The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-07 00:00:00

ACCIDENT ON THE LONDON AND
NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY.

An accident of a character fearful to contemplate
though providentially unattented with loss of life, oc
curred on Monday afternoon at the Euxton junction o
the London and North-Western and Lancashire and
Yorkshire Railways, situated about six miles from Pres-
ton. The circumstances connected with the casualty are
as follow :
About a quarter of a mile on the Preston side of the
Euxton station there is a side line of rails, belonging to
the London and North-Western Company. Yesterday,
four passenger carriages, two first-class and two second-
class, had been turned upon this siding, which commu-
nicates with the down line of rails by a pair of points. The
" Scotch express " (from London to Edinburgh and Glas-
gow), due in Preston at 2.35, approached Euxton
at the rate of between 35 and 40 miles an hour—
the train consisting of the first-class carriages, one se-
cond-class, and a break-van. The engine-driver (John
Baxter) states that the pointsman lowered the signal
to intimate that all was right, and the train proceeded
on its rapid course past the station. Immediately after-
wards a sudden jerk apprised the driver that the train
was entering the points leading to the siding, instead of
continuing on the main line. He instantly shut off the
steam, and blew the whistle for the guards to apply their
breaks, and then leaped off the engine, followed by the
fireman, William Hardstaff. In another moment the
express came in contact with the carriages on the siding
and a fearful crash took place. The front part of the
engine was demolished, but the carriages of the express
sustained little or no injury, the passengers being found
almost unscathed, although of course in a state of great
consternation. The empty carriages on the siding were
shivered to atoms, two wheels belonging to one of them
being subsequently discovered in the smoke-box of the
engine. Baxter, the driver of the express, was found
lying by the side of the line, covered with blood and
dirt, and in a state of insensibility, having several severe
cuts about his head and back. The fireman escaped
with comparatively little injury. Cobb, the guard, states
that he perceived the danger at the moment the engine-
driver blew his whistle, and that having put on his
break, he threw himself on the floor of the van, to which
he attributes his safety. The breaks are described as
being of a very powerful kind. The distance between
the points and the empty carriages on the siding is esti-
mated at 150 to 200 yards.
A Lancashire and Yorkshire train came up soon after
the accident, and took the express passengers forward
to Preston. Baxter was conveyed to the Station Inn.
The Scotch express, we believe, was the first train to
pass the Euxton junction after the train conveying her
Majesty and suite to the north, and which passed through
Preston station at half-past twelve. It would thus ap-
pear that the empty carriages had been turned upon the
siding and the points left open, shortly after the Queen
went by. Had it been done a little sooner the Royal
train must have suffered the alarming collision instead
of the express.

COLLISION ON THE CHESTER AND
HOLYHEAD RAILWAY.

On Monday night an accident happened to the 2.45
up-train from Holyhead, when just in sight of the
Chester station. There is at that point of the line a
shunting lying to the north of the rails, which is reached
by cross rails from both lines of the road, and it hap-
pened that as the train before specified was approaching
Chester, it ran into a short luggage train, which was at
that instant being removed from the down line to the
shunting, completely capsizing it. The confusion at the
moment among the passengers, chiefly excursionists on
their return from the Dublin Exhibition, defies descrip-
tion. Happily, however, there was no harm done to
life or limb, all the damage being confined to the upset
vans, and the fittings of the foremost carriages of the
passenger train. This good fortune is, however, hardly
to be attributed to the care and caution of the railway
officials at Chester, who, despite the public outcry
against the practice of sending coal and luggage trucks
across the lines when passenger trains are momentarily
expected, persevere in doing so. It is rather to be ac-
counted for by the slackened pace of the train approach-
ing the station, and the lightness of the obstruction.

"BARNACLES." -A correspondent of the Times says
among the " arrivals" of visitors to our coast during the
past week is a remarkable collection of barnacles. A
Spanish brig directed the attention of one of the Folke-
stone fishing boats to a dark object on the water, which
they supposed to be a monster of the deep, but, on nearer
inspection, they found it to be apiece oftimber, 40feet long,
entirely covered and floated by the barnacle fish. Many
thousands of these curious zoophytes have here made them-
selves a home on the fir tree. The sailors secured their prize
and brought it into Folkestone Harbour, where it is now
to be seen. Concerning barnacles many curious opinions
have been held, and they still prevail on the coasts of
the Mediterranean. It was formerly believed that they
turned into geese ; and the Roman Catholics were
allowed to eat " barnacle geese," as they were called
on fish days, from their being supposed to partake
more of the nature of fish-than fowl. To such an ex-
tent was this belief carried, that Sir Robert Moray, in a
notice which he sent to the Royal Society on this sub-
ject, says :—" In every shell that I opened I found a
nerfeet fowl." Discarding this absurdity, we find them
to belong to the order cirrhipoda pedunculata, and to
consist of a long fleshy tube with a shell at the end of it.
The tube is from 8 to 12 inches long, and the shell,
which consists of four distinct pieces, contains the vital
members of the animal. They are provided with
feelers, with which they obtain food and fresh air.
They have no legs, nor any power of motion, though
during the earlier periods of their lives they have both
legs and eyes, and swim about freely, but as they
advance in years they lose the power of locomotion,
and, attaching themselves to some object, become settled
for the remainder of their lives, and in this state they
have often been mistaken for plants. A part of the
collection at Folkestone would form a fitting addition
to the beautiful specimens of the sea anemone shown in
the Vivarium at the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's
Park. They are as remarkable for their size as their
number. Seldom, indeed, does such an opportunity
occur in these parts for studying the character of these
animals, and doubtless many naturalists will avail
themselves of it.
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ENCOUNTER WITH A CROCODILE.--Theßev. John A
Butler, formerly of South Boston, now a missionary of.
the Am' erican Board in South Africa, met with a narrow
escape from death. He was travelling to Amah Con-
gera, and was forced in his way to cross the river Um-
komazi, which he attempted on horseback. When about
two-thirds of the way over, a crocodile seized him by
the thigh. Mr. Butler was dragged off, but clung to
the mane of his horse, and both he and the horse were
floundering in water, often dragged entirely under, and
rapidly going down the stream. At first the crocodile
drew them again to the middle of the river ; but at last
the horse gained shallow water and approached the
shore. As soon as he was within reach natives came to
his assistance, and beat off the crocodile with spears and
clubs. Mr. Butler was pierced with five deep gashes,
and had lost much blood. His horse also was terribly
mangled ; a foot square of the flesh and skin was torn
from his flanks. For eight or ten days he seemed to
recover as fast as could be expected, but was then seized
with fever, which threatened to be fatal. There was a
tendency to locked-jaw- He Passed this crisis, how-
ever, and in April, Mr. Butler writes that he was nearly
recovered from the effects of the frightful affray.
RE-OPENING OF PICCADILLY.--The re-laying of granite
blocks, instead of the former macadamised paving, at the
Regent-circus, Piccadilly, having been completed, the
thoroughfare to and from the City and West-end of the
town has been re-opened, to the. great convenience of
the vast traffic of this important line of traffic.