The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-31 00:00:00

CS-ESTEE, FRIDAY EVENING, FIVE O'CLOCK. —.- This
tuert.ii le et tea o'cl:;!Ii, ill:: or:quoit. opetf baTuesday
by Mr. Hostsae, the cite- coroner, ‘rsseetitilg` the late
appalling accident an the Cr eater and Flolyteesd Rail-
., V 7,4 rPgli!n,'Cl at the Eeeizenge, Sir E. S. Walker,
Knt., acting as foreman of the jury. -:
. . T
... .
hu moo. tunate sufferers, the subject of the inquiry,
were John Matthews, a pto.seeeer--, of Llaigisillele A'.
Charles "Nevitt, passeneer for Wrexham, -Mr. Laac
Jones; passrnger, of Wtexham (who di•-d teethe in-
firmary .on Wedneseley afternoon.. and since the last.
•neeting of the jug.), George tins-errs:`; gpt;rd, end
rhoma4 Anderson. tr,e striker. E•idelice deeeriptive of
'he amith•ot, but which offered eettung beyonet what has
.Iready appeared, he vine been; vivo', .
Mr. Thomas Alt red Garrow, who was selected by the
°toiler and jury to feXituillle thOleldk,, was next called
—I have h-en a evil engineer:for the last twilve-ye ars.
I have held the appointment of Beidgemaeter for Chester
for some time, and here no etintiexion at predent with
any railway. I have made the construction
_of- bridges
.fly entire study. I have made an examination .of the
railway bridge over the De(%und I now read my report
o( the inspection. - Upon examining the bridge I found
that the masonry and stonework, with the exception
ef that part of
.each which has fallen, were in
an apparently sound state. The principle of the
bridge it that of - trussed girders of' cast metal, rest-
ing upon stone piers and abutments, which are parallel
to the course of the river, but askew to the railway
'hove. Each girder consists of three pieces, having ver-
tical flanges, with. bolts -at the joints, and itseaddition to
Nine bolted to the full depth
unted by a see of girder, each joint is sur-
mo snaental piece,
.to reeeive,which notches
have been east in the upper surface of the girder. The
tension4ods descenditi anobliiitiedirection to-each joint,
and are carried horizontally between therte;• they consist
of separate bars of wrought iron, whickare secured to
each other laterally by clips. - The portion • of the bridge
which has fallen consists of -one outside girder on the
Salteney side-of-tat' thee; „ea lee attached platform
and transverse tensioni.rods. The comprising. part
of the "Stritibe, acting ah a e essurs.and ti 4
l bed for girder
on the Saltency, abutment, have `fallen', ' and also the
corner-stone at -the acute angle of the opposite river
pier, upon which the broken girder rested. The
girder itself is broken, as shown on the accompanying
drawing, having-two fractures ,in the length. next to
the Salteney abutnient, and one in its centre. Having
premised this short 'description of the construction
of the bridge and its present appearance, I may pro-
ceed to detail the..facts and data which have arisen
during my inVestigadon, and which have enabled me to
arrive at a confident -conclusion as' to the cerise of the
accident. My attention was in theirst instance-Airected
tt
to tom, examinatien of the fracturediends ofthe girder, for
Ise purpose or-iiiiertaining -wheiffee- an had ex-
isted in the castings. The appearance of the• broken
surface led me to conclude that the castings • had been
sound, and the tension bars, as far as they been
recovered from the water, are unbroken. From cake-
titian which I have made of the strength of the girders,
taken from an actual measurement of- the section at the
point of fracture; I find that -independent of any addi-
tional strength that may be obtained from the tension
bars, the girders alone are capable of sustaining a much
greater weight te.an could, under any. ordinary circum-
stances, be plsecd upon them. . The breaking weight of
.ach girderlca.calate as 74 tons, supposing the weight
o be concentrated over one point and both girders 148
one. Rit it it., an admitted prim-4 le that e. beam wil
.arty twice the weight tit teibuted over its whole surface
hat it will bear' ueere one. p.".iret We emu. therefore,
~neludt, that "te-'c.• the above' weight, 148 it.ult,plied
•.) -2, is south nt-295 lon,. ts the Is eake,g- weigt: f of one
••,y or opening ..f the far vtge ter one hoe o: rails. The
.oght of girders and plat,ottn is, at a rough calcu-
anis', about 90 •ti.nr, v hich must he deducted
-em the r -reg. ing quunti,y ; se h .ee, then fire,
96 less 90 equal 206 two., as - the - breaking
...ight ; anti this is altage-her atthout reoril: ce
• the tens]. n bits. From the :bow. facts I eonemd. d
fiat the accident (hi 11.4 uric.. f•tun the br. eking of the
.!rder as a primary cause ; and I therefor. 'directed toy
.tentitin to the. stets. of the masonry, aid to a consio. TS'
.on of its sw,tairong power. lie in_ car fully examined
1 the di.-plutted sums, mud their markt:tit.. taut, I
..aid that one previously named as fornii. g the acute
..t.irle of the riv. r pert, And upon which oise curl of the
troken girder rested, to be totally inuaequate in its form
•nd hearing surtace to, its imp orGititt sitttamon. This
.tone bad sustained nearly; of list portion of the flange
.1 the girder which rested upon the piece. The area of
is lower scrtace is 24 fi et 6 inches, of which 11 feet 6
eehes only was bedded On 'the pier, leaving 13 feet to
.verhang as a,cornice. The stone was not connected by
,steps or ties with the adjoining masonry of the pier.
Elie rail Way over the whole bridge is curved. The
:woken girder supporting the outer side, and being sub-
lee; to a greater lab nil force than the girders forming
the inside radius el the curve,-I
c-onsider that this lateral
jorce, acting during the :paeego of each train, must
'lave so far loosened the inefficient masonry as to Cause
a displacement of the girder itself and its -consequent
fracture.
By the CORONER—If I had had the management of
the bridge, I certainly should have had a greater strength
ee masonry round the girder. Considerable-vibration
would be likely to disturb the masonry. I tried the de-
flexion of the arch cpposite the third. Had an engine
and loaded ballast waggons, in weight about fifty tons,
pass over it, and the deflexion was about an inch and a
third. ' -

The jury pit to him a number of scientific questions,
relating to the . construction of the bridge, all of -which
he answered in a very able manner. They fully bore out
his previous conclusion.
Mr. Robert Board, superintendent of the Manslev Iron
Works, was then sworn. The girders of the Chester
Railway bridge, oi'er -the Dee, were manufactured at
those works. They were tested before sent to the rail-
way-. Each girder Was placed side by side, and tested
byfifty tons of iron being put on then] in the centre.
We took the deflexion on every five tons. Had not got
the Partieulars of those defl..-xions.
Conosttn—Are you aware of the ordinary pressure on
the girders by a train passing over them? Witness—lt
would not exceed fifty tons.

Examination continued—After the girders had been
tested we found a flaw in one of them; it was a mere
honey cake, and it was rectified before it was sent away.
I have since examined the girder, and found that the
accident had not resulted from the flaw. The fractures
were in the sound metal. _ I superintended the fixing
of the girders. There are many railway bridges of the
same kind. Ott the Trent Vall,ty line there ai e eight of
the kind ; it is not openel to the public as yet ; but on;
the 131.aekwall Railway there are several that have had
heavy tralr.s passing over thenffor.years. The one over
the bee is tee largest. Never heard of any of them
giving way. Had been on several lines to view the bridge
when trains were passing over it, and iound the de11.:13.-
awl vi ry trivial, nut men more than an ilia. Rad beard
that it was considerable.
Mr. T) rill said, 14. here see meal to have been a feel-
ing to the Cbester and Shrew she ry Ha la a) ,an probably
the gentlemeu we, ret re::ented that cou,pany would
,tate whetlb-r they had received any communication to
that effect.
tie CORONER remarked, must certainly that notions
had ptevatleo fi4 some time that the bridge was unsafe.
He did not ktrlw froze wnen.ce tney.-tnanated, but it was
a well-knows: fact that warty had d, c,itled to cro,s it.
bad l7,bour. d under the itupret,:aon, and taa not
risked himself. on it.
Sir L. w siker said be had ills, participated in the
feeling. On the opening day he had an invitation ticket
pre.ented him, but many pers-ms t-llu hint t,ot to trust
himself upon the i,ridge, as it was da.ligereus, he had out
dared to venture on it.
Mr. Lee, eleik of the w•irks •.f tl.e Chester and-Fl, 1)-
herd Ratlway, superthtend • d c,iistri.c,l..n of
the bridge. The ebullient. on th Saliency side ere
piled for a :'oundation. Upon the pile, a.,-re viced
strungh tx fle
vtbriiinuteit of As
'!i :iaibirhYi t rie a"r-,:upon
'h''t
facings. Pilet"tr.mat wine
built
'loa.hYte eTonhestrwuiet--
ntleisicsktnheesns..eTtne pintt:)erasi-!
:ion of the bridge. and dem=ribed the materials as of the
inregibhueiilitpdondehiaaricli
most sound description.
By the CORONEti—Believes the accident had bees
. mused
by a lateral such a blow' as the tender
striking the g•rdtr might pr..ducy; but it is difficult to
say. The breaking of the L;cder would rattle the fall of
masonry. Never 11,10 any complaitit as to the insecurity
of the bridge. Believed it to have been perfectly safe.
Tested the deflexion of the bridge before sio since the
accident, and found it to range from an incy,to an inch
and three-eighths. Did not try it before the accident
in consequence of anything he had heard.
Mr. Tyrell—l believe you have seen dirk-coupled
engines pass over the bridge ? Witbess—l have so.
The weight of' which; with the tenders, exceeded 100
tons. It was about the weight of any train that could
travel over it, . • - •
poAstpftoenres
rbeetac°lciingidoerrambier.dsistcevushseinonsontbe jtlycieangereecudnatol
the cause of the accident.
were adjourned, the
At five o'clock the proceedings
General p
the Government ofhcers bad given theirs •oepvinion as to
Pas ley and
the other inspectors.
Coroner being directed to summon

LINCOLN, /1.141- 028.—The City Crier is just now
going round with his bell to announce to the inhabitants
that. the price. of_wheat has fallen full 155., 16s and 174
a quarter since last Friday, the market-day,*
n
consequence flour will be cheaper. The Nriteiihefe_Lardttuajtaarmierser_rTut hticonbeNu'e3r,e sa uc a
wheat—
white and red—in
weather hot and sunny.— 6Samhp—leinarkes ihi°
GREAT FALL IgNiTati.'*4
burnisl:anoe were shown ; the
Uxbridge market (one A Corretpunlient, Mae.
London), TRE . PRICE OF WHEAT.—At
of the largest in the vicinity of
on Thursday last, the price of wheat fell 31.
per load, taking the overage prices which were obtained
at the previous market day. At this reduction not so
many sales were etYcted Hs might have been.expected ;
the buyers hAding back in tiie expectation that a con-
siderable Wane!' reduction will take place next week.
A great Jail el.o took place at Maidenheadn ai-ke t
haso
the previous day. The present splendid weather
hed a very material '-fleet in keeping down the !rices.
The growing crops throughout the counties of Beats
state, d
nws; abandant h.rve<t is gblleratil
ANOTHI II FALL ME PRICE or BREAD.—Ott
and Bunks appear to bke.:
hmr.olitgflhpoir,uu. rdttisth:thi,pdeg.
The beet bradrFdiducie:,7l,77/ce th,
at the w, at-eoti ts POW cha,g, d 6. OP., spcni.d r •te lid.
; .1. part- It i 4 "lON too.; and t' a 1.,« ague
"eis.bell ,;.clivir), and gi od
qfjue:il4tyh'.‘.

At a Petisi.,n of the Ilur. Socictv of Gray's Inn,
eta on ead.y. t. e In.r;tit, ~r. 1)
1;*`"" "a"P, u lo• d to th. L.ccure h p..-s.t.biist..-d by
chit SOO*, iy, oc, t eul proinsty law COL, ta) de' ICS
auto bequtata.