SCOTLAND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 318, 26 December 1862, Page 5

SCOTLAND.

DREADFUL RAILWAY ACOIDBNT. One of the most disastrous railway accidents tbat have ever occurred in Scotland took place on the 13th of October near Winehburg, on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. The accident was caused by a collision between the pas«enger train leaving Edinburgh for the north at 6 o'clock in the evening and the ordinary passenger train which left Glasgow at 5 o'clock. It appears that for some time past repairs have been making on a portion of the line between Winehburg and Linlithgow, and during the repairs ijthe trains had been running there on a single line for a short distance. The Edinburgh train, not having stopped atWinchburgh, was ran- ! nitig at a fair, but not unusual rate of speed due ' we3t; the Glasgow train, having to stop at Winch- i burgh, and being a Patliamentary train, was running probably at a less speed, but due ease. They were on the same line of rails, and the shock of the collision may be conceived. The engines dashed into each other with the force of a thunderclap; then reared on end and stood fixed, with their forewheels elevated, funnel to funnel. The shock and the stoppage drove the carriages into the air, and they bounded like Hying things, one on the top of the other, till the pile, as spectators tell us, was a3 high as a three story house. All this was in the first gloom of night, and in a deep and dark cutting, with sharp rocks on each side. Presently the furn.«ces of the engines set fire to the carriages, and thick clouds of smoke rolltdovtr the mass of rain. The lamp 3 had been extinguished, and except for the flakes of flame from the burning heaps, nothing could be distinctly discerned. In the long history of railway accidents there is no scene more terrible than this. Its single relieving feature is to be found in ' the proximity of a city from whi h assistance of every kind, and medical aid especially, could be quickly obtained. The telegraph brought a strong staff of surgeons to the spot, the smoking ruins were exca-. vated for the dead and dying, and while the lulled were despatched to Edinburgh, the wounded were treated on the spot, as on a battle-field. The total loss, cannot yet be computed. Eleven dead bodies were dug out at once, and seven have since bear" added to the score. As even the lighter of the two trains had two third-class carriages full of passengers, it may be conceived how many lives were put in peril, and how fearful was the scope for havoc. In all, between a hundred end a hundred and fifty were injured. O/;« gentleman bad a compound fracture of the iKfc leg-, and a lady a compound fracture of the right leg; A traveller from Glasgow was teverely burned, with his wife, and another from Aberdeen was so scalded that his outer skin came off from head to foot. A whole crWd had injuries al=out the head The excitement caused in Edinburgh and Glasgow 1 when the news of the accident spread through the cities was very great. At Edinburgh, to Which tie chief portion otthe dead and wounded were brought, - , dense crowds •uwundeds|he station, and the scene , lUvrtlyUfow «M4BiSU%M wort iWkutf, Aa tl»

| several special trains arrive,! ficonx the disai-" ..*?.!■ au &P£«%g,, index 4 of its extent wus £i'ea Tiie dead bodies were taken to the police-officel, and the more severely wjurel were conveyo I away through the crowd upon stre'ehprs Th->%e,whose bruises were less benous were eagerly surround- d and pre&sftl with questions by mauy who had friends or reiatidus among Hut sufferers, and several were to be seen limping away. 1" with cut f ices a'ld blood-soiled garments, each tne' centre of an anxious and inquisitive ciowd. In calling for a strict investigation into the above ternhc accident, the Times $m:—' The first point to be noted will concern the arrangements actually made for the conduct of the traffic under cireum-' stances so exceptional and dangerous. We should like to understand exactly the provision which had been male for the security of trains .timed to traverse the same line of rails at so nearly the same moment. We catmot see at present that anything is due to irre-Ti-lariry of arrivals. The Edinburgh train seems" to have been punctual, the Glasgow train ran hardly, at the outset, 'save been 3 minutes late. In. fact, as far as we can discover, it was the likeliest thing in the world that the two.trims should have been just about where they actually were at the moment they c.ime intocolision. What, then, was the precaution taken against this very possible contingency] Was it a sufficient precaution, and was margin enough allowed for delays or other irregularities necessarily\o be _ anticipated 1 Supposing these questions to be satisfactorily answered, as we dare say they will be, we should then wish to know by what means or by whose fault the precautions were rendered of no avail. We see that a pointsman has been apprehended, but we also see that this pointsman was said to have been 'new1 to his duties;' whereas, such duties, we should think, would be too important for an inexperienced hand. It may gpem somewhat surprising that the accident was not prevented or mitigated by efforts on the part of the engine-drivers, but the evening was gloomy, there was a curve in the line, and when the two trains did come in sight of each other there was a littla to be done. That little however, was probably attempted. The driver and stoker of the Ediburgh train, were both killed on the spot, but, though the-latter was found shockingly crushed between the tender and the engine, his hand still grasped the handle which shuts off the steam."

The Yelverton marriage case, which has excited European attention and to which additional interest was given by the decision of Lord Ardmillan last Bession, is. it is said, set down for hearing by the judges of the First Division for the 4th November. Some months ago an effort was made in Edinburgh to obtain the sanction of the Lords of the Treasury "to the opening of the Itoyal Botanic Gardens there on bunday afternoons, after the hours of Divine service. A petition to that effect was got up, and was signed by 14,000 persons, chiefly of the working classes. The movement waa instantly provocative of counter demonstrations, and the established and free Presbyteries of Edinburgh, and other ecclesiastical bodies sent up petitions praying that the garden should remain Closed as at present. This movement was folio wed up by a public meeting, which was held on 6th Oct. and was crowded to excess. The Lord Provost presided, and ministers of all the Presbyterian and of several other denominations appeared on the platform. It was previously announced that, as the meeting had been called as one opposed to the opening, no amendment would be received ; and, with a few dissentient voices', resolutions were passed expressing regret and aiarm that the garden should be sought to be opened on the Lords-day, being already open to all classes of the community without charge every lawful day, and setting forth that such a proposal was opposed not only to the Divine commaudment, but to the law and usages of Scotland, and to the convictions and feelings of the majority of the Scottish people: and .that, setting aside the authority of the Sabbath us a Divine institution would remove the only efficient barrier which protects the working roan from uninterrupte 1 lahor. Amoag the speakers were the Rev Dm Muir, Guthrie, Thomson, and Beg?, and several of the city magistrates. The proposal was specially resisted on the grounds that it threatened to be only the commencement of a series- of innovations, that it was prompted from the metropolis and did not originate at home, and that the abettors of it, would nob come forward and avow themselves. It was agreed to transmit a memorial in terms of the resolutions to the Lords of the Treasury, and the determination was expressed to resist to the utmost the attempted innovation. .

The Scotsman says that Lord Ivory has come to the decision not to resume his seat as a judge in the Court of .Session. " The cause of his retirement is not present ill-health, but rather apprehension that his health would fail if he were again to attempt the arduous work of the First Division. An accident of a very serious nature has befallen Mr J. Montgomerie Bell, the sheriff of Kincardineshire. Mr Bell has been residing during the summer at Linwood, near Mid-Caldee, and the other day he mounted at the door of his house there, a spirited hope. Scarcely was he seated on its back when, the animal became unmanageable and dashed away down the lawn in front of the house. Its progress in this direction being arrested by a wire fence, the excited animal turned round and galloped at the top of its speed towards its stable, where Mr Bell was thrown off, his head coming in contact with a stone wall. The unfortunate gentleman was carried home insensible. It seems there is great reason to fear fracture of the skull. [Since this was written Mr Bell has died from the injuries he sustained.] A respite has been granted to the unfortunate woman M'Lauchlan, who is under sentence of death for the murder of Jessie M'Pherson at Glasgow. The pressure ofpublic opinion which was brought to bear upon the Home Secretary in reference to this case induced him to delay the execution to the Ist of November, in order that full aud close examination might be made into the truth of the prisoner's statement as to the murder being committed in her presence by the old man Fleming. If that examination does not result in establishing tns truth of the statement, the execution will take place. The commissioner appointed to conduct the examination has sent in his report; but it is not known what the tenor of that report if.