The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-20 00:00:00

and has given over the supreme command once
more to General It is underst( od that
the President and General Halleck waited in person
upon General M'Clellan, and requested him once
again to accept the post from which he had been
deposed. He accepted upon condit:(ns that he
should for the future be free from control. In the
midst of unparalleled gloom and depression, a cer-
tain degree of satisfaction has resulted from the
restitution of M'Clellan. That he is far from bril-
liant, that his constitutional prudence has led him
to miss more than one chance of taking Richmond,
nobody will deny. But, on the whole, no superior
to M'Clellan has as yet shown himself on the Fede-
ral side. There existed for a long time between
him and his men a reciprocity of affection which
has never been evinced towards any other Federal
General, and which is not, even now, wholly extin-
guished. That he is a fitting leader to oppose Lee
and Jackson no man, even on the Federal side,
would assert ; but he is less likely to involve his
men in danger than any other commander. To
fight for some time on the defensive seems his ine-
vitable lot.

It cannot be said that the President's interference
with military matters has had happy results. The
appointment of Gen. Pope was entirely the Presi-
dent's act. They were old Western friends. There
is a certain quickness and smartness about General
Pope which commend him superficially. But the
public, weary and distrustful of swagger, saw with
suspicion his first vaunting pronuncianzientos, and
bitterly has he been compelled to eat his words. He
has raised up by his proclamation calling upon his
men to subsist themselves on Virginian property a
fierce vindictiveness in the Southern heart, which is
only paralleled by the feeling towards General But-
ler- In these recent battles the officers belonging
to Pope's force who were taken prisoners have all
been sent to Richmond, and refused their parole,
and ominous threats that they will be proceeded
against as land pirates, in accordance with Presi-
dent Davis's threat of retaliation, are loudly heard.
It is not necessary to add that Mr. Stanton, whose
chief pleasure it seems to have been from the begin-
ning to thwart and oppose and depreciate General
M'Clellan, warmly approved of his subordination to
General Pope, and encouraged the latter to reflect
upon M'Clellan by his public orders as much as he
hoped that Pope would be able to do by conduct in
the field.

It is generally believed that as a necessary conse-
quence of General MeClellan's restoration Mr.
Stanton will be superseded in the War Department
by General Halleck. It is impossible to mention
any change which would be more welcome to the
American public, not so much from affection to
General Halleck as from detestation of Mr. Stan-
ton.

Another matter in which the President is much
animadverted upon is in reference to the withdrawal
of General M'Dowell from Fredericksburg at the
time when General M'Clellan was advancing on
Richmond. M'Dowell, with 43,000 men in the
highest state of efficiency, was burning to descend
from the North as M'Clellan advanced along the
peninsula. " Stonewall" Jackson appeared at this
moment in the Shenandoah Valley, driving Banks
before him. The President, alarmed for Washing-
ton, withdrew M'Dowell and his force from Fre-
dericksburg and transferred them westward. In the
midst of the many recriminations and explanations
advanced in exculpation of the failure of M'Clellan's
expedition against Richmond, the opinion of the
wisest seems to point with warmest censure at the
removal of M'Dowell from Fredericksburg.
It has been mentioned that General Pope's de-
spatch, falsely calling the Battle of Groveton, on
Friday, August 29, a victory, was warmly hailed
in Washington, and preparations were at once
made to show solicitude for the wounded. A train
of 200 ambulances was sent forth, containing many
Goverment employes and private citizens, who long
will remember their experiences on that eventful
trip. Shortly after they had started the disastrous
news of Saturday's battle reached Washington, but
the ambulances were beyond recall. They travelled
all Saturday night, and arrived on Sunday near the
field of battle. They found it in the hands of the
Confederates. A few ambulances went boldly for-
ward, and fell at once into the hands of the Southern
pickets. Such of the wounded as were able to drag
themselves towards the ambulances were accommo-
dated on them, and the Government employes and
civilians repaired to the nearest station with a view
to returning by rail. Here they were perempto-
rily refused admission and all the accommodation
reserved for wounded soldiers. Weary, footsore,
half-starved, out for two nights without sleep, these
2,00 a Sta rn ea vi*cmov datiggea attillbei Veb back op foot
to Washington, heartily enraged at their treatment
by the Government. It was of a piece with its
action in all other matters. Hundreds of surgeons
have been telegraphed for from Northern cities.
They repaired to Washington, where no accommo-
dation, no orders, no patients awaited them. Many
of them returned in high irritation to their homes.

One of the most heartrending thoughts, in con-
nection with all these recent battles, is that, com-
paratively, a very small number of wounded has
hitherto been brought into Washington. That the
number of wounded in these battles is enormous
seems generally believed. Humanity shudders
and recoils at the thought of thousands of frail,
suffering, anguished bodies, many of them
famished when they received their wound, lying
for 48 or 72 hours without food or water or kindly
care—many a poor wearied soul escaping from its
racked and fevered casket from sheer want of human
tenderness and sympathy. But, though there are
thousands cf sufferers left behind, Washington has
this week seen a ;sight which might well draw
tears from a stone, but which seems scarcely to
have ruffled the serene indifference of the stolid
American nature. On Monday a long train of
maimed and bleeding and mangled wretches, most
of them wounded the Friday before, approached
over the Long-bridge. No one was there to look
after them, and there for hours lay this mass of
tortured and writhing humanity, while pools of
blood trickled from the carriages and left a ghastly
trail behind. Many a poor fellow not deprived of
the use of his legs, untended in the churlish and
bewildered city, wandered to the railroad station,
with heart fondly turning to some far-off home,
possibly among the hills of what was once happy
and peaceful New England. He who could witness
that sight and not from his heart abhor the grasp-
ing vaulting nature of those politicians who, rather
than accept what has long been inevitable, would
month after month subject poor human nature to
such unutterable anguish, must have been cold in-
deed. But no sign of emotion did Washington deign
to give or betray. The same idle poco-curante
crowd at Willard's Hotel, the same knot of sharks
and contractors fattening on a nation's woes, the
same frail and miserable women profaning with
repulsive levity streets and buildings which the
Angel of Death had marked for his own—well may
the bewildered stranger ask himself with sickening
horror, Is this a Christian nation which conceives
the best tenants for its churches to be the maimed
and agonised and dying, and can look at such sights
undaunted and unmoved ? Can it bear the thought
that thousands of its sons should lie for days starv-
ing and with wounds festering on the field of battle,
find no relief till mortification, more merciful than
Christian man, prelude@ a final and painless repose.

STONEWALL JACKSON.
'4°ll one topic only did Washington show any
excitement, Strong and eager was the anxiety
shown to obtain, a
photography of the hero of the
moment, Stonewall Jackson. A few appeared in
one of the shops,
andwere instantly snapped up.
Thousands, and tens of thousands, could be sold in
the cities of the North... .
The interest excited by
this strange man is as curious
Nt'Clellan's at West Point, as it is unprece-
dented. A classmate of
unfavourably
he has exhibited for the last
a hypochondriac and
and there considered slow and heavy,
known in Washington as
malade intaginaire,
ten months qualities which were little Supposed to
reside in his rugged and unsoldierlike frame, but
which will hand his name down for
Many a gene-
ration in the company of those great captains whom
men will not willingly let die. More apt for the
execution than conception of great movements,
leaning upon Gen. Lee as the directing brain, and
furnishing the promptest hand, the most dauntless
kmorti the most ascetic and rigorous self-denisl, the

hisgreatest
contributions
rapidity
towardsnd
of Generalovementas
Lee's strategy, his recent operations in turning Gen.
a
Pope's right, and passing with a force believed not
to exceed 30,000 men to the rear of such an army,
massed close to its base of operations, and in the
act of receiving daily large reinforcements, com-
mand universal wonder and admiration. It is said
that, like Hannibal, he is accustomed to live among
his men without distinction of dress, without
greater delicacy of fare, and that it is almost impos-
sible on this account for a stranger to recognise or
distinguish him among them. Every despatch from
his hand has, as its exordium, "By the blessing of
God." Continual are the prayer meetings which he
holds among his men, invoking a blessing on his
arms before the battle and returning thanks for pre-
servation and, as it has rarely failed to happen, for
victory after it is over. In fact, they who have
seen and heard him uplift his voice in prayer, and
then have witnessed his vigour and prompt energy
in the strife, say that once again Cromwell is walk-
ing the earth and leading his trusting and enrap-
tured hosts to assured victory. It is not necessary
to add that Jackson's men idolise and trust their
leader enthusiastically, and have the most implicit
faith in his conduct, otherwise the bold and daring
steps which he has frequently taken, and from
which he has never failed to come off triumphantly,
would have been utter impossibilities.
Nothing is more conspicuous throughout these
memorable months of strife than the superiority, in
all qualities essential to the formation of armies, of
the Southern section. Their officers are not boon
companions picked out of some bar-room and
promoted to the distinction of wearing shoulder-
straps by reason of skill and dexterity in conduct-
ing municipal elections, or, in the language of this
country, wire-pulling. The Southern officers are,
and have always been, gentlemen, qnd their fol-
lowers have been accustomed all thir lives to re-
gard them as belonging to a superior class ; and,
therefore, discipline and subordination are natural
and easy. lam very far from saying that in the
Federal Army there are not also many gentlemen
who are officers; but it is impossible not to per-
ceive that there are also many who are not fit for
command. Whatever may be Gen. M'Clellan's
military qualities, no one can be for one moment
in his company without perceiving that he is em-
phatically a high-bred, modest, unassuming, and
courteous gentleman; and the same may be said of
hundreds of others whose names will suggest them-
selves at once to Englishmen familiar with this
country. But there is a lower deep, in which are
to be found officers of volunteers whose democratic
antecedents have always placed them on an equality
with their men, and who are now called upon to in-
troduce another system of government among re-
luctant recalcitrant followers. Discipline and regi-
mental organisation are necessarily aristocratic. In
this more than any other point the North has broken
down. It was thought that the long organisation
and drill enforced last winter by General M'Clellan
would wean his men to habits of discipline. So it
might have been if success had accompanied their
advance on Richmond. But the world seldom saw
such demoralisation as accompanied their retreat
from the James River to Alexandria. It has been
mentioned in a previous letter what was their condi-
tion in Alexandria at the close of last week. There
are persons who assert that the delay of Franklin
and Sumner, in reinforcing Pope, led to the defeats
of Friday and Saturday. It seems to me that 40,000
or 50,000 men, more or less, made little difference
to the North during these recent battles, The
South fought all along from a superior moral eleva-
tion. No Southern man but welcomed death or mu-
tilation as infinitely preferable to defeat or retreat.
There is no such earnestness about the North. Pos-
sibly it may spring up when Northern territory
is the scene of such atrocities and devastations
as have desolated Virginia for 16 months, and
turned many a Southern town into a wilderness.
The North goes lightly and indifferently on its way,
and wonders that Southerners will not (in American
phrase) wheel into him, and join the North in a war
of bitterest venom against unoffending England.
In such a war cruel hate and fiery passion, long
suppressed, would blaze to the skies, but they would
principally characterise the Northern States, and
notably New England. The South declines
partnership in such a war, but whispers into the
ear of its closing squadrons, " Remember Butler
and New Orleans !" " Turchin and Athens !''
" Winchester and Baton Rouge !" These last two
towns are said to have been, one partly and the
other entirely, levelled with the ground. Can it
be wondered that having endured the iron des -
pntieln of the North for 17 months, having seen
the lovely Shenandoah Valley, the Paradise of
America, treated as Louis XIV. treated the Pala-
tinate having witnessed such scenes as Baltimore
every day exhibits, passions of more than earthly
violence should possess the Southern soul and lash
her sons into irresistible fury?
Mr. Cassius M. Clay has abandoned diplomacy,
and is "stumping " Kentucky, in the hope of patch-
ing up some momentary armistice with the South,
and committing the two infuriated and inflamed
sections to mortal strife with England. His lan-
guage is such as is common at this moment to his
fraternity. "France, not forgetting our old alliance
with her, is still our friend. England strives to
make you think France hostile, but it is base
calumny. England alone is our bitter foe. Let us
turn upon her, and all Europe will join us." Mr.
Clay forgets that since the time when France
secured American independence circumstances have
changed. It is more likely that France at this
moment dreads united America than that she dreads
England. England is emphatically conservative and
unaggressive. America, so lately "rejoicing like a
giant to run its course," is enough to fill all other
existing nations with uneasiness and suspicion.
Meanwhile Mr. Clay's eloquence seems thrown
away. Little more than a small area around
Louisville in all the vast State of Kentucky
remains faithful to the Union. Cincinnati
is threatened, and terror stalks through her streets.
Maryland is in the most volcanic and combustible
condition. Hundreds of armed men wait the ap-
proach of the "stars and bars," and will swell
Jackson's army to a mighty host. It may be con-
trary to all the approved rules of warfare to cross
the Potomac, leaving such an army as M'Clellan's
in the rear, but Jackson's erratic movements have
hitherto been little in conformity with scientific
theory, nor has the North been hitherto able to
punish his transgressions against military propriety.
It will be seen that, contrary to General Lee's in-
tentions, the recent successes of the South have
been gained against the concentrated armies of the
North. There is every reason to think that, instead
of being an element of strength and cohesion,
M'Clellan's " veterans" will exercise a most per-
nicious and demoralizing influence. The world has
never witnessed such scenes as characterized the
retreat of his army and that of Pope, as the latter
drew near to the fortifications round Washington.
Twenty thousand men, without organization or
discipline, broken fragments of one hundred diffe-
rent regiments, often shoeless, weary, famishing
with hunger and thirst, flocked, like overdriven
sheep, along the Centreville road, begging a crust
of bread and a drink of water from every civilian
they encountered. To these men, utterly demo-
ralized as they are, have been hastily added 60,000
or 70,000 green and raw troops from the stores and
workshops of the North. Such is the force now
of the press,
commanded by General M'Clellan. The language
of those who continue to hope against
hope is, that his plan has been reculer pour 2nieux
saucer, and that he will at once descend like an ava-
lanche upon Richmond. It is probable that if left
alone and not recalled into Maryland, another ad-
vance would be attempted, as in the present temper
of the public mind, inaction will be more fatal
than even defeat. But if an advance upon Rich-
mond were possible, and even were it success-
ful, can it be pretended that the fall of Rich-
mond would end the war ? Baltimore is nearly
treble the size of Richmond, and the almost uni-
versal language of the richest men of Baltimore is
" The annihilation of our city shall never deter
us from discarding a hated and galling yoke."
This is the language held with the guns of Fort
M'Henry levelled on the town, with six gunboats
lying at the wharves, and instant destruction in-
evitable.
The President, in the midst of his wearing and

agonising anxiety, has not altogether abandoned
that grim humour which has given him his fame
as a raconteur. It is related that a New York de-
putation recently waited upon him, moved by much
the same spirit that formerly prompted the four
Liverpool merchants to approach the Emperor of
the French, and inquired eagerly about the true
condition of affairs. Among other questions, they
asked how many men the Confederates had in the
field. The President paused, and at length an-
swered, " Gentlemen, I estimate them at twelve
hundred thousand." Aghast at such a figure, the
merchants exclaimed, "Why, we have only six
hundred thousand ourselves !" " True," answered
the President, " and the rebels only claim to have
400,000 in the field, but then they have such gene-
rals as to make one man into three." Few men of
those high in office at Washington look more
worn than Mr. Seward. Last week he escaped
for a few weeks of rest to his country place at
Auburn, but the inexorable and pressing crisis re-
called him in four or five days to Washington.
In the rooms which are by Englishmen associated
with many pleasant recollections, as having last
winter been occupied by Mr. Anthony Tiollope,
labours Gen. Halleck, the reputed successor of Mr.
Stanton in the War Department. Stern is the ven-
geance meted out by public opinion at this moment
against two individuals—Mr. Stanton and General
M'Dowell. "Whom shall we hang ?" is the in-
dignant outcry of the press. The answer is prompt
and emphatic—" M'Dowell and Stanton." That
they are more guilty than anybody else is little
credible ; but when did any Anglo-Saxon commu-
nity suffer disaster without marking out some
individual for exemplary vengeance? From the
battlefield of last week have been conveyed to
Boston the lifeless remains of Colonel Fletcher
Webster, the last representative of a great name.
He has died fighting for that Constitution which
would probably have succumbed to Mr. Calhoun 30
years ago, if it had not been for the great efforts of
Daniel Webster, his father.

(4 They have fallen
Each in the field of glory ; one in arms
And one in council."
His loss will be grievously felt throughout New
England.
What inference may be drawn from this narra-
tive ? None other than that the second battle of
Bull Run is the death-blow of the Union. There
was, after the first battle, abundant material for re..
action ; but what is there now ? Can the conscrip-
tion be enforced ? It not, the Union is irrecoverable.
If we have a conscription, will it not do more for
the South in all the border States than for the
Un ion ? If the Washington Cabinet again collects
vast masses of war material, what security is there
that they will not fall, as they have so often fallen
before, into the hands of the south ? Will Pennsyl-
vania, already nearly rebellious, and encouraged by
the recent release of Mr. Charles Ingersoll, submit
to draughting ? The attitude of the miners in
Schuylkill county, who have resisted enrolment, is
already menacing. Can the differences and jea-
lousies of the Federal generals, a thousand times
inflamed by the incidents of the last few days, be
reconciled and conciliated? It is asserted that, in
the recent battles, Sigel, one of the heroes of the
press, was loudly upbraided as a coward by Gen.
Pope. In such a state of loose disorganisation, mu-
tual distrust and recrimination, demoralisation, and
discontent among the veterans, rawness and inex-
perience among the new levies, Gen. M'Clellan will
find a task, compared with which anything im-
posed on him before sinks into insignificance. The
more the details of the battles from Wednesday,
Aug. 27, to Tuesday, Sept. 2, meet the light the
more hopeless is the future which they disclose.
Nor let it be thought that the specific of the Aboli-
tionists—an instantaneous and universal proclama-
tion of emancipation—would operate as a cure. The
evidence is irresistible that the sympathies of the
slaves are almost uniformly on the side of the South-
ern masters. A man attacking a farmhouse might as
wall go first into the farmyard and proffer arms to
the pigs and oxen as strive to induce slaves brought
up as dependants to show the individuality and self-
reliance requisite for a fighting man.
In my last letter it was erroneously stated that
Maryland's quota towards the first batch of 300,000
demanded by the President was 4,000 men. It
should have been " Baltimore," instead of " Mary-
land," from which there are demanded altogether
more than 8,000. Again, there is a slight error with
respect to General Philip Kosirriny'a 'loath. It ap-
pears that he advanced alone on Monday night to
reconnoitre, and was picked off by a Southern sharp-
shooter. The body was brought to Washington and
embalmed. General M'Clellan is said to have shed
bitter tears when brought within view of these
honoured remains.

As I write, the condition of the city of Baltimore
transcends description. It is known that the Con-
federates are on the soil of Maryland, and the crowded
streets quiver with excitement Angry glances are
exchanged between men as they pass, and scenes
are foreshadowed such as that which Meyerbeer has
immortalised in the Iluguenots after the singing of
the Rataplan Chorus. In the present temper of
men's minds, it is hard to say what a day may bring
forth. But it is unmistakeably evident that fear of
the annihilation of Baltimore will not for a moment
daunt her rebellious sons. The gunboats and fort
menace the city with instant destruction, but trea-
son never was so bold and insolent. The crisis of
the rebellion evidently is at hand.

A FARMER COMMI7 TED FOR AY.
TEMPTED MURDER IN SUFFOLK.

At the Boxford Petty Sessions, on Tuesday, Isaac
Humphrey, farmer, of Polstead, was charged with
feloniously shooting at Isaac Reed, a small farmer,
of the same parish, with intent to murder him. The
prosecutor, Reed, was returning to his home about
half-past 6 on the evening of the 6th of December
last, and at a spot where the road is flanked by a
wood called King Harry's Grove, he was shot at
from behind, and a whole charge of shot was lodged
in his back. The surgeon extracted no fewer than
138 shot from him. The moment he was shot Reed
tuzned round, and saw a tall man scramble out of
the ditch at the side of the road about 14 yards
from him, and make off. Reed managed to crawl
to his house, which was fortunately but a short
distance off, and on reaching the threshold of his
door he fell down insensible. His wound, though
not dangerous, confined him to his bed between two
and three months. The evidence of the prisoner
was of a circumstantial character. He was known
to bear ill-will towards the prosecutor, and several
witnesses deposed to threatening words which he
had uttered. On the night of the outrage two women
deposed to seeing him hanging about the public-
house where Reed was sitting ; another witness saw
him going in the direction of King Harry's Grove,and
two other men saw him standing close by the wood;
and upon one of them saying "That's old Buck"—
the name he goes by in the village—he jumped into
the ditch, and then into the wood. Footsteps were
also traced from the neighbourhood of the wood
across a field towards prisoner's house, and a man
named Holmes, who was then in his employ, said
the prisoner went out at about a quarter past 5, a
most unusual thing for him. Holmes further stated
that some time after he heard the prisoner say, al-
luding to Reed, "I wish I had shot him dead, and
then there would not have been all this trouble."
For the defence, a girl, who was at the time do-
mestic servant to the prisoner, was called, and she
stated that her master was at home from a quarter
to 6 till 8 o'clock in the evening of the 6th of De-
cember. It appeared on cross-examination of this
girl, that she had had an illegitimate child, which
she endeavoured to affiliate on the prisoner, but the
magistrate dismissed the case, and that since he had
been charged with this offence, he had sent for her'
and told her that "if she spoke the truth, neither
The
magistrates nor her child should want for anything."
magistrates committed the prisoner to take his trial
at the next assizes, but accepted bail, consisting of
two sureties of £250 each. The case has excited a
great deal of interest in the neighbourhood.

The number of visitors to Ostend this season
seems likely to exceed that of the exceptional year 1857.
On the Ist October of that year the number attained was
15,000; in the present year at the present time 14,613 have
beta iwicribcd.

FA7 AL ACCIDENT AT THE NETV-STREET
RAILWAY:BIATION AT BIRMINGHAM.

On Thursday afternoon the adjourned inquest on
the bodies of the four men, John Moran, Nicholas
Hughes, James Earle, and John M.Kline, who
were killed by the scaffold accident at the New-
street Railway-station on Thursday, the 11th inst.,
was resumed before Dr. Birt Davies. Since the
opening. of the inquiry another of the sufferers,
James Roberts, had died, and the jury were there-
fore re-sworn, so as to include his case in their in-
quiries.
Mr. Marigold, of the firm of Beale and Marigold,
solicitors, appeared to watch the proceedings on
behalf of Messrs. Wood and Son, of Leeds, the con-
tractors; and Mr. Holland, the manager for those
gentlemen, was also in attendance. Mr. Wyatt,
station-superintendent at New-street for the Lon-
don and North Western Railway Company, also
appeared on their behalf.

John Green, having been sworn, stated—l am a
labourer, and reside at No. 4, Deritend. On
Thursday morning last, about ten minutes after
nine o'clock, I was on a scaffolding near the south-
east corner of the New-street station. There were
six of us upon the scaffolding, but they were not all
together. We had come up the ladder eight or ten
minutes before the accident happened. We fol-
lowed one after another up the ladder. There were
four of Mr. Wood's men who had got upon the
ladder, and then I followed, and John Moran, one
of Mr. Holmes's men, followed me up the ladder.
When I got to the top of the ladder the deceased
man James Roberts, had got his paint can,
and had begun to work. The other labourer,
Nicholas Hughes, who is dead, was scraping the
old paint from the iron beam that goes across the
station. The other labourer, John M'Kline, was
Just going to get up the single' plank to rub the
ironwork just above me. The deceased James Earle
was coming down the scaffold that fell by Nicholas
Hughes, with a kettle of paint in his hand, from one
bay to another, to commence painting by me on the
scaffolding we were on. John Moran had just come
up the ladder, and was three or four feet from the
ladder upon the scaffolding when it fell. I was
standing upon the middle rafter in the centre of the
part that fell. I had a piece of cloth rubbing the
zinc work about a foot above my head. All of a
sudden I heard a crash, and then the end of a plank
either that I stood upon or some other, prised up,
and threw me up two or three inches. I then clung
with my hands to an iron rod which the zinc work
is riveted to. Seeing the position I was placed in,
and gathering my recollections together, I drew my-
self up, and threw my legs round along rod that goes
from one of the staves or uprights down to the top
of the iron pillar. I then worked myself by my
hands and legs on to the round rod, and went along
that on to the bottom trestle which was left, and from
there to the top of the pillar, and thence by a ladder
to the ground. The only things I recollect to have
seen immediately upon the crash were the materials
of the scaffold going down, and Nicholas Hughes
clinging to the rope by which we wind the colour up
from the ground to the scaffold for the painters' use.
I also saw, while I hung suspended, that one of the
scaffolding planks or other part of the scaffold struck
NiCholas Hughes, and he losing his hold, fell to the
ground. I saw him move several times after he fell
and also those who were on the ground. Ido not
remember to have seen the others going down, or
anything else. After I got down, which probably
took me four or five minutes, getting to the pillar,
I saw the deceased men, Roberts and Earle, lying
below vomiting blood very much. The deceased
man Roberts also appeared hurt, and I saw
semething of blood coming from his mouth, but
they were covered with dust and paint. The de-
ceased men, Moran and Mgc line, were covered with
dust and paint, and lying under the planks. They
were all attended to and carried off in cabs and cars
to the hospital. We were not all standing talking
together at the time of the accident, and there was
not a word spoken between us, as we were all scat-
tered. At the moment the plank broke the weight
of all six was upon it, but there were three trusties
supporting the part which fell.
Mr. Bateman, surveyor, at this point of the evi-
dence produced a plan of the scaffolding, and stated
that the trestles upon which the scaffold rested were
lodged upon the permanent beam of the roof.
Witness resumed (explaining from the plan)—l
came from the ladder, and went to the centre of the
bay. I had one foot upon the trestle and the other
upon the plank, with my face towards Queen-street.
Nicholas Hughes was standing upon the plank,
about midway between the trestles that broke.
James Roberts was about a plank off me when it
happened, coming into the bay from fetching the
colour, standing one scaffold plank off me, close to
Nicholas Hughes. There was a plank resting upon
the scaffold on the rod I clung to, and John M'Kline
was upon that plank. James Earle was near to
Nicholas Hughes, and Moran was upon the plank,
about three or four planks from me. These were all
the men upon the part of the scaffold that fell.
There was not any great weight upon the scaffold
at the time, and there was not above two men,
namely, James Earle and Nicholas Hughes, who
were close together at the time the accident took
placc. There was no great exertion being made
by any one of the men upon the planks at the
time. I can give no idea of the cause of the fall
of the scaffold, unless it might be that there was
a crack or a damage in one of the trestles.
There is no other cause that suggests itself to
me as contributing to the accident, but it must
have been one or both of the trestles that gave
way and caused the men to fall, because the
whole sweeps of planks rested upon the two trestles.
The cross planks were not fastened at either end,
and supposing a man to come along with a load, one
might slip, but that would be all. The planks are
not fastened to the trestles. It would be more secure
to have them fastened to the trestles by ropes, or if
they had a pin through them. I can assign no other
cause of the accident than the planks cracking. The
part of the scaffold that fell first I am certain was
that of the north-east part of the bay where INFKline
was. I judge that because all the planks were thrown
in a cluster, the thickest part being on the ground
underneath where he and I stood. The plank on to
which M'Kline was getting from the ladder is there
now.

By the Coroner—We had only got into the bay
that morning; there were five of us in it before
breakfast, The usual number in a bay would be two,
and a bay ought to bear ten or a dozen. The space
of the bay is 24,:feet by 12 or 14 feet. The space oc-
cupied by two men should be from trestle to trestle.
I have worked in similar bays before, with six men
in them, at another part of the station.
By a juryman—The planks would have been on
a slope.

By another juryman—I have never known any
man fall through by reason of the planks slipping.
I did not, and don't now, consider the scaffold safe,
because the trestles, by an inch and a half or two
inches in thickness, vary between their two ends.
The rods underneath the trestles, instead of being
three-eighths, should be, I think, inch rods. The
trestles should also be from three to three and a half
inches thick, instead of what they are called. They
vary half an inch from end to end. I should not
like to venture up with the same trestles and the
same iron stay again. On Saturday morning week
four men were going to work at six in the morn-
ing, when a trestle broke. The day before it oc-
curred, Mr. Sharp, who brings the painters their
colours, had remarked that the trestles were not
safe, and a rope was wound round them.
By a juryman—I have known the iron nuts to
break, but have never known an iron rod or stay to
do so under ordinary pressure. When the accident
occurred at New-street, the nuts flew. On the
morning of the occurrence, the sole cause of the
accident was from the nuts breaking. The opinion
of the body of the men was that the scaffolding was
unsafe. Kearns, one of the deceased, caught hold
of one of the men, on Satut day week, and tried to
prevent him going up. I have never spoken to Mr.
Holmes, contractor for the scaffolding, or the mas-
ter painter, as to the insecurity of the scaffold. I
heard that John Kearns, a painter, had spoken to
Mr. Holmes on the subject, I believe, on Monday
week last. There has been talk among the men
about the planks not being close enough. Kearns
told Mr. Holmes it was very bad, and Mr. Holmes
replied, in my presence, that " he could not afford
to put any better stuff up for the money; for it
would bring him to the big house."
Witness heard
this reply himself. My opinion of the unsafety
applies only to the lower portion of the scaffolding
exhibited on the plan. There are smaller scaffold-
ings above, which I consider sate. The scaffolding
was on a new plan to any I ever saw • the material
is good to I.ook at, but I thought it more fit for file-
wood than scaffolding. The wood was long-grained
and knotty, and short-grain
been more safe, ed wood would have

By Mr. Marigold--There was a
Heath present when Holmes said " it man named
would bring
him to the big house (workhouse)."
By the Coroner—There had been no talk of a
strike if the smoking were not allowed.
Mr. five
minutes
Christopher Hill said—About last I was
past nine ou the morning of Thursday
on, about
which the
standing on the floor of the station, ut 10 or 15
b
yards off the bottom of the ladder
men ascended the scaffolding• i was looking at the
men, and heard a crash; and then I saw the sea-
do„. It appeared to
folding and the men fallinf
made an alarm, seeing
all come down at once.
the scaffolding and the rnen on the ground. I did
not see how it was don e• was on the scaffolding
looking after the men(painters and labourers) at
8.45 that morning. 1. did not notice anything par-
cannot say how many men were
ticular then, and
struck me as unsafe. I do not now
cunkislicr au' Par'
tip. Nothing
.of thv m uciing une n
fe, ad!