Vrntuntrg.

A meeting of "bankers, merchants, manufacturers, and others," to be held at Manchester next Tuesday, to consider the renewal of the Indian Charter, has been called by the Mayor, in consequence of an influential requisition.

The Australian, whose second departure on Thursday we recorded last week, returned again on Monday, after having nearly reached the Bay of Biscay. She was in a much worse condition than when she previously returned. It was found that the boiler feed-pipes would not work, so that sufficient steam could not be obtained to propel the vessel, and that there were three feet of water in the engine-room. The pumps were freely used, second-class passengers working like seamen ; and eventually by putting both feed-pipes to one boiler, they were enabled to get back to Plymouth. On their arrival the passengers met, with Commander Baker, R.N., as chairman, adopted a strong protest, and passed various resolu- tions complaining of the inefficiency of the boilers, the leaky state of the vessel, the want of accommodations, especially of fire, and the want of pumps. Among the protesters were fourteen passengers who had previously left England by the Melbourne. They collectively expressed their strong feeling of disappointment at the delay, annoyance, and ex- pense to which they had been subjected ; they demanded the return of their passage-money, and compensation for detention and loss. Special votes of thanks were passed to Captain Hoseason and his officers and crew, as well as to the passengers who manfully worked at the pumps. They declare also that they have no confidence in the Australian Royal Mail Steam Navigation Company. The vessel has since started for Lou- don; and the Company have agreed to refund the passage-money.

In the Sheriff's Court at Nottingham, Captain Herbert Morgan, of the First Royal Dragoons, son of a wealthy gentleman of Bath, has been east in 6001. damages for the seduction of Elizabeth Hardy, daughter of a butcher. The case exhibited much heartlessness on the part of the de- fendant. An attempt to injure the young woman's general character failed.

The Exeter Assize Court has been engaged for two days in hearing evidence in support of an action for libel brought by Captain Delafosse, a married man without family, and sixty years of age, against the Reverend Mr. Fortescue and his wife. The libel originated in a charge brought by letter against Captain Delafosse, that he had seduced Miss Pitt, a governess in the family of the defendants. A plea of justification was set up ; and sustained by evidence which went to show, not only that Captain Delafosse had seduced Miss Pitt, but that he had pursued his amours with an unaccountable pub- licity. The evidence was direct on both sides, irreconcileable, and totally unfit for our pages. The Jury returned a verdict for the defendants on the plea of justification.

At the Derby Assizes, on Saturday, Thomas Morgan pleaded guilty to a charge of bribery at the Derby election. His counsel urged that he had come to Derby without any illegal purpose : he had fallen into bad hands, and had bribed electors, but he was only a tool used by others. Mr. Ser- geant Miller, who appeared for the prosecution, admitted this: as yet the chain of evidence to prove who found the money was incomplete ; but the inquiry would be prosecuted. Morgan had been already in prison, and the ends of justice would be answered by holding him to bail to be of good be- haviour and to appear to receive judgment if called upon. Mr. Baron Parke —" I understand that in the mean time you will endeavour to find out who were the parties mho found the money ?" Sergeant Miller—" Yes, my Lord." Judge—" They, undoubtedly, are far more culpable than this man." Morgan was held to bail in his own recognizances.

At York, Robert Drew and William Andrews, both young men, have been found guilty,. the one of "shooting with intent to murder," the other of "shooting wnli intent to do some grievous bodily harm." The prisoners, with others; were poaching at night, near Doncaster, on Lord Hawke's estate ; they encountered keepers ; after a skirmish, the keepers were re- treating, when Drew fired his gun, and John Mitchell, head keeper, was shot, , one eye being stricken out, and the other so wounded that now he is totally blind. Both parties now fired, and Andrews hit a keeper named Hepworth. The Jury recommended the poachers to mercy, on account of their previous good character. Mr. Baron Martin said this alone prevented him from leav- ing Drew for execution • but he would only order sentence of death to be re- corded against him. Ahdrews was sentenced to fifteen years' transportation.

At Worcester Assizes, last week, David Davies, aged forty-seven, and David his son, a youth of fifteen' were charged with the wilful murder of Mary Pardee. Davies appeared tobe insane, and thus incompetent to plead. A Jury was sworn to decide upon his sanity. A number of medical men were examined. They expressed some doubt as to whether the prisoner was shamming or not; but the impression made upon the Jury induced them to decide that he "was and is insane." He was ordered to be detained : the son was liberated on bail.

At Leicester Assizes, on Monday, John Cole, Vestry-clerk of St. Margaret's parish, was convicted of forging an order for the payment of money. He drew a check for 51. 4s. 3d., for a particular purpose; got it signed by three vestrymen; and then fraudulently changed the amount to 251. 4s. 3d., which amount he received from the bank. Sentence, fifteen years' transportation.

Maxwell has been committed for trial for the robbery of _jewellery at Messrs. 011ivants', at Manchester : the Magistrates were of opinion that he alone effected the burglary, and that no suspicion attached to the people sleeping in the house.

At Butterwick in Durham, Abraham Sewell, a man of forty, has killed his mother, who was ninety years of age. He beat her to death at night with a poker, and also attacked his father ; he then leapt out of a window in his shirt and ran to a neighbour's house. There is no doubt that the matri- cide was a maniac at the time—he was also a more dangerous animal—he was a "lunatic at large."

At the resumed inquest on the persons killed on the railway at Dixon- fold, some interesting evidence was given. On Friday, five passengers de- clared their belief that the train had been going at an excessive speed. " I should say the speed was not much less than forty miles an hour "; it was " a dreadful speed, exceeding that of a common express-train"; it was " dangerous" ; "never travelled at such a speed before" ; a " very great speed "; " I have often travelled very quick and been alarmed on this line, but never travelled so quick as that night,"—such were some of the ex- pressions of the witnesses. But the stoker of the train said he "noticed no difference in the speed."

Mr. Nasmyth, of Bridgewater Foundry, Patricroft, said he had examined the locomotive and the road : he pronounced the engine not to be in first- rate condition—not very clean—and dangerous at a high speed. Of the permanent way he spoke in the most condemnatory terms. "I consider the present condition of the line is such that it is not fit for public safety. That is condensing a very great deal of observation into a very short sentence. The sleepers i , I consider, are in a very decayed condition ; and, on account of the peculiar manner n which the rails and chairs are fastened, by spikes driven into the timbers, the sleepers are split and rent in the direction of their length. I consider the mode of the construction of the chairs, and the mode of attaching them to the sleepers, are defective in principle and bad in workmanship. The rails are very much exfoliated at the top, the joints gapine considerably—to the extent of an inch, and more than an inch in several cases. They are not such in material or construction as I should think they ought to be. They are so badly packed up, that when a train traverses them they rise and fall to the extent of nearly an inch up and down as each successive wheel passes ; particularly at the chair junctions. The place where the accident occurred is where a pretty rapid curve terminates. . During the sweeping round of the train there would be a considerable centri- fugal tendency given to the train ; and at the place where the curve ceases that centrifugal action would not cease at the moment, but would produce a sort of outward squeezing, acting on the straight rails. There is one portion of the line in a very sound and satisfactory state—that which is laid on cross sleepers."

Mr. Fairbairn, the engine-manufacturer, was of opinion that the axle of the locomotive was broken before it arrived at the place where the accident occurred. The engine might be safe up to forty miles an hour, but not be- yond that. He could not go the length of Mr. Nasmyth in condemning the road : he would not fear to travel on the rails at fifty miles an hour ; but the rails are not made on the best principle, and additional security might be given to the public by the repair of the line—it wants repair in many parts. He did not think this accident had been caused by the state of the road.

On Monday, Captain Wynn, the Government Inspector, gave a very bad account of the state of the railway. "I have gone over the line, commen- cing about a mile East of Clifton Junction, and thence walking to Bolton. The great object to be attained in a line of this description is that the sleeper should have a solid bed. The construction of this line is such that that ob- ject is not attained, or at least only partially so. When this line was ori- ginally kid down, it was never contemplated that the traffic would be so great, or the locomotives in use so heavy ; and, in consequence of this being the second line of rails the timbers now carry, in taking off one set of rails and putting down the other the timber has been so wounded and shaken,. added to the long time during which it has been exposed to the atmosphere, that I have no doubt its bearing strength is impaired fully one-half. Therefore, although it has to bear greater traffic and heavier weight, its strength isgreatly

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decreased. I found that the rails worked very much n the chairs, and the chairs worked very much on the timbers. The point to which I attach great importance is the proper security of the chair ; for the compound moving of the timber bending, and the rail moving up and down in the chair, will com- municate a very complicated motion and great uneasiness to a passing train. I found the keys required very generally renewing. The worms were worn off the screw which secured the chair to the sleeper in many instances. In some cases the nut into which the bolt should have been screwed at the bot- tom of the sleeper was defective, and would not hold. Underneath the chairs fresh pieces of timber were required to raise it up and give it a firm bend ; and I should say 75 per cent of the chairs were deficient in these re- spects." Only two men per mile were employed to maintain the line,—an in- sufficient number. Trains ought not to run on these rails at thirty miles an hour. Where the rails had been relaid on cross timbers the permanent way is good. The curves are not objectionable. He thought the iron of the engine-axle was of good material. In answer to the Coroner, he said—" I think the part of the line I was describing is unfit for twenty-five miles an hour ; I think twenty miles an hour might be safe. I should like to make one observation. I do not think this is an extremely bad line, as an exceptional case : I regret to say that there are a great number of lines in the kingdom where very high speeds are maintained, of which this line is only a type." A Juror—" Do you suppose the accident would have happened if all the per- manent way had been in good condition ?" Captain Wynn—"If it arose from the breaking of the axle, which seems not improbable, the state of the road would certainly be one likely to produce it." Crossley, a plate-layer, stated that the line was kept short of men and ma- terials. When he had asked for bolts, keys, and chair-packings, he had been threatened with discharge : this had prevented him from applying to a higher officer. Messrs. Brassey and Field are the contractors for the main- tenance of the line. Some officers of the Company explained the nature of the contract with Brassey and Field ; who are paid 1201. per mile per annum for keeping the roadway in order' not finding rails, chairs, and sleepers. No complaints had been made by the Company's inspectors. In eighteen months ending December last, 69,7351. was expended in relaying forty-six miles of sicigleraila.

Captain Laws, the manager, said—" I can't remember having seen three trains running close together in the same direction at any time." A Juror —" Last Friday night two trains started for the Clifton Junction within ten yards of each other ; one from the East Lancashire, the other from the Lancashire and Yorkshire line." Captain Laws—" Then that was a gross breach of the regulations, which provide that no train shall, under any cir- cumstances, follow another within five minutes." Mr. Hawkahaw, the consulting engineer, admitted that the old part of the road was "not quite in a state for a high velocity"— a speed of forty or fifty miles. Mr. Andrew Izat, inspector of repairs on the line, said he did not think 1201. a mile sufficient to maintain in repair the length between Manchester and Bolton, the traffic: was so great. He had made a demand for this particular mile to be relaid ; and Mr. Watts, the engineer, had appointed the Monday after the accident to walk over and examine it. He had reported twelve months ago the necessity of this mile being relaid. Mr. W. Watts, resident engineer, gave an unqualified contradiction to Mr. Izat's statement.i

The Jury pronounced, that the deaths had been caused "by the engine No. 13 running off the rails, and upsetting near the Dixon Fold station on the Manchester and Bolton Railway, caused by the excessive speed at which it WM driven by the deceased Thomas Creston; against whom we therefore return a verdict of manslaughter. And we state that, although the rules of the Company furnished to the guards and drivers limit the speed of express- trains to thirty miles an hour, this train has usually far exceeded that speed; and we think this could not so constantly have occurred without the know- ledge and approbation of the Company. We find also, that the engine No. 13, from having only four wheels, and the length of time it has been in use, was not a proper engine to attach to a train running thirty miles an hour, even on a railway in good and sufficient order ; that the permanent way of this railway, as regards sleepers, chairs, and rails, in material and construc- tion is generally defective, and by no means safe ; that the speed at which the points to branch-lines are passed is highly dangerous ; that the quick suc- cession of trains on the line from Manchester to Clifton Junction with the East Lancashire Company is also very dangerous ; and that the general arrange- ments of the Company, as to maintenance of way and management of trains, do not conduce to the safety of the public. We cannot too strongly condemn the management of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company on this por- tion of their line, known as the Bolton and Preston district. We are also of opinion, that the speed at which express-trains travel on all railways is so great that a stringent investigation should be instituted by the Board of Trade, as to the construction and present condition of the permanent way, engines, and carriages, as well as the working arrangements ; and we fear it will be found that the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway is not the only one on which such a system of economy prevails as seriously to endanger the safety of the public."

A seventh victim was added on Wednesday, by the death of Betsy Macart- ney, one of Mr. Barbour's servants : she suffered greatly.

In the course of the inquiry, it was stated that the stories of pilfering by the people of the neighbourhood after the calamity were utterly untrue.

A new form of railway slaughter is coming into vogue—the explosion of locomotives. Within nine days after five men perished at Manchester by the explosion of an old worn-out engine, three men are torn to pieces at Brighton by the failure of another old engine. On Thursday morning, the engine was about to be attached to a train which leaves Brighton at seven o'clock for Littlehampton; there were three people on the engine—driver, stoker, and engine-fitter; the locomotive was rent asunder with frightful force, and the metal fragments were hurled through the roof of the shed. As to the unfortunate men, suffice it to say that they were torn to pieces, and that some of the human fragments were found in a street three hundred yards from the station. The passengers were dreadfully alarmed, but not hurt. At the first sitting of the inquest, Mr. Craven, locomotive superintendent, stated that the engine was built in 1840, "but had been patched and patched till it had been nearly rebuilt." On the 4th March an inspector pronounced it "perfect." It had run 95,000 miles, but they expected 300,000 miles from an engine before parting with it. In 1840, boilers were made with 5-16th plates, but now with 7-16th. They do not put new boilers into engines; when a boiler has worn out two new boxes and two new sets of tubes, the engine is given up. He believed that this accident arose from the safety- valve being unduly pressed down.

At the adjourned inquest at Longsight, Captain Wynn, the Government Inspector, ascribed the explosion of the locomotive mainly to the decayed state of the stays : though the safety-valve was screwed down for twenty- five minutes, steam sufficient to rend a sound boiler could not have been generated. In their verdict, the Jury pronounced an opinion "that the boiler was in a defective condition, and unsafe to be worked."

Four men and three boys have been killed, and thirteen other colliers more or less hurt, by an explosion of fire-damp at Risca Vale, near Newport. The explosion was caused by Thomas Davies's neglecting to place a "sheet" in a proper position after passing to and fro with a coal-tram' the circula- tion of the air was deranged, gas was forced out of an old working, and ignited at the candles of Davies and another. These men were muceburnt, but not mortally. The worst mischief was caused by the choke-damp, or carbonic acid gas, produced in the explosion; which poured through the workings and struck down some thirty persons. Immediate efforts were made to get these miners out of the pit, but seven were found dead.

The boiler of the George, a small steam-vessel, has exploded in the mouth of the Humber, killing two of the crew, and causing the vessel to sink in ten minutes. The survivors escaped to Grimsby in a boat.

A new steam-boat, the Engineer, left South Shields for a trial-trip. Just outside the Tyne, one of her boilers blew up, and nine men were dreadfully scalded ; one has since died, and another is in danger. The explosion is as- cribed to a workman's neglecting to remove a wooden plug which is inserted in the feed-pipe when it is attached to the boiler.

The Midland Railway Company have agreed to pay 1000/. to Mr. Porter, who was hurt by an accident on their line. The agreement was made at Worcester Assizes, after a Jury had been sworn to try the ease.