appointed the Monday after the accident to walk over
and examine it. He had reported twelve months ago
the necessity of this mile being relaid. Mr. W. Watts,
resident engineer, gave an unqualified contradiction to
Mr. Izat's statement.—The Jury gave a verdict, finding
that the deaths had been caused "by the engine No.13
running off the rails, and upsetting near the Dixon Fold
station on the Manchester and Bolton Railway, caused
by the excessive speed at which it was driven by the
deceased Thomas Croston; against whom we therefore
return a verdict of manslaughter. And we state that,
although the rules of the company furnished to the
guards and drivers limit the speed of express-trains to
thirty miles an hour, this train has usually far exceeded
that speed; and we think this could not so constantly
have occurred without the knowledge and approbation
of the company. We find also, that the engine No.13,
from having only four wheels, and the length of time it
has been in use, was not a proper engine to attach to a
train running thirty miles an hour, even on a railway in
good and sufficient order; that the permanent way of
this railway, as regards sleepers, chairs, and rails, in
material and construction is generally defective, and by
no means safe; that the speed at which the points to
branch-lines are passed is highly dangerous; that the
quick succession of trains on the line from Manchester
to Clifton Junction with the East Lancashire Company
is also very dangerous; and that the general arrangements
of the company, as to maintenance of way and
management of trains, do not conduce to the safety of
the public. We cannot too strongly condemn the
management of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Company on this portion of their line, known as the
Bolton and Preston district. We are also of opinion,
that the speed at which express-trains travel on all
railways is so great that a stringent investigation should
be instituted by the Board of Trade, as to the
construction and present condition of the permanent way,
engines, and carriages, as well as the working arrangements;
and we fear it will be found that the Lancashire
and Yorkshire Railway is not the only one on which
such a system of economy prevails as seriously to
endanger the safety of the public."

There was an Accident on the South-Eastern Railway
on the morning of the 4th instant. The goods train
from the Bricklayers' Arms terminus to Reading left
town shortly after five o'clock, and proceeded safely as
far as the Merstham station, a few yards beyond which
it ran into a ballast-train, which was in the act of
starting at the moment on its downward journey. The
engine of the luggage train and several of the ballast
trucks were thrown over on to the up-line of rails, and
a number of "navigators," who were riding in one of
the trucks, were seriously hurt. Nine poor fellows,
more or less injured, were placed in carriages and sent
off to St. Thomas's Hospital. Five of them, after having
had their wounds dressed, were sufficiently well to
proceed to their own homes. The other four were more
seriously hurt. The accident is stated to have occurred
thus;—It is usual for every ballast train to be accompanied
by a signal-man, who rides in one of the trucks.
When the train comes to a stand, this man goes back a
few hundred yards, and exhibits his red lamp or flag,
as the case may be, to prevent any succeeding train
running into the ballast trucks. When the work for
which the ballast train has been stopped is completed,
a whistle from the driver hails the signal-man, who
hastens back and jumps into one of the trucks, in order
to travel with the train. The signal-man belonging to
the ballast train to which the accident happened had
been performing his duty in the rear of the train
yesterday morning, and having been summoned by the
driver's whistle to rejoin the train, he left his post, and
was in the act of getting into one of the trucks, after
giving the signal to start, when the Reading goods train
ran into the ballast train with terrific force.

Several fatal accidents have happened from the
Explosion of Railway Locomotive Engines. One
occurred on the 8th inst. at Longsight, near Manchester.
The North-Western Company have a large engine-shed
at Longsight; an old engine, which had been recently
repaired, was standing in the shed, with the steam up;
on it was Heffern the driver, and in the ash-pit beneath
was the stoker. The boiler exploded with extraordinary
violence; some of the pillars of the shed were broken,
and a large part of the roof fell. Heffern's skull and leg
were fractured, and the stoker was badly scalded. At
the time of the disaster some eighty workmen were at
breakfast: a huge sheet of iron, farming one side of the
boiler, fell upon four of them, and they were killed on
the spot. Nearly a dozen others were more or less hurt
by the flying fragments or the fall of the roof; and
several limbs were fractured. The driver died on the
following morning. An inquest was commenced that
day. Rigge, the out-door foreman, said he had
examined the engine after the explosion, and found
that the dome-valve was screwed down to the bottom
of the slot, in which state no steam could blow off. The
fire-box valve was blown away. His opinion was
that excessive pressure was the cause of the explosion.
Mr. W. Fairbairn, the civil engineer, gave evidence.
He pronounced the engine, though an old one, in good
condition, and able to bear an ordinary amount of pressure;
but when the explosion occurred he believed the
pressure was from 300 to 400 pounds on the square
inch; he found the undamaged safety-valve on the
engine-dome "tightly screwed home," and thus rendered
inoperative.

Another frightful Explosion of a Railway Locomotive
happened at Brighton on the 17th inst. On that morning
the engine was about to be attached to a train which
leaves Brighton at seven o'clock for Littlehampton;
there were three people on the engine, driver, stoker, and
engine-fitter; the locomotive was rent asunder with
frightful force, and the metal fragments', were hurled
through the roof of the shed. The unfortunate men
were torn to pieces, and some of the human fragments
were found in a street three hundred yards from the
station. The passengers were dreadfully alarmed, but
not hurt. At the first sitting of the inquest, Mr. Craven,
locomotive superintendent, stated that the engine was
built in 1840, "but had been patched and patched till it
had been nearly rebuilt." On the 4th March an inspector
pronounced it "perfect." It had run 95,000 miles, but
they expected 300,000 miles from an engine before parting
with it. In 1840, boilers were made with 5-16th plates,
but now with 7-16th. They do not put new boilers into
engines; when a boiler has worn out two new boxes and
two new sets of tubes, the engine is given up. He
believed that this accident arose from the safety-valve
being unduly pressed down. The inquest closed on the
21st, when the jury pronounced the following verdict:
"Firstly, on the body of John Young, the engine driver,
that his death was caused by his own reckless conduct
in placing a higher pressure on the engine than it was
fitted to bear; Secondly, as to John Elliott, that, by
such reckless conduct, Young did kill and slay him; and
thirdly, that, in the same manner, Young did kill and
slay Richard Thomas Baker." The Coroner added, that
the jury also drew up a paper, and signed it, in the
following terms: "The jury now sitting upon the bodies
of John Young, John Elliott, and Richard James Baker,
the persons unfortunately killed at the Brighton terminus
on the 17th day of March inst., unanimously recommend
that in future a more frequent and rigid examination be
made of the locomotive engines; and that the directors
be requested to take into consideration whether an
improved system cannot be adopted of instructions to the
drivers. And the jury hope that the time is not far
distant when the safety valves may be placed beyond the
undue control of the drivers."

An alarming fire broke out at Windsor Castle, on
Saturday night, the 19th inst., a few hours after the
arrival of the Royal Family from Buckingham Palace.
The fire originated in the private apartments, which are
situated in the Prince of Wales's Tower. On its ground
floor stood the Gothic Dining-room, a very handsomely
decorated apartment, and here Her Majesty and the
Prince dined alone, as is their custom on the day of their
arrival at the Castle. They had concluded their repast,
and retired to an adjoining apartment, when dense
volumes of smoke suddenly apprised the domestics that
a fire had taken place behind the woodwork of the
Dining-room. Every exertion was used to extinguish it,
but the efforts were not successful until there had been
a considerable destruction of property. The Prince of