The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-15 00:00:00

RAILWAY ACCIDENT IN SCOT

LAND.

On Tuesday last an accident of a very serious nature,
and one which might have been attended with the most
fatal consequences, occurred on the Slamannan and
Glasgow Railway. As it was, several of the passen-
gers were severely injured, and all of therm were thrown
into a state of the utmost consternation and alarm.
When the evening train with from fifty to sixty pas-
sengers, was within a few miles of Glasgow, the en-
gine, then going at a very rapid rate, in order, it is
said, to make up time lust on the road, was suddenly
thrown off the rails, and the second and first class
carriages were in consequence overturned with extreme
violence on opptsite sides of the road. Providentially
no lives were lost ; and it is only proper to say
that the utmost attention was paid to the sufferers
by the officers of the Company, and also by those
inhabitants of the neighbourhood who were drawn
to the spot immediately on the occurrence of the
accident. Without intending to throw odium on any
one in one in the present instance, we cannot help
expressing regret that some efficient means is not
adopted for the purpose of ascertaining, in all cases of
similar accidents, what is tha real cause of accident, the
more especially so from the fact that in every instance
where an accident has occurred it has been found next
to impossible to fix with precision whether it was the
result of overspeed in the rate of travelling, or an inhe-
rent defect in the machinery, the popular belief almost
invariably inclining to the side of overspced. An inge-
nious friend, one who has for many years been familiar
with the working of railways, has made to us the fol-
lowing suggestion, which we throw out, in order that
it, or some adaptation of it, or of some other sort of
plan suitable for the purpose, may be speedily adopted.
His proposal is to fix an apparatus to each engine con
sisting of some sort of clock-work, to be worked by
the machinery in such a manner as to ring a bell
at the end of every mile traversed, and to have
a clock or timepiece put in a conspicuous part of
the train, so that the time between each stroke of the
bell, or, in other words, the time occupied in travellicre..
each mile, might be ascertained with certainty, and
hence the rate of speed made known ; in addition to
this index of speed, that each train be provided with
the means of being instantly detached from the engine,
in case the rate of motion, from whatever cause, were
increased so much as to endanger the safety of the pas-
sengers. This would at least show to every one, if an
accident should unfortunately happen, whether it was
the fault of overspeed or not, a matter in itself of no
slight importance, while it would afford to the conduc-
tor or guard a means of checking and regulating the
operations of the engineer, a functionary who unfortu-
nately, under the present arrangements, has the uncon-
trolled management of life and property to an almost
unlimited extent.—Edinburgle Observer.

DR. JOHN BORTHAVICK GILCHRIST.-
Died on Friday last, in Paris, Dr. John 13orthwick Gil-
christ, one of the firmest advocates, one of the truest,
most disinterested, and generous supporters of all that car.
elevate the character and extend the liberties of the peo_
ple. In his single-minded and sincere devotion to the
cause of intellectual, moral, and political improvement,
nothing could divert him from his honest and upright
course. He hated and he denounced oppression in even•
form, and s3mpathised with even passionate fervency in
all that tended to remove misery and to promote human
happiness- A few years ago he was among the most
active of Reformers, taking a prominent stand among the
leaders of the popular cause. Old age and absence from
his country, if they removed him from the sphere of busy
co-operation, neither lessened his philanthropic affections
nor diminished his desire to co-operate in every work of
good. It is understood that his fortune is ultimately des-
tined to be devoted to the furtherance of education.

FATAL ACCIDENT.-On Thursday an inquest
was held before Mr. Wakley, M. P., in the hoard-room of
Middlesex Hospital, on view of the body of William Kemp,
aged eleven yc-irs. It appeared from the evidence that
the deceased was a plarcerer's boy, ar:d oa W.diresday, the
6th inst., being at work in Golden Lion-yard, Oxford-
street, lie was about going up a ladder to the top o f a scaf-
fold with a stone weighing about twelve pounds, for the
workmen to sharpen their knives. When near the top,
having partly lodged the stone on the roof, he suddenly
lost his balance and fell to the ground. The stone slipped
ar.d fell, striking deceased en the back part of the head.
Deceased on being taken up was immediately conveyed
to the above hospital, where it was found that his skull was
fractured, and that he had also sustained a severe contused
scalp wound, He lingered till Sunday morning last, at six
o'clock, when he expired. On a post mortem examination
of the body it was found that the immediate cause of
death was an extensive laceration of the dura mater, and
an effusion of blood on the brain. Verdict, " Accidental
,; •• ,• `r• the I
Axford, the house surgeon, s.kul that only three cases of
accident occasioned by the frost bad been brought to the
hospital, and none of them was of a scrim; nature.