The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-18 00:00:00

Statistical Society.

The third ordinary meeting of the present session
was held on Tuesday, Mr. S. Brown, V.P., in the
chair. The following gentlemen were elected fellows
of the society, viz. :—Charles E. Lewis, Alexander
Bremner, R. L. Watson, and H. L. Reid.
Dr. MouAT, inspector-general of gaols in Lower
Bengal, read a paper of unusual interest upon the
" Prison discipline in Bengal." The principal con-
clusions at which he arrives appear to be these—
That the silent and solitary systems are altogether
inapplicable to Indian prisoners. That a prison
should be rendered a terror to evil-doers, by inflict-
ing as much pain as can be inflicted without injury
to health of body or mind, and without resorting to
punishments that err from excess of severity. That
punishments for breaches of gaol discipline should
be summary, and should be such as are known to
deter most effectually. No restriction of diet, soli-
tary confinement beyond 72 hours, or other practices
injurious to health, should be permitted or prac-
tised. That prison dietaries should be restricted to
the smallest quantity and coarsest quality of food
found to be absolutely necessary for the mainte-
nance of health in confinement. That however de-
sirable it may be to maintain the inviolability of
judicial sentences, it is absolutely necessary to hold
out to the Indian prisoner the same inducements
to good conduct in prison as are found necessary
to other couutric3, for which reason they have been
introduced into the Bengal gaol code in opposition
to the opinion of the prison discipline committee of
1864. That prison buildings should be so constructed
as to maintain a high standard of health, and to
admit of such classification and separation of con-
victs as will secure them from avoidable contamina-
tion, and send them forth on the completion of their
sentences, if not better, at least not worse than they
went in. That while, on the one hand, no measures
of discipline should be enforced which are really
offensive to the religious prejudices of natives of
India, no false pleas of caste should be permitted to
interfere with the full execution of judicial sentences.
That short sentences, rigorously enforced in secure
and properly constructed prisons, are more deterrent
than longer sentences passed in district gaols, where
the means of enforcing discipline do not and never
can exist. That prison returns in India should be
kept on a uniform system, and should embrace every
detail necessary to throw light upon the subject in
all its relations ; and that these returns should be
published annually, as soon after the close of the
year as possible. That the broad general principles
which should regulate prison discipline in India
differ in no way from the principles adapted for other
countries, and merely need such modifications of
detail as may be required by local circumstances.
These modifications need never, so far as his experi-
ence entitles him to express an opinion, set aside the
principle on which they are based. The principles
of human nature, which connect disgrace with crime
and punishment, are universal ; and although the
shame and discredit attached to conviction and im-
prisonment are not at present as strongly felt and
exhibited in India as they are supposed to be in more
advanced countries, he had not the least doubt, from
his long and intimate acquaintance wifh the educated
and criminal classes of Bengal, that, as education
extends, and the 93 per cent. of uninstructed
criminals diminishes, the feelings of Bengalis will
not differ very materially from those of Englishmen
on the subject of crime—its disgrace, and its punish-
ment.

RAILWAY ACCIDENT NEAR GUILD-

FORD.

An accident occurred yesterday morning on the
lines of the South Western and South Eastern Rail-
ways, near Guildford, which affords a remarkable
instance of escape from what appeared to be almost
certain death. It seems that the train which leaves
Reading at 7.25 for London (due at Guildford at
8.29) and which yesterday morning consisted of six
carriages, including guard's van, arrived safely as
far as the junction of the Alton branch with the I ,
main lite near Guildford station. Here, however,
the connecting rod between the engine andtetond geor
broke, and the engine was consequently unable
forward with the train. Knowing the Alton train
to be nearly due (its time of arrival at Guildford
being 8.36), the guard of the Reading
htrLs.aihnahastened
t
along the line with a danger flag in
the attempt to avert
guard
to have observed the flag and the train, both hid
from them for some time by a curve, within a short
distance of the Reading train, but beyond promptly
putting on all the brake power they could, nothing
could be done to stay the apparently fatal progress
of the Alton train, and on it rushed down an incline
of something like one in eighty, until it smashed
into the South-Eastern train, which stood helpless,
and broke and destroyed nearly the whole of one end
of a second class carriage in it, overturned the seat
annexed, and broke portions of the woodwork of the
end of the first-class carriage adjoining. The force
of the collision was so great as to knock several of
the carriages off the line, and the noise was dis-
tinctly heard at the Station, about 300 yards off.
Nearly the whole of the buffers were broken or
twisted, and the guard's van received a good deal
of injury in broken glass and the woodwork of the
steps, &c. None- of the South Western train was
injured, but the engine and tender box were slightly
damaged. None of the passengers in this train it
appears were hurt, but eight or nine in the Read-
ing train were injured. A Uri Ingrain, of

.A7,..t?
.1,76-r-7-raii-,
0.
BlAckwater, had his eye ,mieve -158iittniettg„.'
and, as taken to the Surrey County Hostitial, iliere
his wounds were dressed. A- Mr. Matthews, of
Ash-vale, had his shoulder disloCated, but on being
medically attended to, returned home. Mr. Catch-
pole, of Blackwater, was slightly injured in the
knee. A couple of soldiers from Aldershot were
hurt, one very much about the face ; and four other
persons were bruised and shaken. The sufferers
were taken first to one of the waiting-rooms at the
Guildford station, where Mr. Lyson, the station
master, who had hurriedly proceeded to the scene
of the catastrophe, had them attended to, having
previously sent for and obtained the services of Mr.
Sells, surgeon. Several of the injured persons were
thus enabled to go on to London. The South-
11"estorn passenger: went on by the 8.37 train from
Godalming. The chief explanation at present offered
for the accident takes the following form :—lt ap-
pears that all trains (South-Western) on the Alto
branch pass a sign .1 station named Pink's Hill, about
two miles from Guildford, but should not pr.-zeed
until the man there gives thos'.; in charge of the
train a signal that the line is clear. The man in
charge at the time in question seems to haVe beers
one named Childs, a comparatively young ha :Ad.
He said he had the " All clear" signal from the man
at Guildford (named Smallbones) and signalled ac-
cordingly to the Alton train. But the strange part
of the story is that Smallbones is stated to assert
that he did not signal to Childs at all. That a
frightful loss of life did not ensue appears to be due
principally to the fact that very few persons were
in the train which was injured. A curious instance
of personal escape is told. A gentleman was quietly
sitting in the Reading train after its stoppage, where
suddenly he was thrown from one side of the cu.-
riage to the other, and his hat sent flying through
the window. He was not hurt, but another occu-
pant of the compartment had his face cut. Several
of the principal officers both of the South-Western
and South-Eastern lines were telegraphed for, and
came down in the course of the day to investigate
into the unfortunate affair.

Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Yesterday a special meeting of this instit'tion
was held at its house, John-street, Adelphi, 'co take
into consideration a communication from General
Knollys, as well as the unusually numerous ship.
wrecks that had taken place during the first days of
the present month; T. Baring, Esq., M.P., F.R.S.,
in the chair. There were also present T. ChapmaM,
Esq., F.R.S., J.P., Sir E. Perrott, Bart., Admiral
Mg-lardy, Capt. Richards, R.N., hydrograptter of
the Admiralty, J. Griffith, Esq., Admiral Ryder,
W. 11. Harton, Esq., Capt. Ward, R.N., the in.
spector of lifeboats to the institution, and R. Lewis,
the secretary.

Gen. Knollys stated in his letter that his Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales would have much
satisfaction in acceding to the request of the com-
mittee to take the chair at the forthcoming annual
meeting of the institution next month. The com-
mittee expressed their high appreciation of the
Prince's kind and prompt response to their appli-
cation. The Lord Mayor had in the most obliging
manner placed for the occasion the Egyptian Hall
in the Mansion House at the disposal of the institu-
tion. Reports were read from different branches of
the institution detailing the noble services of the
lifeboats of the institution during the late gales. It
appeared that 31 lifeboats had been used on these
disastrous occasions, and that 113 lives had been
rescued from various shipwrecks in addition to
three vessels saved from destruction. The expense
of these services amounted to £390. It is satisfac-
tory to find that throughout those disastrous gales
not a single accident had happened to any of the
brave lifeboat men. The honorary secretaries of the
branches had also been as usual most zealous and
active on the occasion. The committee voted the
silver medal of the institution to Mr. Samuel Higgs,
the French vice consul at Penzance, for his brave
services in going off in the lifeboat to save six men
from the schooner Salome, of Brixhatn ; five men
from the schooner Selina Ann, of Looe, and six men
from the schcouer Heiress, of Teignmouth. The
thanks of the institution, inscribed on vellum, were
also ordered to be presented to Mr. N. B. Downing,
honorary secretary of the Penzance branch, for his
able and untiring exertions on the above and other
occasions, when the lifeboat saved 30 men from four
different wrecks. The gold medal of the institution
was ordered to be presented to the Rev. C. Cobb,
in acknowledgment of his intrepid services in wading
into the surf and rescuing, at much risk of life, one
man who was in the rigging of the French lugger
Courrier de Dieppe, which was wrecked off Dym-
church, Kent, in a heavy sea, on Sunday, the 6th
inst. The committee voted the silver medal of the in-
stitution to a coastguard named Bathurst, who ably
assisted on the occasion. Mr. Cobb nobly plunged
into the surf, and was followed by Bathurst, the
latter having a rope round him, and Mr. Cobb hav-
ing succeeded in reaching the vessel, got the poor
fellow down, and with the assistance of the coast-
guard man who had joined him brought him safely
ashore. Other business having been transacted, the
proceedings closed.

Alderman S alomons, M.P., on lhe Reform

Question.

Last night at 8 o'clock, Mr. Alderman Salomons,
M.P., addressed a densely crowded public meeting
of electors and non-electors of the borough of
Greenwich, at the Literary Institution, High-street,
Deptford. The proceedings were at various points
of a most uproarious description, in consequence of
the presence of a large body of members of the local
Reform League and other advocates of manhood suf-
frage, who took exception to the alderman's views
on the reform question. The chair was taken by
Mr. B. Duval,who briefly referred to the objects of
the meeting, and was then followed by Mr. Alder-
man Salomons, expressed his views on various pub-
lic questions, as at a previous meeting held at
Greenwich. He was in favour of a reform of a
uniform rating for the whole of the metropolis, and
considered that some legislation was required to
render the capital embarked in railways and other
great works more secure. With regard to the reform
question, he did not think that its settlement would
be promoted by the holding of noisy street meetings
and other objectionable means that had been pro-
posed. (Cries of "When you were here last year you
told us to make a noise about it," " Turncoat," &c.)
Parliament was not to be intimidated, and the re-
form question must be considered in an amicable
ll(G
erea was t uproar,him
ll
spirit. (Cries of " What about Lowe?") Well,
Mr. Lowe was a man of great ability, and the work-
riecors av r
work-
ing classes might be proud of him.
reform ' licoernisp
a e rleeinot ."o)f 0
bill, but did
iann d
favourcries
'
not go the length of registered manhood suffrage.
(Cries of " We must and will have it.")
Well, they
might get it some time, but it would be at least 20
years first. He would go as far as giving the fran-
chise to householders who paid
taxes, and to lodgers
in certain cases, and should be glad to accept a good
bill whether from the Liberals or the Tories. He
quite believed that the Government would introduce
a reform bill during the next session. (Cries of
" They will go out of office," and great uproar.)
In reply to questions, Alderman Salomons said he
was in favour of the ballot, because it would lessen
the expense of elections. (Cries of " How about
bribery?") He was opposed to bribery, and believed
that the ballot would tend to prevent it. He bad al-
ways found the unavoidable expense of elections to
be rather heavy ; and if they would be kind enough
to return bins free he should be very glad to build
them a, school or an institution of some kind at a
cost of £2,000. A working man named Roberts ad-
dressed the meeting at some length in favour of
manhood suffrage, &c., and at the close of the pro-
ceedings, on the motion of Mr. Norfolk, seconded
by Mr. Marchant, a vote of continued confidence in
Alderman Salomons was adopted.

PROPOSED CONSERVATIVE DINNER AT FALMOUTH.
—Active steps are being taken at Falmouth by the prin-
cipal supporters of the Conservative party to insure an
influential attendance at a dinner in connection with the
Conservative cause to be held on `the 24th instant, at the
Polytechnic Hall, Falmouth. It is probable about 300
persons will be present, including many of the leading
Conservatives of the county. It is probable that one of
the LOrdlid the Admiralty. PIM preeide.