The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-10 00:00:00

rt4E SIIN, LAONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, APRIL 10 1857,

FRIGHTFUL AMIDENT AND LOSS OF
LIFE

This morning, shortly befge 11. ,o'clocic, the
greatest excitement.was caused in Great Russell-
s're.et, Covent-garden, by the occurrence of an acci-
dent which has deprived one poor man of his life,
and seriously injured three others. At the hour
above-mentioned a loud report was heard in the
neighbourhood, and •it was at first supposed that a
portion of the remaining walls of the Covent-garden
Theatre had fallen down, .but in a very short time it
was discovered that the noise proceeded from a
very narrow court called Russell-place, one end of
which faces the Bow-street police-courgt, and the
ofaer is opposite to the pit entrance of Drury-lane
Theatre in Russell-street. Until the last few days
the bohses in the court, five in number, have been
principally occupied by a certain class of ladies,
but in consequence. of the representations of the
surveyor to the Bedford estate, that the structures
were in a dangerous condition, ati order had been
issued for their deinolition, and this process was
being carried into execution by Mr. Howse, a
builder residing in the neighbourhood. Nearly
the whole of the fronts of the five houses
had been taken down, but the back wall, a
very :old one, which formed a portion of
the premises of the adjoining green yard,
was left without the slightest support, and the fall-
ing of this wall has caused the fatal consequences
above mentioned. The moment the wall, which
was nearly forty feet high, fell forward, four men
were occupied in facing it with cement, and on the
ditst clearing off it was discovered that the whole
of the unfortunate individuals had been buried in
the debris. A strong force from the F division of
pOlica 'tinder the direction of Inspector Mitchell,
immediately set to work to discover the workmen,
and ins short time police-constable, 49 F, succeeded
in rescuing one of them; John Skeen, a plasterer,
who was in
.a very shocking state, the bones of his
leg and thigh protruding through his trousers. A
man named Fitzgibbon was next taken from the
ruins,. but he had ceased to exist. This poor fellow
has left a wife and six children. The other two
men-,John Mapley and Timothy Madden, having
been dug out ot the ruins, the whole of the sufferers
were conveyed to King's College Hospital,. and on
arriving there .every attention was immediately
paid to them. The injuries the three men have
sustained are of a very serious nature, and great
fears are entertained that in one case at least fatal
results will follow.

. .
The police have taken possession of the ruins, and
the excitement has, in some degree, subsided.

ELECTION INTELLIGENCE.

STATE OF THE POLLS.
ANTRIM.

The show of hands on Thursday was in favour of Mr.
O'Hara and Lieutenanf-Colonel Pakenham. A poll was
demanded for Mr. M'Ca.rthy. Mr. John Rea, the
Ulster leader of the Presbyterian Young Irelanders,
was .also propose,cl, but retired in favour of Colonel
Pakenham. Great faCitement prevailed. The polling
is to. take place on Monday.

ARMAGH (COUNTY.)
Colonel Caulfield has retired, and Sir W. Verner and
Mr. Close have been returned without opposition.

' CAVAN (COUNTY).
Maxwell and.A.une,ley returned. Dean retired;

DOWN (COUNTY)-FIRST DAY.
Hill ... ... 4,977

Ford

4,637,

Ker

2,891

DUBLIN (COUNTY)—NOMINATION.
Mr. Hamilton was..proposed by Mr. T. G. Vernon,
seconded. by Mr. Thompson ; Colonel Louver proposed,,
and Mr. C. Cobb, jun., seconded, Colonel Wylor ; Sic
C. Domville was proposed by Mr. Henry Grattan, and
seconded by Mr. O'Neill.. The show of hands was
in favour of Hamilton. and. Domville. A. poll was de,
manded.

• r

GALWAY—CLOSE or THE POLL.
Burke 267
Gregnri,. 247
Bellew 99

' KILKENNY (COUNTY)—FIEBT DAY.
Ellis 1,800 ,
Mostyn • 626
Greene 581
(This is exclusive of the return from Castlecomer)
• • .

LONGFORD (COUNTY).
'Grey'lie, White, -aod Forbes weie nominated. The
poll is to take place on Monday.

QUEEN'S COUNTY—CLosE OF THE POLL.

Coote

~. 1 827

Dunne ... ...1,443
Fitzpatrick 1,247

SLIGO (COUNTY)---,CLOSE OF THE POLL.
Booth ... 1,780

Cooper
Ball ...

...1,753
... ... 366

WEXFORD (COUNTY)—CLOSE or THE POLL.
WMahon ... 4,300
Hatohell „.. 2,875
George ...2,525

• • WICKLOW.
.Lord Milton and Mr. Hume, the late members, and
the Hon. Captain 'Monck were proposed. Show of
hands in favour 'of Milton and Monck. Poll de-
manded.

EXPLOSION AT BELFAST.—Yesterday morning, about
half-past 10, -as the carriages were being prepared for
the 11 o'clock train at Ballymena, an engine boiler ex-
ploded, and the fireman (Wm. Sark), who was the only
one on her, was killed. The engine was raised quite:off
the rails, and carried. over two waggons a distance of
about thirty yards, when it fell on its side much battered.
The fireman was blown high in the air, and alighted in
• a field about forty- perches aeay. He was quite dead
and much mutilated. An inquest will be held to-day.
No one else wag' injured. The magnetic wires were
.smashed by the engine, and communication between
Belfast and Londonderry, was stopped until the injury
_mite repaired yesterday evening.
SELF-RIGHTING OF LIFE BOATS WITH THEIR SAILS
SET. —Yesterday some interesting trials took place with
one of the life-boats of the Royal National Life-boat.-In-
stitution, in the Regent's Dock, Limehouse, in the pre.
sence,of several experienced gentlemen. The life-boat,
'With her sails hoisted and sheets hauled taut, was turned
over by a powerful crane and parbuckle, until her masts
were perpendicularly under water, when, on being re-
leased, she_ instantly self-righted and returned to her
original upright position, and in 20 seconds self-ejected
the viater.which.bad filled her to the thwarts in the Op-
eration. This result was the more interesting as it ens
often been• disputed whether any life-boat would 'self-
right with her masts and sails up. How many sad ac •
cidents to life-boats carrying sails would probably have
been, prevented bad they possessed this important
quality of *Jell-righting.: On the whole, the experiment
.yesterday afforded much satisfaction to all who had the
pleasure to witness it, and clearly showed to what a
state of perfection the construction of life-boats. has been
brought. The National Life-boat Institution, whose
life-boats.on various parts of the coast have during the
last three Months rescued 70 persons from shipwrecks,
is about to. station this life-boat at Westport, an exposed
point on ,the west .coast of Ireland.
ATTEMPTED MEADER AT MAlDSTONE.—Yesterday
(Thursday) morning information was received by Mr:
Blundell, 'the stperintendent of the borough police at
Maidstone that- a violent' assault had been committed
upon two young women, one of whom had received such.
injuries that she was not expected to recover. On making.
inquiries it appears that the two women in question,
who- were sisters, named Margaret and Elizabeth Jones,
bore a very light character. Late on Wednesday- night
they were in company with two bargemen at the Rod-
ney' Head public.houae, in High-street, and at about 12
o'clock they proceeded with one of the men, named.
Charles Chumley, to a barge lying above the Lock-
meadows,• on the Medway. An altercation took place
on board•the barge between Chumley and the two girls,
when Chumley seized a heavy stick and struck the eldest
sister,. Margaret, a severe blow over the eye. The
younger sister then jumped up and endeavoured to leave.
the barge, when she was attacked by. Chumley in a most.
violent manner, and beaten over the head until she be-
came insensible. At a subsequent period Mr. Saunders,
surgeon, was called in, and on examining the girl found
that she . had received a large lacerated wound of the
scalp, and that her skull was fractured. She now lies
in a precarious state, no hope being entertained of her
• recovery. Chumley was taken into custody by Mr. Super-
intendent Blundell, and was brought before the borough
magistrates yesterday morning, by whom he was Ye-
' mended till the 17th inst., in order to see whether the
. injuries received by the girl prove fatal.
THE CABDRIVERS 'OF PARlS.—Recompencee, by way
of encourageMent, have just been awarded by the pre-
fect of .police.to 23. cabdrivers for their honesty in deli-
vering up articles left by passengers in their vehiclei.
• During the last year the gold, silver, bank-notes, and
securities payable to bearer deposited by the drivers with
the commissaries of police amounted to 262,206 f., inde-
pendently of a great number of articles of jewellery, and
other things of more-or less value. Certificates of honesty
have also been given to 41 other drivers, and the names
of the whole have been posted up at all Me stations .for
publii carriages.

lULDICAL PROTECTON.

•An iniahinatimi as vivid'ala that whiCh led Capt.
-Fluellea to ..detect a resemblance between Mon-
mow h and Macedon, because both began with M, is
required to discover any similitude between two
societies, hearing the same 'name, which respec' ively
exist at Cork and in London. • Each is dezignated
a Medical. protection society
•but the practical
moans whereby the two.. societies vindicate their
claim to the title differ very widely. The energies
of the Cork Medicat-Protection Society have been
for ten years earnestly directed to the honour and
interests of the profession.' At one time they com-
pelled the•late' Marquis of,Anglesea (whose naineis
now employed, by one of the Malvern hydropaths
as that of the Earl of Aldborouot?
h was used by Hol-
loway) te.cancel a medical appointment he bad Con-
ferred on an unqualified person. The dismis-
sal --of an imperfectly qualified man, to whom
had been confided the charge of the Military
Hoipital at.: Queenstown, . during the late
war, was procured through— the committee of
this Society. -By taking the park of an unjustly-
oppressed union medical officer, they compelled
the Poor-law Commissioners to cancel sealed orders
for. his dismissal. •On the outbreak'of small-pox at
Cork, they rapidly and successfully organised a
most efficient, system of vaccination. In several
cases they have boldly exposed.' the attempted im-
postures• of those .charlatans, and denounced the
disgraceful proceedings of those professional black
sheep who, thinking only of the money bags; are
willing.o do the Work of Judas, if, like him, they
may thereby fill the bag 4 they bear. The members
of the Cork Medical Protection Society have cor-
dially co-operated with the movement set on . foot
by Mr.' Griffin. They have also taken active mea-
sures to insure the support of newly..eleoted Irish
members of Parliament for the measures of Medical
Reform about to be introduced. The enumeration
of these•good services sufficiently proves how ear-
nestly they have done their work, and how strenu-
ous have been their efforts to advance the interests
of the profession; and to protect its members
against

ti The influence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit'of the unworthy takes,"
to check the inroads of quackery, and vindicate our
honour with a zeal and spirit that reflect honour on
them.

The• Lon don Medical Protection Society contents

itself with collecting the debts of its members, and
arranging the sale of practices, procuring assistants,
&c., the profits that accrue from this matter-of-fact
application of the assumed -title being devoted to
charitable purpeses. This is all that is done, and
all that the programme of the society leads us to
expect. Yet scarcely a week elapses that we do not
direct attention to some flagrant wrong done to a
member of the profession, which it should be the
duty of a medical protection society to expose. The
lamentable squabbles which from time totime it is
our painful duty to
,record as occurring between
medical men would cease were there a "Court Me-
dical" (such as a protection society would afford) to
which all disputes might be referred for adjudica-
tion. Our corporate bodies would, moreover, soon
be roused from their selfish inertness were there but
.some influential body to call them to task, and ho-
nestly and: fearlessly' vow their shortcomings. Al-
though it is, possibly, a Very serviceaVe agency for
the collection of, doubtful debts, the Society which
now exists in London, and arrogates the title of a
Medical Protection Society, has no claim whatever
to the name, and we shall gladly welcome any pro-
position to establish an association more worthy of
the designation, and more resembling in character
and'Objects that which has already rendered such
good.service to. :the trofession in Ireland.—Lancet.

TAX WAR WITH CHINA.—DESPATCH OF WARLIKE
STORES.—Yesteiday Orders 'were received by the Ord-
nance Storekeeper, Tower, from Lord Panmure, for the
immediate despatch of a large quantity of Ordnance and
Commissariat stores for the service of the troops and
fleet.serving in China. Very great activity prevailed in
the departments, and several extra labourers, besides
fatigue-parties from the garrison, were set to work, and
by half-past two.o'clock the stores were in readiness on
the wharf, waiting for lightens to. convey them to Wool-,
wich; for transhipment to the transports about to sail
with reinforcements for China. A quantity of bale goods"
were also.sent by the South-Western Railway to Ports-.
mouth, for conveyance to the same destination.
IMPERIAL BRAZILIAN MINING ASSOCIATION.—At a'
special meeting of this company held yesterday it was
agreed to carry oqt'a dissolution. A diversity of opi-,
nion prevailed with respect to the immediate necessity
of adopting this course, but it was ultimately arrange&
that: the reQoliition should be passed, the prospective,
outlay being large and uncertain. If favourable intelli•
gepee should be received before the next meeting foe
coarming thie act anadjournment may be ordered and'
other measures devised. The:Cumba vein and Duval's
shoot are the points which appear to most favourable,
bulthe latest advices are not encouraging. One of the
directors protested against the. dissolution, asserting
property could by further expenditure be made remune-.
rative but hie. opinion was not supported by the other
memneri of the board. • ,'
ILLNESS OF THE BISHOP OF GLOUCESTER AND BRIS-
TOL.—The public feeling has been awakened by reports
ofthe alarming illness of the Bishop of Gloucester and
Bristol. The Bristol Ga....ette of yesterday is authorised
to state -that the eminent physicians, Dr. Watson and
Dar, Burroughs, having been in great snxiety about him
on Saturday and Sunday last, now pronounce the
bishop to be out of danger, but in a state of extreme
weakness, and unable for the present to transot any of
the onerous duties connected with his extensive diocese.
•A SAILOR'S HOSPITAL..—The old Dreadnought hos.-
pital-ship is now entirely broken up. The lower tim-
bers were separated last week and hauled out of Wool-
wich Dockyard, the wood'and copper comprised in the
" sheer hulk" being valued at 4,0001. Although the
arrangements of the new hospital-ship now moored on
the river in its stead have been most carefully planned
and most efficiently carried out, Yet the advantage
of perpetuating this inconvenient plan for the lodg-
ment of sick sailors is very questionable. No one can
believe- that the Thames is a particularly healthy situa-
tion for the abode of the sick. It would undoubtedly
be more convenient, as it would assuredly be more
healthy, were' a handsome hospital for seamen' erected
On the banks* of the river, in place of a ship moored
in the midst of the foul sewer-waters of the Thames.
Were this
.suggestion adopted we believe that the
wealthy shipowners would willingly aid in erecting a
permanent hospital for seamen worthy of the nation
whose
,pride it is that
• •• -"Her.march is o'er the mountain waves, •
Her home is on the deep."
,--The Lancet. •
THE PRESS AND •THE ELECTIONS —When representa-
tives are being elected, every Briton, who is an elector,
becomes actually a mWnber of the Government. The
.voice of the
,people is our supreme law, but the people
(except, in these latter days, through the press) speaks
with authority only, when it determines to give power to
the opinions it holds, by giving legislative power to the
men who also hold them. Against the power of the
people there always has fought—in the beginning very
Vigorously,• now rather faintly—the power of great lords
-and men of State ; and there has fought alto, until the
ascension of our present Queen, with more or less acti-
vity, the power of the throne. The development of jour-
.nalisra has, within the last thirty or forty years, been of
• a kind to make of it, in good truth, an. opening for ever
of the dumb lips of the people. The limitation of the
time for polling, and of the other good provisions made
by the Reform Bill, have undoubtedly taken, away the
' bitterness that raged of old in an election. contest. A
"More powerful cause forthe change that has come over
our election-times is, however, to be found in the en-
larged sphere of action and the increased. tone taken by
.the public press. Through the press the nation makes
its voice heard daily ; through the press it compels at-
-1 tention daily to its
, wants and claims.--Dickens's" House-
hold Words." •

OFFICE SEEKERS AT WASHINGTON.—The gentlemen
who do the dida,tic and the reflective for the picture

'newspapers have enlarged,' in sentences more or less
leaden, upon the moral grandeur of the inauguration,
and have, with patriotic pride, speculated upon the
wonder—not to say envy—with which the bedizened am-
bassadors must 'have gazed upon the engine companies
and the Pennsylvania Militia. Admitting that we had a
fine melodrama nil the 4th inst., we have now come na-
turally to.the farce. We certainly do not think that the
diplomatic people ever witnessed at home anything like
this scrabble for place, this contest for collectorships and,
clerkships, this pothe: about post-offices—in short, if we
may use a coar4e word, this grand grab for provender..
The Malakhoff was not more closely invested than
the White House now is ; and we verily believe
that no' Russian soldier in that stronghold was in
half so couch 'danger of his life as is our vene-
rable President.. just at this time. We can easily
imagine without personal observation (for we !have
only asked for the appointment of our friend
Cass) how poor Mr. Buchanan is baited, and bullied,
and beset; how the hungry beggarsdo invade the privacy
of bedchamber, and of library, and of parlour ; how the
perpetual knocking at the portals sounds in his ears like
a certain unmentionable gentleman's tattoo—a reveille of
continually recurring wretchedileQs. We all know what
a chronic bother are the little girls and boys who come
into our arca,s for broken victuals ' • but what are they to
the hordes of mendicants coming from all quarters and
bawling for more cold pieces of patronage than any Presi-
dent ever had or ever will have ? We never before fully
appreciated the nursery line which bade our childhood
"pity the sorrows of a poor old man."—New York Tribune.
HIGH PRICE OF SLAVES,—The increasing value is
causing considerable uneasiness in some of the Southern
States of the American Union. The Central Organ, pub-
lished in the parish of Avoyelles, Louisiana, gives the
following high prices brought by the 13 field hands
at a succession sale which took place a month ago
in that parish :—Benton, aged 10 years, 1,365 dols. ;
Amanda, aged 14, 1,475 dols. ; Hayden, aged 15,
1,525 dots. ; Patsey, aged 16, 1,600 dots. ; John, aged
17, 1,820 cols; Harrison, aged 15, 1,885 dots. ; Louisa,
aged 25, 1,955 dots. ; George, aged 19, 2,000 dels. ;
Silas, aged 21, 2,020 dols. ; harles, aged 19, 2,065
dole. ; Laura, aged 16, 2,070 dole. ; James, aged 21,
2,150 dole. ; Lewis, aged 31, 2,360 dole. The New
Orleans. Bee feelingly observes;—"lt is difficult to con-
ceive hoW sla.ve labour cao be profitably applied at such
exorbitant prices. If an adult field hand is worth over
2,300 dollars, what would a first-rate negro mechanic
be worth ?

NEW T‘,ITJSIO.

Maiggerite Polka. Alexander Rosaanorf Waltz.
Argyll Galop. By Henri Laurant... and
. Co., Hodes-street.-

Those compositions reflect great credit on Mr.
Laurent. - The Polka is .well accented, somewhat
original in. its character, and not at all difficult. The
Waltz is A.melange of agreeable melody. That beau-
tiful and grand national air, "The Russian Hymn,"
is well arranged in the opening page, but wa C311L9.33
a want of sympathy with the taste that employs it
shortly afterwards for a fashionable waltz in jig tin ie.
To our mind there is something of desecration about
such handling, and it offends ns as much as a bur-
lesque oa Shakspeare does. The Galop is excell,3nt
—the very thing to .drive.crinoline and dress boots
slightly delirious. Mr. Laurent has often presented
the public with admirable specimens of his .b.lent;
and: these publications fully sustain his for Mer
efforts....

770, ' a, ''''''
p.----,At.----- .4.0 -,.. i ~......
1 I.'" kg --lit;oi
..„,41 t`t(lo U
..,.. . .7. tie ,r,..44 --.7- ' w

i7.7.2'7 01.71;11C .E,
.Sevefl, f..7ock.

Camberwell, April 21, at half-past two, and May 26, at
twelve, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Lee, official assignee,
Aldertnanbury ; Child and Son, Cannon-street.
Thomas L,:wix, draper, Nantwich, Chester, April 24 and
May 15, at eleven, at the Liverpool Disiniet Court. Tur-
ner, cfEcial assignee, Liverpool ; Sale, Worthington, and
Shipman, Manchester; Evans and Son, Liverpool.