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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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"To the point in question we may , therefore , look for farther and positive intelligence of Sir John Franklin , and we trust that a vessel specially directed thither will be forthwith despatched . The point lies entirely out of the beat of any of those now employed upon the search , and will most likely not be approached by any of them ; for although Sir John Franklin , being upon an exploring expedition , might detach a boat-party out of his direct course , those gone to seek him would naturally confine their search for traces of him to the route he was ordered to pursue , and thus necessarily be ignorant of the existence of those of which we write . "
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RAILWAY ACCIDENTS . As the « even o ' clock train from Macclesfield emerged from the Harecastle tunnel , the stoker found that he " had lost his mate ; " in other words , the engine-driver was missing . The train was stopped , and Mr . Cooper , the superintendent of the coaching department , who was in the train , went at once into the tunnel with lights to look for the driver . About half way through they found him lying against the wall , dreadfully mangled , but still alive : his left thigh was severed from his body , and his right foot and the back of his head were fractured . Surfical aid was as promptly rendered as possible ; but e died shortly afterwards . The stoker said , on the inquest , that the driver was perfectly sober . It is conjectured that he had advanced to the opening betwixt the engine and tender , and so slipped down upon the rails . The jury returned a verdict of «« Accidental death . " The dreadful tragedy on the railway from Brighton to Lewes , it is now clearly proved , was caused by a sleeper which lay across one of the rails on the down line ; but whether the sleeper fell there accidentally , or was maliciously placed there by some one , has not vet been ascertained .
The train consisted of the engine and tender , one first , two second , and one third class carriages . The name of the engine driver was Samuel Jackson , and the name of the stoker , George Chase . It is important to observe that the engine had not been reversed since its last journey , and was proceeding tender foremost down a pretty steep incline ; therefore , though going at a moderate pace , with the steam shut off , when the tender came in contact with the sleeper , two miles beyond the Falmer station , instead of crushing or throwing it off the rail , the tender itself was jerked off , and the whole train followed it . A cloud of chalky dust arose as the train ran across
the rails , continuing its course for thirty yards , until it dashed into the parapet of a bridge , and breaking its way through , literally leapt off into the road , thirty feet below , dragging after it an empty second-class carriage , and a third-class carriage containing four pasiengers . The first-class carriage and the guard ' s Yan remained on the line . The crash of the falling Engine and carriage * was tremendous ; and , to add to the terror of the moment , the escaping steam enveloped the wreck in a dense cloud . For some momenta after the crash nothing could be clearly seen , nor anything heard except the screams of the wounded engine driver . When the steam cleared away four dead bodies were found amid the ruins—Mrs . Chatfield , her daughter , a young man named Langhorne , and George Chase , the
Ktoker , who fell under the engine and was smashed . Samuel Jackson , the engine driver , had his legs crushed , and has since died . In the third-class carriage there were four passengers , and how one escaped was unknown until the inquest . His name was Samuel Parsey . After passing Falmer station he found " dust and stuff coming into the carriage" ; he felt a jerk , and laid dow n at the bottom of the carriage directly . He went over with the carriage , which was " broke about a good deal in going over , " but saved himself from falling out by " laying under the seat . " The carriage " stood right on one end when it stopped , " and Samuel Parsey " scrambled out on to the embankment . " The guard jumped down as soon as the cnrriage stopped , and sent men on with flags up and down the line to warn any coming train . The guard said , at the inquest on Saturday at Lewes : —
" When I had sent the man towards Falmer he started a-running , and he took up a sleeper and threw it on one Bide . Directly I saw it I said , ' That was the sleeper that threw us oil the line . ' He took it from opposite two more that were lying on the side . I saw one end of it was lying on the metal when he took it up . The fragments were splintered and scattered about . The sleeper was taken off the north line of rail ; the other end was on the other two sleepers . I cannot Bay whether any one placed it there purposely , but I cannot see how it got there unless it were placed there purposely . We passed who work thfline
two men , after pausing Falmer , on c . That waa , perhaps . 300 yards from where the accident occurred . 1 saw one man on the bank about . 200 or . 100 yards from the bridge . I never saw children playing with sleepers . I snw no one but those three men near the spot . The man I saw on the bank is in the service off the contractor for the lines . I did not observe the sleeper across the rail * aa the train approached . I should trunk the iron guard would have taken this sleeper off the line if the engine had been firBt . If the sleeper had been on both raila the tender might have crushed it ; but as it was only on one rail , it tonsed the tender off . " Coroner : la it an auffc to have the lender first as the engine ?
" ^ Witness : Yes ; If there's nothing on the rail . ( A Mr . Charles Shaw , the first-class passenger , also saw the sleeper on the rails after the accident . One of the three men mentioned in the guard ' s evidence said that they had not been " disturbing the sleepers at all , nor putting down any fresh ballast ; " that they were at work half a mile from the sleepers ; and that the sleeper , when he picked it up , was " near the rail , not over it . " A goods train had -passed down before the passenger train : it contained only flour and bricks , but no sleepers . How , then , came the sleeper there ? The question at present cannot be satisfactorily answered .
The only suspicion fell on a boy , ten years' old , the son of a labourer who lived near the bridge . His mother , Mrs . Hannah Boakes , was examined on the inquest . She said her son kept " going to and fro " all the morning . He was in the house about half an hour before the accident . She asked him to go on an errand to Ashcombe ; but he said he * ' must go and see the train , " and he went out . Soon after he ran in and said , "Oh ! mother , the train has fell over ; what shall we do ? " A very natural exclamation . The boy was called in , and questions were put to him ; but nothing could be obtained from him but tears . The jury thought he ought not to be examined .
The evidence of Mr . Balchin , the station-master at Brighton , was very important , as illustrating the working arrangements of the line , and establishing the fact that it was common to send the tender first in the short trains ; a proceeding which is very dangerous , as this fearful accident has proved . " The engine of the 11 . 15 train preceded the tender . The tender of the train to which the accident happened went before the engine . We usually run the engine
first or the tender first of these short trains , as it happens . This has always been done on the Lewes and Brighton line , the Shoreham line , and the main line too , with the short trains . In many places there are no turntables to turn them on . I believe there is no by-law on the subject . Tnever apprehended danger from running the tender first . In heavy trains , and through-trains upon the main line we always run the engine first , but for short distances and light trains we sometimes run the tender first .
" A Juror : Do you consider it immaterial , then , whether the tender is first or the engine ? " Witness : I consider the engine beat first . There are the means of turning the engine both at Brighton and Lewes ; there is a turn-table at both places . The engine and tender in question came into Brighton from Hay ward's-heath as near twelve o ' clock as can be . The engine could not have been reversed in time for this train to Lewes . " A Juror : How long does it take to reverse an engine ? " Witness : About 10 to 12 minutes to do the whole of it . It is turned by hand , you see . The time for starting the Lewes train is 12 . 5 , and the train from Hayward'sheath was due at 6 minutes before 12 .
"A Juror : Then if you are a little late you do not take the trouble of turning , although you have a turntable at Brighton ? " Witness : If I had had a little time I should not have turned this , most probably . " By the Coroner : There is an iron guard in front of the wheel of the engine . " A juror asked the witness if it did not occur to him that the object of putting thi 8 guard in front of the engine was frustrated by sending the tender first ? " Witness : Of course I knew that ; bat the guard of the engine is of more use in snowy weather than anything . "By Mr . Clark : There is no guard to the tender . The guard is two or three inches from the rails .
" If a sleeper had been lying across the rails , would not the guard of the engine have removed it ? " Witness : It might . " Supposing one end of the sleeper had been lying across the line , would not the guard have been more likely to remove it ? " Witness : I do not know that it would . I would rather , if I had been on the engine , have had a sleeper on both lines than only on one : the engine would have been
more likely to have jumped over . I he engine would probably have crushed it . The second-class curriage had no passengers in it ; it answered the purpose of a luggage van , and was kept locked . 1 have been station-master at Brighton four years , and during that time it has been the custom to run the tender first or the engine first us these short trains come in or go out . I have no power to alter that arrangement ; it would reBt with the directors . The tender is heavy enough to run first . "
The inquest was adjourned until yesterday . Captain Laffun , Government Inspector , was present during a portion of the inquiry . The accident near Ormskirk was caused by neglect . Ah a train of ballast waggons , employed to convey earth between Buracough and Itufford , was proceeding at a moderate pace , the axle of one of the waggoim broke , which threw it on its side , and the weight of the waggons behind smashed those in front . One man was killed , another wounded mortally , and Heverul wounded seriously . Thn ruins of the Hmnnh encumbered the line . Two trains , one up find the other down , were nhortly due ; but were each stopped by » igiinlB . On examination it wna found thut tlwj uxlc had long been In a crucked atute .
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THE EXPOSITION . As the Queen visited the Exposition on the morning of Saturday , the public were not admitted until 12 o ' clock . From the attractions of Chiswick or the doubtful appearance of the weather , or from some other cause , there was an unusually small influx of visitors . The numbers were only 12 , 986 , and the receipts , notwithstanding the 5 s . ad mission charge , fell to £ 1560 10 a . Nothing of any interest occurred during the day , except the accidental explosion of one of Phillips ' s patent fire unnihilators in the eastern division of the building . How it went off no one can tell ; buthadit taken place on Monday , instead of on Saturday , great alarm , and even serious consequences , might have resulted , for from the immense mass of vapour evolved everybody would conclude that a fire had broken out . As it was , beyond the first start no harm was done . The fire annihilator being itself considered a fire , vigorous attempts were ma ^ c to extinguish it with water . The Russian collection w the point of attraction during the day . It consists of superb malachite ornaments , a magnificent silver candelabrum , a very rare and splendid collection of diamonds and other jewels from St . Petersburg , the chief feature of which is a casket of ebony , contributed by the Emperor , and ornamented on the sides and lid by precious stones , executed in relief , and representing with marvellous fidelity a variety of fruits . An immense cluster of grapes is typified by amethysts , bunches of cherries and currants by cornelians , and leaves by jasper , beautifully shaded . Then there are pears of agate and plums of onyx ; but we will not attempt the description of a work of art , unique in its character .
Mr . A . J . B . Hope , M . P ., exhibits in the Holland department of the Exhibition a collection of precious stones . Besides J . he largest pearl in the world , Mr . Hope displays a number of most valuable stones , including opals of great size , a sapphire once the property of Philippe Egalite , and to which a literary interest attaches in connection with the name of Madame de Genlis ; a . splendid aquamarine which formed the hilt to the favourite weapon of Murat , " the handsome swordsman "; a cat ' s-eye taken from the King of Kandy , a jacinth ring once the property of Gregory VIII ., and a very interesting collection of pearls , placed in the oyster shells in which they were found .
The excursion trains on Monday brought great numbers to town . A considerable crowd had collected around the [ south entrance at ten o ' clock , and some crushing took place , which , however , speedily subsided . The total amount received was £ 2438 6 s ., of which £ 2 2 s . was for a season ticket . A very great portion of the visitors consisted . provincials . At no part of the day was the Exposition inconveniently crowded . The cold wet weather of the week has operated against any alarming influx of visitors . The amount taken at the doors on Tuesday , was £ 2272 28 . ; and by the police returns 49 , 697 persons entered the building .
The number amounted to 55 , 250 on Wednesday ; and on Thursday to 48 , 318 persons visited the building , and £ 2233 7 s . was the amount taken at the doors . The Queen and Prince Albert were there in the morning shortly after nine o ' clock , and remained till half-past ten . Nearly eight hundred agricultural labourers and . country folk , from the neighbourhood of Godstone , in Surrey , headed by the clergymen of the parishes to which they respectively belonged , and organized for the occasion into companies like a regiment of militia , visited the Exposition . The men wore their smartest smock frocks , the women their best Sunday dresses , and more perfect specimens of rustic attire , rustic faces , and rustic manners , could hardly be produced from any part of England . The Bulletin de Paris says : — " M . Thiers has returned to Paris from London , full of admiration for the wonders at the Exhibition , of which , he says , none of the writers in the French journals have succeeded in giving anything like an adequate idea of its grandeur and magnificence . He spent nine days there , amongst the most eminent manufacturers and professional men , who , pleased to met-t with so superior an intellect , gladly gave him dVery explanation . M . Thiers asserts that there can be no dispute as to the high position France holds at the Exhibition , especially in her silk manufactures . He was struck with the fact that France is pre-eminent in all the articles of luxury , which none but the wealthiest can buy ; whereas England excels in the productions usually consumed by the middle and poorer classes . Thus democratic France works for the rich , and aristocratic England works for the poor . Since his return , M . Thiers has frequently expresHed to hin friends his admiration of the Exhibition , and he expatiates on the importance of thin great page of industrial history as a means of showing the progress of civilization , and giving it a fresh impulse . "
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Jraa 14 , 1851 . ] fEj ) $ & * £ & $ ?» 553
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B O I I , E K K X V T . O S I O N . A boiler cxnloded on Saturday at the- Starve-all Colliery , King ' s wood , Gloucestershire , killing three men and wounding fifteen severely , if not futully . It had been decided that a new boiler should be put up on Whit-Monday . Mr . Brain , the proprietor , hud u narrow escape—hin hat wan knocked oil " , h < - wub thrown to the ground senseless , and hi « right hand was injured . Mr . Bruin Htutes that the engine at the colliery hud completed its work—thut he had ordered a man to shut down the engine , and had neat the «"' « to another pit to K o up , when his bailifl " requested him to wait « . few minutes , and lie would send a nieBWMigcr to the men to come up , and bo prevent the nun from having to go a distance of three quarters of a mile underground ; and there weru twentylive men and hoys altogether present when the boiler exploded . The cxplonion it * supposed to be owing to an accumulation of Htcam while the engine wus utanding HtilJ .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 14, 1851, page 553, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1887/page/5/
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