10 JUNE 1865, Page 1

Another accident which might have been equally serious occurred on

Tuesday between Salford and Keynsham, near Bristol. The down passenger train had been stopped for the driver to examine his crank axle when the mail train was heard coming up. It was evident that a collision was certain, and the passengers, who were all locked in, begged to be let out. The driver, however, with true railway carelessness, refused, and the mail train crashed in, breaking one man's leg ind wounding many more. Four in a first-class compartment nearest the horsebox would have been killed on the spot, but one Of their number had a railway key, and opened the door for the remainder to leap out. It is thirty years since Sydney Smith protested against the murderous practice of locking the doors of railway carriages, but nothing short of a ham- mer can drive an idea into a director's head. If juries will do their duty, and put on an extra fine of say 2,000/. for every life taken by directors in movable cells of this kind, the practice may possibly be discontinued.