The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-04 00:00:00

THE ARRESTS.

The Westmeath Independent of Saturday has
learnt that a number of arrests had been made by
the constabulary at Shannon-bridge of persons con-
nected with a Pheenix Club, some time established
in that locality. It is further stated by the same
paper that more arrests had been made at a place
called Carrasbeg in the same district. The sub-
joined particulars in connexion with the Belfast
committals are supplied by the Dublin papers of this
morning :
" Belfast, Saturday Evening.—The examination
of the persons arrested in this town for being mem-
bers of an illegal society was continued in the board
room of the County Prison this day by Mr. Macy,
R.M., and the case has now been returned for trial
at the ensuing spring assizes. The informationA
against the prisoners were taken by Mr. Tracy, in
the presence of the Crown solicitor for the county
of Antrim, Mr. Hamilton, who was sent down
specially by Government to attend the investiga-
tion ; and, although the utmost secresy has been
generally preserved as to the nature and extent of
the evidence against the prisoners, certain facts
have come to my knowledge from an authentic
source which your readers should be in possession
of. The statements which were put forward by
some of the Belfast papers, and especially by
the Northern Whig on Saturday morning, con-
cerning the proceedings in the prison on the
previous day, had, I am assured by those who
ought to know most on the matter as having
been concerned in it from the very first, less foun-
dation in fact than in imagination, and were indeed
very bad guesses at the true state of the case. Up
to an advanced hour this evening no one but the
Government authorities knew who were the infor-
mers. All that bad oozed outT was, as I informed

you already, that the prosecution rested, not on the
evidence of one, but of two witnesses, and it was
the consideration of the hopelessness of serving his
clients in the then stage of the proceedings that
induced Mr. Rea to refuse to appear on their behalf
in the board room of the county prison. The names
of the informers have now become known, and have
created no little surprise and terror among the lower
orders of Roman Catholics in this town. The truth
of the statement, that men who are banded for an
illegal purpose cannot trust their confederates in
crime has been strikingly exemplified in this case,
for the evidence on which the prosecution now
mainly rests is that of two of the prisoners them-
selves—Hugh Carolan and John Kelly, both attor-
neys' clerks. I am informed further that the
authorities have taken these two because of the
the character greater knowledge they possess of

the society, a
- more of V
'
Lcrates to their
the informers will, of course,
several important particulars
but it is not intended to produce ate 4112.1
person who gave the information which in 'We! first
instance led to the arrests. This informatioh was
precise and true, as the result proved ; but t here
are certain difficulties, chiefly arising from the
circumstances under which it was obtained, that
prevent the author of it from being put into . the
witness box. The intimate knowledge which the
authorities have now obtained of the extent to
which the prisoners are respectively involved is
not less remarkable than the source from whi.ch
it was derived. Carolan is one of the perscais
whom every lodge seems to have considered
it necessary to enrol among the members, be-
cause of the acquaintance he was suppos
to possess with the law, and the best way of evadh ig
it. "The goods' were, no doubt, got up under tl ie
direction of such gentlemen, so that they might
appear at first sight as innocent as possible ; Irst
riveolw.:lheimrepotort,:tfopuanrdti,cutlhaersrerpesupteecdtianugthth.Oer
though the articles of merchandise have vanished,
and now informer knows their contents, and 1 Aas
not only embodied them in an information, but 'aas
transaction of business at meetings where
the other
aadnddedarsee
prisoners were present, including the one so sud-
denly interrupted by the entrance of the pollee.
The case of the informer, John Kelly, lately a clerk
in the office of the Messrs. Garrett, solicitors, is an
illustration of how little is required to get up a howl
in certain newspapers against the Government.
This is the young man on whom so much sympathy
was lavished at the time of his arrest. The most
pathetic descriptions were given of his being
dragged, in the middle of the night of the 12th of
•December, out. of his bed, while he was labouring
under consumption, and lodged within the cold
walls of a piison, for what his co-religionists gene-
rally looked upon at most as a venial offence. One
rumour after another was circulated *of his rapidly
declining health, and a fear was expressed that he
must soon fall a martyr-fo the hard-htorted cruelty
and persecution of the GoVernment Mr. Rea ap-
plied to have him admitted to bail, on the ground
that he could not survive longer imprisonment.
How Mr. Tracy must have enjoyed this ludicrous
exhibition of newspaper commiseration when ho
knew that, at the very moment when it was
greatest, the object of it was quietly giving evi-
dence which may yet transport not only his brother
conspirators of the Phoenix Club, but his own
brsthers by birth, two of whom are among the
prisoners. Very little doubt can now be enter-
tained of the result of a public trial, for Carolan
and Kelly, the latter of whom was not present at
the lodge at the time of the arrest, prove the same
facts, though the greatest care has been taken
that they should not have any 'communication
with one another. The result of the preliminary
investigation is that Hughes, a poulterer, who was
arrested in his own house on the night of Sundai,
the -12th of December, has been admitted to bail,
to appear and take his trial at the assizes ; and
that of the 15 prisoners arrested in Mrs. M‘Key's
house, 14 have been returned for trial, and bail
refused. Carolan, the approver, is the 15th ar-
rested in the lodge, and Kelly, the other approver,
completes the number."

FRIGHTFUL ACCIDE.ArT AT THE POLY"-

TECHNIoINSTI 77C2110-1.

ONE DEAD AND SIX SERIOUSLY INJURED.

Last evening, one of those terrible catastrophes
that become all the more melancholy in their cha-
racteristics owing to their occurrence at such a fes-
tive period as the present, happened at that popular
place of amusement, the Polytechnic Institution,
about 1,000 persons having been attracted to the
entertainments of the evening by the new phantas-
magoria representations and dissolving views of
Don Quixote. The audience were dispersing in a
delighted mood about a quarter, to eleven o'clock,
and the main body had passed safely out of the
building, when the melancholy catastrophe occurred
—the right hand circular staircase, which was
thronged with the last portion_ of the audience,
giting way, with a tremendous crash, amid a terrific
cloud of' dust and dirt, and precipitating itself with
some fourteen or fifteen people on it to an under cir-
cular or duplicate staircase of similar construction,
leading to the well-known lower theatre, amid the
convulsive cries and shrieks of the poor sufferers,
who were hurled from a height of some 30 feet one
upon another, to the basement of the hall below,
where they presented an undistinguishable mass of
human bangs, covered with stone and masses of
broken debris. The spectacle, it is hardly necessary
to say, was saddening in the extreme, five females
(whose names it Was impossible to obtain owing to
the 'confusion that existed and the lateness of the
hour) being extricated with much difficulty from the
superincumbent mass of fallen material, and one
child (a girl) of about eight yeart3 of age, not yet
identified. On being re7eased by the officers of the
establishment and the police who were called in to
assist, they were immediately conveyed in cabs to
the Middlesex Hospital, where we were informed
by Mr. Shaw, under whose superintendence they
were placed, that of the females, two—mother and
daughter—had suffered from fractured arms and
contusions, but not of a very dangerous character;
that the third had a broken jaw and other contusions,
and the two others had suffered fracture of the skull
with contusions, both lying in a dangerous and as
we understood critical condition. There was also
in one of the wards a boy with a scalp wound, but
not considered dangerous. Every attention is being
paid to the sufferers at the Middlesex Hospital,
and Mr. Longbottom, the manager, Mr. Hughes,
Mr. Wynne, Mr. King, and other directors of
the establishment, were unremitting until an early_
hour this morning, in attending to the wounded,
and in inquiring into the calamitous cause of the
catastrophe. This, accordidg to the account of Mr.
Cousins, the money receiver, and other officers near
the spot, would appear to have arisen from the cir-
cumstance of a number of foolish persons—the last
amongst those who had to go out—pressing too
closely on the progress of those who were making
their way down the upper stairs, which failed,
under the undue pressure put upon them, to sustain
the sudden impetus and strain, and which resulted
in the lamentaale catastrophe, although for the
last 20 years the same stairs, most substantially
constructed by the architect of the building (Mr.
Thompson), have stood their ground, de die in diem,
under the accumulated weight of hundreds of visi-
tors. Nevertheless, it must be mentioned that the
staircases, which have two spiral flights from a
centre, having been worn away by the continued
traffic of years, had been reeently cased over with
an iron lattice work on the surface from top to bot-
tom, with the supposed object of strengthening
them ; and there cannot be much doubt, from an
inspection of the material, that the masons in inter-
weaving this iron lattice work all over the steps
(which gives them the appearance of a tesselated
pavement), have inconsiderately cat too deep into
the stone, in order to fix in the iron and incorporate
it with the steps, and that it is to this excessive in-
cision, which was intended to have a stiffening and
strengthening effect, but which the sad result proves'
had only a destructive and debilitating one—that
this sad calamity has been occasioned, more parti-
cularly as the contractor had not the cleverness or
common sense to connect his iron lattice work with
the sides of the building, whicti would then itself
have formed an iron staircase, in combination with
the stone. The occurrence is the more remarkable
when it is mentioned that on Monday (Boxing-day)
no fewer than 5,000 passed in and out of the Poly-
technic, over these same flight of steps, without acci-
dent, though it mustnot be forgotten that this very
circumstance would have a tendency to try, if not to
weaken their structural strength and capability.
The establishment will, of course, have to be closed
for some time, until the staircases altogether (the
left one only on entering having fallen in) are
reconstructed or renewed; and this, together with
all other matters, will be fully considered at a.
special meeting of the directors, which will be held
to-day. Mr. Stewart and Mr. Perkins, medical
gentlemen in the neighbourhood, hastened mune l-
ately to the spot, and rendered all necessary, sur-
gical assistance.
TUESDAY MORNING,
Two O'CLOCK.
On inquiry at the Middlesex Hospital, we were
informed that the girl of ei_gmhetnyteioanrsed erhawdde still in
and
that the two females before
a critical condition. An inquest will be held
to-day.

PARTICULARS.—(THIS BAY.)
examination of the spot where the
ALAmTEieSuTte
above lamentable accident occurred took place this
and the opinion of the directors and
(
gthat the catastrophe was caused by the
morning,
in
breaking away of the top stair was confirmed.
There seems to be some very exaggerated accounts
prevalent with respect to the number of persons
injured, but we can confidently state that nine or
ten lxrBons, after having their in,uries dressed at
the Middlesex Hospital, proceeded to their homes.
At the present time there remains at the hospital
the following persons:—
Emma Pike, aged 11 years, 50, New:ngton-causeway—
laceration of leg, and fractures of both thighs; since dead.
Sarah Copping, 35, Chapel-street, Grosvenor-square--
scalp wound, depression of skull, cot els,ion of tbe brain.

& /
Catherine WoOdroW, aged 22, Foley-street severe
wound in fnco.

Fanny Hood, 84, New-road, Chelsea—compound frac-
ture of lower jaw, and concussion of the brain.
Mary Howard and Ann Howard, mother and daughter,
6, North-streei, Fitzroy-square—both fractures of left arm

NEW THEATRE - ROYAL, ADELPIII.
Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. Benj. Webster.
THIS EVENING, 3111. WEBSTER'S COMPANY IS
REQUESTED AT A PHOTOGRAPHIC SOIREA.'•
Manager, Mr. B. Webster; Photographer, Mr. J. L. Toole' ;
Memory, Miss Woolcrar ; Everybody, by Everybody else.
After,which, MEPHISTOPHELES. Mr. Paul Bedford,
Mrs. A. Mellon, Miss Keejey.
Followed by THE BIIWPIPLACE OF DODGERS. Mr.
J. L. Toole,•Mr. C. Selby, Mr. Billington ; Miss Kelly, Mrs.
Chatterley.
To conclude with the grand Christmas Pantomime, entitled
MOTHER RED CAP ; or, Harlequin Johnny Gilpin's Ride
to Edmonton. Clown, Mr. Croueste ; Harlequin, Mr. Hilde-
brand ; Columbine, Miss Hayman ; Pantaloon, Mr. Lupino ;
Sprite, Mr. Le Barr.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE,
- Lessee and 'Directress, Miss Swanborongh.
THIS EVENING, THE RULE OF THREE.
After which, the new Extravaganza, KENILWORTH ; or
Ye Queene. ye Carle, and ye Maydenne.
And THE LITTLE SAVAGE,
Commence at 7 o'clock.

ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE,
Westminster-road.

Sole Lessee Mr. William Cooke.
Dress Circle, 4s. ; Boxes, 3s. ; Pit, 2s, ; Gallery, is. ; Upper
Gallery, 6d.
During the week, the great Eastern Spectacle of THE
REVOLT IN INDIA; or, The Fugitives and their Faith-
ful Steed.
Aft..3r which SCENES IN THE CIRCLE by the Star
Riders of Europe.
To conclude with the great Operatic and Burlesque Eques-
trian "Pantomime, entitled HARLEQUIN BARON MUN-
CHAUSEN, AND HIS COMICAL CREAM COB
CRUISER. Baron 3lunchausen, Mr. W. Anson ; Harlequin,
Mr. H. Hemmings ; Pantaloon, Herr Cole; Clown, Mr. A.
F. F'orrest ; Columbine, Miss Julia Weston. The grand
Transibrmation Scene, introducing Mr. W. Cooke's beautiful
and hiwtly-tra:ned paliries, pronounced unpreeedentedly
magnificent. The new scenery, including the matchless re-
presentation of the "New Palace of the People, at Muswell
perfect gems of art.
Stage Manager, Mr. R. Phillips.
A Morning Performance of the Pantomime on the Bth, 15th,
and 22d of January, at Two o'clock.
Carriages for day performances at half-past for, and for
night representation at half-past eleven,

CANTERBURY MALL, Westminster-road.--
Proprietor --C. MORTON.
The public is most respectfully informed that the FINE
ARTS GALLERY, in connection with the above Hall, IS NOW
OPEN DAT AND NIGHT, from It o'clock a.m. until 12
o'clock p.m. The New Gallery contains an extewsive Collec-
tion of Pictures, by Ancient and Modern Masters and is also
devoted to Art productions generally. The Proprietor feels
he may confidently assert that, dewed altogether, the exist-
ing Music Hall, the New Fine Arts Gallery, and the recently
added Ante-Hall, will present an attraction which, whether
as regards the architectural beauty of the structures them-
selves, or the varied and hitherto vlattempted combinations
within, will be found to be wholly without parallel in' the
Kingdom.
The MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT commences as usual at
Seven o'clock.
In addition to the usual entertainment, the SAUVLET
FAMILY, of Amsterdam, Eight in number, whose varied
instrumental performances have created so marked a sensa-
tion in the principal cities and towns of the Continent, will
perform every Evening at Nine awl Eleven o'clock.

THE WEATHER.-SUN OPPICZ, JAN. A.

THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE.

45—highelt since noon yesterday.
11—lowest this morning and during the night.
44—this day at noon.

BAROMETER-30.53—falling.

WIND, North-Westerly; light, with foggy weather,

THE SUN.

TUESDAY. JANUARY 4, 1859.

The mystery respecting the Pheenix Clubs will
speedily be unravelled. Fourteen persons have
been committed for trial by Mr. TRACY, R.M., at
the next assizes. One of the accused. has been
admitted to bail, but it was absolutely refused for
the others, who will have to remain in gaol until
the time of trial, unless an application to one of the
Judges of the Superior Court, to be liberated on
sureties, should prove successful. It is impossible
to state, with any degree of certainty, the nature of
the evidence to be offered against the prisoners. It
is positively asertecl that there are two approvers,
TICCIT CAROLAN and JOHN KELLY, both attorneys'
clerks, and persons highly trusted by the different
clubbists, who were astounded at the notion of their
becoming traitors to the cause. It is more than
hinted that several others were quite willing
to obtain exemption for themselves by informing
against their associates, but that the Crown pro-
secutor considered that there was quite sufficient
evidence without bringing others into the field.
There can be no doubt on that point. If one tainted
witness cannot be trusted, twenty of a similar class
are equally unworthy of credit. There must be
corroboration from independent and trustworthy
sources, as well as a verisimilitude that will satisfy
an impartial jury that the man who has turned
King's evidence is telling the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing hut the truth. He must also be
corroborated not only respecting the facts, but the
persons, for nothing would be more easy than to
state what had actually occurred, substituting one
name for another, and casting the stigma on an
innocent person that should properly belong to a
guilty but favoured associate.

Why, then, it may be asked, should there be two
approvers? Simply for the satisfaction of the
law officers, who will have greater confidence in the
accuracy of a story when confirmed in all its mate-
rial incidents by another person, who had no
opportunity of concocting a tale together. With a
jury it may, and doubtless will, be said that these
persons might have entered into a previous conspi-
racy to betray their associates, or that they might
have been enabled to meet and compare notes since
their arrest, The authoriti's can, however, ascer-
tain to a positive certainty whether any, and what,
weight should he given to such arguments, and
may satisfy themselves; with what would be insuffi-

dent to induce a jury to return an adverse

verdict.

But why should there now be conspiracies in
Ireland ? Why should our Hibernian brethren
desire to exchange the mild rule of QUEEN VIC-
TORIA for either a military despotism or a wild
democracy ? If they becalm e French citizens the
Press would not exercise the same freedom as at
present. Nor would any, from the highest to the
lowest, possess the liberty that they now enjoy.
It would be worse to be Americanised, for in any
struggle in which our rather pugnacious uncle SAM
should happen to become involved, Ireland would
be the vulnerable point which would receive the

first and the heaviest Now, that is to say, sr ,ppos-
ing, for argument sake, that the conspirators could
for a moment succeed in achieving the r objects,
and changing the government of the country. But
they know little of the power o: resources
of Great Britain, or the devotion ard loyalty of
the vast majority of the inhabitants of the sister
kingdom, if they could for a moment suppose
that such a result was possible. No, -we be-
lieve that the people of Ireland are faithful
subjects. There may be, as there are in every
land, exceptions to the rule men who, like
Simon Tappertit, fancy that it is a great thing
to be engaged in a conspiracy. , We can almost
fancy the grocers' assistants and attorneys'
clerks swelling with even greater importance
than that assumed by the " three tailors of
Tooley-street," when planning a provisional
Government after the overthrow of the existing
dynasty, in which every one present was to take a
leading part. The drilling, too, the acquisition rjf
the goose-step, was doubtless another incitement;
but the great temptation of all was the fact
that the meetings were held at publichouses,
and that the leading members of the new Govern-
ment did not part without imbibing sundry modest
quenchers, which, if supplied at the expense of
the general body, were accepted with tenfold gra-
tification. •

It may be thought that it would have been be-
neath the dignity of the Government to notice such
ridiculous and abortive demonstrations, but this is
a grave mistake. Treason is always infectious,
no matter how diluted may be its character, and
if prevention be better than cure, it is surely
far better to nip such a system in the
bud than to permit it to extend its rami-
fications, and to bring thdusands of • heed-
',less• persons within the meshes of the nets spread
ft 'r their reception. In doing so they have de-
so,-wed the thanks and gratitude of the entire
community. They have taught the salutary
lesson that, although there may be "honour
amono thieves," there is none between con-
spirato."s• They have, by consigning a few
dangerot is lunatics to the hulks or more probably
the treadznill, saved ten times their number from
the bullet, , the bayonet, or, worst of all, the gallows.
We may fairly give the legal authorities credit for
believing that they would not have taken such steps
unless the actual facts fully warranted them in so
doing.

The frightful catastrophies resulting from some
in a public building crowded to
mere idle panic,
inconvenience with a dense multitude collected
together in quest of excitement—religious, musical,
or theatrical—are latterly becoming rather fear-
fully multiplied. There was that destructive crush
in the Surrey Gardens Music Hall, when Mr.
SPURGEON was preaching. There was that almost
equally destructive crush in the Music Hall at
Sheffield, when an explosion of gas, or the snap-
ping of a lucifer match, drove two or three hundred
people half distracted. There was, finally, only
the other afternoon, towards the evening of Boxing-
day, the terrible and fatal accident on the gallery
staircase of the Victoria Theatre, when sixteen
unfortunate boys and striplings, ranging from
eleven years of age to twenty, were suffocated for
the very same deplorable reason—the ignorant and
causeless panic of a large concourse of people. In
every instance of this kind that has occurred—the
danger to the multitude lay altogether with them-
selves. Had they remained quietly in their places
when the rails of the gallery balustrade
cracked in the Surrey Gardens Music Hall
—When the glare of light ran along the gas-
pipe in the gallery of the Music Hall in Sheffield
—when the youth's coat tail was ignited by a fuzee
box in the gallery of the Victoria Theatre—nothing
lamentable, in any way, could have happened.
Whoever leant against the balustrade in the first
instance might have had a tumble that would have
broken no bones, and have been picked up again as
though nothing had occurred. In the third instance
particularized, the one in which sixteen unhappy
lads were suddenly snatched out of life—the loss of
a coat tail would have been the whole extent of
the misfortune. While in the second instance—no
evil result of any kind would have remained to be
recorded—for, however alarming the flame may
have appeared to be, there still remains, at Sheffield,
unscorched, uninjured, the Music Hall supposed to
have been threatened at the time with a conflagra-
tion.

The unthinking panics that have thus thrice
caused, within so short an interval, such a really
lamentable destruction of human life, are surely
very sad spectacles indeed for contemplation. There
is an evidence in each case of such a total absence
of any power of self-command, of rational reflec-
tion, of what is termed reasonable self-
possession. The safety of a crowded audience
appears to be at all times extremely precarious.
A frivolous cry of Fire, raised by misapprehension
or by way of a brutal practical joke, may at any
instant—experience has recently proved this only
too plainly—result in one of these disastrous cata-
strophies. The knowledge of this deplorable expe-
rience ought to be extended far and wide—if only
for the better inculcation of the lesson of prudence
it enforces. And that ?—simply that the wisest
thing each individual in an audience can possibly
do in the event of any alarm is t. 6 remain perfectly
quiescent. Had this been the course pursued in
the three miserable instances already specified—
Mr. SPURGEON might have finished his discourse
almost without any noticeable interruption, the
musical performance at Sheitafield might have ended
harmoniously, and the Victoria Pantomime on
Boxing-day might have closed its first performance
hilariously instead of with this hideous denouement.
Another reflection forced upon us by the frequent
recurrence of these deplorable accidents—a reflec-
tion, moreover, particularly noticeable in a moment,
as it helps in some measure to furnish a clue to the
cause of each catastrophe—is that which points to
the generally inadequate egress there is for an
audience collected together in the majority of our
places of public entertainment. If we remem-
ber rightly it was Mr. HARRISON, the eminent
tenor singer, who directed attention not very long
since to the fact of there being some half-a-dozen
doors carefully nailed or locked up, here and there,'
about Drury•lane Theatre, seldom if ever opened on
any occasion whatever, and which doors only re-
quired to be opened almost to double the facilities
for the passage out into the stairs, of the audience
assembled within its walls. In the reconstruction
of our theatres of late due regard, it is gratifying
to note, has been paid to this important, often, it
has proved, vitally important, accommodation. It
is so, for example, iu the Great Opera House in
Covent-garden. It is so, likewise, in the admirable
theatre reconstructed from the foundations to the
roof-tree in the Adelphi. Let the points of egress
be thus multiplied, and the audiences, in any case of
alarm, remain quiet until the nature of the alarm
and the reasonableness of it can be ascertained, and
we shall then, but not till then, be guarded
from a recurrence of these horrible catastrophies.

ROYAL NEW YEAR'S GIFT.—Her Majesty the
Queen, as is her usual custom, has commanded to be de-
spatched from Windsor two fine sirloins of beef as a New-
year's gift to the ex-Queen of the French at Claremont. _

LATEST NEWS.

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