SERIOUS AND FATAL ACCIDENT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 154, 14 May 1862, Page 4

SERIOUS AND FATAL ACCIDENT

ON THE ■■' MELBOURNE AND SUBURBAN RAILWAY. The following account of a serious accident on the Melbourne and Suburban Railway has been kindly furnished to. mby Mr. Lawson, a passenger by the Aldinga. The accident occurred on the morning that the Aldinga left Melbourne:— About 10 a.m. on the Bth instant, as the ordinary train was leavingthe Melbourne Terminus, somewhat after time, the express return train from Brighton came into contact with it just before it reached the double line of rails at the Jolirriont Crossing, A fearful concussion took place, by which about 20 persons were seriously wounded—one, Mr. Hayman, importer of jewellery, &c, since dead. Mr. M'l^echnie, of Minder.rsrStreet, had bqth hi 3 legs cut off, and others are in the hospital with legs, arms, or bodies seriously wounded. The rails being wet at the time, a" heavy fall of rain having taken place during the night, and then continuing, the breaks could not be made to act sufficiently to check the speed of either train, although the distance at which each saw the ; other would, ' under other circumstances, have been sufficient to accomplish this. The outgoing train was going at full speed in its endeavor to gain the dquble rails, ar»J a few more yards y/onld hayp placed both trains in safety, had it heerj possible to check the express, . So great was the force with which they met that the two engines were completely wrecked, and remained atter the accident elevated on end confusedly locked - together. The carriages were totally destroyed, and the remains of the entire trains may be fittingly designated as a mass of rubbish. So great was the confusion prevailing throughout Melbourne for some time after the accident, that few particulars could begleaned of a reliable nature. The above, is however, well authenticated. The late changes in the arrivals an.d de* partures of the several trains consequent pn the amalgamation of the Suburban and Brighton Railways, has led to much temporary confusion in their working, and from ' this source, and not from any particular culpability of the drivers the accident, hssarisen. A Windfall.—By the late mail inforraatKHi has reached Creswick that Edward John Fitzmayer, who for some time_ past has been engaged at Mr. T. HassaUYfara, G-lendaruel, has, by the decease of n relative, come into landed and personal property at Ripon, in Yorkshire, to the value of £4,300. The lucky receipent now soerns like a fish out of water, and appears scarcely fo know what to do ■with his fortune.— Creswiclt Advert ieer, May 10.