The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-06 00:00:00

first reached Lynn safely, but passed the bullock in a
dry dike by the side of the line. Probably the com-
pany's servants are accustomed to meet such visitors,
for no notice appears to have been taken or signal,
made to those behind, and by the time the second
train came along the bullock wl:supon the rails, and
this deplorable accident happened. Certainly, if the
company cannot undertake to keep its line clear of
_horses and oxen, it should at least naturalise the
An„:•rican invention of the "cow-catcher," which is
said ch,ctually to prevent such occurrences by tak-
ing up the a_iimal and throwing it out of the engine's
path. Although
this accident might have equally
happened to an
dinary train, still the hurry and
comparative negligenCe which arise from the increase
and irregularity of the
traffic at this season of the
year give reason to fear tit many accidents of a
like kind will occur. Proban.ly in this case, if the
second train had not been so
close behind, some
one would have reported that tit.'ere were cattle
dangerously near the rails, and the animal might
have been driven off. And what is the succession
of two trains within a quarter of au hour com-
pared with the excursion traffic of the .railways
running out of London and the great Aorthern
towns? On these there are very often three or four
trains started at little more than five minutes' in-
terval ; not uncommonly two are in a tunnel at
once, the one pursuing the other through the dark-
ness. Very often the public, on some day of extra-
ordinary business, are told that there are no regular
times for the trains, but that they will be started as
soon as they can be filled and got off. So they are,
and at times, after several minutes' incessant scream-
ing of the whistle, the excursionist may put his
head out and be gratified by the sight of one
enormous train at a standstill before him and
another gaily coming up behind. When one con-
siders what the Companies attempt and what they
really perform during these three autumn months,
not to mention the extra traffic for races, fetes, re-
gattas, and the like, the wonder is that they do not
kill very many more. We cannot fairly complain
of them. They do their best to serve the public.
They confer a great national benefit by giving tens
of thousands the power of quitting the dingy town
for a few hours or days. Every one engaged in their
service is half worked to death, and their more
responsible servants are worn out with anxiety.
They do all that they can, but from the very nature
of the traffic, as at present conducted, the danger to
the passengers is extreme. It is for those who
have the direction of it to take measures for the
safety of persons who intrust their lives to the
Company. We are persuaded that by proper
precautions, and particularly by employing a
sufficient staff of servants at this period of
tripled or quadrupled traffic, most of the causes
of danger might be removed. By strict atten-
tion to signals, by forbidding one train to pass a
station until the train before it has passed the
station in advance, by returning to the prac-
tice of a virtue which they seem to have for-
gotten—namely, punctuality,—by not lingering on
one part of the road and then making up for the de-
fect by a dangerous spurt at another, and, finally,
by an examination of their line, locomotives, and
carriages as the time approaches when all are to be
more than usually tried, the Companies have it in
their power to reduce very greatly the dangers of
excursion traffic. The country will look for some
l extra care and exertion from the directors of asso-
ciations that profit so much by the pleasures of the
. people. The excursion traffic of the present season
bids fair to be greater than ever, and its managers
1 would do well to be careful in time.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

.4,
NEWARK,--WEDNESDAY.

Only a middling supply of wheat, which sold for about
as much money as last week. Grinding barley and oats
made last week's prices. Beans sold at full rates.
White wheat new, 47s to 52s 1 Barley,;grinding.. 27s to 30s
Red do. 43s to 47s I Oats, old, .. 27s to 303
Old white 4Bs to 54s I New do 22s to 265
Red do. 44s to 49s Beans. —5 to --81
I
Barley, malting....—s to —s Beans, new.. 36s to 405