31 MAY 1851, Page 7

Or minus.

At the final close of the poll for the Me of Wight, on Tuesday, the numbers were—for Dawes, 567; liamond, 619 ; majority for the Free- 'trade candidate, 46.

The -nomination 'for Harwich took place on Tuesday; the polling on Wednesday. Mr. Henry Thoby Prinsep, the late Protectionist Member, =who had been unseated on petition, was opposed by Mr. Robert Wigram Cranford, a Free-trader. In addressing the electors, Mr. Prinsep dwelt *null on thepoint:that,he had been unseated -on a technicality—not the -want of a proper,qualifieation, 'but a defect in the statment thereof; also on his opposition to the Income-tax, and lie independence of •Govern- anent Mr. 'Cranford said that "his honourable friend " was a rank Tory 'and a -Protectionist ; he was a Free-trader and a hearty 'Liberal. Though Amt a thiek-and-thin supporter-of the Government, he would not, like Mr. Hume, aid the Irish Brigade and the Opposition in muting Ministers.; And he relied on the stipportof Harwich Corporation. The show of hands "Was for Prinsep ; the poll for Cranford, who was returned by 133 to 1-27— mejority, 6. There was much rioting at the hustings, which were pulled down ; and the. ceremony of the declaration,was therefore adjourned to the Town-hall.

- A Protectionist nesetimaat Tamworth has been the occasion of a serious riot. From the 'time that•the gathering was announced, there was con- siderable agitation among the artisans of the town and of the small ma- muftacturingtowns in the vicinity : it was felt as an insult -to the late Sir -Robert Peel's memory to hold such a meeting in his own place. The din- mar "came off" on Wednesday, in-the Town-hall. A cold collation was sent-from Birmingham, the -use of the principal Tamworth hotel having been denied through the influence of the present Sir Robert -Peel. During the day, mobs bad paraded the streets with emblematic big and little /loaves, crying out against "Corn-laws and starvation," and indulging in Jitter jests at:the expense of the fanners as they arrived in-the town. The -chair was occupied by Kr. Wolferstau, a landowner of Stadfold ; Mr. Spooner, Mx. Newdegate, and Lord Lewisham, were the three pre- sent ; the other great personages mentioned are the Honourable Mr. Jervis And.Mr. George Frederick Young. For some time the flow of the customary :Protectionist oratory was uninterrupted. The Daily News recounts the -sequel.

"About nine o'clock, Mr..Nowdegate _rose to propose the Chairman's wealth. He liad no sooner done so than an enormous paving-stone was thrown through the windows into the middle of the hall. Mr. Spooner saw the danger immediately, and `begged the orator to cut it short' Mr. New- degatelook the hint., and the Chairman rose to acknowledge the toast. In -doing so, he narrat.d an anecdote about an old gentleman, 'a friend of his;' having heard the &rat Sir Robert Peel say, that his son, .(the late :Sir Robert,) -when ruvery young man, entertained deeidedky Whiggish opinions, And that the first Sir lobert had warned hini.off that dangerous.ground. "It was just at this moment that the riot began. A volley of immense shares was thrown .at the hall-windows. The glass flew over the banquet- tables ; the offensive missiles fell in the hall in every direetion ; volley -after volley aueoeeded, till every window and every Chandelierwassmashed. 'The company had made a hasty-flight into the lobbies, where they armed ithemselves with-chair-legs, pokers, knives, andoll such weapons as were within kreach, and to the number-of three hundred made a sally into the street. Here !they encountered the populace. A hand-to-hand fight took place ; manyfer- ons were seriously injured; and-the Protectionists and their friends took re iige in the King's Arms inn. Stones weresoon thrown in here ; some person indis- sreet1 threw outs spittoon, and this was the signal for another smash; thehotel • was closely invested—every window was'broken to atoms. The'bleeding and -wounded were brought into'the hotel in most ppitiable plight ; and the ex- oitemeut of the populace rose sotremendously t at at one time it was feared the place would be set fire to. Of police the town -contained but two, and these had been disabled ; the Mayer was out of -town; and in view of the perilous state of affairs it was deemed expedient -to send a despatch to Bir- .amngbam-for the military. This was done by the borough Magistrates; who ',communicated the fact to Captain Dyott and the country Justices, amongst -the besieged at the King's Arms. In carrying out this purposAbere was ' delay, the telegraph being out of order ; and as the daring of the populace increased, it was deemed expedient to swear 'in .special constables. This was, however, unsuccessful at first : when the specials made a sally from the •• hotel, the populace drove them back, and the most savage beating took place on both sides. For two hours the town was in possession of the mob; and Amongst the acts of daring committed was the taking of the farmers' vehi- -des from the inn-yard and casting them over the .bridge into the river. To- wards midnight the populace cleared off, and the specials paraded the streets. .:Some of them made an unprovoked attack on a number of Free-traders at a public-house, and a smart skirmish ensued ; many heavy dews with dan- gerous weapons being given on both sides." About a dozen persons were taken into custody by the Protectionists. At one o'clock on Thursday morning, the disturbance had so far subsided 'that the order for the military was countermanded. At noon on that -day, however, matters looked so threatening that a' detachment of Dra- goons was obtained from Birmingham; and in the evening all was again -quiet. Not more than twenty of the Peel tenantry were present at the dinner.

The Diocesan Synod convened by the Bishop of Exeter is to be-held in Iris Cathedral on Wednesday the 25th June. On the first day, three de- clarations will he proposed for adoption—I. A declaration of adherence to the article of the Nicene Creed acknowledging "one baptism for the :remission of sins," and to the doctrines and •articles of the Catholic Church on the spiritual grace given to infants by the sacrament; 2. A declaration of adherence to-the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England as set forth in the Artioles and Prayer-book, and condemning 'secession to the'Church of Rome as an abandoninent of truth for error, and as perilous to salvation ; 3. "A declaration against the recent schis- matical assignment of a bishopric of Plymouth by the Pope." Forty-four clergymen have signed and put forth a protest against the proposed Synod; on the ground that it is opposed to the laws and consti- tution and unprecedented in the history of

An important declaration by the Roman Catholics of Manchester has been published this week, though dated some two months back. 'It is well known that an influential Church party in Manchester has set on foot a scheme of public education to rival that of the Public School Asso- . dation, and that at first the Roman Catholics joined the new scheme, tut have since seceded. Mr. Cobden alluded to this secession ; Mr. Ent-id& denied his accuracy ; Mr. Cobden publishes the declaration. The Roman 'Catholics object that the Manchester Church scheme has been altered No as to involve compulsory reading of the " authorized " [Protestant] ver- sion of the Scriptures. But the most important point is the averment that the original proposal was received by none with greater satisfaction than by the Roman Catholics, and that none would more earnestly have carried out the plan, had the principle first announced been fairly em- bodied in the proposed-bill—religious equality. This is signed by eighteen priests.

The inquest on the two personsavho were killed oh the Midland TtailWay at Clay Cross has occupied several days; having sat on Monday and Iaidaythls week. But we take up the story from the evidence given at the end of last week.

The guard of 'the passenger-train which was run into by the goods,- train gave a clear account of the causes of the disaster. •He started With the train from Derby at twenty minutes past nine; that was fifteen minutes after the proper time. Just beyond Clay Cross station, where the train did not stop, the speed gradually slackened, tied the train eventually came to a stand-still. The pump-rod had broken. The driver said it would take ten minutes to mend it ; the fireman said "a few minutes." The gUArSI was about to go back down the line with a signal-lamp ; but he had not gone far before he was called back,—the pump-rod had been mended, and the train shortly, after began to move slowly. But as the guard turned to regain the train, lie heard another approaching. He shouted to his driver to make all -speed ; but the luggage-train directly after dashed into the rear of the ,passenger-train. The latter had been delayed about five minute& The lug- gage-train should have been half an hour behind the other. It approached at a great rate. There were tail and aide lamps on the passenger-tram. That train was generally late in arriving at Chesterfield—half an hour some- times, perhaps an hour. He knew a recent instance of a luggage-train's following him with an interval of only five ,minutes. Persons employed on the luggage-train stated that it went out of Derby station immediately.after the other train, but stopped at the junction half a mile on, for five minutes,the usual interval; it stopped five minutes at Belper, and went through the _tunnel at Clay Cross " cautiously." On emerging, there was a white light exhibited on the semaphore—the signal that the 'line is clear ; pre- sently, the lamps of the passenger-train were seen ; every effatt was then made to stop the train, but the distance was too small to effect it. Had the semaphore light been red the train would have been stop The luggage-train left Derby a few minutes after the passenger-. The former was due at Clay doss at 10.31 ; the collision occurred at .19.25.; so the train was six minutes before its time. It is quite usual for the lug- gage-train to arrive at Chesterfield twenty or twenty-five _minutes before its time, in order that -work may be done and the train still leave Chesterfield ,at the time announced. As the luggage-train left Derby twenty minutes after -its time, and was six minutes too soon at Clay Cross, twenty-six mi- nutes had been.ained between those points. The guard regulates the time of starting from stations, not the speed between stations—the driver lates that ; a time-table is given to him, and yet he is not supplied with it watch. There-seems to be no means for the guard to communicate with the .driver of a luggage-train when in motion. Applying the break, as in pas:- se er-trains, is not an efficient signal with goods-trains. The foreman of the engine-shop stated, that the pump-rod of an enginb

cannot be seen without taking the locomotive to pieces. The engine had been recently repaired. 'This was a casualty that might happen to any en- gine. Mr. Kirtley, superintendent of the locomotive department, said this was the first fatal accident on the line for nearly six years. The eye of the pump-rod had broken from a defect that could not be seen by outward ex- amination it could no more be predicted than a watchmaker could predid whether a main-spring would give way or not. There is an interval of five minutes between the starting of a passenger and a luggage train—the time generally adopted on railways. He depended for safety on the Code•of danger-signal at Clay Cross would have prevented the collision. The luggage-train weighed 120 tons, the other 30. Clay Cross station is little used by passengers, being employed mainly for coals. After seven p.rn., there is usually no one in attendance ; on the night of the accident, the man employed there was in bed. Bowers, the signal-man at the North. end of the tunnel, declared that ten minutes and a half intervened between the passing of the two trains. The Derby station-master accounted for the passenger-train's leaving that place so much behind time, by their having to wait for trains from the South.

On Friday the following verdict was returned. " The Jury are unanimously of opinion that the deaths of Sohn Mend and John Blake have been caused by the reckless speed at which Stretton was driving the engine of the luggage-train on the night of Monday, the 19th of May, and pronounce a verdict of Manslaughter' against him. "The Jury cannot sufficiently condemn the practice of allowing a luggage- train to start five minutes after a passenger-train without sufficient measures being taken to insure the former keeping its relative distance from the other, as marked in the time-tables. The Jury consider the officials guilty of great negligence in not placing a break behind the last carriage of the pas- senger-train on the night the accident occurred. It is also their opinion that a proper person ought to be on duty at the semaphore of the Clay Cross station to attend to the night signals as well as those of the day, and strongly reprobate the neglect of the precaution. The Jury consider the practice highly improper of allowing the passenger-trains to stop at stations not named in the time-tables."

The merchants of Liverpool obtain their letters from the post-office earlier than they would be delivered by the postman; but the system is so lax that a discarded servant has no difficulty in obtaining letters put aside in a box for his employer. Two cases have occurred, within a fortnight, in whieh letters containing securities to the amount of 30001. have been thus surrep- titiously obtained by boys. The culprits are in custody.

The steam corn-mill of Messrs. 'Norton, in Wolverhampton, with an int- ,mense stock of grain and flour, has been destroyed by, fire. The loss is esti- mated as high as 20,0001., part at least of which will fall upon insurance- offices. The disaster is supposed to have arisen from

the friction Of spindles against wood. generation of heat rom the Agricultural produce, buildings, animals, and other property, to the value of 1000/., belonging to Mr. Aldridge, an opulent farmer, have been destroyed by a fire at Burnham, near Windsor. The flames were discovered proceed- ing from an oat-rick. It is supposed, on "good reason," that the fire was wilful. A man of colour, who put Wombwell's elephant through a number of movements to show its tractability, has been unexpectedly assailed by the animal : the elephant pinned him against the aide of the den, running at him with his head, breaking his collar-bone, several ribs, and an arm, and lacerating the scalp. This'occurred at Chatham. The elephant had previously shown attachmeut to his keeper, but it is said that several soldiers had been teasing it during the day.