The Express.
London, England, 1846-11-05 00:00:00

walked out soma distance in the country, from the town of
Skibbareen, and, in one hut, saw a family of fifteen persons
who had not erten a bit from the day before. lle had like•
wise seen a large number of people, at a public work, who
informed him that there was a fortnight's wages due to
them. Ons poor man in the locality had died of starva-
tion. He looked upon the Board of Works as extremely
culpable in delaying tke payments of their poor workmen,
when they had authority to order payments to be made
twice a reek." (Hear, hear.)
Nes7AerdrThrfficiS.—The folimtring ippdintmeit;..; ,
announced on Monday at the Registry of Deeds Office, by
minute from the Lords of the Treasury : Morgan O'Connell,
Eag., to be Registrar of Deeds, vice George Moore, Esq., re-
tired ; Walter Glaascock, Esq., First Assistant Registrar :
John E. Chapman, Eq., Second Assistant Regiemar ; Mr.
William Butler, First Clerk ; Mr. John Dillon, Second
Clerk ; Mr. William Davis, Third Clerk.---iN'ews Letter.

SCOTLAND.
THE REPRESENTATION OF RENPRENFSHIRE.—By the
death of Mr. P. M. Stewart, M.P., for Renfrew, a vacancy
has been created which will, in all probability, afford oppor-
tunity for a sharp electioneering struggle, if we may judge
from the record of past electioneering events in that county.
At the election in 1837, a Conservative candidate was returned
by a very narrow majority ; and at the general election in
1811, the tide turned in favour of the Whip candidate, and
Mr. Stewart was returned by the small majority of 14-959
Totes being recorded for him, and 915 for his Conservative
opponent, Col. Mure.

PROVINCIAL.
LANCASHIRE.
OPENING or THE Poars.—A public meeting of the inha-
bitants of Oldham, convened at the request of 390 requisi-
tionists, was held in the Town-hall,. on Monday evening
last, for the purpose of taking into consideration the pro-
priety of menionalising her Majesty's minister. to open
the ports for the free admission of all articles of food. Mr.
A. Taylor, corn-dealer, one of the head-constables, was una-
nimously called to the chair. He expressed his regret that
there was any occasion to call the inhabitants together on
such a measure as they were met to discuss, onle a few months
after the time they had met to petition rliament for an
alteration in the corn and provision laws. Little did he expect
that, so soon as this, a time of depression would have come
upon them. He conceived that one main cause of the present
state of affairs was the failure in the potato crop, which, in
the opinion of Cobbett, ought never to have been rendered
a principal means of human existence; and even out of the
direful suffering of the Irish people the result might be an
improvement in the quality of human food. (Cheer.) Such
had been the rapid rise of provisions during the last few
'months, that in July last a sack of flour was purchasable fur
14s. or 15s. less than at the present time. The price of po-
tatoes had, in the same time, advanced more than one-half.
Notwithstanding that it had been generally expected that
there would be a plentiful crop of corn and wheat, there was
not only a serious failure in the produce of our own country,
but also elsewhere; and, in Ireland, it was computed that
ten millions of pounds of potatoes had been rendered unfit for
food. In consequence of this awful state of things, maize and
ladian corn had risen to double their usual price ; and
from high prices of provisions had arisen depressed
trade, an increasing diminution in the demand for
labour, and a downward tendency in wages, which ren-
dered it highly desirable that government should take
prompt and vigorous measures to mitigate the evil, as
far as practicable, by throwing open the ports to the
admission of all articles of food duty free. (Applause.)
—J. Mellor, jun., Esq., moved the first resolution. lie re-
marked that only a year had elapsed since the inhabitants of
Oldham hail assembled to petition parliament for an entire
removal of all taxes on articles of human food, and yet in
that short interval great and important changes had been
effected in the corn and provision laws. (Hear.) Now they
were very properly called upon to memorialise government
for an entire opening of the ports for the unrestricted admis-
sion of every description of food that would minister to the
wants of the starving masses. (Hear, hear.) R.:solutions
weal: adopted, and a petition agreed to, praying the imme-
diate opening of the ports.
COROEN TRIBUTE FIND.—The increase in this fund
during the week is 3101. 17s. 7d., making the aggregate
76,6201. 17s. 7d. The increase has eam derived chiefly from
Manchester, Warrington, Bury, Oldham, Padiham, and the
neighhourhod.
SINGULAR SUCCESAION Or ACCIDENTS ON THE NORTH
WESTERN ILAILWAY.-011 Saturday last, a series of acci
dents, causing detentions of various trains, and, in one
instance at least, attended with moat serious consequences,
both in personal injuries and in the destruction of carriages,
occurred on this line, between the Stafford station and the
station at Chelford ;—and from the cause being in each in-
stance a similar one, they seem to point to the imperative
necessity for prompt measures being taken to prevent at
recurrence of such (banters in future. The train which left
London at 8 30 cm., on Saturday, quitted Birmingham at
one o'clock, on its route to Marehester; and a few miles
north of Stafford, found the rails blocked up in consequence
of a luggage train having run into a ballast train. Fort in ately
the fog, which had been very dense, had cleared away shortly
before, otherwise the down train would have run into the
stationary luggage train. The guard of the down train was
sent back to prevent a collision between that train and the
down mail train, which leaves Birmingham at 1 4:.) p.m.,
and which, in fact, did arrive in less than a quarter of an
hour afterwards. Both passenger trains returned to Staf-
ford ; and there was a loM of two hours before the line was
declared to be clear, so that they could proceed towards
Manchester. About ten miles further on, that is, about
beltway between the Norton Bridge and the Whitmore
statioc, the two passenger trains found their progress a
second time arrested, another luggage train having got off
the line. Here, a further detention ensued of about two
hours and a half, and during this blocking of the rails, no
fewer than six trains,—four from Birmingham, and two
from Manchester,—were stopped by the accident. Once
more in motion, the two down trains, which usually are
joined at Crewe, and proceed thence as one train to Man-
chester, left Crewe as one train, about half-past eight,
instead of 3 40 p.m., the appointed time, and reached the
Chelford station soon after nine. Amongst the passen-
gers by the train from London, were Mr. Robert Hyde
Greg and his daughter, in one of the first-class carriages,
and one of his sous and a servant were in his private carriage,
which was placed on a truck; and the two carriage-horses
were in a horse-box. Mr. Greg and Miss Greg got out, Chel-
ford being the nearest station to Norcliffe ; and Mr. Greg
directed a porter to unfasten the horse-box and his carriage.
Just as he had done so, and within a minute and a half of the
train stopping, Mr. Greg perceived a down luggage train
approaching at some speed. He had no time to get !us son
and servant out of the carriage, and, indeed, fearing the
results of the concussion, which he saw was inevitable, he
had scarcely time to withdraw his daughter back from the
edge of the platform, when the luggage train ran with tre-
mendous force into the horse-box a Inch was at the rear of
the passenger train- The horsebox was smashed to pieces,
the flooring or bottom of it being torn asunder and crushed.
The horses were thrown out, one on each side, but though
one was a goni deal bruised, and the other cut, yet neither
scrms to have received material permanent injury. In-
deed, as soon as they were released, they gallopped away,
affrighted, into the neighbouring field, Mr. Greg s carriage
was thrown upwards into the air ; all the glass in it broken ;
and his son and servant, who were both inside at the time,
were a good deal bruised, and thcir faces cut with the broken
glass. The concussion was so great that the passenger train,
though standing still at the time, was propelled forward
about fifty yards. Many of the passengers received severe
contusions and bruises, and one gentleman, we understand,
had his arm broken. Mr. Cooke, of Oldham, received a
severe fracture of the ribs, but is ing well, and has been
enabled to proceed to his home. Mr. Lawrie, a commission
' agent from London, was most severely injured, having three
of his ribs on the left side fractured, besides numerous con-
tusions, and other wounds. He is now lying at the Queen's
Hotel, Alderley, and, although much hurt, is better than
might have been anticipated. Mr. Hill, a teacher of music,
from London, who came down for the purpose of being mar-
ried on the following day, is suffering from several severe
contusions of the right arm and wrist, which he is scarcely
able is move. The parties hurt appear to have been chiefly
those in second-class carriages. Lltimately, we believe, the
111
wiconesnretej oadidnetloatraifyedtennsimrxelihncouhute:4l
betweenbbefore
e fi Manchesterye ;
Birminghamaboutand of e
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the
Manches-
ter, ghwhelt;
ter, by the series of casualties we have described. "In
every instance, we (Manchester Guardian) believe, the
accidents were traceable to the culpable carelessness of the
driver of a luggage train ; and to the same cause, many of
the recent accidents on various lines are justly attributable.
An inferior class of men are employed as luggage train
drivers. This is a practice which should be examined into
and abolished ; for no man who does not exercise due cir-
cumspection and caution ought to be allowed to guide any
train upon a railway."
CHEsiIIRE.

TEE ATTEMPTED MURDER AT TAPLET.•—The prisoner
J. Wright, who treacherously shot his fellow traveller, Mr.
and afterwards robbed him, was brought for exami-
nation before the magistrates at Knutsfurd on Tuesday. J.
Platt deposed that on the morning of the robbery he, in com-
pany with another person, were ferreting for rabbits, and
about 12 o'clock he heard what appeared to him to be a
pistol-shot. lie saw one man upon another who appeared
to be wrestling in the middle of the road. After some time
witness saw one of the men run towards Mr. Barber's, and
the other follow him in a feeble state.H. Foden was with
the last witne.s on the 23rd October, in Tabley. Witness
heard the report of fire-arms. Saw a man in the road near
the bridge, and shortly after observed a man getting up from
the ground with another man having hold of his arms. They
appeared to be wrestling for a short time, and then the man
left him, and appeared to be asking the injured man to go
with him, which he refused to do, and then the other man
left him, and he immediately called out " murder," and
went in the direction of Barber's farm. Witness then ran
after them, and on passing over the bridge he saw a hat,
umbrella, and small bag near the spot where the
two men were wrestling ; there was also a quan-
tity of blood at the same place. Thought there
was something serious the matter, gave an alarm, and
ran in tho direction of Barber's farm, and on the way
saw M'Gill, who appeared frightened and very much ex-
hausted. He was without a bat. Witness got up to him as
I he was entering the farm-house, and observed that he was
very bloody all about his neck. He afterwards went with
him to the Windmill public-house on the Tabley-road.—
Several witnesses were called to trace the payment of the
money which had been taken from Mr. M`Gill on the
day of the robbery. In one case he paid Mr. Massey, of
the Greyhound public-house, at Lostock, 201. in dis-
charge of an I 0 U which he had given on the previous
day, and which was promised to be discharged on the
Friday, or the day on which the robbery was committed.
—Mr. Harrison, of Manchester, surgeon, deposed to the
nature of the wounds inflicted on Mr. M'Oill, as well as of
Isis present state of health, from which it appeared that he
is out of danger. Mr. M'Gill's depositions were taken in