The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-02 00:00:00

THE LATE COLLISION ON THE OX-
FORD, WORCESTER, AND WOLFER-
-1144.31PT0N RAILWAY.

After the despatch of our parcel on Thurgday
evening, the inquiry into the circumstances attend-
ing tie fearful collision on the 22d August was
continued, and, as far as the evidence of witnesses
was concerned, was concluded. The other wit-

nesses examined were—
Mi. Markham, assistant-engineer on the Midland
Railway, who said he considered the coupling that
broke and caused the train to separate was of proper
proportions, and that the iron was of fair average
quality. The primary cause of the accident arose,
in his opinion, from the defective weld in the eye
of the couplinc, chain. He had examined the
break-screw and nut in the care of Cook, and
considered the nut was in the lowest position that
it could have been in when the break was off, and
he agreed with Captain Tyler, the Government
inspector, that the break had never bee' on at all ;
and he believed the guard in the excitement of the
moment had lost his presence of mind, and had
screwed the break off instead of screwing it on. He
attributed the sparks seen by the witnesses flying
from the wheels to the friction of the flange of the
wheel pressing on the outer rail of the curve. The
company had adopted a safe course in dividing the
return train at Worcester. He was of opinion that
the train could be worked at 35 miles an hour
safely with the couplings which he had examined.
Considered the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolver-
hampton rolling stock was good, and it had been
lately improved. Having heard Mr. Chilling-
worth's evidence, he did not think it possible to
discover a mark as recently made upon a wheel
unless the wheel had been a long way locked down
an incline. He thought all the break wheels, if
carefully examined, would show marks on the whole
of their circumference from general use.
Mr. Blackmore, superintendent of the traffic de-
partment on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway,
was examined as to the practice of managing
excursion traffic on his line ; but from his evidence
it was clear that the arrangements of the two com-
panies were different and could not bear a fair com-
parison. The company were continually running
trains with breaks in second-class carriages with-
out a guard to attend them, but no passenger was
allowed to ride in the break compartment. They
had lately had such a crush of traffic at Leeds that
the people not only crowded the carriages, but
got on the tops, on the buffers, and on the foot-
boards, and all the exertions of the company's
servants could not remove them. They generally
used two breaks in a passenger-train of 50 carriages,
one at each end. They had carried by excursion
trains this siunmer on the Lancashire and York-
shire line upwards of 400,000 persons without an
accident.

Mr. Walker, the surgeon referred to in the evi-
dence of the witness Brett, examined earlier in the
day, explained the position in which he stood with
Brett. He said that £5O had been paid to Brett,
and that it was agreed he should be paid £1 a
week until he recovered, but that he subsequently
offered to take £lOO and release the company from
further claim. This offer was not accepted, but
was still in abeyance, and nothing more than the
£5O had been paid him yet.
This was the whole of the evidence, and the
coroner then read it over to the jury in extenso.
It was then arranged to adjourn for the last time
to Tuesday next, then to decide upon the verdict.

THE LATE FIRE AT GREENWICH.