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So atrocious,

. atrocious character. indeed, that although the jury added to their verdict a recommendation to mercy, not a single effort appears to have been made to obtain a commutation of the sentence; and although his counsel drew up a petition in his favour, scarcely any could be got to sign it. The murderer and his victim were bedfellows-had been so for several weeks-and on the evening prior to the perpetration of the brutal deed had supped together. In consequence of some jocular expressions made use of by Cassidy, Lunnay became excited, and insisted that their difference should be settled by a fight; and, for the purpose of pounding his opponent to better advantage, he stripped off his coat and called upon the latter to prepare. prepare. Cassidy did not appear anxious to fight-indeed, from all that has transpired, he was rather averse to such a proceeding; and the inmates of the house having, to all appearance, pacified Lunnay, the men, after some little delay, left the apartment for the purpose, as was believed, of retiring to bed. The sequel is soon told. The murderer returned to the apartment he had shortly before left, in such a condition, that the inmates of the house had no doubt that he had been after mischief-that he had again allowed his passionate feeling to get the better of him. This surmise proved too true; for it was ascertained that Lunnay, in the most brutal, atrocious, and cowardly manner, had attacked his unarmed opponent with a clasp-knife, stabbed him as a butcher would the inflated portion of a carcase while skinning it, and left him lying in the street with his life's blood oozing from four

teen places. The murderer from the first exhibited no remorse for his deed, and went through his trial and sentence with a stolid indifference, which he maintained to the last, although his pale face and haggard appearance betokened much selfish suffering.

21. TERRIBLE EXPLOSION AT CHATHAM.-This morning, shortly before noon, a frightful explosion occurred in that portion of the Royal Engineer establishment which is set apart for the manufacture of hand-grenades, fuses, and other explosive missiles, by which one man was killed, many severely injured, others less seriously. The part of the Engineer establishment in which the accident occurred was the north gun-shed, a building extending about 200 feet in length, by between 20 and 30 in width, partly used as a store for engineering implements, but the central portion as a manufactory for fuses, hand-grenades, &c., a number of the sappers of the Royal and Indian Engineers being under daily instruction in the building. The working party, numbering about thirty men, and a few non-commissioned officers, nearly the whole Indian Engineers, with a few of the Royals, commenced operations in the factory at the usual hour. The men were under the direction of a sergeant-instructor of the Royal Engineers, a man of great experience, and in every respect well qualified for that responsible post. The work chiefly performed by the Engineers, consisted in filling the grenades, shells, and fuses, with composition previ This composition is est degree explosive are enjoined to care in filling

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geant-instructor by personal observations ascertaining that his orders are carried out. The composition is dealt out to the men in moderate quantities, and placed in saucers by the side of each. The tubes and grenades are then filled and rammed tightly by means of a copper rod. This operation, which is technically known as tamping," must be performed with great care, as any undue force will cause the composition to explode.

Everything connected with the work proceeded satisfactorily this morning until shortly before 12 o'clock, when the frightful explosion took place. Just before the accident occurred, Adams noticed one of the Engineers, named Smith, performing his work in a rather careless manner, and reprimanded him for it.

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same man afterwards, finding a difficulty in ramming the composition into his fuse, asked the man next him to assist him, which he did, the two giving blow and blow. Suddenly the composition of the grenade which Smith held in his hand became ignited, Smith, who appeared paralyzed with fear, continuing to retain his hold of it. The fire from the grenade then communicated with the loose composition lying about, and this immediately ignited a large quantity of powder in a barrel. Instantly the whole building, blew up with a terrific explosion. The first explosion was followed by a number of other reports, as the various heaps of grenades and fuses became ignited. The effects of the explosion were of the most serious character. The building itself was shaken to its foundation, while one entire side of the factory in which the work was being carried on was

carried completely away, and the woodwork blown a considerable distance. The force of the explosion being sideways, the roof of the shed was not 'blown off, but portions of it were lifted, and the lead work, for a considerable length, rolled and twisted in an extraordinary manner.

Considering the number of men employed at the time, it seems surprising that several were not immediately killed. The two men who were tamping the fuse were blown up and most seriously burnt and injured-Smith fatally. Others of the men working in the room were frightfully burnt; most had their clothes rent and burnt from their bodies. Seven or eight were conveyed to the military hospital, where Smith died, after enduring great agonies.

28. ACCIDENT ON THE SOUTHWESTERN RAILWAY.-A sad accident, by which a distinguished physician, whose whole life was passed in preserving the lives of others, was instantaneously killed, occurred on the South-Western Railway, at the junction with the Epsom line.

The Portsmouth express train leaves the Waterloo station at 5.10 P.M. At the point where the Epsom line joins, about seven miles from London, a sudden shock occurred, the engine broke away from the train, and passed on the rails undisturbed; but the tender appears to have mounted the rails close to a bridge about twenty yards from the Epsom Junction, and sweeping completely the parapet of the bridge, fell over into the public road beneath, on which it lay with the wheels uppermost and the tank severed from the frame. In the following moment two first-class carriages, one

second-class, and a van, were swung over the embankment, at different places, and smashed to pieces. A few yards further on the line, several first and secondclass carriages left the line and turned over, the bodies being severed from the framework and wheels, the latter being driven much further than the carriages themselves; the ends of the carriages were driven in, and nothing remained uncrushed save the middle compartments, of which the cushions and rugs were driven about in utter confusion. Some idea of the violence of the shock and the ruin of the carriages may be formed from the fact that most of them had been turned quite round, and rested on the line in the direction the reverse of that in which they had been travelling. The passengers received dreadful injuries. A first-class carriage was crushed to fragments and dragged along the line. From among the ruins was drawn the mutilated corpse of a gentleman in the prime of life. He was so frightfully injured that it was difficult to recognise him. The front of his head was crushed in by a piece of iron, the ribs were all fractured and the chest crushed in, the flesh stripped from the right thigh, and the thigh and leg fractured in two places; his whole body was covered with cuts and bruises, into which the gravel and ballast had been forced. This unfortunate gentleman was found to be Dr. Baly, F.R.S., Physician Extraordinary to the Queen, in large practice, and held in the highest estimation. He was the only person killed by this disaster; but many were seriously injured. Mr. Turner, a linendraper of Portsea, was so much crushed about

the back and chest, that he could not be removed to London; three gentlemen had ribs broken; a lady of position was brought to town and placed in St. Thomas's Hospital; and others were greatly hurt about the head and limbs, but were conveyed to their own homes.

In the very thick of the disaster, the railway officials were distracted by the idea that one still greater might occur. The arrangement

of the trains at this time of the day is eminently dangerous. The train for Southampton starts just ten minutes before the Portsmouth train, a Kingston train just five minutes after it, and two other trains follow in quick succession. In addition, an up-train from Southampton is due at the Waterloo terminus at 6 P.M., and should pass the Epsom Junction at 5.45. While, therefore, the shattered fragments of the carriages and machinery, with the bleeding and mutilated passengers, were lying scattered over both lines of rails, in five minutes another train from London would run into and crush anew the ruins, and in ten minutes another from Southampton would complete the destruction, and would both probably be thrown off the rails and involved in the same calamity. The 5.15 Kingston train is always crowded. There is a system of signals at the junction, but the wires and machinery had been broken and rendered useless by the falling carriages. Under these terrible circumstances, the railway officials behaved with great prudence and energy. The driver of the engine, the moment he saw the disaster to his train, was struck by the reflection that the Southampton train was coming,

and that there were no means of stopping it. He therefore continued his course down the line, and at Maldon, two miles further, saw the express dashing towards London at full speed. By vioBy violently waving his red lamps, he attracted the attention of the engine-driver, and this possible disaster was averted by the promptness and decision of this subordinate officer, who then ran on to Kingston, and caused the disaster to be signalled down the line; he then returned with porters and medical assistance. In the meanwhile, the guard had ran back towards London to stop the 5.15 train, which he succeeded in doing so critically, that it was pulled up within 300 yards of the ruined carriages. No fewer than three trains had been despatched from London before the accident was known there, but the two last were stopped at Wimbledon.

Dr. Wyld, a passenger in the same carriage with Dr. Baly, gave a vivid description of what occurred :

"I observed that the gentleman who occupied the diagonal corner was of dark complexion and pale, and that immediately on taking his seat he covered his face with a white cambric handkerchief, as if intending to sleep. I took no further notice of him until I felt a certain bumping. I felt that it was utterly useless to move, and I therefore sat fast in the corner. I then perceived the gentleman in the diagonal corner stagger to his feet, apparently confused and only half awake. The next moment, the carriage began to heel over towards my side, and I instinctively seized hold of the partition between the seats with my left hand. I looked to the left, and

the

almost momentarily saw ground through a hole or chasm in the carriage. Immediately afterwards, the gentleman who had been in the diagonal corner fell backwards, his knees being drawn up towards his head, while his hands, instead of being convulsively extended, were held up about a foot from his face. I observed that his face was perfectly calm, wearing no expression of fear or pain. On falling, he instantly disappeared through the chasm. Whether the aperture was caused by the door being open, or the side of the carriage driven out, I could not tell; but the carriage was falling at the time, and was very near the ground. I did not hear the gentleman utter a cry or a sound. My belief is that, not being quite awake when the accident began, he rose up hurriedly and was precipitated through the chasm. I cannot say how far the carriage went, but my impression is that it must have caught him up and ground him on the gravel."

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The cause of this accident could not be ascertained with certainty; but some particulars were discovered by minute investigation, which, in the opinion of scientific persons, might have given rise to it. pointsman at the junction stated, that when the train appeared the points were fixed in their proper position for allowing it to pass along the main line; he accordingly held up his white hand-light (significant of safety) in one hand, while he kept the other pressed upon the lever which worked the points. As the front part of the train, either the engine or tender, passed, it struck the points, or one of them, with violence. On subsequent examination, it was found that one of the "wing-rails," or

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shifting rails, had been bent, as by a heavy blow. The wheels of one of the carriages in front of the guards' van had its axle bent upwards, so as to bring the flanges of its wheels below closer together, and one of them had a deep dent in it, as though it had struck violently against something. Another opinion was, that the accident was caused by some injury to the tender. On examination, one of its wheels presented a singular appearance. The wheels of railway-carriages, with a rim about one inch in thickness, are cast entire. Over this the tire, forged entire with the flange, is forced on while red-hot, and by its contraction in cooling fixes itself firmly on the rim, to which it is then further secured by screws or" studs,' which are passed through the substance of the rim, and to a certain depth in the tire. When the tire becomes worn or injured the studs are withdrawn, the tire forced off, reforged or repaired, and replaced as before. The wheel of the tender, in this case, had been subjected to this process; but it appeared that in replacing the studs the operation had been imperfectly performed; for, perhaps owing to the difficulty of getting the holes to coincide, the studs had not, at least in all cases, been driven to a sufficient depth in the tire. When the wheel was examined after the accident, it was found that the tire had been forced round the rim to the extent of 24 inches, the points of the studs bent and forced between the tire and the rim so as to make deep grooves. This, of course, would be the result and not the cause of the accident; which was no doubt owing to the obstruction which had operated with such tremendous

violence upon the tire: and this, probably, was to be sought for at the points. It was the opinion of Captain Yolland, C.E., the official Inspector of Railways, that the accident was due to neither of these causes, but to one of the carriages springing off the rails at a point where they had become narrower from some accidental cause, either by a rail becoming laminated, or by the effect of a recent repacking of the longitudinal sleepers. To any one who shall inspect the scene of this disaster, it will appear a miracle how any one passenger in the carriages which went over the embankment escaped with life. At this point, the main line and the old Bath road run side by side, the latter to the south; the Epsom line turns off from the main line at a curve to the south-westward ; both lines run along a high embankment.

In order, therefore, to allow the road to continue its course, an archway of singular construction is formed by bridges, which, with the embankments, form a hollow triangle. It was into this deep pit that the carriages and their unfortunate passengers were hurled.

The foresight and promptitude of the engine-driver, stoker, and guard, in preventing further catastrophes were so highly appreciated that a sum of 1581. was raised by subscription for their reward.

31. FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT IN SHEERNESS DOCKYARD.-A fatal accident occurred in the boilershop of the Government steam factory at Sheerness. This building is about 320 feet in length, 70 in width, and 60 in height, and is fitted with forges and machinery. Transversely in the building, at an elevation of about 40 feet from the floor, are erected

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