Railway Adventures and Anecdotes: Extending over More Than Fifty Years
History
Railway Adventures and Anecdotes: Extending over More Than Fifty Years
Railroads
“From Lady W—, who was in the duke’s carriage, and within three yards of
the spot where the accident happened, I had the following details, the
horror of witnessing which we were spared through our situation behind
the great carriage. The engine had stopped to take in a supply of water,
and several of the gentlemen in the directors’ carriage had jumped out to
look about them. Lord W—, Count Batthyany, Count Matuscenitz, and Mr.
Huskisson among the rest 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 speed, was seen coming down upon them like lightning. The
most active of those in peril sprang back into their seats; Lord W— saved
his life only by rushing behind the duke’s carriage, Count Matuscenitz
had 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: Clear the track!’ that resounded on all sides, completely lost
his head, looked helplessly to the right and left, and was
instantaneously 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— 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 a word uttered among the
immediate spectators of the catastrophe. Lord W— was the first to raise
the poor sufferer, and calling to his aid his surgical skill, which is
considerable, he tied up the severed artery, and for a time at least,
prevented death by a loss of blood. Mr. Huskisson was then placed in a
carriage with his wife and Lord W—, and the engine having been detached
from the directors’ carriage, conveyed them to Manchester. So great was
the shock produced on the whole party by this event that the Duke of
Wellington declared his intention not to proceed, but to return
immediately to Liverpool. However, upon its being represented to him
that the whole population of Manchester had turned out to witness the
procession, and 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, but Lady 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 circle; and yet great as was the
horror excited by it, I could not help feeling how evanescent the effect
of it was, after all. The shuddering terror of seeing our
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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