The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-28 00:00:00

GREAT WESTERN RAIL-

WAY ACC IDENT.

(FROM OUR OWN REPORTER.)

The inquest on the bodies of the unfortunate
individuals who were killed by the late fatal ac-
cident on the great Western Railway was re-
sumed this morning at theShepherds'-house where
the previous proceedings had taken place. The C-
oroner, Mr. May, arrived at nine o'clock precisely,
but some delay was occasioned in consequence
of the non-arrival of one of the jurors. I
visited the slip at Sonning-hill this morn-
ing, where the melancholy occurrence took
place. The workmen are still employed in
clearing away- the rubbish, and making good. the
face of tlo slope. The statement that the cut-
ting was extremely steep, appeared to me, from
the position in which I viewed it, to have been
made without good grounds. The bank slopes
away very considerably on either side, and is co-
vered with a green turf; giving it an appear-
ance of solidity, which unfortunately it
does not appear to have possessed. The patients
in the Reading Hospital are, I understand, going
on extremely well. Another was discharged'
yesterday a fternoon, making five out of the seven-
teen originally brought in, and it is stated that the
persons who received injuries of the spine, and
about whom the greatest apprehensions were en-
aertained, are in a fair way of recovery.
The following are the names of the Jury :
James Millard, foreman; Benjamin Lovegrove,
John Silver, Chas. Millard, Gyles Dearlove,
William Manners, George Brown, William Wa-
John Wheeler, Richard Manners, Wil-
-.Eau' ...Bromley, George Mills, William Harling.
Mr. aunders, the secretary of the Company;
Mr. Brunei', the engineer; the contractors, assist-
ant engineers, dnd other persons connected with
17resent, as were also Mr. R.
the railway, were
unt Barrington, Mr. C.
Palmer, M.P., Vises
Russell, M.P., and sever;sl influential gentlemen
of the neighbourhood. 1.7-Then the proceedings
.commenced the room was cro7oed in every part.
rr he missing-juryinan having arrived,
Tht: Cono_NEß said the Jury Vt. eye aware that
the incp,:st had been adjourned '
f
last, for thel:urpose of
lip obtahad bining
een t
sudden and
°l-111: r
as to whether
s
without notice, or ,-,viiether it bad occurred after
-q6 to call the attention of
previous indications so
were also to obtain
the Company to it. They n
evidence to. identify the bowi t
es and a
were several strangers in attenak, e
- fsortlrethcat
purpore,,it would be perhaps an accom.-
iodation
to them to Lake that part of the evidence firs_ •
John Williams—l live at Cheltenham. I am
a stone-mason. 'My son accompanied me in the
luggage-train from London, on Friday-morning.
We 'started from Paddington between four and
live o'clock. My son's name was Charles. He
was a stone-mason, and about twenty-four years
of age. saw my son at the tima of the accident
under the wheels. The first thing I felt was a
dreadful shock, and soon after I found myself
on the ground. The carriage in which
I was riding was upset. There was something on
my arm. My-son was in the first carriage; I
was in the second. I tried to get up and fell
again, when I recovered my senses. I went to
look for my son; he was under the wheels of one
of the luggage waggons with another poor man.
The wheel was on his throat, and his arm was
through it. He and the other man were
quite dead. One carriage was on the top
..of the other. I have seer' eight dead bodies
lying,. in a hut near this place. The bodies are
lying in a row, my son's is the second. The
stoppage of the train was very sudden, but I can-
not tell how it occurred—it was dark at the time.
Jabez Clee, a stonemason of Cheltenham, was
one of the passengers, and was about 19 years
old., George Mabbott, of .Gloucester, a stone-
mason, was also One of the: passengers. The
hinder carriages ran upon- and crushed the ones
in front. I
scannot say whether any of the car-
riages remained on the rails. I had too much on
my mind to attend to anything but my son.
George Allen—l live at Itio. 2, Haddington-
street, York-road, Lambeth. I am a stone-
mason, and foreman to Messrs. Grissell and
Peto. I have seen the bodieS of the eight per-
sons lying dead near this place. I can recognise
three of them. One is Charles Williams, another
George Mabbott, and the third is Jabez Clee.
They are all stonemasons, and were in the
employ of Messrs. Grissell and Peto at the New
Houses of Parliament: Clef! was about 35 years
.old.
'They were going to the country to spend
the Christmas holidays with their friends. Hear-
ing or the,ccidont,.and knowing the men, I was
anxioni to serf after it, as I was aware that many
of them Ns%;re going by the train, and we always
wi;lt to 64,Ne a good feeling with our men.
A person who waSpyesent said that Mr. Ar-
nold, a medical mau of the neighbourhood, had
seen some of the ;persons killed immediately
after the accident, tend it might be as well to
exaiqine line

The Co.loNi:a did not think it necessary. Ii
he was Nvanting• he ould be sent for.

Samuel Huish—l live at 58, Clarence-gardens,
Regent's Park.—l am a painter. I have seen
the eight dead bodies, and know two of them,
4sepli Hands and Jabez Clee. Hands was a
paititer, and lodged with inc. He left my house
at lia!f-past three o'clock on Friday morning, to
flu by, the luggage train. He was about '22 years
old, and a native of Cheltenham.
'Susannah Ralph—l am the wife of William
Ralph, orßuttwell, in Oxfordshire. My husband
:is a victualler. I have seen the eight dead bodies
and recognize that of Richard Ralph, of Har-
well, Berks, my brother-in-law. He dealt in
fruit.

It was here stated that the witnesses to identify
two other of the bodies had not yet arrived, and
the remaining one there was no person to identify.
The CORONER said as these witnesses bad not
arrived, he would now proceed to another, and
the most material part of the case, namely, as to
whether the slip was sudden, and without notice,

or whether there were such previous indications

:as required the attention of the Company. He
wished to know what evidence there was on that
point ?
Mr. GOSLING had no charge whatever to bring
against the Company, but lie believed there were
witnesses in attendance who could prove the pre
vious slip of the earth.
The following- witnesses were then called in
and examined.
• Robert Hatton, of Sonning—l live near the
Sonning-hill cutting, and cross the bridge twice a
day. I know the spot where the slip of earth
took place on Friday morning last. It is on the
south side of the cutting. I observed it a fort-
night previously. I was going over the bridge,
and I saw the slip of earth and some drain tiles.
The slip was about eight --yards up the bank. I
observed some
of the drain tiles dis-
placed. It was precisely at the spot
where the earth fell on Friday last.
The earth bulged an drove up some of the drain
tiles apparently.. Theitiles were completely out
l
of the ground, and-eying.
on the top of the
mould. They did not
appear to have been
placed there. I was on the wooden bridge about
250 or 260 yards
from the spot. That was on
yesterday fortnight. SOUleObt. the- mould had
Mien' -down upon the road etween the rails
and the bank: kcouple of cart loads fell. All tlic
sward between the cut and the road was covered.
By Mr. Brunel—l saw this onSunday fort.,
night. I pass twice a day and, never saw
• any
don t know whether
men there removing it. I
it was cast down by shovels or not. I saw the
same thing a week ago still there. it was in
just the same.state.
Thomas Goodchild—l am a bricklayer. I
live at Sonnioo- A fortnight ago last Thursday
I was going up to one of Mr. Palmer's cottages.
Between 9 audit) in the morning, as I was crossin,.
.the 'wooden bridge, looking towards TyrYford:
,saw a slip on both sides of the cutting.
They
were nearly opposite each other. The earth was
nearly to the rails on the south side, where the
accident took place. It had slipped down be-
tween the bank and the rails. There was more

than two cart-loads, and lay in a sort of circle.
The earth appeared to have slipped ten or twelve
feet from the bottom, and it appeared to the
very dangerous. I am not acquainted with the
nature of the soil. I saw two men at work there
at the timer stud they appeared to be removing
the earth from the ballast. I saw no tiles. I
took notice every morning for six mornings, and
file soil was put back, but the break in the slope
was notanade good.
Mr. Brunel—Do you know that it is the prac-
tice to leave the slip open in order to drain
I dbrOticut,,w;
By the c9e,i)NEa—The slip on the south side
seemed'. t6"ine -in precisely the same place as
whet e the': ,accident occurred on, Friday last. I
w:c: there ShOrtl..y'r after the accidents
By e Foreman—l thought there was danger
whci: f olo.erviA the slip: I assisted when the
ace:ut occurred, and When I had done all I
could. I was ordered off by a'poliCeman. I re-
mained from seven o'clock till all was over.
When I got there the first waggon was dashed
all to pieces, and the second was turned up edge-
ways, and another pitched into it,and caught two
poor fellows.
Thomas Goodchild, in continuation, said—The
three last waggons were on the rails, but all the
rest were thrown of:: them. The former waggons
cut a,groove through the soil, and the mud was
up to the bed of the others. The waggons were
covered 11,,ggage-waggons.
Is..
John eep—l saw a slip from the bridge

about a fortnight ago. I am in tile habit of
going over the bridge every day, and returning
every night. I cannot fix the precise place.
The CORONER said it was clear that the witness
had nothing additional to add. It had been ad-
mitted that there had been some slips near the
spot, and it was unnecessary to multiply evidence
on that point unless the Jury required it.
Edwin Gosling—l have nothing to state but
that I saw two slips, one exactly opposite the
other, and one precisely in the spot where the ac-
cident occurred. I had seen it before, within a
week or ten days, and the day before the acci-
dent occurred, I saw that the turf was cracked,
and the earth bulged out below, about the middle
of the slope. There was none of the mould
upon the rails. I was on the wooden bridge on
horseback. I saw no one at work, but men might
hare been at work without my knowledge. The
slips appeared to me in precisely the same state
as when I first saw them. It was about half-
past twelve o'clock en Thursday last when I
passed.
Mr. Brunel had no question to ask the witness.

A Juror asked whether he thought there was
any danger, but the witness said he could give
no opinion on that point. If he thought there
had been any immediate danger, he should have
gone and informed the servants of the Company.
Thomas Stokes Salmon, Esq., of Sunning, said
he had nothing to state further than what had
been deposed to by the previous witness. In
the last fortnight or thereabouts he had ob-
served the appearance of a slip in that part
of the bank where the accident took place.
The embankment appeared to him to bulge;
he observed it on several occasions, and he
went one day nearer, in order that he might
see it more closely. He then saw that the ground
had an appearance of bulging, and the moment
he heard of the accident he said, " That must be
the spot where I saw the ground bulge." He saw
no men at work there.

John Plant—l saw the slip about a fortnight
ago. I don't know whether anything has been
done to it or not, as I did not see it again till
after the accident. I saw it two or three days
before the accident, and it was then in the same
state. I am assistant gamekeeper to Mr. Palmer.
never observed any watchman near the place
where the slip occurred.
By a Juror—l saw the luggage train pass the
following morning after the accident. The pas-
sengers were then in the eighth and ninth wag-
gons
from the engine.
Mr. Gosling said there were six or seven other
witnesses to speak to the same point, but he did
not think it would be necessary to examine them.
The CORONER said, it was fbr the Jury to decide
-ther they should examine any additional

witnegtot...:
The poretb:in said there was one witness whom
called.
he wished to littv.2
am. employed upon the line
Walter Bridges--x
at the Sonning cuffing, b.i
r Mr. W. Berkham. I
saw a slip there about a fortnight or three weeks
ago, just where the accident occurred. Four
men and myself were employed to repair it.
We cut a drain round it and put some tiles
as
down. It was made secur I
0
we thought.
was four nights there, with anOther man, while
it was under repair. I acted with him as a
watchman through the cutting. I was notiwatch-
ing the night of the accident. There po-
liceman there during the day-time.
By the Foreman—l had left off watching a
week before the accident. We gave up the
watch because we considered it quite safe. My
employer never said that he would have no
watch there when I called for my wages. We
never had a word on the subject.
In answer to the Coroner, Mr. Sadgrove, the
Superintendent of the Railway station, stated
that there was no nightly watch. There was a
policeman on duty from six in the morning to
seven at night.
The Foreman said it would be desirable to as-
certain the width and depth of the cutting and
other particulars connected with it.
Mr. Brunel said he would procure that infor
mama for him, and in the meantime,
Joseph Collard, Superintendent of the Police
and watch from Paddington to Hay-lane and
Cirencester, was examined.—He said, I employ
policemen on the whole of the line by day, and
at the different stations, crossings, and gates by
night. The police are put on at six in the morning.
There are two between Reading and Twyford.
Gregory would be the policeman on duty at that
part of the line where the accident took place.
Gregory would conic on duty at seven o'clock, I
think. He leaves the Reading station at eight
o'clock. He remains on duty till ten at night.
The other man who starts from Twyford goes on
duty at six, and comes down the line to within
'about a quarter of a mile of where the accident
took place. His beat extends from Twyford to
Mustard-lane Bridge. The Reading policeman
would not get to the place of the accident till
about nine o'clock.

By Mr. Saunders—l am now talking of the
regular police of the line. I am aware, also,
that the engineer, Mr. Berkham, employs a watch-
man to go through the cutting the first thing in
the morning.
Thomas Hardy Berkham re-examined.—l
employ a man named Higgs, to go over about a
mile and a half of the line through the Sonning
cutting. He does that the first thing in the
morning. He has in almost every instance
walked over that portion of the line previously
to the passing of the luggage train which reaches
Reading about a quarter past seven. In this in-
stance the luggage train was earlier than usual.

The CORONER- thought it would be better to
hear the statement of the man himself as to that
point.
By the Foreman—l am assistant engineer to
Mr. Brunel. I was examined on Friday last. I
think part of the land behind the railing of our
line has subsided.
The CORONER thought it would be better to
read over the evidence given by the witness on
Friday, which was accordingly done.
Mr. Palmer said as he passed on Friday, about
half-past twelve o'clock, along the embankment
he could state that there had been no subsidence
of the earth outside the railway on his property.
George Higgs—l am employed by Mr.
Berkhain to watch the Sonning cutting, and to
repair the slips. My portion of the line in-
cludes where the accident occurred, and up to
Mustard-lane Bridge. I always go over the line
twice a day, and sometimes four or five times. I
inspected it on Thursday last, the last time, about
half-past five in the afternoon. Everything was
then perfectly safe. There was a place close to
where the accident occurred in which a trifling
slip had taken place about a fortnight or
three weeks previously. The last slip came
right from the top. The previous one had been
repaired, and tiles laid in to drain it. Three or
four tiles were lying during its repair on the side
of the bank for some days. When I passed at
half-past five, it was too dark to see distinctly.
I passed that way at four o'clock the same
afternoon. There was some water running
down, and I turned it into the man-hole.
There had been a good deal of rain during the
day. • I generally go once along the line, and
amain along the top of the embankment. At ,
four o'clock I was on the top, and when I came
near the cutting I went down. I went three
times up and three times down the line on Thurs-
day last. If we see any occasion for it, we have
the line watched at night. About three weeks
ago, during the wet weather, some trifling slips
came down; and a man was sent through the cut-
ting at night. He was on duty for three or four
niUhts.
By Mr. Saunders—l pass through the cutting
the
first thing every morning as far as Mustard-
lane Bridge. I generally do that between six and
seven o'clock. Ido that before the six o'clock
Paddington train comes down, and it is generally
down before
sethe luggage train. I was coming
Nhen the accident occurred, hut I
had not go
I was a little later than usual
that morning. The luggage train was earlier
than usual.
By the Foreman—I was never warned to be
on the line before seven. The luggage-train
sometimes comes into Reading between and
nine—it
o orwis ski eIT irregular. AT time to put the
mat this season is severs o'clock.
eil
have no signal to make to the engine
thin,'" amiss on
By the CORONER—If I see any
meet
out. them,
haendh
in that part of the line, and I
the line, 1
driver. I musthaveanrduncatolled
up my hat to them,
police-
man is him. The
would have gone to way to stop a
train is to hold up both arms. I have
stopped
Icould see the train •
trains in that way. in a mile
off, but the engineer could not see me till he
generally
came close to me.
The Jury expressed a wish to hear the evi_
Bence of Berkhans as given by him on Friday last,
read over. The Coroner accordingly read over
his evidence.
Mary Sweetland—l am the wife of Charles
Sweetland, a stone mason of Gloucester. I have
seen the dead bodies. One of them is that of my
son, Charles Griffith Sweetland, a stone mason,
aged 21. He was employed in the repairs of the
Temple Church, and was coming to spend the
Christmas with his friends. I know also the
bodies of Jabez Clee and George Mabbott.
It was stated that two of the bodies had not been
identified, nor was there any witness in attendance
who could give any evidence with regard to them.
Mr. Saunders said he now proposed to examine
Mr. Brunel, the engineer, as to the state of the
cutting and the slips.
Isambert Kingdom Brunel—l am chief en-