The Sun.
London, England, 1840-06-01 00:00:00

ACCIDENT ON THE GREAT

WESTERN RAILWAY.

THE BRISTOL MAIL TWICE ON FIRE.—An LICC?-
dent, which might have been attended with the most
serious consequences, occurred to the mail train. which
left the Great Western Railway Station at Paddington,
on Tuesday evening- at nine o'clock. Wheti‘the train
arrived about a mile beyond the West Dr4ion station
(where it stopped to set down passena - ), it was
tldis-
covered by.one of the guards that the of of the Bris-
tol mail was in flames. After some laic delay (which
was caused by the difficulty of making the engineer
hear the shouts of the conductors and passengers) the
train was stopped, and in the course of about a quarter
of an hour the fire as it was imagined, was put out, the
passengers rendering great assistance, by conveying tho
water from the tender to the mail in their hats. The
train then proceeded, but before it arrived at Slough
an alarm was given from the first class carriages that
they had " lost the mail," and upon the conductors
looking out, they discovered that the whole of the long
line of trucks, with several mail coaches, had been left
behind. The train then went on to Slough, and
set down the passengers for that station ; and, after
taking in a supply of water, the engine and tender
returned towards town to seek the lost mails, which
were found between the Langley and Slough stations.
It appears that, after the fire was supposed to have
been put out near Drayton, one of the conductors for-
tunately adopted the precaution of taking his seat on
the Bristol mail, to be in readiness in case of another
outbreak of the fire ; and he had scarcely proceeded a
mile and a half before the flames again burst forth from
the roof. He then immediately scrambled over the
roofs of the other coaches, and unhooked from the train
the whole of the trucks on which the mails were
placed. The fire was then put out for the second
time, but not before considerable damage was done to
the parcels of the passengers and other property on
the roof. A large parcel of newspapers were nearly
destroyed. When the first outbreak was discovered
the train was proceeding at the rate of between forty and
fifty miles an hour, and flames were upwards of four
feet in length. It is stated that the fire was caused by
the tarpauling being driven by the strong current of air
against the lamp of the mail, and thus it soon became
ignited, but it is more probable that the fire was occa-
sioned by a lighted coal from the furnace falling on
the roof, as within the last twelve months, several
buildings between Paddington and Slough have been
thus fired, and wholly consumed. There was the
greatest difficulty in making the engineer acquainted
with the necessity of the train being stopped, and it was
not until the conductor had put on the drag, and he
found some obstruction to the progress and speed of the
train, that he was induced to look behind, when he dis-
covered the flames. The mail guards also were riding
inside, instead of outside, of their respective mails. From
the great noise occasioned by the engine, it is next to an
impossibility for the engineer to hear the shouts and
cries of the conductors and guards in the rear. This is
not the first time that a coach on this line has taken
fire ; and, after these repeated accidents, it is to be
hoped that the Company will be induced to adopt
some mode of enabling the guards and conductors to
" signalize" the man at the engine when it is neces-
sary that he should " pull up," for had it not been for
the fortunate discovery at an early period, on Tuesday
last, the Bristol mail might have been half consumed,
and the guard himself, who was comfortably seated in-
side, half-roasted, before the perilous situation of either
was known to the engineer, whose place it is to " look
out ahead," and not " astern."

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

GUILDHALL.

Showell, the common informer, met cf,t 0,, severe re-
buff from the City Magistrates, from toe exposure of a
system of receiving money from publicans wnom he had
summoned, by way of compromising the informations.
Sir PETER LAURIE, on seeing the summonses taken
out by Stowell, and which were set down for a hearing
before him, stated that parties had compounded with
him, and that facts were about to be given in evidence
which, if Stowell could not rebut, he should refuse to
bear any further informations emanating from him or
his party, and the other Aldermen had come to the
same resolution.

Mr. Wire, the Solicitor to the Licensed Victuallers'
Association, called forward evidence to prove the fol-
lowing cases of compromise :

Michael Clerk, a time-keeper of an omnibus, proved
compromising an information against Mr. Francis, of
the European Coffee-house, for 21. ; Stowell demanded
31., but took the lesser sum.

Stowell declined asking any questions, and said he
would address the Aldermen afterwards.

William Baker, of the Auction Mart Tavern, stated
that after receiving the summons on Tuesday last, he
authorised Birckbeck, the time-keeper, to coxpromise
with Stowell for 21.

Birckbeck confirmed the statement, and swore that
he paid the informer the money.
Mrs. Ann Oldaker, landlady of the King's Head,
proved paying the sum of 2/. to compromise an infor-
mation on the 22d inst.

James Deel, landlord of the Mail Coach, in Camo-
mile-street, stated that Stowell compromised a summons
against him, for allowing gambling in his house, for 31.
Sir PETER LAURIE said, that after this mass of evi-
dence of Stowell's constant habit of compounding his
informations, he would not entertain another summons
from him or his party.
Stowell said he would compel the Magistrates to hear
the informations filed by him, and if they refused he
would apply to the Court of Queen's Bench for a man-
damus.

Sir PETER LAURIE said that he would not be de-
terred from doing his duty by these threats, which
were not made now for the first time.
The summonses were all dismissed.

Two bill stickers Were summoned by a person of the
name of Foster, to answer the charge of affixing bills
or placards to the house of a gentleman without his
leave or sanction.

Mr. Foster, in his examination by Mr. Wooller,
stated that he is a tobacconist, at 96, Old-street, and
also Secretary to the Posting Bill Society. The com-
plaint against the defendants was, that they had posted
bills on a house belonging to Mr. Hudson, in Moorgatc-
street, Finsbury. Mr. ;Hudson is the owner of the
premises, but lives in Oxford-street. Witness, as Secre-
tary to the Society, pays Mr. Hudson a certain sum
monthly for the exclusive privilege of sticking bills on
the house. It was contended that no other bill sticker
had a right to place a placard there who was not a
member of the Society.
The ALDERMAN thought that one party had as much
right as the other. It was a novel system for persons
to let out houses for the purpose of having bills posted,
which might be a great nuisance to adjoining or oppo-
site neighbours.
There being an informality in the summonses th?,
case was dismissed. The case unfolded a new " spec.,"
and caused sonic pleasant remarks upon the monopoly
of the metropolis.

TOWN-HALL, SOUTHIVARK.
A man named Barron applied for advice, stating that
he was a native of Hawkhurst, in Kent, and that in
1830 he was transported to Van Diemen's Land for
..even years, for burning agricultural machinery ; that

EVENING EDITION.gI

at the end of four years he was pardoned, but afterwards
worked as a carpenter for 21. 10s. per week, as heyvas
desirous of bringing home some money to his wife and
children. About a fortnight ago he arrived in Eng-
land, and proceeded at once to Hawkhurst, in the hope
of meeting his family, when he found his six children In
the Cranbrook Union workhouse; and ascertained that,
eighteen months after he was sent away, his wife came
to London with another man, with whom she was now
living in London-wall, and by whom she bad three
children. He had proposed to take his own children
and return to Van Diemen's Land, but the Poor-law
Guardians had refused him his children, unless he also
took the wife and her illegitimate progeny ; and they
further threatened to put him in Maidstone Gaol, un-
less he promptly took on himself the whole burden.
The Magistrate, after finding that the law autho-
rised such conduct, regretted he could not assist the
poor fellow ; but advised that he should state his entire
case again to the Guardians, who he thought would not
upon consideration act harshly towards the applicant.