The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-21 00:00:00

SOUTH WALES.

Rapid progress is being made in the works from
Haverfordwest to Neyland, and there are now more
than 1,800 " navvies" employed. The works at the
drawbridge over the river Cleddan are now being pushed
forward with all possible speed. There are many miles
ballasted and ready for the rails.

LONDON & NORTH- WESTERN RAIL IVA Y

STRIKE.

LATEST PARTICULARS.
RUGBY, SATURDAY.
The recent strike amongst the engine-drivers and fire-
men on the line of the London and North-Western
Railway has resulted in that which every person of
common sense must have foreseen, from the premature
and unwarrantable manner in which it was carried out
—namely, in total defeat and discomfiture.
The men, we understand, were assembled on Thursday
night, and, through the firmness displayed by Mr.
111•Connell and his locomotive foreman, the affair was
settled, and the watches and coats of the drivers were
given up, and their wages paid. From this moment it
is stated that the discharged men became furious, several
assaults were committed on the new drivers, and some
were terribly beaten. The residences of the new men
were visited, with a view to intimidation, and in one in-
stance a driver, who is working the Peterborough line
by contract, had a gun presented at him by one of the
discharged men, who would possibly have fired had he
not been prevented by another man, who seized the
weapon at the moment he was levelling it. Several
warrants have been issued against the man who pre-
sented the gun, and others who were known to be ring-
leaders in assaulting and holding out threats of intimi-
dation to the new men.
During Friday night and yesterday much excitement
continued to prevail, and, in order to prevent any se-
rious consequences, an application was yesterday morn-
ing made by the authorities of the line to Sir Richard
Mayne, at the Metropolitan Police Office in Scotland-
' yard, and during the afternoon a body of the metropol-
itan police was dispatched to Rugby. It is believed
that this step will have the effect of preserving order,
and prevent any outbreak, should one be contemplated,
this (Saturday) evening. Mr. M'Connell remains at
IRugby, and by his firmness and urbanity to the new
men has secured their confidence.
On instituting inquiries at Camden last evening, we
were informed by the locomotive foreman, that the
Camden firemen and drivers all seem to be actuated with
the best spirit, and that he has not the slightest complaint
to make, either as to the men keepinc, their time or at-
tending to their engines, throughout the week. Con-
versations with the men themselves corroborated this
statement. They appear to rely with confidence on the
word of the Marquis of Chandos, that any grievances
they may have to complain of shall be fully and fairly
considered by the directors, and effectually redressed.
It is only justice to the men, who are all out at Rug-
by, to state that they still persist in the assertion that
they never received the message from the Marquis of
Chandos, detailing the arrangement he had come to with
the Camden men, and that had they received it they
would at once have gone to work. It is hardly possi-
ble
to suppose that any officials of the line would have
been base enough, if they had the temerity, to intercept
a telegraph message addressed from such a quarter as
the chairman of the company, to the men in the corn-
pany's employment, and that which makes the statement
still more improbable is the fact that the Birmingham
men did receive the message, and that most of them re-
turned to their employment in consequence.
The strike may, under all the circumstances, be con-
sidered actually at an end ; but there are rumours afloat
that a strike is contemplated on the Great Northern and
on the Midland lines, but from what cause has not
transpired. We are assured upon authority that not a
single accident or break-down has taken place on the
line during the week, and that the trains have arrived
at the several stations in a most regular and punctual
manner.