The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-18 00:00:00

FRIGHTFUL

ACOMENT.

Yesterday Mr. C. J. Wood, the coroner for West
Surrey, :And a nuili,,rou jGry, assembled at the :Railway
Arms Hotel, FartMaio, Mr the purpose of inquiring
the circumstances connected with the death of Charles
Cannon, aged 20, a porter on the London and South-
Western Railway, who was cut in two, and otherwise
fearfully mangled, on Saturday last, on the railway,
near this station.
The inquiry appeared to excite considerable interest
in the town. The Hon. F. Scott, M.P., the chairman
of the company ; Mr. Crombie, the secretary ; Mr.
Beattie, the locomotive superintendent ; Mr. Godstone,
the general manager ; Mr. A. Scott, the traffic manager,
and Mr. Eaton were present to watch the pro-
ceedings.
The jury having viewed the remains of the unfortu-
nate sufferer, they returned to the inquest-room, when
The Coroner, addressing the foreman and jury, said
that they were summoned together to inquire into the
death of the deceased, who, if he was rightly informed,
had been run over by a special train at or near the
Farnham station of the London and South-Western
Railway, at the same minute, or nearly so, as the cus-
tomary passenger train arrives at that point. Where
the ground is occupied or monopolised by railway com-
panies everything out to be done to take care not
only of the safety of the public, but also of their own
servants. It appeared to him (the coroner), that, if
what he had been told was the case (but which he hoped
was not), a special train arrived near the station at
nearly the same time as the ordinary one. Now
he thought, when an inquiry of so much importance to
the public as the present took place, that the fullest in-
vestigation should be gone into. The duty of conduct-
ing that inquiry devolved on him (the coroner), and he
had not the least doubt but that the foreman and the
gentlemen of the jury would consider it their duty to
make a full inquiry into all the circumstances attending
the death of this unfortunate man. He did not make

these remarks to prejudge the case ; he only did so in
the hope that the case might turn out differently to what
he had been told. He had been told that Captain
Galion, the government inspector of railways, was a
passenger by the stopping train, and he wished the case
to be postponed, so that he may be enabled to give some
evidence respecting the occurrence. If he had not
wished it, he (the coroner) would have felt it his duty to
have requested him to come forward and let them know
all he saw.

Mr. Hollis, solicitor, in answer to questions from the
coroner, said that he begged leave, on behalf of the
Government inspector, to ask the coroner to adjourn
the case.

Mr. Crombie, in answer to questions from the coroner,
said that this was not one of the accidents which, ac-
cording to act of Parliament, the company were com-
pelled to give notice of, but, notwithstanding, they had
given notice to the Board of Trade.
The coroner said it appeared to him that that was not
of the least importance. He then inquired of Mr. Hollis
whether or not he was aware when the Government in-
spector could attend ?
Mr. Crombie said that he apprehended that the Go-
vernment inspector only wanted to be examined as a
witness of what he saw, and not in his official capacity
as Government inspector.
The coroner said that he had received a letter from
Captain Galton about the case.

kr. Crombie asked whether the coroner would allow
him to state, in contradiction to what he had said, that
it was a special train which had caused the accident ?
The Coroner replied that he could not allow him at
present.

Mr. Crombie said that he only wished to state that
the coroner had made remarks in that court, not of what
had taken place there, but of what bad been said by
others out of doors, and as his remarks would go before
the public, be (Mr. Crombie) thought it nothing but
right that the facts of the case should be known.

The Coroner said that what he had said was only
hearsay evidence, and he hoped it would turn out during
the inquiry that the case was only an accident.
James Edwards, gate-keeper of Farnham station, was
then examined.—His duty was to open and close the gates
as the trains arrived. It was his duty to do so on Saturday
last. The first train due after dinner was 31 minutes after
two, and the next at 31 minutes after six. There was
also a goods train which passed the station. The five
o'clock train from London would be due at 31 minutes
after six, and two minutes after that time a train came
up and passed him, after he had signaled it to go on,
when on seeing it pass he said that he was afraid it
would not stop in time ; and seeing where deceased then
was, he said to Hatfield, " That man will surely be
killed." The train passed at considerable greater speed
than he had seen before on that line. The deceased
was running at the time from the fencing towards the
station, and he saw that he would not have time to
reach the station. When he was getting upon the wall
near the fence the train knocked him down, and he
(witness) cried out, "Oh God ! he is killed." He only
saw him being carried away after that. He had no
doubt but that he was killed on the spot.
Mr. Crombie, in answer to the coroner, said that any
of the company's servants, or any witness connected
with them, the jury could examine without summoning
them. The company was most anxious that a full in-

quiry should be made, but he wished again to remark,
that it was not a special train, only a special-service
train for the use of the compsny's servants on the line,
which was absolutely necessary for the safety of the
public, the principal object being to see that the line was
in perfect order. No person, he added, could moi-e
regret the melancholy occurrence than the directors of
the company.
The inquiry was then formally adjourned for a week
for the attendance of the government inspector.

ACCIDENT ON THE WESTERN VALLEYS

RAILWAY.

On Monday morning an accident occurred on the
Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company's
Western Valleys Railway, which, although it detained
tho passenger train an hour, was not attended with
any fatal results. It appears that after the first
morning passenger train had gone up the line to
Blaina, the mineral traffic train was on its way
to Newport. It consisted of nine Columbus trains
(so called from their enormous size) laden with coal. A
portion of the railway passes through the park of Sir
Charles Morgan, and is considered a somewhat dan-
gerous piece of road. Alterations have recently been
going forward there; and on Monday morning, it appears,
the mineral train, in coming over the "Park mile," was
suddenly thrown off, when the immense quantities
of coal and the heavy carriages fell over on the
passenger line completely blocking up both lines by the
debris. Speedy information was conveyed to the
nearest station beyond the place where the accident hap-
pened, up the line, and fortunately in time to prevent
the down passenger train running into the wreck.
Had this collision taken place, there can be little doubt
that a frightful loss of life would have ensued,
there being a large number of holiday passengers
in the train, and the broken carriages lying near a spot
where a precipitous descent to the Ebbw river, running
through the park at a distance of perhaps 60 feet below
the line, would have occasioned the train to fall and have
been smashed to atoms. The passengers were liberated at
the Rhymney junction station, and made the best of their
way by the high road to Newport; some, however, waiting
until a train came up from Newport on the lower side
of the broken carriages, to be thus conveyed to the
Dock-street terminus. The succeeding up train dis-
charged its passengers likewise in the park, and they
then walked to the upper side of the debris, where
another train was waiting to convey them to their desti-
nation. Fortunately not a single person was injured by
the accident. It is stated that one of the wheels of the
mineral train coming off occasioned the accident.

THB MAILS.—SOUTHAMPTON, Tuesday, May 17.—
The royal mail steam-ship Magdalena, Captain C. M.
Chapman, sailed this afternoon with the usual mails for
the West Indies, Spanish Main, Pacific, and California,
in chargo of Lieutenant Scriven, R.N., Admiralty
agent. She took out 75 passengers and a full cargo.
The Orinoco, Lieutenant Philip Hast, R.N., Commander,
with the homeward West India and Pacific mails, due
on the 16th inst., is hourly expected. The Peninsular
and Oriental Steam Navigation ship Tagus, Captain J.
Joy, departed this afternoon with the mails for Vigo,
Oporto, Lisbon, Cadiz, and Gibraltar, 32 passengers, a
large general cargo, and specie value 30,0001., for
Lisbon, and 7,0001. for Gibraltar. The Indus, with
the heavy portion of the East India, China, and Medi-
terranean mails, is expected to reach Southampton
about Thursday or Friday next. The United States
mail steam-ship Humboldt, Captain J. D. Lines, with
dates from New York to the 7th inst., is expected off
Cowes, en route to Havre, in the course of Wednesday
or Thursday.

RomANTio SIIICIDE.—On Wednesday morning the
body of a young man was discovered in a small copse
near the Crystal Palace, with his head blown to pieces,
and a new rifle pistol lying by his side. Information
being given at the police station, Sergeant Sole and two
constables proceeded to the spot, and removed the body
to the bonehouse, Sydenham. An inquest was held on
Thursday, when, from the evidence, it appeared that the
deceased's name was Lawrence Cooper Mason, aged 17,
and for the last four years he had been in the employ of
Mr. Atwell, butcher, of High-street, Camberwell, and
carried on a correspondence with. his young mistress,
only 14 years of age, which his master endeavoured to
put an end to, which induced him to leave his service,
and terminate his existence as described above. Two
letters, which were found on his person, were then read,
the first of which was addressed to his master, and was
as follows : " Sir,—l have been in your service upwards
of four years, and I must say I have met with every en-
couragement I have wished for until lately. I have
noticed that you did not seem satisfied with what I have
_done, which has made me answer you at times very
sharp, which you have noticed ; and, as I am to be
separated from the sole object of my affections, there is
no more comfort for me in this world ; my heart is ready
to burst with grief. In fact, my agonies at the present
time is more than I can bear, and therefore I am de-
termined to ease myself of them by taking my own life.
No doubt by the time you receive this I shall have
breathed my last. I hope you will forward my box and
all that belongs to me to my afflicted parents. I cannot
say any more, so farewell for ever." The second was
addressed to his young mistress, of which the following
is a copy :—"These few lines comes from your broken-
hearted lover, whose happiness is going never to return
again. I hope you will accept this as a last token of
of my love, and keep it in remembrance of me. I have
now left the world, never to see you more, so farewell
for ever. No doubt you will hear some sad news from
your father after you have received this note."—The
Jury returned a verdict of "Temporary insanity."—
Kentish, Mercury.