The Sun.
London, England, 1845-08-15 00:00:00

Wan

It re;
idou
oder

AC~
I ENT ON THE LONDON AND
BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY.
ADJOURNED INQUEST.
Yesterday was resumed the inquiry into the death of Mr.
seeltade'i s Dean, before Mr. Thomas Wakley, Esq., M.P., at
Illn9range Tree Tavern, New-road, St. Pancras, near the tor-
us of the London and Birmingham Railway.
thJohn Hulse, the railway policeman, was recalled. He stated
its'!the luggage train being three-quarters el an hour behind
dos tune on the morning of the accident, it of course remained
tour than usual on the up-line. Has written instructions as
I.o„_l'e time of starting. They were delivered to him about
till:Months since. Considers Captain Bruyers, superintend-
as his master. Is subject to fines for neglect of duty.
ZS not know of any person being fined in consequence of the
that
that they would
40,,eacelilent, nor of any of the railway servants having received
i
be dismissed. Has been in his present
nation on the leeway for a year and eight months, and during
ti,
atperiod the time appointed for the starting of the luggage
stn beel; has been altered several times. Its time of departure has
22
rilimeeatdees earlier. The Liverpool Mail should have arrived at
p•ist five o'clock on the moriiing of the accident.
tirn_tsng the last three months the leggage train has some-
/ " started to its time, and sometimes it has not—the dif-
ha7foee in the time of starting varying from two minutes to
iluartearn.heu.. Has, kimen, one luggage train to leave at a
Nit., pas,. six o'clock. The time of starting was a quarter
e....erJur o'clock. That occurred some time ago. The clerks
r the time that the train starts. The time is registered
4aetiY It •
tralti , • is not his duty to make any report in case of. the
th„Dieing late, unless some accident had occurred.. Believes
e`_Lite clerks on guard make a report. The starting of the
entirely under the control o Alr. Frost, the clerk.
4: guard is bound to wait until he receives the invoice and the
ie a,' from the olerk. Mr. Frost holds the office called weigh-
,hg eietk. Mr. Frost is under the control of Mr. Mills, the
blips rintendent of the goods department. Did not see Nlr.
Nlin attendance on the morning of the accident. Has seen
ke•
in attendance on the starting of the quarter-past four
eluggage-train. He is present, perhaps, once or twice
Mef• Cannot say under whose authority Mr. Mills acts.
~
traram Bruvers does not attend at the starting of the luggage-
M% has the general control of the railway. Has seen
r•nruyers at the station as early as nine o'clock in the morn-
-15: Recollects that within the last three months the train
liossistarted later, but does nut recollect that it has once been an
shivYki a half behind the time. The proper time for the
00°.; of the Liverpool train is twenty-two minutes past five
wortiix in the morning. The engine was driven by Hums-
the • HAS known the engine to arrive as early as it did on
morning of the accident, but that was some time back.
utere
th Was no whistle to signify the arrival of the mail-train on
hi,"nink of the accident.
the "Th
AKLer —And is there no one on the spot to point out
is e ;ngtr of leaving a train on the up-line when email train
sidelrr:letted?—The witness said that there was not. He con •
Lieere„- aeeident was owing to the untimely arrival ot the
ed
jrc" mail-train. He also said he was in error when he
teen:, "e was no whistle. He heard the signal whistle in the
and the cutting, near the station. Saw the funnel of
tet!ingine a very few seconds after the whistle, but tere was
leli;fle to do anything to avoid the collision. There is no
0/0' passenger trains, but one is wrung to show the arrival
~,
thjttle or goods trains. The bell for cattle or goads is at
`=mouth of the tunnel. Witness cannot always hear when it
Ptaiu Bruvers said, he resides at 65, in the Haymarket.
general superintendent of the London and Birmingham
everl, Has no fixed time for his duties. Humswerth, the
had a book of instructions given to him. His arrival
gt 4S
N 3 early an hour is provided for by the filth article of in-
et i
lad °rig. which enjoins him to take a time table with him,
tieuregulate his speed according to . The fifth article men-
tien.34o punishment consequent upon a breach of its regula-
te., Ihe time-keeper of the train is the upper guard. The
thirt3° left Trieg at 90 minutes past four on the morning of
ftwaeeid.'nt. The strict time for starting is 21 minutes past
the The engine arrived in town at three minutes past five ;
1/44: Performing the distance in forty-three minutes. The dis-
soar: from Tring to the spot where the accident occurred is
41ti than thirty miles. The train arrived nine minutes. before
tee 41:9. The proper time allowed to run thirty miles is sixty-
illetrte'nutes, but three minutes are allowed for stoppage, so
A ~ue distance is performed in fifty-eight minutes.
14/ Juror—Has Humsworth, the driver, ever been fined for
luttithefore his time before this accident ? Witness—Yes,
IV tits
',ARLEY—Do von know this for certain? Witness-
1144eve he has, but 1 cannot say for certain that he has been
he r• WAKLEy_Was he reported to von? Witness—Yes;
Vas ten minutes before his time at Leighton, on the 24th
rep' and came into collision with the goods train. He was
ed to me on that occasion.
Vit;' IVAlugg—And you reported the fact to the Directors?
Ito tr'."--Yes ; there are directions given that in foggy weather
the 4in shall come farther than Chalk Farm-bridge, and that
iphistle shall be kept constantly going.
Ailliniworth was then called into the roam, upon which
owitr* WAKLEY said it was his intention to have called biro, as
Ala bat
ut ionseuence of the evidence just given he
nat dbo
so.n c
If he (Humsworth) wished to call any wit-
'44e; he would have an opportunity of doing so. It would be
V res or 4im
bilit to y
attached
to
IjruyAltus, the Deputy Coroner, then read over Captain
ers' to Humsworth.
the evidencer. WAKLEY—It has been shown that the proper time for
It (6'4'1-jog of the goods train was a quarter past four o'clock.
kos:1 not appear that there was anything to delay it on the
TuiOg of the accident.
•trhe witnes., here observed that he had already stated that
lisork mail contributed to delay it, as did also the fog.
I.* WAReee Do ou attribute blame to any person ?
Itness__No Y
Alp
is ohe
train . WAKLEY—Then what is there to be corrected ? Here
48 minutes behind its time, and another 19 minutes
beforeee its time, and these facts must be attributable to some
Zn• Witness—The goods train was detained by the fog,
She York mail by the delay of goods and the trouble of forming
hsat:ain• The length of the train was not so much as 350
tll,-,•• Allowing 15 feet in length for each of the 47 waggons,
I.ength would be 235 yards. The guard of the train is
111:41,to remain until he is instructed to leave by Mr. Frost.
is; signals at the Camden Town Station are a red board by
'AV and a red light at night. If the weather were foggy,
Attu 7fignal could not be seen. The policeman has no in-
et
ions to go down to the tunnel with the light when the
-.ether is fo g
sj ei_ollmavi9rtghh.anded in a statement of the time of his arrival
I:t,,rne time past, It differed slightly from the one given in
Utta,et!ast witness. He in some instances admitted a greater
le De °I. minutes before time than the foregoing statement
eseeted.
havers said, in reply to a question from the Co-
IlattF, that the enginesdrivers generally carried watches,
bopat knew the time by lung practice, and also the speed
I.g° ln•eri, they were going.
.Humswori h was never reported
44r, his premature arrivals, nor was he punished. Mr.
I‘ the superintendent of the locomotive department.
~itis!:t,s no specified amount of fine for arriving before time.
rverte a discretionary power. Witnese does not engage the
444-'s ; that falls within Mr. Berry's department, and witness
4014° eentrol whatever over it. The book of instructions is
hit t° revised and remodelled.
to cell "AXLEY then asked Mr. Frost if he had any witnesses
sts3i`• It appeared that he had the control of the train, which
to el Ibind time when it was struck. If he had any statement
tißilLe it would be listened to by the jury ; but he had a
night
sav that it might be used against him afterwards. He
h.' if he could, show that delay was unavoidable, or that it
Ai:Part of the system of the railway.
aely r' root said that great difficulties often p.esented them-
with regard to the luggage-trains, and rendered it im-
sibit
get up the train for the appointed time.
°f r' WA K LEY asked for the record of the time of starting
He luggage-train during the past month, and it was sent for.
tftbetnsworth then expressed a desire to call Wm. Finch, one
, %I/Nine-drivers of the luggage-train.
'et plain Finch was accordingly called and sworn—He stated
41intrne „wee an engine-drivers belonging to the London and
ttitt gnarls Hallway. Was present when the accident oc-
As V, and' was engaged in oiling the engine of the goods-train.
thew ve oclock witness remarked that the mail was nearly due;
bpi "al go off the line. He accordingly backed the engine ;
tkhit,was ordered back on the line to have some waggons at-
ntat,,eu- The number of engines was 67. He obeyed the
"(lg.,' and went down as far as Chalk Farm-bridge, and there
loriT• A delay of three or four minutes then occurred
.be.-
Nts ~Te Collision took place. Did not see the engine until it
tittie-;°°s on his own. Heard the whistle, but there was no
4'4,-0 get out of the way. Has known Humsworth six or
‘4osse,i/e,a,rs, and has always known him as a good driver. Had
acted he main rails about four times on the morning of the
oeint• Cannot say who should be blamed for the delay of
Reh-ggage train. It had not more waggons than usual at-
-444-* Has had as many as seventy or eighty waggons and
"gines to the luggage train. Has received no instruc-
ia with reference to nis time. The rate allowed for goods
te ihritY miles per hour. Has driven passengers. There are
`Neill tines to stop at the stations, and the engine must be
c/(:,that time.
Sheppard, a stoker, was examined—ls stoker to the
keit ° which Humsworth, the driver, was on—the Liverpool
tittti al the time of the accident. On leaving the tunnel, the
f f "all's right" was made by the policeman ; remembers
t act distinctly. The engine was going at the rate of eight
1141 Miles an hour when it struck. Could not see the red
On account of the fog. When there is anything in the
tai
ern the line, they expect a signal at the mouth of the
1s
reply
to the CORONER, Capt. Bruyers said the cost of
etigine as No. 91 would be about 1,400/.
re'trge Walker, the foreman of the locomotive department at
*se enetown, was then called, and said the value of the engine
at least 1,000/ ; the value of the tender 300/.
resits. 'summed P fter going through the main
etul k LEY up. s
dee es of the evidence, he said that there had been no evi-
tkierie to explain the cause of the premature arrival of the
to b These arrivals were explained by Captain Bruyets
‘le pa:, dangerous. The irregularity of the arrivals and
*o `ores involved serious consideration, and the only
~that eTgr Was, not that an accident had taken place, but
‘tide—eanY more accidents had not occurred. The Coroner
ni thw' to the difficulty which existed as respected the law
(!asa,l%. Case ; and observed that the parties moat in peril in this
iltiye Irk consequence of the accident, were Humsworth, the
biter' and James Frost, whose duty it was to for the lug-
knee
tone,
according to the instructions which he had. At
.the
has tvll,,e, he could not but observe upon the want of precise-
',gem ich existed as respected instructions to the servants of the
itherra,q, and the want of a system of fining the men fur being
free,. 'OO early or too late in their arrival at, or their departure
,„ the stations.
qgne jury retired at half-past three o'clock, and returned
eQuearter to five the following verdict ie... We find that the
ere d, Charles Dean, died from an injury to his left leg,
kit bY accidental collision of trains on the London and Bir.
Ngnat") Bel
te 9, way, near to Camden-town ;and that the engine
tiled belonging to the Company of that railway moved to
akkeeath of the deceased, and that its value is 1,000/., and they
Oelivea.deodand of the said engine to the extent of 1,000/. In
tales ring this verdict, the jury express their opinion that the
Cod and regulations of the London and Birmingham Railway
optv'my for the guidance of their servants have been carried
teesieeY inefficiently for some time past ; and further, the jury
sytt4rethat the area of the Camden•town station, and the
tfhrtahiles
pthuehrlieelsaaidfedty7, are too much cramped consis.
i

tiI:iItCESTER REGATTA.—The, inhabitants of the
4147: t city of Worcester have been this week enlivened by a
huts a, the attractions of which have drawn people from all
tde Qof the country to Worcester. The sailing matches on
tiVervern commenced on Tuesday, and were continued on
IPoetnesd4Y, but the ecntinued rains materially damaged the
Algy the current was stronger than desirable for the die-
rth nautical skill.
bItiADVERTISEMENT.I—DR. DE DASSEL, OF VAN
~lette4„"eB LAND, AND HOLLOWAY'S HILLS. Extract of a
!lire-i;N% John Knight, Esq., dated " Launceston,_ Ist of
filed 'B4s.—Professor Holloway,—Dear Sir, lam autho-
Asii, Y Dr. de Dassel, of this colony, to inform you that,
"lec! 7ittlessed here in several instances the extraordinary
)14, :,.Your pills, he in consequence is induced to say that you
"itthu IZ'"i use of his name as attesting their efficacy. Signed,
il4clbeetl:Tht, Carr Villa, late proprietor of the Launceston
'hero -"' These pills act upon the foundation of the
Rhea
"thus curing the most deep-rooted complaints, even
14011,very other treatment has tailed.-. Sold at Professor
tett,l-081's Establimen,
throughout the, Strandcivilised wor ; and byld all respectable
ri of tuediciue
sh
throug.

RAILWAYS and the PARLIAMENT.
The Upper House appears inclined to give heart and band
in facilitating railway legis!ation. Lord Monteagle's suggestion,
that Railway Bills should be commenced in whichever House
was ready to receive them, has been favourably received, and
will probably be acted upon. The present system is absurd.
All the Railway Bills were first submitted to the House of
Commons, and having passed that branch of the Legislature,
went to the House of Lords at such an advanced period of the
session that nothing could exceed the " quick haste" employed
to pass them all before the prorogation.
A Contemporary says :—" An improvement on that would
be to have but one Committee, composed jointly of Lords and
Commons, to sit on the Bill, and of course but one investiga-
tion. That would save much time and expense."—lt is not
likely that Parliament would agree to such an arrangement,
albeit a very desirable one.
Perhaps it may not be to late to establish three local Boards
—in London, Dublin, and Edinburgh—with power to examine
into the merits of, and necessity for, railway projects for Eng-
land, Ireland, and Scotland. This would confine Parliament
to the strictly legislative proceedings on such projects. It
would save the enormous expense of witnesses in London, and
would secure for each project more definite and full investigation
than it now possibly caa receive from Members of Parliament,
who—with all due deference be it said— generally know re:—
little about railway gauges, inclined plains, plants, traffic:,
bridges, viaducts, tunnels, embankments, and other matters of
that sort.

It is very desirable, if Parliamentary Committees are to sit
in judgment (upon railway projects, that they should examine
and decide without the intervention of lawyers. We have a
high respect for the profession, but think its members sadly out
of place when acting as the paid partisans of this or that railway
proposer or objector before a Committee. The que!ttions
which railway committees have to inquire into involve matter
of fact, and not of law. There is no occasion for the employ-
ment of counsel. The expense is enormous, and comes out of
the fund which would be better employed in making the rail-
way. If the project be rejected, the immense fees paid to
counsel come out of the pockets of those who have paid deposits
on allotted shares. _

The Commission en the gauges, now sitting, have acted
most properly in deciding not to hear legal men. To " make
the worse appear the better reason" is the duty of these gen-
tlemen, and the investigation of truth is rarely aided by them.
We venture to say that, had the Parliamentary Committees
not been obliged to hear counsel, they would have completed
their business in less time and in a more satisfactory manner.
A plain statement of the case, pro and con, and the examination
of witnesses, would have been all that was necessary. The
speeches of counsel did'hut confuse, and mystify, and darken
the minds of plain men.—Railway Express.

GREAT EMBARRASSMENT
AMONG SPECULATORS.
The totally unexpected amalgamation of the Hud-
dersfield, Halifax, and Bradford Union Railway with the
Manchester and Leeds Railway Company has had the
most extraordinary and unhappy effect on great numbers
of speculators in shares in Leeds and the neighbouring
towns. According to the fatal system which prevails so
extensively, of persons selling shares without possessing
them, on the speculation of being able to buy them at
a lower price before the time comes for their delivery, a
vast number of these shares had been sold in the market,
no less, it is said, than eighty thousand. The number
of shares originally announced in the prospectus of this
railway was only fifteen thousand, and the number
which the committee have actually to allot, according to
the agreement with the Manchester and Leeds, is only
seven thousand five hundred. As soon as the arrange-
ment with the latter Company was known, the shares
sprung up from 30s. to 10L, 12/., and even 151., partly
owing to the real value of the shares as stock of the
Manchester and Leeds Company, and partly from the
rush into the market of those .who had previously sold
shares, to obtain them for delivery. The consequence
has been the absolute inability of those who had pre-
viously sold on speculation to fulfil their bargains ; and
this inability is all but universal both among brokers and
their clients. Under these extraordinary circumstances
the members of the Leeds Stock Exchange met on
Thursday, and adopted the following resolutions :
Tbat no buyer of shares in any projected railway
where the scrip was not issued at the date of the con-
tract shall be allowed to buy in such shares against the
seller; but that the members of the Exchange be required
to do their utmost to effect a just and amicable arrange-
ment with each other of any contracts for such shares in
which they have been engaged, and be bound to abide by
the decision of the Committee of management as to the
mode of such arrangement. That no dealings be here-
after permitted in shares of which the scrip is not issued,
with the exception of such transactions as may be
entered into with the express view of promoting
the settlement of transactions now rpen." It is
believed that it will be agreed to receive about 5/.
per share, instead of the market price. In the Leeds
Association of Sharebrokers, we understand that it has
been determined to repudiate altogether the bargains in
this railway, on the alleged ground that the Committee
have not fulfilled the expectations held out in their pro-
spectus as to the number of shares to be allotted to the
public. All bargains in shares where the scrip has not
been issued being illegal, payment cannot be enforced
by law ; but we need not say what the effect of the re-
pudiation must be on the parties. In at least one other
town of the West Riding the same state of things exists
as in Leeds. The Huddersfield, Halifax, and Bradford
Union not being thought likely to succeed, the shares
were sold (or beared, in the phrase of the speculators) to
an immense extent ; and the consequences are of the
most disastrous character.—Leeds Mercury.

RAILWAY PROJECTS —THE MANCHESTER
AND SOUTHAMPTON.
Amiing the railway projects of the day none is of more
importance to the borough of Cheltenham than the projec-
ted line from Manchester to Southampton, advertised in
ourcoltimns this week. " The Manchester and Southamp-
ton," or more correctly the Cheltenham and Southampton,
is designed for a direct communication between the
increasing port of Southampton, southward, and the
manufacturing districts of the Midland Counties, north-
ward, making Cheltenham the point at which it will
unite with the Birmingham and Gloucester line. At'
whichever point of view we look at this project, whether
as one of national or local importance, whether in re-
spect of the probability of its Parliamentary success, or
the certainty of its financial success when carried into
completion, it offers advantages to the investment of
capital equal or superior to any of the lines by which the
country is intersected. Looking at the map of England
we find the only mode of transit from Southampton to
the north is by the circuitous route of the South Western
to London, and thence by the London and Birming-
ham to Manchester and Liverpool, while Cheltenham is
only reached by the doubly circuitous route of the South
Western and the Great Western. By this line a direct
communication will be made with these important inland
capitals, the line running via Marlborough, SwindOn, and
Cirencester, direct to Cheltenham, and carried thence
partly on the Birmingham and Gloucester and Grand
Junction lines to Manchester and Liverpool.
On the importance of a direct communication with
Southampton, it is only necessary to mention, that it is
the packet-station for the port of Havre, the Peninsular,
and the East and West India passenger traffic ; a ready
means of reaching which is of peculiar importance to a
fashionable inland watering-place like Cheltenham. The
port of Southampton itself is rapidly growing into im-
portance—the exports, .which ten years ago were only
sixty or seventy thousand pounds annually, have now
reached three millions, and would, in the opinion of
competent judges, immediately rise to ten millions on
the completion of a direct communication with the
source of supply ; its imports are also very considerable,
and its passenger traffic to and from foreign countries
amounts to between forty and fifty thousand annually.
It is needless to say, that a great portion of this immense
traffic would be directed through the proposed line.
To prove that this line has a certainty of being com-
pleted, it is only necessary to say, that the proprietors of
the northern lines are deeply interested in its formation;
to the Birmingham and Gloucester Company, the Grand
Junction, the Derby and Midland, the North Stafford-
shire, and other northern lines, the formation of the
Southampton extension would bring an immensely in-
creased traffic. Already we understand the applications
for shares are unprecedentedly numerous, and the only
thing wanted to ensure its success, is that amount of
local support which its own merits will commaad. At
Southampton, the scheme is looked upon as of vital con-
sequence ; an announcement is this day published
wherein the town council of the borough has passed an
unanimous vote of approval, and a requisition, with 500
' resident signatures, has been presented to the mayor, for
a public meeting, to stamp on the undertaking the sanc-
tion of public approval. The same feeling will, no
doubt, be exhibited in Cheltenham, which, as a resort for
the traveller and valetudinarian, must be especially in-
terested in procuring a ready communication with this
outport of the East and West India traffic.—Cheltenham
Examiner.

SCOTCH RAILWAYS.
The various lines lately projected to pass into and
through Ayrshire will, in all likelihood, obtain the sanc-
tion of the ensuing Parliament. The Provisional Di-
rectors of the Caledonian Extension met a deputation of
the Ayrshire and Caledonian Junction at Edinburgh. on
the 6th inst., when the former resolved to carry out, in
its integrity, their proposed line from Lanark to Ayr,
with a branch from bluirkirk to Abbington ; and con-
sidering the importance of the Ayrshire Junction, as
affording the Caledonian Extension a connexion with
Kilmarnock, the directors offered, if required, to work
that line at the lowest rates of charge, and instructed
their engineer to adapt the Caledonian Extension line,
as far as possible, both in line and levels, to the Ayrshire
Junction. The Provisional Directors of the Kilmarnock
and Ayr Direct, and of the Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and
Ardrossan lines have been in correspondence about
fixing upon a central terminus at Kilmarnock ; and
their respective engineers have been instructed, if pos-
sible, to unite both lines there with the Ayrshire and
Caledonian Junction—so that Kilmarnock, which was
despised and rejected af, the formation of the Glasgow
and Ayr line, in all probability is to become the radius
of railways in .Ayrshire. The pro jected line from Ayr
to Portpatrick is deservedly popular, and shares are ac-
cordingly at a considerable premium.

CLONMEL, AUG. 13.—(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
—I beg leave to inform you, that the weather since Saturday
evening has been very fine—this day is beautifully so. If it
continues so for ten days the wheat will be generally cutting
here, and the crop will be an abundant one. By reference to
one of my former letters, you will find that I was right as re-
prtied the quantity in the hands of factors and millers. A
field of wheat in the suburbs of this town is being cut down
this day. We never had so good a crop of barley, oats, and
potatoes.
DINNER TO THE SONS OF RURNS.—We learn from
the Inverness Co tier that the inhabitants of that city gave a
grand dinner on Wednesday week to the sons of Burns, who
are at present on a tour in the Highlands. Upwards of ninety
gentlemen sat down to dinner at the Caledonian Hotel, and
the evening was passed in the true spirit of old Highland hos-
pitality. The honoured guests were presented with the free-
dom of the city.
RUNNING MATCH ON WATERLOO-BRlDGE.—Yes-
terday morning the 120 yards' race between Warne and Til-
-1 ling came off, over the stipulated distance, on Waterloo-
bridge. The stakes were 10/. At the start Warne took the
lead, but was quickly passed by his opponent, who won easily
by one yard,