The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-14 00:00:00

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- , • f 41 . 0,111 -,, - -.1 1 'THE LATE FATAL ACCIDENT ON
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• - THE NORFOLK RAILWAY.
THEITORD, TUESDAY NIGHT.—The Coroner's investiga-
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~. vs ",g_'.,.F 4--.-- 1 .k.',; i -4 .. Lion respecting the death of William Pickering, engine-
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...-;400 DI 'il. , !' ‘.. All 01 V '--,,it ni • ' 4 ;0"` ''':":"'" • l'- /„I :::. / I A,. '''- recent' accident on the Norfolk Railway, was resumed this
*
-morning, for the fourth time, at the Guildhall, before Mr.

Robert Ragle Clarke, the Borough Coroner, and the jury pre-
viously empanelled.
The CORONER, in opening the Court and resuming the
evidence, briefly alluded to the main faCts that had been
adduced at the adjourned meetings of the jury, and then
called .

Major-General Charles William Pasley, who, when sworn,
said I am Inspector-General of Railways, and reside at 12,
Norfolk-crescent, Hyde-park.
CoRoNER—The jury have been informed, Sir, that the
accident, the subject of the inquiry, was caused by the ex-
cessive speed of the train, and the sudden shutting off of the
steam. Will you have the goodness to give us your opinion ?
General Pasley—My opinion is that the shutting off of the
steam suddenly, cannot possibly cause an accident to an
en e.
CORONER—Then to what do you attribute the accident ?
General Pasley—To the engine driver proceeding at an im-
prudent and excessive speed on a descending gradient.
CORONER—Did you examine the engine ? General Pas-
ley—l did, and I could not find any apparent injury that
could have caused the accident. From what` I saw of it it
appeared to be of the best workmanship, and in a perfect
state of repair at the time of running off the line.•
CORONER—I am told that these large engines are not ge-
nerally adapted to the narrow gauge. General Pasley—My
opinion is, that owing to the peculiar construction of the
engines—like the one that met with the accident on the
Norfolk line—are not the ones suitable to the narrow
gauge, as they do not admit of any great speed without
danger.
CORONER—Can you account for the broken chair, which
was 22 feet from the sleeper, that was cut apparently where
it got off tke rail ? Gt. nerd Pasley—l should say that the
chair was broken by the motion of the engine. If it was
defective before, the motion might contribute to its breaking
entirely.
CORONER—What description of engine was it? General
Pasley—One of most extraordinary length—of such a length
as was never used on the narrow or any other gauge before.
If you will allow me, I will mention a circumstance respect-
ing this peculiar class of engines. Some months ago there
existed doubts as to the safety of express trains to travel by,
and knowing that oscillation of carriages was no proof of
danger, or that their steadineis ensured perfect safety, I de-
termined to ride upon the engines, with a view of more easily
detecting their unsteadiness--their oscillating indicating
danger. I travelled on lines in different parts of the country,
and the only engine I found having such an oscillation was
one on the South-Eastern Railway, called the White Horse
of Kent, manufactured by Mr. Robert Stephenson, and of
the same peculiar construction as the one that went off the
rails on the Norfolk line. I went on that engine at the rate
of 44 or 45 miles an hour, and at that speed she rolled some-
thing like a ship get-aea.
Coltman—And what does tne c.ss.uistinz movement indi-
cate? General Pasley—The oscillation when the train is
going at such a rate implies running off the rail. I told the
engine driver and other authorities that if they ran 50 miles
an hour, like the express train on the Great Western Rail-
way, there was great likelihood of the engine rolling over. I
have remarked that opinion to the Gauge Commissioners.
CORONER—What is the difference between the engine you
have alluded to, as manufactured by Mr. Robert Stephen-
son, and those employed on the Great Western? General
Pasley—The narrow,gauge not offering so great a diameter
of boiler as those on the broad, Mr. Stephenson, to remove
the obstacle, constructed the long boiler engines to equal
them in power, and which have failed in the purpose for
which they were intended. The long boiler engine, which
Mr. Stephenson persevered in, is four or five feet longer than
those of original construction. The smoke-box overhangs
the fore wheels, and the fire-box and dome the hind wheels,
which will cause them to oscillate. _ _

101

4

CORONER-DO you think it safe for such an engine to
travel at 30 or 35 miles an hour? General Pasley—l think
such an engine as the one in question c an go at 30 or 35
miles an hour, and I think I have gone at 45 miles upon
them ; but when they approach 50 I think they are unsafe,
and that is an opinion not hastily formed.
CoaoNEß—Then you think these long-boiler engines, if
they are going at a rate exceeding 40 miles per hour, are li-
able to oscillate and run over the line? General Pasley—
Yes.

Collo/um—Did you ever anticipate an engine of this de-
scription meeting with such an accident? General Pasley—
The fact is, that I did not expect such an accident could have
taken place. I did not think that such an engine could have
gone at the speed it did in running off the line. It is a rule
with engine-drivers to shut off the steam on a descending
gradient, and in all my journeys in railway travelling I never
found them neglect doing so. I have frequently informed
the engine-drivers of these engines of the danger they were
incurring when driving them a rate verging upon 50 miles
per hour. In the north of England, however, I remember
being in one of Mr. Stephenson's long boiler engines, and two
pair of the wheels were coupled together, and in riding upon
it I felt more secure than I would upon the other ones, as
the coupling produced steadiness, and consequently safety.
CORONER—Then you perfectly attribute the accident to
the speed of the engine ? General Pasley—Yes.
There being no other witness to examine,
The,Learned CORONER proceeded to sum up the evidence,
and after commenting upon the principal facts as related to
the unfortunate occurrence, remarked upon the wide con-
trast of opinion entertained by Major-General Pasley and
Mr. Bidder. It was for the jury to determine, knowing well
that they would so decide as would ensure the public every
safety.
The court was then cleared of strangers, and the jury, after
some time in consultation, sent for the Coroner, when the
foreman informed him that they had not unanimously arrived
at a verdict, and he feared there.was little hopes of their
agreeing.
The CORONER then inquired how many of the jury were
unanimous ?

The foreman replied twelve.
The CORONER said if the twelve jurors were unanimous he
would receive their verdict, and asked the foreman what was
their return?
The foreman observed that their verdict was—Accidental
Death, caused by the imprudent conduct of the engine driver
in going at an excessive speed.
The dissenting jurymen (three in number) remarked that
the verdict they were desirous of agreeing to was accidental
death, caused by the misconduct of the engine-eiriver, and
the defective construction of the engine, and inflicted a deo-
dand of 5001 on the engine.
The Coroner accordingly took the verdict of the twelve.
The foreman said that the jury earnestly recommend the
Board of Trade to adopt immediate steps for disontinuing
the running of engines similar to the one the subject of the
inquiry on the Norfolk Railway, until such measures were
adopted as would render them safe for the conveyance of
passenger trains.--The Court was then dissolved.

ATTEMPTED MURDER at BRENT-

FORD-SUICIDE OF THE FATHER.

Yesterday Brentford was thrown into a state of con-
siderable excitement and alarm, in consequence of the
circulation of a report that a man named John Lowe
had been stabbed by his own father, who had immediately
afterwards attempted self-destruction, by cutting his
throat with a razor.

About twenty minutes to eleven o'clock yesterday
forenoon, as Mr. Rowles, butcher, at Isleworth, was
passing along the Great estern road, a short distance
from Brentford-bridge, he saw John Lowe run out of
his own shop, holding his hand to his right side, and
exclaiming that he was stabbed and was a dead man,
and hastening into the house of Mr. Millard,
the George and Dragon public-house, a door or
two off, into which he entered. Mr. Rowles instantly
hastened into Lowe's house for the purpose of securing
the supposed murderer, when in a back room be-
hind the shop he discovered Thomas Lowe, the father,
sitting in a chair with his throat cut, from which the blood
was flowing profusely, the wounded man having still
a razor in his right hand, which was covered with blood.
Mr. Rowles instantly dispatched the first person he saw
for Mr. Cooper, surgeon, of Brentford-butts, and in the
meantime endeavoured to wrest the razor from the grasp
of Thomas Lowe, in effecting which Mr. Rowles's own
hand was much cut by the weapon. At the moment of
nn sto
pe
e the
tor
the discovery the Rev. H. S. Trimmer, vicar of Heston,
dis-
trict, passed the to the meeting of the
gtoivethienfsopromtatiol
house on his way
Local Commissioners of Assessed
.Tax!ts, at New Brent-
ford,and one of the magistrates acting in the Brentfordpolice. In New Bre.n_tfoFd he met policeman Smith, T
92w haennid
Lawrence, T division, with Sergeant Scotney, T 5,
binessmennttlywihthasatllen:pdeetod
goon followed, as did also two of Mr. Cooper's
assistants, that gentleman being
absent from home
when sent for, when every attention which medical
skill could afford was rendered the wounded men. On
their wounds being examined
the son was found to have
been stabbed under the right arm, near to the back,
the weapon having entered just under the blade-
bone of the right shoulder, and it is feared by the
surgeons has injured the right lung ; while the father's
wound is also on the right side of the neck, the razor
having just missed the principal arteries and vessels.
About an hour after the occurrence, the house was
visited by Mr. H. Pownall, of Spring-grove, Hounslow,
the chairman of the Middlesex Quarter Sessions, and
the Rev. Mr. Trimmer, accompanied by Mr. G. Clark,
of New Brentford, clerk to the magistrates, who, after a
consultation with the surgeons, determined on the re-.
move cf Thomas Lowe, the father, to St. George's
Hospital. A fly was immediately procured from the
Castle Inn, New Brentford, in which he was conveyed
by Sergeant Scotney and policeman Smith to that
hospital.
From the latest inquiries last evening, both at Brent-
ford End and at St. George's Hospital, as to the state of
both father and son, it was ascertained that the latter
was lying at his own house in a most dangerous state,
the surgeon being unable at present to give any opinion
as to the probable result ; and the surgeons at the hos-
pital state, from the father's advanced age (seventy-
three years) there is not much probability of his re-
covery.

PRIVY COUNCIL.—Her Majesty will hold a Privy
Council on Monday next at Windsor Castle; the summonses
were issued yesterday.
DIABOLICAL Acr.—A most diabolical and wicked
attempt to murder a highly respectable family residing in
the City of Oxford was made on the night of Friday, lash
between the hours of 10 and 11 o'clock, but most provtiden-
tially frustrated. It appears that the policeman. onadtu yhoell
HQeuinaaritlele,r-
the above evening observed at a distance something
ntoutithee,
wfhroonrtessiidtestinign-rizolfmredwisntitz:ioligtfs.
diatelv went to the window shutter and took it down, when
He then
o4ouncflesmosf gunpowder,alick and covered
bound verywit h
ation of
took it into the house, and to the ho t Samuelr
et
proved to
gpielainrganecleevoefnhaving
Mr. Quartermaine and family it be a petard, con-
he discovered.
that it was of a combursrtoirbl:nndactounrest.ern .
been dipped in
jl
paperalf
shutter by an awl, similar to those used
wassttiat tightly
ririnpi :ea attached
artcohi
uireneded
taon
withd:
the
ea
Ounces and a half. It
by harness-makersotalieniedv‘easpihoemakers, having the mark of wax-
thread round the handle ; and, upon further investigation, it,
was discovered that the fusee had been lighted and had par.
tially burnt the shutter, but fortunately, owing to the mate-
rials being damp, it did not explode. If it had, the conse-
Quences must have been dreadful in the extreme, as Mr.
uartermaine had all his family and a friend at his house
that evening, who were sitting in the front parlour. Him-
self and daughter were occupying seats close to the window,
and had the explosion taken place, they could not have
possibly escaped with their lives. A reward of 1001. has.
been offered for the discovery of the miscreant, and we hopes
ere long that he will be brought to condign punishment:
Mr. Quartermaine is a highly respectable livery-stable-kelper
and is well known in the eroding world.