The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-16 00:00:00

NAVAL MEDICAL OFFICERS.

Six weeks ago Sir J ohn Palcinolaiii.
,in the House
of Commons, pronounced a high eulopurn upon the
medical officers of the Royal Navy, and declared it
to be his intention to concede to them, in sp;:.it
and
in substance, the advantages which they claimcu.
At the time we readily absolved the First Lad'
from the imputation of hesitation and doubt in deal
in. with the question of the extension of the army
medical warrant to the naval service. But we took
leave to warn him of the evil consequences of delay
in carrying his good intentions into execution. The
event proves this warning was not unnecessary.
Week after week has passed without any further
indication of the long-expected and much-desired
" warrant" than a.repetition by the First Lord of
his assurance that the subject is still under consi-
deration. •

Aleanwhile the prospect of recruiting the naval
medical department, so as to maintain it in effici-
ency, becomes every day more remote. The army
and the Indian service have, since the army war-
rant of October 1, 1858, was issued, respectively
admitted 100, and 39 assistant-surgeons, whose at-
tainments they be estimated by the high standard
of examination which in each case they have passed.
In the navy, during the same period, three officers
only of this Class have been added to the list. Nor
can it be Said that this scant accession to the medi-
cal staff of the navy is due to a less urgent demand
for medical men in that service, for upon the most
certain information we know the very reverse to be
the fact. We find, moreover, in the Nary List, just
published—what we believe to be anomalous and
al' ogether wrong in principle—that in several ships
of the line and frigates surgeons have been appointed
to do the subordinate duty of assistant-surgeons, evi-
dently from inability on the part of Sir John Liddell
to provide the latter class of officers in sufficient num-
ber to. plea the fair requirements of the service. In the
medical schools, too, there still exists a firm deter-
mination to keep aloof from the naval service, until
the condition of its medical officers becomes assimi-
lated to that of the medical department of the army
The medical officers of the navy have hitherto
abstained from any manifestation of impatience or
discontent. They have calmly waited for the fulfil-
ment of the promises made by the Government. But
nothing could be more erroneous than to suppose
that dissatisfaction and discontent do not exist
among the officers of the department. To allow
such a state of things to continue is obviously pre-
judicial-to the public service, as well as unjust and
cruel to the class immediately concerned.
The case of the medical officers of the navy, and
the questions connected with it, are said to have
more or less occupied the attention of the Admiralty
for upwards of six months. Sir John Pakington and
those of the other Admiralty Lords who aspire to
seats in Parliament may, in the ensuing election,
seek the support of constituencies upon the ground
of fleets equipped, of ships put upon the stocks, of
ships built, and of committees appointed with a
view to the improvement of the navy. Something
also may be urged for the zeal manifested by the
First Lord that the Board should be adequately
represented in Parliament. But we should ear-
nestly advise him and his colleagues, in the event
of their being called upon to vindicate their capacity
for " despatch of 'business," carefully to avoid the
most distant allusion' likely to provoke inquiry into
the cause of the tortoise-like progress of the " war-
rant" for the reconstruction of the Medical Depart-
ment of the Navy.—Daily News.

RAILWAY ACCIDENT.—An accident of a very
serious nature occurred on the Newport, Abergavenny, and
Hereford Railway on Friday morning. A man named
Robt. Moody was driving an engine to which were attached
trucks laden with iron rails. There is a caution-board
erected at place called ‘.‘ The Summit," 21 miles from Ponty-
pool-road, instructing 'drivers of goods trains to stop there
and apply their breaks to each truck ; but disregarding this
injunction, Moody went over the Summit without stopping.
The impetus gained was uncontrollable ; the train rolled on
with fearful speed, and at last the engine ran off the line and
tumbled over, seriously injuring its mechanism, smashing
a number of trucks into small fragments, and bending up
the iron rails like willow wands. The traffic was stopped
for several hours, but fortanately no one was hurt. The
loss to the company will amount to several hundred pounds.
Moody, the engine-driver, has absconded, but a warrant
has been issued for his apprehension.
ATTEMPTED MURDER AND SUICIDE.—On Thurs 7
day a man named Francis Hopwood, who was formerly an
engine driver, was taken before the borough magistrates at
Ludlow, charged with attempting to murder his wife, and
was committed to the next Shropshire Assizes on The capital
charge.. It appears that about eight o'clock on Sunday
morning cries of murder were heard proceeding from a back
lane in Lower Broad-street. On a man named John Lewis
proceeding to the spot he saw Hopwood stabbing his wife
in the thioat: On being pursued,' Hopwood ran into his
house and inflicted a dreadful gash on his own throat. He
then ran, all bleeding as he was, to the bank of the rl •
er
into which he jumped, and from which he was withdviffil
culty rescued. He still lies in a very dangerous state ; but
the woman's wounds. I
are not so 'serious. t appears that
the pair frequently fell out, and, on this occasion, quarrelled
, about the amount of woney-_.(onl 25.. 6d.) which her hhs
I band brought home on the—preldotta-night; - ,