Railway Adventures and Anecdotes Part 12

had been left in the name of Hibbert; and notice was given that unless the horses were claimed on or before the 12th day of May, they would be sold to pay expenses. Accordingly on that day they were sold.

-_Household Words_.

RAILWAY EPIGRAM.

In 1845, during the discussions on the Midland lines before the Committee of the House of Commons, Mr. Hill, the Counsel, was addressing the Committee, when Sir John Rae Reid, who was a member of it, handed the following lines to the chairman:-

"Ye railway men, who mountains lower, Who level locks and valleys fill; Who thro' the _hills_ vast tunnels _bore_; Must now in turn be _bored by Hill_."

SINGULAR CIRc.u.mSTANCE.

A certain gentleman of large property, and who had figured, if he does not now figure, as a Railway Director, applied for shares in a certain projected railway. Fifty, it seems were allotted to him. Whether that was the number he applied for or not, deponent saith not; but by some means nothing (0) got added to the 50 and made it 500. The deposit for the said 500 was paid into the bankers', the scrip obtained, and before the mistake could be detected and corrected-for no doubt it was only a mistake, or at most a _lapsus pennae_-the shares were sold, and some 2000 profit by this very fortunate accident found its way into the pocket of the gentleman.

-_Herepath's Journal_, 1845.

LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE ENGLISH NAVVIES.

Whittlesea Will, William Elthorpe, from Cambridges.h.i.+re, had a large railway experience; during the construction of Longton Tunnel, he told me the following story:-"Ye see, Mr. Smith (Samuel Smith, of Woodberry Down), I was a ganger for Mr. Price on the Ma.r.s.eilles and Avignon Line in France, and I'd gangs of all nations to deal with. Well, I could not manage 'em nohow mixed-there were the Jarman Gang, the French Gang, the English, Scotch, and Irish Gangs, of course; the Belgic Gang, the Spanish Gang, and the Peamounter Gang-that's a Gang, d'ye see, that comes off the mountains somewhere towards Italy." "Oh, the Piedmontese, you mean."

"Well, you may call 'em Peedmant.e.e.ze if you like, but we call'd 'em Peamounters-and so at last I hit on the plan of putting each gang by itself; gangs o' nations, the Peamounter gang here, the Jarman gang there, and the Belgic gang there, and so on, and it worked capital, each gang worked against the other gang like good 'uns.

"Well one day our master, Mr. Price, gave the English gang a great entertainment at a sort of Tea Garden place, near Paris, called Maison Lafitte, and we were coming home along the road before dark-it was a summer's evening-singing and shouting pretty loud, I dare say, when a fat, oldish gentleman rode into the midst of us and pulling up said, taking off his hat-'I think you are English Navigators.' 'Well, and what if we are, old fellow, what's that to you?' 'Why, you are making a very great noise, and I noticed you did not make way for me, or salute me as we met, which is not polite-every one in France salutes a gentleman.

I've been in England, I like the English,' by this time his military attendants rode up, and seeing him alone in the midst of us were going to ride us down at once but the old boy beckoned with his hand for them to hold back, and continued his sarmont. 'I should wish you,' says he, quite pleasant, 'whilst you remain in France to be orderly, obliging, civil, and polite; it's always the best-now remember this: and here's something for you to remember Louis Philippe by;' putting his hand into his pocket, he pulled out what silver he had, I suppose, threw it among us, and rode off-but, my eyes, didn't we give him a cheer!"

ADVANTAGES OF RAILWAY-TUNNELS.

We cannot help repeating a narrative which we heard on one occasion, told with infinite gravity by a clergyman whose name we at once inquired about, and of whom we shall only say, that he is one of the worthiest and best sons of the kirk, and knows when to be serious as well as when to jest. "Don't tell me," said he to a simple-looking Highland brother, who had apparently made his first trial of railway travelling in coming up to the a.s.sembly-"don't tell me that tunnels on railways are an unmitigated evil: they serve high moral and aesthetical purposes. Only the other day I got into a railway carriage, and I had hardly taken my seat, when the train started. On looking up, I saw sitting opposite to me two of the most rabid dissenters in Scotland. I felt at once that there could be no pleasure for me in that journey, and with gloomy heart and countenance I leaned back in my corner. But all at once we plunged into a deep tunnel, black as night, and when we emerged at the other end, my brow was clear and my ill-humour was entirely dissipated. Shall I tell you how this came to be? All the way through the tunnel I was shaking my fists in the dissenters' faces, and making horrible mouths at them, and _that_ relieved me, and set me all right. Don't speak against tunnels again, my dear friend."

-_Fraser's Magazine_.

DAMAGES EASILY ADJUSTED.

It is related that the President of the Fitchburg Railroad, some thirty years ago, settled with a number of pa.s.sengers who had been wet but not seriously injured by the running off of a train into the river, by paying them from $5 to $20 each. One of them, a sailor, when his terms were asked, said:-"Well, you see, mister, when I was down in the water, I looked up to the bridge and calculated that we had fallen fifteen feet, so if you will pay me a dollar a foot I will call it square."

LIABILITIES OF RAILWAY ENGINEERS FOR THEIR ERRORS.

An action was tried before Mr. Justice Maule, July 30, 1846-the first case of the kind-which established the liability of railway engineers for the consequences of any errors they commit.

The action was brought by the Dudley and Madeley Company against Mr.

Giles, the engineer. They had paid him 4,000 for the preparation of the plans, etc., but when the time arrived for depositing them with the Board of Trade they were not completely ready. The scheme had consequently failed. This conduct of the defendant it was estimated had injured the company to the extent of 40,000. The counsel for the plaintiff did not claim damages to this amount, but would be content with such a sum as the jury should, under the circ.u.mstances, think the defendant ought to pay, as a penalty for the negligence of which he had been guilty. For Mr.

Giles, it was contended, that the jury ought not, at the worst, to find a verdict for more than 1,700, alleging that the remainder 2,300 had been paid by him in wages for work done, and materials used.

The jury, however, returned a verdict to the tune of 4,500, or 500 beyond the full sum paid him.

But, what said the judge? That "it was clear that the defendant had undertaken more work than he could complete, and that he should not be allowed to gratify with impunity, and to the injury of the plaintiffs, his desire to realise in a few months a fortune which should only be the result of the labour of years."

EXTRAORDINARY ACCIDENT.

Yesterday afternoon, as the Leeds train, which left that terminus at a quarter-past one o'clock, was approaching Rugby, and within four miles of that station, an umbrella behind the private carriage of Earl Zetland took fire, in consequence of a spark from the engine falling on it, and presently the imperial on the roof and the upper part of the carriage were in a blaze. Seated within it were the Countess of Zetland and her maid. The train was proceeding at the rate of forty miles an hour.

Under these circ.u.mstances, Her Ladys.h.i.+p and maid descended from the carriage to the truck, when-despite the caution to hold on given by a gentleman from a window of one of the railway carriages-the maid threw herself headlong on the rail, and was speedily lost sight of. On the arrival of the train at Rugby an engine was despatched along the line, when the young woman was found severely injured, and taken to the Infirmary at Leicester. Lady Zetland remained at Rugby, where she was joined by His Lords.h.i.+p and the family physician last night, by an express train from Euston-square. How long will railway companies delay establis.h.i.+ng a means of communication between pa.s.sengers and the guard?

-_Times_, Dec. 9th, 1847.

PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE.

On Monday, at the New Bailey, two men, named William Hatfield and Mark Clegg, the former an engine-driver and the latter a fireman in the employ of the London and North-Western Railway, were brought up before Mr.

Trafford, the stipendiary magistrate, and Captain Whittaker, charged with drunkenness and gross negligence in the discharge of their duty. Mr.

Wagstaff, solicitor, of Warrington, appeared on behalf of the Company, and from his statement and the evidence of the witnesses it appeared that the prisoners had charge of the night mail train from Liverpool to London, on Sat.u.r.day, December 25, 1847. The number of carriages and pa.s.sengers was not stated, but the pointsman at the Warrington junction being at his post, waiting for the train, was surprised to hear it coming at a very rapid rate. He had been preparing to turn the points in order to shunt the train on to the Warrington junction, but as the train did not diminish in speed, but rather increased as it approached, he, antic.i.p.ating great danger if he should turn the points, determined on the instant upon letting the train take its course, and not turning them.

Most fortunate was it that he exercised so much judgment and sagacity, for, in consequence of the acuteness of the curve at Warrington junction and the tremendous rate at which the train was proceeding-not less than forty miles an hour-it does not appear that anything could have otherwise prevented the train from being overturned, and a frightful sacrifice of human life ensuing. Meantime the train continued its frightful progress; but the mail guard seated at the end of the train, perceiving that it was going on towards Manchester, instead of staying at the junction, signalled to the engine-driver and fireman, but without effect, no notice whatever being taken of the signal. Finding this to be the case, he, at very considerable risk, pa.s.sed over from carriage to carriage till he reached the engine, where he found both the prisoners lying drunk. At length, at Patricroft, however, he succeeded in stopping the train just before it reached that station, a distance of 14 miles from Warrington.

This again appears to be almost a miraculous circ.u.mstance, for at the Patricroft station, on the same line as that on which the mail train was running was another train, containing a number of pa.s.sengers, who thus escaped from the consequences of a dreadful collision. The prisoners were, of course, immediately given into custody, and convoyed to the New Bailey prison, while, other a.s.sistance being obtained, the train was taken back again to Warrington junction. The regulation is in consequence of the sharp curve at this junction, that the trains shall not run more than five miles an hour. The bench sentenced both prisoners to two months hard labour.

-_Manchester Examiner_.

HIS PORTMANTEAU.