The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-30 00:00:00

WORSHIP-STREET.

Two young Irishmen, named Daniel and Michael
O'Brien, brothers, were brought before Mr. Broughton
upon a warrant, charged with having violently assaulted
Owen M'Carthy, a bricklayer's labourer, and the first-
named prisoner was charged with having bitten off a por-
tion of his nose.

It appeared, from complainant's evidence, that on Mon-
day evening he was sitting in the tap-room of the Sun
public-house, in Shoreditch, when the prisoners entered
the room, and commenced a loud altercation with a
woman who was in their company. As they appeared.
on the poimt of using violence towards her, the com-
plainant begged them to desist ; upon which. Michael
O'Brien made a violent attack upon him, and, at the
same moment, the prisoner Daniel seized hold of his
ears with both his hands' and having dragged his face
towards him he fastened his teeth in his nose and bit a
large portion of it off. The agony produced by the
injury was so intense that he became insensible, in which
state he was carried to the shop of Mr.. London, a sur-
geon in Shoreditch, where the wound was dressed. The
prisoners made their escape after committing the out-
rage, but as soon as he was able he obtained a warrant
against them at this Court.

The officer, Holland, said that be had made inquiries
respecting •the complainant,: who had the character of
being a quiet inoffensive man. "''
After some remarks on the savage' and ferocious na-
ture of the outrage, Mr. BuonarrroN said that he should
commit them both for assaulting. and wounding the com-
plainant, with intent to do him some grievous bodily
harm. The Magistrate presented the poor fellow with
ss. out of the poor-box, and desired him to go at once to
an hospital.

EXPLOSION OF GUNPOWDER.
THREE LIVES LOST.
BRISTOL, TUESDAY.—An accident, attended with very
serious consequences, occurred yesterday on the line of the
Bristol and Gloucester Railway, about two miles from
Wickwar, fifteen miles from this city, from an explosion
of gunpowder. • Three unfortunate men were blown to
pieces, and killed on the spot ; and five other persons,
being all who were in the immediate neighbourhood
at the time, were severely burned, and otherwise injured.
These, five are now lying in our infirmary, and one of
them his an eye blown out, and is otherwise so dread-
fully burned that he cannot recover.
The unfortunate men were all engaged on the railway,
and the names of those who are killed are Matthew Ste-
phens, James Bennett, and another, name unknown.
The names of those now in the infirmary are—Thomas
White, one eye out,
.and dreadfully burned ; Lewis,
Crew, Henry Williams (blacksmith), George Collins
all very badly burned and bruised ; and John Hodges,
much burned in the face and legs, but not so much as
the others. From the circumstance of all those who
were present being too much injured to be able to give
evidence, the inquest cannot yet be held, but I have
gathered the following particulars of the catastrophe:—
The spot where it occurred is about two miles from
the town of Wickwar, and the men were engaged in the
formation of a tunnel. On Saturday a barrel containing
half a hundred weight of gunpowder, intended to be used
in blowing up the rocks, in order to form the tunnel, was
taken and deposited for safety in a shed situated at the
mouth of the tunnel, and sometimes used as a black-
smith's shop. Yesterday the blacksmith was ordered to
go to " sharpen" the men's tools, and whilst so engaged a
spark of lire flew from the anvil and ignited the powder,
which, of course instantly exploded, and the poor men
were blown in all directions; the explosion shattering
the smithy, a place called the Mill. ring, and a part of the
tunnel, and causing the greatest sensation in the whole of
the surrounding hamlets to the distance of six or seven
miles; the explosion being distinctly heard in all of them
to that distance. For some time nothing could exceed
the alarm of the inhabitants, -who, being entirely unaware
of the cause of the frightful explosion, would not believe
but that it was occasioned by the shock of an earth-
quake. At length, however, the cause of the fatal catas-
trophe was ascertained, and spread considerable dismay
in the minds of all those persons who had relations work-
ing on the railway. The scattered remains of the, bodies
of the men who were killed were gathered together to
await the result of a Coroner's inquest, and the wounded
men were conveyed to the Bristol Infirmary, where four
of them are now lying in a very dangerous state.

THE SONG OF THE SWAN.—The swan being
identified with Orpheus, and called also the Bird of
Apollo, the god of music, Towers of song have been
often attributed to it, and as often denied. It is, how-
ever, perfectly true, that this bird has a soft, low, voice,
rather plaintive, and with little variety, but not disa-
greeable. I have heard it often in the spring, and some-
times later in the season, when moving slowly about
with its young. Colonel Itawker, in his Sporting work
at p. 261, has printed a few bars of the " Swan's me-
lody, formed with two notes, C and the minor third
(E Hat), and the mnsician, it is said, kept working his
head as if delighted with his own performance."— Yar-
reit s History of British Birds.
ASPERSIONS OF THE JEWS.—The truly

liberal Mr. Christopher having said, in his famous Corn-
law speech at Lincoln, that " the fictitious mode of
taking the averages, now only benefits the Jew specu-
lators of the Continent and of this country, for on the
Continent the Corn-trade is entirely in the hands of the
Jews," has been called to account by Mr. David Salo-
tnons for improperly attributing to the Jews these Corn-
law delinquencies. Mr. Salomons asserts that few. or
none of the ()Teat grain firms arc Jewish commercial
houses, and heb has succeeded in convincing Mr. Christo-
pher that he has unnecessarily aspersed the Jews. Ac-
cordingly that gentleman, who seems to have some
respect for the money•owning tribe, has addressed the
following letter to Mr. Salosnons, with a view by its
publication to snake them some amends :
Bloxlsolus Hall, Dec. 26, 1841.
" Sir—l regret that any expression in the speech I
delivered at Lincoln should have given pain to persons
of your persuasion, especially as it was not my intention
to attribute the dishonest practices in the Corn-trade
exclusively to those who profess the Jewish religion.
The expression of which you complain was a useless one,
and not necessary for my argument, and I should not
have made use of it unless I had been credibly informed,
when I was last on the Continent, that the Cornrtrade
was carried on by persons of your nation.—l have the
II
honour to be, Sir, your obedient humble servant,
Thel) spirited
a vid Sal
Ex-Sheriff omo n s2h Esq.er (Signed) " R. A. CHRISTOP
ff.
deserves credit for having ER"
.
ex-
torted this acknowledgment from Mr. Christopher.

MORNING SUN