The Sun.
London, England, 1847-11-27 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sin,—Observing in your City article of yesterday that
" Whitmore and Son" were among the failures announced
on the Stock Exchange, and we being known by that
description, beg to inform yon that the statement is in-
correct ; and we shall be obliged by your inserting this
communication in your paper.
We are, Sir, your obedient servants,
EDWARD and ALFRED WHITMORE.
17, Change-alley, Nov. 26, 1847.

ATTEMPT TO MURDER A SUPERINTENDENT OF
POLICE.—The fashionable watering place Weston-super
Mare, Somersetshire, has been thrown into a state of
unusual excitement and alarm, in consequence of an
attempt by a man named Cann to murder Mr. Hill, the
active and intelligent superintendent of police, by stab-
bing him with a knife in two different places. Cann is
supposed to have formed one of a number of idle and
dissolute persons of both sexes, who had latterly occa-
sioned much annoyance to the inhabitants of the place,
and some of whom, through the diligence of the super-
intendent, had been apprehended, conveyed before the
magistrates, and by them sent to prison, on which ac-
count it is believed that Hill had become very obnoxious
to them. Cann and another man had been creating a
disturbance; they continued their row, and some of the
inhabitants being disturbed, sent for Hill, who was in
bed at the time, to assist in preserving the peace. The
fellows refused to comply with the superintendent's
directions, and go home quietly, and resisted his autho-
rity with so much violence, that being powerful fellows,
he was obliged to strike them with his staff twice. Cann
used violent threats, and swore that if he touched them
again, he would stablthe constable, and a further scuffle
ensued, in the course of which Cann stabbed Hill twice.
The poor fellow was picked up in a faint and bleeding
state, and was conveyed to his home, where he lies in
considerable peril. Cann was afterwards apprehended
on the capital charge.
FIELD-LANE RAGGED ScHooL.—Last evening the
sixth anniversary meeting of the friends and supporters
of this school was held, at the Farringdon hall, King-
street, Snow-hill. Lieut. Blackmore having taken the
chair the secretary read the report. It stated that the
district in which the school was situate had long been
known as the most depraved in the metropolis, and the
character of the children attending it might therefore
be judged. The school was now open every day in the
week, the average attendance being 70, and the instruc-
tion given entirely free. The committee, after much
consideration, suggested that food should be given to
the children, many of them, dependent as they were
upon what they casually picked up in the streets, and
turned out by their parents to shift for themselves, often
tasted nothing from morning to night. It could not be
expected that these children could be improved in mind
while they felt the pangs of hunger. The committee
also suggested that the boys should be taught some
trade, the knowledge of which might enable them to
earn their living in an honest and industrious manner.
The receipts for the support of the school amounted to
871., and the expenditure to 701., leaving a balance not
equal to the liabilities. . . .

MONUMENT TO DAVY.— We notice with pleasure
a tolerably wide-spread movement in the mining world,
for the erection of a monument to the memory of the late
zsir H. Davy. Let there bo a monument by all means;
next to Newton, no man of science of this country ever
deserved one more. But do nut let any error, in point
of fact, be mixed up with the grounds on which his me-
mory is cherished. The safety lamp was, indeed, one of
the greatest triumphs of his genius; but it is an histo-
rical untruth to say that it has " economised human
lite." On the contrary, the loss of life from explosion of
fire-damphas been much greater since the introduction of
the Davy than before it. And this is reasonably enough
accounted for in two ways—first, by the neglect which
the use of the Davy has induced of ventillation, which is
a much surer means of ,preventing such accidents than
any mode of lighting whatever; and, second, by its
having enabled coal-owners to work mines so danger-
ously foul, that but for the Davy they could not, and
would not, have been worked at all. So largely, indeed,
are the former its debtors, that were they alone to de-
fray the cost of the proposed monument they would be
but performing a very ordinary act of gratitude. All
this, however, detracts nothing from the merit of the
invention itself'. Employed in subordination to the in-
terests of humanity, it was of a nature to confer incal-
culable good; and it is no fault of the inventor that it
has been prostituted to the purposes of a base and ruth-
less cupidity.—Mechanics' Magazine.
THE LATE ATTEMPT TO OVERTURN A RAILWAY
TRAIN.—It will, no doubt, be in the recollection of our
readers that William Ashcroft was convicted at the last
Central Criminal Court sessions, for having, on the 25th
of last month, placed large blocks of granite upon the
rails on the Eastern Counties Railway, near the Lea-
bridge station, just before a down-train was due. The
passengers were so much pleased with the presence of
mind and judgment displayed by the engine-driver,
William Young, in stopping the train, and by the sub-
sequent exertions of the firemen and guards in capturing
Ashcroft, that they raised a subscription, amounting to
81 83. 6d., and requested the directors. to divide it in
such proportions as they might think fit. The money
was accompanied by a very flattering letter in praise not
only of the men, but of the improved and now efficient
general management of the line. The men attended the
board on Thursday last, when, after a suitable address
from Mr. Waddington, M.P., the chairman on that day,
Young was presented with 51., being the directors' addi-
tion to the subscription, and the 81. Bs. 6d. was divided
equally among the three other men. It may, perhaps,
be mentioned that Young was the man selected by the
directors to drive the train that conveyed her Majesty
and Prince Albert to and from the Cambridge installation
in July last. He is ono of the oldest engine-diivers in
the Eastern Counties service, and one of their most
valuable servants.
THE PHRENOLOGICAL JOURNAL. This Journal,
which is published in Edinburgh, is, after an existence
of twenty years to be given up, not being sufficiently
patronised.