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    Sept. 8, I860.] The Saturday Analyst and...

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    THE RAILWAY MASSACRE AT HELMSHOKE. W E a...

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    EXAMINATIONS AND I^AILUEES. rf^HEEE are,...

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    The I-Iangman's Lesson. Nphe Hangman Has...

    to Ministers of State , and even to the Crown itself . Is there nothing for morbid , untutoured minds to envy in such notoriety ? We see on every occasion how little impression is made on " * he m ° b by an execution—how-little impression for good . . May wo . jnqt , if we inquire , as ' readily discover what is tie impression for evil . The highest thought called forth in the bosom of that multitude by the spectacle of the murderer ' s expiation is , " May I die as ganie as he . " There is no horror expressed * by this reckless mob ; no hope whispered that they may never be led to commit such a crime ; there is not even to be discovered a symptom of pityeither for the criminal or his victims . It is a spectacle which moves the heart only to harden it . The revelations of the police courts afford constant evidence of the demoralising influence of executions , and of the . emulation excited by the deeds of notorious criminals . How often do we hear of wives threatening husbands and husbands threatening wives in language something like Ihis— " I'll serve you as Paljiek served Cooke , " " I'll do for you as Manning didfor O'Contstor , " or I'll swing for you one of these days . " Here , it will be observed , the crime is contemplated not alone as an act of vengeance , but also as a means of attaining notoriety . In the eyes of the criminal class—the class that makes crime a profession—a public execution can have little terror . They know that detection does not always follow guilt . They have a chance of escape , and if the worst comes to the Worst they will have the satisfaction of being talked about , prepared for heaven , and launched into eternity in the presence of sonie thousands of spectators . This is by no means a question of humanity . The only other mode of punishment foi murder- ^ - that of solitary confinement for life ^_ i s f ai - less humane than the gallows . The rope is positive mercy , since the culprit who confesses his crime and expresses himself penitent , is assured that the steps of the scaffold are the gateway of heaven . The solitary dungeon , on the other hand , is the most unrelenting vengeance . It is torture ,, degradation , infamy . How different ¦ would have been the impression left upon the minds of the lawless mob who surrounded the gallows on Tuesdaj' -, if , instead of witnessing the execution of the murderer , ' they had been told that the criminal had been removed to some dungeon , there to live out his life in darkness and in solitude . Were such the punishment for the crime of murder , there would be no idea of heroism in connection with the culprit ; there would be no hope , of distinction by attracting thousands to the foot of tlie gallows ; no opportunity of exciting sj'mpathy or admiration by " dying game . '

    Sept. 8, I860.] The Saturday Analyst And...

    Sept . 8 , I 860 . ] The Saturday Analyst and Leader . 78 o

    The Railway Massacre At Helmshoke. W E A...

    THE RAILWAY MASSACRE AT HELMSHOKE . W E are again startled this week by one of those gigantic railway collisions now unhappily so common . Accidents we cannot call them , inasmuch as the cause is generally traceable to "Toss negligence and want of common presence of mirid on the part of the railway officials , when the greatest care and forethought is required . Had the officials of the East Lancashire Railway on Tuesday morning been " good men and true , " no such deplorable event as that we now proceed to detail could possibly have occurred . Oil Monday afternoon , from 3 , 500 to 3 , 000 persons were conveyed from Colne , JBlackburne , Burnley , Church Acerington , Haslington * Helmshore , and Ramsbottom to Manchester , to witness somefeto or wake at the Belle-vue Gardens . These trains ( for there were three ) the Manchester Guardianstates , were composed of some old . yellow Chester and Birkenhead carriages , and are lightl y constructed for that line , and not at all adapted for heavy excursion traffic The three trains started on the return journey ^ jfrom the New -PaMey Station at Manchester , between eleven and half-past eleven o \\ Monday evening ; the first train reached its destination in safety , the second train , with some thirty odd carriages , containing about 1000 passengers * reached Helsushore Station at 13 . 45 ivrn ., ot Tuesday . Up to this time , all was right . It xa said , although wo'scout the idea , that after tho train had stopped , and at its starting again , tho break * . wove taken on and that the expansion of the buffers caused the connecting chains or links to snap asunder , and this was immediately followed tar the side or preventor chains also giving way . The Helmshoro fetation is on an incline , stated to vary from 1 in 42 to I m 78 j down this incline , towards Manchester , weut the detached portion of the train , some 14 or 16 carriages , with 600 passengers ; at first they moved but slowly , and at no time more than at a brisk walking ; pace . One guard ran to the moving mass , and put on his break . There wa $ another break , but no guard to put it on , he being engaged attending to the passengers who had previously alighted 5 after running down tho incline 400 yards , tho detached carriages-xnet tho third excursion train running up the incline at the rate 15 maps an hour . the collision was , terrific . The engine and three carriages comingling in one mass of splinters of carriages and mangled human beings . While this little backsliding journey of 400 yards was taking place , and previous to the collision , we learn that a Mr . Shaw , a traffic superintendent of the line , who was riding in tho front or non-dotaohed portion of the train , got out , and mounting the engirto , crossed to the other line and steamed oft towards the advancing train in hopes of ( stopping it , but was too Jfttoy the mja-• ohiof being dotie - before he got to tho spot . The rewlt oiall this splendid exhibition of carelessness was 10 jf not 11 killed , 23 broken legs , and Homo < L 6 others more or loss seriously injured . .. Now , wo candidly ask tho directors of tho JfiSast- ^ nnoashiro Railway , can all tftis benlsti / iod ? First of all , in the . toco of , suoh a lesson as was road to all railway officials by tho accident two years ago at Round , Oak , between Wolverhampton aad Worcester , all tho

    circumstances of which are so like this affair , Excepting the carnage ( which is now much greater ) , that one is almost led to fancy the Round-Oak tragedy was only a rehearsal of this the great massacre of all . - . , - ;'¦' Reviewing , ihe whole of the detans of this affair at Helmshore we are led to enquire whether the driver did not start his engine with a violent tug , as engine drivers are very apt to do , particularly if out of temper from a late journey , or after hours . We know , from personal observation ; , that engine men have their tempers , and do show off their airsy and put on full steam and whirl the driving wheels round , and bang , bang , snap , snap , goes the train , and chain af ter chain undergoing a Severe test . The proper , way to start a long heavy train is gently at first , and after all is in motion then to put on the steam and go a-head . Again , after the occurrence had taken place , why did not Mr . Shaw , or the Helmshore Station-master , order some scotches or sprags under the wheels of the slowly moving train ; these would , if judiciously applied , have stopped the train at the expense of only a little jolting to the passengers ; again , if Mr . Shaw could find time to disengage the engine from its train , go through the operation of shunting to the up-line and run a little way , and as is stated knocking down some of the escaped passengers , query , could he not have gone with his engine af ter the runaway on the same line , and hooked on again ; for at a walking pace -anything can be done on a railway by properly trained railway men . There is a regulation of the Board of .. Trade , that rail-way companies shall erect , and maintain two distance s i gnals at each station . The signals being placed 500 yards from the station , one on the up , and the other on the down line ; and the railway regulations generally prohibit drivers from passing these distance signals inhere a red lamp ought to be when another train is in the station ; the object being to keep all trains outside the station over _ J > 00 yards , so as to prevent a train being overtaken at a platform . Now this train only ran back 4 OQ yards , consequently 100 yards within a distance signal the collision took place , whereas if the third train had stopped at the 500 yards' signal , the only collision ( if one at all ) , would have been the runaway carriages with a momentum of only a runof only ' yards running into a . standing engine , probably ^ ^ resulting'in nothing more than a severe shaking of the passengers . It maybe said there were no such distance signals . Then , we ^ , why are there not , and why does-not the Board of Trade enforce their , adoption ? ... ,. , . . . , Another-query is , why were the guards away from the tram , and why was one assisting passengers to alight from a tram after the - train had been started ? Why were these trains allowed to run so close after each other ? Why does the Board of Trade allow this ? Why were there three break carriages and only two guards r » orwhy was not Mr . Shaw himself on the platform superintending the movements and seeing all were doing their duty , instead of his being in the carriages ? Why axe not the side chains enabled t 0 < hold the train together , even if the patent screw connections do give way J These side chains are also called preventers ; what dp they prevent P or of what service are they if they do not perform this service P The patent screw connections are made of various weights ; consequently the heaviest are the strongest . Why do not the . Board of Trade enforce the use of those of sufficient tented strength , and wh y not test these chains and be as particular about their quality , as the Adimraltv is over Trotman ' s . sinchors and the chaw cable * of'her Majesty s navv P Surely 3 , 000 excursionists deserve as great protection rrom the Government as 300 or 400 souls on board an Kast . India , ship . We hope the Governtnent inspector , coroner , and jury will not fail to sif t this catastrophe to the bottom , and that the conclusion wiU bo more to the public satisfaction than that of tho Round Oak accident , two years since .

    Examinations And I^Ailuees. Rf^Heee Are,...

    EXAMINATIONS AND I ^ AILUEES . rf ^ HEEE are , now-a-days , many kinds of the first , and reasons B for the latter . A report in one of the daily papers , a week , or two back , tinder the head of " Woolwich Examinations , and giving a somewhat unfavourable account o * the general result of the last of these , may make a few remarks not unseasonable , lhore wore at least half-a ^ dozen heads of study , on all of which the reports of tho examiners were not very creditable to the establishment . The examiners were , evidently , most thoroughly dissatisfied ^ with the general standard of attainment . This certainly ought not to oe tfe case now , when tho minds of the whole youth of the nation may be said to be sot on making adequate preparation for these proofs . We believe that there may be special reasons why Woolwich , though generally , ' it must bo confessed , greatly improved may not show ta the highest advantage on , such "Sons The fact is , that the youth of that establis hment have W very much in the practice of regulating then-standard more by their notions than by their power * or duties , and of makinff a . dead sot against thpso of their own number who wSd bef as they » re pleased to think , industrious - over much » Snmo time aaro a flagrant instanoo of this was mentioned to us bH clerTymfn the uncle of ort of the student- ; tho boy entered yJung ha 5 a thorough love for study , and ^ R ^ Uji i « r ubove * J average , which ho Anally proved by passing through the College ? n anVusH ^ lly Bhort p ' rlod , and ga uinsr U « * U US of persecution . He wwj spending hw h «' ' , Tvfoid tutor , and "' above . alluded to who , by-th ^ byo , wnj . au ^ ' ^^ both . hie very dnxioua for Ins nephew ' s » uoo « s » , nod wo i m o v . talent and industry . Strange . to «^^ u . h ^ L y Jo ld ° Jorsuado & & E" SSttS $ l !* tZ *<*« decree con-

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 8, 1860, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08091860/page/7/