Glasgow Courier. — 1854-07-22 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

RAILWAY TRIALS. (From the Meet.) Another example of the extreme inconvenience arising from the want of communication between the engine-driver and the guard of • railway tram may be found in the report of a case which was tried on Saturday last before Mr. Justice Crowder at York. Two prisoners had been sent, in the custody of • policeman named Stroudhey, by rail from Manchester to Sheffield. They were handcuffed together, and the usual precautions appear to have been taken for their safe custody. When the train arrived at • particular station one of the prisoners put his head out of the window, and ascertained the fact that no farther stoppage would occur before they got to Sheffield. No sooner was the train in motion for the last stage than the officer observed that the prisoneAl were fumbling with their handcuffs. One of them succeeded in slipping them off, and when this was done they conjointly made an attack upon the policeman, got him down, and kicked and beat him with the utmost violence. The man who had freed himself from hid handcuffs then seized the policeman by his coat, got out of the window, and endeavoured to drag him through, while his comrade from within gave him what assistance he could by pushing at the unfortunate man from behind. Suddenly the man who was outside disappeared; he had slipped from his hold, had missed his footing, or, finding that the struggle lasted longer than he had anticipated, had determined to make a bold push for an escape. Ho alighted on his feet, and, strange to say, threw a summersault over on his head without sustaining any injury. Ho leaped over a wall, and would, no doubt, have succeeded in getting away, had he not fallen into the hands of a man who was standing by at the time of this extraordinary leap, and who took him instantly into custody. But while this was going on the struggle for life and death between the officer and the prisoner in the railway carriage was still proceeding. As the train was entering the Peniston tunnel the attention of the guard was drawn to the feet that something mu amiss by a pointernan, who, as the train shot by, directed his attention to the open door of a second-class carriage. But of what avail was this? There was no handrail to the carriage. Tbe guard could not proceed to the scene of the conflict; nor could he stop the train. He had no means of attracting the attention of the driver, and so, if murder was in progress, the murder must be carried out. He could do absolutely nothing, but wait until the driver should happen to look back to tho part of the train at which ho was stationed; then he might wave a red flag as a signal of danger, and so procure the stoppage of the train. Hia only consolation was, that most dreadful screams proceeded from the carriage to which his attention had betn called, no that the worst had not yet happened. All this while the conflict between the officer arid the prisoner, in the course of which the former received some injuries of a most serious nature, proceeded. At length the train was stopped, and the guard with another person ran to the carriage from which the screams had proceeded. Here they Mend the police•officer prostrate, end the prisoner standing over him, beating him with his handcuff.. The end "of it all we., that the officer was for a long time under medical treatment, and it was considered a miracle that he escaped with his life. How can the directors and managers of railway companies answer it to themselves and to the public that their trains are allowed to run in such a manner that murder may take place in any of their carriages? The guard of the train may be aware of the fact, and yet be unable to carry any assistance to the victim. A desperate man might readily commit any crime of violence on the person of man or woman, and take • leap for his life; there in nothing to hinder him. On the continental railways, and in the United States, such • disgraceful incident as the one upon which we are remarking could not have occurred. Why will not English railroad directors condescend to employ the same mechanical means of protection as have been found effectual everywhere else, if they have not the age-salty to discover • mon effectual contrivance.