APPALLING RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIII, Issue 297, 14 December 1892, Page 5

APPALLING RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

THE EAST COAST NIGHT EXPRESS IN COLLISION.

EIGHT KILLED . AND MANY INJURED.

(From ouf; Special Cop.REsroxiiEST.)

London", November 4. The most frightful accident of recent years occurred n-;ar Thirsk in the " wee sma hours " of the morning, when through the negligence of a signal-man, the East Coast night express ran into a luggage train. The terrible scene which ensued is graphically described by some of the passengers. The . Rev. J. S. Forsyth, of the Caledonian ■ Asylum, London, says: : The birain was rushing along ab the rate . of sixty miles an hour, when there was a tremen'ious crash. The light in the apartmeut -vas instantaneously extinguished; then tb ero was a quick recoil, followed by a secon.d enormous crash. Tbe roof of our carrias'. was driven in, and a part of the: side dislodged, while all the luggage on the racks, consisting of several portm inteaux, came tumbling upon our heads., The lady who was reposing on bho seat opposite where I was sitting was thrown against me with so much violonca that ray ; shoulder was forced through the window. A deadly stillness succeeded the violent crash, and ia tho darkness our position may bemoreeasilyimaginedthan described, .ortunatiely Mr Stuart, a fellow passengor, who , is a young, .active fellow, had about him a candlle and a match, and obtained for us in this way a light. Our first instiuct was naturally as to how we were to get out. Our lady fellow passenger was shrieking witjh fright, but I did my best to pacify her, bub her fears were not allayed by i bhe folly of an individual, who, having liberated himself, went down the line shouting, "There's another train coming along,-" which of course was an alnrm equally absurd and groundless. My friend ; first kicked tho carriage door with his feet, but as that was no use, I wrenched a large splinter of wood from tho roof of our carriage and with it managed in a few minutes to force the door. Tho scene that presented itself to my gaze on looking tir?b around was simply indescribable. To abtempt to picture it in words would be impossible. The engine lay across a bodge, whilo upon the top of it as if it had been going up hill, was tha Pullman ear itself a ; frightful wreck, with both its ends com- ' pletely knocked in so that you could sco straight through it, and onoof itesidossbaved in entirely. A few minutes after tho collision the carriages went on lire, and I don't believe there i 3 a rGinnaut of them left "Except the iron work. Ib was perfectly dark, and my young friend Mr Lumsden kindled a fire, his example soon being followed by other of tho passengers, who comprised as nearly as possible, an equal number of ladies and gontlemen. The weather was cold ' with a hoar frost, and we Huflered the greatest ' discomfort until the arrival of the relief train from Thirsk about two hours later. A squad of about forty men, some of whom : wero railway employees, arrived in the train that took us back to Thirsk,' but ridiculously oiiough they had brought with thorn no implements or ambulances so that the work of extricating tho dead and dying : had to be performed by'improvised appliance.?. I heard one poor child shrieking for help, but nothing could be done for it. Amongst the injured was ono man who was ' in a dreadful stabo. Ho waa fearfully cub ; on the head. Ho made desperate ed'ortß , to get out of the wreckage, and , cried out, " Don't let mo die." He was covered with blood, so much so that I could nob make out hia features or whether be was young or old. • Lord Tweeddale came up to where this ! man was lying, and while a porter lifted him up, held a flask containing either brandy or-whiskey to his lips.- I held up ' a carriage lamp. But the man could not swallow, and lie died where ho lay. Thero was 'anotherman with the back of his head all battered in. I think ho was dead. Another man lay on his stomach in great distress. He also was co far gone thab he could not swallow anything.- The dead wero all ', taken on to Thirsk and laid out on the ! floor covered with rugs in tho general waiting room. With regard to the signal- i man, he was in great mental distress when | I wont to .see him,- swaying his body to and fro in a condition of pitiable distraction. ' Speaking to a lady, I heard him say thab ' he had iosb a child the night previously. ! He had asked the stationmaster to allow i him oft'duty, and the stationmaster refused to let him off. ' He was so tired that ho fell asleep, and he did not signal at tho right" : time,withtheresuttthatthegoodstraincame- ■ on to the lino without his knowingit. Imust "• say that I think it was a shameful thing , that a train loaded as this goods train was' should have been allowed to stand on the mainline in front ot an express. Surely < the least that the railway officials could have done would have been to despatch us by a special train direct to London, instead of changing us about as they did. Wo had no refreshment offered to as, and ' as a matter of fact from the time tho collision occurred until I reached London I had eaten nothing. Some of tho passen-. sengers suffered more discomfort than others. Two gentlemen, who wero in the ' sleeping compartment, were rushing about with no clothing except pyjamas. One of them seemed to feel his position with greab acutenesa. CONFESSION OF THE SIGNALMAN. [ The signalman Holmes, who was in chargo of the Manor House Cabin, opposite to which the terrible Thirsk. catastrophe occurred on Wednesday, made an important statement yesterday. H e said that after being on duty in his cabin for twelve hours, ho returned home at seven o'clock on Tuesday morning, and retired to rest. His youngest f child, which was nob well, was placed in bed with him. Just before noon the child was seized with a convulsive fit. He got up und went for a doctor, and when he returned his baby was deaij. Later on he applied to hia superior officer, the stationmaster at Otterington to be excused from duty, saying that he was not fit to go into the signal-box that night. The stationmaster replied that be. would see what he could do, bub subsequently said that ho could not find- a "sub." Holmes replied that in that ev^nt he would do his best, though he reputed that ho did not feel rib for work. He> went on duty at eight o'clock, two. hours after his proper time. He remenibers the first portion of the expross passing his cabin at 3.38, up to which time he hud not felb a bibfabigued. ASLEEP IN THE SIGNAL-BOX. "Afber that time," Holmes continued in relating his experiences, "my mind became confused. Nothing seemed properly clear. I accepted the goods train in the ordinary way, but after that I took no more notice; I omitted to give the necessary sigual to send the goods train on ; indeed, I must have dropped asleep, and the goodia train remained stationary. The rear signalman woke me up by giving me notic/e to be be ready for the express. " I was confused with waking; up, and forgetting about the goocis train, signalled the line clear for the express. At the same time bhe goods train, seeing bhe signal, moved forward, and bhe express having bhe line signalled all clear cama rushing on, and' dashed inbo bhe rear of tbo goods brain. As soon as I heard the express passing away from the other eignal station I knew what was up, it was too late, and all I could , do was to wait for the crash, j