Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-12-29 00:00:00

NORTHERN

FATAL RIOT AT ALDERSHOT.

We regret to learn that a serious riot took place at.
Aldershot on the evening of the 25th inst., between-'
some men belonging to the 2nd battalion-of the 24th
regiment and a company of the King's- Own Light
Infantry (Tower Hamlets) gilitia, and which al as
unfortunately attended by the loss of one life, besides
three men being wounded. , •
It is' the custdm in most regiments' for the officers of
each company to subscribe a certain sum` to provide
their men with a Christmas dinner. This has tended to.
promote and keep, up the good- feeling and sympathy
which should always exist between the officers and their
men ; but, unfortunately, in the present, case it
has been distorted into the absurd cause of getting
up- a row between the above-mentioned corps.
The 2nd battalion of , the 24th Regiment
occupy the permanent' barracks' of the west block
in the South Carbp, each side of which, consists
of three stories opposite to one another joined at the top
with a covering of glass, so as, to admit of a whole regi-
inent being formed for parade OR the space below in
case of rainy weather., According to the usual fate
which seems to regulate all prOjects• undertaken by
Government, these barracks or blocks as they are termed
are, too large for any one regithent, but aren.ot sufficiently
capacious for two.. One company,of the Tower Hamlets
Militia was quartereLin the upper storey of the west ,
bloCk, with' men of the 24th Regiment living under them.
and exactly opposite to them, the interval between the
two buildings being about 15 yards, while the remainder
of their own`regiment occupied huts some little way off.
After partaking of a hearty(Christmas dinner it appears
that, some of the Tower Hamlets and 2nd battalion of ,
the 24th betook themselvesto the canteen of the latter
regiment, where an argument began, mooted originally,
it IS said, by the-men of the 24th;. as to which regiment
had had the best = dinner provided for' them' by their
officers.. This took place between the hours of 7 and 6
p.m., at which time the canteens are closed. As.far as
WP rnn Liara, a fcroat floal of laitior fooling bad. now
arisen, and on leaving the canteen the men of the 24th
went up stairs to the rooms occupied by the Tower Ham-
lets, and commenced warfare with mops and brooms. So
far, though it was a ease of going to war for an " idea," the
combat did not assume more serious proportions than
" Molly's" battle royal,' as described .by Fielding ; but
the parties 'appear to have become t'eTadually more exas-
perated, and at length the men of the 24th Regiment
betook themselves to their own quarters in the opposite
gallery, and began to load 'their rifles with ball cart-
ridges. It seems astonishing that the officers were not
summoned from their mess-house, -Which was close'by,'
before things arrived at this pass; but when'they were
sant for, rides had already been discharged by the 24th
rioters against their opposite neighbours. It was some time
before the officers could quell the tumult, and when they
did so, it appeared that four men of the Militia had been'
wounded,' and, from the marks left- by the bullets,
several shots must have been firecl. We cannot hear that'
the Militia fired at all ; at any rate, if they did, they
did so without' effect. Of the wounded men, one ex-
pired after great suffering, at eight o'clock next morning
(26th inst.) ; the others are said to be progressing
favourably. The colonel of the 24th regiment has been
telegraphed for, and all the officers who were on leave
have been recalled. A searching investigation has, we
hear, been already instituted into the, origin of these
disgraceful proceedings.' On dit, the 24th regiment will,
be removed to the North Camp, pending instructions from
the higher authorities. Any one who has seen the win-
dow frames riddled with bullets must have ;wondered
that many More lives were not sacrificed. Strong
pickets belonging to the other regiments in the south
camp were stationed on the spot all night, -and will
be 'again at night, least any further collision may
ensue. As far as we could learn, riot a single man
of the 24th Regiment 'had received any serious injury.
Forty-seven men of that corps are in confinement
in the guard-room ' for having taken part in the
riot. Up to the present time the 'conduct of
the troops in camp had been so exemplary' and the
diminution of. crime so marked, , when compared with
regiments quartered in other places, that great regret is
expressed at this unfortunate affair. It is stated, from
inquiries made in all quarters, that the Tower Hamlets
Militia were not only not the aggressors, but that they,
on the contrary, behaved with the greatest forbearance.
This acknowledgement is the more -due to them as,
from their previous habits, they appear to have been
inoffensive. It is, however, to be regretted that they
do not at present seem to have obtained much favour.
with the higher authorities.

Mr. George Cruikshank, the famous caricaturist, pre-
sided on Monday at the annual meeting of the Bristol
Temperance Association,
MONEY ORDERS.—On the lat of January neat, and
thenceforvfard, the following changes in the mode of
transacting the money order business, which have been
effected in England and Wales, will be extended to
Scotland and Ireland. The distinction between minor
and major money order offices will be abolished, and.
all money order offices will be placed on the foot-
ing of major money order offices. The advices of
money orders drawn at any office (hitherto a minor
office) in the United Kingdom, or any office in the
United Kingdom, will be transmitted direct to the
paying office (as in the case of orders dravin at a
major office), instead of being sent through tke metro-
politan 'office as at present, and the corresponding orders
will be paid, although the advices do not bear the stamp
of the metropolitan money order office. Applications
for 'the alteration of the name of the' payee or remitter
of an order issued in the United Kingdom on any office
in the United Kingdom may be made direct to the is-
suing postmaster, if the remitter can make the applica-
tion in person.. The existing charge for additional com-
mission will be maintained. If application cannot be
made by the remitter in person, it must be made, as at
present, by letter, enclosing the amount of additional
commission in positage stamps, addressed to the chief
money order office of the kingdom in which the order is
issued.,
GREAT SPANS IN RAILWAY BRIDGES.—The widest
single span of any railway bridge in the world is that of
the Niagara Sitspension Bridge, connecting the American
and Canadian railways at Niagara Falls. The clear span
is 822 feet. A still wider single 'span—one of. 1,224 feet
—is being constructed for carrying the Lexington and
Danville Railway. at an 'elevation of 300,feet, over the ,
Kentucky River, in the United States. The next widest
spans are those of the Britannia Bridge, 460 feet each.
Then come the two greatspans of he Saltash Bridge, of
455 feet each. The next great railway span is that of the
Conway Bridge; of 400 feet. The next is the immense
bridge carrying the Royal Eastern Prussian Railway over
the Viatula at Ditschau. This, an iron lattice bridge, having
six spans of 397 feet 3 inabes each. The Nogat Bridge, on
the. same line, has two iron lattice spans of 321 feet, and
one span'of 53ft. 6in. The great' railway bridge recently
opened at COlOgne has four lattice spans of 344 ft. 6in.
each. The openings of the railway bridge at Kehl will
'be nearly as -wide. The middle opening of the great
Victoria Bridge at Montreal is 330 feet wide, the other
24 openings being each 242 feet. The Chepstow Bridge
has a span of 306 feet, besides three side spans of 100
feet each. The Boyne Viaduct has one lattice span of
,a clear width of 264 feet, and two side spans of
138 ft. 'Bin. each. The Newark Dyke Bridge, the
largest example of Warren's trussed girders, has a
span of 240 ft. 6in. Several of the tubular bridge:
erected by E. Gouin & Co., of Paris, over the Garonne,
the Lot, the Tarn, &c., have spans of 80 metres,
or 262. feet. The Spey Viaduct, on the Inverness and
Aberdeen Junction Railway, consists of a pair of box
girders of a clear span of 230 feet. The tubular bridge
at Brotherton has a span of 225 feet. The greatest
timber span in a railway bridge, and now indeed the
widest timber span in existence, is one of 275 feet, that
of the Cascade Bridge on the New, York and Erie Rail-
way in. the United States. The Market-street (highway)
Bridge, formerly crossing the Schuylkill, at Philadelphia,
U.S., had a timber span of 340 feet; whilst a timber
span of 1300 feet, the widest ever attempted in that
material, was ,constructed, by Johi Grubermanni over
the Linmat, in Germany, in 1794, and was burnt shortly
afterwards by the French., troops. Railway bridges
with timber spa.na,:of 250 feet.. are not uncommon
in the United States. The great railway bridge across
the Mississippi river at Rock Island has five timber
spans of 269,feet each, besides three others of 150 feet,
The bridge by which the,Ohio and Mississippi Railway
crosses the Great- Miami River, has five timber spans
of 250 feet each; and axiother rail Way bridge, having'
- two timber spans of 1.60 feet each, crosses the Delaware
River near Port, Jervis, State of New York. The
widest masonry span ever erected for railway, purposes
is one 180 feet, carrying the Glasgow and. South-
,W,,tern Railway over the river Ayr. The new railway
ordtge being. carried across the Thames at Pimlico, will
have four cast-iron arches of 175 feet each, the widest
cast-iron spans, we believe, yet employed for railway
purposes. The six spans of the celebrated High Level
Bridge at Newcastle are but 125 feet each in width,—
The Engineer,