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Leader (1850-1860), 22nd September 1860, Edition 2 of 2, Page 7

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      The Helmshcxre Mass Acre. The Curtain Ha...

      the train , one smoking and drinking-, the other collecting- halfpence from carriage to carriage ; it does appear probable they paid no attention whatever to their breaks , for no evidence is given that any one saw , or heard , or felt them put on , and the effect of the long train stopping gradually going up a steep incline would be to elongate the couplings to their utmost , and oii stopping , the strain would be very great indeed , and much more so than if the breaks had been properly applied and then released . "We do not think that such a stoppage as this one at Helmshore could cause a compression of the buffers ° to any great extent , consequently there would . be little or no rebound . What was there in the motion of this train to cause a great compression of the buffers ? The train runs very slowly up iven in evidencet t

      a steep incline , and , as g , sopped very genly . Now , such being the case , all the couplings and buffers would be out to their greatest length , and would not be so compressed at stopping as to cause any rebound . ( We stated in our notice of this subject , in our impression of Sept . 8 th , that we did not believe in a rebound of the buffers , nor do we now , and we are confirmed in this oiir opinion by that of some very experienced railway officials , our friends ) . It was the great strain on weak couplings which caused , the breakage , and might as well have happened on the road between the two stations as where it did . We are surprised to find ho nor tice taken by the jury of this niisconduct of the guards on that journey , which leads us to the conclusion ^ , that if the guards would neglect their duty in one respect , they might in another .

      So much for the immediate cause of the severance of the tram , now for the next act of this disastrous affair : the train to which the accident happened was of thirty-one carriages , and had only one eiigine . The third , or last train * was of twenty-five carriages , and had two engines , consequently could , and would run much faster , and might be presumed to overtake its heavier and weaker horsed predecessor , and this appeal's really to have been the case , for we are told they were ten . minutes -apart at Salford , and yefc the collision took place at Heltnshpre , only t \ vo and a half minutes after the first of the two trains had stopped at Helmshore . Why such an arrangement as this ? why were not the two engines on the thirtybhe carriages , instead of on the lesser train pf twenty-five ? Had this been so , the third train woitld have : been further behind , giving more time to work the breaks , and more time for tlie pursuers to lave tried the experiment of turning the runaway carriages on to the other line . No doubt this could have been done , and have

      answered its purpose , but time Avas wanted to carry it out , hence the fallacy of Mr . Shaw ' s and Colonel Yoiland ' s evidence , that it was quite as safe to let the following train run close after , as ^ ten minutes behind a previous train . If more time hsid been given between these two trains . Mr . Shaw would have been , able to carry out his pixrpose . Therefore want of sufficient time between the trains was an aggravating cause of the adeident ; how a Government Inspector can reconcile the theory j ust put forth by Colonel Yo llan d on this subject of time between trains with common sense and every day experience , surpasses our comprehension . Has jnot he passed railways as fit to open only on . condition that the trains be worked by telegraph from station to station , and that at no one time shall any two trains be between any two stations , and why do the Board of Trade stipulate for such strict ( but at the same time most necessary and proper ) rules , if in Colonel YoiiLAND ' s opinion it is all fudge , and that trains may run as close together as local managers desire ? ¦ _

      We must now ask why no mention has been made of the signals exhibited at Helmshore to coming trains on , the ^ night in question ; it does not appear jn evidence that any station signals were used to stop the last excursion train , probably the signals were no more lit than the carriages . The three thousand half-crowns were not worth the oil , <& c ., we dare say . The Government Inspector thinks the breaks were insufficient , the guards insufficient , and that it is decidedly objectionable for an engine to propel a train up an incline , and that the proper place for an extra engine is in front . So say we ; but we go no further with Colonel Yoii-and , who goes on to say , ho considers great credit is due to Mr . Shaw , for his promptness . As we do not perceive any evidence to this effect , we cannot give the praise the Golonpl does ; we , wish to irnAxv wlio l'fiQ'iilatfid tho number of Guards and breaksand ordered

      , the objectionable engine on behind . We consider at least four breaks and four guards were required , and three or four porters as assistants to passengers , and to cany boxes of grease and look after the shackles and wheels on the journey , at least this is the way we see some No . 1 . Companies do their work . The jury returned a verdict of Insufficient ^ brocks and insufficient guards , and accidental death , to which we say , they ought to have added a presentment ) that it is the opinion of the jury that the Board of Trade should issue a peremptory order to all railway companies to run no excursion trains without a break van and a guard to evory eight carriages \— -that no two excursion of not less than

      trains shall fpllow each other until a period twenty minutes shall have elapsed j—that every excursion train shall have an attendant or porter to carry a grease box and look after the shackles , and be responsible for their proper condition j that the trains shall be worked by tolog'raph from station to station ; that no engine shall push behind any excursion train 5 that trams , of , over . twenty-five carriages shall always be drawn by two engines ; that all the carriages tfliall be lit at night , and in . tunnels j that . a Hufliqienoy of porters or attendants , either accompany u tram , or shall bo on the platform of each station , to attend to tho papBengors , and that the guards shall not leave their break vans ; that red pr blue lights should bo immediately iircd on the stoppage or other accident to anyirflin ; and these regulations should po enforced under a penalty of at least one hundred pounds .

      The break vans of excursion trains are generally empty , and corir sequently very light , and have not the same power to stop a taaini when light as when loaded with passengers' luggage on an ordinary train , . and we think these empty break vans should be loaded to > make them useful at all . We cannot leave this subject without suggesting that Government Inspectors of Railways should do more towards inspection' than they do . Their general occupation is to inspect a line previous to opening * , and to attend inquests after accidents . Why not employ them to travel incog , on the railways , and watch that all Board of Trade regulations are attended to , and due care taken . In fact , the Government Railway Inspectors should act precisely like Government Inspectors of factories , that is , be attached to certain districts , and from time to ^ time make their unexpected appearance particularly where excursion trains are running . They would thus become really useful , now they are little better than sinecurists .

      Sept. 22 1860] The Saturday Analyst And ...

      Sept . 22 1860 ] The Saturday Analyst and Leader . 815

      City Churches. W Ith Great, And With Jus...

      CITY CHURCHES . W ITH great , and with just self-confidence the rector of St . Stephens ' , Walbrook , descends into the churchyard arena , raises his vizor , gives bis name and title , and says pretty plainly that he disclaims alike the aid of the church militant of Exeter Hall , and the saintly shrivings of the priesthood of St . George ' s-inr the-East . The last great occasion of his public appearance was a parish temporality affair in which he was specially interested , re Gibbs . When , malqi > e certain former passages of private hospitality , he pursued with an acrimony , scarcel y generous , the writhing-, but still resisting the obstinate and injudicious , but we nevertheless believe honest aldermdn > Those who remember ifaat passage of arms , are extremely likely anxiously to avoid anything- like personal controversy with , the Rev . Dr . CaoiY , even in a public matter , and have just as much tight to maintain their incognito , despite his

      remonstrances on an open question , as the JRevi Dr . might have to preserve his own in a newspaper or review critique , literary or theatrical , provided they have unattacked his personal and private character . Whatever may be the goodness of his cause , the Dr . has much better use of his weapon than any average combatant , and frotn his wide literary connection , if common fame speaks truly , he has probably the advantage of being able to change his arena _ and his armourer ; with a known sabreur like this , men wisely hesitate to match themselves , except as nameless knights . Indeed , Selaxhiei ' s force of style and statement , his vigour of metaphor , familiarity with history , dash of description , energy of denunciation give to the letters of his newspaper opponents a twaddling appearance , by comparison , which will convey to the reader ' s eye an impression of weakness in their cause which may really only belong-to their manner .

      We do not state , we do not even insinuate in the slightest degree , that Dr . Croiy is not a most excellent parish , priest , in the fullest sense of that term , as far as our own parish is concerned , as we know him to be the most elegant and popular , perhaps the only very elegant and popular preacher , in the City of London ; but we conceive it possible , nay , probable , that the accomplished author ' s literary pursuits and avocations may Lave been unfavourable to his investigation of the miseries and mysteries of the city courts and alleys ' generally , with the state of whioh one Of his correspondents expresses himself as thoroughly dissatisfied , while Dr . Cbolt congratulates the city on its remarkable

      propriety on Sunday , and those who pften traverse it on . that day aro quite willing to attribute to Bucklersbury the sanctity of solitude , to Cornhill the decency of desertion , and to Cheapside a desolate decorum . With his aversion to Exeter-hall notioas , weare not at all prone to concede a prominent place to Dr . Cjioly amongst those who have "been for years labouring so earnestly , and by personal visitation and exertion , to amend the oou . diti . on of the tower and lowest classes of the'London poor ; this has been left to men of no groat literary pretensions , and who may understand a cause better than they oan plead it , and we should take their ¦ word rather than the " m < o avis et foots" flourishes of tho

      Doctor ' fl iln tho matter of churchyards he appeals , amongst other generalities , to the . fate of the Revolutionists , w \ ho disinterred aud insulted the dead at St . Denis and elsewhere , and proceeds to denounoe judgments , with , little judgment , and as it such a thing as distinofaoa did not exist . ,-.,,. The repose of the dead may be disturbed , either by a rabid desire of desecration , as was the case in France , and which might really deserve , if not call down , celestial vengeance ; or , secondly , from a mevG cold-blooded motive of utility and profit , without the slightest reality or pretext of a religious aim ; or , thirdly , with an object in view distinctly religious , and in the spiritual interests of the survivor . This confusion is , just as illogical and insulting to the understanding of a readex , despite the eloquence wasted upon its statement , teus wio

      as tho Rev . hero ' s wrath is awsurtt . A'ften ne juonaon ciergy that thore has been a " ohiel amang then * takin notes , " to " oast in their teeth , " and daring , with David-like presumption , to number the people of their , arid even of his , congregation , as if there were any conceivable way of ascertaining facts , except by taking observations , or drawing conclusions , except by keeping record , au whs affected indignation about what is xnost natural and necessary , is raorospeciaVpioadors' rhetoric , far worse than an *; siUy- mm mmttcv Su feeble opponent , at whom the Dr . scoffi . in * M « ffiSf , ^ power an a ifteratow , and zeal as a . phurchman and parish prjest irrespective of the actual condition of the ^ O ^ t ^ mi ^ iviSiSldtrM ^^ nS ^ i ° tcffl Kf oppSf ^^^ tjM ) ™ W ™*™*> and ^ othw

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 22, 1860, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22091860/page/7/