France and England have become very close neighbours during the past few months. The double "vent of King Edward's visit to their capital and Vresid: ent Loubst's to ours seems to have drawn us so close together, for the time being, that when one reads of a terrible catastrophe having happened in Paris one feels that it has occurred, s9 to speak, at our very dora.
Tu any cise a railway accident is a horrible experience, I assisted at a small one once and have never forgotten the shock it gave me; but I think an accident in an underground railway, quite in the dark between two stations, is infinitely more terrible than one above ground. In the present instience, in this Paris d master, through which 81 people have lost their lives, "additional sorrow rust be caused to the relatives and friends of the victims by the knowledge that had a little more judge ut been used by the drivers of the trains which caught fire the whole cate:
ight have been avert-a.
1g. to the Paris correspondent il" what happennd. just as a train was entering Barbes Station the driver heard an explosion and saw a great cloud of smoke issuing from under the motor Tino fire was quickly extingu shed and train proceeded on its way-a little further along the live, however, the moter again tok fire and this time' the flames ¢uld not be subdued; so the passengers alighted and got into another train which procredod behind the ove which was burning. Not only this, but another train heavily laden with passeng rs was ullowod t" follow i ately behind these. The only thing separating the burning train from the two was an empty one which wa:
ins it along. Just as the trains wore, at Couronne Station the firw motor exploded and the two trama were quickly covelopod in flames. The pass engers on both the othot trains wore toll to alight immediately, bul at first they did not apparently apprehend the danger {they we e in and remained in the carriage clamouring to have their fares returned, or to be taken on, Suddenly however, after the expl sion, the suffocating smoke reached thei and' panic ensued. In the awful rush through the dark tunnel, old me, women and children were trampled under four, and before the end the pile of duad lying against one wall close by the oven fact deep We have at had some dreadful accidents on our railways but I can never remember reading, of anything 60 horrible as this.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.