The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-11 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

Yesterday morning an order was received at
Chatham garrison, countermanding that previously
given for the embarkation of the 28th company of
Royal Engineers for Malta. The officers and men
are not expected to leave head-quarters for some
days. The 32d company of Royal Engineers is
ordered to be completed to its proper strength of
120 non-commissioned officers and men previously to
leaving Chatham for Alderney, for the purpose of
being employed in erecting the fortifications for the
defence of that island.

THE CORNWALL RAILWAY ACCIDENT

PLYMOUTH, TUESDAY.

The inquest on the bodies of Henry Briscombe,
engine driver ; David Hannaford, stoker ; and
Wiliam Hoskin, guard, who were killed by the
train running off a viaduct on the Cornwall line,
was held at St. Germans on Monday, before the
coroner of the district, Mr. Jago. The foreman of
the jury was Mr. W. H. P. Carew.
The first witness examined was Richard Padden,
the surviving guard, who stated that he had worked
the line only once previons to the accident, and that
was on the up journey. He left Plymouth on Fri-
day night by the 7.25 train for Truro, mad at the
time of starting the train was four minutes behind
time. When the train arrived at Saltash, two sta-

tions from Plymouth, three minutes had been re-
gained. The train was arranged as follows :
First the engine, next a second class carriage, in
which was William Hoskin, the head guard ; the
third was a first class carriage, to which was at-
tached another second class carriage, in which wit-
ness was seated, and.a luggage van was behind. As
the train neared Greve viaduct, the scene of the ac-
cident, and when about 100 yards from the struc-
ture, he felt a peculiar jumping: of the 'carriage,
from which he suspected that some portion of the
train had' got off the line. He instantly applied the
breaks with full force, and his carriage, together
with the van, came to a standstill on the viaduct.
He then looked out of the carriage and saw that the
engine and two carriages had gone over the viaduct.
He got out and examined the carriages on the line,
and found that he had applied the breaks with so
much force that the coupling chains had broken,
otherwise the entire train would have gone over.
The first wheels of his carriage and the hind wheels
of the vau were off the line. He immediately pro-
ceeded down the slope to the other carriages, and
found that they were immersed in seven feet water.
He waded and swam out to them, and got out
several of the occupants. In this duty he was
assisted by a waterman named Spencer, who had
run to the spot, and whose conduct was most
praiseworthy. Spencer found the guard. Wit-
ness knew that there were two or three people
injured, but not seriously. He considered the
average speed at which the train had been going
was about thirty miles an hour. A short distance
before reaching the viaduct there is a very little
incline of 1 in 80. He could not in any way
account for the engine getting off the line, and he
firmly believed the occurrence was purely acci-
dental Could not tell whether the breaks were
put on in the first carriage..
James Bate, a builder, living at Liskeard, said he
was in the first second class carriage which went
over the viaduct, and as it reached the water there
was a tremendous crash overhead, caused by the
next carriage falling on the guard's compartment,
thereby killing him, and after that all was still.
He considered he was travelling at a smart rate,
but he had travelled a great deal faster.
Wm. James said he also was in the second class
carriage which went over the viaduct. He was
asked to give his idea of the speed at which the
train was going,_ bAl9lll,tjggp,tom9nswercpuld
had ever been in a railway carriage.
Alfred Glubb, solicitor, Liskeard, and others, de-
posed to having felt an oscillation of the train on
the up journey that morning, but they could not
tell on what part of the line it occurred. Mr.
Glubb, who is accustomed to travelling, said the
rate of speed was not very fast.
Henry Spencer, waterman, said he was one of the
first on the spot, and helped to get out the guard
Hoskin. He was in his compartment, which was
under water. When he was taken out blood was
seen on his face, but he had been in the water ten
minutes, and was quite dead.
Jonathan Steed, labourer, who helped to dig out
the bodies of the guard and stoker, which were
buried underneath the engine, described the posi-
tion in which they were found. The enginedriver
lay on his back, face upwards, with his arms out-
stretched, and the stoker was face downwards, with
his head and hands close together.
Win. Stephens, inspector of permanent way, Mr.
Cockshott, the traffic superintendent, Mr. Brereton,
Mr. Brunei's chief engineer, were all called, but they
could in no way account for the accident. Mr. Cock-
shott stated that all three men were remarkably
steady.
The jury then retired to consider their verdict,
and after 20 minutes' absenco they returned a ver-
dict of "Accidental death," adding that it was
their opinion that the speed of trains coming down
an incline should be diminished, especially where
the line was new.
Mr. Brereton said that, without any reference to
the accident, the board had previously determined
to lessen the speed on the line, although at the time
it was only the same as that observed on the South
Devon line.

ALARMING COLLISION OF RAILWAY
TRAINS IN A TUNNEL.

(From the LeedsMereury.)

An accident of an alarming nature occurred on
Friday afternoon last, in the tunnel on the Lanca-
shire and Yorkshire Railway, between Bradford
and Low Moor. It appears that a few minutes after
the 3.25 passenger train left Bradford for Manches-
ter, it was followed by an empty train, whose des-
tination was Low Moor. On the latter train
reaching the Low Moor tunnel, instead of being
signalled to halt at the top until the first train had
passed through, the engine driver was allowed to
go on, and the consequence was that the empty
train ran into the Manchester train at a spot about
300 yards from the other end of the tunnel, which
is a mile in length. The Manchester train co, nsisted
of one first and two second class carriages, a van,
and the engine and tender. One of the second class
carriages was driven against the engine with such
force that the buffers were smashed, and a portion
of the front of the carriage was broken; while the
bodies of the other carriages were all dashed from
their frames. James Hoyle,the engine driver of the
passenger train, was thrown down, and the guard,
Joseph Firth, who was seated in his box at the time
of the collision, had his head forced quite through
a window. Both men, ho :laver, escaped with only
a few scratches. There were about 40 passengers in
the train. Tb ey were thrown violently against each
other, and, as may be supposed, were in a state of
great alarm, which was increased by the darkness
of the tunnel and the uncertainty as to the cause
and extent of the mischief. The engine was de-
tached from the carriage next to it by the breakage,
but the driver immediately stopped it, and the
engine of the empty train having been also stopped,
the whole train was soon brought to a stand. None
of the carriages had been thrown off the line, and
by fastening the engine to a bar of the broken_r.
car-
riage the train was taken forward to Low I
Mr. Todd, the station master at Low Moor,wana3idtitih)ge
engine driver of a Leeds train which
was
sdent had
there, had begun to suspect that
ainieac3clanchester
taken place, in consequence
pecianigunabceouotf ten behindtth eiitrsstuismpei
c,
oannsd.
ttlriaeinaib)
of the company at the
Mr. Todd and the servants
eonofthtehier
the trainminutes ver verified
r co
hc ea er dg
station assisted the passengers from the car-
riages, and found that theyephtaidonalolfsounffeergeednmueomreaz
less injury. With the exception
toaundeerthie
journey, and after a delay of about 20 minutes went
however, they wereall
forward in another train,
guard, driver, and stoker of the disabled one. The
gentleman
referred to is Mr. Maude, painter, of
His upper lip was severely cut, and his
whole frame was seriously shaken, but none of his
bones
fsowrfarmear.e broken. Some friends who werereturn-
Which came up some
lug to Bradford by a train