The Brecon County Times Neath Gazette and General Advertiser for the Counties of Brecon Carmarthen Radnor Monmouth Glamorgan Cardigan Montgomery Hereford

THE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE THAMES.—On Saturday morning the five-mile champion- ship of the Thames was swum for, the competitors being W. Goodwin, who "bails" from Barclay's Brewery, and Charles Whyte, the swimming-master of the Camden Town Baths. This was the second trial of natatal power between these two men. Whyte woo, having done the distance iii Ih. ,3min. 38sec. r Price, without quality, is a mere deception. Tks. .superiority of H-ofiiinuin's Teg. has attracted, a host QÍ sanitations 1 genuine kets are ,qlled Hoxniman & GQ," j

FRIGHTFUL AOOIDENT TO THE IBIBB MAIL. The Irish limited mail ran out of Euston station for the first time on the 1st of October, 1860, under charge of the same two guards, Hinton and Smith, who con- ducted it on Thursday morning. For eight years this train has run with a regularity and freedom from acci- dent to its passengers which has made its safety almost proverbial, and although the sudden and most fatal dis- aster in the history of British railways has at length be- fallen it, there is some satisfaction in the reflection that the terrible visitation has not happened through any irregularity or accident in the working of the Irish mail luelt", but frem a cause totally unconnected with this Eervice. The Irish day mail leaves Euston-square at 7.25 a.m. daily. It is a favourite train, and generally carries a full complement of passengers. On Thursday morning it was made up of one of the most powerful engines be- longing to the company, with its tender, a chief guard's van, the Post-office tenders, a luggage van, a first-class carriage, three composite carriages, partly first and part second-class carriages, and a second guard's van. The train was well filled, and conveyed several members of the aristocracy, among whom were the Duchess of Abercorn and the Ladies Hamilton, Viscount Castlerosse, Mr. and Lady Selwyn-Ibbetson and others. The train ran to Rugby without stopping, and then on to Stafford, where another powerful engine and tender took the place of those which had brought the train from London. The run to Chester was accomplished with the usual regu- larity, and here the engine and tender and first guard's- break were detached from the leading Post-office tender, and two first-class carriages with one composite and one covered carriage, consisting of second-class compartments and a luggage-box, were taken on, the train being closed up with the Chester carriages imme- diately between the first guard's break and the Post- office tenders. The Chester carriages were tolerably well filled with passengers, some of whom had broken the journey at the ancient city, and some joining from Buxton, Manchester, Liverpool, &c. Lord and Lady Farnham had been staying at Baxton for a month, and they came over with a suite of four servants on the previous day, and had slept at the Queen Hotel on Wednesday night. The venerable peer and his wife were accompanied to the train by his sister, Viscountess Bangor, and her husband, Major Nugent, who parted with them after they were seated in the carriage. The train left Chester at 11.47 a.m., and proceeded with- out any interruption on its journey, passing in suc- cession the principal stations of Flint, Holywell, Mostyn, Prestatyn, Rhyl, and Abergele. After passing the latter station, which it will be remembered is close to the sea, the railway, as it approaches the next station, gradually ascends by a gradient of 1 in 90 to Llandulas, which is the summit of the line between Chester and the Menai- bridge. At Llandulas there are some very extensive Mme and limestone works, with which a considerable traffic is carried on. The ordinary Bangor goods train left Chester on Thursday two hours ia advance of the Irish mail, and under ordinary circumstances it would have shunted at the Llandudno Junction (Conway), about five miles beyond Llandulas, fully half an hour before the mail was due. The driver of the Irish up mail on Thursday had not been advised of any delay with the goods train, nor, in fact, is is known that any delay had occurred; and after passing Abergele station, he had already put on speed to mount the incline, which is nearly one mile in extent, when on rounding the curve, which at this point is nearly half a mile radius, he suddenly observed a break van and a number of trucks descending rapidly upon his train. His first instinct was to jump from his engine, and it is believed he did so without ever sounding his steam whistle. Had he remained to do this it is clear he would have met with the instantaneous death which befel his stoker. As it happened, he escaped with some severe flesh wounds and brief insensibility. Hinton, the surviving guard, gives a very clear account of what followed. He says that being in his van at the rear of the train, he heard no alarm, and was conscious of nothing wrong until he found himself thrown violently on the floor. Recovering himself, he jumped out of his van, and at once observed the wreck. Remembering in this terrible moment that the Irish up mail express was due at this spot in about five minutes, he availed himself of the services of two labourers, who had been eye-witnesses of the collision, and sent them up and down the roadway with a supply of fog and other danger signals. Having done this he ran forward in the direction of the engine, and was terror-stricken to find the first guard's brake lying across the up rail, and with the four carriages taken on at Chester enveloped in sheets of flame. Hinton declares that so sudden was the conflagration, that neither cry was heard nor outstretched hand seen from any one Of these carriages, and the presumption is that all the inmates of these ill-fated coaches must have died in a few moments from suffocation. The flames increased in intensity for several minutes, and literally swept the carriages, driving in at one window and out at the other, and producing a heat so intense that it was im- possible to approach within a considerable distance of the train. The passengers in the London carriages who had escaped with a very slight shock, owing to the enormous weight and velocity of the engine having pre- vented any very serious rebound, alighted from their carriages, immediately after the collision, and vied with each other in endeavouring to render what aid they could. The country people in the vicinity, and a large number of workmen from a slate quarry near the spot, who had been alarmed by the concussion, were also soon gathered on the spot, and a number of pails having been got together a line of men was formed across the intervening sands, and buckets of sea water were obtained in the hope of subduing the flames. All these efforts proved fruitless, however, and the fire continued to burn with increasing fury, until every vestige of the wood-work of the Chester carriages and one of the Post- office tenders were entirely consumed, nothing remaining but the iron framework and wheels, the greater portions of which were red hot. The Post-office clerks in the leading van were much hurt in the collision, and beyond rescuing them and a few of the mail bags, nothing could be done with this tender. But the labours of the London passengers and others were devoted to un- coupling the two Poet-office tenders and removing the second and the London carriages some distance down the line out of the reach of the flames, which were consuming the first part of the train. The collision occurred at a quarter to one o'clock, and intelligence having been sent back to Aber- gele, the telegraph wires were put into operation, and Mr. Lee, resident engineer at Bangor, and Mr. Buiger, the district superintendent, were on the spot before three o'clock. It was a considerable time be- fore the burnt carriages could be approached owing to the intense heat thrown out by the fused mass of iron and burning embers, and when search was com- menced for the sufferers, little more than charred re- mains of human bodies could be discovered. In most cf the cases the bodies were headless, and in many it was impossible to discover whether the sufferers were males or females. Every particle of clothing was destroyed on all the sufferers, and for a long time only one body was recognised, that of the venerable Lord Farnham, whose identity was established through an inscription inside a gold watch recovered from his remains. It has since been ascertained that Lord Farnham was travelling with his wife, Lady Farnham, and a valued old retainer of the family, named Stafford, whe was in the same first-class carriage with them. In the suite of the noble lord and her ladyship were also travelling Miss Kellett, lady's maid; Mr. Outen, his lordship's valet; and Chas. Buck- ingham, footman in the same service; all of whom are lost. Lady Farnham, before going to Buxton last month, called at Hunt and Roskell's, and took from their care in a small bag more than X6,000 worth of her own jewellery, with which she is supposed to have been travelling on Thursday. The engine and tender of the mail express had fallen over on the down side of the railway, burying Holmes, the stoker, beneath but the first guard's break fell over the up line, to the clearing of which active efforts were ap- plied early. Before five o'clock the up-line was sufficiently clear to allow the up mail express to pass, and shortly afterwards the down express, which had gone back to Abergele station, was sent forward to Holyhead, conveying all the London passengers, except a gentleman named Murray, who preferred delaying his journey. The inquest was opened at Abergele before Dr. Pierce on Friday afternoon. In the absence of any evidence leading to the identification of any of the bodies, the coroner declined to proceed with the inquiry, which was therefore adjourned. MISSING PERSONS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD. The Right Hon. Lord Farnham, K.P.; The Right Hon. Lady Farnham; Miss Jane Strafford, aged 70, friend of Lady Farnham; Mary Aane Kellett, aged 24, Lady Famham's maid John Outen, aged 30, his lord- ship's valet; Charles Buchanan, aged 25, footman the Rev. Sir Nicholas Chinnery, Bart., of Flintfield, county Cork, and Hyda-park-sqaare, London Lady Chinnery; Caroline Steam,, .aged 24, Lady Chinnery's maid J.) Priestley Edwards, Esq., captain unattached, of Fixlejr- park, near Huddersield; Lea Priestley Edwards, Esq., j son of the above gentleman John Harrison Aylmer, ( Esq., of Walworth C&atl% county Durham Msa. Harri- son Aylmer; Master Harrison Aylmer, son of Mr. and Mrs. Aylmer; Master Vivian ( or Scott), nephew of Mr. and Mis. Aylmer; Miss Caroline Simcox Lea, of Astley-hall, near Stourport; Miss Augusta Simcox Lea, her sister; Walter Berwick. Esq., barristw-at-law, and one of the juiiges in the Irish Court of Bankruptcy; Miss Berwick, sister of Mr. Berwick; Miss Symess, a little girl, tra- velling with Judge Berwick Jane Ingram, lady's-maid to Miss Berwick; Mr. William H. Owen, organist, of Dublin Mr. Atkins, of Kidderminster; Mr. Atkins, jun. Mr. W. B. Parkinson, of Blackburn; Mr. Chris- topher Parkinson, of Blackburn Mr. W. T. Lund, of Blackburn; Mr. Scobell; Miss Scobell; William Smith, first-class guard, London and North-Western Railway Thomas Holmes, stoker in the same service. The medical report of the examination of the remains state that there is ample evidence of 1& males and 13 females, and ten whose sex cannot be detected. There is also further evidence of other bodies in the calcined dust in the opinion of the medical gentlemen. The caps of all the skulls found are clearly taken off, as are also the thigh-bones, which supports the theory that the sufferers were struck lifeless by the explosion. A quantity of valuable luggage was destroyed in the van. Eighteen gold watches and four silver ones have been found, besides rings, bracelets, brooches, watch chains, and a large quantity of gold. LIST OF REMAINS. No. 1. Evidently the remains of a female skull par- tially consumed; pelvis intact; the mouth quite burnt, one tooth only remaining portion of silk dress from under right arm nnburnt; supposed to be the body of Lady Farnham. No. 2. Trunk of female body limbs entirely consumed; ribs burnt; identification quite impossible. No. 3. Portion of body of female part of lungs unburnt; identification quite impossible. No. 4. Remains of male body neck, thorax, and abdomen all intact; evidently the remains of a muscular man, and recognised by buttons on the remains of clothing as the body of Lord Farnham's valet. No. 5. Remains of a male body; head and mouth, containing [teeth quite perfect both in upper and lower jaws; portion of right arm unburnt; body quite perfect; metal chain found on body. No. 6. Remains of body nothing but a portion of the thorax, containing heart and lungs, both much charred. No. 7. Portion of skull and vertebra; also liver, much charred; pelvis quite con- sumed. No. 8. Skull and portion of vertebrae of child. No. 9. Remains of male body portion of skull thorax and abdomen intact; arms and legs burnt two gold studs P,,I-buA.le of belt found with this body. No. 10. Remains of female body very much burnt; the extremities quite destroyed. No. 11. Male body; portion of skull left side of face with quantity of whiskers body much burnt; pipe and buttons indicate that this was the body of Lord Farnham's footman, Charles Cripps. No. 12. Female body; portion of skull, thorax, and pelvis whole remains were found enveloped in crinoline wires supposed to be the body of Mary Ann Kellet. No. 13. Charred remains, consisting of thorax and vertebras, partially burnt pelvis destroyed; sex unknown. No. 14. Female body, tall and slender; much burnt. No. 15. Male body; very much burnt; nothing left for identification. No. 16. Human remains; part of skull and thorax; sex un- definable. No. 17. Male body very much burnt. No. 18. Female body; much charred arms and legs all burnt; skull also burnt. No. 19. Female body; this evidently being the body of a child very much burnt. No. 20. Remains of body sex unknown articles found with body were portion of lady's collar, a sovereign, gold solitaire, and a key the supposition being that this was the body of a female. No. 21. Female body; enveloped in crinoline wires found gold plate for false teeth for upper jaw also a crochet needle and ink bottle; recognised as the body of Mrs. Elizabeth Strafford, 71 years of age, housekeeper to Lady Farnham. No. 22. Charred remains; sex unknown; nothing left but portion of thorax and vertebrse. No. 23. Male body; very much burnt; limbs consumed. No. 24. Human body; fearfully burnt and charred; sex unknown; nothing left but the vertebrse and remains of thorax. No. 25. Body of male child; skull gone; thorax and abdomen intact, and portions of lower extremities un- burnt nothing leading to identification found about the body. With the remains of Nos. 23, 24, and 25 were found-spectacle frame, the metal covering of two buttons, and part of corkscrew. No. 26. Female body; the remains open very stout female the contents of pelvis remain intact; the rest of the body being much charred; limbs entirely destroyed. No. 27. Male body very much burnt; the arms and legs quite de- stroyed. No. 28. Female body; extremities and skull gone; contents of pelvis intact; no means, nor any article left, to identify this body. No. 29. Male body; skull burnt arms and portion of legs burnt springs ef truss found round the loins but- ton of guard, portions of flannel vest, and belt found near. No. 30. Female body contents of pelvis intact. No. 31. Female body; very much burnt body totally disorganised nothing left but pelvis. No. 32. Remains of body sex unknown the pelvis, and organs contained therein, completely destroyed* No. 33. Remains of body; sex unknown; nothing left but vertabre and thorax nothing found towards identification but the above. PERSONAL NARRATIVE. A gentleman who travelled by the train, says the Freeman, gives the annexed graphic and interesting account of the shocking occurrence :—Nothing unusual occurred until we reached the turn or sweep upon the road between Abergele and Landdulas. Opposite to me was sitting a London gentleman reading a newspaper. I had my watch in my left hand and "Bradshaw's Guide" in my right, anxious to time exactly the arrival of the train at Landdulas. Suddenly, without the slightest notice, I was hurled from my seat upon my opposite companion. Stunned for a second by the shock, I quickly recovered. My corn. panion, inquiring whether I was hurt, assured me that I had turned a somersault in the car- riage. I at once put my head out of the window on the right hand, or locked side, of the carriage. Looking first to the rear of the line I saw all was clear. Three or four pale and anxious faces appeared at the windows, and hands were nervously busy trying in vain to turn the handles of the doors. I crept out of the window, and there saw a sight which can never be for. gotten. The Chester train, consisting of two first-class carriages, a composite carriage, a seoond-class, and a luggage-van, which had been attached in front of our train at Chester, had run into a goods train with casks and cans of petroleum. I examined the barrels subse- quently, and found they were strongly made and well hooped. With the violence of the concussion some of the barrels were thrown upon the embank- ment on the right, others on the rising ground to the left, and others rolled under the carriages, but all ex- ploded, as it were, together. There was fire everywhere —nothing but fire. The engine, the carriages, and the, luggage-vans were enveloped in fire—bright dazzling fire. It seemed as if hell had opened or a volcano had burst out upon the train. Few in the London portion of the train could see beyond the mail van directly in our front. All beyond, as I say, was an arch of roaring, panting, hissing fire. On the moment we rushed to the mail van and extricated one of the officials, sorely wounded, the other, named Woodroffe, was hurt, but bravely kept his guard upon the mails. In a few seconds we had all the letters and even the newspapers out, and then it suddenly broke upon us that there were car- riages and passengers within that wall ef fire. There were brave men who volunteered to rush through the flames and save life if it could be saved, but the attempt was hopeless. Not a cry for help, not a sound, except the hissing of the fire and the cracking of the woodwork, reached our ears from out of the flaming circle. The air became insufferably hot. We were breathing an atmo- sphere heated to 150 degrees. We felt our impotency most when we stood for a moment unemployed. Then we thought the fire would reach the London portion of the train. Our first care was to lift the ladies from the windows and to place the wounded on the bank. Next, our portion of the train was pushed backwards from the fire, but fragments of the shattered and burning carriages adhered. As the ruins were. disturbed and moved away, we saw what the fire had done. Among the broken timbers and hot iron work there lay skeletons—smoking skeletons-all that was left of men and women and children. They moved horribly along Vith the wreck. The guard-a brave and undaunted itoan—said to me, In this carriage, sir, I pnt Lord farnham and a lady with two young girls. I must have heard his last words at Chester, sir. I would recognise him among a thousand." All that was left of Lord Farnham cannot be described. The flesh had been burnt off his thighs, his face was a blackened skull, not a particle of clothing remained. We picked up near the remains Lord Farnham's watch—it had been a pre- sentation from his tenantry. Of the ladies there remained charred, undistinguishable fragments, among which were picked up and treasured a scissors, a thimble, a locket or two, and some half-melted orna- ments—that was all left of the noble and the young. The compartment in which Lord Farnham sat had not been torn to pieces like the rest. But who could describe the appalling scene in the ruins of the other carriages ? I have served in the Royal Navy, ? ,a,iga seen death iu manj jsixapes, but aeror in so awful and shocking form as now. They who saw that scene must see it again in feverish dreams, and the dread remembrance of it can die out only with a life. Imme- diately on the first shock the Duchess of Abercorn and Lord George Hamilton, with whom Lord Mayo had a conversation at Chester, were extricated from their carriage. Their suite gathered round them, and bore their loved mistress up the embankment, and then to a farmer's cottage near. I must bear my most grateful testimony to the feeling shown by the Welsh peasantry and to their genuine hospitality. They made us tea, and some one procured a little brandy. But water, water was the cry of the wounded and uninjured. At last some was drawn from the engine itself, and, foul as it was, a draught was precious. When all the living were ex- tricated, those of the passengers who were unhurt and many of the peasants formed a line down to the sea, about two hundred yards-and buckets and cans of sea water were handed from one to the other in quick succession, and poured on the smouldering wreck. What remained of the fire was soon extinguished now. The oil had burnt itself out rapidly, and all that it touched. Then came the sickening but the necessary work of gatheringthe fragments. As well as we could we placedthe component parts of each together in coffins procured from Chester. Identification of the bodies is utterly impossible. Among the ruins may be found some treasured articles which will tell a wife or child that the husband and father can return no more. The cool courage and con- fidence exhibited by the Duchess of Abercorn and all the lady passengers in the train was most remarkable. There were no cries, no complaints, no faintings, even on the part of those whom dignity had not taught self-possession. They saw the danger, and with firmness prepared to escape from it or to bear it. Their first task on being liberated from the train was to comfort and help the wounded. It is a curious circumstance, noted at a time when incidents otherwise trivial are noted, that when the guard's watch was picked up from beneath him it was found to have stopped at half-past two. The watch must have continued going long. after the pulse of its owner had ceased to beat. Immediately on the embarcation of the surviving passengers on board the mail steamers they knelt down on the deck and returned a thanksgiving to God who had rescued them from the midst of the fire. One of their number addressed to them a few brief but touching words, and for the hour all ranks and creeds joined together in giving gratitude—sincere gratitude, indeed, to the Pro- vidence which saved them. THE INQUEST. The inquest on the bodies of the unfortunate sufferers by the accident to the Irish mail was opened on Monday at the Bee Hotel, in Abergele. The jury subsequently removed to the Town-hall, in consequence of the number of persons who attended to watch the pro- ceedings in the interest of the relatives of the deceased, and of the railway and insurance com- panies. Colonel Riches, one of the Government inspectors of railways, was among those present. At the commencement of the proceedings the solicitor who appeared for the North-Western Railway Company announced that the company courted a full inquiry, and would afford every facility in their power to that end. The inquiry is likely to be a pro- tracted one. One identification took place, that of Captain Edwards, by his brother, Sir Henry, the well- known Conservative member. The relatives of the de- ceased held a meeting, and wisely resolved to bury the remains in one grave. INTERMENT OF THE BODIES. The remains of the bodies recovered from the calcined dtbris of the limited mail were buried on Tuesday morn- ing side by side in a long grave on the west side of the churchyard in the parish of Abergele. The Rev. Mr. Meredith, vicar of Abergele, read the burial service. Lord Farnham, the Hon. Richard Maxwell, Sir Henry Edwardes, Mr. Berwick, and other relatives ef the deceased were present. The scene was deeply affecting. A handsome menument is to be raised by the mourners.

CHINA. HONG KONG, July 10. ,The reports of the goldfields recently discovered at Chefoo, in the Province of Shantung, are confirmed. A large rush of Chinese bent upon gold-digging has taken place in that direction. 1,000 chests of damaged tea, ex-ship Maitland, have realised 5,060 taels. The state- ment that the Governor of Macao had been dismissed is contradicted. The reply given by the Governor of Hong Kong to the report of the Chamber of Commerce against the granting of gambling licenses has given much offence to the mercantile community.

i-imiwir (!>ossip. jr BY OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT. Our readers will understand that we do not hold ourselves respon- aiblefor our able Correspondent's opinicns. THE phrase irreparable loss," so often misapplied to persona who die at the full age of man, is no figure of speech in the case of Mr. Matthew Higgins (better known as "Jacob Omnium" and "Paterfamilias"), who died last week in the prime of life-only fifty-eight years old. Writers have already described his remarkable personal appearance, his gigantic height, his refined features and complexion—delicate as a woman's —and his gentle high-bred manners. In his own style, as a writer, he has not left an equal. Vigorous, witty, sarcastic, and amusing, his articles were full of wisdom and full of fun. It must be twenty years ago since Jacob Omnium became familiar to the readers of the Times in a horse case; he was a very horsey man. Having been dragged into a ridiculous little antiquated court, called the Palace-court, where enormous expenses and endless delays ended in no justice, Jacob Omnium set to work, and made such an exposure that the Government brought in a bill, and with extraordinary rapidity put an end to the whole institution. This precedent of the Palace-court led to several other petty jurisdictions being merged in the modern County Courts. Some or Jacob Omnium's most brilliant productions were on the subject of Army Reform, and, as I have before mentioned to him was greatly due the credit of the much- needed Commission of Inquiry into the Management of Public Schools. In these two questions, where so much remains to be done, his vigorous pic- turesque pen will be sorely missed. It was curious that so energetic a writer was not able to make the shortest speech in public. I was onoe on a plat- form when he was very much pressed by a lady of great influence to second a resolution on a subject in which he took much interest, but he obstinately refused, and was evidently as nervous as a sehool-girl. This did not prevent his being a very valuable witness before Parliamentary Committees and Royal Commissions. He will be missed next season in the park, on his big weight- carrying hunter, with his charming daughters riding beside him-very young, fair, and fresh and tall, as might be expected from such a father, NORTHUMBERLAND HousE, at Charing-cross, had a narrow escape from fire last week. It is a hideoas building, with antiquarian interest-no artistic merit about it, inside or out-but gorgeously decorated and furnished, with a collection of pictures, by the old masters, of priceless value, especially a portrait group, by Titian. It was built in the very worst age of British architecture. The Northumberland family have such a well-deserved reputation for magni. ficent charity and liberality as landlords, that one would be sorry to wish them any harm. At the same time, if all the works of art could be saved I could hear without any great grief of the total destruction of Northumberland-house, for it would clear the way for a magnificent boulevard/rem Trafalgar-place to the Thames Embankment. A bill promoted by the Metropolitan Board of Works for taking a piece of the picture gallery and gardens to complete the Thames Embankment im- provements, was thrown out last year by theinfluence of the Duke of Northumberland. The Duke of Buccleuch did not succeed in his attempt to cut short the embankment before it reached Westminster-bridge, but was fortunate enough to get sixteen thousand pounds' as compensation for a solid embankment which lengthened his garden, and substituted a splendid boulevard as a boundary, in- stead of a foul and noisome river, as the Thames was before the embankment was completed. It is an un- fortunate affair altogether. The lease of the site of Montagu-house ought never to have been renewed; it should have been reserved for Government offices, in harmony with the splendid pile erected by Mr. Gilbert Scott in Downing street. The Duke of Buccleuch has spent a hundred thousand pounds in building a mansion, which is squat, mean, and unpicturesque in every point of view. I SEE in the sporting papers that one of the demi- gods of the turf is closing his brief career. At Don- cascer, Jackson, of Fairfield, sells Blair Atlaoll the winner of the Derby and the St. Leger, for which he gave ten thousand pounds, and all his other horses, and great is the lamentation of the touts, the cads, and the toadies of the sporting press. A few years ago Jackson was a ploughboy, the son of a small farmer, with the usual Yorkshire taste for horses and gambling. He began to bet outside the ring in half-crowns and pounds but very soon his tall form was seen, his stentorian voice and racy Yorkshire twang was heard in the ring, where he became literally the leviathan bookman of the day, ready to lay thousands against any horse the gentleman fancied." At one time he was supposed to have won a very large fortune. He purchased Fairfield a beautiful breeding farm, near York, where he got together a great stud of valuable brood of mares, with Blair Athol as the first of his sires, and had beside for his personal use a famous stable of weight-carrying hunters. Noisy, jovial, coarsely good natured, with his reputation for wealth, a certain sort of gentlemen of high degree were not ashamed to be intimate with the bookman, and even owe him money. But railroad facilities kill betting men. To roar in the ring all day, to brawl night after night, and live a life of excitement and champagne tell, even on an iron constitution. Jackson, the Leviathan, who had brains and pluck enough to rule the jobbers of the Stock Exchange, or make a first-rate general, or to succeed in any pursuit where rapid calculation and decision are required, is a wreck wheeled about in a Bath- chair, preparing for his last account, and therefore sacrificing his horses, the worship of his life. When he goes, it will be said of him, as a hearty, hospitable, generous man, that he was a favourable specimen of a class who live on the ruin of fools. P. P.

UYSTERIOUS BOMBARDMENT OF A HOUSE IN LL FERPOOL. About two o'clock on Tuesday afternoon the inmates of one of the houses near the junction of Hutchinson- street with Baker-street were startled by a stone crash- ing through a pane of glass in the kitchen window, which looks out into the backyard. At first it was thought the stone must have been thrown by some child, and no particular notice was taken of the matter but presently another missile struck the window and broke another pane of glass. At short intervals throughout the rest of the day, up till nearly eleven o'clock at night, stones, pieces of coal, and other missiles were thrown at the window, until almost every pane of glass that it contained had been battered out. The occupiers of the house, unable themselves to discover the quarter from whence the stones, &c., came, communicated with the police, and several constables appeared upon the scene. They were equally unsuccessful in their endeavours to discover the author of the mischief. Visits were paid to several of the neighbouring houses, but without in any way clearing up the mystery, and nume- rous stones were thrown while the officers were actually standing by the window at which the missiles were aimed, without their being able to tell from which direction they came. On Wednesday the bombardment of the window-or rather, of the shutters, which had to be clesed—was resumed, though not so continuously as on the previous day. Half a dozen detectives were sent up from the police-office in the course of the morning, but they were obliged to depart baffled in the object of their visit, and the mystery which surrounds the affair is not yet cleared up.-Liverpool Mercury.

THE WIDOW OF A RAILWAY EMPLOYE, named Kaiser, committed suicide in Vienna a few days back by swallowing cyanide of potassium; and she also put to death by the same means her young children, Rudolph, aged 9 Gustave, 7 Hildegarde, 2 and her aged mother, 70. One of her little boys, Armin, 5 years of age, refused to take a cup of tea containing the poison, and so escaped. The motive which dreve the woma-i te this terrible act was the deepest poverty. SEWING MACHINES.—The best and cheapest Lock-stitch & Double-lock, by hand or treadle. Lists Whight and Mann, 143, Holb urn-hill, London.

THE MARQUIS OF HAMILTON UPON THE ABERGELE ACCIDENT. In a letter to the Times, the Marquis of Hamilton writes as follows :—An account of the fearful accident which befel ths Irish mail from one who was a passen- ger in the illfated train, and a witness of the catas- trophe, may not be uninteresting. We had left Aber- gele about a mile and a half, and were about the same distance from the Llanddulas station, when we were startled by a collision and shock which, though not very severe, were sufficient to throw every one against his opposite neighbour. I immediately jumped out of the carriage, when a fearful sight met my view. Already the whole of the three passenger carriages in front of ours, the vans, and the engine were enveloped in dense sheets of flame and smoke, rising fully 20 feet high, and spreading out in every direction it was the work of an instant. No words can convey the instantaneous nature of the explosion and conflagration. I had actually got out almost before the shock of the col- lision was over, and this was the spectacle which already presented itself. Not a sound, not a scream, not a struggle to escape, or a movement of any sort was apparent in the doomed carriages. It was as though an electric flash had at once paralysed and stricken everyone of their occupants. So complete was the absence of any presence of living or struggling life in them that, as soon as the passengers from the other parts of the train were in some degree recovered from their first shock and consternation, it was imagined that the burning carriages were destitute of passengers; a hope soon changed into feelings of horror when their contents of charred and mutilated remains were discovered about an hour afterwards. From the extent, however, of the flames, the suddenness [of the conflagration, and the absence of any power to extricate themselves, no human aid would have been of any assistance to the sufferers, who, in all probability, were instantaneously suffocated by the black and fetid smoke peculiar to paraffin, which rose in volumes about and around the spreading flames. As soon as I had in some degree realised the situation and placed my family in safety, I ran with all possible speed for a considerable distance on the down line to stop the Irish mail, which was expected on the up line; but I found that this had already been done, I believe at Llanddulas station, where, possibly, they had knowledge of the escape of the wagons which caused the calamity. On my return I found some of the female passengers collected in a neighbouring field, out of reach of the dreaded explosion of the engine boilers, from which, how- ever, the engine driver had had the presence of mind to turn off the steam before he jumped off it. The male passengers were assisting in every pos- sible way; their efforts being principally directed to saving the mails and detaching carriages from the burning mass, and it was on comparing notes with each other that the fearful extent of loss of life was realised, and that the task of removing the blackened and charred remains from the burning carriages began. I saw eleven bodies, if such they could be called, removed and care- fully wrapped up in sheets. Beyond the knowledge that poor Lord and Lady Farnham were in these carriages, there was nothing to designate them in- dividually, except a watch with Lord Farnham s crest and coronet. Various other watches, bracelets, rings, and jewelry were picked up and taken in charge of by the police. The country people, who assembled in large numbers, were very kind in their attention to the suf- ferers by the collision. Most of the wounds, I am happy to say, were but slight, chiefly contusions and cuts about the head. After a delay of six hours the mail again started on its journey to Holyhead, the ghastly figures and remnants of what so few hours before had been our fellow-passengers still remaining in shrouds and tem- porary boxes where the accident occurred.

ACTION FOR DETENTION ON A RAILWAY. An action of some importance to railway pafcsrengers has been heard in the Newtown County Court. The plaintiff was Mrs. Grady, and the defendants were the Cambrian Railway Company, the action being brought to recover compensation for losses sustained by the plaintiff in consequence of being unduly detained on the defendants' line. From the evidence it appeared that, on May 5th, the plaintiff took a ticket by the company's line to Manchester, leaving Newtown at six o'clock in the morning, and, according to the time specified in the company's bill, being due in Manchester at half-past ten. On arriving at Oswestry, however, she found that the train for Manchester had gone, and declining an offer made to her by the traffic manager to send her on by the special, she took a ticket for Newtown and returned home. For the defence it was urged that, in accordance I with the notice on their time-table, the company was not responsible for the delay in the arrival of passengers, and further, that two offers had been made to send the plaintiff on, by one train which would have reached Manchester by 11-45, and by another which would arrive about one o'clock. Judgment was given for the fall amount claimed. Ie> II

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FOREIGN TELEGRAMS. QUEEN VICTORIA AT LUCERNE. LUCERNE, August 23. The report published by a French paper of a Fenian having been arrested here on suspicion of intending to attempt the life of Queen Victoria, is untrue. It originated in the fact of a man named Charles William Wood having endeavoured to enter the apartments occupied by her Majesty. He was arrested, and being found to be insane, was taken to Berne and handed over by the police to the British Legation, in order to be sent home to England. 1

RAPPERSCHWYL, CANTON OF GALLES. August 16. Yesterday, at four o'clock, the monument intended to commemorate the centenary of the subjugation of Poland was inaugurated, in presence of a large number of Poles and deputations from several Continental countries. The monument stands on the Lindenholf, and consists of a column of black marble, surmounted by the White Eagle of Poland. Count Platen, the president of the municipal council of Rapperschwyl, the Landman of St. Galles, Professor Kinkel, of Zurich, the American Consul at Zurich, General Perezel, French and German journalists, pronounced speeches. Count Platen read the, adhesions received from all parts of Europe. Amongst the adherents were Victor Hugo, Jules Favre Carnot, and Pelletan.

THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. SOUTHAMPTON, August 21. The Union Steamship Company's steamer Celt, Capt. Baynton, from the Cape of Good Hope, has arrrived here with a full complement of passengers, 37 sacks of mails, X820 in specie, and a large cargo, including 2,088 bales of wool. The Cape Parliament continues in Session, and the work of legislation progresses satisfactorily. The existence of extensive gold-fields in the interior was confirmed. The gold is said to exist in veins half an inch broad, and the yield to increase in proportion to the depth to which the excavations are carried. Business at Capetown had slighty improved. The wool clip was expected to be large. Tonnage was scarce, and freights were high.

THE BRAZILS. RiO DE JANEIRO, July 31. According to intelligence from the seat of war 10,000 allied troops attacked Humaita on the 16th inst., but were disastrously repulsed. Their loss is stated to have been 3,000 men. An attack of the allies upon the Chaco had also been defeated. '1

JAPAN. News from Japan states that Strotsbaschi has again been offered the Shiogoonate, but refused the post. It is reported that he wiU become Minister of Foreign Affairs.

INDIA. BOMBAY, July 28. Affairs on the borders of the Persian Gulf are again in a disturbed condition, in consequence of piratical attacko by the chief of Bahreit. Her Majesty's ship Vigilant has sailed to enforce redress. CALCUTTA, July 23. Rain has faHen in the North-western Provinces and the prospects of the harvest have generally improved although the cotton crop has suffered. The number Of officials applying for leave of absence under the netf furlough regulations being very great, Government b' been obliged to suspend the privilege in the case of civilians. The Englishman reports that Bhootan 's again in a disturbed state. News has been received of the further progress of the Bhamo expedition. CaptaIn Sladen and his exploring party had arrived safely at Momeyn, and met with a cordial reception from the Panthag and the authorities.

THE GREAT ECLIPSE OF THE SUN. BOMBAY, August 19. The great eclipse of the sun took place yesterday as prognosticated by the astronomers, but the weather was very unfavourable here for scientific observations. Rain fell at the time of the greatest obscuration. The Bombay Gazette states that Shere Ali's troops occupy CabuL i" H;'

AMERICA. NEW YORK, August 15. The Democratic State Convention biG been held at Raleigh, North Carolina. A large KJimber of negro democrats attended, and were threatened with violence by the radical negroes. The military preserved order. It is reported that the negroes in the interior of South Carolina are incensed at the action of Governor Scott in vetoing certain radical members ef the Legislature. They are said to be arming, and to threaten violence against the Conservative whites and negroes- The funera-l service was performed over the body of Mr. Tbaddeus Stevens at Washington yesterday. The body was taken to Lancaster, in Pennsylvania, for in' terment. Encke's comet was visible from Washington Observatory last night. Intelligence from Canada states that conflagrations are still raging in the northern forests.

MAGISTERIAL LAW. On Tuesday, August 11, a police-sergeant named Asker preferred a charge of drunkenness and disorderly conduct against a man named King at the Westminster Police-court, but the latter producing a number of fit- nesses, who swore that the sergeant violently assaulted him, Mr. Selfe discharged the prisoner, remarking that Asker was unworthy of belief and should not be to continue in the force, and recommended that pro, ceedings should be taken against him. On Thursday proceedings were taken by the man King, and the police-sergeant was charged on a summons for assaulting him. The case was heard before ^lr. Ingham, who decided that the sergeant had done "his duty, that be had shown no want of discretion, that the violence be used was necessary under the circumstances, and that he might leave the court entirely free from blame in the transaction. He thereupon dismissed the summons, ordered the complainant to pay one guinea costs.

OFFICERS AND GENTLEMEN. At the Portsmouth Borough Police-court iLieutenant William P. B. Brereton, Captain Edward Tedlie, Lieu- tenant Wilfred Tolson, and Ensign George Cooper, all of the 35th Regiment, with Assistant Paymaster Charles Salmon, were brought before the magistrate, charged with1 drunkenness, disorderly conduct, and resisting the in the execution of their duty. The officers, It was- alleged, were creating a great noise and disturbance outside the United Service Hotel, in the High-streeti Portsmouth, between one and two o'clock on the morning of the 31st ult., the day after the race for the Goodwood' Cup, and, when remonstrated with by the police, became still more violent, and finally resisted while being take" to the lock-up. The case occupied six hours; and the close Lieutenant Tolson was fined zC' and coSO9 the other officers being severally fined 50s. each a° costs. ■

THE SHOEMAKER AND THE — t CHURCHWARDENS. In the parish church of the village in which tb& Bishop of Oxford resides, some very eccentric proceed' ings took place last Sunday week. A shoemaker of tJ¡Et village, who appears to be lame, has conceived an objec" tion to the reading of the Rev. Llewellyn Jones, who is, a Welshman; and on this gentleman rising tp read, tlle shoemaker followed him down the church, and, beckon- ing to his daughter, who belongs to the parish school* they both left the building. The daughter, it seems, returned, but the shoemaker did not. For this CO"- duct the unfortunate son of Crispin was summon by the churchwardens, and the charge against "being guilty of certain indecent behaviour in ^eS Lavington Church." The defence was that he bad & perfect right to leave the church, and take his daughte^ with him, if he objected to the services. Witnesse. were called on the part of the defendant to show th3^ he quitted the church in an orderly manner, and tJ>t magistrates, regretting that the defendant had apologised, said they did not consider his Conduct sufficiently culpable to merit the infliction of, a fine, aI1 the case would be therefore dismissed.