The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-17 00:00:00

ASCENT OF THE NIGER.

FAILURE OF THE ETHIOPE.
(From the Manchester Examiner, Nov, 14.)
We regret to say that unfavourable intelligence has
just been received of the Ethiope steamer, and of the
consequent relinquishment of her attempt to re-ascend
the Niger—a circumstance which will not only be de-
plored by the commercial interests of this country, and
by every sympathiser with bold and persevering efforts
to extend our knowledge of and trade with the interior
of Africa, but which must prove a heavy blow and great
discouragement to Mr. Robert Jamieson, who has worked
long and made large pecuniary sacrifices for the accom-
plishment of this important object. Mr. Jamieson, in a
circular addressed to the gentleman who aided him in
fitting out the last expedition, states that he has received
from Captain Becroft and Dr. Icing the information that
when the steamer was upon the Gaboon River, her
boilers suddenly gave way, and that, although the en-
gineer succeeded in repairing them so as to complete the
exploration of that river, they afterwards burst so
frequently as to render it altogether unsafe to hazard
another ascent of the Niger with them. The vessel has
accordingly been laid up at Fernando Po, under the care
of Captain Becroft, and Dr. King is on his way to Eng-
land. Upon his arrival a statement of particulars and
accounts will be prepared for the Liverpool subscribers,
and their opinion will be taken as to whether the enter-
prise should be prosecuted further. The Gaboon River
was found to be of no importance as a highway to the
interior, not being navigable further than the tide as-
cended, that is, to the extent of 50 or 60 miles.

Crewe has been made a post town. There are to
be two deliveries and four dispatches during the twenty-
four hours.

SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY.—We fear that the open-
ing to Newton will be again delayed, and that it now
cannot be positively stated when the opening from
Teignmouth to that town will take place. The works at
the Plymouth end of the line are rapidly progressin to-
wards completion, and we believe the whole line willbe
opened in August next.

FALLING OF A RAILWAY BRIDGE.—A melancholy
catastrophe has occurred at Mortimer, near Reading,
occasioned by the falling in of a railway bridge recently
erected over the Berks and Hants branch line of the
Great Western Railway, now in the course of construc-
tion. The lives of three of the workmen employed on
the line have been sacrificed : their names are Charles
Bailey, Daniel Dibler, and Francis Kimber. On viewing
the spot, it was found that the ponderous mass of brick-
work had entirely given way, the ruins of which a num-
ber of workmen were engaged clearing away. It was
reported that the remains of other workmen would be
found buried in the ruins, but this has turned out to be
incorrect. Several workmen, however, are now lying in
a precarious condition owing to the accident. The par-
ticulars of this melancholy occurrence will be best given
from the information gathered in the neighbourhood,
and the evidence given at the inquests held on the un-
fortunate deceased. The inquest on Dibler and Kimber
was held on Friday evening, at the Royal Berkshire
Hospital, before Mr. J. J. Blandy, Coroner for Reading;
and that on Bailey, at the Horns, Mortimer, on the
same day, before Mr. R. Clarke, the county Coro-
ner. It appeared that for some weeks past the
arch had been pronounced to be in a dangerous
state, and in consequence, on the day previous to
the inquests, the deceased, in company with seve-
ral others, according to the testimony of a fellow-
workman named William Coston, who was the prin-
cipal witness at both inquests, were sent to remove the
bricks from the arch erected over the railway, and while
engaged in taking off the parapet wall at the top of the
archway, the arch suddenly gave way, and the deceased,
with others, fell in with the ruins. Bailey was not ex-
tricated till within half an hour afterwards, quite life-
less. Medical assistance was procured, and it was found
that there was, besides many bruises on his bead, a
fracture of the skull. The cause of death was attributed
to suffocation. Dibler was taken out in ten minutes
after the occurrence in a state of insensibility, and was
taken to the hospital at Reading, a distance of eight
miles, bnt died within an hour after his admission. Mr.
James Dunn, house surgeon, made a post mortem exami-
nation of the body, and found the skull was fractured,
as well as the brain and nervous system injured, which
produced death. The other deceased, Kimber, survived
till the following morning (Friday), when he expired
after considerable bodily suffering. A verdict in each
ease was returned of "Accidental Death," but not with-
out some strong remarks from the jury on the culpable
neglect, as well as the responsibility of the railway con-
tractors with regard to the erection of bridges on this
line, as no less than four lives have been lost, and other
accidents occasioned, as well as the works being much
retarded from their falling in along the line. Much sym-
pathy e expressedeisonditig, at
preforsetnht,e other unfortunate sufferers,
we are glad to learn, is not
altogether hopeless.