dangerous concussion of the spine. There is no authentic
and conclusive evidence fixing the blame in any
particular quarter.

On the morning of the 8th, as a train from Shields and
Sunderland was passing the bridge crossing the High-
street, Gateshead, and approaching the high-level bridge
crossing the Tyne, it ran into two engines standing on
the line. The passengers were knocked about, many of
them receiving serious bruises on the head and face,
though none of them were dangerously hurt.

On Tuesday evening, the 9th, as a special train was
leaving Ratcliffe-bridge station, on the East Lancashire
line, for Bury, with passengers who had been to Ratcliffe
races, a female named Taylor, who had just arrived on
the platform with her two daughters, made a rush at
the last carriage but one to get upon the steps, but
missed the handle of the door, and fell by the side of
the train. The poor woman was dragged between the
footboard and the platform a short distance, when her
legs got across the rails, and were passed over by the
wheels of the last carriage. One of her limbs was nearly
severed from the body, and the other was dreadfully
crushed. She was carried to a public-house near the
railway, and surgical assistance obtained, but she died in
a few hours.

On the 10th a Collision took place on the Midland
Railway, near Nottingham, whereby a stoker lost his
life. A luggage train had moved half-a-mile out of the
station in the morning, and then waited for additions—
remaining on the main line, not in a siding. Some
time after, a passenger-train came up; the atmosphere
was thick, and the stationary train was not seen till too
late; when the driver saw the danger, he called to his
stoker to jump off. The driver jumped himself, and
escaped with some bruises; but the stoker was crushed
between the engine and break-van—engine, tender, and
break, having been smashed. The passengers were
violently shaken and bruised. An inquest on the
stoker's body began the following day. The driver and
the guard of the passenger-train proved that they left
Nottingham at three minutes past seven; the luggage-
train should have left at half past six. The morning
was foggy, and the train was not seen till it was too late
to prevent a collision. There were no fog-signals, nor
had a guard from the luggage-train gone back along the
line to signal any approaching train. At Nutford Gate,
a short distance from where the luggage-train was
standing, the driver of the passenger-train was informed
that the line was clear. The driver believed that the
luggage-train was waiting for one of its guards. The
jury found a verdict of manslaughter against John
Bower, who ought to have warned the train which ran
into the other train, but neglected to give the warning
till too late. The jury recommended also the dismissal
of Royce, a porter, who overslept himself on the morning
of the accident.

The extensive premises of Messrs. Horne, coach-
makers in Long-acre, were discovered to be on Fire, on
the morning of the 31st ult. Before the fire could be
got under, property was destroyed to the amount of
several thousand pounds.

Seven Young Girls were Drowned in the river Tyne,
on the 1st inst. A steamboat from Newcastle to Marsden
Rock, on a pleasure trip, stopped at Howden to take
in passengers. A sculler-boat put off, with seventeen
or eighteen passengers on board, and had scarcely got
twenty yards from the shore, when it was driven by the
tide athwart two vessels lying in the stream of the
ebbing tide, when it was upset, and the whole of the
passengers immersed in the water. Assistance was difficult
to render, and seven perished, the others having been
rescued with great difficulty. The boat was over
crowded, but great want of management and precaution
is attributed to the boatmen. The seven drowned were
all young women, from twelve to twenty-one years of
age.

An inquest has been held near Epworth, upon the
bodies of a father and daughter, Reuben and Ann
Leggott, the young woman had Drowned Herself, and
the father had Perished in attempting to save her.
There had been some disagreement between Mrs.
Leggott and her daughter, and in the quarrel the father
interfered, remarking that he did not know what was to
be done with the girl. The latter said, hastily, that she
knew what was to be done with her, and walked out of
the house. In a few moments screams were heard, and
on running out in the direction of the sound, the
parents saw that their daughter had thrown herself
into a deep pit, which had been made in the progress of
some operations upon the neighbouring land. The
father instantly plunged in, in the hope of saving his
child, but she clung to him so tightly that he was
unable to extricate himself, and the sides of the pit
being nearly perpendicular, both were drowned before
any assistance could be rendered.

Fourteen Men Perished by a Colliery Accident at
Aberdare, on the 4th inst. As they were descending a
pit, the chain broke, the carriage fell 180 feet, and
every man was killed on the spot. At the inquest on
their bodies, Mr. Matthew Mills, the coal agent, gave
the following account of the accident:—"About half-
past seven there were more than twenty persons waiting
to go down. At length the hitcher at the bottom of
the pit intimated that they might descend; and on that
being said, several men jumped into the bucket. The
breaksman asked them why they went in before the
catch-bolt had been withdrawn. All left the bucket
then, and returned to it as soon as the bolt had been
withdrawn. I told them not to go down that way—
there were too many going down, as they overcrowded
the platform on the bucket; and some of them then
jumped back. I wanted to see that everything was
right. I took hold of two, Edmund Williams and
David Lewis, and two or three others came out of their
own accord. I said to them, 'Do not push in that
manner, or else, some time or other, you will push one
another down to the pit.' When the bucket went down
they were not too many; the balance was rather light.
I was not angry with them because their weight would
be too much, but because they were rushing on so
incautiously, and would not go in an orderly way. David
Lewis, whom I pulled back, would go down, and was
killed. The bucket went down very slowly, as there
was barely sufficient weight to balance it. I watched
it for three yards, as I happened to be standing there.
There were eleven persons in it. I then went from
four to five yards back, and I heard a sound as if
something was breaking." He turned round, and saw what
had happened. It was found that some iron-work had
broken. The maker of the chain was examined; but
no blame was thrown on him. The verdict of the
coroner's jury was—"Accidental death, caused by the
breaking of the iron rods which connected the cross and
the bucket. But the jury cannot separate without
expressing their disapproval of the present system of
letting workmen go down to their work the same way
as materials are got up; and they recommend that drifts
should be made in all similar works, so as to enable the
workmen to go to work without any danger."

The Apollo, screw steam-ship, was Wrecked on the
Kentish Knock shoal, about forty miles from the
entrance of the Thames, on the night of the 6th. She had
left Rotterdam in the morning with a heavy cargo of
live stock and provisions. When she struck, the crew
and passengers were saved with difficulty and got on
board a sloop which happened to be near, but all the
cattle and sheep perished. Several hundred carcasses
were picked up and brought into Ramsgate and
Broadstairs.

A Spanish Merchantman was Wrecked off Margate,
on Sunday morning the 7th inst. The lugger Nelson,
cruising in the neighbourhood of the Sunken Light,
observed a flag of distress flying from a boat at some
miles distance, and immediately put off to render assistance.
They found it to contain nine Spanish sailors,
and to be in an almost sinking state, the stern being
completely stove in. The men having been taken on
board the Nelson, it was ascertained that they comprised
the crew of the Spanish brig Cervantes, from Christian-
sand to Barcelona, with a cargo of salt fish, which had
run on shore on the Long Sands in the night. The crew
stood by their vessel until five o'clock in the morning,
when, finding that their vessel was going to pieces, they
took to the only boat left to them out of three, in which
they remained until they were picked up by the lugger.

Another fatal Colliery Accident has happened near