The Sun.
London, England, 1869-06-18 00:00:00

THE TRADES UMONS BILL,

An influential deputation from a conference of em-
ployers in engineering, shipping, and other trades
waited on the Home Secretary on Thursday in reference
to the Trades Unions Bill, now before the House
of Commons. The following gentlemen were
amongst the members of the deputation: Mr.
John Hick, M. P. , Mr. Hugh Birley, M.P., Hon. Frederick
Stanley, M.P., Mr. Laird, M.P., Mr. Sidebottom,
M.P., Mr. J. Legh, M.P., Colonel Gray, M.P., Mr.
Henderson, M.P., Mr. E. Potter, M.P., Mr. Pease,
M.P., Mr. Brassey, M.P.,
Mr. SAMUDA, M.P., in introducing the deputation,'said
the members of the deputation felt that while the Trades
Unions Bill was a subject of the greatest importance in the
interests of the country generally, it ought to be dealt
with upon a comprehensive and substantial basis ; and that
there was some dangerof legislation drifting into a channel
which would not be satisfactory to them or the public.
The deputation thought that if further legislation was
advisable, the Government themselves ought to take the
initiative, and should not allow the employers of labour
to be placed in the false position which they would occupy
if they were compelled to oppose the bill now before
Parliament. They considered that the present measure
was put forward in one interest only.
Mr. BRUCE said he assumed, by the date at which the
promoters of this bill had put it for the second reading,
that they had no serious intention of pressing it this session,
but had rather introduced it for the purpose of securing
discussion in the House of Commons on the general merits
of the bill, without hoping to give it any legislative effect.
He quite agreed with what Mr. Samuda, had said, that,
considering the great difference of opinion amongst the
commissioners, and that this bill was founded upon the
opinions of those who, although gentlemen of
great ability and great zeal upon this subject,
were a numerical minority of the commission,
it would be impossible for the Government to accept a
measure without giving the most serious consideration to
the counter arguments. Still it had been quite
impossible for the Government to undertake a bill
upon this matter themselves ; and lie would say,
with regard- to bills brought forward by the Home
Office, the pressure of business had been such that, much
against his own inclination, they were very much in arrear.
There was already a bill affecting the Mines Inspection
Act which they had had no opportunity of
bringing under the notice of the House ; there was the
Habitual Criminal Offenders Bill, and the County
Finance Bill, all measures of general interest which it
had been impossible to press forward. Therefore he felt
that it would be useless in the midst of the pressure
of a session like this to attempt to go thoroughly
into the report of the commissioners, and the manner in
which he proposed, on the part of the Government, to
meet this bill, was to carefully avoid the expression of
any opinion upon the moot points, but during the recess
to consider the recommendations of the report. And he
should like then, on the part of the Government, to be
able to bring forward some measure founded on the re-
port, which would deal justly with all the interests con-
cerned. Mr. Bruce, in answer to questions, declined to
promise to bring in a bill next session, or that the
Government would consider the subject with a view to
framing a measure.
Mr. Bruce was then still further pressed to give his
opinion, and was asked whether he would repeat in the
House of Commons what he had said there.
The HOME SECRETARY said he had no objectio nto
answering any questions which might be asked him in the
House. The question ought not to be discussed till there
had been ample time for considering both sides, but he
should be careful not to express any opinion as
to what Government would do. It had been utterly im•
possible, not only for himself, but for his colleagues, to
consider this question ; and be could not, without consi-
deration with the rest of the Cabinet, on a matter of such
extreme importance state the views of the Government
thereon.

Amongst the persons arrested in Paris during the
late riots were six Englishmen. All these have been set at
lierty through the intervention of the British AutLassador.

The inquest on the body of Robert liodigkinson, the
engine tenter of the Loiter which exploded at Bingley, was
resumed on Wednesday. A verdict of accidental death
was returned.
A farmer in Massachusetts has tried steaming his
stable food for five years. He says it costs a third less to
winter his cows, and they give a fourth more than when
he fed them on raw hay and grain.

AN AMUSING COMPOSITOR'S BLUNDER. —Under
the heading " Erratum," the Times publishes the follow-
ing :—" In our account of the Apposition at St. Paul's,
the word 'malefactors' should have keen 'male actors.'"
A. singular story is told about Wythington
Church, Shropshire. On Sunday week it was observed
that a woman named Williams, instead of entering her

own pew, took her place in one in front of it. In less
than five minutes afterwards a stove pipe broke, and fell
endways on the spot where Mrs. Williams would have
been sitting if she had taken her regular Oszvestry
Advertiser.

A Jersey ccrrespendent writes that early cn IVcd-
Leselay a bottle containing paraffin oil was thrown through
the Ledroom window of Mr. P. Manby, who resides at
No. 21, Regent-road, in Et. hollers. The object of the,
would-be assassin was apparently to hit the gas bracket,
which was burning near the window, but fortunately
the bottle struck lower than the light, and the liquid was
scattered harmlessly about the floor. Mr. Manby, his wife,
and two children slept in the rcom, and Lad the diabolical
attempt been successful the consequences would have been
most deplorable.

BROTHER CELTS.—At the conclusion of the
Bishop of Peterborough's remarkable speech in the House
of Lords on the Irish Church Bill on Tuesday night, the
cheering, which lasted for several minutes, had hardly
died away before the ex-Chancellor, Lords Cairns, was
seen to advance across the House from the Opposition
benches, to offer warm congratulations to his lordship on
his brilliant, and, we believe, " maiden" speech. Both
the ex-Chancellor and the Bishop are Irishmen, and
neither of them have yet attained 50 years of age.

FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.—On Thursday after-
noon, Mr. Codd, the coroner for the Northern division of
Essex, opened an inquiry at Wickham, on the Witham
and Malden branch of the Great Eastern Railway, re-
specting an accident on the line, by which a stoker named
Day lost his life and an engine driver was much injured.
The accident happened to the last train from Witham and
Maldon. As the train approached Wickham station, the
engine suddenly left the rails, and went over into a field.
The stoker died on the spot, and the driver was much
hurt. The inquest was adjourned.
THE SUTHERLAND G OLDFIELDS.—HELMSDALE,
Monday.—Now that the diggers see that the flats are to

he given out as digging claims, all hands are busy at
work on their old claims on the burns, which, it is
understood, must be worked out before the authorities
will grant an extension of the digging area. Many of
the men are looking with wistful eyes to the upper
reaches of the Suisgill burn, where a few of them
had been prospecting, and found gold in paying quan-
tities ; and one reason of so many sticking to the work,
which at present is believed in many cases to be doing
little more than enabling both ends to meet, is the prospect
of getting claims marked out at an early date on the
coveted ground. There are one or two terraces at the
mouth of the Suisgill burn, where it crosses the road, that
the ;lii,:ers have a great eye to, and would give a large
.:or the working of, but, unfortunately for the digger,
said terraces are level, and yield good grass, which
the farmer looks upon as good as gold, and will not give
up for any ordinary consideration.—Northern, Ensign.

THE SUNDAY ACT.—An important case, involv-

ing a question of right on the part of a beerseller to sell
provisions or other articles within the closehours, has come
before Messrs. E. Birley and W. Winstanley, borough
magistrates, at the Preston Police-court. George Grayson,
provision dealer and beerseller, Park-road, was charged
with a breach of the Sunday Act, in selling half-an-ounce
of tobacco at 11.40 a.m. on Sunday, the 6th inst. Mr.
Blackhurst, for the prosecution, said there was an internal
communication between the defendant's shop and beer-
house, and the question was whether a man carrying
on the trade of a heerseller could legally sell provi-
sions or other articles in that shop during the hours
in which beerhouses must be closed on the Sunday.
Policemen Byrnes and Charnley deposed to seeing the
sale of the tobacco at the time mentioned by the
defendant, who told them they had no right to enter
his house by the shop-door. They went forward,
but found nothing wrong in the becrhouse. Mr. Watson,
for the defence, said this case was the first of the kind
that had come before the bench, although the Act had
been in operation many years. Some time ago a ques-
tion was raised whether persons should lie permitted
to have shops in connection with beerhouses. The
Act of Parliament was intended to prohibit the sale
beer in illegal hours to persons pretending to
icles ; but in this case the
_
-,--one for the sale of
The beer-

purelumg other ...
places of sale were totally disc..—
provisluhs, and the other for the sale of beere
then calleu
house license did not tnehtlon the shop. H
Mr. David Murdoch, excise officer, who stated that the
shop was not included in the license, in which all the
rooms in the beerhouso were specified and described, were
correspondingly numbered in the house itself, and were all
exclusive of the shop. The street numbers of the
shop and beerhouse were 10 and 20 respectively. The
magistrates reserved their decision until Saturday the
26th lust. .

a-

POWDER MILL EXPLOSION.

The details concerning the powder mill explosion at
liounslow are to hand. It occurred at the powder
wills of Messrs. Curtis and Harvey, at Hanworth, Virg
midway between Hounslow and Twickenham. It
appears that the work at the mills went on as usual UP
to 3.45 p.m., when about eighty men were busy in the
buildings. About this time two explosions occurred in
rapid succession, which blew down all the buildings
near the glazing house. Bricks and timber were
hurled to great distances, and the trees around rent int°
;brads and scattered about. When the smoke and dust
had cleared away. Mr. Brown, the manager of the mills,
and a number of assistants set to work to ascertain what
(lamage had been done, and a number of men were told oft
as a guard to prevent the ingress of a crowd that had begun
to collect. The roll of workmen was then called over, and
it was found that the following were missing :—William
Penfold, single man ; Richard Fulham, married ; Samuel
Gardner, married ; and a lad of 15, named Holloway. I°,
examination of the ruins chewed that ten of the houses had
been totally Cestroyed, and many others seriously iniurcj:
These included storing, drying, and glazing houses.
charge house had also been blown up, although built under
ground, arched over with bricks, and covered with earth.
On examining further it was discovered that every Luildivg
near the stream had been des'royed. The lad 1-Hollow:1
was at the moment of the explosion riding past, and both
he and the horse were blown to some distance and
As the ruins were removed the remains of those kill d
were found in every direction, torn to pieces and
gured in such a way that identification was impossible.
Dr. Douglas, of Twickenham, was sent for, and attended
to the wounded, of whom there were upwards of 20, in'
eluding two women. The concussion was felt ten wiles
off, and in the towns and villages adjacent to the wills
considerable damage has been done to buildings. •I‘'t
Twickenham Common the windows of houses have been
shattered, and the buildings themselves shaken to the
very foundation. The greatest excitement prevailed at
Hanworth, and great difficulty was experienced in obtain'
ing information regarding the accident.
Another account says:—" The wounded, more or legs
slightly, numbered about twenty, among whom were two
women. In the case of the three men killed on the sr°
identification was all but impossible, for their heads were
disfigured, and their limbs layhere and there overthescene
of devastation, which was sickening in the extremity of its
horrors. The explosion burst the river dam and flooded
the lower part of the premises, in which the clock-face was
shattered, the hands stopping at ten minutes to four.
Altogether since the explosions at Erith and Dartford we
have bad no more frightful calamity of the kind to report,
t
and we hope that even this may have been, at the
moment, somewhat exaggerated in its details."
The scene which ensued at the explosion was 1.11°3t
exciting. In a few minutes the avenue leading to the
mills was a scene of the wildest commotion. Medical roe°
riding at the top of their speed ; women, some of the
ro
with children in their arms, rushing to the scene of the
disaster half frantic with terror and alarm. At the gate
of the mills the scene beggared description ; the ravings
faintings, and frantic inquiry of the hundreds who hadf
assembled rendered the task of keeping the gate one °f
the most difficult and painful. The interior was one loass°,
confusion, and no one was able to ascertain the full extent
)f the mischief ; for, although close to the spot, no two
accounts of the excited assistants were alike.

The strike of colliers at Tyldesley has terminated;
The demand upon the collieries just now, in consecilleEc
the slackness of trade, is only small, and, the masters 1221."
been able to insist upon the acceptance of their owu talus.
The Norwich correspondent of the Star says
a rumour is in circulation there that in the event of ta,
creation of a batch of new peers, it is understood that 61.1.
kir Thomas Western, Mr. Gurdon Lebow, MX.) and 51t
Shafts Adair will be raised to the peerage.
The educational movement is making itself felt.
There is about to bo established in Sheffield abrarcb of the
National Education League, which has been orginated
la
Birmingham. A provisional committee was appointed at
preliminary meeting held on Wednesday evening.
The Association of the Irish Non-suLscribl
Presbyterians held a meeting on Wednesday at Belfast, and it
was resolved to form a sustentation fund for ministers
.ji
once, the prevailing opinion being that the Irish Church
Bill NI mild pass through Parliament.
Mark and Joseph Berry, father and son, we.rt:
charged at the Recorder's Court, Belfast, en WednesCan
stealing firearms from the shop of Mr. Neill on the night et,
the sth of May. The father was sentenced to 12 inentli:
imprisonment, and the eon to one month, and five years
a reformatory.

In Paris the letter of the Emperor Napoleons 8
regarded as an Imperialist manifesto of great imyortan:
His Majesty's declaration tint "a Govemnietat Lichref
srtets itself cugbt to yield neither io presstre,
ncr revolt," is looked ni on as a declaration rgainst Prcsc
excitrincr ;

concessions.
Three persons were brought before the LeedS
magistrates on Wei:nudity the charge of refusing 10 b5l
their children vaccirated according to law. Ore w's fin
20s. t.nd cast: but the other cases were Ltijourntd, Peuutll3.;
the trial of the questions of the law involved in them belQl
the Court of Queen's Bench.
At a public meeting with referenceto the encourage:
ment of the cultivation of cotton, held at Bolton on Wedues...
utie
day, a deputation was appointed to wait upon tho Secrete%7
of State for India to secure the abolition of the import d
cturi:
"which so injuriously operate upon our cotton raalluf
i t'
ng trade with that country."
societideeg;
A conference of representatives of trades'
held in Manchester on Wednesday, to consider the T'llo.,
Union Bill of Mr. Hughes and Mr. Mundella, passed ares`lou
tion in support of the measure. The meeting did
onc vlc4lu
the bill went far enough to meet their views, but c
to accept it as a step in the right direction.

AlredneSci3Y;ol3oi!
GREAT Loss OF SHEEP.— The storm . from ill°
north-east which succeeded to the thunderstorm of Toes;
day afternoon, and continued during
caused great loss to those Yorkshire farmers who
to early sheep-shearing. The northern escarpla
wolds felt the full force of the gale, and it is on these bill
ewes alike
that the great loss has occurred, fat sheep and
dying from the cold and exposure. The losses from ollee.!71
already dead have been more severe than farmers
of
load °I
admit, one farmer having on Thursday sent a
seventeen dead sheep to the manure works. ents of t. _

ct ~r ra
THE FEENCII ATLANTIC CABLE. - Captain wl- 3,
Osborn, 12. N., C. 8., the managing director of the 1".(•e'llee:
graph Construction and Maintenance Con3PanY'
end f
graphs as follows :—" Brest, June 17.—The °wire e- of
11 "to
the French Atlantic Cable was successfully laid
past ten this morning, and is now ready to
I?,asterrl•
the main cable on the arrival of the Great
k.nother telegram, dated Brest, June 17,1.30 P•111'' saY5.;
with perfect..
"The shore end of the cable was laid to-daY
The Chiltern
and the event was favoured by splendid weatbe r
Chiltern and the Hawk left
f°ll
the harbour.
n...
rue,
o'clock this • morning, and at seven a.m. the cow.. _.,
ion
t. with the Chiltern at a distance of GOO metres Wii;
perfect. The task was completed at nine 0-111' 1 t
Maritime Prefect gave every assistance in his posver 0
of 00
those engaged in the undertaking. t' n
A por io ..10
French ironclad fleet is expected here on SaturdaY fru _
the iatte,r,
Cherbourg, and the Great Eastern on SundaY,
be spliced 0
starting on her journey in the evening of the same (LI.
TEWMAS WRIGHT, TUE PRISON PRILANTRROVISI':,
—The committee formed a short time ago,
Shaftesbury at its head, for the purpose of getting 11P,_11
memorial to commemorate the services rendered LI
Thomas Wright, the prison philanthropist, have decide s
that there shall be at least three life-sized PieTct
illustrative of Mr. Wright's life and labours. Tbe ',l;s,.
of the pictures, " The Condemned Cell," painted 11 -1.'";
Charles Mercier, represents the prison philantbroPis
ministering to a convict under sentence of death. 9:11°
with Lora
committee have placed this picture in the hands of the
engraver, it having been determined to present a copY ~
the engraving
reformatory in the kingdom. The picture itself is to D;
to every prison, ragged is
and
publicly presented by Lord Shaftesbury, in the naive °
the subscribers, to the City of London on the Ist of JtilY"
A grand to the prison philanthropist will also 1)°,
given on the ebanquetev ning of the same day' at the Freer-05°3
Tavern, the Lord Mayor presiding.

THE ELECTION DISTURBANCES AT ICOTTISCI-
HAIL—At the Nottingham Police-court, on TbursdTg
before the mayor and other magistrates, thirteen Per°
ea
were brought up in custody, charged with being oncernie
in the disturbances which took place on Tuesday last' t.:„.
day of election. The proceedings created great
.nent, the Town Hall being crowded, besides which ther°
was a large mob outside, who hooted and hissed the Folic:
vigorously as they brought the prisoners in. The nanie
-,f the accused were George Osborne, William Marshal
o],
Robert Billings, Gebrge Bullard, Samuel Stones, Arthr'
eetly, James Derrick, Edwaid Brown Edward Glaricoat,
William Webster, John Bladon, Charles Timms, .I'llcl
11Iary Anderson. It was shewn that on the day of electio?,
the town was in a state of riot ; that the Tory "1 harass
"'-ew stones and broke windows; that Mr. Charle
--ccessful candidate, was pelted on the hust-
Seely, the
• the poll, and that all the prisoners
•ngs after the close .
:urbances. There were V:tenuating circumstance Ow
lad been more or less instruil,
fined
lases of Timms and Anderson, and they were onlys.
rental in creating the.n d.isT
Ns. each, but all the rest were ordered to paYr
lefault, eight or iline_.9f_ thera.,syre kellti2AsL,4B.l.—Sll