The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-03-22 00:00:00

RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.

THE recurrence of so many frightful accidents on
Railways in various parts of the kingdom has natu-
rally created a considerable degree of excitement,
and rendered it imperative that some steps should
be taken, in order to secure, as far as possible, the
public safety. It appears to have been useless that
Coroner's Inquests have been held, and verdicts of
manslaughter returned against some unfortunate
engine-driver or policeman ; vain, likewise, was the
hope that a Railway Director falling a victim to
such a catastrophe would be the means of putting
an end to them ; for since the death of Mr. GIBBS,
on the Great Western line, they appear to have in-
creased with appalling regularity. The attention of
Parliament has been called to the subject, and
though, amidst the complaints of the House of
Lords, none of the speakers were prepared to sug-
gest an adequate remedy, some hope was afforded
that the Committee of the House of Commons,
which is now sitting on the subject, would be able
to devise some practicable plan. It is becoming evi-
dent that much of the insecurity of railway travel-
ling is owing to inefficient management, to ill-judged
parsimony in the employment of competent ser-
vants, and a system of rewarding engine drivers for
economy in fuel, by which dangerous risks are run,
in order to gain speed at the least cost of steam.
It is totally useless to attempt to ensure safety by
visiting the consequences of accident upon some
ill-paid official. In every case of accident a search-
ing investigation should be made into the circum-
stances which gave rise to it, and wherever it is
found to have been caused by the want of a suffi-
cient number of servants to perform the duty ex-
pected of them, the managing parties should be
held liable for the consequences. Railway com-
panies enjoy a monopoly of public conveyance,
and it will not do to plead the lowness of dividends
as any excuse for inadequacy of means to perform
their contract with the public; for that result has
chiefly been caused by extravagance of expenditure.
Those who travel by railway have a right to demand
that proper care be taken for their safety; and if
this is not done by the companies, it will be the
duty of the Legislature to interfere, and impose
such restrictions as will accomplish this end,—at
least, as far as is practicable by human means. 'We
are apt to vaunt our advantages in scientific skill,
and look with something like contempt upon our
continental neighbours, but we should rather feel
ashamed that in this particular, wherein we took
the lead, we are far surpassed by other nations, who
not only convey their passengers much cheaper, but
rarely give us the opportunity of recording a dread-
ful accident.

MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF A COUNTY
MAGISTRATE.

IT iS our painful duty to record the melancholy death of
RICHARD BENSON BLUNDELL HOLLINSHEAD BLUN-
DELL, Esq., of Daysbrook, West Derby, under most
distressing circumstances.

As far as we have been able to collect the particulars,
the circumstances are as follow :

On Saturday forenoon last, about ten or half-past ten
o'clock, the carriage was ordered for the purpose of con-
veying some members of the deceased gentleman's family
to Liverpool, and Mr. Blundell himself was asked to ac-
company them, but he declined to do so, and remained
about the premises. Subsequently he was seen to be
walking about the grounds, and apparently intent upon
making an inspection of some of his adjoining farms,
which was not unusual with him. On the arrival of the
family at home, from Liverpool, in the afternoon, they
found the deceased absent, but this did not came them
any surprise, and it was not until his return 1.. d been
delayed considerably beyond his usual hours, that the
family became anxious about him. After remaining in a
state of painful suspense during the whole of Saturday
evening, enquiries were made by the family at the Lime-
street and Exchange railway stations, as to whether the
deceased had left either station for the purpose of going
to the collieries at Wigan, which he was in the habit
of visiting frequently ; but it was found that he had
not proceeded by either line; and it having also been as-
certained that the deceased had not been at the coal
yard in Liverpool, on Saturday, great fears were enter-
tained for his personal safety ; and on Sunday forenoon a
diligent search was made in the neighbourhood of the
mansion at Daysbrook, as well as the surrounding district
of West Derby, when, about noon, one of the servants of
the deceased discovered a hat floating on the surface of
a pond, in a field about 300 yards distant from the de.
ceased's residence. The hat was at once secured, and on
examining the lining, the deceased's name was found
written inside. There could now be no further doubt as
to the fate which had befallen the unfortunate gentleman.
Assistance having been procured, the pond was dragged,
and about half-past one o'clock on Sunday afternoon,
the body of the deceased was discovered, and taken
out of the water, and at once conveyed to his resi-
dence at Daysbrook. The pond in which the body was
found is in a field. not connected with the deceased's es-
tate, but belonging to an adjoining property. It is
situate near what is called Finch Farm, and lies between
the deceased's residence and Yew Tree, the residence of
Lawrence Heyworth, Esq., M.P. We understand the
last time the deceased was seen by any of the domestics
at Daysbrook, was about twelve o'clock on Saturday,
when he was noticed by one of the servauta walking

along the carriage road in the direction of the spot where
his body was ultimately found.
The deceased, who wgs about 60 years of age, has left
a widow and four sons and two daughters, to lament his
untimely death. He has been for many years one of the
most extensive coal proprietors in Lancashire. He was
also a magistrate of the county, and was a gentleman
universally respected and esteemed.
The inquest upon the body will be held this morning, a
ten o'clock, at Mr. Bulmer's hotel, at West Derby.