The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-05 00:00:00

SOUTH-EASTERN RAILWAY.

With respect to the effect of the advance of 'fares on.
this railway, the Dover Chronicle has the folloein
statement :—" On—the Ist of-September the ou -
Eastern Company raised their passenger fares—say, at
All average, 20 per cent. This advance,
,it was no,doubt
calculated by the directors, would increase their returns,
in a corresponding ratio. What has been the result of.
their extortion ? The returns for passengers, for the
'week ending August the 29th—the last week of the low-
!ales, showed 9,098/. • while the week ending the 19th)
of September, when'lle high fares may be said to have
come into full operation (both weeks being on a par as'
to the travelling season), the returns for passengers had
fallen to 8,768/.1 It is true that for the first week of the.
rise, and before the public were aware of it till they'
reached the pay table, there was an increase in the re=
turn for passengers of some 5001. over the preceding week;
but after that, the returns steadily declined ; thus•prov-
jog the great fact ' that low fares are the most profit=z
able after all.
With the Soath-Eastern increase of fares, not only;
has a decrease of passengers Olsen place; but many of,
those passengers who were wont to travel in first-class
carriages now travel by the second, while former second-;
class passengers now go in third-class carriages. -Our_
steamers to and from London now carry large freights;
and many of the most respectable families, who, llut for
the unwarrantable increase of fares, would have travelled
by rail, now go by steam, while coache- and omnibuses up
the old road are now daily filled from the same cause."

ANOTHER FATAL RAILWAY ' ACCIDENT.-1 is
again our melancholyduty to record another fatal.ac,ci-)
dent upon the railway, which occurred about nightfall
hn Thursday last. The sufferer in this instance was
named John Archer, a native of ' Norfolk, _ but better'
known in company of his fellow-worknaen underti
Cognomen of " Seedy Jack." At the time above stated
he was ,in the act of detaching some heavily laden earth:
waggons on the incline on the Kendal and Windermere.
line, in the immediate vicinity of Parkaide. Having
placed himself . between the buffers in order to
unloosen the chain, the waggons' unexpectedly moved,
fOrward, dreadfully crushing his abdomen and the small,
of his back as the buffers came in contact. He was ima,
mediately removed from this dangerous position,.but
alasl he had received the stroke of death. On being
conveyed to his lodgings in Allhallows-lane, Mr. Brum-
Well, surgeon, was in attendance, but his aid was abor-._
tive. The deceased is represented to have been a young •
man of higher moral bearing than is usually found in the
ranks of railway labourers, and in some instances, it is
said, his piety was exemplary when those around were
giving utterance to language below Christian notice.-7
Kendal Mercury.
FATAL ACCIDENT TO MAJOR BEVAN.—We have
this day to record another of those melancholy gun ac-
cidents arising from the want of sufficient caution with
regard to loaded fire-arms. On Wednesday evening, as'
Major Bevan, of this city, was returning from a shoot- ,
ing excursion on a car with three other gentlemen near
his father-in-law's, Mr. Brew, of Wildbrooke, county of,
Clare, he had his loaded fowling-piece with the butt'encl:
resting on the footboard, and the barrels between his
legs, while he was smoking a cigar. By some accident
or other the fowling-piece was slipping off the car, and •
he stooped forward to snatch it, when the hammer,
which was unfortunately down, coming in contact with
the footboard, one of the barrels exploded, and the con-
tents passed, upwards into the cavity of the chest, parry-
ing away a portion of the heart, and proceeding between'
the sternum and lungs, came out under the windpipe*, -
and entering again under the chin went through the..!
head. He had only time to say " Stop ; 0 God 1 lain -,
shot," and falling forward he vomited a quantity of
blood, and immediately expired without a groan. The
remains were conveyed to Mr. Brew's. Here was a 1
veteran soldier who had been 30 years in India, escaped_
all the chances of battle, and well knew the use of fire-
arms, yet now, in the evening of his days, fell from-want
of caution by his own hand. He is the author of a very.
interesting work "Field Sports in Inclia."--Litierick
Reporter.
SUBSCRIPTION FOR MATTHEWSON AND COOKE.—To
British citizens who stand not in awe of military des-
potism, it remains to rescue Matthewson from a repitition ,
of that horrible outrage of which his persen still bears'
the indelible marks, by purchasing his discharge. We,
erceive that a subscription has already been set on foot
or' that purpose, coupling with it, also, the purchase of ,
he discharge of private Cooke. The fund required is
01. ; and though contributions have already been re-
eived by the Treasurer, Mr. G. Walter, the Blue Posts,
hoe-lane, Fleet-street, the sum realised is yet inadequate
for the benevolent, humane, and Christian purpose con-
templated. The case admits of no delay—a few hours
and the ladder may be fixed to receive the manacled form
of the victim—the trumpets may again sound for
" punishment "—the cats may again be in the hands of •
the tarriers—the lash may again do its work, and the
remains of Matthewson bo laid along with those of his -
late comrade White in the depths of their mother earth;-:
Let not a moment then be lost in affording the means,
trifling as they.are, for rescuing another victim from the
Calendar of military punishments.—Senday paper.
SALT 'MONOPOLY IN FRANCE.—The monopoly of .
salt has recently been made the subject of a report to the
French Academy by the celebrated traveller in America,
AL de Tocqueville. The Academy, M. de Tocqueville
states, is aware that the question of the production of
salt, and its price, is one of the most important"consider-
ations with reference to public health and agriculture
that can occupy the attention of political economist
and statesmen. This subject has of late years very much
agitated the public mind in France, and M. de Tocque-
ville complains that salt is, in general, only viewed by
the Government in connexion with taxation, and that
the tax bears no proportion to the value of the com-
modity, which is thus raised to an exorbitant price. ,It .
appears that the salt makers in the south ofFranoe have
entered into a confederacy for the purpose of keeping up
the price, and it is even feared that the salt monopoly
will soon be in the hands of one individual. "Of what
advantage, then, is it," M. de Tocqueville asks, " for the
state to lower the tax, if the maker has it in his power
to command the market, and raise the price at hie
pleasure ?" M. de Tocqueville is not in favour of
abolishing individual monopoly for the purpose of
establishing one by Government in its stead. Stich a
measure, he thinks, would be dangerous, and that the
state has already greatly exceeded its proper sphere of
action, meddling with many details with which it ought
to have nothing to do, and thus exposing its power, at
once extended and enfeebled, to become at the same
time oppresive and weak.

' PRESENT TO THE KING OF THE FRENCH.---We
have had the pleasure of seeing a copy of the National '
Atlas, Splendidly bound in grevn morocco, and decorated
with the royal insignia, which is to be presented by the
Lord Provost of Glasgow to the King of the French, in'
grateful consideration of the honour paid by his Majesty-
to the city of Glasgow, in the person of the Lord
Provost, on the occasion of the late viait of his Lordship
to Paris.— Glasgow (7itizen.

MONSTER PUMPKIN.—There is r.nw growing in.
the garden of Mrs. Noake, at ti.e Old Bunh Inn, Wom-.
bourn, a pumpkin measuriag in eircwaterence 5 feet
2 inches, and estimated by competent judges to weigh
upwards of 801bs. This vegetable monster was reared
from seed obtained from Mr Lowe, se.dstuan, of this-
town, and grown in the open ground without forcillg..rt;
Wolverhampton Chronicle.
BRISTOL SUGAR MARKET, OCT. 2.—The trans
actions in. rtiv pace been to a fair extent this"
week, and prices aA' Unaltered. Refined goods eon-
, Cum, scarce, and command full rates.—Bristol Mercury.