The great viaduct on the Manchester and Birmingham Railway, at
Stockport. was completed on Monday. It can si,ts of twenty-one ty-one arches, of sixty-three feet span and nearly three hundred feet in height, in addition to the abutments.
A fatal collision took place, on Wedeesday afternoon, on the Lan- caster and Preston Railway, near the \ laiulland station. An old man named Taylor, who had been employed in carting ballast, was returning home along the line with some empty ,waggons. He was warned to move off the road, as a train was just then expected ; but he refused, saying that he could get off iu time when the train was in sight. He was deceived the train, though going slowly, came upon hint before he was aware, and the engine struck the wa-aarons violently, Taylor's body was cut. completely in two. He was, however, the only person injured. An inquest was held on the body, and a verdict of " Acci- dental Death" was returned by the Jury.
At the Manchester Borough Court, on Wednesday, John Crossley, a man employed on the Manchester and Leeds Railway, was charged by the chi, f superintendent of the railway II ith neglect of duty, in not laying the shtuds properly on the arrival of a train at Manchester on Tuesday. From the evidence of one of the guards of the Company, it appeared that no inconvenience had been felt, whh the exception of considerable shaking of the carriages. The Magistrate inquired how it was that the train did not go oft' the line: and was informed by Mr. James Scott, the maker of the shunts, that they were so constructed, that trains moving at the rate of twenty-five miles an hour might pass over them when placed wrong, without being thrown off. A witness said the train was going at the rate of four or five miles an hour at the time. The prisoner admitted that they were placed wrong; but said he placed them right before the train came, and that they must have been altered. He also stated that he had thirteen pairs to attend to, and that the distance between them was such as to prevent him having them all in view at one time. The Bench sentenced him to pay a fine of 408., or hi default to be committed to prison for one month.
Five men, named Samuel Hardwick, Henry Hardwick, Edward Davies, John 'Williamson, and Peter Thompson, were brought before the Magistrates at Ashton, on Wednesday week, charged with the murder of Benjamin Cooper, who was shot while at work in Mr. Whitfield's yard. No evidence against them, however, was as yet pre- pared, and they were remanded till Saturday.
On the 17th, the inquest on the body of Cooper, which had been commeneed on Monday, was resumed ; but evidence was still kept Lack, in order to its being rendered more complete, The Coroner held a private conference with Mr. Lord, a Magi,:trate, before dismissing the Jury ; and afterwards observed that he bad no doubt of' a ease of con- :,piracy at least being made out against the men in custody ; and he re- commended that thew ba remanded for a week. As to the de- gree in which the Sawyers Union is implicated in the affair, the Man- che,ter Guardian of Saturday says- " Without entering into aoy &tails as to particular ficts, of which the books and papers of the Sawyers Union furnish evidence, and which it would at all events he premature to publish, we may add, that there can be little doubt that the Union clearly comes under the character of a secret society, possessing certain passwords and signals somewhat like thus; of the Odd Fellows, by which the members arc accustomed to make themselves known to each other, though personally strangers ; and that not only in Ashton and the neighbour- hood, but also in distant places. Another fart is, that this Union has very ex- tensive ramifications, and maintains correspondence with the Unions nf other places. Various resolutions are found its the books, &daring certain strikes legal,' and others • illegal' ; and it would appear by the timmeial account, that relief has been afforded, not only to sawyers, but to hatters and other trades."
On Tuesday, at Northampton. an inquest on the body of Martha \Vest, who was supposed to have died by poison, was brought to a close, after having lasted for several days. On the 17th October, the deceased had purchased a stone of flonr, which was placed in a jar. Some of the flour was used for puddings on the 5th of November and on the 1Sth, and all who partook were taken ill. On the 21st. Mrs. West died. The flour was used again on the 22d and on the 25th, for thickening broth ; and again all who partook were taken ill, with exactly the same symptoms. No fewer than nine persons were thus affected the last time that the flour was used. Some suspicion was at length ex- cited, and Mr. Elston, a surgeon, was called in. _Portions of the flour were analyzed, and were found to be strongly impregnated with arsenic. It was now deemed requisite to institute an inquiry into the cireumstances, and the body of Martha West was disinterred on the 5th December. An examination took place. and the presence of arsenic in the stomach was distinctly ascertained. An inquest was held on the body, and the following facts were elicited. George West. a son of the deceased, and the keeper of a general shop. purchased a pound of arsenic in August last. ol Monday week, he had fourteen ounces left; the remainder he represented as having been sold. The next day, when the constable made inquiries about the fourteen ounces, West at first said the constable had taken it away with him the previous day, and afterwards that it must have been stolen dining the night. lie 11:1(1 beet at Weedon an the Monday night ; and on his return he was, he said, taken very poorly. and in patting up the shutter he had fallen forward and had le.01;en the window. Through the opening he presumed the drawer containing the arsenic to have been abstracted. It appeared front the evidence of Mrs. Blackwell. one of the daughters of deceased, that on the Sunday follow itir the death of Martha West, George was asked to stay and dine at the hawse. Ile said he would, and proposed to go and order some flour of a person near Claridge. Mrs. Blackwell then reminded him that there was flour in the house ; upon which he begged her not to use that ii muir - -his mother was so set against it, he said, that he should never forgive himself if any thing happened to them :Ow told her she. hal better give it to the pigs. At the close of the in, try, the Jury returned a verdict of " Wilful Mur- der" against George West. In consequence of the late explosion of a shell on board of the Medea, arising from the examination of the cap, it was deemed advisable on Tuesday last, on board the Excellent, to examine the state of the fuses of such shells as they had on board, and which were thirty in number ; but, strange to say, the very first shell that was handled by Sergeant William Turner, of the Royal Marine Artillery, ignited in the fuse just as the cap was unscrewed to its last thread; and such was the force of the powder and sulphur in its tube, that we lament to say it forced the cap into Turner's skull, just above the left eye, and buried itself in the brain. This man, who bore a most exemplary character, lingered in a senseless state till the following evening, when lie died in Hasler Hos- pital. The evincement of this detonating principle in the fuses, where none was presumed to exist, has excited the attention of Government ; and Lieutenant-Colonel Dynely, from the Woolwich Laboratory, with Mr. Marsh, an eminent chemist, catne down yesterday to examine the fuses of such shells as still remain in the Excellent ; which examination took place before Sir T. Hastings and the officers of his ship, Captain Stephens, Royal Markle Laboratory, and several others. Every pre- caution having been taken to prevent accidents, the caps of the remain- ing twenty-nine shells were all taken off without a symptom of ignition, the exudations of nitre or rust were carefully tested by chemical agents, and it was satisfactorily proved that no detonating particles were pre- sent. The cause of the accident is still, therefore, unknown ; but a suggestion was offered and reported upon of a preventive from such accidents in future. Au inquest was held to-day, before Mr. C. B. Longcrofr, on the body of Sergeant Tnrher, and a verdict of " Acci- dental Death" returned.— e Telegraph, Saturday.
A leopardess in the Manchester Zoological Gardens made a fearful attack on Harvey, one of the keepers, on Tuesday last. Harvey opened the door of the den in which the leopardess was confined, before he quitted the empty den lie had been cleaning out. The animal darted at him and tore the scalp off his head. He had anticipated an attack, and had armed himself with a couple of knives : a death-struggle en- sued ; which was ended, when the other keepers came up, by their destroying the leopardess. Harvey is not expected to survive.
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