The Sun.
London, England, 1847-11-02 00:00:00

SERIOUS ACCIDENT.

A serious accident, so far as regards destruction of
property, occurred upon the Manchester, Sheffield,
and Lincolnshire Railway line on Thursday afternoon.
A luggage train of some thirty waggons, many of
them returning empty, left Sheffield for Manchester
at half-past one on that day, and arrived in safety at
the long Summit-tunnel, at Woodhead. The train
comprised at starting, or took on at an intermediate
station, a waggon of iron pipes or iron castings.
This waggon was the seventh in the train, and when
about the centre of the tunnel one of these pipes or
castings, by some means, was dislodged from it,
and fell on the rail. The consequence was that the
next waggon was thrown off, and those behind fol-
lowed close upon it with the full momentum. No fewer
than seven waggons were broken up before the rest
stopped. The engine-man felt a drag at the time the
waggon was off the rail, but had scarce felt it before
the seven waggons that were next the engine broke
away from the rest, and went on, returning, of course,
to see what had happened. He found a heap of broken
carriages, completely filling up the tunnel, the chairs
broken, and the rails torn up, the actual extent of
damage being much magnified by the place in which
it occurred. As there is but one line of rails through
the tunnel, this untoward event put an effectual stop
to the communication through it between the two
ends of the line. The first train up from Manchester
was stopped, and the passengers returned to bring the
news back, but those who left by the next train and
that following left the carriages at Woodhead, walked
over the hills, a distance of about three miles, and
then proceeded forward by a train that was waiting
at Danford Bridge. The same course was pursued
by the passengers from Sheffield, and, as the night
was beautifully starlight, most of them enjoyed the
walk very much. Several ladies were amongst the
numbers who thus crossed " the backbone of Eng
land," instead of passing under it. There was an
omnibus, we believe, plying at night, and next morn •
ing there were two, so that the walk was not taken
by the morning passengers. The destruction was so
great, and the difficulty of removing the materials
such that the whole was not cleared away until yester-
day about noon. The rails and chairs were found to
be less damaged than was anticipated, and no damage
whatever was done to the masonry of the tunnel,
though reports were rife of very serious injury sus-
tained. We are glad to learn that none of the parties
upon the train were at all hurt. We have not heard
what damage has. been done, but it must be large.—
Manchester Courier.

COLLISION ON THE MIDLAND

RAILWAY.

SHEFFIELD, SATURDAY EYENING.—A strange ac-
cident occurred at the Masborough station yesterday
afternoon. Two goods trains on the down line, from
Derby, one of which had left there at 9.30'A 74., and
the other at 10.15 were delayed at Masborough
to make way for a quick passenger train, then due.
The 10.15 train was shunted into a siding, a mile and
a half down the line, with instructions to the driver to
remain there till the quick train and the 9.30 goods
train had passed. Most unaccountably, however, the
driver, as soon as the. quick train had passed him,
started his train from its halting-place in the siding,
intending to regain the main line, and proceed in the
rear of the passenger train. Having got his train
into rapid motion, the driver did the very thing he
ought to have done before—he looked back for the
9.30 train, and to his consternation found it close
upon him. It was too late to put hack, so he dashed
forwards ; but the moment that his engine and first
waggon had got upon the main line, the other engine,
with its thirty loaded waggons attached, came up at
a rapid rate, and ran into his second waggon at an
angle of 45 degrees, completely severing his train.
The shock was tremendous. The conductors of the
respective trains jumped off, without shutting off the
steam. The engine of the 10 15 train, with one
carriage attached, dashed along at a tremendous
rate. The passenger train, happily, was a good way
in advance ; but the guard saw the runaway engine
behind, and signalled its approach at the various
stations. It passed the Swinton and the Wath
stations unchecked; but, on arriving at the Darfield
station, one of the officers, with a degree of courage
and presence of mind contrasting strongly with the
conduct of the two drivers who had abandoned their
engines, leaped upon the engine as it passed the sta-
tion, and succeeded in stopping its career. Mean-
while the 9 :30 train, immediately after the collision,
" shouldered" the seven waggons detached from the
10 15 train, drove them out of the way, and con-
tinued on its course; but fortunately it was stopped
at the Swinton station. Most remarkably there were
no lives lost, nor any one very seriously injured ;
hut considerable damage was done to both the trains,
and especially to the detached engine. Had either of
them been passenger trains, the consequence must
have been terrific. The next passenger train down-
wards was delayed an hour and a half, till the line
could be cleared. The conductors of the trains, who
had been guilty of such a gross dereliction of duty,
were taken into custody, and sent off to Derby, there
to be dealt with as the board of directors might
think fit.

RUMOURED FAILURES IN
GLASGOW.
It is stated, we observe, by the Liverpool corre-
spondent of the Times, in his letter of Friday's date,
that the stoppage of a highly respectable house in
Glasgow had been mentioned on 'Change. The cir-
culation of such statements, when founded upon
mere rumour, is extremely injudicious, to say the
least of it, and in this instance, we are happy to
learn that the statement is unfounded.

Friday, the alancirespectable house of Pearson,
SVilsone, and Co. in the Rio Janeiro trade, have after
several private meetings, had a general 'meting of
their creditors. The total amount of their liabilities
here is GO,OOO/.-26,000/. of which is in the shape of
advances upon shipments of goods to their house
abroad. Their assets, which are in the Brazils, show
a reversion of 0,000/. or 3,0001., but these are not to
he relied upon, and it is feared that the house here
will have to go into the Gazette. On the same day,
Messrs. Cowans, Smith, and Co., commission agents,
suspended payments. The liabilities are mentioned
at 23,0001. of which nearly one-half is with one of
the banks. Two new failures have been mentioned—
one in the continental, and the other in the printing
trade—and several others are talked about.— Glasgow
Argus.

RATHER URGENT.--The following is a copy of a
letter from a firm in London to a news-agent in a town
not one hundred miles from Liverpool. It is characteristic
of the times:—" Dear Sir,—For heaven's sake, send
some cash. lam really at my wit's end for money, and
if things do not mend, I shall not, I fear be able to send
the papers. Yours.—For heaven's sake, do not (hap-
point me."—Liverpool Mail.