TOPICS of the DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 24, 27 January 1906, Page 9

TOPICS of the DAY.

(From Our Special Correspondent.)

THE CHARING GROSS CATASTROPHE.

LONDON, December 8.

The Old Country's Christmas crop of accidents has commenced to come to hand early this year, in the shape of a railway catastrophe of a very unusual description. On Tuesday afternoon the southern portion of the roof of the South-eastern and Chatham Railway Company's terminus at Charing Cross suddenly collapsed, causing the death of seven people and injuring 40 others more or less seriously. The history of railway disasters scarcely presented a parallel case, and since the great railway companies have had their termini in London, a similar accident has not been known.

The platforms at Charing Cross are covered by a huge roof chiefly composed of glass and iron, ■which stretches in a semi-circle from side to side, a distance of 60 yards. The summit of the struc ture is a great height from the ground, and the roof is upheld bj massive brick walls, pierced here and there for ventilating purposes. At the southern end the semi-cirtle of the roof is Slled in with a screen of glass and iron, supported by huge girders. At the time when the accident occurred the station was not so busy as it would hare been an hour later, when many suburban trains would have been leaving. A train was standing at Xo. 4 platform, and the chief arrival platform was ready for the Continental express, then due. Here were standing Customs officials, porters, and a few people expecting friends. In the carriage way adjacent was a large number of cabs and omnibuses. A few seconds' warning was given of the ■calamity which was to follow, by the falling of a piece of timber, which was fortunately seen by officials attending to the departure of the "Hastings train. A few passengers who were seated in the front carriages were promptly requested to alight and get further along the platform, which had been scarcely cleared in that part when a thundering noise was heard, resembling, as one eyewitness put it, the sound of two trains coming into collision. People in the station had just time to look at tha roof when the huge girders at the rivej end began to sway, and the structure fell in a mass to the ground, smashing in' its descent the scaffolding which had been erected at the end of the station, and the carriages of the Hastings train. For several moments girders and glass and iron and brick work came crasnmg down. v The great walls of the station toppled over, that on the west sicfe going on to the roof of the Avenue Theatre, where many men were engaged in the work of re-buildlng and re-decorat-ing, and that on the east side falling into the station. A scenp of confusion followed. People in the vicinity rushed panic-stricken from the spot. The horses in the cabs and omnibuses 'bolted, and two are said to have been killed. The Continental express was even then leaving Waterloo Junction, but with great presence of mind the signalman put the signals at danger, and thus saved a further accident. It was noted that by far the greatest quantity of the roofing fell on the v*».ry spot where, on the previous day, Lord and Lady Curzon were -welcomed home from India- by a distinguished assembly. Tons of iron and brickwork fell into Villiers-street, which runs parallel to the eastern-vwall of the station, and a cab-horse was killed; but the most alarming and destructive result of the wreckage was at the Avenue Theatre, which nestles under tha shadow of the.

station. A tall "brick pier on the western, side of the station -was forced outwards, and fell with a terrific crasli upon the Theatre, causing the one side and roof of the Theatre to crumple up like paper, and, indeed, doing so mucl* damage to the entire structure that it is almost certain the Theatre Tvill hare , to be pulled down and re-built. MARVELLOUS ESCAPES. There were about 130 men employed in the Avenue Theatre preparing it fos re-opening at Christmas, but only two of them -were, killed, thougS a mimbes sustained bad injuries. There were also some 30 men engaged in repairing and repainting the station xoof. Several of these fell with the roof, but only three of them were killed. These -were found horribly mangled and mutilated, under tons of debris, but most of those who escaped with life came off very lightly, a fractured thigh and a smashed leg being the most serious injuries reported. Onlyseven men all told had to "be detained in hcsi)ita!. Considering the nature of the accident the casualty list is marvellously small. Had the fall taken place a couple of hours later hundreds of lives must have been lost, for then the heavy suburban evening traffic would have been at its height, asd every platform occupied. Five mmutes before the accident occurred a heavily-laden passenger train had been despatched from the very spot where the biggest fall of girders and debris landed, and had the break been delayed five minutes the incoming Continental boat express must have beea overwhelmed. The accident, indeed, happened at a peculiarly happy moment so far as the patrons of the South--western railway are concerned, few passengers being even injured, and these only slightly. For the present Charing Cross station, is, of course, closed to all train traffic and the adjacent streets have been barricaded off for fear of further falls. The cause of the accident remains a mystery. Possibly the subsidence of the main walls supporting the roof is at the bottom of the catastrophe,