The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-07-21 00:00:00

CONTEMPORARY PRESS.

servative candidate you are 'retarding the march of im-
provement, or the removal' of any thing that realty de-
serves the name of an abuse;. the few conservative mem-
bers that, by the most energetic efforts, you are new able
to return to the House of Commons, are only (to use a
homely and everyday illustration) like a single, horse •
that yon yoke behind a loaded cart when it iagoing down
hill, which does not hinder the carriage from proceeding
to the place of its destination, but only from going too .
fast and being overturned and broken to pieces.
Distrust anything you read in a radical newspaper, es-
pecially concerning the peerage, the gentry, the bishops,
or thefereeueit of the' chureli. The conductors of the
radical press are,not your friends; they. rely altogether
for .support upon the populace of the manufacturing
.towns, and-sell .comparatively -very few
•papers. in.,the
country. Remernber,loo, that the leiders of the. press
write anonymously;' that they are not responsible for the
measures they advise; few of them have any stake in
the country, and that, as their newspapers are printed to
he sold, they have a direct interest in- asserting rather
what is agreeable to-their readers than what is true, and
on. all occasions' preferring the interest, -of the dense
masses•efahe manufacturing towns to the scattered-po-
pulation of the. agricultural 'districts. . •
Remember, too,aliat by the provisions of the reform
act the inhabitants of the manufacturing towns, if they
possess real-property:to-the value Of 40s a year, besides,
the £lO house they reside in, (as numbers of hem. do,)
have a vote for the county as well as the borough, and'
are represented in parliament as well by their own radi-
, cal member for the borough as the whig one 'for' the
county, whilst the agricultural classes, when they have
used every exertion, are only represented by the mem-
bers for the county. Recollect, too, that radical votes
.both for boroughs and counties are rapidly increasing,
whilst the conservative interest is stationary, if not retro-
grading, . . -
Listen to no projects, however specious, for the relief
of the public burdens by the plunder of the church or the
.confiscation of tithes. The French began with the plun:-
der of their church, but they did not end there ;
.they
went on until it was a crime for any individual to be rich,
and the head of any man, suspected to be so, was not
worth two days' purchase. The day that church property
is touched, a_precedent is afforded for the confiscation of
your own. Besides, it is an infamous thing in a country
where 42 millions are annually spent in intoxicating li-
quors, togrudge3 millions per annum for a religioui esta-
blishment, , As many. poor men's sons have risen:to be
and are now bishops and 'other dignitaries of the church,
as of the titled and the rich, why join
.in this, senseleis
clamour against an estabirshMent 'the benefit; of which,
eyee,in a worldly point of view, you so fairly participate ?
.Finally, have a. proper respect for yourselves, and do
not let the. radical press make you believe delta plough
is net quite as necessary as a power loom, and'corn raised
by time one. as calk() manufactured by the other, or that a
small farmer or agricultnral labourer who goes-to church
on 'Sunday, and reads his Bible, Young's sight Thoughts,
or the Pilgrim's Progress, to his family afterwards, is not
. (pike as knowing and respectable a member of society as
the mechanic who attends an infidel debating societv,•and
readS the Poor Man's Guarlian or Tom Paine's. Age. at
ReasOn for, his private edification.
Think on these things,- and if you find them founded•
troth, act accordingly,and do not let the next election
exhibit the extraordinary spectacle of koters front,the
aariculteral district doing the dirty work of the. radicals,
labouring for the aggrandisement of an interestavhic4
when it has, through your assistance, obtained an irresis
title preponderance, will ulisregard your cemplaints and
interests, and arrogate to itself all the subteantial advan-
tages of the victory.—Cor'respondent of ;tli SiOckport
Advertiser. •

TWO DREADFUL ACCIDENTS ON THE-LON.
DON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILROAD.

Between eleven and twelve o'clock on Thursday morn•
ing, the workmen employed in forming that part of the
London and Birmingham railroad which runs from. the
north side of Primrose-hill towards Kilburn; were thrown
into a state of great consternation• and alarm by a tre-
mendous crash, which-shook:the ground where they were
standing, being heard to proceed'frem•the shaft No. 4 of
the tunnel, which is being made under, the rising ground
there, and which is to extend to some distance on the
other side of the Junction-road. There was at this time
known to be four miners and three fillers at work in the
shaft, and the greatest fear was entertained for the safety
of their lives, as it was supposed that a great portion
.of
the tunnel had fallen in. On some of the workmen pro-
ceeding to ascertain what really had occurred, they on
descending to the bottom of the shaft, 70 feet in depth
from the surface, discovered that a stupendous portion of
the top part or roof of a newly excavated part of the tun•.
nel, weighing many tons, had fallen in. But, most pro-
videntially, stx men out of the seven employed there had
escaped without the slightest injury. We regret to state
that the seventh workman, named William -Bruton, 28
years of age, was less fortunate; he was springinc, for-
ward .to jump out of the way on the alarm of danger being
given, when a ponderous piece of the falling earth struck
him shintingly across the hips and thighs, and knocked
him dtkwn with great violence, and completely buried him
underneath it; his_ groans, however, Could be diStinctly
heard„bybjs, .companions, who directlY set about extri
eating him from his.dreadful situation. This Was soon
effected, and ou the poor fellow • being brought to .the
inieith of the shaft, he was found to' have sustained such
serious injury,. that •lie -was immediately removed on a
litter to the North London Hospital, in Upper Gower.,
street, Bedford-square, where every possible assistance
was promptly afforded him. His left leg, just above the
ankle joint, was broken in such a desperate manner that
the broken part of the large bone protruded through the,
flesh to_ the extent of between four and five inches, caus.7
ing an extensive and highly dangerous flesh wound ; his ,
thighS were also much bruised and lacerated, and he had
received some violent bodily contusions. He is Consi—
dered at present in a very precarioui state. It appears
that one of the miners while at work fortunately observed.
a cleft in the clay quickly extending itself, when, being
aware of what was about to ensue, he instantly gave the
alarm to his fellow-workmen, and so narrow was their es-
cape, that in the act of jumping away from it the load of
earth fell within two inches of them. On the alarm'reach-
ing the neighbourhood of St. John's Wood, several medi-
cal gentlemen resident there humanely repaired to the
spot, to render any aid in their power. We believe no
blame is attributable to any one.
(From an Evening Paper,)
Yesterday (Thursday) morning the town of Watford,
and the country for many miles round, was thrown into a
state of the greatest excitement and alarm, in conse-
quence of a report gaining rapid circulation, and which,_
unfortunately, proved too true, that one of the shafts of
the tunnel of the intended railroad to Birmingham, which
runs through the Earl of Essex's estate, at Russell Farm
Wood, about two miles beyond Watford, had fallen in,
and been attended with an immense- sacrifice of human
life. In the course of a few hours thousands were drawn
to the spot, and the Scene that occurred is indescribable.
The wives and families of those who were employed about
the works might be aeen_ running to and fro in a state of
frantic despair, ignorant which of them hart been bereaved
of their husbands.
The following are the fullest particulars that our re-
porter has been able to obtain on the spot up to an early
hour this morning:—The shaft in which this lamentable
affair took place is situate amidst Russell Wood, a very
pictUresque spot, and the approach from Watford would
lead few
,to expect that the line of the Birmingham rail-
road was 80 feet below the spot. The shaft in question,
one of the four in this length of tunnel, (1,700 yards,) is
termed a gin-shaft, and had been sunk about 90 feet be-
low an elevated platform erected for the purpose of re--
moving the earth. The shaft has been very 'lately sunk,:
-and lay..o.aine7feet.lengths of :tunnel had been,hricketiLthe
third being, it is stated, just mined and ready for
.the-
bricklayers. The shaft was about to be bricked .yester
day morning, between five and six o'clock, by a party
consisting of five bricklayers and six labourers, w haeona,
posed what is termed the night gang; and had the ap-
palling event taken place a few hours afterwarde, the.
morning gang would have been at work, and the loss of
human,life must have been awful in the extreme. As it
is, it is impossible to state correctly the number of vic-
tims that have fallen by the dreadful catastrophe, as not
one out of the number that was. at work is left to tell thr
dismal particulars. En loosening a portion of the wood-
work previous to bricking the shaft, it is supposed the
earth gave way and buried the unfortunate men, carry-
ing the whole of the wood-work with it. When the earth
fell a horse and gig were partly buried beneath, and it
,was with great difficulty the horse was extricated, and it
was discovered that the poor animal had sustained much
injury. Fortunately, however, the man attending to the
gin heard some of the earth in the shaft fall, and, feeling
the ground under his feet giving way, he made a preci-
pitate retreat, and providentially escaped, while a dog
that was lying by his side was buried with the earth.
The falling of the immense quantity of earth into the
shaft has caused an abyss of about 35 feet deep, and about
40 feet in breadth. It presented a fearful appearance,
and it was with the greatest difficulty that other accidents
Were averted, from the imprudence of the surrounding in-
habitants in gratifying their curiosity. The names of all
the unfortunate sufferers we have not been able to ascer-
tain, but it is known that among them are Mr. Balker,
the sub-contractor; Mr. Jordan, inspector of the brick-
work ; Windmill, a labourer; and Benson, a miner, all
of whom have left wives with large families to bemoan
. their loss. The men must be buried upwards of F 0 feet
below the surface of the earth, and although 60 men are
actively-engaged in digging out the bodies, it is probable
that six or seven days will elapse before they are extri-
cated. About half-past eight o'clock last night, it was
reported to the time-keeper' of the shaft, that in driving
the heading way of the tunnel from the next shaft, the
groans of some of the sufferers were heard. He imme-
diately went to the spot, and found that the men employed
in digging had actually introduced themselves into that
part of the tunnel which was bricked over, and got hold

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