"Black Xmas."

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 220, 28 December 1910, Page 5

"Black Xmas."

.FATALITIES THE WORLD OVER TERRIBLE RAILWAY SMASH AT HOME. \ By Cabte-rEw* ABBocia*i<»-Gopyno*. London, November 24. The Glasgow express came into collision at Hawes, in Yorkshire. Two carriage* were telescoped and took fire. Two passengers were killed and 25 injured. HOLIDAY-MAKERS' HOLOCAUST. EXCURSION TRAIN ON FIRE. London, December 24. Details of the accident to the Midland express at Hawes show that 600 holidaymakers were aboard fro* train, which was running at sixty miles an hour. It overtook two light engines, going at twenty miles an hour, which had been assisting southward-bound trains. There was a terrific impact, the light engines being carried ISO yards. The two locomotives drawing the express jumped the metals, and were fiung over the embankment. A fire started in the restauranter, and the train was soon ablaze, the carriages being reduced to ashes, and only the ironwork left. There was a scene of the utmost horror. The accident occurred in darkness, and in a wild mountainous region of the Penaine Chain. Tie .cries ef the injured, imprisoned in toe blazing carnages, and amid the hissing steam of the four overturned engines, added to the horror. At least nine persons were killed, and the bodies were mostly unrecognisable. A young married couple, peuned among the debris, saw their five-months-old INFANT BURNED TO DEATH before their eyes, but the couple themselves were saved. Owing to the number of tragedies during Christmas week, 1010, it has been named "Black Christmas," FURTHER PARTICULARS. London, December 25. The fire which destroyed the train is attributed to an explosion of gas in the tank. A high wind fanned the flames. .' The rearmost carriages, becoming .uncoupled, were saved. The driy«r and firemen of the express marvellously escaped with minor injuries. Rescuers feverishly tried to rescue a medical student. The fires crept up to where he was pinned, and the student thanked his would-be rescuers, and sent a message to his mother ere the fire silenced his voice ior ever. RADLWAY FATALITY. THE INQUEST. Received 27, 10.55 pjn. ,~* , London, December 27. At the inquest on the victims of the Hawes accident, it was stated that ten deaths had been traced, though the Midland Company was .notified that twelve were missing. The company admitted responsibility, and promised that reasonable claims would be dealt with promptly. The inquest was adjourned till Thursday, after the identification of the bodies.

The newspapers comment on the danger of the highly inflammable gas cylinders beneath the coaches used on the principal railways, though electric lighting has been substituted on some longdistance expresses. * FATAL FRENCH 00LLISION6. Paris, December 24. As a result of railway collisions at Bordeaux and Motereeu, four were killed and sixty injured. STEAMER'S CREW DROWNED. Madrid, December 24. The French steamer Jeanne Conseft was sunk by collision with a Spanish steamer near Alicante. Only one of the crew was saved, 28 being drowned. POWDER <CHEST EXPLOSION. Paris, December 24. A powder chest aboard the steamer Villedoran blew up. Twejve were killed and fifteen injured CHILDREN KILLED. London, December 25. As a party of children were crossing the Great Central line at Bolsover, after a cinematograph entertainment, a passenger train ran them down and lulled four. ON THE CONTINENT. FATAL EXPLOSION IN GERMANY. - „ Berlin, December 23. By an explosion at the Kelheim celluloid factory five were killed and two seriously injured RUSSIAN FATALITIES. St. Petersburg, December 23. An explosion of compressed hydrogen occurred at the Ijora Admiralty works. Buildings were wrecked, three people killed and 10 injured.

DROWNING CASES IX AUSTRALIA. Brisbane, December 26. Ethel Nicholson, whilst bathing in the Brisbane river, got out of her depth. Her father went to her assistance, and both were drowned, neither being able to swim. Ruby Oxford was drowned in the surf at Burleigh Heads. Sydney, December 26. Five people were bathing at Moonee, near CoftV Harbor, and were carried out by the undertow. Four were drowned, their names being Misses H. and B. McKenzie, Miss Herd, and Taylor, junr. SUPPOSED DROWNING. By Telegraph.—Pros Association. Reefton, Monday. Heavy rain on Christmas Day caused the rivers to flood. Two men, James Billett and William Whittaker, the latter a Tasmanian, went to the former's farm, across the tnangahua, in a boat. While returning this filled and went down. Billett could not swim, but stuck to the boat, and was washed down on to a eandspit, staying there all night. Whittaker, who was a good swimmer, was last seen swimming up stream. It is supposed he was drowned FOUND DROWNED. Christchurch, Saturday.. All doubts as to the fate of Stephen Burffeu, who disappeared from Kaiapoi on Monday, were set at rest by the finding of the body floating in the river today. It seems certain from enquiries made that Burgess had suffered from an internal complaint, for which he had undergone an operation, and decided on a second. SERIOUS HORSE ACCIDENT.

with a serious accident yesterday. She was riding a horse, which stumbled and turned a somersault, falling on her chest. No bones were broken, but she is suffering from concussion of the spine. Her condition is not considered dangerous. OCTOGENARIANS DEATH. Dunedin, Sunday. Thomas Kirkwood, eighty years of age, died very suddenly at Port Chalmers yesterday afternoon. He had not been attended by a doctor, but death is supposed to be due to senile decay. CARRIER'S SKULL FRACTURED. Wellington, Tuesday. While driving an express in the city on Saturday afternoon, Alfred Baker, a carrier, thirty-six years of age, residing in Mulgrave-street, fell from his vehicle. He sustained a fracture of the skull. Baker was admitted to the hospital, and was progressing favorably yesterday, having recovered consciousness during the afternoon.

A GUN ACCIDENT. Wellington, Tuesday. A single man named Leonard Shaw was admitted to the hospital yesterday afternoon suffering .from a" gunshot woand in his left foot. Shaw met with the accident while rabbit shooting. DROWNING CASE AT AtJOKLAND. Auckland, Tuesday. The body of Alice Heaps, .the wife of Ernest Heaps, was found in'the harbor this morning. She had been melancholy lately, and had threatened to do away with herself. She went to Toed-as usual last night, but had disappeared by morning. She was at one time an inmate of an asylum. TWO LADIES INJURED. ' Palmerston N., Last Night. Following upon a sensational runaway on Christmas Eve, the ladies, Mesdames Thompson and Mallett, were thrown from the trap. Mrs. Thompson received injuries necessitating surgical attendance, and Mrs. Mallett had her chest injured. \ ——— COUPLE BURNED TO DEATH. Dargaville, Last Night. Information was received here this morning that a man and his wife, named Davis, were burned to death at Tokatoka. Their house caught fire while they were asleep in bed. No further particulars are available yet.