The Express.
London, England, 1866-11-10 00:00:00

ALARMING .RAILWAY COLLISION.

On Thursday evening, an alarming and destine-
five collision took place on the North Union Railway,
at Preston. Between 5 and 6 o'clock, a cattle train from
Carlisle to Liverpool left Preston. At the rear there is
a " banking " engine, which is required to assist the train
up the incline, a little south of Preston. Immediately
after the train had passed the large bridge which crosses
the Ribble, a goods train from Liverpool for the north
came up on the opposite line. At this time both the
trains would be running at the rate of 12 or 14 miles an
hour. Just as the engine of the Liverpool goods
train was the rear of the cattle train,
another engine, which had been standing in a
siding, was run out upon the main line. l'he driver
it is supposed, fancied he would be able to get upon the
line before the Liverpool train came up, and then run
ahead of it into the station, about a quarter of a mile
distant ; but he did not succeed, and just as he was run-
ning into the line his engine struck the engine of the
Liverpoool train, which was driven off the metals, and
came in violent collision with the banking engine at the
rear of the cattle train. The consequenoe was that the
three engines were all thrown together, and the utmost
confusion prevailed. In • short tune the engine which was
shunting got clear, although it was considerably damaged.
The other two appeared to is fairly wedged into each other
sideways, and one of them— that belonging to the Liverpool
train for the north—was terribly smashed. It was thrown off
the metals, its wheels were embedded deeply in the earth,
the front of it was broken in, one of the cylinders was split
open, and all the side gearing was smashed. The banking
engine opposite was a good deal damaged. At the roar of
the cattle train, and just in front of the last-named engine,
there was a large van containing the breaksmoin and a
number of cattle-dealers. This van was, by the force of
the collision, pitched off the line and driven down the ern-
bankuunt • short distance. It eventually got reared
nearly on end. The bre•ksman and cattle-dealers were
thrown about in the van in all direztiona—some of them
upon their backs, and others upon their beads, at the
' lower end of it. They were di eadfully alarmed and all
iseverely shaken, but none of thi.m sustained any serious
Diaries.

The committee of the British and Foreign Anti-
Slavery Society have come to the conclusion that it is the
duty of the friends of the emancipated population in the
British colonise to sustain the proposed effort to obtain a
judicial decision upon the case of Mr. Eyre.
EVf sroes.—Norwich, Mr. F. E. Watson ;
Colchest:r, Mr. P. 0. Papillon ; Yarmouth, Mr. E. P.
Youell ; Ipswich, Mr. It. C. Ransom. • Portsmouth, Mr.
Alderman Emmanuel Emmanuel ; Bn:alford, Mr. Alder-
man Bragshaw •' Liverpool, Mr. J.G. Morris; Southampton,
Mr. Alderman Emanuel, re-elected ; Windsor, Mr. Alder-
man Copland; Bury St. Edmund's, Mr. G. H. Nunn, second
time ' • Rochester, Mr. Alderman Edward Robert Coles ;
Guildford, Mr. P. Whittington Jacob, re-elected ; Graves-
end, Mr. H. R. Cutbualm ; Reading, Mr. Henry John
Simonds ; Maidenhead, Mr. Alderman Robert Nicholson ;
Newbury, Mr. Cave ; Birmingham, Mr. George Dixon ;
Nottingham, Mr. Alderman John Lawson Thackeray.
IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT. —Thu Brussels journals
announce that next session the Belgian Chambers will
have before thrum a bill to abolish imprisonment for debt,
and that the subject will be alluded to in the speech from
the throne.

MASTERS AND WORKMEN IN THE STAFFORD-
siII RE Porreinza.—We regret to learn that the hopes in
which we have indulged of an amicable arrangement of
the diciute between the manufacturers of the Potteries and
their workmen relative to the question of monthly hiringe
have not been realised. While the great majority of work-
men have yielded to the masters' terms, the rest are stub-
born, those chiefly being the overmen in liurslem and
Tunatall. The period of hiring for the ensuing year M
next week, and the masters, when the demand
of the men was first made, resolved upon united
action and united reeietan,e. On Thuraday.afternoon a
largely attended meeting of the manufacturers was held,
to receive reports as to the progress made in hiring, and to
decide upon the course to be pursued at Martinmas. The
persistent attitude of those men who refuse the masters'
terms was reported, and, after considerable discussion, it
was unanimously resolved to carry out the measure
originally agreed to in cane of the event which has oc-
curred, viz., to lock out the whole of the workpeople em-
ployed in the pottery trade in the district. Work will
therefore cease to-morrow (Saturday), and on Monday the
manufactories will be closed, and thousands of people will
be thrown out of employ. This is a calamity which will
be regarded with the utmost anxiety in the district, and
which it was hoped the district would have been spared.—
Birmi ?wham Pust.
THE CONDITION OF THE. DOCK LABOURERS.—
_

Last evening a very criwded meeting of dock labourers
was held in the Lambeth Baths for the purpose of taking
into consideration the present condition of the dock Is-
bourers of the metropolis, with a view to obtain for
them an advance of pay. Mr. Murphy was called to the
chair, and he briefly opened the proceedings by calling
upon the meeting to give their most earnest support to
the movement, in order that the condition of this very
large and overworked class of people might be ameliorated.
Mr. J. Richardson (the secretary) then, at the request
of the chairman, gave a lengthened statement of the
efforts which bad been made on behalf of the dock la-
bourers. He said that after a great deal of agitation it
had been determined to form an association, in order to se-
cure by all le. itimate means an advance of pay to tee dock
labourers, and they intended to persevere until every
man had the extra fad. per day, or sd. forevery hour that he
worked. If that point were gained they would never be
pained atseeing hundreds of labourers waiting outside of
the dock gates, but the authorities would have to send
after the men, who could then fix their own rate of wages.
The association had already held several monster meetings
to the present, and it was to he hoped with a similar
amount of success. The Rev. Hugh Allen then moved—
" That the distress ousting amongst the dock and wharf
labourers is caused by the large number of the labouring
chow brought into the neighbourhood of the docks by fluc-
tuations of the shipping trade." Mr. Salmon seconded the
resolution, which was supported by Mr. John Holm, and
vilified unanimously. It was also resolved to make an
appeal through the public press in support of the objects of
the association. A list of donations, was read, including 10
guineas from Mr. J. Holm (with a promise of more), five
guineas from Mr. Creighton, two guineas from Dr. Black,
and one guinea from Mr. Richardson, C.C.
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