The Aberystwith Observer

MURDER TRIAL IN IRELAND. The trial of James Muldowney, an ex-sub-constable of the Royal Irish Constabulary, for the murder of Peter Doherty, a small farmer living near Cr.uigh- well, County Galway, on the 2nd November, 1881, concluded on Wednesday at Sligo Assizes, before Mr. Justice Murphy and a special jury, under the Crimes Act, in a verdict of guilty. The prisoner was tried at the Spring Assizes, when the jury disagreed. Muldowney was on special protection duty with another constable, named Lee, at the residence of Mr. Walter Burke, near Craughsvell, who, it may be remembered, was himself murdered, with the dragoon who was accompanying him, shortly after the murder of Doherty. Mr. Burke had a steward named James Regan, who was under Muldowney's protection, but who, as the evidence disclosed, was the leader of a band of eight assassins "in the neighbourhood and actually planned the murder of poor Doherty. Regan fled to America, taking with him five or six hundred pounds belonging to Mr. Burke, who was away from home. The jury retired at twenty minutes to two o'clock to-day, and after an abbence of an hour and a quarter, returned into Court, and the foreman announced that they could not agree to a verdict. Mr. Justice Murphy asked whether there was any portion of the evidence they desired to be read to them again. The foreman replied that there was not. Mr. Justice Murphy said they must again retire and further consider the case. The jury again retired, and at five minutes to four, having been absent about two hours and a quarter altogether, they returned into court with a verdict of "Guilty," the foreman handing in a recommendation to mercy. Mr. Justice Murphy, having read the recommendation, said it was of the strongest possible character. It stated that the jury were of opinion that the prisoner was drawn into the commission of this crime through the influence of James Regan, whom he was proteo- ing, and with whom he was constantly associated in the discharge of his official duties; secondly, that his youth made him susceptible to the evil influences of James Regan and thirdly, that he had received an excellent character from his county inspector. In answer to the usual question whether he had any- thing to say why sentence of death should not be passed on him, the prisoner made a long and ramb- ling statement as to his movements on the day of the murder, in which he denied that he took any part, or was present when it was committed, and even that he had any knowledge that it was to take place. Substantially, he repeated the state- ment he made in the first instance. In concluding his statement, he said I know nothing about it- no more about it than a child unborn. I was at the inquest next day and was at the funeral of the murdered man and arrested, and I knelt down at the grave, and said a prayer over him." Mr. Justice Murphy, in passing sentence, said he fully concurred in the verdict, and agreed with the grounds on which the jury had recommended the prisoner to mercy. That recommendation he should readily forward to the proper quarter, but he greatly feared that he could not safely hold out to him the slightest hope for mercy. His lordship, who was greatly affected in discharging his painful duty, then sentenced the pri- soner to death-the execution to take place on the 12th of August. The prisoner maintained his com- posure throughout; he blanched slightly when the verdict was pronounced, but betrayed no emotion. There are five other men awaiting trial in connection with the murder.

AGRICULTURAL PROSPECTS, The Mark Lane Express says: The rainfall which has occurred during the past week has been of great benefit to all the spring-sown crops and to the wheat crops. Some of the wheats have been twisted by the storms, but the damage of that kind has probably been slight. The hop crop shows some improvement. With a better prospect for keep, values of store stock have been quoted higher at some recent markets. There have, unfortunately, been some fresh outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease. The reports from abroad are generally good. The reports of the American Department of Agriculture speak of the crops as follows: Maize is grown on an area two per cent. larger than last year. It is healthy in colour, and growing fast, but the estimated yield is five per cent. under. Spring wheat is an average crop, and winter wheat six per cent. under, much of which is already cut. Barley is put at four per cent. under average; oats at two per cent. under; and rye three per cent. under. From France and Germany the reports are, of wheat, maturing well with the continuance of hot weather; barley and oats are suffering from drought, and require rain badly. Cyprus has had one of the best harvests ever gathered in, while the cultivated area shows a large increase. In Calcutta, the crops of wheat are suffering from the continuance of drought.

CHARGE OF MURDER. On Saturday at Kingston on Thames Ellen Shepherd, aged 35, living at the Rushett, Long Ditton, was charged with the wilful murder of her step-son John Griffiths, eight months old. From the evidence it appeared that on Friday afternoon the prisoner told her step-daughter, eight years of age, who bad just returned from school, that she would "never see Johnnie again," and directly afterwards the child saw the baby in the water-butt close to the back door. She at once went for her father, who was working close by, and who, on arriving home, found the dead body of the infant in the water-butt. He asked his wife what she had done, and she replied, I know what I have done I have put him in the rain water-butt." In reply to the magistrates, the witness stated that his wife had, generally speaking, been kind to the child, but for the last few days had given way to drink. He complained to her of this, and on Friday she threatened, in revenge, to drown the child in the waterbutt like a cat." When taken into I custody by Police-sergeant Brooks, the prisoner said, I did it; I told him (her husband) I would do it, I last night." She then seemed to be recovering from the effects of drink. At the station-house, after the prisoner had been taken into custody, the medical man who had been sent for remarked that the child bad been in the water three or four hours, whereupon prisoner said, That cannot be, for I did not put him in until three o'clock." The prisoner, who had nothing to say in defence, and who refrained from asking any questions, was committed for trial at the assizes.

To ENJOY TUB SUMMER.—A frugal Bostonian, and one who has tried it, advises a clerk, who wants to know of a pleasant place where a vacation can be spent," to close up the front of his house, move back, and stay quietly at home. In the seclusion of the kitchen he can recuperate his wasted vitality, and save money enough by the close of the season to begin business for himself.Ameriran Paper. EXTREME DEBILITy.-Haymaker: I zay, measter, what do 'ee keep this beer in ? Farmer: Why, a barrel, o' course. Haymaker: That's pretty 'strava- gant, bean't it. Whoy, if you'd used a 'urdle, it 'ud be too weak to crawl through .'—Funny Folks.

TERRIBLE RAILWAY ACCIDENT. TWENTY PERSONS KILLED AND THIRTY INJURED. A fearful railway accident occurred on Wednesday afternoon, on the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln- shire Railway, to the express leaving Manchester at 12 30 p.m. and due at King's-cross at 5 20. The train, which consisted of seven composite carriages, two brake vans (one in front and one behind), and a horse- box, next to the tender, was driven by Sam Cawood, of Retford, an old and experienced driver of the company, who has for years been in charge of what is known as the newspaper train to and from Ret- ford. The train proceeded safely on its journey as far as Bullhouse Colliery, where the line is carried by a stone bridge across the Thurlestone-road, about two miles from Penistone. As it passed the signal-box the right-hand axle bar of the engine suddenly snapped, and all the carriages, leaving the rails, were hurled over the embankment close to the bridge, over- turned, and completely wrecked. The engine, tender, and horse-box kept the metals, and went on for some 400 yards, ploughing up the line and breaking the chairs as they passed. At the time the accident occurred the train was going at the rate of fifty-five miles an hour. It was fairly filled with passengers, chiefly from Manchester, Newark, Liverpool, and Grimsby. The front carriage was attached to the horse-box by a drawing hook, which yielded to the strain caused by the vehicles toppling over the embankment and broke, the fracture being sharp and clean. The scene underneath the bridge was terrible. All the carriages were com- pletely upset, and three of them were simply a mass of splinters and wreckage. Underneath, entangled in the broken woodwork, were men, women, and children, whose groans and shrieks were piteous to hear. The scene that immediately followed the accident was of the most heartrending description, and the cries of the injured and the dying were terrible. The accident was seen by a man named John Charles- worth, a weighman at a colliery not far distant, and he summoned a number of men-colliers, black- smiths, and others-to go with him to the assistance of the unhappy persons in the train. Running to the scene of the disaster they were horrified at finding that three carriages were in the roadway beneath the bridge piled on the top of one another, that some were upon their sides on the embankment, and that some others were so much smashed as to be a complete mass of wreckage. The pas- sengers, at least those who were not too seriously injured to move, were pushing their hands and feet through the windows of the carriages in what in many cases were vain attempts to escape from the wreckage. As the men went down the embankment women cried out to them in the most piteous tones to save them. Strong men, too, cried for help, and the dead and dying were seen lying one upon the other. Some of the inhabitant%of a neigh- bouring village came up soon afterwards, and the work of rescuing the injured was commenced. Break- down gangs were telegraphed for from Manchester, Sheffield, and Penistone, and upon their arrival it was found that no less than nineteen passengers were lying dead among the debris. It was between five and six o'clock before the first batch of bodies, sixteen in number, had been extricated from the wrecked carriages. Dr. Watson, of Penistone, Dr. Heathcote, of Manchester, and other medical men, were indefatigable in attending to the sufferers, but it was too painfully evident that sixteen were beyond all help, and shortly before seven more bodies were with difficulty removed from the debris and placed on railway cushions in the field at the bottom of the embankment. One of the bodies was identified as that of Mr. Woodhead, an insurance agent from Manchester. In his pocket was a telegram ask- ing him to go to Newark that day to value some property. A lady who was found dead in a first-class compartment, and whose body has not yet been identified, was much injured. She was dressed in black and had £11 in her pocket. Another female passenger found in a third-class compartment had her feet and the lower part of her legs literally cut to ribands. An Irish labourer, dressed in corduroy, had his arms broken and his legs bruised, but his death must have been caused more by internal injuries than by external wounds. A shed attached to the Wentworth Arms Hotel, Penistone, was pre- pared for the reception of the bodies, and on the special train from Bullhouse arriving there many people from Sheffield and other parts who expected relatives by train were permitted to see the dead. Sixteen bodies were placed in the shed-nine women, three men, three children, and a boy lying, side by side, on cushions brought from the carriages. The greatest difficulty was experienced in the iden- tification of the bodies, which was for the most part accomplished by letters and cards in their possession and names inscribed on their handkerchiefs. Among those killed were Mary Stower, of Lincolnshire; woman unknown; Miss M. A. Spencer, of Lincoln- shire; a boy, name unknown; Michael Turkan, labourer, from Cork to Liverpool; an elderly woman, name unknown, but a card on the body is inscribed Gobald; two children, believed to belong to the elderly woman; Mrs. Dawson, or Royle, travelling to Tuxford, Notts; a woman not identified, travelling from London-road to Retford a woman named Watson, address unknown; a woman not identified, travelling from Liverpool to Newark Mr. C. Eddlestone, address unknown; Ann Jones, 57, Devonshire-road, Claughton, Birkenhead; a woman not identified, wearing a jet brooch J. Shor- rock, of the firm of J. and R. Shorrock, loom makers, Darwen Woodhead, insurance agent, Manchester; a man, third class passenger, not identified; Mr. Sharratt, Sheffield. The chief officials of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway were early in attendance, and did all they could to mitigate the sufferings of the injured, and to get them as speedily as possible to Manchester. Several other passengers were injured, but not so seriously as to prevent their resuming their journey. Amongst these was a young gentleman bound for an excursion to the Rhine, and who lost his purse, containing between X25 and £30. Two guards, Phillips and Irons, were injured, but not seriously. Large crowds were quickly on the scene of the accident, not only from the villages in' the vicinity, but from Barnsley, Sheffield, and Man- chester, and there were some very sad sights, people coming from long distances fearing that their friends had been killed. Nearly all the bodies in the improvised dead-house were those of women, who, judging from their appearance, had been chiefly first- class passengers. Lying in the midst of the more poorly clad were two ladies, one handsomely dressed and wearing a pair of maroon-coloured kid gloves. Another was in deep mourning, and upon one of the fingers of her ungloved hand glittered a diamond ring. One of the bodies was fearfully mutilated, the head and face, however, being quite free from bruises or cuts of any kind. A singular fact is that nearly all the passengers killed were apparently without injuries to their faces, but the lower parts of their bodies were in a most frightful state of mutilation. OFFICIAL ACCOUNT. Mr. J. W. Lee, assistant superintendent of the line, gives the following statement: The train consisted of au engine, a horsebox, nine carriages, and the brake van. The train travelled all right until it got half way between Hazlehead and Penistone, when at a point opposite the Bull House Colliery the crank axle of the leading wheels of a four wheeled bogey engine broke. Just at this point there is a curve in the line which diverges to the left, and owing to this fact the- accident was far more serious than would have been the case had the line been a straight one. When the axle broke the impetus of the train forced the carriages off the line, and they were thrown down an embankment, some 15 or 16 feet high, into the road and a field by the side of the line. The driving wheels of the engine left the rails, but the other wheels kept on. The horse-box, too, left the rails, but remained coupled to the engine, and the tender and these were not thrown off the embank- ment. The first and second carriages left the rails and fell down the embankment and into a field, and the next two carriages went into the road and were smashed all to pieces, with the result that nearly every occupant was killed, while those who escaped mortal injuries were terribly wounded. The other carriages were thrown down, and lay with their wheels in the air. Very shortly after the news of the accident reached Manchester a number of officials from London-road Station proceeded by special train to the scene of the disaster. They were Mr. Sacre, the engineer: Mr. W. Bradley, superintendent of the line; Mr. Pollitt, accountant. Mr. A. Ormerod, mineral manager; Mr. H. A. P' Hamilton, district superintendent; Mr. J. W. Lee' assistant superintendent; Mr. W. H. Edge, of thg Secretary's Office and Inspectors Burgess, Hunt, and Shand. Dr. Heathcote, of Manchester, and Drs. Poilard and Chadwick, of the Manchester Royal Infirmary, also w?nt down by train. Nineteen dead bodies were taken out of the wreck, ten being women, six men, and three children. These were at once conveyed to Penistone, under the care of Inspector Corden, of the county constabulary. The best arrangements that were possible were made for the removal of the injured, and in this work the men engaged at the Bullhouse Colliery ren- dered excellent assistance. The most seriously injured were taken by train to the Manchester Infirmary, and those who were less severely hurt were sent on to their several destinations. The driver of the train, S. Cawood, was an experienced man, who had been with the company for many years. The two guards were W. Irving, who was in the front van, and S. Phillipson, who was in the rear van. All these officials had escapes which were really miracu- lous. Phillipson, whose van was turned completely over, was injured on the arm and body. There was in the horse-box one horse, but this was uninjured. By the accident the line on which the train was travelling was torn up for a distance of about 200 yards, but inasmuch as the other line was in no way damaged, the officials without much difficulty made arrange- ments for the working of the traffic on the single line. PERSONAL NARRATIVES. Amongst the passengers by the ill-ated train was the Rev. Venables Williams, of Colwyn Bay, North Wales, who has made a statement, in the course of which he says We left Manchester at 12.30, and proceeded at a rapid rate till we reached the scene of the disaster. In the carriage with myself were seven other passengers, most of whom were Germans. They were travelling to their native country, via Grimsby, which place they ought to have left this afternoon. We noticed a slight oscillation of the carriage, a very similar sensation to that of riding over railway points, and then in an almost imperceptible space of time we were thrown together in a heap. The carriage fell over, actually turning over several times as it rolled down the embankment, which at this spot is as high as four carriages. I should say that when the carriages ceased to roll over I was at the bottom. A German lady spoke of this at once, and asked her companions to liberate me, as I was in a very dangerous position with my head bent back, and was losing blood. (The rev. gentleman's face was bruised and cut severely, and one eye was swollen over). A passenger got out of the window that was uppermost, and I fortunately had a railway key in my pocket, which I handed to those above me. With this the door was opened and we got out. I at once went back to the signal-box, being the first one there, and blocked the line. I then returned. The screams, cries, and shouts, were awful, and in some cases the passengers were literally smashed." Mr. Charles Wilson, of Park-place, Ardwick, Man- chester, who was one of the passengers, had a narrow escape from death, and is now lying at home with a badly broken thigh. He states that he was travelling to Barnsley, and would have left the express at Peni- stone. The accident, however, occurred a few minutes before reaching that place. He thus de- scribes the catastrophe We started punctually from Manchester at 12.30, and travelled very well to time. We had passed Hazlehead Station, and were close to the Bullhouse Colliery, between Thurlston and LaDgsett, when suddenly the brakes were applied at full power, and I and another gentleman who was in the carriage with me were thrown from our seats. The carriage seemed to take a leap, and immediately there was a terrible crash. For a moment I was stunned, but I must have recovered almost instantan- eously; for when I came-to we were falling over a bridge upon a road which goes under the railway at that point. The depth from the bridge to the road is 16 or 18 feet, and when our carriage reached the bottom it was smashed to pieces, and none of the remains would have covered the body of a man. I was jambed with my legs between the seat of the carriage and some cushions which were pressed against my legs by some more woodwork. My right thigh was broken, and I could not move, although I found that the carriage which followed the one in which I was reading was hanging over the bridge, and threatened to fall upon me. I got my pocket-knife and cut the cushions, and relieved the pressure a little, but could not get out, and in the meantime some of the unfortunate people who were in the overhanging carriage were thrown out and fell upon the road near me. Amongst them were three ladies who suffered terrible agony, and I, fastened between the woodwork, could render as- sistance. Two of them died before my eyes in fear- ful agony, and I am told that the third lady, who was richly dressed and appeared to be in very good cir- cumstances of life, died before she was put into a train to be removed. The sight was one of the most sicken- ing and heartrending it is possible to conceive." Mrs. Dickenson, of Atherstone-terrace, South Kensington, who was travelling with her son, a boy, three years of age, and a servant, was taken to Man- chester, but was removed to Mill Houses. She is suffering from a fractured leg. She made the following statement: I and my little boy and the servant were the only occupants of a second class compartment in about the centre of the train. The shock of the falling train threw me over to one side, and my little boy was thrown over as well. I distinctly felt the carriage leave the rails and then run down the embankment, and my servant called out to me to take her away. I triad to stand up, but my leg was so badly hurt that I couldnt, and I fell down. Almost immediately atterwards I saw my little boy amongst the debris, while succeeded in rescuing him. One of his legs was injured, and three of his teeth are knocked out."

ALLEGED ROBBERY AT WINDSOR CASTLE. At an early hour on Wednesday morning a robbery was committed in the portion of the Palace occupied by the Queen. Francis Clarke, one of the Queen's personal attendants, has a bedroom near the Victoria Tower, at the south-east angle of the Castle, where the Royal apartments are situated. About three o'clock Clarke was disturbed by a slight noise, but went to sleep UOt rise until six>when lie found that a o ia, e g° watch and a silver chain and medal v ue-611 akstractecl from a table near the window, w IC is only a few feet above the terrace. As the only persons at this point during the night were the ^n. ,m.. suspicion fell upon two privates of the 2nd a talion Coldstream Guards, who had been mounted upon the terrace, one at the Brunswick Tower p„nd the fk i? a\ ^Je Victoria Tower. Inspector Fraser, of the Royal Household police, apprehended the sentinels, Privates Wade and Reeves, ten minutes after the occurrence became known. Nothing was found upon the t men but upon a search being made near the victoria lower the watch was found concealed in the ivy.

ACTIONS FOR COMPENSATION. At the Newcastle Assizes, on Saturday, Mr. Justice Manisty tried the cause of Young v..North-Eastern Railway Company. This was an action by a sea-going engineer to recover damages from the North-Eastern Railway Company for personal injuries received w t^Tellin? on tbeir line on the 19th of February -he plaintiff was a passenger from South shields to Hartlepool, where he was going to join his ship. At Ryhope the train camo into collision with a bullock, which had escaped from the cattle dock, and uPon the rails. The carriage in which the Pl-nhff was travelling was thrown off the line, and the plaintiff was seriously bruised and shaken. The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff for £200. Another cause—Shergel v. the North-Eastern Railway Company—was an action by a youth, a travelling pedlar, to recover damages from the North-Eastern Railway Company for personal injuries received while travelling on the defendant's line on the 18th "of January last. The plaintiff was a passenger from Sunderland to Marton. In endeavouring to close tEd' window, by pulling up the strap, the door, which was not properly secure, flew open, and the plaintiff was thrown out upon the line. He sustained a severe shock to the nervous system, but was now recovering, and hoped soon to be well. After the plaintiff had given his evidence, the defendants consented to' a verdict in his favour for £175.

A young exquisite, dressed faultlessly, and with a pair of shoes which tapered to a point in the most fashionable style, was visiting at a country house, A bright little four-year-old boy looked him all over until his eyes rested on his shoes. He stared at his own chubby feet and then at the visitor's, and looking up, said: "I say, is your toes all cutted off but one?'

A FATAL DIVE. In London on Wednesday Mr. Hicks, the deputy coroner for Westminster, held an inquiry at, St. George's Hospital touching the death of Frederick Dickenson, aged 23, a compositor, lately residing at Albany-road, Camberwell, who died from injuries received while bathing in the Serpentine. From the evidence of Joseph Greenfield, a barrister's clerk, and others, it appeared that about eight o'clock on the night of Tuesday, the 8th inst., Dickenson was seen to dive into the water from the south side, when, upon rising to the surface, he lost all power, and was unable with- out assistance to regain the bank. It was then found that he had received injury to the spine, having, on diving into shallow water, struck his head against the bottom. Paralysis supervened, and he died on the 13th inst. A verdict of Accidental death" was returned.

A MAN BLOWN TO PIECES. A correspondent at Hong-Kong, writing on June 5, says: A fatal accident occurred on board her Majesty's sloop Daring on the 3rd inst. Joseph Worthmore, private Royal Marines, and William J ones, able seaman, were standing in front of the gun, engaged in reloading it after it had been fired. Sud- denly the charge exploded, and killed them both in- stantly. Worthmore was blown to pieces out of the port, and no trace of his remains could be found. Jones was found lying half out of the port, with his right arm torn off from the shoulder. Two other men who were standing near received slight injuries. It is supposed that the accident was due "to defective sponging.

ANARCHISTS IN AUSTRIA. Two more Anarchist cases have been tried at Vienna, in the first of which some rather startling facts came out in evidence. A young man of twenty, named Hannich, had been arrested on suspicion of being connected with the dynamitards, and on him were found several lethal instruments and materials, including a large dynamite bomb, two awls pointed as daggers, and with their points poisoned with prussic acid, and a revolver with which, as he was travelling through Innsbruck, he had threatened to shoot a police-constable. The prisoner had also uttered threats to use his poisoned daggers, which he said would be enough for any one." At the end of a long and tedious examination, the prisoner was con- victed, and sentenced to ten years' penal servitude. In the second case, another young fellow who had been found in possession of revolutionary prints was acquitted.

ffiistcKuncous fnMHgxtrtt. HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL. DREADFUL MURDERS IN IRELAND.-Particulars have reached Dublin of the murder of two persons by an old man named Meehan, near Monaghan, on Sunday night. The murderer, who is close on 80 years of age, had, with his wife, gone to live with a woman and her son named Neal. A quarrel arose owing to the Neals refusing to give up a bank-book which the old man had given them, and when the son was out he attacked the mother with a hatchet. He had just killed her when the son came in. Meehan at once dealt him a terrible blow which killed him on the spot. The murderer then sat down near the bodies, and was discovered by his wife, who gave an alarm. The old man was at once arrested. THE MEAT AND POULTRY SUPPLY OF LONDON.—The City Press states that during the first six months after the opening of the market the total weight of meat and poultry brought into the Central Meat and Poultry Market was 51,733 tons. That rose in 1882 to 109,000, in 1883 to 113,000, and in 1884 to 116,000. In the last three years the weight of American-killed meat had risen from 10,000 to 14,000 tons, and the weight of Australian and New Zealand meat from 822 to 5228 tons. ATTEMPTED MURDER AND SUICIDE.—A grocer's assistant named Schmidt, living at 38, Quai National at Puteaux, near Paris, whilst in a state of delirium on Saturday suddenly seized his wife by the hair, and drawing a revolver from under his pillow, fired at her. The shot missed, and she rushed from the room scream- ing and made her way down stairs. She had scarcely reached the yard of the house when her husband threw himself out of the window and fell at her feet, fracturing his skull. Death was instantaneous, and when raised from the ground the revolver, which was found to be still loaded in four chambers, remained clutched in his grasp. ACCIDENTALLY SHOT.-On Tuesday, Mr. Carttar, West Kent Coroner, held an inquest at No. 54, Syden- ham-park, Sydenham, the residence of Mr. Carl Hoff- mann, shipbroker, on the body of Fritz Paul Hoffmann, aged 11, who on Saturday last was accidentally shot by a school-fellow named Leonard Straker, aged 13, of Hornby-lodge, Stanstead-road, Forest-hill. The boys were playing with an old rusty double-barrelled gun, when the deceased, who had no idea the gun was loaded, told Straker to fire, and also told him that he was afraid of it. Straker then pulled the trigger, the gun went off, and the charge entered the deceased's stomach. The recoil of the gun knocked Straker backwards. Before his death, whict took place on Monday, Hoffmann said that Straker was not to blame in the matter. The jury returned a verdict of Death from misadventure." FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.-Between eight and nine on Sunday morning, as two brothers, Joseph and William Robinson, of No. 9, Park-road, Hither-green, Lewisham, were crossing the South-Eastern line, taking a short cut to Messrs. Mallard's Nursery for the pur- pose of feeding the horses, it is conjectured that one brother became bewildered by a passing train, and the other, on seeing the danger went to his assistance. One was cut to pieces and killed on the spot; the other was found in a dying condition. On the train arriving at Burnt Ash Station, a telegram was despatched for an engine and carriage, and the survivor was taken to Guy's Hospital, where he died in great agony about four o'clock in the afternoon. RAILWAY FATALITY.—On Saturday afternoon, while a number of persons were awaiting the arrival of a train at the Queen's-road Station, on the London and South- Western Railway, Mr. Dyer, aged 45, one of the officials, attempted to cross the line. He was struck by an ap- proaching train and hurled some distance along the metals, when the wheels of the Woking up train passed over him. He was fearfully mutilated. The injured man was placed on an ambulance, and removed to Waterloo Junction, and subsequently to St. Thomas's Hospital, and died shortly after his admission. AVERAGE PRICBS OF BRITISH CORN.—The following are the average prices of British corn for last week as received from the inspectors and officers of Excise • Wheat, 36s. 9d.; barley, 28s. 2d.; oats, 23s. Id. per im- perial qr. Corresponding week last year: Wheat. 42s. 2d.; barley, 29s. 2d.; oats, 24s. Id. AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE.-Last autumn 12 classes were started at Forfarshire for teaching the scientific principles of agriculture. These classes were attended by about 180 pupils, of whom 120 went forward to the examination on the Science and Art Department, and the results are considered most encouraging. The pupils, whose ages varied from 12 to 40, were greatly stimulated by the Dalhousie Bursaries of JE5, which under certain conditions are increased to JE10 by the Science and Art Department. The idea of these classes originated with Lord Dalhousie, who obtained from the Science and Art Department the services of Mr. Buck- master, who lectured or held meetings in most of the parishes in Forfarshire, and now that the practicability of the scheme has been demonstrated there is a very generally^xpressed desire to increase the number of classes. In connexion with a few of the classes a plot of land has been secured for the purpose of experi- ment. Sir John Ogilvy has placed two or three acres on the Baldovan estate at the disposal of the class, and the pupils and others take great interest in what is going on. It is perhaps early to speak of the result of this instruction, but some are of opinion that these classes have already begun to tell on the agriculture of the district. PRECAUTIONS AGAINST CHOLERA.—Admiralty instruc- tions have been issued to all dockyards describing the precautions to be taken in the event of an outbreak of cholera, occurring in this country. Oare is to be taken that drinking water does not become contaminated, water-tap communications must be examined, the latrines flushed and deodorised daily, and the dustbins regularly emptied. Refuse heaps must all be removed, and chloride of lime and disinfectants frequently used. Roads must be swept and watered daily. Trustworthy officials are to be appointed to see that these precau- tions are enforced. TEMPORARY INSANITY.—On Saturday an inquest was held at Charing- cross Hospital on the body of Mr. John Cowman, aged 49, who had committed suicide in a bed room at the Chariog-cross Hotel by cutting his throat and stabbing himself with a penknife. He had been much annoyed by his room being entered and his pro- perty searched by the police on account of the alarm as to dynamite; but nothing was found to justify any suspicion of him. He was interested in a machine for faffing cigarettes. He had been the'"worse for liquor, and thete had been" Somedisturbances in the street through women following him. A witness who claimed to be his wife said she had been married to him in a private room in a house at Brighton. A verdict of Temporary insanity was returned. COST OF A BLOW.-At the Limerick Assizes on Mon- day a curious action was heard before Mr. Justice O'Brien. The plaintiff was Edward F. Hickson, district inspector Royal Irish Constabulary, Limerick, and the defendant Captain Theubald O'Brien, a retired army officer. The action was brought to recover jE500 damages for an assault committed by defendant upon plaintiff in the Co. Limerick Club on May 23 last. De. fendant lodged X5 in court in satisfaction of the claim. Defendant, it appeared, struck plaintiff a blow in the eye, and the jury awarded k25 damages in addition tcr the E5. A MOUNTAIN RAILWAY.—The highest railway in the world is now being constructed on Pike's Peak, Colo- rado, U.S. The line will run to an altitude of 14,220 feet above the sea-level, and will be a marvellous feat of engineering skill, the thirty miles of road being a succession of complicated curves, with no straight track longer than 300 feet. The maximum gradient will be 316 feet in the mile, and the average about 270 fett: It is hoped that eight miles of the line will be opened this month, and the remainder finished in a year. The cost is estimated at from k2500 to £ 3000 per mile, and the speed is to be 15 miles an hour. NITRIC ACID.-On Saturday forenoon a lorry belong- ing to Messrs. Muspratt, laden with 20 or 30 carboys of nitric acid, was proceeding along Dale-street, one of the principal thoroughfares of Liverpool, when one of the carboys was shaken off the cart and burst. The fames from the acid were potent and noxious, and they con- tinued to annoy the public until the Corporation hose- was applied and the liquid washed into the sewers. A similar accident, arising from the same cause, happened in Dale-street in the previous week, and a boy who was burnt by the acid on that occasion is still under medical treatment. THE TINPLATE TRADE.—The quarterly meeting ot the Tinplate Makers' Association was held at Birming- ham last week, Mr. Philip W. Flower, of Neath, in the chair. It was decided to maintain present prices. It was reported that the Liverpool stocks, which stood at 311,000 boxes on the 1st of July, 1883, had been re- duced to 97,000 boxes on the 1st of July, 1884, and it was shown by the Board of Trade returns that the- exports for the six months ending on the 30th of June had expanded 275,000 boxes, as compared with 1883, proving an increased consumption at the rate of 550,000 boxes yearly. USES OF ROsEs.-Among the Greeks, the Romans,, and the Gauls, parsley, ivy, myrtle, and roses were looked upon as valuable remedies for people who had drunk more wine than was good fcr them. In Capua roses were employed by the local medical men as tonics good for stomachs fatigued by over-eating. A decoc- tion of roses was supposed to have excellent astringent properties. Hoffman recommends it in pleurisy. Para- celsus thinks that, when mixed with honey, it will lengthen life. A long list of authorities may be pro- duced to show that rose leaves discreetly used are a perfect cure for hydrophobia. A spirit made or flavoured with roses was the favourite cordial of Philip the Handsome, and was considered by Charlemagne as a specific against fainting from loss of blood in battle. A poultice of roses was long employed for flesh wounds, and roses preserved are still believed in many places to cure consumption and all diseases of the throat and lungs. A PETROLEUM SHIP ON FIRE.—On Monday morning, at Fiume, the German steamer Octavia, which was loading benzine in the petroleum harbour, caught fire. The danger was obvious, as ships freighted with pe- troleum were lying in her immediate vicinity. With the help of the men from the fleet, the burning vessel was quickly removed into the open sea. Happily no lives were lost, the crew being in the docks at the time"the fire broke out. Two sailors, however, were injured. THE CROPS IN AMERICA.—The Washington Agricul- tural Department reports that the condition of the cotton crop is 86, as against 87 last July and that 2 per cent. of increased surface has been planted with Indian corn, which now covers 70,000,000 acres, the condition of the crop being favourable. The condition of the spring wheat is 100, and of winter wheat 94. The harvesting of the latter is progressing, and the crop will exceed 350,000,000 bushels. Barley, oats, rye, and potatoes are all planted on increased areas, and are in good condition. DEATH OF Two FAMOUS MEN.—German science,. and especially Berlin University, has again suffered two severe losses. The celebrated Egyptologist, Lepsius, born 23rd December, 1810, died on the 11th inst. The Berlin National Gallery has just ordered a picture of the deceased in order to commemorate his services to science as shown in his work on the monuments of Egypt and Ethiopia. The second loss is that of the renowned Protestant theologian, Professor Dorner,.who was born in 1809, and died on the 9th inst. of apoplexy while on his way home from a visit to the monument on the Niederwald, near Riidesheimr. THE CENTRAL MEAT AND POULTRY MARKETS.—IN, reporting on the supply of meat and poultry in the metropolitan markets for the first half of the present year, the chairman observes that during the first six months following on the opening of the markets in 1869, the total weight introduced was 58,000 tons. This rose in 1882 to 109 tons; in 1883 to 113,000; and in 1884 to 116,000 during the first six months. In the last three years, according to Mr. Alliston, American dead meat had risen from 10,000 tons to 14,000, and Australian and New Zealand meat from 800 in 1882 and 5200 in 1884. THE OLD TESTAMENT REVISION —The Athenaeum states that the Old Testament Company of Revisers has finished its labours. The preface has been finally revised and approved. As the work has to be submitted" to Convocation before its issue to the public, it is not very likely to be published before next Easter. A dinner was given on Wednesday in last week by Dr. Ginsburg to celebrate the conclusion of the revision. There were present the Bishop of Winchester,, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Dean of Peterborough, Mr. Bensley, Dr. Chance, Mr. Cheyne, Principal Douglas, Professor Driver, Professor Stanley Leathes, Professor Lumby, and Mr. Aldis Wright, Lord Shaftes- bury and Lord Aberdeen were also present. During the course of the revision two have resigned and ten have died out of 27 members of the Old Testament Company originally appointed by Convocation. THR NE w LIEUTENANT OF THE TOWER.—The Right Hon. Frederic Augustus Thesiger, Lord Chelmsford, G.C.B., who has been appointed to succeed General Maitland as Lieutenant of the Tower of London, is the eldest son of Frederick, first Lord Chelmsford, some time Lord Chancellor in the Conservative Ministry of Lord Derby, by marriage with Anna Maria, youngest daughter of Mr. William Tinling, and was born in 1827. His lord- ship entered the Rifle Brigade in 1844, and was trans- ferred to the Grenadier Guards in the following year. He served in the Crimea, and in India during the mutiny campaign; was adjutant-General of che Bengal Army from 1869 till 1874, and in the command of the forces during the Caffre war, 1878, and in the Zulu war in 1879. He was also Aide-de-Camp to her Majesty from 1868 to 1877. His lordship became lieutenant- general in 1882, and was appointed Colonel of the 95th Foot in 1858. He married, in 1867, Adria Fanny, eldest daughter of the late Major-General Heath. THE HONOURS OF BIRMINGHAM, — Birmingham by the new Order in Council has not only become an assize town, but an assize town with double honours (says the Law Journal "). According to the state- ment made by the Attorney-General in the House of Commons last week, it will not only be visited by-two Judges of Assize, but the assizes will be attended by both the Oxford Circuit and Midland Circuit Bars; and as it is the last town on both of those circuits, it is likely to attract to it the bulk of the civil business from; Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and Staffordshire. Bir- mingham, in fact, becomes practically a county of a town, like the more ancient towns of Hull, Nottingham, Poole, and Southampton, except that it has no sheriff. For the present the Warwickshire sheriff will make his appearance at Birmingham to receive Baron Huddle- ston and Mr. Justice Lopes. Possibly that sheriff might in the. future be willing to transfer the duty of receiving the judges TO a municipal sheriff for Birming- ham, who would probably not be loth to undertake it. Birmingham has only to obtain a sheriff and a bishop, when it will be at the topmost pinnacle of cities. NOT DEAD YET !"—In London, on Saturday, at the Marylebone Police-court, a well-dressed lady, giving the name of Caroline Smith, aged 57, and described as independent," was charged with being drunk and dis- orderly. Police-constable White spoke to finding the prisoner helplessly drunk near the Chippenhara-road on the previous afternoon. Replying to the charge the prisoner said," Well, sir, I really was not drunk. I had come up from my home in the country to receive my dividends and rents which had just come due, and was staying in London for a night or two. I was suffer- ing from neuralgia, and the people in the next house were so noisy that I could not rest, so I bought this stuff (holding up a small bottle), but then I could not sleep. I went out for a walk, when my face began to ache again, and I rubbed this stuff on it, and it made me feel quite funny. So I called in at a roadside inn, and gave a man some bread and cheese and beer and threepence to see me home; but, after absorbing the food, he gave me the slip, and left me to get home as best I could. As I was going along the policeman came up, and he said," Hallo, old woman, what, drunk again?" I said, No, no," and was so greatly shocked at his say- ing that that I fainted. The people around me said,. The poor old lady-she's dead;" but I said," Oh dear no—not dead yet; I'm still alive." I then asked to be. taken home, out they bundled me into an ambuanoe,. and took me to the station. I was in the Indian mutiny, and am very excitable, but was not drunk." Warrant Officer Oolebrook said the prisoner was there three months ago, charged with a similar offence, and the defence she then made was much the same as that which she made to-day. The Prisoner: "I'll never come here again, sir. I'll appoint a London agent to attend to my business." Mr. Cooke fined the defendant 1 5s., and the money was paid.