The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-15 00:00:00

ROBBERY BY A CLERGYMAN:

THE ABEI?G_ELE RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

The report of Colonel Rich to the Board of Trade on
the Abergele disaster (which was issued with the parlia-
mentary papers on Wednesday) is not without interest,
although the legal proceedings resulting from the accident
are at an end. Colonel Rich's observations upon the gene-
ral subject of railway management are anything but reas-
suring to the public. Having remarked that the
station master at Llandulas and the two breaksmen were
seriously to blame, and that their neglect was the imme-
diate cause of the accident, Colonel Rich says, "Men of
that class cannot be expected to do their duties well if the
railway companies do not give them the most convenient
and best appliances, and do not look after them strictly
and enforce their own regulations." If the block telegraph
system had been in use (the report proceeds) and
strictly carried out, this accident could not have occurred.
Colonel Rich goes on, "The London and North
Western Railway Company appear to have a very lax
system of supervision. The company appear to have no
person in the office of travelling or stationary inspector to
look after the guards, instruct them in their duties, and
to see that they perform them. lam of opinion that
explosive and inflammable goods, such as gunpowder and
paraffin oil, &c., should be sent by special trains, at
special times, and under special guards, with special
instructions. They are now sent by ordinary goods trains,
subject to all the risks of shunting and the breakdown of
such trains. The guards and station-masters confess that
they do not think any more about these dangerous mate-
rials than of any other goods in the train." Having very
strongly condemned the practice of locking carriage doors,
Colonel Rich proceeds :—" I fear that it is only too true
that the rules printed and issued by railway companies to
their servants, and which are generally very good, are
made principally with the object of being produced when
accidents happen from the breach of them, and that the
companies systematically allow them to be broken daily,
without taking the slightest notice of the disobedience."
Colonel Rich, in conclusion, disavows any intention of
taking advantage of this sad calamity to be severe on the
London and North-Western Railway Company. He
believes their line is one of the best in the country, and
that its general management and arrangements are as
good, on the whole, as those of any of the other lines.

THE MAY MEETINGS.—Tile "May Meetings "
have already commenced. On Wednesday the eighteenth
anniversary of the South American Missionary Society
was held at the Ilanover-square Rooms, the Earl of Shaf-
tesbury presiding. The progress of the organisation was
described as having been of an encouraging character.
SUPERSTITION IN THE LAND OF PROGRESS.—
Would it not be well for the United States, before
acquiring more States to try and civilise one or two which
they already possess, but have hardly assimilated? Thus
we read of the people of Lebanon, Indiana, passing in file
through a church, each in turn touching- a corpse laid on
the communion table, the object being to discover at
whose touch the corpse would bleed. The corpse gave no
sign, and thereby the absence of the murderer was sup.
posed to be proved.

NARROW ESCAPE OF THE GRAND DUKE OF
RUSSlA.—Adviees from St. Petersburg relate that the
Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia, when lately proceeding
by railway to Odessa, had a narrow escape from destruc-
tion. The imperial train contained, besides the prince,
the English Ambassador, Lady Buchanan, and several
persons of high distinction. It had just passed at full
speed over the bridge of Seirn, between Koursk and Kiev,
when the whole structure fell in, and another train
which followed, full of passengers, was precipitated into
the river. The number of victims is declared to be con-
siderable.
A WRIST DEVOTEE.—There is a well-authenti-
cated story of Lord Granville's devotion to whist. In-
tending to set out in the course of the afternoon for Paris,
he ordered his carriage and four posters to be at Graham's
at four. They were kept waiting till ten, when he sent
out to say that he should not be ready for another hour or
two, and that the horses had better be changed. They
were changed three times in all, at intervals of six hours,
before he started. When the party rose, they were up to
their ankles in cards, and the ambassador (it was reported)
was a loser to the tune of eight or ten thousand pounds.—
" Whist and Whist Players," in Fraser's Magazine.
A FREAK OF BROUGHAINI.—The following,anedote is in the words of Professor Pillans, a distinguished
classical scholar, who was born the same
year with
Brougham, was in the same class with him at the
High
School, was for some years head-master of that school,
and now worthily fills the Humanity Chair in the
University of Edinburgh, having 11een a public teacher
above forty-six years. By way of explanation I must state
what Professor Pillans reminded me of, and what I myself
perfectly well recollect—that in the end of the last and
the beginning of the present century, whenever there
was a dinner party, after the ladies had withdrawn, the
gentlemen continued giving toasts at every round of the
bottle, till'at last the:toast of "Good Afternoon "was given,
aeon which she party broke up and left the room. " While
we were under I'mser together a new play was to be
brought out at the Edinburgh Theatre, written by Robert
Herron, a very foolish fellow. It was called, I think,
'The Jolly Toper.' I went by myself to the shilling
;‘-allery, where I met very good company. I hope you
know that we modern Athenians consider that we have
a very delicate taste in the drama, but are very tole

rant to a new piece till we can fully judge of its
merits, and then we are very decisive. This

Piece was exceedingly absurd and dreadfully dull,
though intended to be witty. The first four acts were
heard out, though with a few groans and hisses. When
the curtain drew op for the fifth act, the stage was occu-
pied by a large party at table, with bottles and glasses be.
fore them. The gentleman iu the chair then flourishing
his glass, said, • All charged ! Give us a toast !' when a tall
•

stripling in the pit stood up and exclaimed, 'I humbly
propose Good Afternoon.' He then made for the door,
waving his bat for the rest of the audience to follow him;
and the cry of Good Afternoon' being repeated by the
boxes, pit, and galleries, there wtts a general dispersion,
and the piece was damned. This stripling was Henry
Brougham, the future Lord Chancellor."—Lives of Lord
Lyndhurst and Lord Brougham, By the late Lora John
CamvbCll, LL,A,

The Rev. Charles Robert Henry James, 8.A., was brought
up on remand befoao the Cambridge borough magistrates on
Tuesday, on a charge of stealing three spoons from a
woman with whom he was lodging in Park-street. Ho
graduated at Trinity College in 1829, and after taking his de-
gree, and receiving ordination, was appointed to the curacy
of Shofford, in Bedfordshire. He had not been heard of in
Cambridge from that time until very recently, when he
came up and took lodgings wall the prosecutrix, upon
the pretext of his having coma into residence for the
purpose of taking pupi's and c csmsional Sunday duty. His
landlady missed several articles after he had lived a short
time with ber, includirg the spoons she had supplied for
his breakfast table, and such like, and upon giving in-
formation to the police it is as found that he had
pledged three spoons with a Jew pawnbroker in the
town for a shilling each. Nothing was known of hini upon
the first examination, but since ho has been under remand
the police have discovered a ticket-of-leave among his
papers, which show that he was convicted of swindling a
shopkeeper at Northampton, in October, 1864, and sentenced
to five years' penal servitude in Dartmoor prison. A copy
of the depositions taken at his trial was found at his lodg-
ings, together with his deacon's and priest's orders, duly
signed and sealed. The bench sent him for trial at the
quarter sessions.