The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-08 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 8, 1861.

THE FATAL A CC TDENT ON THE SOUTH
WESTERN RAILWAY.

CORONER'S INQUEST—(THIS DAY.)
The adjourned inquest, on the body of Dr. W. Baly,
was resumed this morning at the White Hart Tavern,
Merton, before Mr. W. Carter, coroner for East Surrey.
Mr. Jones, instructed by Mr. St. Clair Bedford, attended
on the part of the relatives of the deceased gentleman.
Mr. Turner (of the firm of Turner, Sole, and Turner), to
watch the case on behalf of his brother, Mr. Turner, who
was lying at the Mansell Arms, Wimbledon, very seriously
injured.

981 Captain Mangles, chairman of the Beard of Directors of
the South-Western Railway, Sergeant Gazelee, and a
number of the officials of the railway were also present.
Mr. Johnson, of the firm of Bircham and Johnson,
attended as counsel for the South-Western hallway
45 Company.

The jury having answered to their names,
Mr. Jones addressed the coroner, sitting down, and in so
locy and confidential a tone as to be perfectly inaudible to
the reporters, who were situated only a few feet from
him.

After some further conversation, which was carried on
in the same indistinct manner,

William Martin was called. He said—l am in the ser
Tice of the Sonth-Western Railway Company as points-
man. I have been so engaged nearly two years. I have
been employed at the Epsom Junction during the whole
time. My duties were to attend to the shifting of the
points connecting the branch line with the main line. On
last Monday I was on duty as usual. There is a train due
there at five o'clock p.m.
The witness Holler said at 5, 5.10, and 5.15.
Coroner told him he had already given his evidence, and
he must not interrupt the witness.

Witness continued—The five o'clock train passed Epsom
at 5.18. The next train I expected was the 5.30. It was
the Portsmouth direct, leaving Waterloo at 5.10. One
train from the branch line passed up between these two. I
noticed the 5.10 train approaching. It was about 800
yards off when I first saw it. At that time I had no sig-
nal on. That would be the " all right" signal to the driver
of the train. At that time the points were in the right
position. They were open for the main line. Nothing struck
my attention as unusual with the train I saw approaching.
I held up the white light—the all-right signal. I was then
standing against the points of the branch line close to my
box. George Dickson was with me at the time. He is
not connected with the South-Western Company. I
noticed the clock particularly when the train passed. It
was 5.31. That is punctual to time. I cannot tell at what
rate the train was coming.
Coroner—Well, about what rate ?
Witness—l cannot tell, but to the best of my judgment
I should say about 35 miles an hour.
Coroner—Did Dickson make any observation to you as

the train passed ?
Witness—No. The whole of the train passed. It was
on the down main line. When the train arrived at the
points I can't say whether it was the engine or tender, but
some portion of the front part of the train struck the points.
Coroner—How do you know that ?
Witness—By a sudden jerk I felt the blow by having hold
of the lever connected with the points.

Coroner--Are you positive about the state of the points
at that moment ?

Witness—Yes, the points were fully open, leaving the
main line free and clear. I noticed after that that an acci-
dent occurred. I could not see as it was getting dark. I
could not tell what it was, but I knew something was
wrong. I did not leave my post. The first person I saw
coming from the train was the guard. He asked me for a
hara lamp. I gave him oae. I did not notice which way
!ie went. My attention was given to putting on the signals
to stop the traffic, both up and down. I put up the
auxiliary red signal, which is about eight hundred yards
from my box. I afterwards found that the train that had
passed me was off the line.
Mr. Jones—Was thirty-five miles the usual speed of the

;rain ?

Witness—Yes.
Mr. Jones—Not going faster than usual.

Witness—No.
Mr. Jones—ls there any regulation about shutting off
the steam after that point is passed ?
• Witness—l am not aware of any.
Mr. Jones—Were any repairs going on near the line ?
Witness—There were men at work some distance off,
near the Wimbledon station and Epsom junction.
Mr. Jones—When did you see them at work last ?
Witness—On the Saturday, and the accident occurred on
the Monday. After the accident Mr. Strutt, the superin-
tendent of the line, came down.
Mr. Jones, on the part of the company, said if there were
any witnesses or persons in the employ of the company
the coroner wished to examine, he would send for them.
He was anxious everything should be elicited connected

with the accident.
A Juror to Witness—ls it your duty to see to the points
when the 5 o'clock express train passes ?
Witness—Yes, they were all right then and before the

next train passed.
Coroner—Did you hold the lever when the 5 o'clock ex.
press train passed as you did when the train which met with
the accident passed ?
Witness—Yes.
Coroner—Did you feel any jerk then ?
Witness—No.

Coroner—Were the points in perfect order
Witness—Yes.
Mr. Jones—How far off the Epsom junction were the

repairs going on?
Witness—About 400 or 500 yards.
The Coroner—Did you notice the condition of the points
after the accident ?
Witness—Yes ; the north one was broken, but not quite
separated from the rail. It would be more proper to say
the point was bent. [The point was here produced.] The
piece of metal was broken off to allow the trains to pass
down the Epsom line. No trains passed over the line
before the point was removed. It was taken off by one of
the inspectors named Herbert.
A Juror—How many hours out of the 24 are you on duty ?
Witness—Nine hours.
Mr. Johnson—You pulled up all the danger signals after
the accident ?
Witness—Yes—the lever of the point is always held
back as a train passes. I have felt usually a alight vibration
as the trains went over, but never so violent as on the occa-
sion of the accident.
Mr. Johnson—Who is the Mr. Dickson you speak of ?
Witness—He is a farmer. His land is on both sides of
the line. I saw him approaching as the train was crossing
up, and I called out to caution him. He crossed the line
and was standing at my box when the accident occurred.
Mr. George Dickson—l am a farmer, and live at Merton.
I know the points at the junction of the Epsom and Leather-
head Railway with the South-Western. On Monday week
last I was near the junction. I went on the line from the
right hand side, just beyond the bridge, opposite the point+
man's box, Nothing particular occurred at that moment.
I was going across not with the intention of speaking to
the pointsman. I said, "It's a beautiful night ;" and he
replied, " You look out, sir, there's a train coming." I
stopped for a minute outside his box while the train passed.
I kept my eye upon the approaching train, and saw nothing
wrong. At this time the pointsman was standing close
to me. I believe he had hold of the lever. I was
rather frightened at being so near the train. After the
train, or rather the latter part of it, passed where I stood,
one of the handles of the lever broke off and flew down the
line for some distance. The pointsman then said, to the
best of my belief, " Good God ! something's happened." I
afterwards found that some of the carriages were off the
line. I remained for some hours after and rendered assist-
ance to the passengers. I saw that one of the points was
bent and standing nearly upright. I then went for-
ward, and found that Dr. Baly was under a carriage.
After 10 o'clock, I passed up the line towards Wimbledon.
I did not discover anything that might have caused the ob-
struction. I looked at the rails to see if the wheels of the
carriages had been off the line, but could not discover
whether they had been or not. I had a lamp in my
hand.

By Mr. Jones—More than half an hour elapsed before I
examined the points. There were plenty of people aboutwith
lights, but I cannot say positively who held the light for
me to see by. I will swear the point was broken, but not
separated from the rail, when I first saw it. The least thing
would have severed it.
By Mr. Johnson—l did not observe that the train was
travelling faster than usual. I have land on both sides of
the line, and I frequently cross the line. I have stood on
former occasions while the train passed, but I felt nothing
' more than on ordinary occaeions. The hautdle of the lever

first flying off attracted my attention. On examination I
discovered an indention on the sleepers, as if something had
passed over them instead of the metals. It was only for
about 20 yards upward that I could discover any marks on
the sleepers. I could only find the indention on one side
of the line. It was on the inside rail of the down line. I
should think the indention was caused by some of the
wheels going wrong. The mark on the sleepers was about
three or four inches from the metal..

• William Martin recalled, and examined as to the position
of the point after the accident, as they differed in some
respects as to how it was situated when it was examined
after the accident occurred. When I looked at the points I
saw that something had been on the sleepers. It had the
appearance of being the marks of a flange of a wheel. The
marks were inside the right rail of the down line. The.
marks were on the wood work on the bolt head, and on the
plate near the switch. I did not find anything that was
likely to have caused the wheel to go off the line.
The inquiry had not concluded when we went to press.

FRIGHTFUL EXPLOSION IT TILE
FLEET-LANE SEWER.

THREE MEN KILLED AND ONE MISSING.

This morning a fatal occurrence took place in one of the
sewers used for the drainage of part of the city of London,
whereby three unfortunate men have lost their lives, and
one other man is missing, and has, it is conjectured, been
washed away by the flow of sewage in the pipes.
From information obtained the following appear
to be the facts as far as they have transpired.
Between three and four o'clock this morning the
men proceeded as usual into the several sewers under
ground for the purpose of flushing them, the four men in
question, namely, Bryan, Daniel Horrigan, John Delaney,
and White, descending into the Fleet-lane sewer by the
entrance in Seacoal-lane, Skinner-street. At eight o'clock,
the usual time for leaving work for breakfast, the four men
not making their appearance, some anxiety was manifested,
and Thomas Folley, the foreman of the men, with seven or
eight other men, expressed their willingness and desire to
descend to look after the missing men. They accordingly
went down the same opening in Seacoal-lane, and after
proceeding some distance they discovered Bryan,
Horrigan, and Delaney lying apparently, lifeless. As soon
as possible they ascended the opening with the men, and
conveyed them at once to St. Bartholomew's Hospital,
where the bodies were seen by Mr. Woods, the house sur-
geon, who pronounced life to be quite extinct. It is sup-
posed that the unfortunate men met with their death from
an explosion of the impure gas, from the refuse being
flushed up from the upland sewers. The occurrence has
been reported to Mr. Haywood, the engineer to the City
Sewers Commission, who expressed to our reporter that it
was the more extraordinary, as the sewer in question was a
new one, and was remarkably free from stagnant vapour,
and well ventilated. A strict search is to be made for the
missing man White this afternoon.