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

" 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 official:4 personally; as
well as circumstances would permit ; but I was Sur-
prised that they remained at Lostock 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, depending 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 case of the
engine, renders an accident inevitable."

THE FATAL BOILER EXPLOSION NEAR
LEEDS.

(From the Leeds Merottry.)

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
Halliday, Gco. Woffington, and Alice Wright, the
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. I asked him
and he seemed to have
them. He had previously
aqu good
dons
knowledge affecting engines,.of
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, Ethvard 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 should 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, abobt 14 months ...ago, the agreement being
that it should he 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 Gregson, 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, loading 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, said he had
examined the boiler in potion, which he taw 20