The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-10 00:00:00

Dreadful Railw4, Accident at Staplehurst,

TEN PERSONS KILLED-UPWARDS OF

TWENTY WOUNDED.

The two fatal accidents on the Great Western
-Railway have been followed by one even more start-
ling on the South-Eastern line, and from the cha-
racter of the train to which the disaster occurred the
intelligence will be read with unusually painful in-
terest. The fast tidal train, timed to leave Folke-
stone at 2 30 p.m. on the arrival of passengers from
Boulogne, who quitted Paris yesterday morning at
7 o'clock, started, as usual, with about 110 passen-
gers, and proceeded nearly 30 miles on its journey,
when, at a place called Staplehurst, the accident oc-
curred which has been productive of such lamentable
consequences. It appears that at this point the
railway crosses a stream which in winter is of for-
midable dimensions and of considerable depth, but
in summer shrinks to the proportions of a rivulet.
On the bridge itself a plate had been loosened by
the platelayers, and the engine running over this
was thrown off the rails. Though displaced from its
proper track the locomotive adhered to the perma-
nent way, but the train broke into two parts, and
seven or eight of the carriages plunged into or through
the stream, a fall of several feet. These unhappy
vehicles were so crushed and shattered to pieces that
together they did not occupy the space of two whole
carriages ; cushions and luggage were thrown out,
into, and upon the mud in all directions ; and, as
regards the occupants, the sad story was only too
truthfully told in the telegram received in town
shortly before 4 o'clock—" Several killed at Staple-
hurst ; many more injured."
_ _

Mr. Eborall, the Manager, and Mr. Knight, the
traffic superintendent, on recept of this information
immediately left London-bridge, and proceeded to
the spot in a special train, taking with them Mr. S.
Jones, of Thomas's Hospital, Mr. Adams, of the
London Hospital (surgeon to the company), Dr.
Palfrey, Dr. M. Sutton, and such other medical aid
as could be procured at the moment. Assistance
was also summoned from Ashford and Tunbridge, so
that before very long 20 medical men, at least, were
on the spot. There was but too much need for the
services of one and all. A glance at the condition
of the train and a hasty recognition of the class to
which its occupants belonged showed that it was no
ordinary accident which had occurred. The carriages
that went down into the water were so twisted, flat-
tened, and turned upon their sides that it was im-
possible to say whether the unfortunate travellers
inside had been killed outright by the shock or suf-
focated as they lay in the water and mud. Those of
the passengers who escaped injury in the first in-
stance behaved nobly towards their fellows in dis-
tress; there was no standing irresolute on the bank;
everything that willing hands could do was done,
and done at once ; but, in spite of every effort, ten
and 20 is the lowest
lives ha at
ed
tbheaetn
haslo s t
bb
ee
eyno nf
od
rrme c all,ed
as to the wounded.

Mr. Hoare, a resident in the district, placed his
carriage at the disposal of the medical staff, and valu-
able assistance was rendered by this agency in deal-
ing with cases of the greatest emergency. In the
confusion which prevailed, and owing to the mani-
fest reluctance of most of the sufferers to alarm
their friends by disclosing their names, the greatest
difficulty was experienced in collecting anything like
accurate information as to the casualties. Several
of the dead remain still without identification, all
that is known of one party being that they were per-
sons of some position returning from India.
In the course of the evening successive trains
brought to London those of the party whose condi-
tion fitted them to- travel ; but frequently it was
evident that they themselves were scarcely conscious
of the extent of the shock they had undergone. One
gentlemen had sustained serious injuries about the
head. In two or three instances members of a party
into which death bad intruded came sadly and un-
accompanied to town. One case of this kind was pe-
culiarly affecting. A gentleman, evidently in acute
pain, but in still greater distress of mind, carried,
half unconsciously, the bonnet worn by his wife on
the journey that was so lamentably and, in her case,
fatally interrupted. Among those brought to Lon-
don by their friends in the course of the evening
were Mr. Graham, who proceeded to the St. James's
Hotel, suffering from injuries to the leg and face ;
Madame Gouverneur, of York-house, Twickenham,
contused and shaken ; Mr. Blow, Tavistock Hotel,
severely injured about the head ; Mr. J. P. Lord, of
Bolton, Lancashire, and Mrs. Lord, taken to the
Castle and Falcon, Aldersgate-street, Mrs. Lord
having received severe injuries ; and Mrs. Hampson,
who had received cuts on the head and face, this
lady's husband being among the killed. Another
lady, name unascertained, was taken to Guy's Hos-
pital.

The friends of those known to have been in the
train were scarcely less to be pitied than the suf-
ferers themselves. Both at London-bridge and
Charing-cross stations large numbers of eager in-
quirers gathered, the news of the accident having
attained immediate and almost universal circulation,
owing doubtless to the circumstance that the rail-
way accidents occurring previously had prepared
the public to watch for the next in the series of
disasters that on these occasions follow each other
with the fatal regularity of fires.
Mr. Charles Dickens had a narrow escape. He was
in the train, but, fortunately for himself and for the
interests of literature, received no injuries whatever.
The disaster, it is thought, would have been even
greater had it not been for the unusual amount of
break-power incorporated with the train. In addi-
tion to the ordinary leverage power exerted in the
three guards' vans, there were patent breaks as well,
of the kind known as Cremer's, an American inven-
tion, supposed to possess
properties of peculiar value
in arresting the progress of a train. Taking into ac-
count the control exercised over the engine, there
were no less than seven breaks in all regulating the
speed of the train.

By the last of the special trains which reached
town at or after 1 o'clock this morning two other
gentlemen with injuries of a serious character
reached town. These were Mr. Hunt, of Dalston,
and a French gentleman, M. le Marchant whose
hip was fractured. The family and friends of Mr.
Moss, partner in the firm of Messrs. Defries, chan-
delier manufacturers of Houndsditch, were so uneasy
on his account that, after the receipt of two or three
telegrams from his medical attendants, they pro-
ceeded to Staplehurst by pia train.
to in.
un-
derstood, however, that in the case of this gentle-
manl
the injuries were princir
The railway authoritiess e
appear-a lly confined to the foot.
recog-
nised and admitted from the first the very severe
the
character of the accident, and halvtewas
necessity of
affording full information to
the public. Mr.
Dyne, the superintendent of the London-bridge
Terminus, in reply to eager and incessant inquiries,
afforded all the information that was in his power ;
and his superiors added, on their return to town,
such further details as the result of their inquiries
enabled them to furnish. The provision made for
the relief of the sufferers was, as already stated,
prompt and ample. With the exception of one of
the guards, who received contusions, and of the
engineer and fireman, who were shaken but not
otherwise hurt, the company's servants escaped
miraculously, so that in this case there will be no
difficulties in the way of a searching inquiry, such
as are commonly encountered when death has with-
drawn one of the witnesses whose evidence might
be most material. The police have felt it right to
take into custody the foreman of the gang of plate-
layers, responsible for the condition of the portion
of the line at which the accident occurred. It will,
of course, be matter for inquiry hereafter whether
the plate was, in fact, improperly removed and the
accident thereby occasioned ; whether the flag pro-
tecting the operations of the platelayers was sent
back to a sufficient distance, and there placed so
that it could be seen by the engine-driver. But it
would be plainly premature, as well as unjust to-
wards the prisoner, to allude here to any of the
rumours current on these points.

Suffice it to say the causes leading to this most
lamentable interruption of what, though a tidal and
therefore it egular service, has hitherto been a sin-
gularly safe one, will need probing to the very
bottom, if public donfidence in the present systen
of maintaining the permanent way is, after two re-