The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-18 00:00:00

Statistical Society.

The third ordinary meeting of the present session
was held on Tuesday, Mr. S. Brown, V.P., in the
chair. The following gentlemen were elected fellows
of the-society, viz. :—Charles E. Lewis, Alexander
Bremner, R. L. Watson, and 11. L. Reid.
Dr. MouiT, inspector-general of gaols in Lower
Bengal, read a paper of unusual interest upon the
" Prison discipline in Bengal." The principal con-
clusions at which he arrives appear to be these—
That the silent and solitary systems are altogether
inapplicable to Indian prisoners. That a prison
should be rendered a terror to evil-doers, by inflict-
ing as much pain as can be inflicted without injury
to health of body or mind, and without resorting to
punishments that err from excess of severity. That
punishments for breaches of gaol discipline should
be summary, and should be such as are known to
deter most effectually. No restriction of diet, soli-
tary confinement beyond 72 hours, or other practices
injurious to health, should be permitted or prac-
tised. That prison dietaries should be restricted to
the smallest quantity and coarsest quality of food
found to be absolutely necessary for the mainte-
nance of health in confinement. That however de-
sirable it may be to maintain the inviolability of
judicial sentences, it is absolutely necessary to hold
out to the Indian prisoner the same inducements
to good conduct in prison as are found necessary
in other countries; for which reason they have been
introduced into the Bengal gaol code in opposition
to the opinion of the prison discipline committee of
1864. That prison buildings should be so constructed
as to maintain a high standard of health, and to
admit of such classification and separation of con-
victs as will secure them from avoidable contamina-
tion, and send them forth on the completion of their
sentences, if not better, at least not worse than they
went in. That while, on the one hand, no measures
of discipline should be enforced which are really
offensive to the religious prejudices of natives of
India, no false pleas of caste should be permitted to
interfere with the full execution of judicial sentences.
That short sentences, rigorously enforced in secure
and properly constructed prisons, are more deterrent
than longer sentences passed in district gaols, where
the means of enforcing discipline do not and never
can exist. That prison returns in India should be
kept on a uniform system, and should embrace every
detail necessary to throw light upon the subject in
all its relations ; and that these returns should be
published annually, as soon after the close of the
year as possible. That the broad general principles
which should regulate prison discipline in India
differ in no way from the principles adapted for other
countries, and merely need such modifications of
detail as may be required by local circumstances.
These modifications need never, so far as his experi-
ence entitles him to express an opinion, set aside the
principle on which they are based. The principles
of human nature, which connect disgrace with crime
and punishment, are universal ; and although the
shame and discredit attached to conviction and im-
prisonment are not at present as strongly felt and
exhibited in India as they are supposed to be in more
advanced countries, he had not the least doubt, from
his long and intimate acquaintance wifh the educated
and criminal classes of Bengal, that, as education
extends, and the 93 per cent. of uninstructed
criminals diminishes, the feelings of Bengalis will
not differ very materially from those of Englishmen
lon the subject of crime—its disgrace, and its punish-
ment.

RAILWAY ACCIDENT NEAR GUILD-

FORD.

An accident occurred yesterday morning on the
lines of the South Western and South Eastern Rail-
ways, near Guildford, which affords a remarkable
instance of escape from what appeared to be almost
certain death. It seems that the train which leaves
Reading at 7.25 for London (due at Guildfoorfdsaix
carriage t
8.29) and which yesterday morning consisted
guard's van,
a fi
et
las
fcaarrrastehe junction oftheAlton arrived
d
branche with the
main line near Guildford station. Isere, however,
the connecting rod between the engine and tender
unable to go
broke, and the engine was consequently
forward with the train. Knowing the Alton train
to be nearly due (its time of arrival at Guildford
being 8.36), the guard of the Reading train hastened
along the line with a danger flag in his hand, but
the attempt to avert an accident was too late. The
engine driver and guard of the Alton train seemed
to have observed the flag and the train, both hid
from them for some time by a curve, within a short
distance of the Reading train, but beyond promptly
putting on all the brake power they could, nothing
could be done to stay the apparently fatal progress
of the Alton train, and on it rushed down an incline
of something like one in eighty, until it smashed
into the South-Eastern train, which stood helpless,
and broke and destroyed nearly the whole of one end
of a second class carriage in it, overturned the seat
annexed, and broke portions of the woodwork of the
end of the first-class carriage adjoining. The force
of the collision was so great as to knock several of
the carriages off the line, and the noise was dis-
tinctly heard at the station, about 300 yards off.
Nearly the whole of the buffers were broken or
twisted, and the gua,:rd's van received a good deal
of injury in broken glass and the woodwork of the
steps, &c. None of the South Western train was
injured, but the engine and tender box were slightly
damaged. None of -the passengers in this train it
appears were hurt, 'bu t eight or nine in the Read-
ing train were inju red. A Mr. Ingram, of

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Blackwater, had his --
and was taken to the Surrey dntyliospitil, where
his wounds were dressed. A Mr. Matthews, of
Ash-vale, had his shoulder dislocated, but on being
medically attended to, returned home. Mr. Catch-
pole, of Blackwater, was slightly injured in the
knee. A couple of soldiers from Aldershot were
hurt., one very much about the face ; and four other
persons were bruised and shaken. The sufferers
were taken first to one of the waiting-rooms at the
Guildford station, where Mr. Lyson, the station
master, whq had hurriedly proceeded to the scene
of the catastrophe, had them attended to, having
previously sent for and obtained the services of Mr.
Sells, surgeon. Several of the injured persons were
thus enabled to go on to London. The South-
Western passengers went on by the 8.37 train from
Godalniing. The chief explanation at present offered
for the accident takes the following form :--It ap-
pears that all trains (South-Western) on the Alton
branch pass a signal station named Pink's Hill, about
two miles from Guildford, but should not proceed
until the man there gives those in charge of the
train a signal that the line is clear. The man in
charge at the time in question seems to have been
one named Childs, a comparatively young hand.
He said he had the " All clear" signal from the man
at Guildford (named Smallbones) and signalled ac-
cordingly to the Alton train. But the strange part
of the story is that Smallbones is stated to assert
that he did not signal to Childs at all. That a
frightful loss of life did not ensue appears to be due
principally to the fact that very few persons were
in the train which was injured. A curious instance
of personal escape is told. A gentleman was quietly
sitting in the Reading train after its stoppage, when
suddenly he was thrown from one side of the car-
riage to the other, and his hat sent flying through
the window. He was not hurt, but another occu-
pant of the compartment had his face cut. Several
of the principal officers both of the South-Western
and South-Eastern lines were telegraphed for, and
came down in the course of the day to investigate
into the unfortunate affair.