The Sun.
London, England, 1850-12-31 00:00:00

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NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY.
MONDAY NlGHT.—There can be but little doubt,
from what has transpired during this day (Monday)
that the dispute between the authorities of the London
and North-Western Railway end their engine-drive=s
is all but settled. The notice issued by the directors
on Friday night and submitted to the men of the
southern division individually, has had the effect
which was desired, not only on the part of the com-
apa friendly
nybuton the part of the public, and all who have
feeling towards the men themselves.
Our information having been derived from official
sources may be relied on, and from this it appears
that at the present moment there are 138 drivers
upon the northern division and Grand Junction por-
tion of the North-Western Railway, and about 130
drivers employed upon the southern division, which
comprehends the whole of the line between London and
Birmingham and its branches. The notice referred to had
up to a late hour last evening been handed to about 210
of the drivers, who were at the time of its presentation
called upon to reply to the question—" Are you pre-
pared to remain without strike in the company's
service ?" And the result which this has produced
was satisfactory, as, with the exception of some 20,
the whole of the men replied in the affirmative, and
elected to remain in the employ of the company. At
the Camden station there are, Including the men en-
gaged iu the New West India Dock Junction line, 53
drivers and 53 stokers. The question previously quoted
had last night been put to the vest majority of 'the
men ;. and our information is, that, without an excep-
tion, the men expressed themselves satisfied with their
present position.
It will be le membered that the whole of the dis-
pute originated with the proposal of the locomotive
superintendent of the northern division, Mr. Treve-
thick, that the men should give and receive a three
months' notice, instead of a fortnight, as at present;
and the information derived from the north yesterday
is, that the men, upon mature reflection, instead of a
" strike," or anything approaching to it, have come
round, and agreed to the three months' notice. The
whole cause of grievance is thus removed, and this
augurs well for the belief with respect to the men of
the southern division, who had no cause of quarrel or
complaint of their own, that if they adopt a spirit of
forbearence as well as discretion, all may let be ar-
ranged to the mutual satisfaction of the directors and
their employis.
Should tile unfortunate differences have resulted in
" strike," there cell be little dpnbt but that it
might have resulted in serious pectiokry eons, querces
to the company arivl inconvenience to the public, but
the men themselves must also have been sufferers to
a much greater extent, for it is quite clear, from
all that heti transpired, that there _is now no longer
that dearth of good and efficient engine drivers which
necessarily existed when railways first came into
exigence. In preset- of this it is asserted upon un-
doubted authority, that in reference to the northern
dividon of the line, applications -for employnient as
drivers bud, up to yesterday, been received froth no
less than 230 men ; and 26 new hands have been al-
ready engaged, and are actually working in the
engine sheds, ready for any emergency of the com-
pany. Upon the southern division applicationa have
been received from 128 men, and 42 have already
been engaged. It is also stated that these men have
individually accompanied their applications with tes-
timonials of a most satisfactory character; but, never-
theless, it must be borne in mind that it not only re-
quires a practical knowledge of a locomotive engine,
but of the line on which it has to run, and therefore,
in this instance, a large amount of local knowledge is
required to be added to efficiency in other respects.
It would appear that the directors of the company
feel their position so strong that they have com-
pletely turned the tables upon the pen, and have
given notices to thirteen or fourteen men of the
southern division, but it is believed that this will not
be extended to above two or three men. It is stated
that the mien thus selected for notice of dismissal are
the most ieefficient men upon the line, and notices
have also been served upon them that they must give
up their cottages rented of the company in a week ;
but in order not to inconvenience them, they have
been inforined that should that time not prove enough
to enable them to remove their furniture, a larger in-
terval, upon information being communicated to that
effect, will be permitted.
_Should the present drivers and firemen consent to
remain in the company's employment there will be no
desire to dismiss them ; and although so many new
hands have been engaged, ample employment will be
found in the-.shops and elsewhere on the line, as it is
calculated that at least eighty additional drivers will
he required in May next in conseqUence of the
Industrial Exhibition.

It really would appear, from all that can be col-
lected even from the mouths of the men themselves,
that the drivers of the southern .division have no
ground of complaint themselves, but they at the out-
set made the dispute betiveen the nerthern mpn and
the company their own. There is not one amongst
those our reporter has conversed with but admits the
consideration with which . the men are individually
an&collectively treated. A reference to the pay-list
vr---cin--put-v n on, o ',unto am.,
train drivers from tho Euston terminus, eleven of
them have received upwards of Si. per week each in
wages ; and that upon the Banbury branch (the work
upon branches being easier than trunk-line traffic)
two men have received respectively 3/. 15s. 4d. and
3/. 16'. as wages for the past week. It is only jus-
tice to the men to state that this high amount of
wages resulted from working over-time, but still it
is a rate of pay which probably no other class of
mechanic can expect to realise. In addition to this
the directors give 51. per annum to the drivers'and 31.
to firemen, as good conduct, premium.
The matter rests thus—the three months' notice
upon the northern division has been generally as-
sented to by, the men, and the fortnight's notice upon
the southern' division has not been disturbed ; for as
the resolution to the men to agree to three months'
notice extended to the whole of the line, and it has
not been acaepted upon the northern division, of
course it falls to the ground as far as the southern di-
vision is concerned, and although it is stated that the
directors would regard it as a grateful concession
upon the part of the men south of Birmingham to
suggest that a month's notice should henceforth be the
rule, they are not themselves, at all events at present,
about to propose it.
In the North of England it is generally considered
by employers that, owing to a variety of causes, a
longer notice is required from workmen than in the
vicinity of the metropolis, and accordingly it is stated
that upon the Liverpool and Manchester line, which
is the oldest in the kingdom, the original custom was,
the men to deposit 251. as a good conduct guarantee,
and to give three months' notice. If their conduct
was grossly bad the deposit was forfeited. Recent
legislation has, however, rendered the deposit system
unnecessary, but the three months' notice still re-
mains, and this it appears was the precedent which
Mr. Trevethick was no doubt anxious to adopt; the
three months' notice, however, being given on both
sides, and not as has been stated, being extorted from
the men to the directors, whilst the directors gave the
men only a fortnight.
The January time-tables have been issued, and
with the exception of about a dozen trains, which are
either stopped or altered, no change is perceptible.
At the same time perfect arrangements have been
made as to the stoppage of a large number of trains,
should the directors be placed in such a dilemma as
to render such a course necessary, and yesterday, the
following announcement was posted at the Euston ter-
minus :
" LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY—NOTICE.
" The public are requested to take notice, that the
usual time-bills for January, with the following altera-
tions, will be issued on Monday, the 30th inst., but the
directors must, upon the present ceeasion, reserve to
themselves the power of withdrawing such bills at any
moment, ;for the purpose of substituting another bill,
showing a considerable reduction of trains, which has
been prepared, and is ready for issue Should such a
course become necessary."
A special reference to the trains the running of
which has been altered is then made.

MERICLAND' A STORY OF SCOTTISH LIFE. 13y
the author of ;Margaret Maitland." Of all the new authors
who have during the last season or two come before the
public, the writer of "Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret
Maitland" has created perhaps the most favourable im-
pressbla on the reader, and great, therefore, has been the in...
terest felt respecting the new novel from her pen, under the
title of " Merkland, ' which has just appeired. It is, like
its predecessor, a dome.tic story of Scottish life, of the
deepest pathos—one of those fragments of family history
that at once rivets the attention of the reader, and holds it
firmly till he is made acquainted with the whole chain of
strange and even fearful incidents that form the story.
There can be no question that as an illustration of the do-
mestic affections under very singular trials, and with circum-
stances that render it as impressive as it is interesting, the
tale of " Merkland" will sustain the reputation of the de-
servedly popular author of " Mirgaret Maitland."—Erening
Paper.

S tiFFOC A Tl{iN IN A CHURCH.—Considerable excite-
ment was-produced in Reading, on Monday evening, by the
discovery that a man had been suffocate:Li in the stove vault
St.of Mary's Cifurch. This edifice is warmed by air, hosted
in an apparatus placed in a vault of the church. For the last
two years and upward', a man, named. William Beesley, has
been employed attending to the, fires, and it was his custom
to go to the vault every Saturday eveningin the winter to
light the fires. lie was seen between eleven and twelve
o'clock on Saturday night as he was going to the vault.
Nothing more was seen of him ; and his absence throughout
Sunday end Monday having excited suspicion, the vault was
visited, and he was discovered quite dead, lying on his back
in front of file stove, the appearances indicating that he had
been suffocated by carbonic acid. A jury next day returned
a verdict of " Died from suffocation."
THE LEwIS.—We learn that on Me. and Mrs.
Matheson leaving Stornoway Castle for the season, the latter
caused a quantity of bedding and clothing to be supplied to
Dr. Miller for the use of his poorer patients. The gift will
no doubt be judiciously used, and will prove of much benefit
to those for whom it was intended, and thus the kit d feel ng
which de:Anted the gift will be gratified. During th, r
long stay in Stornoway Mr. and Mrs. Matlrson more and
more: :endeared themselves to the What itents,—lnverness
Courier.