The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-16 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

' NORTH Barnstt.—lt appears that the directors of
this company and their late engine-drivers have not
, yet come to terms. trainsLateeora are now of daily
occurrence, and, what is frequent damage to
' the engines, owing to the ignorancemeailt o.f the persons
employed. Last week the train
.came
stand, and the fireman employed to drive it did not
know what to do ; he became so alarmed thath he
jumped off, and in doing so his foot caught t
and was severely injured. The accident happened wheel
and
a curve on the line, and had it not been for thnee
acti-
vity and exertions of the mail guard, who observed
and signalled another train approaching, it would ine-
vitably have dashed into the standing carriages, and
probably have done considerable damage. One of
the new enginemen ran the train through the Dunbar
station at full speed, but fortunately no accident ac-
cident occurred. Considerable uneasiness is felt lest
something serious should happen. The professed ob-
ject of the directors is that of reducing the men's
wages to 4s. a day when they are at work in the
shed the average wages being 64. a day. The effect
of this proceeding will be an enormous destruction of
working stock, which will soon amount to several
thousand pounds damage, as was the case a few
months ago on the East Lancashire Railway. It is
hoped that some influential shareholders will imme •
diately interfere and prevent the serious consequences
which may be expected to occur if the directors are
.allowed to persevere in their present unwise course.
NORTHERN COAL AND MINING COMPANY.-011
.Friday the affairs of this undertaking came on
before the Master in Chancery Tinney. The ti-
tioners stated that the undertaking was started
in 1838, to work, for 0 period of forty years, col-
lieries in the countywh of Durham. The capital was fixed
it
at 500,0001., power to borrow 30,000/. There
were nine directors,ecastlefoand establishments were opened
Newcastle, in London,,and Norwich. About 16,550
shares were subscribed for. Calls on the full sum of 25/.
per share were paid by 11,974 shares, with the exception
and of 11,000/ The collieries
)lant were originally
purchased by the company 1f10r330,0001., but by a re-
cent valuation were now only worth
184-1 the liabilities amounted to 70,0001.; 69,0001. In
in 1846, to
110,000/. ; in 1847, to 195,0001. ; and in IdB4B, to
150,000/. Several meetings were held, and
were proposed for paying off the liabilities
by
a pro
plans
rata assessment on the shareholders of 101. per
share; but the holders of only 4,400 shares
csanae forward, paid the 10/. per share, and
were exonerated from further liability leaving
about 90 000/ in deficit ; and to satisfy creditors and
prevent legal proceedings, the petitioners had paid out
of their own pockets nearly • 70,000/. The assets,
other than would arise from a sale of the property,
are 8,000/. at the outside. Mr. Quilter, the official
manager, informed the Master that a call of 10/. per
share on each shareholder would be necessary to de-
fray the debts whereupon the Master proceeded with
the list, and placed thereon those he considered liable.

' LANCASTER AND PRESTON.—A special meeting,
convened by requisition to the directors, for the pur-
pose of concerting measures to redeem he annuity of
4,8757. now paid to the Lancaster Canal Company as
compensaEon for their surrender of thirteen years' in-
terest in the line as lessees, was held at Lancaster on
Friday ; Mr. Bushell in the chair. By a clause in the
agreement with the Canal Company, the option was
reserved of redeeming the annuity at the rate of 5 per
cent. previous to the 13th of May next, or at the rate
of 41 per cent. after the expiration of that period.
Several propositions for effecting the object in view
were submitted to the meeting. Eventually, on the
motion of Mr. Saul, it was resolved to raise 45,000/.
by the creation of 10,833 shares of 41. 3i. 4d. each, to
oe called twelfths, a call of 4/. on each share to be paid
on the Ist of .May, and a second call of 3s. 4d. each
on the second of May. Any further sum required
to complete the redemption to be borrowod on mort-
gage.
_ _

- PARIS AND STRASBURG.—A special meeting of
this company was held at Paris on Thursday ; M. de
Segur, the President, in the chair. The report stated
that the directors had entered into a provisional
agreement with the Minister of Public Works to
construct at the cost of the company a railway from
Blesmes to Joinville. The land and works are to be
provided fur a double line of rails ; but the company
will not be compelled to lay down more than a single
line of rails until the gross annual receipts from
traffic shall have reached 18,000 f. (7201) per
kilometre. This line is to be completed for traffic
within three years after the date of the new conces-
sion. The present scale of tolls and fares authorized
on the main line, and the branch lines to Metz and to
the Prussian frontier, is to be applicable to the new
branch line mentioned. The Strasburg Company are
to pay into the treasury a sum of 3,500,000 f.
(140,0001.) fur the purchase of land, and on the
section of the line between Vitry and Bar-le-Duc.
In consideration of the company fulfilling these
conditions, they are to have the duration of the con-
cessions extended to ninety-nine years fur the main
line and all the branches. The company are also to have
the power to lay down at first only one line of rails
on several sections of the main and branch lines,
but they are to lay down the second line of rails
whenever called on by the Minister of Public Works;
except on the section from Metz to Saarbruck, and
that only when the gross traffic receipts on that sec-1
tion shall amount to 18,000 f. (7201.) per kilometre
per annum. Should the company neglect to per-
form the whole or any part of the above conditions,
the stipulations for the extension of the concession to
99 years are to be null and void. A discussion en-
sued, in the course of which it was agreed that the
directors should call the shareholders together again
on a day to be fixed, as soon as the Council of State
shall have decided on the terms of the convention.
On the introduction of the subject relating to a modi-
fication of one of the statutes which prohibited the
distribution of more than one-half of the net profit as
long as the main line remained unfinished. M. Po-
riquet proceeded to address the meeting on various
matters, and regardless of order, he persisted in speak-
ing on points not properly before the meeting. With
a view to put a stop to this irregularity the Presi-
dent declared the meeting dissolved. A scene of great
confusion ensued, and it was ultimately arranged, at
the suggestion of the secretary, that M. Poriquet
should defer the matters he had to submit till the or-
dinary general meeting on the 25th inst.

WRECK NEAR THE FERN
ISLANDS.

Oa Sunday morning last the brig Bravo, of New-
castle, William Avitt, master, which sailed on Thurs-
day last for London, was observed in the Fair Way
between Bamborough Castle and the Fern Islands
with a signal of distress flying, and shortly afterwards
came ashore on the beach immediately below the
castle. A flag was hoisted on the castle and a bell
rung, and numbers of people from Bamborough and
North Sunderland hurried to render assistance. The
wind was blowing a gale, and the sea breaking over
the vessel, and it was evident that she must soon go
to pieces. The sailors tried to get out the long boat,
which was almost instantly washed overboard, and the
surf rolled in so heavily that it was almost impossible
to launch a boat from the shore. After a gallant but
ineffectual attempt to rescue the crew by three fisher-
men of the district, and also by a party of the Coast
Guard, a messenger was dispatched for a boat to
North Sunderland, and a large coble belonging to
Lord Crewe's trustees was lashed and conveyed
to Bamborough. Eight men belonging to North
Sunderland threw off their jackets and got into the
boat, which, by the united exertions of the bystanders,
was launched through the surf. Their names
were George Wilson, mason ; William Spears, cooper,
William Berry, Coast Guardsman ; and Henry Grey,
Thomas Knox, George Tait, and Robert Burn, sea-
men ; Robert Patrick, a fisherman, taking the steer-
itig oar. The first wave which broke over the boat
nearly filled her, and struck the steering oar out of
Patrick's hand, who narrowly escaped being washed
overboard. After the most heroic struggles, amidst
the breathless interest of the spectators, and the tears
and exclamations of the women assembled on the
shore, the boat rounded the vessel, where three of the
seamen had aid down the rigging to the end of the
bowsprit, and were hanging by the ropes and sails.
The captain and his daughter, a girl of 15, had taken
refuge in the maintop, and the remainder of the
sailors clustered in the main rigging to escape the
dash of the sea. By some of the loose ropes hang•
ing over the side the boat was made fast to the ship,
at a sufficient distance, and, watching a favourable
opportunity, the girl was first taken off the wreck.
The men on the bowsprit were next dragged into
the boat, and the remainder of the crew, being
unable to afford the slightest assistance, threw them-
selves into the sea, and were rescued by the boat's
crew amid the cheers of the people on the shore. The
greatest danger to the boat's crew was still to be en-
countered. The coble, laden with 16 men, two boys
and a girl, half filled with water, and destitute of any-
thing to bale her, after the loss of one oar and the
breaking of another, was almost at the mercy of the
elements, and it would have been an act of madness
to attempt to land. The efforts of the gallant fellows
were therefore directed to keep her head to seaward,
and after several hours' exposure they were descried
by the fishermen of Holy Island, who went off, as far
as the breakers would allow, to their assistance. Most
providentially, the sea for an instant abated, and,
taking advantage of a lull, the overloaded craft was
brought into smooth water. The girl and one of the
boys were carried on shore in the arms of the fisher-
men, being unable to stand from the effects of expo-
sure. The wrecked seamen were kindly sheltered on
the island by Mr. Wilson, the harbour-master; and
leaving the boat, their preservers, half dead with cold,
wet, and hunger, walked back ten miles to their homes
at North Sunderland, where they arrived at a late
hour of the night. A more courageous and merito-
rious act has not been performed since, nearly on the
same spot, Grace Darling and her father rescued the
survivors of the wreck of the Forfarshire.—Newcastle
Paper.

EXTRAORDINARY PROCEEDINGS IN
THE CASE OF A BANKRUPT.
On Thursday an inquiry, during which circum-
stances of a most unusual character were elicited, took
place at the Bankruptcy Court, Liverpool, before Mr.
Commissioner Stevenson. The bankrupt, John La
Guarrande, of Montpelier-terrace, Upper Parliament-
street, was a merchant and broker, carrying on bu-
siness in Liverpool, his petition having been opened
on the 28th of February last. The bankrupt subse-
quently came before the Court to give information
relative to the state of his affairs, and assignees were
chosen, who were put in possession of his property,
consisting of furniture, plate, &c. On the 15th of
March intimation was given to Mr. Gaskill, the
official messenger of the Court, that. his man had been
ejected from the premises by the bankrupt. The
messenger, accompanied by Mr. Ayres, immediately
proceeded to the bankrupt's residence, and demanded
admittance by authority of the warrant. This was re-
fused. The following day an application was made to the
Court for a new warrant, which was granted. The pro-
per officers then went to the house, and took possession
without any resistance being offered. Shortly after this
the property was ordered by the assignees to be sold,
and Mr. Edwin Gaskill, auctioneer, was appointed to
take the management of the sale. Mr. Gaskill, in
accordance with his instructions, took possession of
the bankrupt's effects, and stationed six men in the
house ; but no interference being offered by the bank-
rupt, the number was reduced to two. The men re-
mained in quiet possession of the house until Monday
con-
nected last, when proceedings of a most riotous character
took place, arising out of an attempt on the part of the
bankrupt to eject the offi
made a statement coefrsthe l‘r.
clir. E.
Gaskill,stancesauc-
tioneer,
with this disturbance. The men who had
been put in the house remained unmolested until
Monday last, when threats were held out by the
bankrupt, and indications were given that they had no
right to be there. In the evening the bankrupt went
out and returned about ten u clock, shortly after
which he introduced eight men through the parlour
window, and demanded possession of the house.
The two men who were then in charge were ejected,
there being no chance of resisting the powerful
body brought in opposition to them. The police were
called upon to assist, but they would oct interfere
unless a breach of the peace took place. An addi-
tional force, amounting in all to thirteen men, was
then dispatched to the house by Mr. E. Gaskill; they
succeeded in gaining admission by the back door, and
after encountering severe opposition they overcame
their opponents and regained possession of the pre-
mises. Blows were struck on both sides, though no
serious injury was sustained by any of the bellige-
rents. Peace was restored, but it only lasted for a
short time. On the following day (Tuesday) intima-
tion was brought to Mr. Gaskill that his men were
being murdered, and he went up to the bankrupt's
house. There was a force of 50 men inside the house,