The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-26 00:00:00

THE LATE FRIGHTFUL ACCI-
DENT ON THE SHREWSBURY AND CH LJ IER
RAILWAY.

(FROM A CiRRESPONDENT
CHESTER, MAY 25, 4 my last communica-
tion, which was written in a hurried manner to save the
post, I omitted to state that- the Chester and Shrews-
bury is a double line, and is emplete as far as Rhuabon,
and which was opened a few months ago to the public
under the inspection of General Palley, who pronounced
it safe.
I ought here to explain that all the carriages were
not literally smashed, but at the time I visited the spot,
from the tide coming in very strong, they were not very
distinct to be seen ; however, two or three were actually
so, and a first-class carriage which was floated in pieces
on to the race•course, bore evidence of what an awful
crash it must have been. It was fortunate it was such a
light train, otherwise the consequences must have been
terrible in the extreme. I should also state that the
bridge is a horizontal one, and hence the greater pres-
sure. It is certainly a neat affair, and that is all that
can be said about the structure, which required a vast
deal more strength to support heavy trucks carrying iron
and ballast, one of which, with ten to twelve carriages,
only two hours before passed over, and no doubt had
caused the girders to give way. This seems to be the
general opinion, that the girders had snapped asunder,
as evidenced from a boy who was fishing close by and
witnessed its opening and the fall. The
.part that tell,
as I slated in my last, is on the oppesite side of th
river from the race-course, asid on the south side. The
northern part of the line still remains perfect. The
engineer showed the greatest presenc,, of mind and
courage, for on finding- the engine sinking, he in
an instant put the ste-an in full force, which caused
the engine to spring toi ward like an arrow, clearing
herself from the tender in a most miraculous mann( r.
the chains and bars of iron attached to the tender snap.
ping like glass; this caused the tender to twist against
the buttress of the bridge, pitching the poor sieker (who
had one foot on the tender and the other on the engine)
on his back, and the engineer saw that he was killed in
stanter! The engine, of course, broke away for some
distance, and on the engineer having at length stopped
its further progress, he with great forethought turned
on to the down-line, went over the Other part of th.
bridge (which none but a courageous man would bave
attempted after such an occurrence), and down to the
station to give inlorination to the (Bemis. The poor
fellow could hardly give utterance to a word, but said—
" My mate is killed, and all the carriages in the Dee !"
It is repurten that Mr. Stephenson, the engineer to the
Holyhead Company (to whom the bridge belongs), was
On the bridge yesterday, and pronounced it safe.
From Mr. Hill, the able and active bupern,tendent of
police (who is always at his post when r, quirvd) I Pave
gleaned the following particulars:—
KILLED.
Mr. J. Matthews, coachman.
Mr. Nevitt, ditto, of Cheater.
Thomas Anderson, stoker.
George Roberts, guard.
PERSONS IN THE INFIRMARY.
David Evans, of Llangollen, labourer, thigh broken.
Mr. J. Edward Town, of Wrexham, concussion et the
brain.

Miss Town, his sister, slightly injured.
Mrs. Ibbotson (or Iveson), of Eyton, near Wrexham,
dislocation of the hip.
A boy named Stephens, from Gresford, eight miles
from hence, concus.ion of the brain.
Mr. llsaac Jones, tailor, Wrexham, ditto, not expected
to survive.
Mrs. Jones, supposed to be his wife, fractured thigh,
and collar-bone broken.
Mr. J. B. Ford, Bridge-street, Manchester, contusion
on the head.
Mr. J. Jones, farmer, Llangollen, ditto.
Mr. A. M‘Gregor, engineer, ditto.—(This gentleman
had a miraculous escape, being in the luggage-van with
Matthews, Nevitt, and the guard, all three killed; he was
pitched on to the bridge I)
Ann Roberts, servant to Captain Hopkins, R.N., frac-
tured thigh.
A woman (supposed name Roberts), fractured skull.
NOT HURT.
Chapman, the engine driver.—(This man deserves
reward, as he has three times before cleared himself with
the engine from difficulties like the present.)
ESCAPED WITH SLIGHT INJURIES.
C. Walmsley, Esq., Chester.
Mr. Warburton, Chester, tailor and draper.
Mr. Tomkinson; of- Liverpool.
Miss Worthington, of Manchester.
W. W. Wynne, Esq., Wrexham.
Mr. Proud, Chester.

MISSING.
Mr. F. Grote, merchant, Greiford ; and it is doubtful
whether there are not more still in th river.
A highly respectable jury were surbru-ned to-day, and
met at halt' past ten and tat until hclt past three, when
it was adjourns d to Friday morning at ten.
Previous to their being sworn they took a minute
survey of the bridge, &e.
I omitted to state that had not the engine been de-
tached, and tender thrown against the wall, from the
carriages, net a soul would have e,.c4pe I. as their pon-
derous weight must have crushed everything to atoms.
As it is, people wonder how a single individual did so.

(From the Liverpool 7 imes )
Immediately upon hearing of this dreadful calamity',
we dispatched a reporter to the spot, who returned this
morning., after witnessing the scene of the melancholy

occurrence.

The scene of the accident is the noble bridge over the
river Dee, close to the race-course. The river is there
crossed by an iron bridge of three spans. each 100 feet
in width. Each spate is coin'', sed of massive irur
girders, snpported by stem- of the most firm and durahl
construction. Thereare tour of these girders in each spar.,
..n•- on each side of the up and down lines or rails,
Sorting wooden beams were fixed across toe girders, anti
aiong these the liues were Ind.- The girder tnetnsetves
were !termed of two pieces ut iron firmly rive;led ,11 the
centre, and seemed well adapted to sustain an immense
weight.
The train which left Chester at a quarter past six last
evening consisted of one first-class carriage, two second-
class carriage s, and a luggage van; but it is state." that
there were not more than two dozen lassengars. The
train was f,r(teeding as usual al- ng the line, had already
crossed two of she arches, end was in the act t f crossing
the third, when, without one motriect's warning, ad the.
carriages were precipitated into the river, a depth of
about 120 feet; the engine and tender, which-had crossed
the bridge, pursuing their euurse along the line. The
consternation of the passengers at this time must have
been frightful; and some inditiduals who witnessed the
accident from the Rhoodee, describe their shrieks as
being of the most heartrending description. But avert
this terror was merely momentary; for the sudden shock
and concussion rendered almost all the persons in the
carriages totally insensible to their situation. One man,
indeed, named Proud, recovered himself almost imme-
diately; be found himself in a carriage turned of side
down in the river, and being fully sensible of the horrors
of his situation, he exerted himself to the utmost, anti
succeeded in getting through the carriage window,
whence he precipitated himself into the river, and swam
ashore. The crash was heard at a great disiance, and
assistance was promptly on the spot, Mr. Jones, the
hou,e-surgeon of the Infirmary, being very active in
rendering every aid to the unfortunate sufferers. In a
brief space of time four dead bodies were taken out of
the rivt r, and twelve or thirteen of the passengers, who
were more or less wounded, were extricated from their
perilous situation and conveyed to the Infirmary.
As soon as the agitation consequent upon such a
dreadful occurrence had subsided, attention was directed
to the fallen arch; but, strange to say, only one of the
girders, that on the outside, had given way, %Ante the
other remained perfectly firm and entire. Of tours'
the weight of Lae carriages bore down the rails and the
horizontal beams, which with the girder, now breker,
into several pieces, fell into the river.
it
Itstist)torewit
it a po-tion of tha_st,42o.T.l.ork in which as fixed on
the Welsh side of the river. Ver) fortunate, i I ow-
ever, nothing seemed to have fallen upon the carriages,
and though they were crushed one against the other,
they did not appear so completely smashed as would
have been the case had the arch been built of stone.
Any conjecture as to the cause of the accident would be
idle or misplaced; but doubtlets that will be sufficiently
investigated before the coroner.
Of those who escaped unhurt—compantivtly few c.m-
sidering the number in the train—the following are the
only names we have yet learned, and we believe it cow-
prises all, with one or two t xcept ionc—Mr. Wahwley,
of Liverpool, who was proceeding to Llangollen; a young
msn named Proud, connected with one of the railway
offices; Mr. Lloyd Wynne, of Mount Lon, near Os-
westry, and his sott, •
also escaped almost without a
• •
bruise.

There seems to be one man still missing, for a hat has
been found, marked with the name of AAelford, for
which there is no owner, but this is supposed to be the
only bxly that has not been recovered.
Mr. Jones, the house surgeon, set mad to think the
heads of most of the sufferers had cone in contact with
the stone wall, as the wounds were tilled with sand; but
this might be caused by the quantity of sand which
would be disturbed as the carriage!. fell.
We have spoke-n to one or two gentlemen who heard
the crash of the falling mass, which was heard at a greei
distance, and who were on the spot immediately after
the accident, but the relief of the wounded absorb, d
their whole attention, and they were almost unable to
form the slightest idea of the cause of this dreadful.
calamity.
It was stated that the engineer was so horrified at the
occurrence that he went on his engine in an almost in-
sensible state for a distance of about two wiles.
One of the coachmen who was killed had 1501 in his
pocket, which was taken charge of by Mr. nib, the
superintendent of police.
.1 hese, then, are the hurried details which we hav
been enabled to collier respecting this accident, in • e
nature more frightful than any in the records
of railwlai;
history. The inquest, however, will unfold skim-
tutther
information, and, in all probability, that will take place
to-morrow.

___ ____............"...q.
DEATa 01' WILLIAIs B. HAIICOVRT, Es.-6—We re-
gret to hare to announce the demise of the above much-
reerected gentlunan, m.hich took place suddenly at St.
Leonard's Hill, near Wimisor, yesterday morning early.
Mr. Harcourt was seized with an attack of applexy on
Monday night, trom which he never rallied, and ex-
pired at five o'clock yesterday morning. The deceased
was eldest son of the late Marquis D'Harcourt, and
married, in February, 1837, Elizabeth, eldest daughter
of Major-General the Hon. Henry Cavendish.
a AnotSifluepaptieomn Supplement
uthoewGnianzge.tiestreeoft,las.tthtant_ighhetremonaitaiesntys
had issued letters_ patent under the .Grea_
05011674:Tit
itig 37 orders for tie govenuzieut of Oa
i 844.

I „... ETON
vviNDson, --I UESDAY EMONTEIII.
VENING.—ThEN eeing the day
on weitte rite ire Hirai leseiesl o' Meetens eeted have
been celebrated Et Eton and Sit hill, had ii, not been
ebolisheri by the Provost end the authorities of Eton,
ccoolles4idoerfratb
ile)
aiei
excrement prevaib el in the vicinity of the
early hour this mornine, in consequence
(from rumours -ss hien had been in circulation for some
time past) of its being apprehended that acme " demon-
stration" weuld be made by tne buys, assisted by several
old Etenians trim Oxford and Cetutridge (who are
strongly opposed to the abolition of the ceremone),
which might lead to a breach of the peace. Up to the
hour, however, of sending off this dispatch everything
has passed off pretty quietly. With the exception of
about a thousand small squares of glass being demo-
lished in the vicinity of the lower school, and similar
• breakages, but to a much smaller extent, at the houses
of parties who were supposed to be in favour of the
determincion which has been come to by the Pro-
f vost, ee have heard of no deteuns:ration of a ri.tous
character on the part of the boys. ibis being a
whole hulitely," several of the head boys had
perms sion to 'trucked in boats up the Thames for
the day as far as Cliefden. B. tween 100 and 200
have also left for the Whitaun holidays, thus thinnine
the numbers remaining at College to a considerable
extent. As soon as e absence " had been called by the
Hey. Dr. llawtrey, the head master, shortly after twelve
o'clock, the boas s, numbering between 200 and 300,
formed in precession in the playing fields, and marched
across the fields, preceded by a black flag, to toe cele-
brated mount, at 8%11..10. Thee were joined by a great
many of the old Eteterns trent the teiversities of
Ox ord and Cambridge, who arrived at Eten this
rime ten. Each wore . n Ins le feu im a hard and rosette
or black crape. and wavy had ellee hathavedsaiel scarfs.
As tt,e3 well- seen w. edi• g !heir way towards Salt-hill,
they had all the appi te «lice of mourners (merry though
they to ,glit br) in a tuneral pr cession. Upon their
arrival at the Mount. the beck flag ass waved in solemn
Akitce, and afterwards placed on the summit, drooping
on the ground, typeal of the lest glories of Montetu.
The large party then prteeetle I to Beetktetufte, at
the IL'ltlelmill Hold, whence, after partaking of
a luncheon, they again returned to the Mount,
and with the flag retreated their steps back to Cols
lege. A match at cricket was played during the day,
between the Oxonians and the present Etonians, in the
shooting fields attached to the College. A splendid cold
collation was provide d in the evetong for the players by
Mr. Clarke, of the Cerise ',her Inn. Thr waiters who
attended upon the go. ets +sere compelled to wear black
crape around their aims, " in keeping," as it was ob-
served, " with the solemnity of the occasion." Such
were the fears entertained by some of the college autho-
rities that a disturbance might take place in the course
of the day, that a strong body of the metropolitan A di-
vision of police was stationed at Slough, in plain clothes
(as we are inftemeo), to be in readiness to assist the
local authorities in the event of their services being re-
quiied, it being expected that a mob, composed of the
idle and lazy ot the two towns, might in the course of
the eseuitig show some disposition to create a disturb-
ance. The abolition of Mentem is not only consideted,
to be a must unpopular proceeding on the part of the old
and present Etenians, but also by the tradesmen of
Wiedsor and Eton, amongst the latter of who se a large
suet of tnensy was trite:mildly circulated both before and
during the testital.

ALARMING FIRE in MANCHESTER
DIAISCIALSTER, MONDAY.—Great aisrm was excited
about ten u'c:ock on Sunday el'uning in the neighbour-
hood of Oxtoi d- street, ehorlion- i.ron-M,dlock, and
Oxford read, Ilutiae (townships immediately adjoin-
ing Manchester), by the cries of •• Fire, fire ;"
nor was that alarm decreased when it was as.
certained that tit, y pi cceeded from the eats '-
sive premises of Messrs. Birley and Co., the ex-
tensive cotton spiuners who, though now working short
time, employ la,tween 1,400 and 1,500 hands. It ap.
pears that, like many firms in an extensive way of bu-
siness, Messrs. Birley and Co. not only manufacture
their own gas, but they have aiso a small foundry for
making their own castings. Itmnediately adjoining the
foundry was a long shed. fiver which was another story,
used t art ly as a Vkorkshup. end containieg a large quasi
tity of Honduras mahogany, or bay wood, as it is called.
The leathern pipes or hose, too, kept in case of fire, were
unfortunately in this room. The shed underneath,
which was arched, was used for tarious purposes, but
the space wider the arch at the extreme end was appro.
priated to the reception of the v.aste Cott•43 from the
it ill, which was
the cause of the fire for, it appears,
that owing to its inflammable nature, assisted by the oil
used in the spinning, aid the extreme beat of the day,
the waste ignited, and the flames, penetrating the floor-
ing, caught the wood lying upon it before they were dis-
covered by one of the prit ate watchmen (of whom there
are four) employed on the premist s. The firstatten3pt of
the watenmen was to re.eue the pip fri,ni the room above
the shed; but the tire had already (,-tbtairted too great
mastery 'I to render this practicable. They then procured
two or three maim Fines from the !e..ct,ry, and, by means
of these coalman:ea ink with the frau pumps, were ell*
abhd to play upon the flaao s. Tf,rce 01 the town en.
;Ines welt' also speedily on the spot. In the meantime
the flames, rushtg trots a floe through a doorway
opeoing from the pito the foundry, and a-vending
its rout, speedi:y caught the rafters; and by this time
fist or the shod, with thee nishuganyilk having
Or en consumed, the roof of that also was in flames,
whi,•ll rose up c ntldmously the whole length of the
building, about 25 yards. By the exertions of the fire.
won, however, the fi-e was pre-. tired Ilium extending
itself forth, r; though no fears were enteasined
Niter the first alarm for the fact ry itself, which was
se•pa s • r ted from the buroirg Lutleirg by the river Tided-
lock, it was with t4Ol/1s d fii ul y that a list of small term,
merits in Little 'reknit, boutediately ad,oiitirea, were pro-
s rv.d Irmo /lest, turion. Thus this wr-telred district,
iehattited eteelly b) I having lately he n visited by
311 i• und..tiee, tau.ed n) the t.veitlowiog of he Mvdlt•ek
(and the iteltatitt.uts oi are now sufl fist;; from
extreme testourio crud i,s atteodant, le.v. r) but nar-
rowly e%eaped p;srtly d f.y tire. The
flames were ve l•y subc Lied by twelve o'clock, and it
is hoped that the datnt,ge (1.4 a not exo.eti 500/ or 6001.
Tl., proper tv. w r ot.clerstard, was not mitred.. pe_t_rig.
‘Vtlitsun week, the tnlll • have bee!, closed_ this
week fir rep4l.s, even the tt"4ll nut o
urteut herer I'8•• learn. howeve-r, thee.. the winks will not-be
Larded by the aceid.