Knockton Hall, the splendid mansion of the Earl of Ripon,
situated five miles from Lincoln, on the Sleaford road, has been burnt to the ground. The fire commenced at eleven o'clock on Tuesday night, and continued without intermission till six o'clock the next morning, when a smouldering mass of ruins only remained of the whole edifice. The firemen with engines from Lincoln arrived in due course to render every assistance, but their exertions were of no avail to stop the pro- gress of the flames. The furniture was almost all consumed. No lives were lost.
A fire broke out at North Tawton, near Plymouth, on Monday night, which destroyed between sixty and seventy houses. The church steeple was partially, and the workhouse totally consumed. The in. mates of the workhouse were removed to the church. The scene in the town was very alarming and distressing. Two years ago, more than forty horses were burnt in the same place.
Yesterday week, a large portion of the cliff directly in front of the Royal Crescent, Ramsgate, consisting of several tons of chalk, fell' with a tremendous crash. Five or six men who were at work at the foot of the cliff at the time, were saved from being buried alive, by a small piece of chalk which fell first, hitting one of them on the back, who instantly exclaimed to his companions, " For God's sake run for your lives." they had scarcely time to get out of the way, ere the whole Mass till," and buried the spot were they were standing fifteen or twenty feet.—Kentish Gazette.
A circumstance occurred on Sunday evening at Gravesend, which had nearly been attended with very serious consequences. Persons, on paying twopence each, are permitted to walk on the temporary pier, which is so very narrow as not to allow more than four persons to walk abreast. On Sunday evening, while a great number of men, women, and children were on the pier, a signal was made that a steam-boat was ready to sail for London ; in consequence of which a great number of persons at Gravesend rushed on the pier to go aboard the vessel, when a frightful scene of confusion ensued. Some were jostled into the water and mud ; others were thrown down and injured ; women had their garments torn to pieces ; and a child, which had been separated from its father, was missing, and was supposed to be lost, but was af- terwards picked out of the mud by a waterman, unhurt. Constables clearing the way, and pickpockets in their vocation, increased the tur- moil. One steamer brought 1,100 persons to Gravesend last Sunday.
The new Tally-ho coach, on its way from Manchester to Chester- field, broke down in the neighbourhood of Stockport on Wednesday week, in consequence of the axletree breaking. After some delay a fresh coach was procured ; and the passengers, &c. proceeded on their journey. Soon after leaving Buxton, one of the wheelers and the leader commenced kicking, and the coachman appeared unable to manage them. In this dilemma, a soldier belonging to a Hussar re- giment, who was a passenger, and who happened to have his spurs on, jumped off the coach, mounted the leader, clapped his spurs into the horse's sides, and dashed along " Tally-ho," at a rapid pace to Bake- well, amidst the cheers of the passengers of several coaches which they passed on the road. The leader which the Dragoon rode, it appeared, had been an old trooper.—Stockport Advertiser.
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