The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-28 00:00:00

BOROUGII HOP.

There is a slight improvement in the demand for good
and fine hops, at full prices ; but other kinds move off
slowly, at late rates.
•

New Mid and East Kent
pockets.. ..
Weald& • • ..
Suscex ..
Yearlings

per cwt.
£5 Os to £lB Os
4Os to 14 Os
6Os to 9 Os
sOs to 9 10s

TEE WEATHER IN THE PROVINCES.

The severity of the weather during the last day
or two has been even greater in the provinces than
in London, and the railway traffic of the country
has been much impeded by the heavy falls of snow
which have almost generally taken place.
_

Yesterday Mr. Bokenham, the controller of the
circulation department of the Post-office service,
reported, for the special information of the public,
that 68 of the mail bags from the neighbourhood
of Gloucester, Leominster, Worcester, &c., had
not arrived up to 11 o'clock at the offices in St.
Martin's-le-Grand, though due in the ordinary
course at 5 a.m. The severity of the snowstorm
appears to have been chiefly felt in the West of
England, but in the northern and eastern counties
the mail guards report it to have been heavy, and
several of them were delayed yesterday morning
in consequence.
On the various railway lines throughout the
! kingdom, the frost, and, in many 'places, heavy
fogs in addition, have caused serious inconvenience
to railway passengers in the way of detention of
several hours beyond the accustomed periods of
arrival and departure. In some quarters, in the
neighbourhood of Manchester, the snow storm
raged with such severity, accompanied with such
a sharp frost, that the wheels of the engines would
not " bite," and very slow progress was made,
even aided by the process of " sanding." While
the latter work would be in operation, the feed
pipes of the engine would suddenly freeze, and
uo supply of water would be obtainable until
they were thawed. This occurred on Christmas-
day to many of the engines working on the
lines which run into Manchester. The gas-
pipes at the Victoria, Salford, and other stations
froze on Christmas evening, and several hours
elapsed before the lamps could be lighted. To add
to the discomforts experienced at the Salford (New
Bailey) station, the water pipes belonging to the
closets burst on Wdenesday afternoon, flooded the
waiting rooms, and percolated through the ceiling
into the booking-office. On the Lancaster and
Carlisle line an accident, not of a very serious
nature, occurred in the course of Wednesday
afternoon. Two of the wheels belonging to one
of the carriages came off, and this caused the
delay of all the trains arriving from the north
for more than two hours. The passengers, as
might be expected, were severely shaken, but
we believe no bones were broken. An ac-
cident of a more serious nature, attended with
fatal results, occurred on Wednesday evening, on
the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway at Windsor-
bridge. Every Wednesday additional assistance
is required at this station to manage the loading
and unloading of the cattle. One of the porters so
engaged was a man named Joseph Barber, who was
stationed at the New Bailey station, and who
had been in the habit of assisting at the Wind-
sor-bridge station on the Wednesday for more
than ten years. Just as the deceased was finishing
work for the day, he was knocked down and run
over by several carriages belonging to the Black-
burn express. The poor fellow was brought
to Manchester and taken to the infirmary,
where he died half an hour after his arrival. He
was found to have suffered a compound fracture
of the left leg ; his left hand was also crushed, and
he was very much bruised about the body. He was
a valued servant of the company, and leaves a wife
, and two children to mourn his untimely end. In
Manchester and its neighbourhood the greatest
inconvenience has been experienced in consequence
of the freezing of the water in the meters, and the
4, freezing also of the water pipes,