The Sun.
London, England, 1851-06-07 00:00:00

"‘.
•,•„;
DREADFUL RAIL WAY ACCIDEN T
ON THE BRIGHTON RAILWAY.
BRIGHTON, FRIDAY, JUNE 6.—A dreadful accident teire74,11,•:,,,,a,
happened this morning on the line of railway betweenrel
Brighton and Lewes, by which the lives of four persons ease.
r,ef.
were sacrificed, and a fifth is not expect dto survive. \-:./-.;,.**: 4'n e
The names of the deceased are Mrs. Chatfield, about
sixty years of nee; her daughter, thirty ye rs of age
(persons in the middle rank of life—Mrs. Chatfield has
a son who carats on the busirees of a baker in Bond-
street, Brighton); George Chase, the stoker; and a
Young man. name unknown, whose linen is marked
" Lawrence."
It appears that the train which aset with the acci-
dent was a short train from Brighton to Lewes, leaving
Brighton at five minutes past twelve, and consisted of
the engine and tender, a first-class carriage, a scond-
class carriage, and third-class carriage, that two per-
sons were booked for the first-class, three for the second,
and tour for the third; three out of the fonr in the third-
class carriage were killed, and the other persons in the
train comprised the engine-driver, the stoker, and the
guard, whose name isE.srl'.
The distance between Brighton and Lewes is eight
miles, and half-way between the two towns is a tunnel
called Falmer tunnel, which is about 100 yards in length.
On either tide this tunnel the railroad is en the declivity
for at least two miles; in short, the declivity is so great
that it hss induced the direetcra (lithe railway campauy
to place boards on each side, on which areitter' in-
structions for the drivers not to proceed more than
twenty miles an hour, apprehending danger from an in-
creased velocity and from the curves with which the
rail abounds on the Lewes side of the tatnnel. This pre-
caution has always been taken by the public as a very
proper one.
A coroner's inquest will be held on the bodies of
the unfortunate deceased this day, when the facts con-
nected with this melancholy event will be thoroughly in-
vestigate:'.
The train stopped at the Falmer station, which is two
miles from the spot where the accident happened, and
was proceeding down the declivity without steam.
The guard of the train, accompanied by one of the
labourers, proceeded to the spot where the engine turned
off the line, immediately after the occurrence, and there
found a sleeper partially over the rails, with one end
crushed and splintered, showing evidently that the
wheels of the engine had passed over it.
It is right to add, that a report was current,
which would exempt the engine-driver from blame
as far as speed was concerned, and that was, that a
sleeper had been placed upon the rails, which threw the
train off the line. Then, again, we have it from informa-
tion collected on the spot, that the tender preceded the
engine, and that a sleeper on the line would naturally
enough throw tho tender off the line; whereas,if the engine
had been first, the accident would not have happened.
It seems feasible that the tender was first, from the po-
sition in which it was observed after the accident, it
being some eight or ten feet in advance of the engine.
With regard to a sleeper being placed across the road,
we have no very authentic information; the only reason
for arriving at such a supposition is, that a railway la-
bourer saw three sleepers on the side of the rail shortly
before the accident, but after the accident he saw only
two. He states that he was at work on the line within
100 yards of the accident, and heard a crash. He ran
to the spot, and the guard called to him to make haste.
On arriving there he saw the smash.
The spot where the accident took place is within a
couple of miles of Lewes, over an embankment about
thirty feet deep. The engine appears to have been off
the line about fifty yards from whore the catastrophe
happened. It did not tear up the rails to any very
great extent, but it carried away the brickwork over
the bridge and fell to the road below, carrying with
it the tender, a second-class carriage, and a
third-class carriage. Three of the third-class passen-
gers, Mrs. Chatfield and her daughter, the young man
Lawrence—if his name is Lawrence—were thrown out
and killed on the spot, but what became of the fourth
third-class passenger we have not been able to learn.
The unfortunate stoker was jammed between the engine
and a brick wall below, and was completely smashed.
Upwards of an hour had elapsed before the parties in at-
tendance could extricate the poor fellow, whose face pre-
sented a shocking sight. He was the son of a servant of
the Brighton Railway Company, who was killed some 16
or 18 months ago at New-cross, and his widowed mother
is now holding a situation at the Brighton terminus. Tho
news of this distressing event was an additional shock to
her already shattered nerves. Mrs. Chatfield and her
daughter were thrown out and killed on the spot, but
presented no appearance of mutilation; neither did the
person who is at present unknown. Superintendent
Flannigan, of the East Sussex constabulary, described to
our correspondent that the linen of the deceased was
marked "5. 49. A. Lawrence," and that he was dressed
in a black frock coat, plaid waistcoat, dark paletot,
drab trousers with a broad stripe, Wellington boots,
a watch and some money in his pocket, and a third-class
ticket to take from Brighton to Lewes. All the four
bodies were, by direction of Superintendent Flanagan,
taken to the Black Horse Inn at Lewes to await the
coroner's inquest.
The engineer, Jackson, is so much injured that his life
is despaired of. Just as our report was dispatched it
was ascertained that the unfortunate man who had been
removed to the Sussex County Hospital, had, with the
advice of the medical officars of that establishment, con-
sented to have both his logs off.
As soon as the accident became known at Brighton, a
special train was dispatched to the spot, containing Mr.
Laing, the chairman of the railway, Captain M‘lienzio
Shaw, principal superintendent at Brighton, and one or
two of the railway officials, who made the strictest in-
quiry into the particulars of the accident, and gave the
necessary instructions to get the line clear as quick as
possible for the ordinary trains, and it was really sur-
prising that a frightful accident like that which we have
just recorded should not have broken up the rails more
than it did.

Chase, the unfortunate stoker, is a single man; Jack-
son, we believe, is married, but has no family.
The report that the train had been thrown off through
the instrumentality of some wicked person induced the
authorities of Brighton to visit the spot.
Mr. Chase the chief officer of the Brighton police,
Mr. White, his principal superintendent, Mr. M'Rae, the
inspecting officer of the railway, were all on the spot
endeavouring to find out if the accident had been occa-
sioned by the malignant act of any individual; but, up
to the time this account left Brighton, no clue of a sa-
tisfactory character to such a proceeding had been as-
certained; and the deep injuries received by the driver,
who is not able to state how it happened, involves the
circumstances in mystery.
The Brighton line has the credit—and net without
truth—of being one of the best conducted lines in the
kingdom, and has been more free from accidents than
almost any line ; end it is quite evident that the in-
quiry which must inevitably follow will exonerate the
directors from any blame in this unfortunate matter.
At present it seems to have resulted rather from some
act oa the part of a miscreant, or from incautiousness.