The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1861-01-26 00:00:00

ATROCIOUS ROBBERY AND MURDER AT

MILAN.

sin
gular case, involving circumstances of peculiar
atrocity, is now undergoing investigation before the
Criminal Court of Milan. On the 80th of October last
one Gioja, a person of independent fortune, residing at
liotengh in the neighbourhood of Milan,
bad been recognised at his aoctistotned haunts by many
of his familiar acquaintance, in whose society he remained
until an advanced hour of the night. Ott the following
morning he was missing. An active search was instituted
for several days in the adjactiit Villages, and even in
Milan itself hilt *About success. In the meanwhile
bittntiistances were elicited tending to throw suspicion
on a certain Carrozzi, whose house Gioja had been seen
to approach on the night in question, after having taken
leave of his friends. Carrozzi's house was surrounded
by a picket of the National Guard, and the attention of
the authorities having been arrested by the loose and
fresh appearance of the soil in a garden attached to the
dwelling, further investigations were made, resulting in
discovery of the body of the missing man, who had been
assassinated, and hastily buried at a distance of scarcely
two feet from the surface of the ground. Carrozzi and
all his family were instantly secured and conveyed to
prison. In the course of the trial the accused volunteered
a confession, of which the following is a summary.
Carrozzi, being in pressing want of money, in order to
complete the necessary preparations for his approaching
marriage, and being under heavy pecuniary obligations
to the deceased, came to the conclusion that, in order
to retrieve his embarrassed financial position, it was, in
the first place, necessary to liberate himself from the
pres',.nee of so troublesome a credit, whose importunate
image threw a gloomy shadow upon the bright connubial
prospect that lay before him. His plans were communicated
to his bosom friend and lodger, Lewis Gatti, who appears
to have given his concurrence to the project through a
natural taste for homicide; for he modestly fixed as the
price of his co-operation, the release of a small balance
of rent, amounting to 40 Milanese liras, and the pay-
ment of a ten-franc piece in cash. He might as well
have laid claim to the credit of entire disinterestedness.
But, perhaps, he thought that his complicity in the
crime might prove a more lucrative investment in the
long run. However this may be, the affair was promptly
concerted. Gioja was decoyed to the house by the
ppromise • of payment of an account of 30 .Napoleons,
owed to him by Carrozzi. As soon as the victim was
safely housed, the mask was thrown off. The con-
federates, presenting each a pistol at the head of the
unhappy creditor, easily succeeded in obtaining a receipt
for the 30 Napoleons, and afterwards the release of a
bill of exchange for 30,000 f., of which he was the holder
and which had still some time to run. As soon as the
required signatures had been obtained, the signal of
sleuth was given. In an instant Carrozzi had felled the
poor wretch to the ground; a gag was forced into his
mouth, and a hurried gash in the throat from Gatti's
knife completed the business. The corpse was flung
into the garden and covered with leaves. After mid-
night, when all was hushed, it was to be carried away
to sonic distant spot. But these miscreants furnished an
additional illustration of the familiar proverb, " The
devil is an ass," or as the Italians wittily phrase it,
" The devil makes the pot, but forgets to put a lid to
it." Whether from fear or from overweening confidence,
the murderers contented themselves with digging a hole
about two feet deep, and stowing the body therein,
dressed as it was, and easily recognisable. The case, as
far as regards Carrozzi, is virtually at an end ; but the
alleged complicity of Gatti, who loudly protests his
innocence, still occupies the attention of the tribunal.

THE LIVERPOOL HOUSE.
LONDON BANKRUPTCY COURT—THuRsDAY.
(Before Mr. Commissioner Holroyd.)

TN RE DAiIItENCE, ietORTDtiORE, AND SeHD.ADER,

Mr. Lawrence—No, he effected no insurance on Mr.
Nicholson's life; hut Mr. NichOlson being largely
indebted to the arm, and being unable VI pay, he sugz
gested that Nicholson should effect an insuraae on his
life and give the policy to him (Schrader) as a security.
Mr. Linklater continued—Yes, he had suggested it.
That did notrnuch alter the facts of the case, and in no
way qualified the observations he was about to make upon
them. Mr. Schrader in some way obtained .policies of
insurance on Mr. Nicholson's life, and in 1858, when he
consulted with Mr. Tyrer upon the settlement' he was
about to make upon his wife and family, be said nothing
to that gentleman about these circumstances, but took
credit biniself for the amount of those policies as
actual assets of the firm, aiitl pfodceded Upon that cal-
culation in the statement he: made to Mr. Tyrer of the
sum he considered himself as a partner in the firm
entitled him to, in consideration of his share of the
profits. The amount. of the insurance was £10,000..
Mr. Schrader was doubtless well aware of the habits
of life of Mr. Nicholson when he pressed bim to effect
that insurance. It so happened that, Mr. Nicholson
dying in 1850, that amount was realised to the firm.

But Mr. Schrader had no right in 1858 to calculate this
event as a certainty. If Mr. Nicholson had adopted the
tempefate Mode of life as Mr. Mortimore pursued, and
dined with that gentleman for Is. a day, the insurance
office might now have been receiving their premiums,
Mr. Nicholson might have been enjoying ejistence,
and then what would have become. of the £lO,OOO, upon
which partly that settlement had proceeded? As to the
correspondence between Mr. Schrader and his solicitor
telling in his favour, the Court would doubtless come to
the conclusion that it only proved that. Mr. Schrader,
instead of making proper disclosures, had kept back that
which was most material for consideration in effecting
the settlement in question. Ile said, therefofe, it vas
impossible to come to any other conclusion than that
the settlement of 1858 was made for the purpose of
withdrawing from the creditors property to which they
were justly entitled. He need not trouble his honour with

the history of Schradei through the years 1858, 1859, and
1860. It appeared that he lent himself to all the contri-
vances suggested by Laurence, but he did not appear to have
been a willing party to these transactions. He appeared to
have been made a fool of by Streatfeild and Co. There
was one occasion specially of which he, on behalf of his
clients, had to complain of Mr. Schrader, as the
manager of the Liverpool house—be meant in respect
to his dealings with Gibson, because there he did a

gross injustice to the creditors of the house. But when
he made a representation to • Laurence and Mortimore,
he was met with "remonstrate not, but obey."
.This,
however, was no justification of Hr. Schrader's con-
duct, though there might be some palliation for it
in that court, and he was bound to state his con-
viction nevertheless that it ought to have weight.
Mr. Schrader had been guilty of transactions which
were of the worst character. His transacactions with
Leyland and Bullins were very large, it was said, and that
they had had the advantage of interest and commission
to the extent of £30,000. He (Mr. Linklater) had no
doubt the transactions were large ; but he ventured to
say they might have employed their money with equal
success elsewhere. They had not to thank Streatfield
and Co. for anything. .Was Schrader justified in meet-
ing Laurence's suggestion to re-open their account with
Leyland and Bullins, looking to the actual position of
his house ? Before August, 1858, Messrs. Leyland and
Bullins requested Schrader to close the discount account.
All the bills were run off by August, 1858. Then the
request was made that the Liverpool house should dis-
count elsewhere, and accordingly the account was closed
of Laurence, Mortimore & Co. Lanrence managed that all
bills should be paid; and he looked to restored confidence
from that fact; and the account was re-opened for a
season. This was the period when loaurence was anti-
cipating a large loss from Smith, Patient, and Smith,
and others. This was sufficient to show that Laurence
should have told Schrader not to go to Leyland and
Bullins again. The Liverpool house had drawn on
Munday, T. 11. Mortimore, Gibson, Waring, Schrader,
Messrs. Clarke, and one or two more }reuses. Schrader
said he thought the bills discounted by Leyland and
Bullins were drawn for goods, though when he saw Mr.
Arkle he must have known they were nothing
but accommodation bills of which the
Liverpool
house had received the benefit. This was an accommo-
dation to the Liverpool house, which Schrader availed
himself. So with regard Lafone, Essery, and others,
thers was no difference is adopting a certain course
between Laurence and Schrader These bills were not
drawn for any bona, ide transactions. The bills drawn
by Schrader, to the amount of tens of thousands of
pounds, were really fabulous. The learned gentleman
here alluded to certain transactions with Smith, Patient,
could
and Smith. How, after that,
Mr. Schrader
reasonably ask the court to believe that he thought Smith,
and
Patient, and Co. were solvent men,
able to pay
their debt ? Why, he admitted that he
knew they were
largely indebted to the London house, and that he could
not get any money from them ; but that case
w
sample of the others. Let them see, however,as o'fnly a
Schrader really considered that the Liverpool house
sle Mr.
carrying on a fair and legitimate trade, and that it
Nvasiwnas a
solvent state up to the last moment. The London house
e
stopped on the 2nd of July, and the Liverpool followed
suit on the 3rd. The brother of Mr. Arkle, of the
Liverpool Bank, had an interview with. Mr. Schrader
that day, and at once and readily Mr. Schrader handed
to him a list—and a pretty long one it was—of the
various houses that were quite sure to tumble down by
the failure of Streatfeild, Laurence, and Co. What
did that mean ? Why, that without communicating
with Mr. Laurence, Mr. Schrader knew that all those
houses had been kept up by Streatfeild ' and Co.
Unfortunately his (Mr. Linklater's) clients considered
that Mr. Schrader was the person through whose
agency they had been made sufferers. Messrs. Leyland
and Bullins held bills of Barton for £6,000, of Essery
for £1,700, and of Lafone for £1,200; and of course
they complained of Mr. Schrader that he should have
allowed the London house to get so largely in the debt
of the Liverpool house. They complained that there
appear in the books of the Liverpool house a gradually
increasing debt from the London house—a debt
which had gone on augmenting from the end of 1858
until the Liverpool firm was liable for, or in other
words Streatfeild and Co. had abstracted from the
Liverpool firm, upwards of £30,000 which ought to
have ranked as the assets of the Liverpool house,
and been available as dividend to creditors. With
regard to the private expenditure of the bank-
rupts, • Mr. Mortimore had represented himself as
frugally dining for a shilling a day, and as possessed

LIVERPOOL' ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROMOTION OF
SOCIAL SCIENCE.—The third meeting of the Liverpool
Association for the Promotion of Social Science was
held last night in the lecture-room of the Free Library,
William Brown street, William Brown, Esq., in the
chair. There was a large attendance of members, in-
cluding several ladies; and amongst th)se present we
noticed Messrs. W. H. Jones, Kirkley, Edwards, Hig-
ginson, Steinthal, Hugh Shimmin, Wilson, Wylie,
Mason, H. Booth, Rawlins, S. Jones, Gillis, &c., &c.
Dr. Stephens delivered a most interesting and able lec-
ture on " The Infant Poor, their Dangers and Diseases,"
which was listened to with profound attention by the
audience.
Tut REFUSAL OF AN INFIDEL'S EVIDENCE AT
ROCHDALE.—The Rochdale County Court was occupied
during a great part of Wednesday with the case Maden
v. Catnack, which recently attracted a good deal of at-
tention in consequence of the judge (C. Temple, Esq.,
Q 9.) refusing to take the evidence of the plaintiff's
wife, after she had consented to take the usual oath, be-
causenot believe she avowed herself a secularist, and said she did
in a God or in future rewards and punish-
ments,°.° which his honour termed an outrage on public
tpi ion. On Wednesday, Mr. Craufurd, M.P., barris-
ter, appeared for Mr. Maden, and asked for a new trial.
elearned counsel spoke about two hours, quoting the
opinions of some of the most eminent English, Scotch,
and Afnerican jurists, on the question. His Honour
refused the application, observing, that was bound to
interpret the law as laiddosenYlie
that Parliament havingthe statutes, believing
made exceptions in favour of the
Quakers and Moraviais, would also have made them in
cases like the present, if it had intended the courts to
act in that spirt, , _

THE GREAT FAILURE IN THE LEATHER of considerable property; just the sort of person, indeed,
TRADE. Ito obtain credit and confidence in the world. Of Mr.
Laurence the same could not be said, for according

to his private ledger, it appeared that whereas during
the years 1847, 1848, 1849, and 1850, his expenses did
riot exceed £1,500 a year; in 1854 (between which and
1850 there wag a blank); his expenses were £1,893 ; in
1855, £2,400; in 1856, £2,430; in 1617, Wh'edi danger
Was certainly abroad, £2,510; in 1559, :E ,474; and in
the first half-year of 1860, £2,354, or at the rate of
£4,600 a year. Without charging Mr. LaurenCe with
any extravagance in his expenditure he (Mr. Link-
later) could not help nointing attention to the' fact
that his private expenses did not deerea4; but
actually incrern as his troubles seemed to thicken
Upon him. As to the statement of assets, the
amount was of *nine materially reduced by the fact
that the doubtful debts and bias receivable were put
down at an estimated sum ; but the fearful disproportion
between the assets and the liabilities clearly led to the
conclusion that it was not the result of a day, but, on
the contrary, was progressive, and that it must have
been thoroughly known to Mr. Laurence and Mr. Mor-
timore, The learned gentleman then subjected the pri-
vate balance-sheets of the bankrupts to a minute and
severe driticism, and pointed out that in several respects
the statements contained in them were of a fallacious
character, and altogether unjustified by the actual posi-
tion of their affairs. Then came the question, how
should the mid deal with this ease? With fespeet
to Mr. Laurence, it was utterly impossible to conceiVe'
how he .could in any way be entitled. to a certificate.
It must, he thought, be admitted, Clearly and beyond
all doubt, that Mr. Laurence had been giiilty of so much
intentional deception, actual misrepresentation, and
gross fraid, that a certificate was out of the question.
It would; as a matter of course; hereafter become a
question whether proteedoh &Odd be granted. No
suggestion upon this point had emanated either from
the assignees er the other opposing creditors. But he
(Mr. Linklater) was instructed by his clients, Messrs.
Leyland and Bullins, to say, that while acting upon
their undoubted right to institute the searching investi-
gation upon which they had insisted, not only with
respect to each of the bankrupts, Laurence, Mortimore,
and Shrader, but with respect to all the rest of the trade
implicated with them in the objectionable transactions
Which had: been so folly detailed, although they
had >leen adtuated by no tindictite feeling, they
felt they Would be stultifying the judgment which
they prayed the court to pronounce; if they eou-
seated to any protection whatever being granted, Messrs.
Leyland and Bullins considered that every creditor
was entitled to exercise the right which a refusal of a
bankrupt's protection gave him, to make use of the
"B. A." certificate for the purpose of inflicting that
term of imprisonment, limited to twelve months, which
he considered the bankrupt deserved. Of course no one
could help feeling a certain amount of regret that such
men should have placed themselves, by their conduct, in
such a position. BUt in sash a case as this it was im-
possible to consult private feeling, and it was too late to
ask the Court to consider it, in pronouncing judgment
upon such offences as those which had been disclosed

ME. Linklater, in resuming his address on behalf of
Messrs. Leyland and Bti bankerS, Of Liverpool, said
it was to be regretted that a house Carrying on a large
trade eotild hate resorted td such tricks. The end was
that at the tithe of stoppage the house of Streatfield and
Co. tfas under liabilities to the amount of 11,074,000, of
which £604,000 was on bills which were now admitted
to be had ; while the assets were only £218,000. It
was upon a statement of affairs like this that Laurence
had asked for assistance to the amount of £300,000, to
enable the firm to go on. (A laugh.) As to the ques
tion of capital, what with the transfers to the bad debt
fund and the private drawings, this had long since been
dissipated, and the figures of the various accounts
showed that from 1857 to 1860 the bankrupts had actu-
ally not earned one shilling of profit. He was aware
that profits appeared in their books, but they were
merely profits on paper, not profits in fact. Then with
respect to the capital of the Liverpool house, he was
compelled to address observations to the 3outt of a
Character which he would rather have been spared the
duty of uttering. From the manner in which Mr.
Schrader had behaved throughout,. it was painful to
him to be obliged to pass the strictures upon his con-
duct which his clients (Messrs. Leyland and Sullins)
required him to pronounce. But the capital having
been exhausted by the same process as that pursued in
the LOndba hjuse—a transference fo pie bad-debt fund,
and the private drawings Of the partners-=the panie of
1857 occurred. It was admitted that this had given a
shock to the Liverpool firm, and they had been com-
pelled to seek the assistance of the London House,
who being able to place paper of the Liverpool
firm in London, was able to give the assistance required.
Yet, notwithstanding the disturbance naturally
prededing that parrientstWithstanding the imminent
datiget edgy &it Of a great lieetiiiidry etisist the state
of things being such that Government aid was found
requisite, they found Mr. Schrader at that time taking
time by the forelock,, and putting by property to the
value of £7,000 or A8;000. in that yeato i 837; he
had drawn' out ki,otio, and then, in Maid, iBB, he
had settled the whole upon his wife and family, who
were in the possession of it at that moment. Mr. Tyrer,
the solicitor of Mr. Schrader, •had very properly pointed
out to him the necessity of ascertaining his true position ;
but had Mr. Schrader done so ? He could not help
thinking the court would come to the conclusion that
Schrader, who had raised himself by his integrity, honesty,
and industry, from the position he occupied as an errand-
boy at Os. a-week, to the proud position he occupied
before the failttre; hcid fOr a time lost sight of those
principles by which he had gained that position, and
had been imprudent enough to yield to suggestions
which, though natural to man, should ever be repu-
diated when the interests of others, but especially of
creditors, were involved. Ile had drawn an unusually
large sum from the concern during the year 1857, and
in March, 1858, had placed it in safe custody. Had he
done this after properly investigating his position in
accordance with the advice given him by Mr. Tyrcr ?
Had he properly considered the account of Nichol Son,
for instance, who owed the firm £30,000 Had •he
told Mr. Tyner of that and other debts of a similar
character due to the firm Not a word appeared in the
letters which had been brought forward in so-trium-
phant a manner by Mr: Lewis. ,But• he had effected
insurances on the life of Mr. Nicholson

by the evidence. The consequences of those offences
must be suffered. Then, with regard to Mr. Morti-
more, it seemed impossible to come to any other conclu-
sion than that he was as much implicated in all that had
been done as Mr. Laurence. Mr. Mortimore must have

known, and evidently did know, from the beginning to
the end, for what purpose all the bills were fabricated,
and the circumstmees under which they were discounted.
Those circumstiflees were of an absolutely fraudulent
character, and ti is Court, as a commercial tribunal, was
bound to visit on Mr. Mortimore the consequences of
his acts. Mr. Mortimore could not be allowed to shield

himself by IrN asserted ignorance of the books and
accounts of his firm. It would, indeed, be a strange
thirig if in the Court of Bankruptcy it were now,
for the first time, to be considered that a man
who had for years slit his eyes (but this was
disproved by the evidence) to the coarse of proceeding
pursued by his own firm should be excused from the
result of his so doing. With respect to Mr. Schrader,
he could not help feeling that that gentleman had been

to a great extent a mere tool in the hands of his part-
ners, but he was not permitted by his clients to deal
with that gentleman as he confessed he should have felt

inclined to do. They felt they had been wronged through
the instrumentality of Mr. Schrader, who stood confes-
sedly a guilty participator in the acts of which they had
complained. They consequently refused to draw any
distinction between Mr, Schrader and Mr. Mortimore
or Mr. Laurence, and, therefolei called for the same
jugdment against him. There was deception prac-
tised in a manner not only calculated to conceal a
fact, but actually to suggest an untruth. He would,
however, refer the court to the case "Ex parte Dod-
son, in re Strong," 25th Law Journal, where the
Lords Justices refused the certificate entirely. He
considered that be had fully established the wilful
falsehood and fraud which had been practised by
the three bankrupts, and that his honour would
say that neither of them was entitled to a certifi-
cate. He had no doubt that it would be brought
under his honours notice that as solicitor for the
assignees under the bankruptcy of Gibson, of Godal-
ming, he had recommended the court to grant
a second-class certificate ; and it might be attempted
to raise some argument upon that in favour of the bank-
rupts. But why had he made that recommendation ?
For the same reasons that in this case he had expressed
his personal commiseration in behalf of Schrader.
Gibson. had told the truth throughout; he had relied on
the wealth of Laurence and Mortimore; even down to
the latest moment they had written letters which could
leave no doubt upon his mind as to not only their sol-
vency, but their undoubted wealth. Mr. Gibson had,
therefore, been deceived by these appearances, and was
entitled to the certificate he had obtained. In conclu-
sion, be would add that the question involved in this
inquiry was not considered by Messrs. Leyland and
Bullins as one of personal loss, but as one of prin-
ciple. They felt that the interests of society at large
were staked upon the result of this investigation, and

it was upon that ground they had proceeded in the
course they had pursued against these bankrupts. In
short, it was their opinion that commercial offenders
should receive the punishment they deserved, in order
that others, warned by the example of the punishment,
might not learn to imitate the example of the crime.
The court • is densely crowded throughout the latter
portion of Mr..Linklater's address, and his observations
were listened to with silent and marked attention, but
when he had concluded, the gratification felt by his
auditory at the sentiments he had uttered was loudly
expressed by strong manifestations of applause.
An adjournment was agreed to until Saturday,
at eleven a.m., when Mr. Lawrance will commence his
address on behalf of the bankrupt Laurence.

FALL FROM THE ST. VINCENT'S ROCKS,

BRISTOL.

A painful state of excitement was produced at Bristol
on Thursday afternoon, in consequence of its becoming
known that a middle-aged man had been found at
the foot of the Lion's Head Cliff, the loftiest of the
chain of gigantic rocks which skirt the northern side
of the River Avon, at a little below the Clifton Hot-
well Baths, and which are popularly kuown as the St.
Vincent's Cliffs or Rocks. Upon inquiries being made on
the spot, it was found that as two boys were walking
along by the side of the river they came upon the
mutilated body of a man, of which they gave notice
to the police, and Police-constables 115 and 121
hastened to the spot. They found that the unfor-
tunate man's head had been beaten to pieces by
dashing, in its descent, against the different points
of the rocks. His clothes were so much soiled and torn
that it was difficult to decide with certainty even the
probable position in life which the deceased had occupied
in life, and the only thing that in any way points to his
identity was the name "Pompbrey," which was found
written on the lining of his hat. One of his boots,
which was off, was found lodged half way up the rock.
The constables removed the body to the General Draper
Tavern, near Rownham, and are at present engaged in
endeavouring to ascertain who the deceased was, with a
view to the body being identified at the coroner's inquest.

ELOPEMENT OF A CLERGYMAN WITH A
YOUNG LADY TEACHER.

Considerable excitement has taken place in the
borough of Ashton-under-Lyne during the week, in con-
sequence of authenticated statements having been exten-
sively circulated that a well-known minister of the
Church of England, in Ashton-under-Lyne, whose name
for the present we withhold, had eloped with a young
lady, the teacher of a young ladies' school, in the same
borough. Our correspondent is informed that the rev.
gentleman had long been suspected of having an impro-
per intimacy with the woman in question, and that on
his being watched, it was found he visited the back of
her house, and that a card or a piece of paper was often
in the window containing a few hints, such as " Man-
chester at such and a such a time." A solicitor in the
borough was consulted, and he set a Manchester detec-
tive on the scent ; and the other day the detective took
his railmy fare in the same train as the reverend
gentleman and his amatory companion, and ultimately
the three found themselves in Worcester. The worthy
couple put up at an hotel, and the detective opposite,
and the next morning he ascertaiaed that they had
passed the night together. At first the worthy hostess
was determined to make them pack off, bag and baggage ;
but, at the urgent request of the detective, she consented
to let him have ocular demonstration of the man's infi-
delity. Accordingly, about twelve o'clock the next
night the chambermaid knocked at the bedroom door of
the excellent couple, and told his reverence that a gentle-
man wanted him. The detectivk was thereupon asked
into the bedroom, and he held an interesting conversa-
tion with both of them. This disgrace to the Church
is a married man, with a family; but has long been
estranged from his wife. He is at least forty years of
age, whilst the lady is only about 21. It is understood
that a divorce will be sought for by the wife, and that
full evidence of the facts of the case have already been
l•• , • •
laid before the Bishop.

RAILWAY ACCIDENTS AND ATMOS.
• PHERIC INFLUENCES.

A correspondent observes .on this subject, as to con-
traction :—The greatest variation of temperature in the
atmosphere of this country, say between that of a hot
summer's day to that of a cold winter's day, will not
affect the length of malleable iron more than about one
inch in Rid feet. This in a tire nine feet long would be
lesS than one-tenth of an inch; and, as the strain requi-
site to stretch malleable lion one: tenth of ton inch in
nine feet does not exceed five tons to the square
inch, it follows that the fore() exerted by contraction
alone is also *rider fide tons per square inch. But the
breaking strain of ordinary malleable iron is knoWn to
be over 15 tons per square WI; and that of kobd tire
and axle iron over 25 tons ; contraction alone is there.:
fore not the cause of fractured tires in frosty weather.
It is a known fact that tire iron of the very best quality.
has failed recently ; also that a bar of good iron, which
in an atincisfihere of ordinary temperature would bend
up like leather, has hrolfett short off with a single blow
of a hammer on a frosty night: I therefore conclude
that frost exercises a subtle influence on the Vality of
iron, reducing its tensile strength, and that the 'ree'ent
breakages were the result of this loss of cohesive power,
and not from excessive contraction.

ACCIDENT ON THE LONDON AND
NORTH-WESTERN LINE.

On Wednesday night an accident occurred on the
Liverpool branch of the London and North-Western
Railway, which resulted in injury to the two guards.
As the mail train which leaves Liverpool at eleven
o'clock was ascending at steep incline between Huyton
and Rainhill it ran into a goods train which was being
propelled up before it. The collision was of a some-
what violent nature, and the company's guard, named
Evans, and the mail guard, were both injured. The
engine behind the goods train was also damaged, as
was that which ran into it; but fortunately no passen-
gers are ever conveyed by this train, and the results
were consequently far less serious than they might have
otherwise been. Both the guards were brought to
Manchester, and taken to their homes, where they
were attended to by Dr. Harrison, the medical officer of
the company.

SINGULAR RAILWAY ACCIDENT AT

MANCHESTER.

Au accident of a most unusual character occurred late
on Tuesday evening in Fairfield-street, Manchester. It
will be remembered that the rails of the Manchester,
Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Company are carried along
Fairfield-street on a series of arches, the various streets
being spanned by iron girder bridges. Along a portion
of Fairfield-street, with their back yards approaching to
within a yard or two of the wall of the railway viaduct,
stand a number of small houses and shops. The roofs
of the houses are several feet below the level of the
viaduct, and this fact will enable our readers the better
to understand the peculiarity of the accident. The
back yards of these houses are not much wider than an
ordinary passage, and .the yard is separated from the
wall of the viaduct by a brick wall edged with coping
stones, and about 5 feet high; between this wall and
the wall of the viaduct there is a space of about a yard.
The viaduct wall rises to a height of about 5 feet above
the railway level, and is edged with heavy coping stones.
Between ten and eleven on Tuesday evening, some
trucks were being 'shunted on the viaduct, when an
empty one belonging to the South Western Railway
Company, weighing about three tons, jumped off the
rails, struck the wall on the edge of the viaduct, knock-
ing it down, and precipitating the bricks and coping
stones against the houses and into the yards below.
After knocking the wall down along the length of about
20 yards, the truck was precipitated end-ways over the
viaduct, and fell upon the yard wall of a house occu-
pied by Mr. Hobson, a tailor. The space between the
house and the wall of the viaduct was so narrow, and
the truck fell with such violence on the wall of the
yard, that it still remains as it first tumbled, with two
wheels and one end on the wall, and the other wheels
resting half-way up the wall of the viaduct. A mass of
bricks and coping-stones were flung against the house,
some of which fell on the roof, which they broke through,
and the whole landed in a bedroom where an infant was
lying asleep in a bed. The floor of this room was
broken in two places with the weight of what fell. One
stone taken from the room weighed 2/cwt. The back
door in the yard was carried away, the shutters of more
than one house shattered, the window-frame in one
house broken, and parts of the walls of several houses
were driven'partly in. The shock was so great as to
shake out a pane of glass in the shop front of Mr.
Hobson. The room in which the infant lay was filled
with rubbish, and Mrs. Hobson was nearly suffocated
when she entered it, almost frantic, fearing the child
had been killed. Workmen were busily engaged on
Thursday repairing the damage done; but how to raise
the truck up the wall, which measured about 18 feet in
height, seems a very difficult problem.

SERIOUS RAILWAY COLLISION.

TWO MEN KILLED AND ONE INJURED.

On Wednesday, an inquest was held at Ince, near
Wigan, before Mr.,'.:Driffield, district coroner, on the
bodies of Isaac Hill, engine driver, and Sandeford
Andrews, fireman, who were killed under the following
circumstances :—The casualty occurred at tke siding
running from the Springs branch line of the London
and North Western Railway to the furnaces of the
Kirkless Hall Coal and Iron Company, in Ince, near
Wigan, and it seems that about a quarter past four
o'clock in the afternoon, a train of wagons containing
iron ore arrived at the siding of the company. The
train was backed up the Springs branch, which at this
point is a steep incline, to about fifty or sixty yards
above the shunts, two engines coupled together being
employed. When the wagons reached a sufficient dis-
tance above the shunt, it is the practice of the engines
to reverse and run down the incline to below the shunt,
the wagons then following by their own weight, and
being received by the pointsman are by him turned on
to the siding. At the proper time, the customary signal
for the engines to move forward was given, and it was
seen and acted upon by the driver of the first engine,
but not by Hill, who was in charge of the second, and
who was new to the work. Robinson, the driver of the
first engine, ran forward, and even then all would have
been well had not the coupling chain between the
engines broken, and Hill, not having seen or not under-
standing the signal, was left behind. Robinson turned
round and signalled to Hill to come on, but without
avail, and in the delay which ensued occurred the acci-
dent. The heavily-laden wagons began to descend the
incline, and speedily caught Hill's stationary engine,
which was swept onward below the points, which the
pointsman under the circumstances did not move. Hill
then put full steam on, but he was now too late, as the
wagons forced his engine at full speed against Robin-
son's, which was moving slowly. The second engine
was by this collision thrown on the line upside down,
carrying with it the unfortunate driver and fireman, and
the wagons were pitched in all directions, Samuel Cook,
a breaksman on the first portion of the train, being also
thrown to the ground. Hill was found under his engine,
much hurt and scalded, with Andrews beneath him,
quite dead, his remains being fearfully mangled. Hill's
injuries were so severe that he died the following night,
but Cook is now in a favourable way of recovery. The
jury, after hearing the evidence, returned a verdict of
" Accidental death." It was alleged that the two
engines were coupled together, because of a difficulty in
reversing that driven by Hill.

CONVICTION OR A VOLUNTEER MESS-
MASTER UNDER THE EXCISE LAWS.

Mr. Charles Frederick Biglin, the mess master of the
South Middlesex Rifle Volunteers, appeared on Thurs-
day, before Mr. Dayman, at the Hammersmith Police-
court, to answer an information at the instance of the
Commissioners of Inland Revenue for selling beer and
spirits by' retail without a license, whereby he had
incurred penalties amounting to £l2O.
Mr, Dwelly appeared in, support of the information,
and Mr. J. Bird attended for the defendant.
. Mr. Dwelly said the information contained three
counts—one for retailing beer, for which the defendant
was liable to a penalty of £2O, and for selling wine and
spirits, the penalty being £5O in each case. The de-
fendant resided at Beaufort House, North-end, Fulham,
which was the head-quarters of the South Middlesex
Volunteers, and in consequence of complaints from
persons in the district of wines, spirits, &c., being retailed
there without a license, an officer was sent to Beaufort
House for the purpose of ascertaining the fact.
Mr. Henry Best, an officer of Excise, stated that on
the Bth of November last he went to Beaufort House.
There was a concert on behalf of an institution in the
neighbourhood. He had previously purchased a ticket
in Hammersmith, and with it he was admitted. There
was a great number of persons, and people were turned
away. In the course of the evening he went into a
lower room, where refreshments were being served. He
Purchased a pint of ale, which was served by a waiter,
and he paid 4d. He after wards had some sherry, for
which he paid Bd., and it was served by the defendant.
He also had a glass of brandy, and he paid 3d. for it.
In cross-eyamination by Mr. Bird, the witness said
he was not asked upon entering if he was a member of
the volunteers. A volunteer was standing there. He
•did not observe any notice inside that none but mem-
bers of the corps would be served with liquors. The
defendant was sitting behind the bar.

Mr. W. Jones, the'supervisor of excise for Hammer-
smith, was called to prove that Beaufort House was not
licenied. He also stated that Mr. Best went to the
.cdncert by his directions, and a day or two afterwards
he (witness) called at Beaufort House and told the
defendant that he had been retailing wines, spirits, and
beer, and he once admitted that he had. The defendant
further told him that be came into Beaufort House
with the express understanding that he should have a