The Sun.
London, England, 1845-06-23 00:00:00

sent had come prepared to divide, rather than to hear or de

rate. The interests involved were those of the Great Western and
London Bitmingham lines; and it was clear that both of these
powerful, Companies had been active in exerting their influence.
It is somewhat awkward that the Select Committee and the Coin.
Inittee of the BoArd of Trade should be directly at issue as to the
merits of the two competing schemes, even after Air. Shaw had
very ingeniously suggested a loophole to the Bard of Trade, by
suggesting• that if it had Ind before it the whole of the facts it
would have decided in the same way as the Select Committee had

done, after sitting twanty.five days and examining more than a
hundred witnesses. Sir George Clerk would not compromise the
opinion of the Board of Trade, and insisted that it bad heard all
that was worth bearing; which it possibly might have done with-

out listening to the hundred witness power of testimony that the
Committee had patiently endured, in addition to "counsel at great

length "—a horror which the phrase, suggestive as it is of

suffering, gives one but a faint conception of. All this, too, tor
the purpose of deciding a question which, according to Mr. Shaw,
the Chairman of the Committee, a glance at the map is bliffiCiClit

to settle. But " counsel at great length" would soon succeed it
destroying, ty their own longitude and latitude, any plain and de.

finite notions derived from eglance at the map, and we are not sur-.

prised at the difficulty experienced by the Committee in getting
their heads clear again. We cannot quit this subject without say-
ing a few words about the very characteristic speech of the Pre.

mien, He, indced, almost surpassed himself In tact, for he ccrn.

trivet! At the ssme time to present apetition one way, vote another,

and make a apeecb quite independent of either. The professor
who playa the &Um, the Pandean pipes, and the triangle all at
. . . _

once, is an indifferent performer compared with Sir Robert Peel

who can manage three different tunes at once without any very

apparent discord.—Times.

ATTACK UPON AND Ai'TEMPT TO DROWN THE
POLICE AT THE MOULSEY ftsice-CovaSs, 'We regret to state that
some time after the conclusion of the races on Moulsey Hurst, on
Thursday last, an attack of a most fearful nature was made upon
the police remaining on the course, and a most determined attemp,
was made to drown three of them in the river. It appears that
after the withdrawal of the A division, the course Was placed
in the charge of a party of constables of the V division. There
was still a large number of gipsies and ether loose character;
hanging about, and, towards nine o'clock, a fight was got up
amongst them. The police interfered, arid took one of the corn.
batants into custody, and led him to the ferry, for the purpose of
conveying him to the Hampton station, there being no station at.
Moulsey. At the ferry they were surrounded by a mob of be.
tween three and four hundred gipsies, aial other low and despe-
rate characters, most of them armed with sticks, by whom the pri-
soner a•as rescued, and the police were dreadfully beaten. Police.

constable John awls and two others were deliberately thrown

, --....
into the river. Fortunately at that juncture 'assistance carne— up,
and, there being several boats at hand, all three men were resued
from a watery grave. Davis, when taken out, was, however, quite
insensible, and was conveyed to the station at Hampton, where he
was promptly attended by a surgeon. In the early part of Satur-
day morning the symptoms were less severe, and hopes are en-
tertained that his life will be preserved. The other twopolicemen,
who were also thrown into the river, were severely Noised and
injured by the blows they received. Since the occurrence the
police authorities have captured seven of the ringleaders in the
affray, who were on Saturday examined before the magistrates at
Kingston. They were all remanded.

PitiGHTFUL A ccIDENT.—On Saturday a frightful
occurrence took place in the ship.building yard of Messrs.
Wigram, Blackwell, by which a fine young man, named George
King, aged eighteen years, has received such serious injuries that
his life is despaired of. It appears that he was employed in oiling
some portion of the machinery which has recently been erected
for the manufacture of iron to be used in the construction of a
steam frigate for her Majesty's Government, when by some means
he became entangled in the straps attached to the drum of the
engine, and he was %vilified round and round with fearful velocity
for three or four minutes. His screams were heard all over the
yard. The engine was stopped as speedily as possible, and the
poor fellow was extricated in a dreadful condition. Mr. Baths,
surgeon, was seat for, when it was ascertained that his left thigh
was completely smashed, his left shoulder dislocated, and his
right arm broken, besides having received several cuts and con-
tusions about the head, face, and chest. After receiving all the
attention from Mr. Baines that his case demanded, ha was con-
veyed to the London Hospital.

TIIE LATE INHUMAN OUTRAGE.—Mr. Fletcher,
the surgeon, has pronounced the poor women Harris, whose hus-
band inflicted upon her such brutal and beastly injuries, a short
time ago, out of danger. She was, however, not-sufficiently reco-
vered to attend at the petty sessions on Wednesday, where her hus-
band was brought up, but two magistrates, Mr. Ricketts and the
Rev. W. Vernon, went to her residence at Stoke. The injured
woman prayed the magistrates to bind her husband over to keep
the peace. Her request was complied with, and he was ordered to
find security in 50/. ; failing to do so he was committed to prison,
and taken back to Worcester. The reason Mrs. Harris was
anxious her husband should not be proceeded against for the capital
offence was her dread that she should be obliged to go into the
union workhouse, in case he were quite taken away from her.—
Worcester Chronicle.

Tut; IRON SrECuLATION.—The bubble has burst
at
o last.
be
bought Pig-iron, re
at t, which was selling at 61. two months ago, can
now
555. a ton; and is, under present circumstances,
, 'i
a dangerous speculation even at that figure. Fine calculations
appear in the papers, going to prove that iron really ought to bring
71. a ton, or more; and yet people are so blind to their own inte-
rests that they will persist in giving only 555., when they ought to
be giving at least double. It will not do to tell us about new rail.
roads going on. The iron works can provide for them as fast as
the Legislature will pass their Acts. We should like the ques-
tion solved—What is to be done with the enormous quantity of
iron now storing for behalf of speculators? How is this addi-
tional quantity to be got rid of ? How is our foreign trade to be
recovered ? how is our home trade to be revived ? Certainly in
no way but by a season of continued low prices. We wish
makers would see it their interest to face the matter at once, and
reduce prices to a figure that will encourage consumption at home
and cause exportation to foreign countries. Instead of pursuing
this course, however, they hold their meetings, and say the price
is 41 Ins., when it can be bought at 555. Now this state of
things cannot last. Their order books may be full now, and they
may think themselves independent of prices for six months to
come; but these months will pass over, and they will then End
that most of the orders now executing, and most of the iron new
being produced, will enter into competition with their future make,
and, in all probability,. force down prices lower than ever,—Glasgow
National.