The Sun.
London, England, 1848-09-06 00:00:00

ALARMING ACCIDENT ON THE f NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.
NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY. I
PORTS3I UTII, TIIESDAY.—SI't CHARLES NAPIER'S
Another very serious accident, resulting in severe in- EQueennoN.—This squadron left Cork on the 24th ult.,
jury to several persons and in an immense destruction as we announced at the time. The Amphion was nearly
of property, Lodi place at an early hoer yesterd ty on shore, working cut; the Stromboli wont to her as-
morning, near the Leighton Buzzard station on this line si,tence, when she proceeded to join the sqez,dron, con-
of railway. eating of the S. Vincent, Prince Regent, ellerophon,
The circumstances, as ascertained from careful in- Tweed, Frolic, Pilot, Helena, Dragon, and Stretnbeli.
quiries made upon the spot, may be briefly described A trial, under single reefed topsails, tope anent sails,
as follows:—The Leighton station is distant from London jib, and courses, was made the same day between the
401 miles; within about 500 yards north of the station Tweed, Pilot, Helena, and Frolic, which ended by the
the Linslade tunnel, a quarter of a mile in length, is en- Pilot beating the Tweed about two miles, Frolic beating
tered, and about 300 yards north of this tunnel is the the Tweed one mile and a quarter, and Helena beating
Linslade ballast pit, whence a large portion of the the Tweed about one mile. The weed did not sail so
gravel used in keeping up the southern division of the well as when she first went out. There can be no doubt
line is obtained. Shortly after two o'clock yesterday that the Pilot is the most weatherly of the sailing brigs
morning a train of ballast carriages, belonging to Mr. in strong breezes.
Madigan, the contractor of the permanent way, left The Reynard joined the squadron on the 25th, when
Wolverton, and proceeded up the lino as far as the there was a strong westerly eind.
Leighton station. Having taken water here, the The Tweed, Pilot, Frolic, and Helena, made another
driver, Martin Cole, crossed from the up to the trial to day, which ended in similar results to those of
down line, and returned through the tunnel to the yesterday.
ballast pit, for the purpose of taking in a load of The Prince Regent, Bellerophon, and Amphion com-
gravel for conveyance to Berkhampstead. There are menced a trial, but a fog came on which separated the
two sidings running into this pit, and in consequence of whole squadron. The line-of-battle ships picked up the
neither one of them being sufficiently long to contain the Admiral the same evening, but the fog continued very
whole train, Cole detached some portion of the waggons, thick the following day, generally blowing a hard gale
and placed them in the siding, and then returned for the from the west south-west, until the 28th, when the
other portion of the train, left meantime on the main vessels that had parted company joined off Cape Clear,
down line. He had just got back on to the main line, viz., the Stromboli, the Pilot, and the Frolic, also the
and was about to couple his engine 'to the remaining Blenheim and the Dragon. The Helena was still miss-
waggons, when the 12 30 A.M. luggage train, from Cam- ing, but had been seen the same day by the Pilot.
den station, came through the Linsdale tunnel at a great On the 29th the wind was strong from the W.S.W.,
speed, and the next instant ran into his train of empty and a good deal of sea. The trials recommenced by
waggons, crushing the break van into a thousand pieces, sending the Frolic to windward about two miles, when
and strewing the waggons about the line in every direc- the Pilot was ordered to chase her. The result, after
tion. The engine and tender of the goods train were eight hours, was very little, and the trial was not de•
thrown off the rails and driven nearly on to the up line, tided, in consequence of a change of wind.
while several of the goods waggons were entirely de- The same results took place with the Prince Regent
stroyed, and their contents strewed about the railway. and Bellerophon. If an opinion may be given, however,
At the same moment, scarcely allowing time for those the Prince Regent was the winner. But nothing could
few persons present to recover themselves from the shock be more satisfactory than the Blenheim, which vessel,
occasioned by the accident, the York mail came up at its under sail, got her steam up, and, although started a
usual speed, and no signal of the obstruction being dis- considerable time after the other vessels, going six knots,
played, the driver, Daniel Ross, ran headlong into the weathered the whole (not excepting the brigs) in a most
debris occasioned by the previous collision. The effect extraordinary manner, which shows the superiority of
of this second collision was to throw the engine and the screw to assist in going to windward. The Amphion
tender of the mail train completely across the down did not do so well, from not being able to carry her
line, and crush, more or less, several of the mainsail, the funnel being before the mainmast, whilst
succeeding carriages. The escape of the driver the Blenheim's is abaft the mainmast, The Reynard
and stoker was perfectly miraculous. The former was, showed the superiority of her sailing qualities to-day in
however, severely injured, and is now lying at Leighton, a strong breeze, being equal to the brigs.
brit the stoker appears to have been thrown by the force The Dragon and Stromboli, as heretofore, kept their
V the concussion completely over the ruins of the broken stations well to windward under sail. The Helena
carriages and waggons—described by an eye-witness to joined company to-day.
have been between twenty and thirty feet high—on to On the 30th, wind N.W., a little swell, but very fine
the embankment on the down line, where he alighted weather, several trials took place, the results of which
comparatively unhurt. The first cav'age behind the were, that after five hours' trial on a wind, carrying all
tender in the York train was a MYriland Company's sail, the Frolic beat the Pilot nearly half a mile, and the
break or parcel van, which consists of a compartment at Helena upwards of a mile. The Prince Regent, after
either end for the conveyance of luggage, and a small four hours' trial on a wind just enough to take in royals,
box in the centre in which the guard sits. This break, beat the Bellerophon about 500 yards. They are very
as well as the parcels van succeeding it, was crushed to equal ships in sailing --the Bellerophon, however, ap-
pieces, and Tucker, the under guard, remained buried pears the stiffest.
en the ruins of the former for more than two hours in The Pilot, Frolic, and Helena, made a trial with the
spite of every effort made to extricate him. His head wind nearly right aft, carrying all possible sail (that is
and chest were fortunately at liberty, and therefore, Pilot and Frolic, as Helena did not make sail until the
although suffering great pain, his strength was kept up trial was nearly over) for about an hour, going eight
by administering stimulants until his extrication was at knots, a beautiful race—Pilot and Frolic neck and neck,
length accomplished. The first compartment of the the Helena astern.
second class carriage which followed the parcels van was Nothing has been so interesting as the trial between
entirely destroyed. A man and woman, with two the Blenheim, Amphion, and Reynard screw-vessels
children, who were riding in it, were miraculously pre- under all sail on a wind, assisted by steam with the
served. The passengers on the train of course all suf- auxiliary screw, going six to seven knots for two hours,
fered more or less, but no injuries beyond a few slight which ended in the Reynard beating the Blenheim about
cuts, and bruises appear to have been sustained by any a quarter of a mile, and the Amphion by upwards of a
of them ; a fact which, when all the circumstances of mile. There was very little swell, which gives an ad-
the accident are taken into consideration, may fairly be vantage to the Reynard, otherwise, with a stronger
considered miraculous. breeze, the Blenheim would beat. The Amphion has

The first, in fact both, collisions took place at about
five minutes past three o'clock, As soon as the fearful
extent of the catastrophe was ascertained, Cole pro-
ceeded with the ballast engine, the only one uninjured,
to Wolverton to procure assistance, and before five
o'clock Mr. M. Connell, the chief of the locomotive de-
partment, Mr. Bedford, the chief of the police of the
Wolverton division, and several other officers of tile com-
pany, returned to the spot with engines carriages and
labourers, to assist in clearing the line. Assistance had
previously arrived from Leighton, and all those persons
most shaken had received the best attention which could
be afforded them at that station. The necessary precau-
tions were taken to stop both the up and down trains, and
the traffic on the line was altogether suspended for
several hours. So complete was the wreck, that the
most active exertions of the multitude of labourers em-
ployed had failed to clear the line when the 6 15 A. M.
train from London arrived at the spot ; and, as the only
means of keeping up the communication the passengers
in that train were conducted over the scene of the acci-
dent to the York mail; those who travelled by the latter
coming on to town by the 6 15 A.M., which returned to
the Euston station.
The following is the statement of Sharon Biggs, the
guard of the ballast train, in reference to the accident.
He says—" We left Weedon station, where we had been
to unload some rails, about one A.M., and arrived at
Leighton about forty minutes past two A.M. At this
station we crossed over, in order to load a trip of bal-
last' for Berkhampstead relaying. On arriving at the
Linslade ballast pit our driver found it necessary to un-
couple his engine and fetch out some waggons which
stood in our road. When we passed the policeman on
duty at the north end of the tunnel I saw him proceed
back with the danger signal with a view of protecting
our train. Not feeling that confidence in another, how •
ever, that I do in myself, and thinking that more time
was being occupied than on other similar occasions, I
went back, and found the policeman with the red signal
on, at a distance of about 300 yards in the rear of our
train. On reaching him he immediately observed that
he heard a goods train approaching in the distance.
He then directed me to go back to within sight of
my •own train, and give him the All right' signal
when the line was clear, while he proceeded for-
ward to meet and stop the coming train. I
did so i but before the line was clear the 12.30 A.M.
down goods train came at great speed through the
tunnel. I immediately saw every prospect of a collision,
and my fears were more than realised, for the engine
ran into our train, smashed the break and one waggon,
threw their own engine off the rails, and obstructed the
up-line; while at the same moment the up York mail
came up, and ran into the goods train with a tremendous
crash. I immediately ran to Leighton, stopped the ap-
proaching coal train, got her waggons shunted, and sent
her back to Tring, in order to give telegraphic informa-
tion to Wolverton and London."
Martin Cole, it may be stated, is one of the oldest
engine-drivers on the line; indeed, the drivers of ballast
trains are invariably selected for their ability and good
conduct, and in consequence of their responsible duties
they receive an increased rate of wages. All these
drivers are supplied with a printed time bill of the lug-
gage trains, it being most important they should under-
stand the arrivals and departures during the night, when
the ballast wok is chiefly carried on. Cole, when ques-
tioned yesterMy, produced his time-bill, and upon its
face the writer observed the departure of two luggage
trains from the Camden station—one at midnight, and
another at thirty minutes pasttwelve o'clock. The former
had already passed, as seen above, when the ballast wag-
gons were shunted, and the latter was timed to stop at
the. Leighton station at 3 A.M. This train, for some
understood cause, did not stop at Leighton, and the
white light having been shown by the policeman on
duty, the driver admits that he passed the station at
full speed, and had entered the tunnel before he ob-
seri,ed the danger signal of the second policeman, whose
post of duty is at the northern extremity. He imme-
diately reversed his engine, but the train consisting of
forty loaded waggons, its speed was perceptibly dimi-
nisbed before he egressed from the tunnel, when he im-
mediately saw the red lamp at the rear of the empty
ballast waggons. At this moment he had great hope of
being able to avoid the collision, when most unfortu-
nately the engine, already reversed, flew into forward
gear, and carried the train directly into the waggons.
Captain Huish and Captain Buyeres were both on the
spot at an early hour in the morning, and having made a
minute examination into the circumstances of the acci-
dent, they returned to town.
Ross, the driver of the York train, was not so well
Last evening, and fears are entertained that he has suf-
fered some internal injury. Tucker, the under guard,
who is brother of the guard of the same name who was
injured so seriously a week or two since, is better than
could have been expected, considering the awful position
in which he was so long placed. A valuable pointer
dog, belonging to a gentleman in the train, which was
under Tucker's care in the break, had its hind leg com-
pletely cut off by the collision.
Among the ruins of the luggage there was discovered,
shortly after the accident, a barrel of gunpowder, the
topi-A the cask having given way and disclosed its dan-
gerous contents. It was described by the direction as
Lull of butter. The company have a clue to the party
by whom it was sent, and it is to be hoped they will visit
him with the severest penalty the law allows. The bare
contemplation of what might have been the consequences
of this breach of the law is dreadful.

either -lost her sailing qualities, or the loss of the main
sail when the steam is up makes a considerable difference;
but the advantage that the Blenheim possesses with steam
and sail in going to windward of everything under sail
is the admiration of everybody.
On the 31st the squadron was employed the whole of
the day, which was much wanted, for some of the ships
were very long in performing the common manmuvres,
more particularly the Amphion and Helena.
On the Ist inst. trials of sailing, with the wind on the
quarter, going five knots, and the wind aft, running
towards Cork; the Frolic and Helena were the head-
most, the Bellerophon, Tweed, Pilot, Prince Regent, and
Reynard next, and nearly equal; the St. Vincent, Blen-
heim, and Amphion last.
On the 2d inst., it being calm,' near Kinsale, the
signal was made at daylight for all the steamers to
get up steam, when the Dragon took the St. Vincent
in tow, the tromboli took the Prince Regent, the
Blenheim took the Bellerophon, the Reynard took the
Tweed, and the Amphion, after upwards of an hour's
delay, took the Helena, the Frolic and Pilot being or-
dered to Cork under sail, when one of the most interest-
ing sights ever seen at sea took place. The St. Vincent
was towed by the Dragon 7 knots per hour; the Strom-
boli towed the Prince Regent 54 knots; the Blenheim
towed the Bellerophon 44 knots; the Reynard towed
the Tweed 5 knots; and the Amphion towed the
Helena 3 knots. When the result of this trial is con-
sidered, —that of a squadron of ships, for instance, off
an enemy's port in a calm, being towed in by their own
vessels, this is a most important point to be desired,
more especially when effected by those vessels which
have the auxiliary screw only, such as the Blenheim,
Reynard, and Amphion, of whose especial performances
see more below.
At six P.m. the squadron, except the Pilot and Frolic,
were all anchored in the Cove of Cork.
With regard to the screw-vessels, the Reynard, 60-
horse power, Commander P. Cracroft, has certainly rea-
lised more than the expectations of the service respecting
her. She has encountered terrific weather, and on one
occasion lost a fore trysail, which was blown to ribands;
two nights after she was obliged to put into Waterford-
roads, the weather was so bad. No vessel could have
behaved better, or indeed so well, under the circum-
stances.
The first day's trial, above given, was brought to a
premature close as far as the Reynard was concerned, by
her fore-topmast and main topgallant-mast going over
the side, the result of the wire rigging with which she is
supplied; the mast head look-out went overboard with
the spars, but was happily saved from death. Wire
roping is not to be depended on. The Reynard and
Prince Regent were the only vessels which did
not part company with the Admiral. In the
trial with the Prince Regent, Bellerophon, Fro-
lic, and Pilot above given, the Reynard gives
the result as follows:--The Frolic weathered the Rey-
nerd in three hours 3,065 yards; Pilot ditto, 1,416
yards; Reynard weathered on Bellerophon 2,936 yards,
and on Prince Regent, two miles. A fresh single reef
topsail breeze and very heavy swell. Unfortunately the
wind was very unsteady, veering 44 points during the
trial; " but the above result may be considered correct,"
as ascertained by the angles. On the following day the
Reynard had a trial with the Blenheim screw guard-
ship, of 450-horse power, and the Amphion, of 300-horse
power, under steam and sail, beating the former 1,520
yards to windward, and the latter nearly three miles.
This trialionly lasted two hours, as the Blenheim had to
stop her screw for a hot bearing; but it was a very sa-
tisfactory one. The Reynard had two trials of sailing
on the Ist instant, of about two hours' duration each,
wind abeam and right aft. In the first she beat the
whole squadron, except the Helena and the Frolic.
In our extract yesterday from the letter of the Brazi-
lian Consul-General at Liverpool, expressing his high
opinion of the efficacy of Captain Smith's paddle-box
boats, and especially as regards the aid they afforded in
saving life at the late awful burning of the Ocean Mo-
narch, we denominated the gallant writer of that letter
" Mr. John Pasco Grenfell." The proper title of that
gentleman is Admiral Grenfell, a veteran of the
Brazilian Imperial Government, in whose service he
has lost an arm. We should have stated also that the
French waePsteamer Cuvier was fitted with the boats,
which was the means of saving the lives of all on board.
The Adelaide steam-tug, Master-Commanding Forbes
(Acting), was taken out of the basin this morning about
two hours before daylight. The Adelaide is decidedly
improved in appearance by what has been done to her,
having had the unsightly skeletons of paddle-boxes
removed from her bulwarks, and a large portion of her
machinery taken out, which is to be carried out in a
merchant vessel, the space gained thereby being filled
up with water and provisions. The main objections to
her, however, still remain; she is too small for so long a
voyage and for the purpose intended, and she could
have been built, or a better vessel than her, in the coun-
try at less than half of what she will cost by the time
of her arrival out. She is to sail to-morrow, barring
casualties.
The masts of the Neptune, 120, advanced ship, were
taken out to-day, and, if sound, will be placed in store.
Wind, S.W., light airs and hlzv, with rain at time..

lrA
ux .tuArLi
during
G thea n
last s
t.
days,ne
and favourablethaen d attractionss
an
ntee endless
ef
itelsol est,
weather
lions, tigers, lion kings, Lucy Longs,
variety of horsemanship and horsewomanship, have co-
operated to fill this, the most ancient resort of the in-
habitants of London fork amusement and recreation, with
some thousands of visitors nightly. The entertainments
are unusually numerous, indeed, there is a continuous
routine of all manner of strange exhibitions—something
for every taste, and much to please all. The arrange-
ments have been made on a more than usual scale of
liberality, and it is to be hoped the proprietor will not
be a loser by his expensive outlay for the gratification
of the public.
SEA-LIONS AT CREMORNE-GARDENS.—A vast
number of persons have been attracted to Cremorne-
gardens to see what are called nine " Sea-lions and
lionesses." These nine animals are exhibited in a large
basin on the esplanade of the grounds near the river, and
devour eels and other fish, to the astonishment of the
visitors. The "lions" and " lionesses" are of the seal
genus, and are as harmless as the usual race of London
lions by whom the cockneys are occasionally delighted
and amazed. They differ in the formation of the head
from the animal exhibited in Regent-street, and are of a
smaller size. As; a novelty to sight-seers they will be
very attractive, their gambols and antics in the water
being at least as good as most aquatic shows and diver-
sions. Those who have never seen what are termed

•TIIE DIORAMA, REGENT'S PARK.—This splendid
property was brought to the hammer yesterday, by Mr.
Idefehild, at Garraway's Coffee-house. The sale was
attended by a large and influential company. The pro-
terty consisted of the buildings of the Diorama (which
heMated to have cost upwards of 10,0001.), held for
powerful term of the lease, for 74 years; the
ty"wir.ltand costly machinery; the two grand pictures
the Interior (,)f now exhibiting with unusual success, viz ,
2Etne; the thirSt t.
Mark's Church, Venice; and Mount
exhibited in former valuable pictures which have been
the rear of the prer .years, and the building-ground in
3,5001.; and ofterllnses- The property was :put up at
down at 6,750/. a spirited competition was knocked
As the trainwfar2,mo_Blurssels to Antwerp was pro-
ceeding on its
two years and a h•Ysif lo\S,
sltday !naming, a child of about
On:tiling on its mother's knees
near the window of
sprang forward and fell ontscidothe carriages, suddenly
immediately opened the door the rails. The father
whilst•the mother uttered piercin jumped out after it,
fnusht
the father ricks. The train
was
es
was stopped, and after a fewminutes
seen coming up with the child in his arms, perfectly un-
hurt, not having even a scratch.
RACING SWEEPS.—An ingenious method has al-
ready been adopted and put into practice by publicans
holding " racing sweeps' in their houses, for defeating
the intentions of the Law Officers of the Crown to pro-
ceed against such newspapers as inserted advertisements
of their lotteries. They know that without the publicity
which a portion of the press gave, their " sweeps"
would have very few subscribers, and in order to make
their advertisements legal have procured their insertion
in a form something like this :—" Mr. , of --
will have a merry meeting on --," or " Mr.---,
of ----..—, will ring- a merry peal on ---." The
blanks we have girerr, i of course, being filled up with
names and dates. '

" the monsters of the deep" will be amused with these
animals.

ART-UNION OF LONDON AND THE
.BOARD OF
TRAcouncil•Tf°l:heTuLe(smdcalyonmAorrnt-iUngnioan, deputationg oo ff
st
ihre.
Auldjo, F R.S., Mr. Britton, F.S.A., Lord Compton,
Mr. Donaldson Mr. Gaskoin, Mr. Godwin, F.R.S., Mr.
Morris, Mr. L. Pocock, F.S.A., and Mr. Troughton,
attended Lord Granville, at the office of the Board of
Trade, to urge the objections which exist against the
proposal of the Lords of the Privy Council, that prize-
holders should not be limited to the purchase of works
of art from the public exhibitions of the year, but be
permitted to buy them anywhere, provided only that they
be in the possession of an artist, and even to give com-
missions. Sir Denis Le Marchant, Mr. Porter, and Mr.
Northcote were also present.