The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-24 00:00:00

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THE FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE
GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.
(LATEST PARTICULARS.)
READING, WEDNESDAY.—The accident which befel
the fifty-five minutes past four P.M. passenger-train from
Paddington, at. Farringdon-road station on the above
line, on Monday, was of a character peculiarly de-
plorable, and, we believe, nearly unparalleled among
railway casualties.
The unfortunate passengers who met with their death
have been ascertained to be Mr. Sargeant, a farmer re-
siding in the vicinity of Swindon, and James Bonner,
living at Oxford. There were several other passengers
injured, including a female, but their names and thew
nature of their injuries could not be obtained.
The train when it left Paddington consisted of the
" Elk" engine and tender, luggage van, seven first and
second-class passenger carriages, and another luggage
van at the rear. It took up a large number of pas-
sengers at the station, and by the time it Teaehcd
Farringdon-road the train had become a very large
one. On its approach to the latter station the
engine-driver shut off the steam, and adopts t ti ,e
usual practice of bringing the train to a halt. no
sooner had he done so, however, than a violent concus-e
sion took place, and it was immediately found that the,
luggage-van near to the tender, from some unaccount-
able cause, had reared up on its fore wheels. The force
of the train drove the next carriage under it, and the
next moment the train passing through a bridge or! the
Lote'on side of the Farringdon-road station, it is sup-
pesed that the roof of the luggage van come in conteet
with the crown of the arch, and was driven into the.
body of the carriage. All three compartments being
filled with passengers it is truly remarkable that a
greater loss of life did not ensue. The unfortunate de-
ceased, with two or three others, were in the compart-
ment nearest the van. The remains of Mr. Sergeant
were shockingly mutilated, the head being literally se-
vered from the body. His death must have been in-
stantaneous. More than an hour and a half elapsed ere
his remains could be extricated from the wreck of the
carriage. Bonner survived his injury but a few minutes.
He was standing up at the time, and received the full
force of the concussion on his head. As soon as the
necessary assistance had been obtained the bodies were
removed to the station to await a coroner's inquiry. In
the course of an hour and a half the line was cleared,
and the train proceeded.
The remarkable circumstance of the luggage-van
rising from no apparent cause has excited considerable
attention. By some opinions aro given that it was the
result of the sudden shutting off of the steam and the
momemtum of the heavy train behind that threw the
van up. It was stated by the company's officer that
carriages rising in such a manner were of frequent oc-
currence on all lines; if so, it is the first that has been
publicly announced. It is right to state, however, that
they do -not attribute the accident to the cause above
alluded to, but rather to some defect in the spring or
axle of the van.
The construction of the luggage vans on this line
differs very materially from those generally employed
on other railways. It has been reported that it was of
a light construction, and not of that massive description
as to warrant it being placed next the tender with such
heavy trains as the one that met with the accident.
Such, however, is not the fact. It was one of the ordi-
nary wrought-iron vans usually employed in running
with passenger trains, and weighing six tons. Up to
the last station it stopped at before reaching Farring-
don-road, the van exhibited no token of defect. Sin-
gular to state the coupling which held it to the carriage
it injured never broke, at least such is the information
communicated to the reporter by Mr. S. Clarke, the su-
perintendent of the line, but the one that connected it
with the tender separated. This fact has given rise to
the supposition that the van must have left the rails and
that the engine broke away from it. If that, however.
had been the fact, the probability is' that the train would
have passed on to it instead of lifting it.
Last evening the inquest on the bodies of the unfor-
tunate deceased passengers was held at, the Prince of
Wales Tavern, adjoining the Farringdowroad station,
by Mr. Wasborough, the county coroner.
Mr. S. Clarke, the superintendent of the line, was
present, with other officers, to watch the proceedings on
behalf of the company.
The evidence adduced was far from being satisfactory
as to the cause of the accident. From the testlmony of
the witnesses who rode in the same compartment as the
deceased, it appears that at the moment of the concus-
sion the deceased, Mr. Sargeant, was sitting down, and
was thrown into the next compartment. Bonner was
standing up, and was crushed down. They described
the luggage van to have broken through the roof of their
carriage, which came right down upon them.
Mr. Frampton (living near the station), who was a
passenger in the train, said that some time prior to the
accident he noticed a grating noise. He did not know
the cause, and mentioned the circumstance to a fellow-
passenger. He was in the same carriage as the deceased,
only in another compartment. On the train passing
under the bridge, he heard a tremendous noise, and the
roof of the carriage flew off. He supposed that the de-
ceased must have been killed in the compartment by the
luggage van driving into it; for when the train stopped
he found the van was right on the top of it.
Ross Pattison, the engine-driver, deposed that he ap-
proached the Farringdon-road station at the usual spend,
and on running through the bridge experienced a severe
shook which threw him backward-a He jumped for-
ward to his engine, supposing it had broken away, and
on lcoking back saw that the train had left the engine,
and the luggage train mounted on the top of the carriage
next to it. He thought the force of the concussion broke
the coupling. After the accident he noticed that some of
the wheels of the van and carriage were off the line.
Previous to the concussion the steam had been shut off,
and the breaks applied to bring up at the station, and
their speed was exceedingly moderate. There was no
second concussion.
Simon Cosgrave, the head guard of the train, said it
was running into the station at the usual speed when the
accident happened. He could not say positively how it
occurred. lie thought the cause was the luggage van
breaking down in front. There was only one shock.
The evening having here far advanced the CORONER
suggested an adjournment. At present they did not
know anything of the cause of the accident. He thought
the jury ought to have the evidence of some disinterested
witness. He considered the public, on so serious an oc-
casion, were entitled to know whether blame attached to
the company, and he thought an adjournment should
take place for the purpose of obtaining the attendance
of some able and disinterested person, who should give
evidence respecting any practical points, on which the
jury desired to be informed.
The jury concurred in the views of the coroner, and the
proceedings were accordingly adjourned.
A report of the accident has been sent to the Board of
Trade by the company, and General Pasley was expected
yesterday to have visited the spot and made his official
investigation. We believe it is the coroner's intention to
solicit the attendance of the gallant general at the re-
sumption of the inquest, with a view of ascertaining his
opinion on the cause of the accident. The inquiry will
be resumed this day.

The Rugby and Leamington Railway has been
sold to the London and North-Western Railway Com-
pany, at 51. premium on the 201. shares, or 41. premium
on the 161. shares.
SEIZURE OF AN EXTENSIVE ILLICIT DISTILLERY UT
THE EXClSE.—Considerable excitement was manifested
on Wednesday evening, between six and seven o'clock,
in the neighbourhood of Blackfriars road, from the re-
port of the seizure of an illicit distillery, with the cap-
ture of the persons employed, by the officers of the Ex-
cise. From information received, the officers proceeded
to Charles-street, to premises formerly occupied as a
hat-manufactory, where, after some slight hesitation on
the part of a person at the gate, they obtained admis-
sion, and on proceeding to the rear of the pre-
mises, which are very extensive, several apartments
being thrown into one, they discovered two large
copper stills, in full work, and running spirits of a very
strong description, viz., sixty over proof. The persons
attending their operation appeared to be so busily em-
ployed, that they had scarcely noticed the presence of
the officers, and upon one of the latter announcing their
presence, a scene of indescribable dismay and alarm en-
sued. Retreat was hopeless, and a denial of the facts
quite out of the question, therefore one of the party at
once admitted that he was the proprietor of the distillery,
and cabs being procured, the whole of the parties were
conveyed to the police station-house for safe custody.
Having them thus secured, the officers then. proceeded
to examine the premises more minutely, and found the
two stills had been some time in operation, from the
quantity of spirit ready for sale in stock. They also
found near 1,000 gallons of wash in a state of fermenta-
tion, ready for placing in the stills, and which would
have run off a large quantity of spirit. The business
thus carried on, taking the same by the average of the
workings of the stills, would have caused a loss to the
revenue of at least 3001. per week. The owner of the
premises appeared to have minutely studied the laws of
distillation, for several documents relating to the subject
were found in his possession, and among them the last
Act upon the subject, the 9th and 10th Vic., cap 90, en-
titled " An Act to Prevent the Use of Stills by Un-
lisensed Persons." Three vans having been procured,
the whole of this valuable capture was deposited in
them, and conveyed to the Excise warehouses in Bread-
street.
MYSTERIOUS DEATlL—Yesterday an inquest was
held before Mr. W. Carter, at the Swan Inn, New Peck-
ham, on the body of Mr. William Dunham, aged 57,
whose death was supposed to have been caused by some
quack medicine. Two phials were produced,tand a printed
bill, with the name of " Jordan, Russell street, Blooms.
bury," on it. Mrs. Sadler, a sister of the deceased, said
her brother had retired from business, and lived at 1,
Alpha-street, New Peckham. On Sunday evening he
was reading in the front parlour, when he fell from his
chair suddenly, and soon after expired. The deceased
had had the dropsy for some time, and was under the
care of Mr. Morris till last Wednesday, when he got
some medicine, and would not see Mr. Morris again.
He took the medicine from the Wednesday to the Sun-
day. Mr. Morris, of High-street, Peckham, surgeon,
stated that he had attended the deceased for dropsy and
diseased kidneys for some time, and his opinion was
that he would not last out the winter. When he saw
him on Sunday he was quite dead, and witness was sur-
prised at the suddenness of it. The Coroner asked Mr.
Morris if he could state the cause of death. Mr. Morris
said he could not tell. One of the phials he thought
contained opium, the taking of which might tend to
bring on apoplexy. He did not think there was suffi-
cient to cause death. The Coroner then said the inquiry
must be adjourned to have the body opened. The bottles
were ordered to be sealed up, and the Court adjourned.
PECKHAM FAlR.—During yesterday and the two
preceding days, Camberwell and Peckham have been
visited by many thousands of individuals to witness the
revival of Peckham Fair, which closed yesterday. The
fair, which was conducted throughout in a very quiet but
brisk and orderly manner, terminated without a single
accident.