RETURN OF FIRES IN THE METRO-
POLIS.—Captain Shaw, the superintendent of the Londou
Fire Brigade, this morning issued his annual report, from
which it appeared that the fires of 1862, compared with
those in 189 showed an increase of
120. The number of
calls during the past year amouAtecl to 1,443