The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-29 00:00:00

THE RAILWAY

ACCIDENT NEAR HAT-

FIELD.

The deplorable accident on the Great Northern Rail-
way, already announced, caused the death of eight per-
sons and injured, more or less, four others ; but the
sufferers were not all passengers, four—two of whom aro
killed and two injured—being persons who happened
to be near the line when this unforese?,i
calamity occurred, and SO shared in its dan-
gers. The circumstances attending the accident eai
be stated with precision. The train to which th 3
accident occurred was the one which left King's-cro.,s
on Monday afternoon at 4.25, being the fast train ta
Peterborough, timed to stop at Hatfield which is twenty
miles out of London. The train was made up, in the
fore part, of a break van next to the engine tender a
second and a third class following, and five other carriages
with a guard's break at the end. The train travelled at
good speed until about midway between Potter's Bar
station and Hatfield station, near a place called Bell Bar,
where there is a level crossing guarded by gate, with a
gatekeeper's hc use on the down line side. The train reached
this spot in about 25 minutes' travelling, and was going at
the rate then of 30 miles an hour along a straight road.
A gatekeeper named Henry Town was standing on the
up-line side as the train was approaching, and he noticed
that as the train came near there was a momentary
jumping with the break van, which, just after passing
the crossing, broke suddenly away from the engine
dropped, in fact—and so snapped the couplings, and the
engine went on. The crash that followed must have
been terrible, for the two following carriages were literally
smashed to pieces, and the one dashed over the other to
such a height as to knock away a corner of the gate-
keeper's cottage wall near the roof, at about 15ft. from
the ground. At the same moment, the first carriage was
pitched across the up line, a portion of it dashing against
the gateway on the up-line side with a force which must
have been tremendous, for the strong iron gate is com-
pletely bulged out, while the two other carriages were
split about on the down-line side in the direction
of Hatfield. The fourth and fifth carriages were
displaced from the line, but are said to be unin-
jured, and the sixth, seventh, and eighth remained quietly
on the line. The guard at the rear took all precautions to
prevent any additional calamity from a collision occurring
on the London side, and a coal train which was approach-
ing from Hatfield was promptly stopped by the engine-.
driver of the unfortunate train, who went on with his
engine to Hatfield to obtain assistance and to stop all traffic •
The passengers who were uninjured—and there were some
30 or 40—quickly descended into the snow, and they are
declared by the inhabitants of the neighbourhood to have
behaved nobly, both sexes and all classes, in rendering
aid in this terrible scene, assistance being doubly needed
from the extreme cold and heavy snow then falling. A
most striking feature of this accident is that the dead far
outnumber the wounded, the reverse being more generally
the case in railway accidents, and the mangled bodies
of the killed, then numbering seven, were laid out on a
bank by the passengers, and three of the five wounded
persons found under the broken carriages were
distributed among cottages in the neighbourhood.
Dr. Dredge, of Hatfield, and Dr. Osbaldiston, of the
same town were quickly on the spot, and the latter gave
his attention to a man who was mortally injured, and
whose name is believed to be Potter. This poor fellow
kept crying out to be put near a fire, but he lived scarcely
half an hour. From the examination then made an opinion
was given that all the occupants of one carriage were killed,
with the exception of one, who is severely wounded. A
person, who is believed to have occupied another carriage,
had his head cut, and went on to Hatfield, where he re-
mained on Tuesday night. Within a very short time a
train went to Potter's Bar with Mr. Cockshott, the general
manager, Mr. Forbes, the secretary, and the other chief
officials of the company, together with Mr. Kirkwood,
medical gentlemen of the Euston•road, and also Dr.
Livingston, of New Barnet. The extent of the calamity
was soon ascertained. Every care having been bestowed
upon the wounded sufferers, seven of the eight dead were
removed to Woolmer-green, a village some half-mile distant,
where the bodies were placed in coffins under the
direction of Mr. R. Williams, the superintendent at
King's-cross. The cause of the accident was then sought
for, and it was not far to seek. I':, was found in the total
breakage of a patent tire, of the best steel, a descrip-
tion of tire which has hitherto been in the highest
esteem, and counted as the most secure from its
supposed holding power in case of breakage. It
was considered that if the steel broke in one
place the wheel would still hold together, but this tire
was in several pieces, and as the wheel broke down the
axle snapped, the severance from the engine followed,
and this terrible loss of life was the result. The
permanent way was, owing to the hard frost,
quite uninjured, and the broken carriages having
been cleared away, the train went on to Hatfield,
where many of the passengers broke their journey.
The passengers who are killed and injured were all
second-class passengers, no first-class passengers being
known to have sustained injuries. The others killed and
injured are four persons who were walking on the line to
a signalman's box. The first was Mrs. Oswin, the wife
of a signalman at a box above Bell Bar, and she, with
another woman (her sister-in-law), a young man named
Kershaw, and a youth named Harow, were all observed
to be walking up the line just before the train came up,
and of the four the two women were killed, and the two
others are injured.

It is stated that the long-prevailing north-easterly
wind has caused the detention of numerous homeward-
bound ships in the chops of the Channel, which are short
of provisions. The Admiralty under these circumstances
are in the habit of sending a steamer to their relief, but
often too late, and as yet nothing has been done. It is
believed that these vessels are suffering severely, and a
hope is expressed that help will not be delayed much
longer.
NEWS FROM IRELAND.—The Home Government
Association's proposal to " arm the nation " does not
meet with the approval of the Cork Board of Guardians.
At their last meeting, the clerk of the union submitted a
pamphlet which had been forwarded by the Association,
On the Desirability of Arming the Irish Nation in face
of a Probable War with Russia." " Arming the
nation, is it?" said one ; " God keep that and the
small-pox (about which a circular had just been read)
from us any way," Mr. Daniel O'Sullivan moved that
it be read, but he found no supporters, and the matter
dropped.—The arrangement for filling up the vacant
chairmanship caused by the death of Mr. Shaw, Q.C.,
have been completed. Mr. Baron goes from Kerry to
Monaghan, Mr. Hemphill from Leitrim to Kerry, Mr.
O'Hagan from Westmeath to Leitrim, and is to be
succeeded by Mr. Mathew O'Donnel, Q.C., as chairman
of Westmeath. Judgment has been given in the appeal
from the decree of divorce granted to the wife of the
petitioner in the case Delacherois and Delecherois. The
Court, which was composed of two Queen's counsel and
the judge of the Divorce Court, Baron Fitzgerald, con-
firmed the decree, Baron Fitzgerald dissenting.—Owing
to the withdrawal of Mr. Palles there will, it is antici-
pated, be no contest for the representation of the county
of Meath.

THE NEW YORK PRESS ON SCOTCH LANDLORD
INTIMIDATION.—Referring to the late election for Bum-
frieshire, and the penalty incurred by Dr. Macaulay,
Canonbie, for exercising his right of voting independently,
the New York Tribune says :—" It is wonderful to observe
how feudal authority, especially in Scotland, is still
asserted and submitted tc. His Grace the Duke of Buc-
cleuch had employed a certain Dr. Macaulay to attend
upon the sick among his miners, and the doctor was also
medical officer of the parish of Canonbie. Dr. Macaulay,
with real Scotch independence, saw fit to support the
Liberal candidate. For this iniquity he was
commanded to cease his attendance upon the
colliers ; and by the influence of the great man
his appointment as parochial doctor was cancelled. The
tenants petitioned to have Dr. Macaulay retained, and
were laughed at for their pains. The workhouse people
might ss well have petitioned, with Oliver Twist at their
head, for the removal of Mr. Bumble. The persecued
physician tried to make a living in Canonbie as an inde-
pendent doctor, but the Duke set up a Tory doctor in
opposition, and commanded everybody to be physicked
by his prot4g6. Consequently, Dr. Macaulay was
forced to flee to some other part of this lovely land of
liberty. Petty despotism like this would- certainly drive
free and enlightened Americans to insanity or rebel-
lion; fortunately, our political system, with all its faults,
allows us to be killed or cured by the man of our own
choice."

A TERRIBLE RlDE.—Captain M'Arthur, of Kings-
ton, Canada, had a fearful adventure on the Grand Trunk
Railway recently. He had got 'up from his seat in
the car and walked out to the platform when the
train was- near Lancaster, to find out how near he was
to that station. He overbalanced himself and
fell, but managed to save his life by catching
the coupling, and there he hung by his arms in a position
which offered him very little hope of recovering the
platform above, in the one case, and an awful death
were he to drop off, in the other. Through his great
strength, being of strong muscular power, he held himself
up while the train travelled four miles, undergoing the
greatest mental as well as bodily suffering. No one dis-
covered his danger, as it was night and very dark. When
his strength was exhausted he prepared for the inevitable
plunge, and, with a prayer of despair on his lips, let go his
hold. Instant death would have followed in 99 cases out
of a hundred, but providentially Mr. M'Arthur fell, more
dead thanalive, into a hollow or excavation in the track.
The train passed over safely, and he lay there, unconscious
from his injuries and sufferings, for seven hours. After
daylight his reason came back. Ho was unable to walk,
but dragged himself on hands and feet to a house quite far
off—some say two miles —and got that care and assistance
which his condition required. His arms and side were
quite black from the muscular exertions he was subjected
to • his boots and a portion of his trousers were torn off,
and his feet lacerated by being dragged along the track.
lie got a severe injury in the back also by his fail. The
Kingston IV/tiq says the doctor hopes to bring him
through safely.