The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-15 00:00:00

RAILWAY BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION.

Tiae half-yearly meeting of the members took
place yeatcrday at Kirg's-cross Station ; Mr H.
Oakley in the chair.
Mr MILLS, the Secretary, read the report, which
congrataiattd the metab:rs on the steady progress
of the institution. Tha net balance was £8,935,
which in the previous year was £6,879, and in 1862,
£5,134. The subscriptions for the year amounted
to £998. During the :ear 350 officers and clerks
had joined the institution, but still many distressing
cases could not be relieved because the head of the
family was not a subs Tiber. It v; as proposed to
have a casualty fund to give temporary assistance
by:a donation not excerding £5,

The CHAIRMAN, in thoving the adoption of the
report, adverted to the ltudable ffirts of the friends
of the institution in extending its ramifications.
[here had been an increase in the subscriptions of
£220, and they looked forward to a still further
increase next year. The number of members was
very large, and, as an instance, he might say that
of the 800 clerks in the Great Northern Company,
25 per cent. were members, and it was hoped that
that per tentage would thortly be considerably in.
creased. It was the ittention of the Board to
endeavour to induce the clerks
c in other railway
companies
course.
A Ir
Bto follow
the
le motion, which was
carried unanimously.
rt Oi s seconded s
Annuities of 110 each Wire then granted to three
ltte members, and a late
persons—twostatioa
master.

A i° Pawed approving the anat.
ration of °I
thet
gld to theCasuaity Fund,
and a vote of thanks to tI chairman closed the
ration vresas wti hthen re
proceedings.

Assault in a Railay Carriage.

Pltty sessions for the Sham-
On 'I uesday afternoon at the
fel at Bletsoe, before Lord
SI) rt o ojitehn, i sni ehrar
iorfulßa end, foAridr shiresy . ,
--tberts, of. King's Walden,
Hertfordshire, and Mr Wm. Tr
—Well, of Nether Crawley,
a summons taken out by the
dLiuretoente,rsfaerfmtehres,
Aalpidpleaanrded to
Rsilviv
Company, to answer a
charge of having committed a
each of No. 5 of the bye-
laws on Sunday, Nov. 13. The %se had been postponed in
consequence of the illness of the brincipal witness, who had
fromthetraa,
in
sapt teaect
.swhich was made on him.
'r
was taken out,by
at of the Midland Railway,
se: lal
irlideJr
theoe dh n
summonsJef er severelyy ,
the company's autho-
rity under a by-law, of which is
-sput in an authentic copy.
The it le fellows :—" Any person
found mi
na magistrate's
railwaystrate 's cnlaerrrki a
g e reade
or
aation in a state of intoxi-
cation, or committing an- n ;
--ilsittee, or otherwise wilfUlly
interfering with the comfort of sther passengers, is hereby
subjected to a penalty not
etceeding 405., and shall
immediately, or, if travellin
g, ,at the first opportunity,
be removed from the comp,l3_
y premises." Mr
'Nat a passenger on Sunday
Henry Martin then said—l
evening, November 13, from s
s,dcester, in a second-class
carriage, having passed the day al the bedside of a son who
is now past hope of recovery. r
tae alone as far as the Ir-
chester station, and there the
tvia defendants entered the
compare meat in which I was. I believe they were the first
to speak. One of them said
4.` %Ile, master, we mean to
smoke hero whether you like it or tot." My reply was that
I had not made any objection to choking, and had not had
time to do so. One of them said`Vhe the hell are you?"
I can hardly say which of them said that, for I was terror-
stricken, and they both chimed in to that I could hardly say
which of them spoke first. The me I know to be Howell
said to the other, " Give me a light." Roberts said, He
has no business here—we'll blow him out." They then let
down both windows, and one said 11 He's a bankrupt, and
only dares travel on a Sunday." They evidently alluded to
me. I think it was Roberts who the* said he would throw me
out. llowell said " We'll serve him is Briggs was served and
then we'll throw him out,"-and at that moment I would have
given all I possessed to have had some means of communi-
cating with the guard. This was on the evening before the
execution of Mailer for the murder of Mr Briggs. Howell
then said, " I am Tom King, and ramake an end of him in
three minutes and a half." He Welted up his sleeves and
said, putting his fist in my face,
" make an end of him the
" He stood up in the carriage. 'I was sitting, and he
said "Stand up, you Then he squared up to me and
put one fist in my face and hit at me with the other, and at
that moment 1 became terror-stricken. He then put one fist
in my face and made as though ho world strike me on the
eye, and then I became partly unconscisue. I have never
been so well Since as to attend to business as usual. Whea
I came to myself I found they wore gent, When I got to
the next station Roberts came to the window and was again
abusive, when Mr Scott,
of Leicester, ov'erheard him. and
came into the carriage and asked me to 'juin them in the
next one. That, I think, was the station before we got
to Bedford. I did not hear distinctly what Roberts said
when he came to the carriage again ; but he used filthy
language. There was a light in the compartment in
I wes, and also in the one into' which I aftetwards got. It
was not a light night, as it Was raining vety hard. The
person who asked me to come into the nextcarriage went
and made the complaint. Mr George Ifiekera, the station-
master at Oakley, proved that a complaint was made that a
Mr
gEntlecasn had been grossly insulted ;by twopersons.
Martin was the complainant, and said they had
was served. The two persons were pointed out to him, and h
to murder him and throw him lout of the carriageas Briggs
noticed them get out of a second-class carriage and go down
aes They at
nese went and asked fur their names and aelres- '
witness had asked twice
the platform. They got into a third-class carriage,d and wit-
first refused to give them, but when
or three times Roberts said his name was Sunmoads,
of
Baldeck, and the otner one said, "Mine is the skme.
They refused to give any other names. He demanded their