The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-22 00:00:00

THE stmr, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 22, 1870.

tint tried to tinci the nancue or tne door, or wnicn the top
had been staved in, in order to get out. The bottom part
of the door still remained, but the handle was clean cut
off. I made the best of my way out from the doorway of
the next compartment, the door here having been com-
pletely carried away. On getting down, I saw at the tail
end of our train the trucks which had passed us piled one
on another, and some of them tippled off the low embank-
ment into a pond. Everybody was hastening to get out
of the carriages, and the scene towards the front was, as
far as I could discern in the dim light, something terrible

—carriages piled one on another, and many of them
smashed literally to shivers. The heavy engine had been
toppled right over on to its back, and lay inclined, with
the wheels partly in the air, and some of the first car-
riages hac, of course, gone past it. From this front
part of the trains, where the carriages had been so com-
pletely destroyed, piteous cries and moans were proceed-
ing. Those who had been slightly injured in the Brad-
ford, Halifax, and York carriages lost no time in ascer-
taining the extent of their hurts, but moved at once
to the front to see of what service they could be
The efforts of many of the passengers to relieve their
unfortunate companions were most praiseworthy, and
amongst these was a lady, whose name we do not know,
who displayed great activity and zeal, encouraging the
men, and rallying them to fresh exertions. The dying
and badly injured soon began to be removed into au
adjoining field, the hedge of which had been broken
through. A little baby, six months old, was got from
among the debris, with its arm torn from wrist to shoulder;
the mother was at the time lying apparently dead among
the debris. The child was taken to the railway station,
and it was there stated that both the father and
mother were dead. About four o'clock, however, the
mother was got out alive, though it is not yet known
whether she will survive. Many of the dead and injured
were fast among the wreck for hours, and in their efforts
to relieve them by trying to lift up one portion of the
superincumbent (debris, the workers found that they
were either pressing it on the other parts of the
sufferers' bodies, or upon some other victim of the
catastrophe. Ultimately, after the lapse of some hours, a
special engine brought up a heavy crane, by
which the wreck was being rapidly and safely removed .
In reference to the cause of the accident, I could not
learn anything definite or satisfactory, but it was stated,
I believe on the authority of the guard of the luggage
train, that very shortly before the collision an axtle-tree
on his train, which was running on the up line, had
broken, and thrown some of the carriages quite across our
line. Our engine was thrown to the left and the tender
to the right. It was said that the officials in charge of
the luggage train had tot the time, even if they had had
the opportunity, to signal the trip-train. This, however,
must be subject to the correction of fuller and more accu-
rate information.