The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-03 00:00:00

POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.

An ingenious contrivance for preventing accidents on
railways, and one that appears well worthy of notice,
has been exhibited lately at this establishment. It
differs from most arrangements of the kind in one im-
portant point, viz., that it is to prevent collision instead
of lessening the check when collision has taken place:
this appears to be a move in the right direction. It is
perhaps pretty well known that by the existing arrange-
ments the services of the guard are required in stopping
a train, the engine-driver not having the power of apply-
ing the breaks to the carriages, so that in case of
emergency, if either of these officers is off his guard
much valuable time is lost, and also the guard indi-
vidually has no control over the train whilst the motive
power is acting, and although he is the one most likely
to observe danger first, yet he can do nothing more than
make signals to the engineer, so that he ratly understand
that danger is at hand and act accordingly; hence the
many contrivances that have been put forth trom time to
time for enabling the guard to communicate with the
engineer by signals. And, again, if they are both on
the alert and act the moment they observe danger, still
the means at their command for stopping the train
appear inadequate, and in opposition to their exertions
the train runs on for a considerable distance. Let us
take the accident at the Shrivenham station on the
Great Western line as an example. The distance the
train ran in that case from the time danger was observed
till it came in contact with the carriages on the line was
more than enough to enable the officers in charge of the
train to stop it in perfect safety, if they had but the
means at their command. This tact was proved by Sir
George Caley, Bart., some years since experimentally;
he showed that a train proceeding with a velocity of
twenty-two miles per hour could be stopped within the
space of twenty feet in perfect safety, and for any in-
crease of velocity in the same ratio, and yet, strange as
it may appear, no plan has yet been put in practice to
take advantage of this fact.
A gentleman, of the name of Bishop, however, has
recently taken out a patent for a contrivance of the
kind, which appears, by experiments with the models,
to answer the purpose admirably. Perhaps the follow •
ing brief explanation will give some idea of the advan-
tages of the contrivance. Let it be understood, in the
first case, that every carriage has the breaks attached
to it, and that by means of a bar, placed under the car-
riages, the breaks may be thrown in or out of action at
pleasure; and that when the train is made up these bars
would be'connected from carriage to carriage, so that
the engineer, by acting upon this bar at one end of the
train, has the power of applying the breaks to every
carriage simultaneously, converting, as it were, the
whole train into a sledge, and also the guard has the
same power over these breaks as the engineer, rendering
the one independent of the other; but what is still more
important, it gives the guard as well as the engineer full
and efficient power to stop it altogether ; for it can be
shown that the breaks being applied to every wheel in a
train, the power of any locomotive engine would not be
sufficient to move it forward, and that' when the steam
has been shut off and the breaks applied, the train may
be stopped within an incredibly short space. All these
mutters are fully demonstrated by the models that are
exhibited, and it is to be hoped that ere long we shall
find some such efficient contrivance upon every railway
in the kingdom. •

MISPLACED HUMANITY.—The Democratic Paci-
fique has the following in the dietary table of the in,ur-
gents who are in prison:—" All observers agree on the
point that the consumption of adults in carbon is trom
10 to 15 grammes per hour, that is to say 240 to 360
grammes per day. On the other hand, experience shows
also that the elements must contain about 28 grammes
of axote. Let us see if the aliments indicated by the
commission really contain these quantities of the chemi
cal elements of nutritive substances. The calculation,
founded on chemical analysis, gives the following
results:—
Daily elements.

Carbon. A zote
gr. gr.
257.5 13 2
25.5 7.4
42.5 7.4
22.9 0.0

850 gr. of bread contain
179 - meat ...
120 - ♦egetables
327 - wine ...

1476 of good. 348.4 24.5
It results from these figures that the nourishment
adopteil by the commission of the political prisons is
sufficiently rich in carbon, but somewhat feeble in azote,
for to make our calculations, we have supposed that the
vegetable employed in alimentation were beans, that is
to say those which contain most azute, and still there
are wanting 3 gr. 5 dwts. of that element essential to
life. To make up this deficiency, the,quantity of meat,
the food which contains most azote, must be somewhat
augmented. In increasing it to 250 gr. per day, that is
seven times a week instead of five, all exigencies would
be satisfied." Would not bread and water have been a
more suitable diet for such characters?:
SIIOCKIN. DISASTER AT SEA.—The Bagnall, of
Wisbech, Captain Bagnall owner, was on a voyage to
London, with a very large cargo of wheat and flour, &c..
on Thursday week, and about four o'clock in the after-
noon, during a terrible thunder-storm when cif the Nor-
folk coast, a sudden gust of wind took the vessel side-
ways and blew her completely over, in deep water, when
she immediately turned bottom upwards. The com-
mander, Frederick Yorke, and bis wife, who was ill in
the cabin at the time of the accident, both perished. The
remaining persons on board, John Tate, John Kingston,
and two sons of Captain Bagnall, clung to the bottom of
the vessel, and continued nearly three quarters of an
hour in that dreadful situation, expecting every moment
to be their last, when they were picked up off Blukeney
by the Mary and Theodorson fishing smack, of Hastings.
In endeavouring to render some assistance to one ut the
young Bagnalls, the seaman Tate had his leg broken in
two places by a tar barrel rolling against him.—Bury
Post. _ _ .

PIRACY AND MURDER.—On May there was
a special session held at _Singapore, by Sir Christopher
RawHugon, the Recorder,
,tor the trial of twenty-six
Chinese convicts, escaped from the General Wood. After
an investigation, which lasted two days, they were all
found guilty, and sentence of death recorded against them,
except four. on whom sentence of death was passed. Of
these four, three were hanged on the 26th of May, the
fourth being respited. The twent2 -three convicts have
been sentenced to transportation to Bombay, chiefly for
life. Several new facts were elicited on the trial, but the
confessions of the culprits have served chiefly to explain
the way in which the catastrophe was brought about. It
appears the ship's carpenter, a Chinese, planned the un-
dertaking, with the assistance of two of the crew (also
Chinese); all three were found guilty, and sentenced to
transportation to Bombay. Sixteen of the Chinese on
one chain it was arranged should be released by the man
at the end of the chain forcing the lock. One of the con-
victs, who acted as a cook, tapered pieces of firewood to
be used as means of attack. The 16-head men were to
divide themselves into four parties, each party to attack
and murder the captain and his three officers, whilst the
Chinese crew and the carpenter were to persuade the
Lascars to take to the rigging. According to the con-
fessions, on the sixteen being released, they first killed
the sepoy in charge of the key, and with the latter re-
leased the other Chinese secured on another chain. On
reaching the deck they murdered the captain and chief
mate, and threw the bodies overboard; the second mate
was wounded and missed—he could not be found; the
third mate fought the Chinese at every point until nearly
exhausted—he made for the misen- top, from whence he
was dragged down by Ung-Hee (a Chinese lascar), and
dispatched with a sword just before dawn of day. It
formed no part of the original plot to kill the passengers,
as the Chinese were riot aware of there being any on
hoard until the night the vessel sailed from Singapore.
But it appears never to have entered into the minds of
the convicts to have seised the vessel until instigated to
' do so by the,Chinese carpenter and three Chinese lescars,
one of whom, ling-Hee, had been three years in the ship.
CORONER'S INeUEST.—Yesterday an inquest was
held at the Angel public house, in Lambeth-walk, before
Mr. William Carter, the coroner for East Surrey, and a
respectable jury, touching the death of Mr. William
White. It appeared that the deceased, who was sixty-
five years of age, and who resided with his son, a sta-
tioner in an extensive way of business in Lambeth-walk,
had for some time past exhibited signs of imbecility, and
had a particular fancy for lighting pieces of paper arid
bits of wood in the candle. On Sunday night he retired
to rest at his usual hour, and some time after his son,
who slept in the same room, was horror-stricken on en-
tering the chamber, and finding his aged parent crouched
up in a corner of the room, and burnt in a shocking
manner. It appeared that lie had gut out of bed and set
himself on fire, and was in the agonies of death when
found by his son. A verdict of " Accidental Death" was
returned.
NovEL FRAUD.—A well-known chain• dropper,
named Muir, was apprehended at Glasgow, on Thursday
last, charged with fraud of a rather novel description.
The offence was committed at Milngavie (Stirlingshire)
one day last week, and seems to have been effected in the
following manner:—Muir, accompanied by another indi-
vidual, who has not yet been apprehended, made their
appearance in the above-named village as tea-merchants,
fdt eaeri dealers in iui sit etolhlt. eau ttiomwrang
and produced samples of the commodity, which they of-
v afteree
b rayg , lowtsags price.negd
theto One of the small
• quantity (about 20lbs. weight), andwthheichenwtiarse
paid sample,
purchasefu r it
the sum
of 2/. ss. Not lung after the disappearance of tile pre-
tended tea-merchants, the dealer ascertained that, with
the exception of about an ounce of tea dexterously
inserted into the mouth of the bag, its contents
were composed of chaff, Itc. A correct description of
' the swindlers was given to the local police, and, as
Glasgow was thought the most hitt ly place to find
them, two clilcers proceeded thither in quest of the
forties, one of whom (Muir) was soon apprehended.
lie has been since removed to Stirling.
MOEY- MARKET.—The premium on gold at Paris
is 10 per mine, which, at the English Mint price of V.
17s. 10d. per ounce for standard gold, gives an ex-
change of 25.40; and the exchange at Paris on London
at short being 25.30, it follows that gold is 0.40 per cent.
dearer in Paris than in London. By advices from Ham-
burgh the price of gold is 4341 per mark, which, at the
English Mint price of 31. 17s. 10A. per ounce for
13.94
standard gold, gives an exchange of 4 ; and the
exchange at Hamburgh on London at short being 13.4,
it follows that gold is 0.11 per cent. dearer in Hainburgb
' than iu London.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
MANSION-HOUSE.
Francis Chartnan, one of the cashiers in the banking-
house of Barclay, Bevan, Tritton, and Co., in Lombard-
street, was brought up in the custody of Daniel Forres-
ter, the officer, charged with having stolen a Bank of
England note for 101., the property of the firm.
Mr. Mullen, of the firm of Bush and Mununs, solici-
tors to the Committee of Bankers for Protection against

Forgeries and Frauds, attended for the prosecution.
Mr. William Deane, clerk to Messrs. Barclay and Co.,
stated that, on the 24th of July a Bank of England note '
for 101., and numbered and dated 61,321, 4th of April,
1848, was in his hands in the house, and he entered it.
together with other notes which he received on that day.
He made the entry from the note itself, and deposited it
with the other notes.
Mr. James B. Cavalus, also a clerk in the house, said
he recollected having made the balancing of the notes on
the day in question, and having found the balance short
by 10/. He had examined the books himself, and taken
the particulars of the whole of the notes received, and
he accounted for all with the exception of the 101. note,
No. 61,321. The prisoner was one of the cashiers, and
had access to the bank-notes.
Mr. B. Bevan, a partner in the firm of Barclay and
Co., stated that he' had ou that morning spoken to the
prisoner on the subject of the missing money, and told
him that he was suspected of having taken it. At first
the prisoner denied that he was the guilty person, but
upon being afterwards told that the 101. note had been
traced to his brother, he said it was of no use to deny it
any longer, and he confessed that he had taken it. No
promise at ad had been made to him.
The prisoner, upon being asked whether he was desi-
rous to say anything, made no observation. He was
then, at the request of Mr. Mulleus, remanded for a
week. _ .

It appeared that he had been for some time employed
in the sovereign department of the establishment, and
that at various times sovereigns had been missed, and
bad never been accounted for. At last, however, the
prisoner obtained leave of absence for some days, and
during the whole period of his absence no money was
missed. The suspicion was thus fired upon him, and a
sharp watch was, of course, kept upon his movements.
W. H. Smith, a clerk in the etuployunut of Messre.
Nicholson, Besley, and Co., whartingers and warehouse-
men, was brought up in the custody of Michael Hayden,
the officer, charged with having plundered his employers
of property to the amount of 1051. os. 7d.
The solicitor for the prosecution said the prisoner was
foreman of the fruit department, au4 that about two
months ago he had suddenly abscettl himself without
permission. Susprting
that dis t.isty was the cause
of such conduct, the firm took stock, and found a con-
siderable deficiency in the prisoner's department. The
prisoner never returned until his employers threatened
to put his name in. the Hue and Cry, and then he re-
turned, and on Friday presented himself to Mr. Besley,
who, upon being assured that he could satisfactorily
account for the deficiency, permittws' im to be at large,
that he might have a full opportut.., of acquitting him-
self of the unputation, until Tuesday, when it was con-
sidered necessary to give him into custody.
Mr. Frederick Besloy stated that the prisoner entered
the employment of the firm on the 9th el February, 1847,
and on the 30th of last May loft their service without
notice. Witness inquired personally- t.t his house in the
Whitechapel-road, but could not ^ t im.. The prisoner,
however, called on Friday at the warehouse, and was
told of the amount at the deficiency, and he then said he
could give a satisfactory explanation. Upon his return
on Tuesday to give the required explanation, he failed
in the attempt.
The prisoner, who requested to be furnished with a
copy of the alleged deficiencies in the fruit warehouse,
and was told he should be imtnedt , supplied with the
document, was then remanded for r. week.

William Crisp, an able-bodled Somersetshireman, was
charged by Mr. Thwaites, the relieving overseer to the
City of London Union, with having endeavoured to obtain
ss. by means of s forged order, purporting to be the
order of Mr. Ruddick, ono of the guardians of the union.
The case was clearly proved, and the prisoner was sen-
tenced to imprisonment and hard labour in Bridewell for
the term of six weeks.
1V 0 IISII I S TREE T.

DESPERATE ATTACK UPON A BiIoKER.—A married
woman, named Anne Conway, was charged before Mr.
ilaturaill with having attempted to stab Mr. William
West, a broker in the Hackney-road, and also with
violently assaulting Joseph Palmer, one of his men.
It appeared from the evidence, that, pursuant to in-
structions he had received from the laudlurd of a house
in which the prisoner's husband occupied apartments,
the complainant West went there with two of his men
that morning, ,to levy a distress for rent, but had no
sooner communicated the object of his visit than the pri-
soner, in a state of great excitement, caught up a table
knife, and threatened to stub them with it unless they
instantly left the premises. Without further parley she
commenced a furious attack upon them, and made a sud-
den stab at the , broker's breast, which ho fortunately
parried with his stick, and knocked the weapon out of
her hand. The prisoner then made towards the fire-
place, and seising hold of the poker renewed the attack
with such impetuosity that they were compelled to make
a precipitate retreat; and having obtained the assistance
of a policeman they retained to the house and gave her
into custody.
Police-constab:e Lee, 179 H, stated that upon entering
the room he foUnd the 'prisoner- brandishing a poker,
and declaring that she would dash out the bruins of the
drat wan who approached her; but he succeeded, with
some difficulty, in disarming her, and conveyed her to
the station. house.
In defence, the prisoner said that her husband had
been for a lung time out of work, and finding that their
little things were übuut to be swept away by the brokers,
her feelings so far got the better of her that she
certainly drove them out of the room, but positively
denied having used a knife or any other weapon fur the
purpose.
Mr. lll3atax remarked that she had been guilty of
a must serious; outrage, acd ordered her to pay a pe-
nalty of 51, or to be committed in default fur two mouths
to the House of Correction.
LAMBETH.

Amelia Glover, who was on Mundy remanded on a
charge of throwing a man out of a window, by which be
was most severely injured, was yesterday brought up
for re-exatnination, and, some further evidence having
been taken against her, she was committed for trial.
WANDSWORTH.

John Brown, aged 41, a gardener, was placed in the
dock before Mr. Papiter, charged with criminally as-
saulting Sarah Beadle, an old woman, 76 years of age.
Thu prosecutrix, who is very infirm, but otherwise
seems to possess all her faculties unimpaired, sta ed that
,he is a widow, and lived at Wimbledon; she had known
the prisoner many years as living in the neighbourhood.
On MondsY last, about noon, prosecutrix was in a field
near the Warren farm and adjoining Wimbledon com-
mon,up dry sticks, when three men passed her,
one 0
IPtichletg carrying a gun. Soon afterwards the pri-
soner, who was not one of those men, came up to her end
Good morning," and she returned the salutation.
sileidihen, without saying anything more, took indecent
liberties with her and threw her on the ground. She
screamed and got away from him a few yards, when he
again threw her down; and although she resisted as tar
as her strength would permit her, he succeeded in per-
petrating the offence.
Other facts were elicited by the Magistrate from the
prosecutrix, which fully established the commission of
the felony; and the charge was sustained by the evi•
deuce of the old woman's nephew, and that of another
man who witnessed the assault.
Mr. PAYNTER committed the prisoner to take his trial
at the Surrey Assizes,

SALE OE TILE PEMBROKE COLLECTION OF COINS.-
Ofl Monday the sale by auction of the important collec-
tion of rare coins and medals known as the Pembroke
collection, from having been formed by Thomas Earl of
Pembroke upwards of a century since, was commenced
by Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkinson, the auctioneers
of Wellington- street, Strand. The sale, on account:
of the number of lots and the extreme rarity of the
coins, will extend over a period of twelve days.
Monday was devot&:d to the disposal of a portion of the
English coins, which fetched most extraordinary high
prices, as the following notice of a few of the most re-
markable coins will show :—A penny of Offa, King of
Mercia, in. a most extraordinary state of preservation,
sold for 10 guineas ; whilst a penny of Cynethryth,
his Queen, produced the large sum of 31/. ; Wigkr,
King of Mercia, a penny struck between the years 823
and 839, sold for 30/. Kings of Northumbria—A
penny of Sitric, in a most perfect state, and considered
unique, struck A.D. 915, sold fur 401.; a penny of Anlaf,
another of the Kings of Northumbria, extremely rare,
sold for 231. To give some idea of the size and thick-
ness of these coins it may here be stated that the
heaviest did not weigh more than 20 grains. Among
the ecclesiastical coins a penny dedicated to St.
Martin, having on the obverse a sword and " Sci
Marti," and struck at Lincoln in the eighth century,
sold fur 16 guineas; a penny of Vulfred Archbishop of
Canterbury, in perfect condition and unique, sold for
81. 2s. 6d.; Viginund Archbishop of York, A.D. 851,
a gold solidus weighing 67 grains, having on the ob-
verse a bust with lull face, and on the reverse a cross
within a wreath—this perfect and unique coin sold for
691.; a silver penny of Henry Bishop of Winchester,
the illegitimate brother of Stephen, unique, and in per-
fect preservation, except a small piece broken off the
edge, and weighing but 15 grains, sold for 201. 10s.
Among the Anglo-Saxon coins (pennies) of the sole
Monarchs, one of Ecgbercht, struck A.D. 800, sold fur
flo6r/.15/..;
tohneeEnogf
English
hie
eloliiairs,thaapceunt,aystorfuelik
enlOry42i. sold
illegitimate son, the latter being the only specimen
kfunrolwln/:;exacned one (-.)f Robert, Earl of Gloucester? his
struck in the
the name of a
10,,.; a pennyptottlEeu°sßt:cine,tsl7,
n of Stephen, extremely rare,
British Museum, sold for 11/.
yearsold f105r0147, /a. I
11
402. t h
oH
coin first VII . ,
known
otal ionyg
shilling, a coin of extreme rarity
.on account of there
r withes
ean
t castle,
ruin
being but two or three extant; it sold fur 221. A
fur The follow_
r 151.
f
us
12pd4rtiel.1,saistooe
tsclwh.
cfestoon,itarbS 1.,o
as h i2loi i n g
shilling of Edward
piea:ec,,uoro
the
as
isoldOergx,fio,prfidoo,
struck in the year 1644, In an extremely fine con.
Union, sold for 251. les.;
er, au
y
present
for 100
stlaoenig,
aptiesc:aroofosriolavgerh,, rsuodidel
e
ing among the English coins in gold were most remark.
able—a noble of Henry IV., struck betore his thirteenth
ir half-
s)s'oelua,
eerr,i
eilgivi den ofd
great
igbireeettiairtiyer
sty,
er d
11., ss
out,
rl Itahri;
guineas; a double ryal, or sovereign, of the same mo-
narch, sold for 221. The day's sale produced upwards
of 8501., the coins fetching higher prices than were ever
known before.
We understand the Queen Dow*:ger contemplates
visiting the Isle of Wight in th. .._se of next month,
and it is very probable will resiaa either. at Cowes or
a mouth or six weeks.