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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,...
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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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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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-
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Citation
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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/
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