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January 8, 1S53.] THE LEADER. 33
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APSLBY HOUSE—THE PRIVATE VIEW. An" annou...
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COUNT FATHOM AT Til 10 LAiU'IJC TIE POLI...
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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Railway Collision: Eight Killed! There H...
though it was £ he drty of the stoker to look back when leaving a station , to see that all was right . The policeman at the bridge a little way out of Oxford , probably from habit , appears to have changed the red for the green , or " go ov' signal . Thus the train proceeded , attaining fresh « peed as it went along , the passengers being all seconi or third class in fron £ while the empty first-class carnage was behind . About a mile out of Oxford the expected coal-train came in sight from the opposite direction , drawn by two engines , but even then the infatuated driver is said never to have shut off the steam , and the result was a frightful collision .
The consequences were instant and horrible . Of the twenty-one passengers eight were killed , five of the railway servants , at once . Two boys only escaped with whole bones and without bruises . An eye-witness describes the scene as he saw it , a few moments after the catastrophe : — " The most conspicuous object was the ragged outline of a carriage-end mounted high into the air , and clearly denned against the clear star-sprinkled sky . One engine I saw turned over into a watery ditch on the left side , and
two others lay beyond it ( for the coal-train had two engines ); one of the tenders lay right across the down line , and the water was still pouring rapidly from its cistern . In the midst of these iron ruins one of the furnaces was still fiercely burning with livid blue flame . The first two carriages were literally shattered to pieces , and the top of one of them was lying on the down fine of rails , and formed a platform on which the bodies of the wounded were placed , until they could be put into a firstclass carriage , which yet remained nearly entire , and removed to Oxford again . "
All around were floods . The driver who was saved jumped into the water . After the fatal smash , it is said Mr . Cardwell , who was waiting for his wife , hastened to the spot , and rendered the most effectual assistance in directing the exertions of those who ran to aid the sufferers . The inquest was opened on Wednesday at the Star Hotel , Oxford . The coroner , Mr . William Brunner , said that it would be the best course to adjourn the inquiry for a few days , in order to collect evidence , on tha part of the Company , particularly as to the rules by which their officers were governed , and the precise
amount of responsibility imposed on each . The jury having viewed the body , James ^ mith , foreman over the engines and engine-men at the Oxford station , stated that he could identify the body at the infirmary as Samuel Wilcox , a fireman in the employ of the company , attached to No . 220 engine . That engine was on Monday last bringing a coal train from Rugby to Oxford . The driver was John Lee , who escaped . He identified as well the bodies of John Tarry , enginedriver of the passenger train ; of Robert Bugden , the fireman , and of Joseph Kind ) , the guard . He also knew the body of Thomas Landon , fireman to engine
124 , the first attached to the coal train . The driver of that was Robert Law , whose body was at the Victoria Inn . It was his ( Smith ' s ) duty to see the engines were in working order , and the men fit to go with them . In his absence it was the duty of the station-master and the policemen to see that the men were in » fit state to do their work . Did not speak to Tarry whori he saw him waiting with his train at Lslip , but saw that he was fit for his duty . Tarry was a Hober steady man . There had been only ono line of rails at work between Oxford and lslip since the 15 th or lfith of December . It was the up-line . The
contractor had the other for the repairs of tho tunnel at VVolvercoto . Undor tho tunnel there was at this time only one line of rails . There waH no ono at Oxford in witness ' s absence who was responsible for seeing whether a driver was in ft fit ' stiito ; but if any ono on the platform miw him tho worse for drink , they would tako notice of it . If witness had been at Oxford , ho should have examined the engine ; and if anything had been tho matter with it , and ho bad not substituted another , he would have boen responsible . Since tho 10 th December , it hud been tlio practice for the lmlf-pa «< ' live train to remain in Oxford till the r-onl-tram arrived . When he n : iw Tarry at I slip ho
was satisfied he wan fit to proceud wif . h the engine . A coal-train wuh due every night at twenty minutes after five . John Leo , driver of engine 220 , Htatcd that ho loft , lHotchloy ul ; ten minutes nftor three , and was about , twenty minutes behind tinio . Tliore were two engines on account of the heavy load , there being fifty-four wnggbnH of coal and » broak-wu ^ on . Him wjih second number of which Landon
engine , the Hrat being 1 ^ 4 , was fireman . At , Inlip nfcatioii ho asked tho policemun whether it wan all right to go on , and tho answer wjih " Yes" Ho htopped at , lslip from hovoii to ten luinuh < H while changing linen , crossing ( Von . the down to the up line , in consequence of the works K <»» K «»" at , Wolvercote Tunnel . It wan on the printed bill ( hut tho coal-twin hIiouM atop at limibury-nmd if required . Ho did not inquire at Ifcwbury-ruad if th »
way was clear , as he had a signal ( green ) that it was all right , but to go slowly . He went at about five to six miles an hour to the tunnel , and about four miles an hour in the tunnel . After he got through the tunnel the speed was increased to about seven or eight miles an hour . It is an incline from the tunnel to Oxford . There is a board as you come out of the tunnel on the Oxford side , on which were the words , " slacken speed . " They were coming , down the line , witness being on the second engine , and he saw the lights of a train coming up , about fifty yards from the wooden bridge going into Port Meadow . At first he was not sure it was a train , but on a second look he
saw it was , and jumped off the engine . He was going about six miles an hour , slackening speed , before he saw the train coming . He called to the fireman that a train was coming , and he had better come off ; he appeared to misunderstand him , and he ( witness ) set the whistle open . The fireman was Samuel Wilcox . Witness fell as he jumped off , and did not recover before the accident , although he got up as quickly as he could , and he was not stunned . There was a collision between the two trains . When the steam blew off ,
he found Wilcox on the foot-plate of his engine , alive and conscious , and he asked witness to take care of him , which he diu . He had heard no signal at all from the passenger-train , no whistle , or anything . The down-line was used only by the contractor , he believed . He could not say at what rate the passengertrain was going . He did not hear the whistle of the leading engine of his train . The accident happened at about three-quarters of a mile from the Oxford station . Thought it strange that the passenger-train
should have advanced on his train in face of the lights . The passenger-trains have white lights ; the goods , or coal-trains , green . There was no time to stop the train . The steam was sknfc off , which was all that could be done . He . did not think he could have seen the danger signal at thfr | rpn ^ t * idge in time , if it had been turned on , but might have seen the auxiliary signal , about two hundred yards further up the line , if the train had not hid it . The policeman at lslip , since there had been only one line of rail , had always given instructions whether to stop or go on .
William Hayes , foreman , porter , and ticket collector at the Oxford station , had to see the carriages marshalled in order for travelling , and it was his duty to be on the platform at the starting of every train . He and all the other servants had a printed book of instructions . There was a rule that the guard should give the signal to the driver to start , by whistling , and the guard took his instructions from the stationmaster , or from witness ,. He was on duty on the
platform on Monday when the half-past five train should have started . He knew that the coal-train , due at twenty minutes past five , had not come in . He left the platform , according to a general order , to see from the swing-bridge whether the coal-train was free of the line , and while absent , a ballast-train came in , and ran into tho sidings . Before he could get back to tho platform , the passenger-train had started . He called to the driver to stop , but he was blowing off tho steam so loud that he could not hear . Witness
had a signal lain ]) , but it had no red glass , and was not , therefore , a proper signal lamp . He had no means of apprising the driver of his mistake than by calling out . He knew by telegraph that , the coal-train had left lslip , but he had ascertained it had not got , to tho ticket platform . He ran up to the guard ( Kirich ) as the train passed , and told him it was the ballast-train , and not tho coal-train , which had just , come in , mid he instantly put on his break . The guard was in the last carriage . The ; train went , ouL very fust — faster than he had ever known it . It , was about seven minutes alter time . He saw the driver ( Tuny ) about
twenty-eight , minutes after live on his engine , and spoke to him . Tarry appeared . sober . Witness told him lie could not , start , till the coal-train had arrived . He said , " Can ' t , we leave till it , comes in ? " and witness replied , " Certainly not . " Witness left , the train stationary when ho went to examine . He had examined tho paxHOngors' tickets , and then told Kinch , the guard , the train had left lslip half-an-hour , and that he must , not ; go on . He understood witness , for he said , " Would it , not be bettor for Lite driver to open his
whistle V" Witness said , " No , " for the lino would no /; he clem * whilst , the vvd . signal" vvh . h on Mio bridge . The red signal was on at tho bridge facing Oxford . The opening of the whistle whs used to cull tho attention of the policeman . Witness then lefH , the plat , form , and wen I ; up the line , as he had stated . Tin ; red signal was on when Mie half-past five train Hturfad , mid if , certainly ought not , to have started , Tho signal vvns plainly to !><> seen from the platform . When witness found the ( ruin leaving , he run to flic policeman , who wuh about forty yards oil " , and told him to show Hut rod ttiguul iu hit * hiind lamp , which ho did , waving it
violently . The red signal on the bridge was changed ( witness did not know why ) for a green signal , which means , " go on with caution . " The red signal signifies " danger , and to stop "; and bad it been kept no according to orders , the train would have been stopped . A man named Bonner had the charge of the signal . He was certain there would be a collision , as the station-master , Mr . Blott , had telegraphed the coal-train from lslip to come on , the line being clear . Witness left the platform four or five minutes . There would be no one to act in his place during absence . The guard had no whistle to communicate with the driver . There id no audible signal . The guard has a red lamp , and had the engine-man observed the 21 st rule , to look back at the carriages , he would have seen the red signal .
January 8, 1s53.] The Leader. 33
January 8 , 1 S 53 . ] THE LEADER . 33
Apslby House—The Private View. An" Annou...
APSLBY HOUSE—THE PRIVATE VIEW . An" announcement has appeared in the daily papers that Apsley House will be opened to the public next week . A private view , to which members of the press were courteously invited , was given on Thursday . The rooms partially thrown open are—four drawingrooms , the picture-gallery , ( famous as the scene of many " Waterloo banquets , " ) the china-room , the secretary ' s room , the Duke ' s private room , and his bedroom . It is in the three last-named rooms that the
most attaching interest is centred , and we are glad to be told that everything , table , desk , books , papers , even to the battered old wooden despatch-box that served through all his campaignsj remains exactly as the Dnke left it . The chief paintings in the picturegallery are the " Agony , " by Correggio , formerly in the palace at Madrid ; some remarkable heads by Velasquez ; two or three Titians and Murillos ; and a good many gems of the Dutch school , among which Teniers , Backhuysen , and Wouvcrmans are conspicuous . The modern pictures are numerous . Chief are Wilkie ' s " Chelsea Pensioners , " and its companion ,
" Greenwich Pensioners , " by Burnet ; " Van Amburgh /' by Landseer ; the " Melton Hunt , " by Grant ; and the " Ba # le of Waterloo , " by Allen . These , with the portraits , are principally distributed over the drawingrooms . More than once we find a portrait or sketch of the present Duchess ; a lovely and most refined head , touched with an exquisitely saddened grace : and in ono corner is a portrait by Winterhulter , of Prince Arthur , the Duke ' s godson , playing with a little soldier-doll . This was the last birth-day present of
the Queen . Of the bed-room and its austere simplicity enough has been said to mark the grand old soldier ' s rigorous fidelity to tlie recollections of the camp . The three apartments in which he more intimately lived , offer a strange contrast to tho heaped magnificence of regal and civic gifts—the porphyry vases of Sweden , the malachites from the Emperor Alexander , the candelabra from Nicholas , the Sevres from Louis Will ., and the famous shield from the merchants of London .
The apartments will be opened to the public on Tuesday . Admission , by ticket , is to be obtained l » y written application to Mr . Mitchell , : K 5 , Old liondstreet , who has been out rusted with all the arrangements .
Count Fathom At Til 10 Laiu'ijc Tie Poli...
COUNT FATHOM AT Til 10 LAiU'IJC TIE POLICI-: COURT . "A person of military appearance "—thai is , according ( o Mm * police reports' , a person with rxuberu . nl whiskers , un <{ moustaches of a liery lint . ¦¦ o nu . Henry ( iooil . slicll Johnson by name , otherwise Captain Johnson , was ( alien lieloiv Mr . Klliolt on Wednesday , charged with conspiring to del ' riiiid a too-confiding widow named Stewart , of railway shares to the amount , of 1000 / . , anil also with stealing two valuahlo gold seals , a diamond ring , and other propert y of that , lady , from her house in Hurnsbiiry-road , Islington . It seems Mint , lust September , Mra . Stewart , had n bill in her parlour window of " Apart incuts to Let ; " that the captain applied , and wished to take tho rooms " for a twelvemonth certain ;"
Unit Jll rs . Ste . wiirf , was particular about relerciieoH , mid Mui Captain decided to " call again ; " I hat lie did call , nil her later than the day be bad named , for which be politel y apologised , and referred Mrs . Stewart to the proprietor of an hotel in Air-street ; that ongoing to I In' hotel , iAlr . s . Steward wan met by " u tall , sloul , female , who had ji . II tho appearance of u hostess , " and who described this ( ' iiptiim hh ii most gentlemanly person , a g iver of dinners , a , nephew of lionl Piilmorsloii , and tho peculiar delight of " nil tho frrent in tho land . " Tim result of her enquiry being no favourable , and the Captain heing convenient ly at bund , an agreement was made on the spot . So ( ' aptnin Johnson
IohI , no time in moving from A ir- . s ( rcet ( a IJuciisbiiry-road , Islington , and for a few week ;) all went well . ThollaUoring accounts Mm . Slowarl had received of the Captain ' s regularity in bis payments were noon contradicted b y fact ; but still no wuh " ho gentlemanly and agreeable , " and spoke ho handsomely of Mrs . Stewart ' s brother-in-law , " whom he had met at Trinidad , " that the lady did not , wrens for payment of her w eel . ly IhIIm . < ) a I be fonl . rn . ry , nh «» drew out from her bankcr . i , ior I ho Captain ' s occasional requirement : ) , no lot's a . miiim than 1 H 0 / , purl , of which was to uhhihI , him in joining u promising Hpeeulaiion " U work a nluto miurry . He also showed hor a uoto from "bin undo , . Lord 1 ' uhuoraton , " und " Ulkud about mwrriugu . " Ho
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 8, 1853, page 33, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08011853/page/9/
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