Gambar halaman
PDF
ePub

bourhood co-operating with each other in order to make the celebration a thorough success. The Lord Mayors of London and York, with the Mayors of Berwick, Ripon, and fourteen or fifteen other northern towns, also took part in the proceedings. The celebration commenced by the unveiling of a statue to Mr Joseph Pease, and a banquet. The unveiling was performed by the Duke of Cleveland, in presence of the municipal authorities above named, and a very large concourse of spectators. The statue was then formally presented to the Mayor of Darlington, to be held in trust for the town by the corporation. Speeches were then made by Mr. Henry F. Pease and Mr. J. W. Pease, M.P. A banquet was afterwards held in a marquee erected for the purpose, presided over by Mr. G. Leeman, M.P., supported by the Duke of Cleveland, the Lord Mayor of London, the Earl of Feversham, Sir Henry Havelock, Sir F. Peel, Sir C. Adderley, and other persons of distinction. In the evening the town of Darlington was brilliantly illuminated. A great crowd gathered to witness the fireworks, which were by Messrs. Brock, of the Crystal Palace. A design of the "No. 1 engine" was loudly applauded. A ball in the banquet tent, which was well attended, terminated the jubilee.

RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.-Whilst the inauguration of the railway system was thus being celebrated, the catastrophes which form so important an element in that system were not wanting. At Barking, on the 20th, one excursion train ran into the tail of another, which had preceded it by twenty minutes; a passenger who jumped out was killed by a third train which appeared on the scene, and thirty others were wounded. Near Newport, on the Great Western Railway, on the 22nd, a train was thrown off the line, and many of the passengers were severely injured. Another accident, which occurred near West Croydon on the 24th, was caused by lightning. The 12 o'clock train from Victoria was standing at Waddon Marsh whilst the line was blocked by another train, when a vivid flash of lightning caused the arm of the indicator to drop and the bell to ring, which had the effect of signalling the line " clear;" the signalman consequently directed the driver to proceed, which he did, and ran into the rear of the goods train which was on the line. The mischief done was happily not great. A much more serious collision took place on the 27th at Keighley Station, when a large portion of a goods train which was being shunted got detached, and rushed furiously into a passenger train from Bradford, piling up the passenger van and next carriage to such a height as to remove about thirty feet of the roof of the station. The goods van was telescoped into the passenger van, and both were completely gutted, the interior fittings being smashed into matchwood. The platform on each side was covered with débris, consisting of the roof of the station and portions of the broken carriages. No passengers fortunately were in the last carriage of the Colne train, but in one of the

carriages nearly adjoining a large number of passengers were injured, and others, though not seriously hurt, were shaken. Another collision took place at Penistone, on the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire line, the same day.

THE "SERAPIS," 3, iron screw, Captain the Hon. H. C. Glyn, the vessel appointed to convey the Prince of Wales on his projected visit to India, started on the 27th from Plymouth for Malta and Brindisi, there to be joined by His Royal Highness. On the last day of her stay in the dockyard at Portsmouth, visitors were allowed to inspect the vessel, which has been fitted up with every imaginable comfort for her royal passenger, and with a splendour and luxury calculated to impress the Orientals who are to be honoured by the Prince's visit. The hull presents to the eye one expanse of white, for the sake of coolness during a voyage in tropical temperatures. The bows are ornamented with the crest and motto, "Heaven's Light our Guide," and some elaborate gilt scrollwork. The stern displays a shield and ribbon, bearing the words "India, Persia, China, Scinde, Burmah, Punjaub," also worked in gilt. The ordinary green band has been replaced by a gilt moulding 10 inches deep and 5 inches thick, which runs along the whole length of the vessel on both sides. The moulding is inclosed within two blue ribands. The saloon, which is divided by curtains into three compartmentsreception, drawing, and dining rooms-contains handsome furniture of polished oak, the fixtures and heavy articles being manufactured in the Portsmouth dockyard. The Prince's private apartments comprise two suites of bed-room, bath-room, and boudoir situated on either side of the saloon, in order that both on the outward and the home voyage His Royal Highness may enjoy the coolest side of the ship. Twenty cabins are set aside for the suite, in addition to those for the officers of the ship. There are two ice-rooms, containing twenty tons of ice. The state barge, 34 feet long, to be rowed by fourteen men, and the state galley, 32 feet long, are also beautifully decorated.

29. A COURT-MARTIAL, which sat for nearly three weeks at Devonport on Captain Dawkins and the other officers of the "Vanguard," was concluded this day. In the sentence which was passed, the disaster was attributed principally to the high rate of speed at which the squadron was proceeding during the fog; Captain Dawkins was also pronounced to have not taken the right steps for saving the vessel, and was accordingly reprimanded and dismissed the ship; and the other superior officers were reprimanded. The Lords of the Admiralty, in a minute subsequently published, expressed their opinion that the accident was not owing to an undue rate of speed, and that Vice-Admiral Tarleton was not to blame on that point; their Lordships approved of the sentences passed on Captain Dawkins and the other officers, and also dismissed from H.M.S. the "Iron Duke," Lieutenant Evans.

STORMS AND FLOODS.-The equinoctial gales have this autumn proved more than usually violent. The velocity of the wind over Liverpool on the 26th was eighty-one miles per hour, and the pressure 70 lbs. to the square foot. There were also heavy rains and thunderstorms in many parts of England.

There were many casualties in the Mersey, the worst, however, being the wreck of the "Helen Southard," Captain Woodsworth, with timber from Quebec. She was driven ashore on the Jordan flats, and the "Hoylake," the "Formby," and the Liverpool tubular lifeboat went out to her, the latter in tow of a powerful tug, the "Rattler." As the Liverpool boat approached the "Rattler" threw her off, and she was soon alongside the distressed ship. Half an hour was occupied in the dangerous work of taking off the crew, about seven in number, and the captain, his wife, and the pilot. All being at length rescued, the lifeboat pulled for the "Rattler," which had remained to take her in tow again. She had only gone a short distance from the wreck, however, perhaps three hundred yards, when she was struck by a heavy sea, which caused her to heel over, and all on board were thrown out. The "Rattler" witnessing this at once steamed after the New Brighton lifeboat, which had pulled away on seeing the crew of the "Helen Southard" taken on board the Liverpool boat. The boat at once put back, and what they could then do they bravely attempted; but no fewer than fourteen persons perished, including four river boatmen who had volunteered their services. A schooner, the "Mary Reynolds," was capsized on Carnarvon North Bar, and her crew drowned. The casualties at sea were numerous all round the coast.

Of disasters on shore it would take long to give the barest catalogue. Buildings were unroofed, chimneys blown down, orchards stripped of their fruit, trees torn up by the roots, and the like. In Liverpool the fall of a chimney caused the death of two persons. A similar occurrence in Bolton Road, Bradford, narrowly missed killing nine, who escaped as by a miracle. At Consett a house was thrown down, and an iron school at Westwood literally blown away. In a thunderstorm which occurred in the neighbourhood of Liverpool, the organist of Heswall was struck whilst in the act of playing the Magnificat in the service, and both he and a lad standing by were killed instantaneously. The tower of Merton Chapel, Oxford, was struck by lightning, fortunately with no worse result than some damage to one of the corner pinnacles, and the dislodgment of fragments of the stonework on to the leads and the pathway leading to the Christ Church Meadows. Some workmen were on the leads at the time, but were not hurt. At Seedley, near Manchester, a large mill which had just been erected for Messrs. Lightbown, Son, and Co., paperstainers, was entirely blown down. A ropewalk adjoining, in the occupation of Mr. Galloway, was buried in the ruins, and some cottage property was damaged.

In Ireland the heavy rains caused serious inundations at Cork and elsewhere, and great damage was done, with some loss of life.

OCTOBER.

5. ACCIDENT TO THE "DECCAN."-This P. and O. steamer, which left Southampton with mails and passengers on September 30, lost her screw when 40 miles east of Gibraltar. A tug steamer towed her back to Gibraltar, where the passengers had to wait a week for the arrival of another steamer to take them on. Among them were the correspondents of many of the London newspapers, on their way to India to chronicle the arrival at Bombay of the Prince of Wales. It was hoped, however, that in spite of the delay they might still arrive in time to compete with their more fortunate collaborateurs who had taken the route by Brindisi.

7. A DESTRUCTIVE FIRE broke out this evening in the extensive and newly-erected mansion and observatory belonging to Mr. Hankey, the banker, at Queen Anne's Gate Gardens, St. James's Park. The fire was discovered by some passers by, who noticed smoke coming from the windows of the second story above the spacious ball and concert room, in which there is erected a large organ. The mansion with the observatory extends from Wellington Barracks to the bottom of York Street, close to St. James's Park Railway Station. As soon as the fire was observed an alarm was given at the nearest fire brigade station, and the men of the garrison stationed at Wellington Barracks were also apprised of the conflagration. In a very short space of time engines arrived from several stations, and the men got to work, but the fire had taken such hold that nothing could be done to save the building. The mansion was mainly constructed of pitch pine, the inflammable nature of which caused the fire rapidly to extend. The flames rose to a height of 100 feet above the building, illuminating the neighbourhood. Notwithstanding the exertions of the firemen and the quantity of water poured from over twenty engines, the effect at 10 o'clock was scarcely perceptible, and the fire was not got under till early this morning. Great fear was felt for all the adjacent property, including the Wellington Barracks. The magazine was covered with blankets, and played upon by the engines. Among the valuable properties destroyed was a splendid organ, recently built at a cost of 20,000l.

9. CONGRESSES.-At the Social Science Congresses, held this week at Brighton, the subject of the Presidential Address from Lord Aberdare was "Crime." Perhaps of all countries, he

observed, England was that in which the conditions of life have been and still are most conducive to the increase of crime. What was the position of the nation at the middle of the present century? We were growing indeed in wealth and population; national education and general intelligence had advanced; yet our gaols were full to overflowing, and our Colonies were beginning to resist the further influx of criminals. Between 1805 and 1841, while population had increased by 79 per cent., the increase of criminals had been 482 per cent. Since that period, however, the increase in crime had not kept pace with that of the population. As an instance of this, his Lordship stated that in 1869 and 1870 he had occasion to consult with Colonel Henderson, the late chairman of the Board of Directors of Convict Prisons, and with Colonel Du Cane, the present one, as to the accommodation which it would be necessary to provide for male convicts in consequence of the entire cessation of transportation and the recent lengthening of sentences of penal servitude. They advised that provision ought gradually to be made for the maximum number of 11,500 male prisoners, which number, they thought, would probably be reached in 1875. Yet such had been the rapid diminution of sentences of penal servitude since 1869, that accommodation for 8,500 was now considered sufficient. Sir Edward Creasy, late Chief Justice of Ceylon, delivered an interesting address upon Jurisprudence and International Law, contending that nations ought in time of war to do each other as little harmi as possible, without prejudice to their own true interests. Another paper which excited general interest was that read by Dr. Richardson, the President of the Health Department, in which he drew a sketch of a model city, wherein the sanitary arrangements were so complete that the average mortality would be only 8 per 1,000 in the first generation. Under the conditions set forth, hereditary disease would immediately decline, and future generations become healthier and stronger. The Church Congress was held during the same week at Stoke-upon-Trent, and was largely attended.

11. A SHOCKING MURDER has taken place at Listowel in Ireland. Thomas Quilter, who was about sixty years of age, held a farm under Lord Listowel, and was reputed wealthy for his class. He lived for some years with his sister-in-law. After an alleged marriage in England they were excommunicated, but having submitted to the Church, the ban was removed, and they lived apart. The woman's son, John Quilter, had been for some years in the police, but emigrated. Since his return from America there had been constant quarrels, and he was bound over to keep the peace. At the time of this murder information was pending against him at the suit of his mother and uncle. He lived with his mother. On October 11, Mrs. Quilter's servant left at nine o'clock for her home in an adjoining house. At two o'clock a neighbour named Barret was roused by an alarm of fire, and on going out saw

« SebelumnyaLanjutkan »