The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-13 00:00:00

rnE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 13, 1858.

work it in conjunction with the North London

line.

What refideii the escape of the 'Men the mote-1
miraculous is, that in the tunnel works they all
have to labour with candles, and when the fall took

place nearly every one of them, by the sudden
pressure of air, was extinguished. In the' momen-
tary consternation it was sadly feared that some of
the workmen might have been buried, but on the
muster roll being called every man answered.
With respect to the conduit field, which now ex-
hibits in its centre and upper part a gap, as if there
had been an earthquake, the visitors to Hampstead
by the western side from the Chalcot-villas and over
the mouth of the North Western Railway tunnel,
will recognise it as the second field beyond the
enclosure, known as Bellsize Park, formerly the
residence of Mr. Wright, the unfortunate banker
of Henrietta-street, Covent-garden, and rendered
notorious for being the place selected by Hocker for
the murder of Delarue some years since. In the
centre of this field stands a bricked conduit or well,
which is always plentifully supplied with very beau-
tiful water, derived from a natural spring. About
50 feet beyond this ran the tunnel which has fallen
in, and great apprehension exists among the in-
habitants that the occurrence may have damaged
the spring, and may prevent themhaving their water
supply. This, however, proves not to be the case.
It is believed that there is a further consultation
abmil to be held amongst several eminent engineers
as to the best course to be adopted in carrying out
the future works with as little delay as possible.

TILE RAILWAY ACCIDENT AT
LOSTOCK JUNCTION.

" One of the Excursionists" writes to the Allan-
chester Guardian as follows

" On our journey from Southport to Lostock, it
appeared to me that we travelled slower than I had
anticipated, and I , feared that we were not going
to reach Lostock until near the time at which the
ordinary passenger train from Manchester to
Preston was due, and that if we had to shunt before
it came up, there might be less time than was
desirable. On reaching Lostock, the train was
brought to a standstill between the ticket office
and the inn, on the south side of the line on the
Wigan and Southport branch. Here the tickets
were collected, the engine being then nearly oppo-
site to the station-master's house. From this house
and the station there is an incline towards the
shunts, which are on the Bolton side, the ground
and rails falling towards Bolton. It appears to
be customary at this station, when a train is to be
shunted from the Preston and Choricy branch on
to the Wigan and Southport branch, or from the
latter to thq. former, to do it in the following
manner:—After the train was fairly got on to the
incline, the engine and tender arc detached from it,
run on rapidly before, leaviit.the train to move on
dawn the incline by its own weight and acquiredmo-
menturn. After the engine has left the train a consider-
able distance, and passed the shunts, it is reversed,
driven rapidly back; and by. means of the shunts,
regulated. by the pointsman, passed on to the other
line before the train has reached the shunts. The
train is allowed to move on by its own gravity down
the incline until• the last carriage has passed the
shunts; the'Vagine Which has been waiting on the
other line is then brought down-after it, attached
to what was previously the last carriage, but which
then becomes the first ; and the train is then, by
means of the engine and the shunts, brought on to
the other line, and proceeds on its journey to its
destination.

" In the present instance the station-master ap-
pears to have ordered or allowed the train to move
on to the incline before the tickets had all been col-
lected.. The guard being, I believe, engaged in the
collection of tickets, did-not reach his van to apply
the break soon enough to moderate the descent of
the train. Perhaps the engine and tender were not
detached sufficiently soon, or' perhaps the engine
was -not reversed soon enough after passing the
shunts. Whether from the first, second, or third of
these causes, or two or all of them combined, it is
perhaps 'impossible to say; but certain it is the
train came down a second or two too soon for the
engine to get out of its way,. and was met by the
engine right in the middle of the shunt, and struck
on the right side by the left hand' buffer of the en-
gine. ; The shoCk of the :Collision smashed and upset
the guard's van.and the next succeeding carriage,
and shook the train from-end to end. The engine-
driver immediately turned off the steam, and the
excursionists rushed out of the carriages in confu-
sion and dismay, tumbling over everything that
came in their way, in the dark. The railway offi-
cials rushed_ to the overturned carriages, and the
bruised and terrified inmates were in a few minutes
dragged out through the windows ; and when tie
extent of the misfortune had been made known, the
excitement a little subsided. The wounded were
attended to by the railway officials personally, as
well as circumstances would permit ; but I was sur-
prised that they remained at Losteck about' three
' hours, and no medical advice was procured.
" I must say, in conclusion, that I think the
above method of shunting decidedly objectionable.
It is too much of a game of-chance, dependin7 upon
the judgment, calculation, and expert manipulation
of the officials in calculating the power of self-
. continuing motion of the train, in detaching the
engine, applying the brake, reversing the engine,
putting on the steam, &e., where a second too early
in the case of the train, or too late in the ease of the
engine, renders an accident inevitable."'

THE BOILER EXPLOSION NEAR
LEEDS.

(From the Leeds Jferoury.)

On Friday morning, at ten o'clock, the inquest
upon the bodies of the four unfortunate persons
killed by the explosion at a woollen factory at
Gildersome, near Leeds, was resumed by Mr.
Jewison, the coroner, at Gildersome. The names
of the jurors having been called over, the following
witnesses were examined :
Mr. Samuel Almond—l am a cloth manufacturer,
and reside at Gildersome. John Bradley, Sarah
gton, and Alice Wright, the
Halliday, Geo. Woffin
deceased, worked for me. Bradley was the fireman,
Halliday and Wright were weavers, and Woffing-
ton a piccer. These four persons were all killed by-
the explosion on Saturday morning. I do not
know the cause of the explosion. Bradley had
only worked for me since the Monday previous.
He seemed to be, a competent man. 1 asked him
questions affecting engines, and he seemed to have
a good knowledge of' them. He had previously
been with Mr. Nowell for about a year, and had
managed an engine before. I. gave him 15s. per
week. My engine had -been running all Friday
night. My son, Edward Almond, who is 24 years
old, attended to the engine on Friday night from
8 or 9 o'clock to half-past 1 or 2, and my
son James, 27 years old,. from the latter time until
Bradley came, at about a quarter to five o'clock.
The explosion occurred about
.a quarter or twenty
past six on Saturday morning. There were both a
steam-guage and a water-guage attached to the
boiler, which were fixed new with the boiler. For
anything I know they were in good order. The
boiler was 16 horse-power, and my orders were that
it shquld not be worked at a pressure greater than
.351bs. to the square inch. It would run the mill
and rag machine comfortably at that. The boiler.
was made by Messrs. Bennett and Bratt, of Batley
Carr, about 14 months ago, the agreement being
that it should be constructed of the best Low Moor
iron. I examined to see if I could find the Low
Moor Company's mark upon it, and I could not—
either inside or outside. I' asked the boiler makers
when they brought it if it was Low Moor iron, and
they positively said it was, and so I did not make
further inquiries. The boiler makers said it would
bear any pressure up to nearly 1001bs. per inch. I
have not examined the plates to see if they were
heated. • A man named James' Stead had fired for
me before.. Bradley. My son Edward was injured
by the explosion, and is unable to attend the in-
quest. •
Mr. J. Almond, son of the last witness, deposed
that he was in partnership with his father and his
brother Edward, as woollen cloth manufacturers, at
Gildersome. He had charge of the engine on Satur-
day morning, from 12 or 1 o'clock down-to 10 mi-
nutes to five, when he was relieved by the deceased
Bradley. According to the steam-guage, he had
been working during the night at a pressure of
151bs. to the square inch. They had only had the
rag machine at work during the night. When he
left he examined the boiler, and found it contained
6 or 7 inches of water which• was the height at
which they generally ran. He had no idea of the
cause of the explosion.
John Grepon, an overlooker at the mill, whose
foot was injured by the accident, stated that he
reached the mill about five minutes past six, and
got the machinery into operation. Everything
then seemed to be in proper order. The engine
was running. He was standing betwixt the mill
and the weaving room, loadint, a cart, when the
accident occurred. He assisted to remove the in-
jured. The first he found was Jane-Collinson, who
was injured". His own' daughter was taken out
much hurt, and had since died. He removed four
persons—two killed and two injured. The boiler
was cleaned every month or five weeks. He had
never seen the engine run at a greater pressure
than 401b5., and that only once or twice at excep-
tional times, when they were trying the amount of
steam required to work the rag machine. He had
not been in the engine or boiler house that morn-
ing, and did not know the cause of the accident.
John Stead, millwright and engineer, saki he had
examined the boiler m que§tion, ¶hick he On 20