The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-23 00:00:00

Accident at the London-road Station.

(From the Manchester Guardian.)
Yesterday afternoon, shortly before two o'clock,
a portion of the roof of the London-road Station,
in this city, now in course of erection, suddenly fell,
and killed two men, besides injuring, more or less
seriously, 29 other workmen. For the past two or
three years the London and North Western, and
the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Rail-
way Companies have been engaged in extending
and improving the accommodation at this station.
The greater part of the work has been finished, and
nearly all that remains to be done is the completion
of the roof. This is a glazed structure, supported
by iron pillars and girders, and is situated imme-
diately to the east of the companies' offices, which
front London-road, and over the lines of rails. Two
designs were originally prepared, one proposing that
the area should be covered by one large arch, and
the other proposing two arches or spans. On the
recommendation of an eminent engineer in London
the latter plan was adopted, and the erection was
commenced. The roof extends from the station
facade eastwards a distance of about 213 yards, and
its width is 65 yards. Lengthwise the roof (two
spans in width) is divided into eight bays or sec-
tions, six of which are severally about 78 feet
long, and the remaining two 88 feet each ;
and it was supported by 27 iron pillars, 21
feet in height, divided into three rows, two of which
are ranged on the sides of the station, while the
other row is at the junction of the two spans over
the centre of the space occupied by the rails. The
ridge or highest point of each arch is 64 feet from
the level of the rails. The transverse iron principal
girders rest on wrought-iron trussed beams, 5 feet
deep, the top and bottom flange of which are con-
nected with a number of upright and diagonal
braces. At the time of the accident the arches were
approaching completion, all the bays having been
placed, but none of them quite finished.
Shortly before 2 o'clock the neighbourhood of
London-road was alarmed by a terrific noise, as of
crashing timbers, which proceeded from the station,
and at the same time such persons as happened to
be in the adjacent streets saw an entire section of
the new station roof fall; with the bodies of the
workmen who, an instant bcfoi.e,. .ivpre engaged
either on-the• roof or in building enclosure walls on
each side of the station. At once a rush was made
up the steps leading to the station, and in a few
minutes many hundreds of persons had gathered
round the scene of the disaster. Information Of
the occurrence having reached the Fairfield-street
police-station, Superintendent Anderton promptly
attended with a body of constables, and protected
the efforts which were immediately commenced to
extricate the unfortunate men who had been buried
under the ruins. One by one the sufferers were
taken from beneath the debris, and as quickly as
possible the majority of them were conveyed in cabs
to the Royal Infirmary. In a few minutes about
twenty persons were extricated ; some of them had
broken limbs, others had escaped with slight inju-
ries, but nearly all were so cut and disfigured as to
make recognition somewhat difficult at the moment.
Those who were taken to the Infirmary were at-
tended to by Messrs. Walker and Haynes, the house
surgeons, and by a staff of surgeons who were
summoned, and such as were not seriously injured
left after having their wounds dressed. The total
number received at the Infirmary was twenty, two
of whom subsequently died. Eleven others Aver°
taken from the station to their own homes.

By the fall of the roof, a wall, on which one side
of it abutted, and which fronted Birmingham-streets
was so loosened as to cause danger to the. traffic in
the street, and Mr. Anderson placed a number of
constables in the street to warn off drivers and feet
passengers.
At the moment of the accident, a train which
had a short time before arrived from Stalybridgey
and another which was about to start from Sheffield/
were standing in the station, under that part of the
roof which has fallen. The fireman of the former
became aware of the threatened danger while step-
ping off the footplate, and he took refuge under a
van, and so escaped harm ; the driver of the Shef-
field train was lightly struck on the head by a piece
of falling timber. The frame of the Sheffield en--
gine and also the valve of its dome were broken/
and the engine's steam escaped, fortunately without
causing any damage.

As far as can be ascertained at present the aeei;
dent occurred through the failure of the longituclinel
trussed girder reaching from the 7th to the Bth column
of the central row of pillars. The girder, as well as
that in the Bth bay, being ten feet longer than the
others, has been made considerably stronger, aid
it is consequently very difficult to account for the
fracture. The contractors for the roof are Messrs'
R. and J. Rankin and Co., of Liverpool, while
Messrs. R. Neill and Sons, of Strangeways, are the
contractors with the railway companies for the alte-
rations, and they are executing the timber, slate,
glass, and lead work of the roof for Messrs. Rankle'
It thus happens that the majority of the sufferers
are workmen in the employ of Messrs. Neill. One
of them a bricklayer, named Mark Russell, died at
five o'clock yesterday afternoon; and Thoma°
Sherwood, Messrs. Neill's foreman, who was inuch
respected by his employers, died a couple of hours
later. The damage to the roof and walls of the
station will not be less than £6,000 ; and that to
the Companies' plant, i.e., the engines, carriage°,
&c., is estimated at £2,000.

THE BRAVE CAPTAIN MARTIN OF THE LONDON.---*
A correspondent of the Times thus writes about him
—" The news of this sad disaster, as described in the pl3i!'l
matter-of-fact narrative in your impression of to-day, w,“
doubtless afford most melancholy satisfaction to the ro3:
tives and friends of those who were on board; but the niesb
indifferent reader must admire the conduct of the uolw
mander of that ill-fated ship in the most trying and
"
sponsible position it is possible to conceive. It is wit
special reference to this brave man that I am indueoct tro°
address you. Hundreds, ay thousands, of people who 113'
sailed with Captain Martin will rejoice to hear bow tbit
brave and intrepid seaman met his untimely end. nis 145.,
words, conveyed in an order to his chief engineer, alt
truly characteristic of filo man. He said, " There is 11r
much chance for a boat; there is none for the ship. Irlo
duty is done, mine is to remain here. Get in, and t3-ia
command of the few it will hold.' The man who Ou'd
give such an order standing on the brink of eternity, turio
most unhesitatingly sacrificing life for duty,.deserves
than ordinary notice. My only acquaintance wall
tarn Martin was during a voyage in the Suffolk froria
don to Melbourne in 1861; but I retain a grateful recoliris
tion, not only of his skill as a naval commander, but °l.
uniform courtesy and thorough gentlemanlike hehavrour
to all classes during the voyage."