The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-10 00:00:00

niE SUN, LOINDoN, MONOA Y 14'41/ENING, SEPTEMBER JO, 1866.

u eirnt t

HEE, MAJESTY.

--,11,,-

BALMORAL, Saturday.

The Queen, accompanied by Prince and Princess
Christian and Princess Louise, drove to Alt-na-
Guithasack, and rode on ponies to the Dhu Loch.
Prince Leopold, attended by Mr. Said and Mr.
Legg, drove to Loch Callater.
General Peel had the honour of dining with the
Queen and royal family last night, and leaves the
Castle to-day.

Shockin3 Accident in North Wales.

CARNARVON, Saturday.

A very serious railway accident occurred in this
district on Thursday evening, resulting in the death
of five persons. The circumstances may be nar-
rated as follows :

To connect the Welsh coast lino, now in course
of formation with the main line of the London and
North-Western Railway at Bangor, a single line
has just been completed from. Carnarvon to Port-
madoc and Rafon-Wen, a distance from Carnarvon
to the last-named place of 1.81 miles, and called the
Carnarvonshire Railway. The line has been con-
structed by Mr. Thomas Savin, contractor, and it
only awaits the inspection of the Government
officer preparatory to its being opened for regular
traffic. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday last
the Calvinistic Methodist Association held its quar-
terly meeting in this town, and the proceedings
of Thursday, which were conducted in a meadow,
were a source of great attention to a very large
number of the inhabitants of the whole of this part
of the Principality. To accommodate those in the
north of the country special trains were run to this
town, and the people in the south were importunate
in their application to Mr.. Savin to charter a train
of open trucks to run from Portmadoc. Unhap-
pily, Mr. Savin yielded to their solicitations, and
after a tradesman of Carnarvon, who desired to farm
the train, and declined, after some negotiation, to
accept Mr. Savin's terms, Mr. Savin determined to
run the train himself. The train was made up of
eight open ballast waggons, having planks across
them for seats, and about 700 persons are under-
stood to have travelled by it, paying 3s. for a re-
turn ticket between Portmadoc and Carnarvon.
A valuable and powerful locomotive, well known as
the Castelldaudraeth, named after the seat of Mr.
David Williams, the chairman of the Welsh Coast
Railway, was placed to draw the train ; and for
additional security Mr. John Savin, the contrac-
tor's brother, drove the engine on:the return of the
excursionists from Carnarvon.

The journey from Portmadoc in the morning was
accomplished in safety. On its return trip the
train left the Pant Station in this town at seven in
the evening, and no hitch occurred until they had
got within 100 yards of the Glanddwfach Station,
which is a little over Carnarvon. At a point within
200 yards of that station the engine took water at
10 minutes to eight, and resumed its journey at
—it is alleged—a cautious speed, because somepoints
were to be passed over midway between the water
tank and the station. The points were self-acting,
and were necessary, because here a strip of loop
line had been laid out down for station uses. When
the engine came to the points it passed on the main
line, as was desired ; but the tender ran with its
wheels on one side only on the main line, and soon
swerved round with its front upon the main line and
the back upon the loop, thus presenting a broadside
towards the trucks. In thus swerving round the
tender threw the engine off the main line of rails,
and liberated itself from the engine and also the
trucks. The engine dashed into a low embankment
on the right of the line, and three trucks, filled with
passengers, came crushing upon the exposed side of
the tender. All three trucks had broken loose, but
the other 15 remained coupled.:
So soon as the noise of the concussion was over,
the screams of terror by the comparatively unin-
jured were silenced by a voice of authority calling
upon them to escape, for the boiler, which was then
hissing in the embankment, would blow up. Ter-
ror seized every surviving passenger, and in the
shortest possible time all who were able away from
the place of danger in allrconceivable haste, till only
four servants of the line were left at the wreck.
Quickly, however, the threatened danger from the
engine ;boiler was removed, and the farmers and
their servants, with the villagers, came to the spot.
Horses were unharnessed from their work in the
corn fields, and men rode upon them hither and
thither to procure surgeons to dress the
wounds of the injured, and suitable vehicles
to carry' the sufferers to the nearest inn
or to their homes. The nearest inn was the Glen
Inn, half a mile away. To that place the chief sur-
viving sufferers were taken, and the dead were
carried to a shed at the station. Here three women
and two men were laid out variously mutilated,
some of them so shockingly that identification was
a matter of difficulty even by their relations.
The dead were proved to be Mary Jones, of Pen-
rhyndettdraeth, middle-aged ; Janet Philips, of the
same place, aged about 60 ; Catherine Parry, of
the Panrhyn Arms, also of the same place, aged
about 30 ; Humphrey Griffith, recently of Carnar-
von, but now of the place above named, aged
23 ; and Mr. Williams, builder, of Ffestinog. Three
of the deceased were buried under one truck. The
'position of Miss Parry was such as led to the dis-
play of much ingenuity to liberate her corpse with-
out further mutilation.
Messrs. Savin are behaving most kindly,towards
the sufferers and the survivors of the dead. The
funerals they have desired may be conducted at
their cost, and according to the wishes of the
mourners ; and the best available surgical aid is
being afforded to the wounded.
Mr. Hughes, of Pwllheli, the coroner for the
Southern Division of Carnarvonshire, opened the
inquest at the place of the accident, and, after the
bodies had been identified, adjourned the inquiry
till Tuesday.

MISS BRADDON'S LITERARY ACTIVITY—tO Eay
nothing of her genius and of her consequent popu-
larity—must be allo wed on all hands to be something
extraordinary. Besides " The Trail of the Serpent" (her
first work of fiction) recently republished and already re-
viewed by ourselves, there are two other earlier novels
from the same hand, the republication of which in
a similar manner may be shortly anticipated—one
of them entitled "Lady Lisle," the other "The
Captain of the Vulture." Already, therefore, the
mere titles of her .works make a goodly catalogue.
Numbering them up even now we have Lady Audley's
Secret, Aurora Floyd, Henry Dunbar, Only a Clod, Tho
Doctor's Wife, Tho Lady's Mile, Sir Jasper's Tenant, John
Marchmont's Legacy, and the Trail of the Serpent, together
with the forthcoming reprint of Lady Lisle and the Captain
of the Vulture—eleven distinct romances in all, being
equivalent to three-and-thirty volumes octavo, works
obviously produced with wonderful rapidity, seeing that
it was only the other day, so to speak, that Miss
Braddon began her career as a novelist. Another
story moreover from the same hand—the twelfth in this
swift series—a tale bearing the suggestive title of "Birds
of Prey" will, as our readers were apprized by-the-way on
Saturday—inaugurate next month the opening number
of Miss Braddon's newly-announced shilling, illustrated,
monthly, magazine, The Belgravia.
Mr. Charles Dickens's arrangements with Mr.
Arthur Chappell, it is understood, are now definitively
completed. A series of readings will be given, which
will include at least six at St. James's Hall, where the
first (probably " The Christmas Carol ") will be given on
"Boxing Night."
THE ALEXANDER PARK SCHEME REDIVIVUS.—
Two thousand men, wo aro surprised to bear, are now
employed on the building and grounds of the Alexandra
Park and Palace, the project, after all, not having been
abandoned. The park will be laid out, it is understood,
by Mr. McKenzie.
• The author of " George Geith," Mrs. Charlotte
Riddell, we regret to learn, has been, through severe
ill-
ness, forbidden all literary labour, but already, thanks to
a careful observance of this prohibition, is said to bo slowly
recovering. .

THE LICENSED VICTUALLERS' CRICKET MATCII
AND GALA.—This affair was looked forwtrd to with much
interest, especially by the friends of the two charities—the
Licensed Victuallers' Asylum and the School-- and it was
for the purpose of aiding the funds of the latter that the
gathering took place on on Friday on the Surrey Ground,
Kennington-oval. The weather proved fair, a slight
shower only occurring.

MARKETS.---This Day.

POLICE INTELLIG: IINCE.—This Day.

BOW-ST) MET.

MODERATION AND FORBEARA NCB OF THE POLICE. —James
Padden, a solicitor's clerk, -vrus brought bef ore 31r
Vaughan, charged with assaulting polico-constables,
Clements, 68 A, and Bagley, 519 A.
Clement stated that on Saturday night he and Bagley
were retiring from the Princesg's Theatre, where they had
been on duty, when, as they pal ;sed through Whitehall the
prisoner came upon them fromt behind, and rushed between
them, shoving witness against. ;the wall, and Bagley upon
the kerb. They told him not; to do that but to go on
quietly, or they should have te• :take him in custody. He.
passed on to the corner of King-a reet, on arriving at which
point they found him waiting for them, and they again
remonstrated with him, requesting him to let them alone
and go away. He then followed thorn to the door of the
station-house, when he struck witno,3B in the face, knock-
ing off his bat, and inflicting a slight -wound over the eye.
Bagley came to his assistance, and was also struck by the
prisoner.
Mr. Vaughan—Had you said nothing to him before he
pushed against you the first time ?
Witness—Nothing. We did not see him coming. We
had never seen him before. _ _ .

The Prisoner —They said if they got me in the dark
they would give it me. They struck me in tho face.

Mr. Vaughan—Which of them?
The Prisoner—One of them; I don't know which.
Mr. Vaughan—ls there any truth in that ?
Witness—Nothing in the world. We gave him all the
kindness in the world. We gave him all the kindness in
the world, and tried to persuade him to go away.
Bagley corroborated the statement of his brother con-
stable. The prisoner was the worse for liquor, but not
very drunk.
The prisoner said the officers pushed against him first,
and one of them struck him and cut his lip.
Mr. Vaughan said it was quite clear that this was not
true. On the contrary, the police appeared to have
acted with great toleration and forbearance. He must pay
ss. for each assault, making 10s., or be imprisoned for seven
days.