The Sun.
London, England, 1869-08-06 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

THE BORROWING POWERS OS RAILWAY COMPANIES.--
Am important decision touching the exercise of the bor-
:owing powers of railway companies has been given by the
Lord Chancellor and Lord Justice Giffard. Their lord-
;hips had before them an appeal from a decision of
Tice-Chancellor Mans, whereby the Cork and Yonghal
3ailway Company were made liable for £109,000
the estate of Overend and Gurney. The ob-
:ection to this judgment rested on the fact that
:he directors of the railway had exceeded their
powers. The objection was overruled, their lordships
folding that, as the money was spent in paying off
.iabilities of the company, the shareholders had reaped
he advantage of it, and must be held responsible.

PERJURY OR A MISTAKE ?--A singular action upon a
gill of exchange has been tried at the Croydon Assizes.
Ile amount of the bill was £lOO, and it was alleged to
lave been accepted by a Mrs. Aldenon previously to her
narriage. The defence was that this lady bad never
accepted the bill, and that the acceptance was a forgery,
l'he principal witness for the plaintiff was the female
defendant's brother, who swore that the acceptance was
in his sister's handwriting. The jury terminated a
very painful inquiry by finding a verdict for the
iefendants.

THE WOLKSHOPS REGULATION ACTS.—Mr. Jay, of the
nourning warehouse, Regent•street, was summoned at
far:borough-street, on Thursday, for having infringed
Dile of the provisions of the Workshops Regulation Act.
ft was shewn that Mr. Jay had issued instructions that
,hose in his employment should strictly observe the Act,
end that the offence was committed solely through the
action of his manager. The magistrate, bolding that the
iefeni7ant must he 'responsible for the nets of his servants,
nflicted a small fine.

ACTION AGAINST THE LONDON AND Nount-WzsTEnti
nAILWAL— At the assizes at Manchester, a somewhat
lurious railway case was tried before Mr. Justice Haunen,
.nasmuch as the plaintiff, Mr. Jelly, a commercial
traveller, living at Bedford Leigh, - has been twice
seriously injured in collisions on the defendants'
!ailway within two rears. On the 7th of Janu-
wy, 1867, the plaintiff was severely injured in a col-
"ision at Warrington, for which a special jury awarded
vim £2,000. In March 1868 he was able partially to attend
'A) business. On the 15th February, 1869, while travelling
from London to St. Albans, the train in which the plain-
tiff rode ran into some coal waggons, and the plaintiff was.
'njured in the back and head. He was now brought into
:ourt in a litter, and he appeared to be in a very helpless
state. He said that his income before the second accident
was between £4OO and £5OO per annum. The jury
•eturned a verdict for the plaintiff---Damars 41,500.

A correspondent of the Northern Whig, who
attended services in one of the churches of Belfast on
Sunday last, states that the portion of the service usually
levoted to the Queen was omitted, and that •Ine of the
worshippers, in his excitement, ahouted out "No
mrrender."

A SINGULAR ACCIDENT,_ deplorable accident
occurred in Dublin on Wednesday. While some men, in
the employ of the corperation, were cleaning a sewer
leading from a chemical manufactory ou Sir John's Quay,
portion of the brick-work gave way, and the sewer
becoming immediately filled with mephitic vapours, two
of the unfortunate men were suffocated before they could
be extricated. Their companions were in such an
exhausted condition when brought to the surface that they
had to be taken to hospital. Both men have left large
`amilies.

A LIBERAL OFFER. —The Hon. Aubcron Herbert
(brother to the Earl of Carnarwon), who contested Berk-
shire in the Liberal interest at the last election, has
addressed the following letter to the editors of the various
newspapers in that county :—" Sir, will you allow me to
make an offer, through your columns, to the towns of
Berkshire? As you may be aware, all the expenses in-
curred on the Liberal side at the last election were borne
by Mr. Walter. I have wished Mr. Walter to accept £l,OOO
r.s a contribution from myself, but as I cannot persuade
Air. Walter on this point, I propose to devote such a sum
to the encouragement of free libraries in Berkshire.
Co Reading, as the largest of our Berkshire towns, I offer
",250, and £l5O to any other five towns (including Oxford)
which are the first to comply with the following condition.
This condition is that an amount equal to that received
should be raised by each town. This being done, those
gentlemen who have kindly promised to act for the (Sir
G. Young, Mr. J. Hibbert, Mr. H. R. Eyre, and Mr. G.
Palmer) will pay over the amount mentioned on being
fairly satisfied that the object intended is to be fairly
carried out. Should any doubt or difficulty arise on any
poict, the decision of those gentlemen as to the course to
be pursued will be final. Should any part of the £l,OOO he
unclaimed at the end of six months, it will be dealt with
as may seem best under the circumstances.—Yours faith-
fully, ALTBERON HERBERT."

THE NEW DRILL.—The committee of which
Lieutenant-General Sir Augustus Spencer is president,
and Major-General Russell a member, and which has sat
almost continuously during the summer months at the
:forse Guards to consider the changes necessary in the
drill and tactics of the British infantry in consequence of
the introduction of breechloading arms, has nearly
finished its labours, and the report may be expected to be
published this week. The principal chxyges recommended
will be, it is said, that captains should ciways be posted
in rear of the centres of their companies, and that the
subaltern officers should guide the movements of the
companies. Deployments and formations are to be made
independently to either flank, without regard to whether
the rightor left may be in front. The rear rank is to liu
able to act as a front rank, so as to avoid all counter-
marching, and a wider interval is to be allowed betweet,
ranks. It is curious that almost at the very firm
that these simplifications are being made in the field
exercises of the infantry the drill of the cavalr3
which has been tried for some years is to be abolished,
and the old system of pivots also. Sir Augustus
Spencer's committee lay great value on the use of
the spade, and a special intrenching drill is to be proposed
in their report. The drill is founded upon one lately in-
augurated at the Royal Engineer Establishment at
Chatham. It is to be hoped that Sir Augustus Spencer
and his fellow labourers will not be so hurried in concluding
their report as not to have time to arrange some method
of carrying intrenching tools for the infantry, so that they
may at the same time be readily portable and easy to be
g9t at who seggiNA • -