The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-05 00:00:00

OXFORD.

et ahs tnrfo pt
thee
ee
took place last evening, on
OXFORD, TUESDAY. A vtehrey
Os hilonc
rkdi n
within about a
London and North-Western Railway, gbracna
hurf that
two have died since ;two more are seriouslysoohnttwenty
others
mile of this city. Six persons were killed on the spot,
their lives are despaired of ; and about
u
bodily injuries.
have sustained more or less severe
the part of the driver of the
misunderstonding
The accident seems to have occurred through a deplor-
abled
not to start until the arrival of an
been positively desire
passenger train leaving on
nxford at 5.30 p.m. He had
expected coal train. A ballast engine came in a few mi-
nutes after this order was given, and it is suppored that
a
the unfortunate man (since. dead) mistook this for the
coal train, and, imaginin that the line was elear,
ceeded on his journey. He had scarcely cleared the pro-
city
boundaries when he came into violent collision with a
train of forty-four laden coal trucks, propelled by two
engine~, the dreadful consequences of which are above
indicated.
In order to render intelligible the mode in which the
collision took place, it is necessary to explain that, ow-
ing to the partial falling in, about two months since, of
the Wolvercott tunnel, distant about three miles from
Oxford, it has since been necessary to close one line of
rails, and the traffic between Islip and this city (five
miles) has lately been carried on over a single line only.
For the prevention of accidents, pending this arrange-
ment, positive orders were laid down that no train
should leave Oxford or Islip without a direct telegraphic
understanding between the station masters of the two
places. Last evening about five o'clock, Mr. Alfred
Blott, a very old servant of the North-Western Com-
pany, received a message from the Islip station-master,
inquiring whether a coal train then at Islip might come
on to Oxford. Mr. tßlott, aware that nearly half an
hour must elapse before he could start the 5.30 p.m.
train from Oxford to London, and remembering that the
coal trains invariably ran the distance between Islip and
this city in from fifteen to twenty minutes, replied
in the affirmative, and gave the necessary orders to
his officials not to allow the up train to leave until
the expected coal train should have arrived. Mr.
Blott cautioned the guard personally, and men-
tioned it also to the policeman on duty—in fact, every
person about the atation was perfectly conversant with
the circumstance. At half-past five o'clock the London
train was made up. It consisted of an engine and ten-
der, driven by John Tarry, a very old servant of the
company, with Robert Bugden, also many years em-
ployed on the railway, as his stoker ; a third-class car-
riage next the engine, a second-class carriage next, a
first-class carrriage next, and a break van last, with
Joseph Kinch as guard in charge; Thera were 21 pas-
sengers booked by the train, most of them of the poorer
class. No first-class tickets were issued. Just pre-
viously to the train starting, Mr. Hayes, the locomotive
foreman at Oxford, addressed Tarry, and told him that
he must not start until the coal train had arrived.
Tarry replied, "All right, sir," and Mr. Hayes pro-
ceeded to another part of the station. Mr. Blott had
alsO left the platform at this time, and had gone into his
private office to transact some business. Sergeant
Gwin, of the company's police, who was in charge of the
station, also left theplatform and went into the booking-
office to see if there were any more passengers for the
train. The driver Tarry and the guard Kinch were
engaged in conversation together, and the train was
perfectly ready to start, awaiting the usual signal. At
this moment a ballast engine, employed on the
works at Wolvercott tunnel, approached the station,
and ran from the main line on to a siding,
about one hundred yards outside the platform shed.
This engine carried a white light in front—all coal en-
gines show a green light. It is therefore urged that the
driver ought not to have been mistaken as to the non-
arrival of the coal train. However this may be, it is
clear that the unfortunate man must have imagined the
coal train had entered the station, for without waiting a
signal to start from any authorised person, he put on his
steam and moved away from the platform. The rush of
steam called the attention of the officials to the circum-
stance of the train having started, and Mr. Blott and
Mr. Hayes immediately hastened to the platform, where
in a moment they ascertained that the train had left, and
also the terrible fact that the coal train had not arrived.
They both instinctively ran up the line shouting and hal-
looing after the receding train. All they could do was
to alarm the guard, who put down the break hard ; but,
owing to the speed and lightness of the train, failed to
arrest the attention of the driver. It appears that the
policeman on duty at the auxiliary signal, about two
hundred yards out of the station, aware of the danger
into which the train was running, exhibited his red
signal as it approached. Owing to the steam
din
which the engine was enveloped, the driver not
the
see the red light until he got very close to
signal post. He then sounded his whistle twice,
and most unfortunately, instead of keeping the danger
signal on, the policeman shut the red off, and turn-
ed on green, signifying caution. This circumstance
probably re-assured Tarry, and he increased the speed of
his train immediately afterwards. The railway, after
leaving the station, runs parallel for some considerable
distance, with the Great Western, from which it is se-
parated only by a ditch about twenty feet wide, gene-
rally full of water. Both lines intersect a large tract of
common land belonging to the freemen of Oxford; and
known as the Post Meadow, at this time, owing to the
recent floods, covered with water to a depth of two or
three feet. The up train had not traversed this meadow,
and had scarcely got a mile from the station, when it
came into violent collision with the coal train, proceed-
ing in the opposite direction. The consequences were
of the most awful character. The engine of the passen-
ger trained was turned completely round, and thrown
into the water ditch, in a frightfully shattered state.
The first engine attached to the coal train fell upon it,
the wheels of each being transfixed, and the second en-
gine also ran into the ditch. The third-class carriage
and the second-class carriage were completely broken
up, scarcely two boards remaining attached, and the
passengers were scattered about the line in every direc-
tion.. The crash of the collision was heard at a very
great distance, and parties residing in the:neighbourhood
were soon on the spot endeavouring to render assist-
ance. Mr. Blott and Mr. Hayes, who had never ceased
running after the train, also soon came up, and did
everything in their power to prevent further injury by
stopping all down trains on the line, the 2.45 p.m. from
London being at this time due. The difficulty of
knowing what to do in order to assist the injured parties
was greatly increased by the ravages of a fire which,
kindled from the furnaces of the engines, burst forth im-
mediately after the accident. Messengers were soon
dispatched to Oxford for assistance, and, as the telegraph
was broken by the accident, information was sent on to
Islip, with instructions to telegraph at once to Wolver-
ton. The injured parties were then got out of the debris
as rapidly as possible, and sent on to Oxford, where they
were at once admitted into the Radcliffe Infirmary. One
who was very seriously hurt, preferred remaining
small public-house at Hayfield Hut. There were
,hree or four hundred prrsons on the spot shortly after
the accident, and no lack of willingness to assist ; but a
controlling head was wanted under such dreadful circum-
stances, and it was found in the person of Mr. Cardwell,
who, having expected his wife by the 2.45 p.m. down
train, was terrified when he heard of the accident, and
hastened at once to the spot. The honourable member
rendered almost superhuman exertions, working as only
a gentleman can work. The gallantry of his exemplary
conduct may be gathered from one simple fact. A
poor fellow, shockingly injured, called out for a drop of
water to cool his scorching thirst ; Mr. Cardwell,
having nothing better at hand in which to convey
the liquid to him, dashed his hat into the stream,
and thus relieved the 'sufferer. Mr. Grafton,
of the firm of Grafton and Hood, engineers, of Ox-
ford, was early in attendance, and ably seconded all
that Mr. Cardwell proposed. The alarm which pre-
vailed among the crowd was very great. At one period
an approaching train on the Great Western Railway was
thought to be running on the 'North-Western line, and.
30 or 40 persons rushed into the water to escape an im-
agined danger. Two engine-drivers and two stokers
were killed on the spot, all their bodies being frightfully
mutilated. One male passenger, not yet identified, was
thrown under the wreck, and before his body could be
extricated the upper half of his frame was burnt to a
cinder. A poor young woman named Caroline Davis,
a passenger, was thrown into the water, and in some
extraordinary manner became imbedded under the boiler
of the passenger engine. She was only discovered by
her legs having protruded above the water, and it was 6
o'clock this morning before her body was extricated.
Mr. M'Connell arrived from Wolverton about mid-
night with a large force of mechanics ; and Mr. Bed-
ford, the chief of the company's police force, was also
early in attendance. The men under Mr. M'Connell's
direction worked with admirable effect during the night,
and one line was cleared for traffic at an early hour. The
passengers by the down trains, last night, were received
at the Sheriff's-bridge, near where the accident occurred,
and brought on to Oxford in omnibuses.
It was quite impossible, in the confusion that prevailed
last night, to obtain a list of the injured parties. Mr.
Alderman Browning, the resident managing director of
the railway at Oxford, Who has been indefatigable in his
exertions since the accident, completed his inquiries
about noon to-day, and from him we have received the
following list of the sufferers :

man,
it a

Lying at the Saddler 'DE".
s Arms, Plantation-road, St.
John, Tarry, driver of the
Giles's
• passenger train.
Robert Bugden, stoker ofthepas-senger train.
Thomas Landon, stoker of the first coal engine.
theP lafinrattateioo coal engine.
A male passenger—unknown.
At
Lawes,Quee driver
iv Victoria,
of
road, St. Giles's,
Robert
Caroline Davis, of Farringdon, passenger to Winslow.
.At the Radcliffe Infirznar
the
he
Samuel Willcox, stoker of the second coal en • gine.
Richard Falkner, sen., a mechanic, bel •
ongmg, to some
. place in Surrey

INJURED.
At the Radcliffe Infirmary.
[chard Falkner, jun., son of the deCeased Richard
Falkner, head cut and body bruised.
Job Falkner, another son ; body bruised and thigh

burned.
John Williams, hawker, of Birmingham ; compound
fracture of arm—since amputated.
Joseph Townsend, of Bicester ; dislocated hip--since
reduced.
John Harper, of Cheltenham ; compound fracture of one
thigh and both legs broken.
Thomas Monney, of Little Coxwell, near Farringdon ;
head cut, fractured jaw, and thigh injured.
John Walters, of Bicester ; knee and thigh injured.
William Knibbs, of Bicester ; head cut and injury to
Sarah Smith, of Steeple Claydon, injury to chest.
At Graces' Hotel, near the Railway Station.
James Sayers, of Winslow ; four ribs fractured,
George Slade; suffering from the shock.