Transcribed by Emily Smith. Geo. Carlisle Patriot Friday, August 13th, 1880 A MIDLAND TRAIN WRECKED. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ SEVEN PERSONS KILLED AND TWENTY INJURED. We regret to say that on Wednesday a dreadful accident happened on the Midland Railway, not far from Lancaster, by which at least seven persons were killed and twenty-four injured. The exact scene of the second catastrophe is Wennington Junction, a small station on the Midland line near Settle, in North-West Yorkshire. At this junction the local line from Lancaster to Skipton joins the London and North-Western main line to Carlisle. The train which met with the accident was that leaving Leeds at a quarter past noon for Carnforth and the Lake District. It consisted of engine and tender, guard's van, seven carriages, and then the rear guard's van. The train was fairly well filled, most of the passengers being from Leeds and Bradford, and bound to the Lake District to spend their holidays. Four of the carriages are believed to have been first-class carriages, and the remainder third, there being no second-glass carriages on the Midland Railway. All went well until the train had passed Wennington, about twelve miles north of Lancaster, where the line becomes single. The train did not stop at Wennington, and when it had got three or four hundred yards on the south side, and was taking the facing points to run on the single line, the engine struck the points and at one left the rails. The train, which was going at the rate of 35 miles an hour, ran for some distance, ploughing up the permanent way until it came to a bridge crossing the railway, when the carriage next the engine struck against the buttress of the bridge on the north side and was smashed to atoms, the carriage next to it telescoped into to it, the remaining carriages piling on the top of the wreck of the first two. The engine was thrown across the line, the rails were bent and twisted in an extraordinary way. After the confusion consequent on the accident had subsided, telegrams were sent to Lancaster and Morecambe, with a request to send all medical assistance possible. In a short time about a dozen medical men arrived by special train, and rendered all possible assistance to the injured, the bulk of whom had been removed from the wreck and placed on the side of the embankment. A young woman with a child in her arms was removed to Wennington, but the woman died soon after reaching the house to which they had been sent. The following is a list of the killed: Joseph STEWART, potato dealer, Morecambe. Miss MITCHELL, Hawkcliffe House, Keighley. Mr. MITCHELL, brother of the above named. Mrs. McKENNA, beerhouse keeper, Armley, Skipton. William McKENNA, son of the above, aged 8 months. A woman at present unidentified. A woman discovered among the wreck. Seven of the more seriously injured were taken on to Lancaster by special train, arriving about 6 p.m. Medical men were awaiting, and the injured were conveyed on stretchers to Lancaster Infirmary. It was found that three women were suffering from fractured legs and thighs; another from severe injury to the knees. A boy, aged 16, sustained concussion of the brain, and two other boys were injured about the legs. Mr. George HASTINGS, brother of the Rev. Samuel HASTINGS, of Halton, suffered a bad fracture of both legs and was brought on to Halton from Lancaster. It seems that at Wennington the wheels of the engine struck the angle of the "crossing," mounted the rails, and ran off the line, disconnecting itself from the tender and the rest of the train. The speed at which it was going impelled it for some distance along the main line, and after ploughing up the permanent way, it came to a stand in the six foot way athwart both lines of rails. All the carriages were more or less broken up and strewn about both up and down lines, completely blocking the traffic. The driver named WHITCOCK, and FLETCHER , his stoker, both living at Skipton, stuck to their posts and miraculously escaped. They proceeded at once to render assistance to the passengers. The Wennington station master, at the request of the guard, MORRIS, promptly stopped all approaching trains, and shortly after the disaster a gang of platelayers and other railway officials was collected. These men, with the assistance of the uninjured passengers, commenced to extricate those who were under or in the vehicles. Within a short space of time the dead bodies of six persons were taken out. One of these was that of a baby, apparently five or six months old, near whom was lying the body of a boy of eleven or twelve years of age. The dead were carried to an hotel at Wennington, and the injured were conveyed to the infirmary at Lancaster. Eight medical men were sent by special train from the town, and they gave all the aid in their power to the sufferers. Several remarkable escapes are noticeable. Four men who got into the train at the station next above Wennington, escaped, and some fellow passengers in the next compartment were injured. Among the injured is a brother of the Rev. S. HASTINGS, rector of Halton, who was returning from a long absence in China, and who was but seven miles from his brother's home when the accident happened. He was in a first-class carriage, and was pitched up with his back against the parapet of the bridge, while his legs were crushed and broken between the cross-beams of his own and the following carriage. Below him was a young woman, fast jammed in a carriage, her legs being broken, and her infant dead on her lap. One of the killed was found with a remnant of a pack of cards in his hand, some of which had been thrown against the bridge, and had remained in some ivy on the wall. A passenger by the train gave the following narrative—"I was looking out of the carriage window at the time when the train gave a jolt, and then kept jumping along just before it got to the railway bridge. I jumped out, and immediately afterwards the carriage struck the bridge, smashing it to matchwood, and two passengers who were in the same compartment as myself were amongst those killed. The carriages ran one into the other, then piled at the embankment. I don't know exactly how many carriages there were in the train, but I think the one I was in was next but one to the engine." Later particulars state that the injured are progressing favourably. All the injuries are serious, two or three especially so; but it cannot be ascertained how the cases are likely to terminate. The following is a list of those at the Infirmary, with their injuries:— Frederick MITCHELL, 11 years; fracture and injury to right leg. Mrs. MITCHELL, his mother; general shock to the system. Eliza COLE, servant; fracture of right thigh. Samuel Edward McKENNA, three years; bad concussion. William McKenna, fracture of thigh, and loss of toes. The two last named are brothers, and sons of Mrs. KcKENNA, who was killed. Maud SHEPHERD, 12 years, Swinton; double fracture of right leg. Grace Ann PEARCE of Minker Green, Armley; fracture of both thighs and internal injuries. The above all suffer seriously from general shock. Mr. Wm. BRADSHAW, commercial traveler, Westbourne Terrace, Lancaster, received a bruise on the leg. A woman residing at Morecambe was injured in the shoulder, but after having the would dressed was able to proceed home. -- Emily Smith