The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-29 00:00:00

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY
ACCIDENT.

We have waited, before pronouncing an opinion upon
this dreadful event, for. the result of the inquest held
upon the bodies of the sufferers ; and this we wish we
could say, that after perusing the evidence, it was pos-
sible to exculpate the Directors of the Great Western
li.tilway Company from responsibility for what has hap-
pened. It may be true that no regulations wbich can
be devised would provide absolutely against such oc-
currences as the sudden slipping of an embankment ;
but in this instance it is only too clear that the proba-
bility of such an event might have been foreseen, and
ought to have led to precautions, which were not
adopted. The verdict, therefore, of the jury, which
imposed upon the engine and tender a deodand of
1,0001., was a most proper one ; and we trust it may
have a salutary effect in checking similar negligence
for the future.

That the embankment in the Sonning-hill cutting,
at or near the place where it fell, had been observed
for some time previous to be in a dangerous state, so
as to attract the observation of persons living in the
neighbourhood—that some of those persons had ex-
pressed their apprehensions to servants of the Rail-
way Company—that partial slips had taken place, and
had been recently patched up under the direction of
one of the assistant engineers, were facts fully esta-
blished by the evidence upon the inquest. So much
as this was admitted by Mr. Berthram, the assistant
engineer, himself ; and although this witness and
his foreman deposed " that everything was done
which was thought necessary," and were " quite
sure" that the particular slip which led to the
fatal catastrophe was " new, and without any pre-
vious indication of danger," we have to oppose to
this testimony that of Mr. Gosling, jun., who perceived
the ground bulging, where it afterwards fell in, on the
very day before the accident happened. Under these
circumstances, it is impossible for a reasonable man to
doubt, that the spot was known to be unsafe, and that
the Company's servants had warning amply sufficient
to put them upon their guard against the impending
evil. The very least which they should have done
was to keep a watchman constantly stationed in the
immediate neighbourhood, ready to exhibit the cus-
tomary signal of danger upon a moment's notice.
Instead of which, the watchman who had been
placed there while the first slip continued, was re-
moved as soon as it was patched up, without the
least regard to the probability that the same causes
might, in the existing state of the weather, produce
another. At the fatal moment, this watchman was
stationed half a mile off from the critical point, and,
instead of being of service, held up the signal of
safety, and unconsciously lured on the unhappy travel-
lers to their destruction.

We may observe here, that although some evidence
(of an unsatisfactory nature) was adduced by the Rail-
way Company, with a view to show that the fall of the
embankment took place at the moment when the train
was passing, and under circumstances against which
the presence of a watchman could have afforded no
security, the contrary was distinctly proved by the per-
son who, of all others, must have had the best oppor-
tunities of judging. We refer to the statement of the
engine-driver, Thomas Reynolds, who deposed that
" the engine ran into some loose earth which had
slipped from the side of the cutting on to the rails."
The accident, therefore, being itself mainly owing to
the negligence of the Company's servants in not setting
and keeping a proper watch, or in not paying proper
attention to the warnings which they received of the
dangerous state of the cutting, we must add to this,
that if any regard had been shown to the safety of the
passengers in the mode of arranging the position of the
trucks by which they were conveyed, the lives which
have been sacrificed would probably have been saved.
These trucks were placed in the front of the train,
next to the tender, with all the luggage-trucks behind
them—a position at once the most uncomfortable,
being directly exposed to the sparks and cinders
thrown out by the engine, and the most dan-
gerous. If an engine come into collision with any
object in front of it, or run over an embankment
or be brought to a sudden check, in all these cases
the first carriages are certain to be destroyed, as at
once participating in the immediate shock, and having
the rest of the train violently forced up upon them.
This has been the history of almost every serious acci-
dent which has yet taken place ; insomuch that it is
now a matter of experience that the risk of fatal con-
sequences by railway is almost entirely confined to the
carriages next to the engine ; and suggestions have
been made (with which we hope the Legislature will
compel the Railway Companies to comply) to the effect
that passengers should in no instance travel without,
at least one empty carriage between themselves and
the tender. The Great Western Railway Company,
however, consider that no post is so fit for the humble
hard-working class who travel by their luggage trains as
the post of danger, thinking (it would almost seem)
that the safety of the luggage is of more importance
than the lives of stone-masons and waggoners.—Times.