The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-12 00:00:00

ZUCHT-HAUS.

This building was principally for the reception of minor
criminals, bankrupts, and beggars. It was constructed in 1614,
but was burnt down in 1666. In 1670 it was again rebuilt-
-1842 again finds it in ashes,
THE POST-OFFICE.
This building is also among those destroyed. The Portu-
guese Jews who came to the city in 1618 were the fint who im-
proved this part of the Government administration, and were
the first who caused the establishment of the Imperial Post at
Ilamburgb.
THE BOURSE, OR EXCHANGE.
The present Bourse, as we find in the " Histoire de Ham-
bourg," was begun to be built in the same year that a comet
appeared to the inhabitants of the town : according to an old
Hatnturgh chronicler. It was constructed anew in a spot con-
tiguous to the Senate-house ; the merchants had theretofore
met in the street, and in an uncovered place, but in 1577 the
community of cloth-merchants thought fit to construct another,
better fitted for their transactions. This, in 1669, was again
enlarged, and existed as it was to be seen till within the last
week.

„_.
THE BANK.
The Bank of Hamburgh, long regarded as one of the safest
in Europe, is fortunately not among the buildings destroyed. The
merchants of the city have long derived great benefit from this
specie-bank, which was founded in 1619. Whether any bullion
has been destroyed we cannot as yet tell; but as this city has
no paper-money, the silver needed for daily use was always de-
posited in the cellars of the Bank, secured with iron-bars.
Nothing in its transactions was paid but in bullion or pure silver
and gold, and it never discounted.
Among other public buildings of note, which we have not
space more particularly to notice, is St. Peter's Church, and
the House for Orphans, and Armoury, in Admiralty-street.
The Borsenhalle or Auction -room, was over the Exchange, and
goods of every kind were daily brought there to be sold from
every quarter of the world. The hotels were richly furnished,
and fitted up for every fashionable and luxurious purpose.
The old tewn which has thus been destroyed is so inter-
sected with canals as to resemble a Dutch city ; these canals
were chiefly filled by the Elbe, but partly by the Alster, and
almost all the warehouses are close to them. The Alster forms
on the north side of the town a fine basin, chiefly used for par-
ties of pleasure. On the south side of this basin, in which the
tire appears to have made very severe ravages, was the spacious
• walk planted with trees, and called the Jungfernstieg, or Young
Ladies' Walk. Since the peace, this favourite promenade had
been continued along the west side of the basin, so as to join
the ramparts, the whole of which were laid out as a public
garden and promenade, the carriage-way being broad enough
for three carriages all round the city.
The housein which the fire is supposed to have originated was,
as our readers are aware, that of a Jew eigar-manufacturer's, a
branch of business which in Hamburgh has of late years in-
creased to an astonishing extent. A recent traveller observes,
that this habit of tobacco-smoking was universal. The whole of
the male population, boys of eight and ten years, as well as
men, are constantly armed with either a pipe or a cigar; and
even handsome, well dressed girls, are seen luxuriating with a
genuine Havannah. This practice, it has been said by the
doctors of the town, has produced, even within the memory of
man, changes in the constitution of the inhabitants; and these,
the descendants of the strong ancient Germans, have greatly
degenerated by the use of this enervating weed.
The number of Jews, of which fraternity the supposed in-
cendiary Cohen is one, who were resident in this part of the
town and Hamburgh in general. are estimated at 14,000, but
this is supposed to be double the real number. In 1824 the
bills of mortality estimated thOm at 4,000.
As the steam-boats from the mouth of the Thames, make
their passage to Hamburgh in between forty and fifty hours, and
several of these have been delayed only by contrary winds, we
may speedily expect arrivals and fuller accounts from Cuxhaven,
and the city itself. •

DREADFUL RAILROAD
ACCIDENT NEAR PARIS.

IMMENSE LOSS OF LIFE.

PARIS, MAY 9.—1 have this day to announce to )ou one of
the most frightful events that has occurred in modern times.
Yesterday was fixed for the celebration of the King's fete at
Versailles by the display (or play) of the great waterworks,
fireworks, &e. On such occasions Versailles is, I need hardly
say, crowded beyond conception by the Parisians, and by fo-
reigners resident for the time in Paris. The waterworks were
over at half-past five. An, immense number of persons im-
mediately repaired to the terminus of each line of railroad, and
took their departure for town. The train of the left bank was
unusually long ; it consisted of seventeen carriages, impelled by
three engines, and conveyed from 1,500 to 1,800 passengers.
On arriving between 11Ieudon and Bellevue the axle-tree of the
first engine broke. Tee body of it, the fire, &c., fell to the
ground. The second engine, so great was the impetus,
smashed it in pieces and passed over it, and the boiler burst,
throwing the unfortunate stoker fifty feet into the air. The
carriages arrived of course, and passed over the wreck, when
six of them were instantly set in flames by the fire ; being
newly painted, they instantly ignited. Three were totally
consumed, and three others partially, without the possibility of
escape to their unhappy inmates, who were looked up according
to the dreadful practice of such establishments.
I shall not here give any of the rumours or statements that
abound on the subject, but proceed to describe that which
came under my own' ♦iew on proceeding this day to the scene
of the accident.

On reaching the Barriere du Maine, where the principal
station lies, 1 found the place surrounded by horse and foot
Municipal Guards, and an immense crowd of spectators and
persons coming to inquire after some relative or friend, who
had not reached their homes since this event occurred. No
information, however, could be given to them there, the esta-
blishment being closed, and all the employes having been sum-
moned to the Prefecture of Police to attend the inquiry insti-
tuted by order of the Prefect, M. Gabriel Delessert. The half-
consumed remains of the clothing of some of the victims only
were left at the station ; but they were reduced to rags, and
could not serve to enable the friends or relatives of those to
whom they had belonged to identify them. Those persons were
accordingly recommended to make inquiries at the different
places where the wounded had been deposited, at Meudon,
Bellevue, Sevres, the hospital Necker, and in the steam-boats
moored along the quay d'Orsay, which had been employed in
conveying numbers to Paris during the night. Thirty-eight of
the wounded were brought to the hospital Necker, seven of
whom expired in the course of Monday.
At six o'clock this morning the mutilated remains of 32
persons, men, women, and children, were removed from the
station to the adjoining cernetry of Mont Parnasse, where I
saw them, and where they continued exposed, under a shed,
and covered with a coarse cloth, during the entire day. .But
they were so mangled and disfigured that it was imposs:ble
to
discover the vestige of human features, except in a young girl
of about eighteen years of age, the lower part of whose body
was entirely consumed. The number of the sufferers could
only be ascertained by that of the limbs or portions of limbs
found. Five others, who still retained some human shape,
and whose faces could lead to their recognition, were trans-
ported to the Morgue, where thousands of persons were drawn
up in a queue, at three o'clock, waiting to be admitted to view
the bodies. There was among them a lady, whose body was
partly burned, but whose face was intact. She was richly at•
tired, and still wore her bracelets.
The number of killed is variously estimated. Early this
morning the Prefect of Police sent a return to the Minister of
ret s stated
who
anriedtptsaotiorbepedp
the Interior, in which it was set down at forty-two. Another
esdteovthetnehrtze-dsspeuovritenn, and the parish priest of
occurrence,sSr rgimthmeewdihaotelelynaigfthetr.
adminis-
tering ifoatisa!
tering the consolation of religion to the dying and wounded,
computed the dead at no fewer than eighty. Among these are
said to be several persons of distinction, including two depu-
ties, but this I only mention on hearsay, for many who could
not procure vehicles to return to Paris, and were afraid to ven-
t are home by the right-bank railroad, slept at Versailles, and
had not returned to-day when their friends went to inquire for
them.
It is unnecessary to say that this event has produced a great
sensation in Pails. It will, however, subside sooner here than
it would elsewhere, as death by violent means has been less rare
in Paris than in other capitals ; but it must necessarily draw
the attention of the legislatures of all Europe to a subject which
has imperative claima on attention.
Several foreigners are said to have perished. Such may be
the melancholy fact, but the statement would have been more
probable had the accident occurred on the other line (by the
right bank of the Seine), as foreigners generally lodge or re-
side in the northern quarters of Paris.
It was reported on the Bourse this afternoon that two Eng.
lishmen, and the son of a wealthy American resident of the
capital, and a Deputy, named Quinette, were among the dead.
One of my neighbours, an apothecary in the Rue Favart, is
among the victims.
(Front Galignani's Messenger.)
The Rive Gauche Versailles Railway was yesterday evening
the scene of a deplorably fatal accident, by which many lives
have been lost, and a great number of persons dreadfully
maimed. This sad catastrophe took place near Meudon, the

train which experienced the accident being that which
started at half-past five o'clock from Versailles, and which,
being crowded to excess with persons returning to town from
the fete, rendered the event more calamitous than it would
have been at any ordinary period. Our informant is a gentle-
man who was a passenger by the train, and who was happily
in one of the carriages which escaped the collision. He de.
scribes the velocity with which the train was proceeding some
minutes previous to the accident as extreme, so great as to have
suggested in his mind the idea that the slightest obstacle on
the road encountered by the wheels of the engine at such a mo-
ment as dangerous to excess. The thought had scarcely oc-
curred to him, when a frightful shock to the entire train, a
fearful crash, mingled with horrible shrieks from all the car-
riages in advance of that in which he sat, showed that some
dreadful accident had occurred, but the doors of the carriages
being locked at the exterior, it was not till our informant and
the other passengers in the carriage, and in those which were
placed behind it, were able to make their egress by the win,
placed behind it, were able to make their egress by the win-
dows, that the frightful extent of the accident they had so pro-
videntially escaped became known to them. The scene which
presented itself was truly appalling. It appeared that the
engine had by some fatality got off the line and ran up against
the embankment, when, from the alarming 'rapidity with
which the heavily-laden train was then running, six or seven
of the cat riages were literally dashed to pieces, and were
lying in a mass of fragments piled upon the engine.
Numbers of the outside passengers had been thrown off
by the shock, but of the unhappy sufferers who had taken
their places in the interior, and who still survived, the fate
was even more dreadful than those who had been killed,
for to make the calamity still more horrible, the tire of the
engine almost instantly extended to the broken mass which
was above it, and several of the sufferers were actually burnt
to death on the spot. Our informant describes the shrieks
of the victims ( whom it was impossible to aid, and more
particularly of two unfortunate ladies, who -were vainly call-
ing to the last for water) as inexpressibly dreadful. The agita-
tion inseperable from such a moment, and the confusion which
necessarily existed, rendered it impossible to obtain any account
of the loss of life, or other particulars relative to the sufferers,
but these will doubtless reach us in the course of the day. We
entertain a hope—a faint one—that they may show this accident
to be less dreadful in its results than we have described it,
almost from the lips of the gentleman'to whom we owe the
information. But we have rather under than over-stated his
description, and his coolness and presence of mind lead us to
fear that his narrative will be more than borne out when the
full details are made public.
( From the Siecle )
The train was returning from Versailles at half-past 5 o'clock,
impelled by three locomotives, and consisted of from 15 to 18
waggons. Between Bellevue and Meudon the first locomotive,
the Mathew Murray, a machine with four wheels, stopped
suddenly, one of its axles having broken. The second loco-
motive drove against the Mathew Murray, crushed the stoker,
and actually drove over the first engine and crushed it to pieces.
The fire of the Mathew Murray fell in a mass between the rails.
In the mean time the train, conducted by the two remain-
ing locomotives, proceeded on its course. The wind blowing
the fire against the under part of the waggoni, which had been
freshly painted, they ignited. The scene then became horrible;
the unfortunate travelers confined to the waggons, the doors
of which were locked, fell victims to the raging flames. Their
bodies were conveyed to Paris in the- course of the evening
and deposited in the waiting-room of the station-house, but
they presented a mere mass of calcined flesh and bones, de-
formed and disfigured so as to be perfectly undistinguishable.
Even their number could not be ascertained ; some were of
opinion that there were twelve, some said seven or eight. As
to the number of wounded, we were only able to learn that a
multitude remained at Meudon, many were conveyed to the
hospital Necker, and ethers were conveyed to their own re-
sidences.
One of the employes of the Company had an arm and a leg
broken. When the horrible event became known to the autho-
rities, a battalion of the line and a company of the Municipal
Guard were drawn up before the entrance of the railroad, and
the gates closed. The Prefect of Police proceeded at midnight
to Meudon to collect information relative to the cause of the
sad calamity. It is said that the boiler of one of the locomo-
tives exploded, and that the stoker, whose body has not since
been discovered, was blown sixty feet into the air. Seven
waggons were eithtr completely burned or crushed to pieces.
The number of wounded is said to be not less than 160; the
killed thirty or forty.
(From the Commerce.)
It was at the passage over the paved road, called Chemin
des Gardes, that the dreadful accident occurred. The train
was drawn by three locomotives, and the rapidity with which
they moved was such, that a few seconds before the catastrophe,
the persons who saw the train pass expressed their fears that
an accident would happen.
It is believed that the first engine in crossing the paved
road was driven off the rails, and the shock was so violent,
that the three first waggons were broken to pieces and con-
sumed by the fire of the locomotive. The column of fire was
more than 20 yards high, and consumed all the unfortunate
travellers who came within its focus.
The excess of precaution taken by the Directors to con.
fine the travellers to their carriages was fatal on this occasion.
Many of the victims would have been saved if they could only
have opened the doors of the carriages. The inhabitants of
Belleville and Meudon rendered every assistance in their power
to the unfortunate sufferers, but a sufficient supply of water
could not,he procured to extinguish the tire, which spread with
appalling rapidity, and consumed the passengers before relief
could be afforded.
All the authorities of Meudon and of Lower Sevres, to-
gether with the surgeons and physicians of the neighbouring
villages, tendered their aid. The Governor of the Castle of
3leudon, M. Antanton, a veteran, who was mutilated at Leipsic,
was unceasing in his efforts to remove the wounded, and give
them an asylum at the chateau. The avenue of Meudon was
transformed into a perfect hospital, and the view of so many
human beings disfigured, burned, or bleeding, was truly ter
rifle.

(From the National.)
On going to examine hits the cause of the accident the two
engines were found, one resting upon the other ; the tender of
one of them had been completely turned round, and in the di-
rectly opposite position ; a little on one side was a waggon over-
turned, and half burnt ; at a short distance some of the rails
were cut asunder, and others driven deep into the earth. The
noise which precededthe accident was not that of the explosion
of a btirsting boiler, nor were there any traces of violent rup-
tare in the bodies of the engines; but it was astonishing to find
that the sentry-box of °Die of the watchmen near at hand
showed all the appearance Bf having been blown up.

THE ROEHAMPTON MURDER.
The witnesses against Daniel Good, to the number of be-
tween fifty and sixty, went before the Grand Jury this morn-
ing, and a true bill for murder has been found against him. It
is arranged that the trial shall come on on Friday morning,
before Lord Denman, who will come down specially to try the
case, and the prisoner will not be called upon to plead to the
indictment until the sitting of the Court nn that day. Nume-
rous applications have been made to the Sheriffs for
admission to Lear the trial, and they have resolved,
as in the case of Courvoisier and Oxford, to issue tickets of
admission, without which no one will he allowed to enter the
Court. Although there is so great a number of witnesses, it
is expected that the trial will be got over in one day, as a great
number of those witnesses merely speak to simple facts, such as
meeting the prisoner with the supposed deceased, and also his
being in different public-houses with her, and the impression
appears to be, that there will be no occasion to adjourn the
inquiry over the first day.