The Express.
London, England, 1851-02-22 00:00:00

ATTEMPT TO OVERTURN AN EXPRESS

TRAIN.

On Thursday, at the Aylesbury Court of Quarter
Sessions, James. Prior and George Norm were indicted for
malieiouily endangering human life by laying down ob-
structions upon the London and North Western Railway,
at Cheddington. The indictment contained various
counts. The London and North Western Railway Com-
pany were represented in their prosecution by Mr. Power
and Mr. Mills, and the prisoners were definded by Mr.
Browne. In reference to this ease, a paragraph has just
gone the round of then •wspapers, esplainF:ig the destcrous
manner in which the prisoners were appr,hendcd by a de-
tective officer. A reward of lOW. was offered for such in-
formation as would lead to the discovery of the offending
parties.
Mr. Power 'dated the circumstances connected with tho
case, and called a large number of witnesses. On the 19th
November lase, as the express train from Liverpool reached
Cheddington, With a foil complement of passengers, the
engine-driver was thrown from hi. feet by the iron
gate-guard of the engine coming into violent collision
with several substances tamed upon the rail, by way of
obstruction. Ile stopped the engiac, as soon as possible.
It was going at the rate of 38 miles an hour. Another
train, the Aylesbury luggage cue, was inowdiately behind,
and very nearly came into collision with the express. Cpon
examination, it was discovered that a taint diabolical
',scheme had been forma-I to overthriev the carriages. A
large phve of iron rail, weighing inure than 3001 b., had
' been placed upon the line and a imam heavy iron chairs,
in such a position as almost inevitably to have created one
of the most terrible railway accidents on record. The
engine-driver attributed the safety of the passengers to the
breaking of the iron safeguard, and the great rapidity of
the engine. Ilad the Nee lawn slower, the carriages would
have been overthrown. Many of the iron chairs were
broken by the cullision, cad the detached piece of rail was
wrenched into these pieces. With respect to the
prisoners at the bar, a long rlaln of evidence
showed that they were together all that night; and
were seen in the Immediate vicinity of the accident at the
time the obstruct' must have been plac.sd upon the rail.
Three night« previous Waits attempt Prior was seen cooking
a few potatoes in a live-path, and eating them in a half-raw
state. Ile stated to those who came upon him that he had
had no food fur three dap., but he certainly would get soato
in a dishonest way, and he confessed that all last night he
had been watching in a ditch for 6: purpose of overthrow-
ing the express tram, that he might get plunder. He
threatened before the week was over that he windd accom-
plish this purpose. The parties to Wheel he told this were
young and took little notice of it until they heard of the
stoppage of the expreas, and saw the hills off, ring a reward.
of UM. Another witness deposed that Prior was in the
habit of boasting, among other feats. that he could overturn
engine,* and carriages, and, from his aost,re appearance at
the bar, he must have made au un faroura hie impression upon
the jury. When examintsl been... the magistrates the prisoners
made statements about their A hereabouts on the eventing in
question, and witnesses were eilled to contradict these decla-
rations. It 11a stated by nue of the witnesses that au acci-
dent occurred at the Chishlington station about two tears
ago, when the villagers made their appearance in large
numbers and made free with the spoils which were lying
about. A 1111 l ng those fortunate pirates the prisoners • were
seen in a state of intoxication.

I•lie Marquis rate Chanel... a vin maTiStrate I* the
Buck■ gaol, deposod to at rtat.•ment mad.• by at Prior, that
on the night of the stomatae he raw two alien running hur-
riedly from the railway, anal prknicr thought he could final
then. out if !ward. and •truer the reward of 1940.
'flit• Phainnan having carefully neapitailateal the whole
CTillel!Ce, the jury found Newns Nut Guilty, stud Prior
Guilty.
The Chairman remarked upon the livinowaness of the
offence proved against Prior, and sentenced hint to the
highest penalty which the recent art of Victoria allows, via.,
2 year.' ;inprisonment. 'tire coon, through the eltainnain,
eapn•.xd an opinion that the low had not made suitable
provision for the punishment of :such an offence.

GARDENING OPERATIONS FOR THE EN-

till.NG WELK

(Proms the Varflenres (hrottiele.)
1-I.OW):I44IAkDFN AND

The propagating of half-hardy plaids fur bedding pur-
pose, should now be going on with activity. The following
to the plan which we have adopted. Alsn!t this time the
beds are prepared by filling up to within •t few inches of
whir: the surface of the soil ought to by, with leaves and not
dung, which have been previously well fermented. The sur-
face if the fermenting material sbould rousist of leaves alone,
as they are less liable to give exhalations ; and,
as an additional prcaution, an inch of salad or coal-ashes
may he laid over them. On this we lay 3 inches of light
soil, and ution it 1 inch of sand, into whielt the cutting:. are
inserted. to assist iu sustaining it siring hottom-hott, we
have a hot-water pipe passing hem nth the bed, which wo
make use of when there are any syaiptoins of the heat de-
clining. The cuttings strike in this way very quickly;
and atter being fairly rooted, are tak-n up with balls of
earth, and transplanted into cooler quarters, in frame*
of prepared soil. Much tints is saved by this means, as the
labour attending the draining and li;ling of lots is all
avoided. The soil should nut exceed -1 ur 5 inches
in depth, mid should consist of one-third loam. one-
third decomposed leaf mould, and ontstbird sand, mid
may rest on a lied of essil-ashes. The young stuff
should be set in rows from 1 to G inches apart,
according to the habit of the plant, ant the length of
time will& will intervene tclore they are planted out.
By passing a knife or sharp trowel down into the 'soil,
betwetu and across the rows otu, or twice during this
period, their routs will be pryvtatt.l front intruding upon
each other, and, when required for planting out, they
will lift with nice balls of fibrous roots. Their tops
also mud be kept within hounds by timely and periodical
stopping. It is true that one of these plants will occupy
more space under glass than to it thumb pots ; lint it is is
nu less certain that, when the turning-out season arrives,
one of the plants grown as rtnommendedwill be Worth
half a doyen of the miserable things which have been
starved in pots; besides which, the labour of watering is
materially lessened, au inipertnnt matter during the busy
spring months. All kinds of plants intended for flower-
garden masses come earlier into flower, and make greater
pnigress if treated on this plan than when turned met of
pots, in which they have been growing any length of time.
We recommend particular attention to this, as we have
practised it extensively for some years, and have found it
to answer extremely well.

11-.IRUY FRUIT GARDEN.

To guard against the effects of late spring frosts, we again
urge the necessity of aftlinling artificial protection to the
blossoms of our choke fruit trees, not on the walls only hut
on those in the open ground also; this will be particularly
required in damp low situations, where the slightest frosts
do considerable damage. As a matter of course,
gardeners will make use of canvass and netting sa
far as it will go; but as few have sufficient of
this to protect all their trees, they will find the .fait-
shaped branches of spruce or yew a tolerable substitute.
By applying these covering materials early in the season,
the slight shade they afford prevents the untimely excite-
ment which is the result of unseasonably warm weather
during spring. The moderate-sized espalier pyramididpear
trees, which have a sufficient quantity of Hower-buds to
make it worth the trouble, may be protected by rearing a
few small polesover them, tent fashion, and thinly covering
them with branches of *Art-gm:nil, which thus form an ex-
cellent shelter. Our success in protecting pyramidal pears
and other fruit trees on trellises minty* us to press the ne-
cessity of protecting as many of thew tender kinds of fruit
trees as possible. It is satuffiwtory when our efforts aro
crowned with success ; and should we fail after doing all in
our power we arc at any rate better satisfied than if we had
not taken any precaution.
XITCHEN GATLIMNINO.

As soon as the ground is suffieiently, dry to allow of the
surface being pulverised, the main crop of onions shouhl bo
sown. The piece of ground selected for this crop should be
well drained, and sufficiently rich to prevent the bulbs
being too small; but, ut the same time, the opposite ex-
treme must he avoided, ur the produce will be watery,
thick-necked, and less likely to keep well during winter.
Early sowing of this vegetable is essential, in order to get
the bulbs matured and housed before the short sunless
days of October. A second crop of early horn carrots may
now be sown, but the main crop usually suffers Isis front
the maggots when sown in April, or even in May, than those
which are sown earlier ; and although the routs of late sown
ones are somewhat smaller, their good linality generally
makes them more profitable. An early crop of stone
turnips should now be sown, suit asparagus seeds on
the beds formerly prepared. Regular sowings of spring
salads should be m••ale in frames and warm borders. In
planting out cabbages, if you have more than enough fur
the regular crops, the roes may be planted only half tho
usual distance asunder, and the alternate rows driven
and used as eoleworts when about half-grown. A sowing
of one of the larger cabbages should now be madu
in a frame, and also some cauliflowers fur the earliest
spring sown crop, with some more under a warm wall
to succeed them. A sowing of Celery should also he
made ou a moderate hut-bed ; it should he sown very
thinly, that the plants may not require pricking out so
won; and that, when pricking out is necessary, they.may
be moved with more soil to their roots. It ts especially
necessary to grow the earliest crop with as few chck,
as possible, to prevent its running to seed. A successional
sowing of round spinach should be made this week. Oar-
, lies and shallots should now be planted on dry ground, if it
were not dune in November, as already retommended ; they
should be planted six inches asunder, ou the surface of the
, soil, with merely sufficient fastening to keep the bulbs
, steady. Autumn-sown Tripoli onions should now be trans-
r planted, six inches apart, in rich soil, for midsummer use;
they should bu secured in their places by closing the soil
about the roots, not about the bulbs, the bases of which
;. should always rest upon the surthee of the soil. The small
button onions, which were saved last autumn, should also
be transplanted in the same manner ; if the ground is good,
without being over rich, these will make fine specimens by
autumn.

REPEAL OF THE WINDOW DUTIF.fL—The partial
scheme proposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer for
the repeal of these duties has not mot with approbation in
Bath. Vestry meetings have been held in the parishes of
St. Peter and St. Paul, and St. James, where the schema
was condemned, and petitions adopted unanimously for the
unconditional repeal of the Um, without the substitution of
a house duty. The petithras having been signed by the
chairmen of the respeeti•c meetings, wore ordered to bo
sent to Lord Duncan fob presentation.