The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-25 00:00:00

TURKEY.

The Russian Admiral Menschikoff is appointed
Commander-in-chief of the three Corps d'Armee in
Bessarabia and on the Turkish frontier. This is a
very important nomination.
It is rumoured that the mediation of France has
been proposed and accepted at Constantinople in
the differences between Austria and the Porte.

FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE GREAT WESTERN
RAILWAY.

A terrible accident took place yesterday on the Great
Western Railway, by which one of the directow_was
killed upon the spot, another sustained very serious in-
jury, and several first-class passengers were much hurt,
while others, including two directors, narrowly escaped
with their lives. The accident happened to the up ex-
press train leaving Bristol at 8.10 a.m., and due in Lon-
don at 11.30 a.m.

The train left Bristol punctually, and kept correct
time up to its arrival at Ealing, about five miles west of
Paddington. It consisted of an engine and tender, a
luggage van, two second-class and three first-class car-
riages—the latter being in the rear. A travelling por-
ter invariably accompanies the express trains on the
Great Western Railway, occupying a small iron box on
one end of the tender, from which he commands a view
of the train, and, in case of necessity, can communicate
with the engine-driver without difficulty. The train
had just passed under the bridge a short distance on
the London side of the Ealing station, and was tra-
versing that portion of the line known as the Eal-
ing cutting, when the travelling porter observed that
the first of the three first-class carriages was oil the
rails, and swaying to and fro in a very alarmino• 's
manner. He instantly got up and turned round to
the driver, who was in the act of looking round at the
moment, and who, observing that something was wrong,
shut off his steam and reversed the engine. At that in-
stant the coupling chains between the second and first
class carriages gave way, and the two first of the latter

ran up the embankment with fearful velocity. The first,
on reaching the top, a height of about 15 feet, toppled
over and fell backwards upon that which followed,
crushing three out of four of its compartments, and
forcing it back on the main line, where it fell over on its
side. The third carriage did not leave the rails. The
driver brought up his train as quickly as possible, and
returned to the spot, where a fearful scene presented
itself. The first of the three first-class carriages was
turned completely over and lying upon its roof—the
several compartments being more or less crushed and the
passengers imprisoned within. The second carriage had
suffered most. In the centre compartment of this had
been seated four of the directors of the railway on their
way to the usual weekly board meeting. The names
of these four gentlemen were—Mr. Richard Potter,
of Gloucester ; Mr. Henry Simonds, of Reading ; Dr.
Richard Prichard Smith, of Reading • and Mr. James
Gibbs, of Clifton, near Bristol. The latter gentle-
man was killed on the spot. Dr. Prichard Smith,
who was seated by his side, sustained a dislocation
of the shoulder and had a rib fractured. Mr. Potter
and Mr. Simonds, who were seated in the same com-
partment, and opposite Mr. Gibbs and Dr. Prichard
Smith, had a most miraculous escape and were not all
seriously hurt. There were several other officers of the
company and general passengers in this carriage, but
none of them sustained any severe injury. The passen-
gers in the third carriage escaped with nothing more
serious than the shock. The best aid that could be given
to the sufferers was afforded on the instant by the se-
cond-class passengers, none of whom had suffered the
smallest inconvenience. One of the guards hastened
back to the Ealing station, and the other, as soon as the
passengers who were not hurt could be transferred to
the second-class carriages, came on -to London with the
train. Intelligence of the catastrophe was iastantjy
communicated to Mr. Saunders, the secretary, and Mr.
Gooch, the locomotive superintendent. The firmer,
without a moment's loss of time, summoned Mr.
Caesar Hawkins, Mr. Alfred Keyser, Mr. Teevan, and
Mr. Harper, medical gentlemen resident in the neigh-
bourhood, and dispatched them to Ealing to render
every assistance in their power. The latter soon
got together a party of men to clear away
the debris. On their arrival it was found necessary to
break up the two carriages most injured in order to ex-
tricate soipe of the passengers who were still completely
wedged in. One gentleman, Mr. Adam Duff, of-Read-
ing, who was seated in the first carriage when it fell
over on to its roof, got his head fixed firmly into the
hole through which the lamp is ordinarily suspended,
and it was with the utmost difficulty he could be extri-
cated. Mr. Duff had some of his fingers broken, but
was not otherwise injured seriously. The body of Mr.
Gibbs was got out as soon as possible and conveyed to
the Ealing station. Among the other passengers in-
jured were Mr. Miller, of Warminster, whose forehead
was seamed with a terrible gash ; Mr. Ormerod, of
Brazenose College ; and Mr. Kelly, the company's sta-
tionmaster at Birmingham.
Dr. Prichard Smith was brought on to London and
conveyed to the Prince of Wales Hotel, close to the
station, where his dislocated shoulder was reduced by
Mr. Caesar Hawkins. He was stated last evening to be
going on favourably.
Mr. Miller was also stated to be doing well.

The accident is supposed to have Originated in the
breaking of one of the "scroll-irons," or "spring
hangers," attached to the near leading wheel of the
front first-class carriage. The consequence of this
breakage would be to set the axlebox free, thereby giving
the wheel a play which would necessarily in a very short
time throw it off the line. The ballast is torn up for
some 400 yards, indicating that the wheel or wheels had
been off the 'rails before the coupling chains broke.
There must, of course, always be a degree of uncertainty
as to the precise cause of any accident of this character.
But it is suggested that the extraordinary variations in
temperature may have led to the fracture described, no
imperfection being visible in the iron.
The accident, it is needless to say, occasioned a great
shock to the board of directors, who were expecting the
arrival of their colleagues when the news reached Lon-
don. The deceased gentleman has been a director for
many years, and was universally respected. He was
one of those members of the board who, at the recent
half-yearly meeting, went out by rotation, and were re-
elected. It is stated that he effected an insurance of his
life against railway accidents only a week or two ago.
When the carriage in which he was seated quitted the
line, his head appears to have been dashed against the
window-frame, probably while in the act of looking out,
or perhaps by the simple force of the shock. The temple
has been driven in, and the spinal cord is broken, so
that death must have been instantaneous. The right
arm is also fractured, but otherwise the body is not in-
jured. He has left a widow and family to deplore
his loss. _

One of the most remarkable features of this accident
is that in the foremost of the three carriages, that which
mounted the embankment and then tumbled back upon
its own roof, there. were 21 passengers, none of whom
were killed. Being crushed down to the solid part of
the doors by the enormous superincumbent weight of
the wheels, iron work, and heavy framing, the escape of
so many human beings from instant death seems almost

miraculous. In this carriage were Lieut.-Col. Bell, of
the Royal, and his lady, both, of whom werejammed so
tightly amid the debris that they could move neither
hand nor foot, and it was with some difficulty that they
were extricated. •

Mr. Wakley will at once proceed to hold an inquest on
the body of the deceased, and a searching investigation
will be made as to the cause of this melancholy accident.
The following official account of the circumstances has
been sent to us for publication :