The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-09 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TlMES.—Another "dangerous journey" comes in
close succession to the two which have recently
startled the public, as if to force upon us the abso-
lute and urgent necessity of some means of commu-
nication between the different parts of a train, A
correspondent writes to inform us that on Thursday
last he and four other gentlemen took their seats in
a carriage of the 9.15 p.m. train from King's-cross
for Edinburgh. Just before starting the guard
pushed into the carriage a sailor, who seemed to be
intoxicated. They had not gone far before this man
became very excited, declared he had lost all his
money in the train and was ruined, and at last,
jumping from his seat, begaa to dash about the
carriage with the most frightful yells and impreca-
tions. All efforts to pacify him were useless, and
the passengers, in self-defence, were at length
obliged to resort to force. He was evidently suffer-
ing from an attack of delirium tremens; he was a
powerful man, and it required all the efforts of four
of the party to hold him. His struggles were so
violent that at one moment he nearly threw himself
out of the window, and the next moment almost
forced out one of his fellow passengers. Fortu-
nately they had a strap at hand, with which they
succeeded in binding his hands behind his back.
But it still required two persons to hold him on the
se-at, and it became necessary to tie his legs together
with handkerchiefs. Even then the security of the
other passengers was but precarious, and if the strap
had broken they would have been reduced to an-
other struggle with him. All this while they were
travelling by night in an express train which would
not stop until it reached Peterborough, a distance
of 80 miles, occupying nearly two hours. All at-
tempts to gain the attention of the officials of the
train or along the line were ineffectual. The pas-
sengers succeeded in acquainting their neighbours
in the next compartment with their danger, but
they were unable to reach the guard, and men
shouted and women screamed the greater part of
the way to Peterborough without securing any at-
tention. Not until they reached Peterborough were
they relieved from their furious companion, and ena-
bled to continue their dreary night journey in peace.
As a vivid exhibition of the dangers to which we
are exposed by the present railway arrangements,
this terrible story is almost more remarkable than
the two which have immediately preceded it. In
the absence of any better protection, we should all
probably consider ourselves more secure in travelling
with four or five fellow-passengers than with only
one. The more the safer, and, considering the size
of most of our carriages, each passenger in this case
had about as much security from the namber of his
companions as is generally probable. Yet these five
gentlemen were all placed in the greatest danger,
and compelled to endure two hours of the most
harassing anxiety, by the presence of one madman
in their carriage. With such an instance before
him, who can feel himself safe from some act of out-
rageous violence in any railway carriage, and under
any circumstances ? One of these persons was an
elderly gentleman, who seems to have been unable
to afford the others any assistance. Suppose two of
them had been similarly incapable, or suppose that
another, who almost fainted owing to the violence of
the struggle, had actually done so a little too soon,
what might have been the result to the rest ? Or
what if tee man had obtained a knife ? Or suppose
a lady in a delicate state of health had been one of
the passengers, what might not have been the con-
sequences to her of such a two hours' journey .
Any of these suppositions are as likely es not to
have occurred ; and, indeed, it is a very fortunate
circumstance, and one which could not be expected
generally, that four e'eleebodied persons should

be travelling together at such a critical moment.
This case, in short, amounts to a conclusive
proof that under present arrangements the occu-
pants of any carriage whatever, first, second, or
third class, may, five minutes after the starting
of a train, be at the mercy of a maniac. AU
passengers, it is evident, now travel at peril of
their lives, and all invalids and weak persons at
imminent peril, not from the inevitable accidents of
nature, but from a perverse neglect of obvious and
simple precautions. This case also is serviceable in
another point of view, as it proves that nothing
short of a ready means of communication between
passengers and guard can be a sufficient protection
against such dangers. The railway companies would
make us believe that nothing can be done beyond
putting the guard in communication with the driver
and that this would offer a sufficient security. But
in this instance what would have been the use of
such a partial communication ? It is very remark.
able that, although the passengers in the disturbed
compartment succeeded in making their danger
known to their immediate neighbours, they were
wholly unable to attract the attention of the guard.
It would seem, indeed, that if the guard had been
properly attentive it would have been impossible for
such continued shouts and screams as arc described
to have remained unnoticed. But such is the fact.
Men could be shouting "Stop the train," and women
could be screaming for an hour and a half, without
once disturbing the guard. Nor does the presence
of officials on the platforms of intermediate stations
offer any substitute for this want. Even if it did
in any measure, yet if a murder could be committed
in one of the short intervals which separate the
stations of a metropolitan line, it might be com-
mitted between two stations on any railway. But
here is a train passing a series of stations for
eighty miles, and the passengers unable to attract
any effectual attention. It seems that they did
attract some notice at one station, and danger
signals were consequently exhibited, but the driver
only slackened his speed for a while till the
signals were passed. It was night, it is true, but
night is no exceptional circumstance to modern
travellers. More than half the passenger travel-
ling to Scotland is by night. In short, it may be
considered to be established once for all by this oc-
currence—though it never needed such a practical
demonstration to men of common sense—that the
livesef passengers cannot possibly be secured against
the violence of maniacs or criminals, or against the
peril of partial accidents, except by the establish-
ment of a ready communication between passengers
and guards, The Board of Trade lately issued a
Circular on the subject to all the railway companies.
It drew the attention of the Directors to recent
occurrences, and requested their co-operation in
devising some means of obviating such pressing
dangers. It suggested two expedients—one, that
of placing windows between the compartments of
the carriages ; the other, a footboard and handrails
through the whole length of the train ; and it ap-
peared to the Board " deserving of consideration
whether this expedient, guarded of course by proper
regulations, might not be generally adopted with
very beneficial effects." Lastly, they mention the
use of a cord running along the train, " by which
the guard can attract the attention of the engine-
driver," as a recognised and confessedly feasible
plan. It is very strange, that having thus placed
these two contrivances of a footboard and a running
cord side by side, the Board should not think of
combining them. We have, however, pointed out
on a previous occasion that in combination they
would solve the whole difficulty. Let there be a
running cord for communication, not only between
guard and driver, but between passengers and guard,
and let there also be a foot board by which the guard,
and the guard alone, might traverse the train. ißy
this simple plan any passenger might call the guard's
attention, and the guard could at once go to see
what was the matter, and act accordingly. There
would be no interference with the driver of the train,
and there need be no opportunity afforded to passen-
gers for missusing:the footboard. Some such obvious
expedient must be enforced if railway companies
will not adopt it themselves. For the present the
Board of Trade relies on the " cordial co-operation
of the rail way companies," and contents itself with
drawing attention to these suggestions and asking
for information. But such cases as the one we have

been commenting on may easily make it necessary
to go further. We already enforce upon railway
cempanies and shipowners many precautions for the
public safety which might otherwise be over-
looked. A line is not opened nor a passenger
steamer allowed to sail without its safety in certain
points being certified by official inspection. It is a
very short step to forbid railway carriages to run
without certain necessary appliances. We should
extend the principle very unwillingly, but if rail-
way companies will not protect us from such dan-
gers as this, we must ask the Legislature to protect
us.

POST.—The weather, which people ususually talk
about when they are at a loss for something to say,
is now the subject of earnest conversation and
serious thoughts. Everythiug,that, indicates, or is
thought to indicate, a change is anxiously ob-
served, and thousands, who under ordinary circum-
stances never remark the age of the moon, will re-
member that it enters into its first quarter to-mor-
row afternoon. What one night of steady, gentle,

unceasing rain would be worth to this country can
only be roughly estimated. After weeks of drought,
too, the downpour that is desired is also dreaded.
A tropical storm, while it cleared the atmosphere,
would thrash out the parched grain on the field.
As it is, the cattle are eating up in summer the
food which is reserved for them in winter, and the
supply of water is daily diminishing. Tho hay has
been saved, but there is no after crop, and in some
places corn has been cut for fodder, Happily the
wheat appears to have generally cscaped the blight,
but the turnips have failed, and the fruit and leaves
are falling prematurely from the trees. In a great city
we experience that which is visible throughout the
country, in the increase in the price of the neces-
saries of life. When vQgetation is scorched, meat
is dear, and milk and butter are scarce; and what
is a hardship to the wealthy classes is a calamity to
the poor. At the same time, we have reason to be
thankful that we aro in a condition to bear up
against these privations. On the other side of the
Atlantic, while the rivers are running low, and
the insects are destroying the crops, hostile armies
are completing the work of devastation. There,
while they have difficulty in procuring water blood
is saturating the land. Na doubt we may have yet
to feel the effects of this sweltering heat. Possibly
in the frosts of mid-winter we shall rind out what
it has entailed upo❑ us. At present, however, there

is no cause for more than reasonable anxiety. We are
suffering inconvenience generally, and many who
at this season do not commonly require assistance
will perhaps have to seek relief. But there is still
ground for hoping that the harvest will exceed
the expectations of the agriculturists, who are
nC,urally not sanguine; and in that case the rise in
the price of provisions will be only temporary. We
may have a long and genial autumn, and a coma
paratively mild winter. The vicissitudes of nature
are, we believe, directed on principles which even-
tually conduce to the welfare of the human race,
and in that faith wo should put our trust. We can-
not compel the clouds, but we can out of the wealth
we have accumulated make provision for any die.
tress which may be occasioned by the suspension of
of the regular rainfall. Moreover, while the ac-
counts from the agricultural districts are gloomy,
the watering places are, as was to be expected,
full. People are hurrying awayfrom the heat and
dust of the towns to the seashore; and this, if
other proof were wanting, would serve to show that
we are as a nation thriving and comfortable, and
it does not become us to repine over a passing evil.
It is quite possible that at Brighton or Margate they
can take a more philosophical view of the state of
the barometer than we can in London ; still, here
or there, it may be regarded, not with indifference
certainly, but without apprehension. Rain was
never more wanted than it now is. One has only
to go into into the parks to see that everything is
dried up and perishing. But that it is coming we
may be sure, and if, by the mercy of Heaven, it
falls abundantly, and yet softly, over the arid land
and the brittle crops, the fears and misgivings of
the hour will be immediately dispelled, and at a
hundred harvest homes England will rejoice and be
thankul as of yore.
HERALD.--WO have at length abundant and incontro-
vertible proof of the infamy of the inferior agents of the
Federal Government, of the incredible brutality of its mili-
tary commanders, and of the unblushing despotism, exer-
cised not only over the liberties of his own fellow-citizens,
but over those of our fellow-countrymen, by the President
of the Northern States. Crimes of which they were before
but strongly suspected are now brought home to the very
doors of the American authorities, and oan no longer be
denied, for we are furnished, through our Minister at
Washington, with an admission of more daring acts of vio-
lence, insult, and wrong, committed by the so-called United
States on British subjects, than were ever before perpe-
trated by one nation on those of another having any pre-
tensions to an equality of numerical strength or political
standing. First, wo have the case of M'llugh, tyrannically
detained in prison by Abraham Lincoln for 7 months after
a full acquittal pronounced by a tribunal selected by his
accusers themselves. And now comes that of 7 Irishmen,
basely kidnapped and forced into the ranks of the Federal
army, to fight for a cause which did not concern them, and
in a quarrel with which they never had any intention of
meddling. Those unfortunate persons served through all the
bloody battles of the campaign, but when at last they suc-
ceeded in making their case known Lord Lyons was com-
pelled by its enormity to take immediate action, and the
President's Government. unable to justify the conduct of
their crimps, or to evade an acknowledgment of the injus-
tice done their victims, reluctantly consented to restore
them to liberty. An order was sent for their release, and
the treatment which they received plainly proves that there

- _
are more ruffians than Butler amongst the Federal generals.
One of the seven Irishmen had fallen in action, and the
survivors, when the order for their discharge arrived, were
not, as in common decency they should have been, sent
back furnished with ample means to procure sustenance
and transport. That would not have suited the policy of
those who well knew that there were thousands of others
serving under their command whe had been similarly en-
snared, and who, were their cases equally well known,
would be as certainly reclaimed ; they therefore determined
to conceal, as far as possible, the interference of the Bri-
tish Government in behalf of its entrapped subjects, and to
make it appear to all their partners in misfortune that their
comrades were rather about to be punished for misconduct
than liberated under compulsion. The six men were
accordingly first confined in-the " bull ring," a sort of
opening prison, amongst the most degraded criminals,
and then marched to their destination, handcuffed
and guarded with no shelter at night against the
inclemency of the weather, and no bed but the
damp earth. They were unsupplied with rations and loft
to support nature as best they might, by feeding on grass
and Maripe apples ; and after being harassed and tormented
in every possible manner that the practised barbarity of
Yankee officials could devise, they at length, wayworn and
exhausted, found themselves under the protection of the
British flag, So far so well. We aro bound to acknow-
ledge that on this occasion and to this extent our Government
—Whig though it be—hasacted in a praiseworthy and dig-
nified manner; but is the matter to end here? Are there to
be no indemnities enforced for such unmerited sufferings?
Is the American Government, as usual, to be complimented
on its ready compliance with the demands of our Ministry,
and then allowed to swagger off without compeueating
INPIIugh for his seven months' illegal detention, or the
other six Irishmen for the indignities and cruelties prac-
tised upon them, even after having, though unwillingly
participated in the battles of their persecutors ? Time was
when England would have promptly avenged such injuries
inflicted on her citizens by a demand for an sPel°,,gY:
instead of requesting an indemnity in money; but We live
in days when the payment of hard cash is COnsider°
d-
ample satisfaction for the most grievous act of or
pression; and perhaps our Ministry may pluck op
sufficient courage, and exact at least the
custo-
mary penalties for such gross and unprovoked outrages'
Lord Palmerston sent a fleet to Athens to demand sstis,fa:
tion for the mere property losses of a British subject, sys°-
claims were exorbitant, and whose nationality Was ma°
than doubtful—and he enforced it too. Will he hesitate to
act now, with equal rigour, in behalf of M'Hugh 013 d „sthy:
other victims of Yankee injustice, whose claims to
port are far better founded than were those of Don
We own we can scarcely hope it, for the Federal States are
as yet more powerful than Greece ; and their victims are'
unfortunately for themselves, "mere Irish." The limes
declaims most eloquently against those violations of
an
sonal liberty by Uncle Abe and his myrmidons,
demands " what the high-newspapers are about that they
do not warn their peasantry against emigrating," end ;13:(111
asks, with a strong touch of contempt, "if they ha°B,-.-1,1
themselves to the landlords ?" Had the writer of this eLan;
ing article but coolly reflected on the subject, he could not
fail to discover that the Irish press is
what he desires. The Irish peasantry act upon 02° str„icd
principles of free trade (of which the Times is so able
so consistent an advocate) in carrying their labour, the el
article tLey have to dispose of, to the market in wilifne•
it fetches the highest price. No one can prevent the-g,
powerless fo effc.ct
and we conceive, that while following the dictates of P°
ticsl economy, they are entitled to at least as much Pr°,t,ilec‘
tion as would be afforded, in case of need, to the cenn,srr:
meats of a Baring, or the cotton-prints of a Bright. 1`70;
is a certain method of effectually stopping the 110°85ale
system to recruit their armies so liberally patronised 11 ta
Federal Government, which has escaped our contersP°ll7,
notice—or which more likely he hesitates to recovers°
and that is to insist upon ample indemnities being mats
granted to those persons whose claims for them cannot -ea
possibly be disputed. Touch the Yankee's pocket and Yi;_,
touch his feelings in their tenderest point. We fear, h°£ 0
ever, that this may be considered by oar rulers s°
dangerous an experiment on Brother Jonathan's patience'
that the grievances of M'Hugh and his c°l33l;teo ed
triots will be left unretiressed, to augment the accni3ll;,i at
amenities of which the Times says our Ministry Nv"00,
some future period " be bound to remind the American
vernment."