This morning we receive news in London of a truly
"terrible" accident which happened on Wednesday. An ordinary passenger-train, from Shef- field to Retford, had not advanced four miles from the starting-place before it ran off the line, tore up the rails for some distance, and then the engine dashed down the embankment, fifty feet high, on one side, while the car- riages rolled over on the other. The guard was killed on the spot, the en- gine-driver was buried under the engine, and the stoker escaped from the same unpleasant place. John Gosling, a passenger, describes how he rescued himself from the overturned carriages, and what he saw and did afterwards. " When we re- covered ourselves we tried to get out, but could only do so by breaking the glass of the window with an umbrella. On getting out we could see nothing, for it was very dark, and we shouted out, but received no answer until we got on to the to of the embankment ; where we found William Lee, the stoker ; who told us to keep off, for he expected the engine-boiler to burst every minute, and he also said there was another train due from Retford. He then took off and ran on the line, but I believe he did not know which road he was going—whether to Sheffield or the Woodhouse junction. I then directed two of the passengers to proceed towards the junction to stop the train which was due from Retford. I remained on the spot for some time by myself, as I thought ; and kept calling out, and ultimately found the fourth passenger who complained of having been shaken, and of his fingers being cut ; but I told him not to mind his fingers. Seeing a light at a dis- tance, we went in that direction, and found it to be the residence of Mr. Smith, solicitor; who kindly furnished us with matches, candles, &c., and accompanied us to the spot. We then found a lamp, which we lighted, and on looking round found the guard dead in a sitting position. I felt his arm, but it was cold, and bad not the slightest pulsation. One of the buffers was pressed against his chest, and his back was ,lambed against another carriage. We tried, but could not release him. We then went to the engine, on the other side of the line, and found the driver with his legs under the fire-box. He was sensible, and begged of us to lift it [the engine] up ; we tried to release him, but found we could not. We then went for some assistance to dig him out ; it soon arrived, and he was got out and taken to the Wood- house Junction Inn."
William Lee, the stoker, found himself "under the engine," and he crept out between the driving-wheel and another wheel. The poor fellow was much hurt, but his courage did not forsake him. "I looked around, but could see neither guard nor driver. I afterwards saw Gosling, one of the passengers; but I was so affected with being scalded and stunned, that I scarcely knew what I was about. I then determined to go to the Woodhouse junction; but, instead of doing so, by mistake I took the road to Sheffield, whither I ran as fast as I was able all the way. On arriving there I pro- cured the pilot engine belonging to the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln- shire Railway, and again proceeded to the spot. When we got there, some persons had dug poor Wright out and conveyed him away to the Woodhouse junction. He had been found under the engine, completely imbedded in the sand. I proceeded to Woodhouse junction, and there saw Wright with both his legs burnt to a cinder, and almost off. He had been smashed down under the fire-box. When I found Tuck wood, he was apparently sitting composedly at the bottom of the embankment, but quite dead." Wright, the engine-driver, did not die until Thursday evening; enduring the most exquisite agonies. He has left a wife, and a child by a former wife. It is stated that about two months ago he ran his engine into another, at Leeds, for which he was suspended, and that this fatal Wednesday was first day on which he had resumed work.
Tuckwood, the guard, was a Londoner, and only twenty-four years of age : he had been married only a few months.
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