The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-13 00:00:00

rHE LAZE RAILROAD ACCIDENT
NEAR PARIS.

PARIS, MAY 10.—You will readily believe that nothing
was yesterday thought of or spoken about here, but the dread-
-01 accident of the preceding day on the Versailles Railroad.
To-day the newspapers are filled with it. To-morrow little
will be written, and less said or thought, respecting it, and the
whole affair, with all the projected improvements to insure
safety in railway transport, will be forgotten.
Individuals will, however, long lament the cruel loss of
parents, husbands, wives, children, relations, friends. So many
cases are already ascertained, that the number of dead will
exceed the calculation of yesterday. The details published,
and which I receive hourly, are heartrending.
Among the dead is the celebrated circumnavigator, Admiral
Dumont D'Urville. He was seen ascending the third waggon
at the station of Versailles, with his wife and son, by a servant
of the house in which he resided in Paris, who having seated
himself outside, was thrown off by tile' shock when the accident
occurred, and broke his leg. With Admiral D'Urville was an
officer of the navy, who, net finding room in the vehicle occu-
pied by his friend, placed himself in the fifth carriage, and
was fortunate enough to escape with only one arm fractured.
Since then all the researches made by his mother-in-law, and
by order of the Minister of Marine, have been fruitless, and
to-day, at noon, no accounts had been received at the Admi-
ral's house of any of the party. The Admiral, your readers
may recollect, returned last year from his second voyage round
the world, during which he discovered and explored, previously
unknown regions contiguous to the South Pole. Since his ar-
rival in Paris he had somewhat recovered, and was entirely
occupied in preparing for the press and putting in order the
materials for the history of his second expedition, when lie met
his cnhappy fate. It was on him (then a Captain of the Navy)
that the mission of conveying Charles X. from Cherbourg to
England devolved in 1830.
It was rumoured throughout yesterday that several scholars
of the Polytechnic School were among the sufferers. A simi-
lar report followed the Revolution of 1830, for the public take
'deep interest in that institution. In the present case, as in the
Revolution, one student only of that school met his death, as
you will see presently.
Many persons of distinction escaped this calamity by being
a moment too late, or by finding the train full. '1 he King's
youngest son, the Duke de Montpensier, came by it a short
distance from Versailles, and then got out. M. Chambolles
(a Deputy and editor-in-chief of the Sleek) was on the point
of entering with his three sons, when a friend offered him seats
in his carriage, which lie accepted. Mr. Henry Bulwer ar-
rived at the station before the train started, but could not
obtain a place. A son of Colonel Thorne, a wealthy American
gentleman, resident in Paris, who was yesterday said to have
been one of the victims, had attempted to obtain a place in the
train, but failed. Several other incidents of the kind are men-
tioned. I shall not, however, continue my narrative, but lay
before you extracts from all the well-informed Journals of Paris
on this most painful subject.
We have been able," says the Moniker, "to collect the
following details respecting the deplorable accident of the Bth
instant:
" The train of the left bank of the Versailles Railroad, which
left that town at half-past five o'clock, p.m., for Paris, con-
sisted of eighteen waggons—two open, three diligences, and
thirteen waggons of the second class. It was drawn by two
engines. On its reaching a short-distance beyond Bellevue,
the axle-tree of the first engine broke, and the wheels be-
coming detached from the vehicle, the latter got off the rails,
and placing itself across the toad, was thrown on its side by the
shock of the second engine. The latter, hurried along by its
own impetus and that of the train, went over the first engine,
and was followed by two open waggons, two of the second class,
and a diligence, of which latter the front part got above the
back of the carriages which preceded them.
" The shoch was dreadful; the waggons were smashed in
pieces, and agreat number of persons were killed and wounded.
This misfortune was aggravated by a still mo: e frightful cir-
cumstance. The fire of the first engine fell on the road,
that of the second was soon added to it, and the coke,
carried in the tenders, added fresh food to the fire.
The first five carriages arriving over the furnace, were
instantly ignited, and were almost entirely consumed
with awful rapidity. The succeeding waggons stopped,
and the travellers alighted from them. The consequences of
this terrible misfortune were truly deplorable. Forty-three per-
sons perished, and fifty were more or less dangerously wounded.
On the first engine was, 'independently of the ordinary engineer
and stoker, Mr. George (an Englishman), the chief engineer.
On the second, besides the engineer and stoker, was one of the
Directors of the railroad. The administration of the establish-
ment reckons among the dead Mr. George, the chief engineer ;
two other engineers, the stoker and guard ; and the Director
had his leg broken and his shoulder put out of joint.
"It was reported by mistake that two trains had come in
contact with each other. It WAS also erroneously stated that
one of the boilers had burst, but the boil•rs of both engines
remained intact. As soon as the authorities became aware of
the accident, the Prefect of Police repaired to the station of
the railway to give the first orders, and procure every assist-
ance. He afterwards proceeded to the spot, where he was
joined by M. Jalon, the King's Attorney at Versailles, and ail
great number of the physicians of the Paris hospitals, whose •
zeal on the occasion was admirable.
" Already the first cares had been bestowed to the wounded
under the direction of the authorities of Meudon. The medi-
cal men of that village and of the adjoining districts were
already engaged in dressing the wounds when the Prefect ar-
rived. The inhabitants of Aleudon had opened their houses,;
and afforded relief with an eagerness beyond all praise. The
Chateau of Meudon had been likewise converted into an hos-
pital from the onset, and the officers of the Civil List and of
the Palace vied in zeal with the rest of the population.
" The moment the King was informed of this sad event his
Majesty ordered the Chateau of Meudon to be opened for the
accommodation of the wounded, and directed that every care
should be taken of them, and that every necessary should be.
placed at their disposal. An Aide-de-Camp of the King,
dispatched in all haste to Mention, saw his Majesty's orders
rceapraried into
ired,at
six o'clock,
T to Meudon,
fenuedxotn,manoing Count
drnsaw
that
t hilsllri talit
Majesty'sve
intentions had been exactly fulfilled. The physicians who at-
tended on the 14 wounded lying in the Palace on Monday,
were of opinion that 13 were in a condition to be removed to
Paris. The other remained in Meudon under the care of one
of the resident pupils of the Hotel Dieu.

The Gener.alcommanding the Polytechnic School informs
the families of the pupils, that in the cruel occurrence of the Sth
inst. he had only to deplore the loss of the:pupil Guilland, born
at Bourgoin, department of the Isere. No other pupil was
wounded, even slightly."
The Gazette des Tribunaux says that " all the dead could
not 3et be recognized, and it will be impossible from the man-
gled and shapeless form of others to discover who they are.
Two police officers, whom the Prefect of Police had sent to
Versailles to keep order during the fete, have been cruelly mu-
tilated. One of them, M. Aubiniere, who sat in the fifth
waggon, is despaired of ; and the other, M. Amy, was dan-
gerously wounded in the leg. We have heard of a family re-
siding in tie Rue sle la Poterie, composed of eleven persons,
not one of whom has been since heard of. A Paris merchant,
who was in a waggon wdh his wife and daughter, 14 years of
age, saw the latter killed in the coupe, and his wife burnt a
little further on, having himself miraculously escaped; he has
lost all recollection of what passed. A number of other tra-
vellers appear likewise to have lost their reason front the com-
motion they experienced, and the dreadful impression of the
spectacle which they had witnessed. This morning fragments
of human bodies in a carbonised state were picked up at some
distance from the spot where the accident occurred. The
number of deaths hitherto ascertained is 73. That of the
wounded is considerable. Yesterday and to-day numerous
amputations were performed.
" We learned this morning with lively grief that two mem-
bers of the bar had fallen victims to the cruel event. M. Le-
pontois, a young lawyer, one of the secretaries of the Con-
ference, who had given the most brilliant expectations, was
seated in ono of the first waggons with his brother, his cousin,
M. Lemarie, arid his niece, fourteen years of age. At the mo-
ment of the shock the latter was thrown out of tke waggon,
and it was impossible to know whether it was the result of the
accident, or if she had been flung out by her relatives, who,
seeing the danger imminent wished to save her. Carried
senseless to a neighbouring house by a gentleman, who had
himself been thrown from the top of the waggon, she then
recovered, and told who she was. She said she was iii the
same waggon with her father, uncle, and cousin, all of whom
perished, and it was even impossible to recognize their remains
among those of the thirty. two persons deposited in the ceme-
tery of Mont Parnasse. M. Rebel, another lawyer, was in one
of the central waggons. lie was dangerously
_ wounded in the
head, but we are happy to hear that his situation inspires no
serious uneasiness. M. Rebel was received at Meador], to-
gether with several other wounded, in the country house of one
Of his colleagues, M. Walker.
Among the persons wounded are the two nephews of M.
Dahamel, a member of the Academy, and M. Aclocque,
Young engineer of the Bridge and Road Department, whose
leg was fractured. The youngest son of the Duke de Cazes,
and the Duke's two nephews, who were in the last waggons,
escaped without injury.
The National says, " One of our friends, who has just ar-
rived from Sevres, states, that at eleven o'clock on Monday
evening the adjoint of the Mayor of Sevres had ascertained 62
deaths. There were 16 wounded conveyed to the Chateau of
Meudon, of whom two are since dead. There are several
killed and wounded in the neighbouring houses. A consi-
derable number of carriages are employed to convey the
wounded to Paris, and we ourselves saw several brought by
the steam-boat Coureur. In the course of the morning a
number of fragments of human bones were collected on the
spot, together with several watches and pieces of money.
The conflagration commenced a little before six o'clock, and
was not extinguished until eleven. (inc of the rails was
broken to the extent of four or five yards. Some frightful
cases are mentioned. The chief engineer, an Englishman,
named George, having rushed into the fire to open the doors
of the waggons, was himself suffocated. At Sevres, Mettlon,
and Bellevue, persons are to be seen in a state of distraction
running and searching amongst the ashes to endeavour to dis-
cover their friends.

" The Academy of Sciences could net remain indifferent on
such an occasion. At a meeting called for the purl oae, 51.
Cordier read, in the midst of the most profound silence, the
report addressed by MM. Combos and Senarmont, tugineers
attached to the service of steam machinery in the department
of the Seine. Those gentlemen, on being apprized 01 the ac-
cident, repaired to the spot.
" The report contains the following passage relative to the
cause of the calamity The accident is due to the fatal con-
currence of circumstances, which are as many gross faults,
easy to have been foreseen and still more easy to have avoided,
so that the future prosperity of railroad companies is by no
means compromised by this sad affair. The first cause of the
accident was the employment of a locomotive with four wheels.
It is essential that every carriage intended for service on a
railroad should rest on six wheels at least, in order that if one
of the axles should break the carriage should still rest on sup-
porters, and continue its course. The second fault consists in
the employment of two locomotives for a single train. The
consequences of this arrangement are self-evident.
" • A third circumstance on which several members of the
academy strongly insist is, the precaution taken to lock the
doors of the waggons, so that in such a case as that which oc-
curred all escape was prevented, and the travellers were con-
demned to suffer all the consequences of the first accident.
Another cause, which had much influence on the catastrophe,
was the neglect to isolate the train from the locomotive, so as
to prevent tine shock occasioned by the sudden check to the speed
with which they were proceeding.
" ' It is worthy of remark, that if all those causes had not
existed together, and if only a single precaution had been taken,