Attempted railway wrecking at Neepsend

[retep]

Here's another newspaper snippett.

Sept. 1889

Attempted Railway Wrecking,

At the Sheffield Police Court yesterday, five little boys, named Charles Justice, Willie Skelton, John Colton, Joseph Lacey and Ernest Green,

were charged on remand with causing obstruction on the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln Company's line at Neepsend.

Mr. Hawkins, of Manchester, who appeared for the company, stated that on the twenty first of August an engine driver, employed by the company,

was driving a train from Penistone to Sheffield, and as he was passing the distance signal at Neepsend he noticed the signal board pulled off,

and he also saw that when he had passed it was not set at danger as usual--that it could not move, in fact.

At the same time he looked on to the down line and there noticed two platelayer's bars and two or three beater's sticks put inside the four-foot way of the down line.

Two of the bars were placed across the line, one across each metal, and the two pickaxes were placed crosswise.

The third bar was sticking up underneath the bottom of the sleeper so as to project in the direction of Manchester.

The driver on seeing this, hurried on to Neepsend, and as he neared the station, he noticed that the starting signal was off for a passenger train,

which was due to Manchester.

Fortunately he was able to warn the driver of the passenger train in time, and informed the station master of what he had seen.

On the following Saturday a permanent way inspector of the company was riding in the direction of Penistone from Sheffield,

when he noticed the five defendants on the line.

One was sticking a bar, which he had evidently brought with him, as it did not belong to the company, in the ballast, and propping it on the rail.

Another defendant was running up the signal post; the third one was half way up the signal post, and the two others were on the bank.

He shouted to them, but they took no notice, and as the train did not stop he got off at Wadsley Bridge, where he made arrangements for catching the boys.

He then returned with some platelayer's, and there they caught Skelton with a bar--the same bar that he tried to put across the rails.

The other boys, Colton and Justice, were also caught on the spot, and gave information which led to the apprehension of Green and Lacey.

Mr. Hawkins added that there was a curve at Neepsend, perhaps the sharpest between Sheffield and Manchester and the consequences would have

been disastrous if the passenger train had struck what he might safely call the diabolically arranged obstruction.

After the evidence had been heard at great length, Colton, who had been sent to the truant school for setting fire to the grass, was remanded;

Green was ordered to be sent to an industrial school, until he was sixteen; the other three defendant's, Lacey, Justice, and Skelton,

were sentenced to receive six strokes with the birch rod

[nanrobbo]

Thank you retep, another excellent article, I love reading about the past. Shows there is not much new under the sun?

[only_me]

Thanks retep, intresting reading.

[Texas]

Hate to say it, but what else is new? Still at it today, aint they?

[elenac]

They certainly are and on a regular basis but if caught the 'punishments' are nowhere near as hard as the ones those boys got.