12 AUGUST 1854, Page 10

The dispute between the engine-drivers and firemen and the authorities

of the North-Western Railway, respecting the contract-system, ripened yesterday into a general strike. The Rugby men first, then the Bir- mingham men, refused to work any trains; and Mr. M'Connell, taken by surprise, instantly carried some men down to Rugby to bring up the trains. In the evening the London men struck. As a reason for the revolt, unfair treatment before the locomotive committee of the Railway Committee is alleged.