The Sun.
London, England, 1840-11-14 00:00:00

disc was approaching. The driver of the first en-
gine of that train checked his speed ; the driver of
the second engine, though called to, and though
the policeman held up his lamp, did not ; a I
collision between the merchandise train and the 11

waiting engine ensued, and two deaths were the
consequence. The waiting engine was the obstacle
placed in the way, of which the advancing
train could have no knowledge. What means
were taken to warn the drivers of it ? The

first driver saw the signal to stop, the second did
not, and that signal appears by the description to be
something as little impressive as a policeman's lamp.
When the accident occurred on the South Western

Railway from a similar unknown obstruction being
in the way of an advancing engine, we pointed out
the necessity of having some strong, glaring, and
impressive signal to warn an advancing train of any
known obstacle. Why was not such a signal used
at Harrow when an engine was placed in the way ?
The unimpressive and imperfect signal appears to
have been a most inefficient warning, and the want
of some striking means of impressing the senses of
the drivers, when an obstacle is in their path, is a
neglect on the part of the Directors of which the
Jurors ought to take notice.
It seems that the driver of the waiting engine
was in communication with the clerk of the Har-
row station. Both these persons must have known
of the obstacle which was caused by the waiting
engine ; the clerk of the station must have known
too of the expected arrival of the merchandise train;
and the jurors ought to inquire into the circum-
stances which prevented a timely and a sufficient
warning having been given to the approaching en-
gine that danger was at hand. What was the
source of the neglect is another part which the jury
ought to ascertain. Either the Directors have failed
to institute a signal that danger is at hand, suffi-
ciently striking, or the people at the Harrow station
failed to exhibit it ; or the unfortunate driver of
the second engine had lost his senses and could not
perceive it, whence will arise the inquiry why the
engine was entrusted to one driver.
The accident on the North Midland Railway
occurred from a similar cause to that on the Bir-
mingham Railway. There was a waiting coal
train on the line, which ought not to have been
there, and of which the driver of the passenger
train not being warned, and not observing it—as it
was seven o'clock—he drove his train against it.
Why was this coal train allowed to be there, or
why was not some striking signal made to the
train which it was known was advancing to
warn the driver of his danger ? Here again was
gross neglect, which ought to be rigidly inquired
into; and punished to the extent of the power of
the Jury.
One of the peculiarities of railways is that they
are one property, and that no vz.ihicle can en!er or run
on them without the permission of the Direetors-
That circumstance makes the Directors responsible
for every engine or carriage which moves on the
railway. In fact, the whole of the train-carriages,
as well as the engines, and the railway belong to
them. It is their business to appoint, and they do
appoint, the times for every train starting ; they
settle too the rate of its speed, and they know the
time of its expected arrival, not only at the end cf
the journey, but at every intervening station be-
tween that and the point of starting. If they from
any circumstances send off an extra train, they
ought to send word by telegraph to every station
that it iv coming ; and if they have not a telegraph they
ought to lay one down. Besides that, they ought to
have known signals to be exhibited at every station,
to inform any passing train whether every expected
train has kept its time or not, and whether any un-
usual -train or carriage is-put on the road, so that at
every station, whether a train stop at it. or not, the
driver and guards should see a signal exhibited by
day and night, that, as far as was known, the road
was or was not clear.
The immense velocity with which engines are
driven is a completely new element in business. It
constitutes one of the essential advantages of rail-
roads, for the consequences of which even those
who drive the engines appear scarcely prepared. 11
requires precautions, more perhaps than have ever
yet been thought of. The art is comparatively
a new one, and demands from those who practise it,
and profit by it, unusual care. We must impress
this to the utmost of our power on railway pro-
prietors, as the only means by which they can ex-
pect to make railways hold their place in public
estimation, and preserve the management of their
own property in their own hands.

Sir FREDERICK SMITH proposes that railway
engineers shall be examined like pilots, and licensed.
He says that a board could easily be formed for the

purpose. No doubt Commissioners are just as
' plentiful as idle gentlemen with insufficient in-
comes. But we apprehend Sir FREDERICK has
not duly considered the question.
The examiners of pilots are old sailors, master
mariners, retired pilots, persons well acquainted
with all the subjects on which they examine the
candidates. Are there any old experienced engine
drivers ? No ; the trade is a new one. It is yet
scarcely ten years old, and no experience has been
had in it. S►r FREDERICK, then, would prescribe
his theoretical notions as laws before experience
has been had. Why did the Hull and Selby Rail-
way Company take a youth who had never guided
an engine before except for about a week ? Be-
cause, as a general rule, more experienced indivi-
duals are scarcely to be procured. But the case as
to pilots is quite different, and tfle young and inex-
perienced are subjected to a close examination by
those who have for years performed the same duties.
The examination of pilots, too, is confined, we
believe, to certain points of positive knowledge not
likely to vary. For example, they are required to
know the bearings and cross-bearings of all the
light-houses on the coasts for which they are
pilots ; the situation of every rock and shoal
as learned from experience, and the land-
marks or soundings by which a vessel can be
guided clear of them, and kept in the proper chan-
nels, or carried safe into any harbour. They are
examined as to their knowledge of the depth of
water in certain places, the proper position for an-
choring, &c. ; to none of which objects can there
be any similitude in the examination of an eng►ne-
driver. Would he be examined as to how long a
time it should take to conduct a train from Bir-
mingham to London, as to the number of station-
houses, and their distance apart ? What would
be the use of that ? He must be examined only
as to his personal sagacity, his steadiness of habits,
the quickness of his eye, the firmness of his nerves,
and the readiness of his hand. What Board can
test those things ? Experience alone can deter-
mine them. He must he seen at work. He may
be required certainly to go through a preparatory
training ; but all who are taught, whether for the
Church, or the bar, or the army, do not become
skilful in their profession. The choice must, after
all, be left to the Directors, and to license
engine-drivers by a Board little able to judge
of their merits, would only be a certificate to relieve
the Directors from responsibility. The public
have a right to insist on the Directors paying the
engine men well, and so inducing respectable, well-
educated, well-behaved men to undertake the
business ; but the history of law, of physic, and of
the Church, proves that examination and licensing I