The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-19 00:00:00

RAILWAY TRAFFIC RETURNS.

LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST RAILWAY.—
Traffic return for the week ending May 14,
1853 £10,505 19 6
Corresponding week last year 9,451 2 9
Total of the half-year to this date, 1853 183,757 18 2
Total of the half-year to this date, 1852 170,293 711

THE .GREAT NORTHERN 'RAILWAY.—Traffic return fol
the week ending May 8, 1853 (283 miles) £1.5,742 8 4
Corresponding week last year (2234 miles) 11,663 12 11

LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RAlLWAY.—Traffic re-
torn for the week ending May 15, 1853 X 18,895 18 9
Corresponding week last year 16,100 4 11
CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAlLWAY.—Traffic return for
the week ending May 15, 1853 24,491 7 4
Corresponding week last year 2,958 0 1

Increase in 1853

-.11,533 7 3

GLASGOW AN SOUTH-WESTERN RAlLWAY.—Traffic re-
burn for the week ending May 14,1863 £4,622 10 0
Corresponding week last year 4,144 19 4

Increase in 1853 £477 10 8
CORK AND BANDON EAlLWAY.—Traffic return for the
week ending May 14, 1853 £lB2 9 8
Corresponding week last year 133 17 11

VERDICT OF MANSLAbGHTER AGAINST THE
DIRECTORS OF THE ,YORK AND NORTH
.MIDLAND _RAILWAY.'

11AMBLETON, MAY 17.--On the Gth inst. an inquiry
was commenced by Mr. Pearson, coroner of Selby, at
Hambleton, near that town, into the circumstances at-
tending the deaths of John Thompson, an engine driver
in the service of the York and North Midland Railway
Company, and Joseph Sykes, a stoker, which occurred
between eleven and twelve o'clock on the night previous
from the engine that Thompson was driving having run
off the line. At that investigation no certain opmion
could be arrived at as to the cause of the accident, soon
after which it was reported to the Board of Trade, who
sent down to the. scene of the accident Captain Galton,
C.E., their inspector. That gentleman arrived at Ham-
bleton on the 7th, and inspected the line, and made all
proper inquiries. The inquest was resumed on the after-
noon of the above day (Tuesday), before Mr. Pearson,
Captain Galton being present, and taking part in the
proceedings.

- Mr. Cabry, the engineer to the company was
the first witness examined. He deposed that sub-
sequent to the accident he proceeded to the
place where it had occurred, and made an examina-
tion of the line, to ascertain if possible, what
had been the cause of the accident. He found that
for a distance of about 100 yards on the down rails,
upon which the train was travelling, they were bent in
several places, as if they had been struck first on one
side and them on the other by the engine, from its vio-
lent oscillating motion, and that then the engine passed
ou to the up rails in an oblique direction, for about
sixty-five yards, and was then thrown into the adjoining
field. He had come to the conclusion that the accident
had oecurred from excess of speed. A number of ques-
tions were put to the witness as to his opinion of the
condition of the engine and the state of the railway at
the time of the accident, and he stated that, according
to his judgment, both were in proper working order.
Mr. James Fenton, of Low Moor, who has superin-
tended large engineering establishments, was the next
witness. His evidence west to show that that forenoon
and on the previous day he had tested the capacity of
the railway with a view to arrive at a right conclusion.
He had also caused the engine which ran off the rails to
be weighed. Its weight, without coke or water, was
nearly twenty tons. One of the rails that he examined
had a lateral bending of an inch and a half, and from
the experiments he had made it would require a force,
or weight, of forty-one tons to produce that effect. He
had no hesitation in saying that to cause such a lateral
bending of the rail the engine must
,have been running
at the rate of at least fifty miles an hour. He considered
the engine a proper and safe one to run at thirty miles
an hour, at it was not safe to travel at a speed of forty-
five or fifty. This wao not the first time he had known
a similar class of engine run off a straight line of road (as
this is), the road being in perfect order. He observed
smile of the heads of the spikes standing above the base
of the chairs, but that would not affect the lateral stabi-
lity of the line.
Several servants of the company gave evidence, and.
their testimony went to prove that in their opinion the
accident was owing to excessive speed.
Mr. J. Heppenstall, the inspector of the railway on
the Leeds and Selby old line, deposed that he had four-
teen men under him, who were employed to repair the
line between the old Milford junction and Selby. He
had power and materials to mend the line on his own
account, without application to any one else. If any
rails or sleeperS were required, he had to send to the
engineer's office'at York, and they were supplied to him.
He could not, however, take upon himself the relaying
of the railway to any considerable extent.
Captain Galton was the last witness. Tie deposed
that the accident was reported to the Board of Trade,
andl he received instructions to inquire into it, and after-
wards to attend the inquest. He examined the railway
first on Saturday week. The engine he examined on the
Tuesday following, and last Friday he examined the line
again. With respect to the engine, he fOund the wheels
rather worn, but it appeared before the accident to have

been in fair working order, as far as he could judge. He
thought the distribution of weight in this engine would
have a tendency to cause unsteadiness at high speeds,
and that unsteadiness would be increased on a road which
was not firm. With regard to the road, he found the
rails were a good deal worn in places and laminated.
The keys which fixed the rails to the chairs appeared old.
The sleepers were certainly decayed- at the surface, he
should say generally-- and many, he thought, were de-
cayed much deeper. He observed many instances of
the spikes which fix the chairs to the sleepers being
loose, and when a length of rail was taken up, he per-
ceived the beds of the wood on which the chairs rested
were aim, decayed. The ballast was, at the top, broken
limestone ; but below he found a quantity of clay
mixed with it. On taking out the sleepers, the clay
seemed to retain the water under the sleeper in one
or two cases which he examined. He observed
several instances of engines passing ever the line,
These caused the rails to work m the chairs, and the
chairs to work on the sleepers, and the sleepers also ap-
peared to work in the ballast a little. If sleepers were
packed equally on both sides, it would give an undu-
lating motion to trains, but if one end of the sleeper were
more firmly packed than another, this motion would be
converted into an oscillating motion. This remark ap-
plied to all railways as well as the present. The working
of the chairs had a tendency to throw out the keys, and
after the passage of trains, he observed instances of the
keys being out. The engine, he thought, appeared in
fair working order ; but he thought the road was not in
such a good condition as it ought to have been. ,It de-
pended very much on the speed of a train whether the
line was in a safe condition. He did not consider it in
a good condition with heavy engines at a high speed. If
he had been requested to report on the state of road,
not knowing of the accident, he should not have reported
that it was safe for the public to pass on with the present
traffic going over it.
The Coroner then made some remarks to the jury,
leaving them to determine upon the facts whether the
accident arose from excessive speed, or from any defect
in the engine or line. If they were of opinion that the
former was the case, that was the act of the driver now
dead ; but if they thought they ought to adopt the latter
proposition, then he considered the directors of the com-
pany were criminally responsible.
The jury, after about twenty minutes' deliberation,
found a verdict of manslaughter against the directors.
A sufficient number had agreed, but there were two who
dissented from the rest of the jurymen.