The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-10 00:00:00

AN ATVFUL RISK.

A slide occurred on the railroad which winds
along the gorge between Lewiston and Suspension-
bridge (Niagara Falls), on Friday evening last,
under circumstances which cause one to realize how
constant and imminent are the perils of travel by
rail, even under the most favourable circumstances.
This road, for most of the distance, is oc the very
brink of the gorge, in some places hundreds of feet
above the river ; sometimes inserted into the per-
pendicular ledge, with large masses of rocks sus-
pended fearfully over the track. At a point about
midway between the Falls and Lewiston where the
'track l'es about 200 feet above the river, and where
tie descent is nearly perpendicular, nearly 70 feet
of the roadbed slid off. The cob-house, perpendi-
cular wall, no broader at the base than at the top,
which was relied upon to make things safe, began
to give way (as the track master assured me) nearly
or quite a week before. The giving out of the whole
structure had been looked upon as certain for some '
time, and yet cars filled with passengers continued
to be drawn at least twice a day. Such reckless-
ness is without a parallel in railway management.
A gentleman, who was too late for the train, started
to walk that evening over the track from Lewis-
ton to Suspension-bridge. It was he who first
discovered the slide, but he came within a hair's
breadth of going down the chasm himself. Not
dreaming of anything of the sort, he walked
to the very brink before he discovered, by the dim
light of the moon, the. fearful state of the case.
Another step and it would have been the last of
him. Fortunately, be caught a glimpse of the
yawning gulf. His retrograde movement was both
timely and rapid. The slide had probably taken
place immediately on the passing over of the triin
but a short time before, for the rock were then
tumbling and crashing into the abyss, and the
gentleman felt sensibly the earth giving way under
his feet as he sprang back. No mortal can tell how
near total destruction and total annihilation that
train of cars came. Its own weight and motion
doubtless started the avalanche. Its speed—an
instant of time—a finger's weight—may have been
all that stood between eternity and every soul on
board. But the train did pas., the pleasure-seek-
ing passengers all unconscious of the danger they
had eecaped. And yet for days previous the trains
had been exposed to this danger, and an officer in
charge of the road assured me that he knew it.
When informed at the office at Suspension-bridge
that a slide bad occurred they knew precisely where
to locate it, and said they had been expecting it for
a week, and still had been sending out trains each
way twice a-day all the while. Words cannot ex-
press the culpability of those in immediate autho-
rity. A presentation by the grand jury of Niagara
County will probably attempt it. —Ne tv York Times,
June 24.

SHOCKING OCCUERENCE.-00 Thursday a bullock,
which had become separated from a drove near the
terminus of the Great Northern Railway, rushed in
wild fury through the adjacent streets. In passing
the Brill, S mere-town, two lads were knocked down
and seriously injured, the furious animal conti-
nuing its mad career, followed by hundreds of men
and boys toward,' Clarendon-square, and thence, turn-
ir g short for Charlton-street, an elderly woman
intercepted his progress, but a moment had scarcely
elapsed when he caught her by the throat on his born, and
tossed her to a considerable height. The unfortunate
woman falling heavily on the back of her head, sustained
such severe injuries that she was removed in a very pre-
carious state to the hospital. The wound in the throat
is extensive, and fears are entertained for her life. After
a long chase the beast was secured and taken to the New
Cattle Market,