THE FIRST RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2561, 22 March 1877, Page 3

THE FIRST RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

I will tell you something of the events on the 15th, as, though you may be acquainted-with'the circumstances of poor Mr Huskisson's death, none but an eyewitness of the' whole scene can form a conception of it. I told you that we had had places given to us, and it was the main purpose of our returning from Birmingham to Manchester to be present at what promised to be cne of the most "striking-events in the scientific annals of 1 our country. We started on Wednesday last, to the number .of about eight

hundred people, in carriages constructed as I before described to you. The most intense curiosity and excitement'prevailed, and, though the weather was uncertain, enormous masses of densely packed people lined the road, shouting and waving hats and handkerchiefs as we flew by them. What with the eight and sound of these cheering - multitudes, and the tremendous velocity ■with which we were borne past them, my spirits rose to the true champagne height, and I never enjoyed anything so much as the first hour of our progress. I had been unluckily separated from my mother in the first distribution 'of places, but by ■an exchange of seats which we were enabled to make she rejoined me when I •was at the height of.my ecstasy, which P» was considerably damped by finding that she was, frightened to death, and intent . Upon nothing but devising means of escaping from a situation which appeared to her to.threaten with instant annihila . tion herself and -all her travelling companions. ' While ' I was chewing the* cud 6f~ this disappointment, which * .was' rather bitter, as I had expected her to be'as delighted-as myself with our excursion.a man flew, by us, calling out 'through a' speaking-trumpet to stop the for that somebody in the directors' carriage had sustained an injury. We ' were, all stopped according, aud presently "a hundred voices were.'heard exclaiming that. Mr, Huskisson was killed. The confusion that ensued was indescribable, .and-calling out from-carriage. to carriage toascertain-the truth, the contrary reports .which were sent back to us, the' hundred -questions eagerly uttered at once, and the repeated and urgent demands for surgical, assistance/created a sudden turmoil that Was ' quite "Sickening. At last we distinctly ascertained that -the .unfortunate jjoan's thigh was broken. \From Lady, W- —r*, who was in "the duke's carriage andjwithin three yards of the spot where Ihe.accident happened, I had the following, -details, it'ie horror of witnessing ,w,hich we were spared'through out situation behind * the great carriage.^ The engine had stopped to take in a supply of water, and several-of thegentlemenin the directors'carriage had jumped out to Jook wbout th6m. Lord W , Count B'atthyanriy, f Count Matuscenitz, and Mr". Huskisson"among the resf'were standing talking,in the^middle of the road, when an-engine on the other line, which, was parading up and down merely to show its ,»nefcd, t was seen cpming down like lightning. ' The jnost,active of all those in.peril sprang baclc into their seats; Lord W saved his life only by rushing behind the duke's carriage, and Count Matuscenitz Eajdr but just leaped into it, with the engine all but touching his heels, as he did so ;. while poor Mr Huskisson, less active from the effects of age and ill-health, bewildered too by the frantic cries of " Stop the (engine I Clear the track I " that resounded on all sides, completely lost his head, looked helplessly to the right and left} and Was instantly prostrated by the fatal "machine, which dashed down like a thunderbolt upon him, and passed over his leg, 'smashing and. mangling it in the most horrible way. (Lady W 1 said she distinctly ,heard the crushing of the bone.) So terrible was the effect of' the appalling,.-accident that, except that ghastly " crushing " and poor Mrs Huskisson's piercing shriek, not a sound was heard or«, word uttered among the immediate spectators of the catastrophe. Lord - W—— was the first to raise the poof sufferer, and calling to aid his surgical skill, which is considerable, he tied up the .severed artery, and for a time, at least, i pre'rented death by loss pf blood. Mr Muskisson was .then plaeedin a carriage wfoh his'wife and Lord~ W , and the engine having been detatched from the directors" carriage conveyed them to Manchester. ' 80 great was the shock produced upon thewhole party bj this event that the Duke. of--Wellington declared his intention'nofclo proceed, but to return immediatelyito Liverpool. However, upen its being represented to him that the whole population of Manchester had turned out to witness the profession, aud that a. disappointment might give rise to riots and disturbances; he consented to go on,' and gloomily enough, the rest of the journey was • accomplished. We had intended returning to Liverpool by the railroad, butrLady W ', who seized upon me in the midst of the crowd, persuaded .us to accompany her home, which we gladly did. Lord W did not return till past ten o'clock, at which hour he brought the intelligence of Mr Huskisson's death. I need not tell you of the sort of whispering awe which this event threw over our whole "circle : and yet, great as was the horror excited by it, I could not help feeling how evanescent the impression of it was, after all. The shuddering terror of seeing our fellow-creature thus struck" down by our side t and , breathless thankfulness for our own preservation rendered the first evening of our party at Heatoh almost solemn ; but the next day the occurrence became- a subject of earnest, it is true", but free discussion : and after" that;, was alluded to with almost . as little apparent feeling as if it had not passed under our eye's, and within the space of a few.hoiirs.—'Atlantic Monthly.