The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-09-27 00:00:00

full pension, resident in Switzerland. These unlucky
Switzers had, in violation of their country's law, served
the foreign despotism for a length of years on the look
out for a competency and snug retirethent in their native
valleys, where, in point of fact, they striated as returned
_ .

naboiis among the poor rustics, who had to earn' their
livelihood by honest husbandry. Supplies cut off, they
are now reduced to the painful necessity of merging
among the humble sons of daily toil.
Gavazzi is not the only open-air orator on the public
squares and thoroughfares of Naples, fo; several other
friars have set up platforms, and haranguing is the

- .
order of the day, reading or writing being at a IoW ebb
among the population. A Dominican, Father Giardina,

figures among a dozen others, girt with a.sword, and
brandishing a cross, proclaiming the advent of libera-
tion, and denouncing the bygone system.. A Rev. Padre

Pantaleone is another Neapolitan Boanerges, and the
contagion is spreading among the whole fraternity.
A very important discussion has taken place in the
Austrian Reichsrath. It can scarcely, indeed, be called
a discussion., for there• .vas a complete unanimity of

opinion on the subject brought before it—viz., the im-
portance of grariting the greatest possible autonomy to
the different provinces of the empire. Nothing can be
more satisfactory than the progress made by the new
council in' dealing with the -political and financial diffi-

ties of Austria.
The Governments' of England and France appear to
be tinder the impression that the recent sinister rumours

tespeethrg the Chinese expedition may turn out to be
true, for considerable reinforcements both from England
and France are on their way to China.

From Turkey, there are accounts of the continued
prevalence of agitation., misery, and mortality.
-The Stepney murder again came before the public
yesterday, in the adjourned examination of Walter
Tlibinas Emits and James Mullins. The former has
Been' discharged fro:n custody, and the latter will, it is
tbongb`f, be remanded.
It is gratifying to learn: that the revision of the
voters' list for the burofigh of Taunton shows a gain rtf
no less than 32 to the Conservatives, which, added to
the gain of 49 at the last election, gives the Conserva-;
tives a majority of Si over the Liberals. This is pretty
'well for a borough which had so long ancetinified to
Whig influence.
_ A severe storm burst on metropolis en„l4fonclaY
night. It commenced about eight ec;..ock in the evening
. from the north-east, blowing bard, with lieD.A.7 rain, and
as the night advanced it gained strength alarmingly;
until about half-past twelve o'clock, when it reached to a
1 perfect hurricane. The anemometer at Lloyd's under-
writers' room registered its force at that time at 2331b5.
on the square foot, It raged at this frightful extent
till .about half-past three when a lull took place, the.
pressure on the gauge falling to about 161bs, but at five
o'clock it rose again to 18 to 201bt, and continued until
'about eight o'clock, when the gale shifted round' from
N.E. to. W.S.W., and moderated considerably, though
off the Kent, Sussex, and Norfolk coasts the gale con-
- tinned for many hours. In the Downs it is described
to have been• truly, awful. At daybreak on Tuesday
morning no less than three wrecks were discovered
on the Goodwin Sands, a barque of large size, a
brig, and a smaller vessel; all of which were dismasted.
Instant aid was sent off from Ramsgate, and by

the last accounts received it appears that the crews of
the three unfortunate vessels were all. saved. The
barque proved. to be the Linda, of Whitby, outward
bound from Middlesborough for Alexandria. The other
vessels were the Ariel of Gottenberg, from Heinosand
for Marseilles, and a Norwegian, which has since sunk
in the sands. Two steam-tugs and several Margate
and Deal luggers are at the wrecks, saving as much-of
the property as can be recovered. Two vessels are
reported to have foundered off the Norfolk coast. Along
the banks of the Thames many of the cellars and
kitchens were flooded, and some of the fields in the
neighbourhood of Lewisham have been placed under
water; while in Dartford some of the streets have been
flooded so as to impede the ordinary. traffic.
.On Tuesday a grand rifle contest took place at South-
part for the Challenge Ciip and two more prizes, given
by the officers of the Manchester, Salford, and Hard-
wickc Volunteer Rifle Corps. There were 184 eempe-
titors. The shooting commenced at half-past ten, snit
was not concluded until near dark: The cup was wort
by Captain Basil Hall, of Astley's corps, he making ten
points. The £2O prize was won by Mr. Adshead. The
L 5 tie was not decided, owing to the number of tips.
The shooting was not considered first-rate.
The advices from Brazil by the last French mail-
steamer mention a failure at Rio de Janeiro of greater
magnitude than any previously known there. The house
is that of Mello e Souza, the great hide and cattle
dealer, and the liabilities are said to amount to 4,500
contos of reis, or £488,000 sterling. At a meeting of
the ereditors it was proposed' to pay in full by ins-tal
»lents, without interest, extending over three years and
nine months. The principal creditors are the banks and.
native capitalists, and it is not supposed that any foreign
houses will be directly affected. A number of rumours
were in circulation as to the causes of the disaster, and
great excitement had been created.

REFLECTIONS ON RAILWAYS AND

RAILWAY REFLECTORS.

WHo does not occasionally enjoy a ride upon

the rail ? The Queen and her court, the nobility,
clergy, judges, magistrates, gentility, mediocrity,
and fustianocrity—the old and frail, the middle-
aged and active, the youthful and frolicsome, men
and women, boys and girls, babiesp in arms—and,
in additions to the bipeds, all sorts of quadrupeds,
domestic and otherwise, are more or less under
the necessity of trusting the safety of their limbs
and lives in the railway train. Once locked up
in the carriages and these set in motion the occu-
pants are helplessly at the mercy of drivers,
stokers, guards, and svvitchers ; and the safety of
the whole in a great. measure depends upon the
Strength of. an, almost endless variety of material
and mechanism, all of which are more or less
continually apt to fall into disrepair. Of course
accidents will happen even on the best regulated
lines, in spite of every precaution that the most
anxious ingenuity can suggest; but it is an unques-
tionable fact that, with proper attention, their
occurrence might be rendered much less frequent
than they now are. It has been proved that an im-
mense proportion,—indeed, very nearly the whole
of the railway accidents and casualities which
'lave occurred, might have•been prevented by an
I ordinary amount of care. - There is not that
amount of vigilant superintendence of the em-
ployes and rolling plant which the public have a
right to expect. The lives of the lieges are too
often sacrificed to save the coffers of the company.

Numerous plans have been invented and laid
before the various railway, companies, the adop-
tion of which might •provecOf the greatest value
in the prevention 'of accidents or in modifying the •
evils consequent upon unforeseen and unavoid-
able mishaps. How many of these have been
cast aside because' their application would, in the
first instance, involve a. little additional cost ? The
Boards of Trade exercises a certain amount of
jurisdiction over Railways—but it has no power
},o enforce upon companies the adoption of any
invention, however excellent or much called for.
There is thus no power that can, at present, be
brought to bear upon directors, save that of
public opinion. We are afraid it is hopeless to
urge upon those shortsighted officials, that what
might at first sight seem to be an extra expense
-would, in the end, prove a great saving. A single
accident from culpable negligence might involve
the liability of the company for many thousands
of pounds—a fractional part of which, judiciously
expended in precautionary arrangements might
have prevented the catastrophe. The public,
however, must look to their own interests, and if
proprietors Of lines will not do their duty to
'themselves and their customers, the legislature
must be appealed to in a manner which will in-
duce it at once to elder on the Board of Trade
the legal right to compel all railway companies
to avail ' themselves of every facility for pre-
venting accidents, and securing the safety of
passengers.
,Without depreciating other plans having a
similar object in view, we may be permitted to
direct attention to one invented by our fellow-
townsman, Mr. W. GRANT, for effecting instanta-
neous communication on railways between pas-
sengers and officials. The improvement ..is
designed for the purpose of enabling the engine
driver and others, in charge. of the train, to
become instantly acquainted with any occurence
or accident which may take place in any portion
of the train behind the observer. The invention
consists in the application of reflectors or mirrors,
to be attached or fixed at each side of the engine'
or other part of railway trains, and so placed
and arranged that the engine driver or guard
may detect any irregularity or accident, or Pas-
sengers' signal occurring in any part of the WWl'