The Sun.
London, England, 1866-05-01 00:00:00

Naval and Military intelligence.

Vice-Admiral Lord C. Paget, C. 8., went down
to Woolwich on Saturday, accompanied by his
Flag-Lieut. the Hon. Victor A. Montague (late
of her Majesty's screw corvette Racoon), and Pay-
master Shanks, his lordship's secretary, and hoisted
his flag white at the fore, on his appointment as
Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean.

Capt. George W. Towsey, commanding the flag
ship Fisgard, at Woolwich, yesterday resigned his
command on promotion, and was succeeded by
Commander John Jackson. Previously to taking
his departure a deputation of warrant officers at-
tached to the yard read a memorial to Capt. Tow-
sey, congratulating him on his promotion, and ex-
pressing their regret at his departure.

Her Majesty's steam troopship Fox, Commander
Moriarty, was yesterday taken into basin at Wool-
wich to be docked and to undergo general repairs.
Her detention in dock will extend over a period of
three months, which will give Commander Moriarty
an opportunity of resuming, without inconvenience
to the service, his former position on board the
Great Eastern in superintending the paying out the
new Atlantic telegraph cable between this country
and America, now about to be recommenced. The
Fox is ordered to be undocked on the 11th of Aug.
next.

Her Majesty's ship Vestal has made a trial trip
outsije Pembroke harbour. Her engines worked
very satisfactorily and the maximum speed attained
by the vessel was 13} knots—the engines,which are
of 300-horse power, were manufactured by Mauds-
lay and Co., London.
Private letters received by our Portsmouth cor-
respondent from Valparaiso, dated the 15th of
March last, mention the presence there, with the
United States squadron, of the two turret ship
Monadnock, and state that she made an excellent
voyage out there, requiring no aid from any of her
consorts during the whole time. She encountered
the gales met with as well as the best behaved
ship of the squadron. Her turrets each carry two
15-inch guns, and her sides, as she lay in Valpa-
raiso Bay, were but 15 inches out of the water.
She had attracted very great attention on the sta-
tion, and the general opinion of naval men who had
visited her was that, independent of the good sea-
going qualities which she had been found to possess,
it was a great credit to the American marine to con-
duct so successfully a vessel of the kind on so long
a voyage. _ _ _

Ca J. Anderson, C. 8., 4th brigade Royal Ar-
tillery, took his departure fromWoolwich on Satur-
day for Leith Fort, and will enter on the command
of the Royal Artillery forces in North Britain this
morning.
The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—Robt. Harwood, second master
to the Mullet; Dr. A. Turnbull, assist.-surg, to the
Plymouth Hospital; G. J. Roberts, assist.-paymas-
ter in charge to the Mullet; and IL W. Minty,
assist. clerk, to the Mullet.

Frightful Accident on the Brighton Railway

----~--

A frightful accident took place last night at a
quarter to 10 on the London, Brighton, and South
Coast Railway, near the Caterham Junction. A
train due in London at a quarter to 10 left the
Brighton station at 8. It took up several carriages
from Hastings, and then consisted of from 15 to
20 carriages. Up to a short distance from Cater-
ham Junction nothing occurred to cause alarm. At
that point, however, some waggons laden with
chalk were upon the main line, and the approaching
train came into-collision with them. The engine
ran over an embankment, which is from 40ft. to
50ft. deep, but, fortunately, the coupling irons gave
way, and it became detached from the rest of the
train, and rolled to the bottom. The first carriage
was left tilted up edgeways on the top of the em-
bankment and remained there. Several others were
thrown off the line, and many of them were much
smashed.
injured.limsh ed ()Ante
fifirst-class
was carriageconus confusion. n. was
a Tcompletely
-
gem who were uninjured escaped from the carriages
in which they had been, but had the greatest diffi-
culty, in consequence of the darkness, in ascertain-
ing what had happened. The groans of persons who
had been injured were heard, but the places where
they were could not be ascertained. Lights, how-
ever, were soon procured from the carriages, and
then it was found that a very serious accident had
happened. Intelligence was at once sent to Cater-
ham to the officers of the company at that station,
and they, with some navvies, soon came upon the
spot. After their arrival the first sight that pre-
sented itself was a well-dressed man, apparently
dying, with his leg under the wheels of a carriage
and his head covered with blood. He was groan-
ing heavily. Loose rails were got and employed as
levers to raise the carriage, and the injured man
was lifted and removed insensible by the officers
of the company. The carriage which bad been so
completely broken was examined, and a lady was
found underneath the back, which had fallen in, and
over which lay the whole of the side of the three com-
partments. The slide was first removed, and then a
number of hands assisted in lifted the back. Under
it a voice was heard, but for a long while nothing
could be seen to indicate that any one was there.
Under a confused heap of broken fragments of the
carriage the lady was at length found and extricated.
Mr. Nottage, of Tulse-hill, who was a passenger in
the train, assisted her in getting from the place in
which she had been buried. It was found, much to
the surprise of all, that she was entirely uninjured.
Mr. Nottage assisted her in crossing the line, and
in descending the embankment to a place of safety.
Under a second-class carriage the body of a woman
was found completely crushed. The engine driver
was buried under the engine, and was also killed on
the spot. A large number of persons were found
wounded and insensible in the carriages, and were
removed to the house of Mrs. Jackson, at a short
distance from the line, where all the beds were given
up for the accoininudation of the wounded. It was
stated that the house was quite full, but in the con-
fusion it could not be ascertained what the number
accommodated was. There were some persons very
seriously wounded, and it is to be feared that many
have received fatal internal injuries. There were no
medical men present, but it was expected they would
soon be on the spot. Two ladies, who had received
such serious injuries to the head that they were
nearly insensible, came on by the train that arrived
at London-bridge a little after 1 o'clock. There were
several other passengers who had received serious
contusions, some of whom had to be assisted to their
homes.

Among those who were in the train, and who have
escaped uninjured were Mr. W. 11. Collingridge and
Mrs. Collingridge, Mrs. Sanders, Miss Harding, and
Mr. Lee, of Highbury. Of course there were many
others whose names were not ascertained. A pas-
senger who was in the train states that the chalk
waggons, which were the cause of the accident,
were scattered by the collision in a most extraordi-
nary manner. As already stated, the engine of
the train was severed from the carriages and fell
over the embankment. The first carriage was
thrown off the line and made to overhang the bank.
The second carriage in which he sat was thrown
right across the lite and tilted up against the first
one. Ile had just fallen asleep when the collision