The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-13 00:00:00

TRAFFIC RETURNS FOR THE 'WEEK.

Miles Opened. Receipts.
'-1----"800. -
Railways.
1859.
.....1860. 1
1859.
- ---- ------
X .£
Belfast and N. Counties.... 65 65 1,510 1,849
Belfast and County Down.. 20 694 668
Birkd., Lane., & Ches. June
12532
1232025,
Blyth and Tyne 2O 20 37:110260 3,931
7509
1,953 1,641
Bristol and Exeter
Caledonian
Ches.&Holyhead(withMold) 94 _
-
Cockermouth & Workington 81 _94 i
Cork and Bandon 2O 20 395 341
Cork, Blackrock, & Passage 6l 61 412 316
Cornwall 536 4 1,452 1,209
Deeside l7 17 389 366
Dublin & Belfast Junction 63 63 1,336 1,325
Dublin and Drogheda 63 63 2,031 2,043
Dub. & Wicklow (in. Kingst ) 401 401 3,026 2,795
Dundalk and Enniskillen
Dundee and Arbroath l7l 171 707 702
Dundee, Perth, & Aber. Jun. 31 31 1,216 1,101
East Anglian 674 674 904 1,019
E.Counties,Nrfk.,&E.Union 409 489 28,021 26,362
East Kent 194 - - -
E.Lancashire(in.Blackburn) 111 105 - -
Edinburgh and Glasgow
Edinburgh, Perth,& Dundee 78 78 4,150 4,161
Forth & Clyde Junction ... 291 29/ 254 343
Furness
Glasgow & South-Western 1831 1831 10,059 8,164
Great Northern 283 283 25,131 26,267
Great North of Scotland
qt.Southn. & Westn.(lrind ) 329 226 8,726 7,668
Great Western 466 466 37,600 35,964
Hull and Holderness
inverness & Aberdeen June. 55 55 870 1,001
Irish South-Nastern 251 251 290 293
Killarney Junction -
Lancaster and Carlisle (in.
Kendal and Winderrnere)i 1001 1001 - -
Lane. & Yrks.(in.Blackburn)l 3951 395
1 42,469 37,450
Limerick and Foynes 261 228 255
Llanelly 461 165 721 666
Londen & North-Western
London and Blackwall 5l „54 1,908 1,888
London & South-Western
Lond. Brighton, Si S. Coast. 2234 2024 23,684 23,679
L'derry and Enniskillen
Lond., Tilbury, & Southendll 421 40 2,583 2.698
Man.,Sheffield, & Lincolnshi, nal 1734 12,427 11,591
Manch. S.Jun.&Altrincham 91 9/ 1,153 994
Maryport and Carlisle
Midland
Midland Gt.Westn. of 'rind. 177 177 4,009 3,878
Monkland 52 52 1,500 1,073
Monmouthsh. Rail. & Canal 44 44 2,298 2,185
Newcastle and Carlisle 7B 78 '3,500 3,680
Newport,Aberg.,& Herefor 5O 50 _ _
North British (in. Dalkeith) 161 161 6,710 7,648*
North Devon 35 35 567 612
North-Eastern 761 764 42,216 40,788
North London 9 9 2,766 2,791
North Staffordshire 246 233 8,148 7,430
North-Western 464 464 _
N. Yorkshire and Clevelandl 101 -
___ _
Oxford, Wore., & Wolver -
Peebles lBl 181 -
St. Helen's Canal & Railway 30 30 2,031 2,285
Scottish Central
Scottish North-Eastern ll5 115 4
2,264,515 2,1164455
Shrewsbury & Birmingham 294 294
Shrewsbury and Chester
Shrewsbury & Hereford
Shropshire Union 291 29 949 941
South Devon
South-Eastern 306 302 30,056 26,028
South Wales 1714 1714 7,861 7,480
S. Yorkshire and River Dun llB 108 2,360 2,593
Stockton and Darlington
Taff Vale 53 53 4,907 4,625
Ulster
Ulverstone and Lancaster
Vale of Neath 251 254 1 758 1,819
, Warrington and Stockport lO - -
Waterford and Kilkenny_ 31 31 162 399
Waterford and Limerick 77 77 1,516 1,383
West Cornwall 274 274 808 707
W. Hartlepool Harbr.&Rail 39 29 4,528 3,83 i
Whitehaven Junction l2 12 724 546
Whitehaven & Furness Jun. 35 35 734 631
W'haven,Cleator,&Egrmnt. 7 7 497 341
FOREIGN AND COLONIAL.
Antwerp and Rotterdam 52 52 1,099 881
Austrian B2B 673 37,492 33,660
Belgian Eastern Junction 264 264 284 254
Buffalo and Lake Huron
Detroit and Milwauki,,
Dutch Rhenish
Grand Trunk of Canada 970 880 10,430 7,692
Great Indian Peninsula 277 1941 3,916 3,638
Great Luxembourg l2B 122 2,686 2,304
Great Western of Canada 345 345 5,894 5,473
Lombardo-Venetian 285 285 - -
Lyons and Geneva 142 142 5,841 5,450
Madrid, Saragossa &A.licant 310 284 15,058 8,198
Maria Antonia 2l 21 - -
Northern of France
Norwegian Trunk 44 44 - _
Paris, Lyons, & Mediterrn 879 840 74,719 70,064
Paris and Orleans 922 922 52,210 41,568
Paris and Strasburg 1,032 1,016 - -
Royal Danish 69 69 535 555
Sambre and Meuse 6B 68 1,285 1,356
Southern of France 777 773 18,170 15,687
West Flanders
W. and N.W. of France 742 730 40,819 37,115

THE FATAL OCCURRENCE AT DOVER,

DOVER, SUNDAY.
Contrary to general expectation, the inquest on
the bodies of the victims of the accident which has
taken place at Archcliff Fort Battery was not held
yesterday. The original opinion of the legal autho-
rities of the town, to whose judgment the matter
was referred, was that the Lord Chief Justice, in
his judicial capacity, was able to appoint a coroner
pro. tem, under the circumstances which have un-
happily occured in Dover—the same event which
renders an inquest necessary having deprived the
district of its properly appointed coroner. The
opinion was, of course, arrived at from the exercise
of legal acumen alone,%and not from a reference to
precedents, the case of a coroner coming to a violent
death in his own district being so rare as to be
almost isolated. From a communication which was
received yesterday from Lord Chief Justice Cock-
burn it appears that the assumption as to his powers
in this matter was without sufficient ground, and
that the only person who can legally name a suc-
cessor to the late lamented Mr. Thompson are the
municipal council of the borough. A few days must
consequently elapse before the inquiry can be
opened.
The cause of the shocking catastrophe still re-
mains in obscurity. From all that can be gleaned,
however, there seems no reason to doubt the gene-
ral accuracy of what has already appeared. It is
stated that the portion of the gun which was picked
up in the station of the South-Eastern Railway on
the morning after the accident, and which was then
thought to bear evidence of defect, has since been
examined by a practical metalfounder, who is said
to discover no trace of imperfection. The whole of
the fragments have been examined by Col. Ingle-
field, Major Field, Capt. Bell, and other artillery
officers, who have made very careful observations of
the appearance presented not only by the remains
of the gun itself, but by the scene of the accident.
In the course of our investigation of the circum-
stances Serjeant Matthews, Royal Artillery, who is
instructing sergeant appointed to the volunteer
corps, and who, like most of his class, is a very in-
telligent man, has afforded us some valuable infor-
mation. It appears thathe hadthefu]lest confidence
in the whole of the volunteers who were employed
at the gun in question. The wad used was what is
called a " grammit" wad, consisting of a circle of
rope spliced in one part and crossed in the centre,
and it fitted the muzzle of the gun particularly well.
The gun was well sponged out, and the cartridge
rammed home by two long-armed, muscular fel-
lows (gunners_ Pell and Penn) ; in short, it is the
opinion of the instructing sergeant that the work
could not have been better done. He relies upon the
fact of the ball reaching to within a short distance
of the target as one of the most important proofs
that could be offered of the proper loading of the
gun. The gun, in compliance with the regular prac-
tice,
was thoroughly examined, or "searched,'' ac-
cording to the technical phrase, both by the Royal
Artillery and the volunteers, and several rounds
had been discharged from the same piece before the
explosion took place. It is supposed that the gun
must be. nearly 60 years old, the date of its compa-
nion piece being 1803. It is not thought, however,
that the gun was at all unsafe by reason of its age,
it being the practice to condemn ordnance, not on
account of the length of time it has been cast, but
by the degree of wear it has receive 4, The suppo-
sition that the charge had got displaced is put to
flight now that the elevation of the gun has been
ascertained. It appears that it was pointed at 44-
degrees, an elevation sufficient to prevent any chance
of displacement, although such an occurrence would
have been quite within the range of possibility if
the elevation had been less decided.
Some of the escapes appear to have been little
short of miraculous. Mr. J. Stilwell, solicitor, who
was the lieutenant in charge of the gun which
exploded, was standing within a few feet of it, and
one of the pieces struck the ground a very few feet
distant from him, tearing up the earth, and cover-
ing him with mud and dirt, but inflicting no injury.
Mr. E. R. Mowell, Mr. R. Foster, jun., and several
other volunteers also very narrowly escaped accident.
We are glad to state that the sufferers arc pro-
gressing favourably. Mr, Gilfillan, whose arm was
fractured, is quite conscious, but, singular to state,
he retains not the flintest recollection of the ter-
rible occurrence. Mr. Harris remained in a very
critical state yesterday, but confident hopes are
expressed of his recovery..
It should he stated that the Dover Volunteer
Artillery Corps are considered a smart body of men
by those cap able of forming an opinion on the merits
of artillery service, and that they have earned spe-
cial praise for their activity and skill in ball firing.
Indeed their services would be esteemed, in case of
need, as little inferior to those of the regular bri-
gade; but, while sharing the skill of their profes-
sional brethren in arms, they are not preserved
from the risks common to their position. It is not
for a moment supposed that this accident will have'