TEbe ifirobintts.

The Dean and Chapter of Exeter have addressed a memorial to the Archbishop of Canterbury, pray ing him to consult with his clergy as to the best means of settling the diversities in the celebration of divine service which agitate and weaken the Church, by a general concurrence in the interpretation and observance of the Rubric.

A meeting of Wiltshire labourers was held at Goatacre, on Monday, to make known their distressed condition. The Chairman was a Dis- senting minister, but all the other speakers were of the labouring class,

Including two women. The tale of each was of wretchedness and half- starvation caused by low wages and precarious employment. One man stated, that after paying rent and buying firing and shoes, he had four Shillings a week to keep eight people—sixpence a head for food weekly. The rest made similar statements. One declared, that but for a small allotment he held, his family must starve; and several said, if they were allowed to rent a small portion of laud they would be comfortable. Some spoke with regret of factories which had once existed in the neighbourhood, and of which the reopening would have a favourable effect on wages. The speakers called for a repeal of the Corn-laws : the Chairman giving the key-note in that strain.

Sir James Williams, of Edwinsford, has set the liberal example in the county of Carmarthen of giving his tenants permission to kill game on their lands, or of inviting any qualified persons they think proper to do so.— Welshman.

At a numerous and most respectably-attended public meeting in Cheltenham, on Friday evening, it was resolved that in future the shops of the town should close at eight o'clock in summer and seven in winter ; and a committee was appointed to obtain the adhesion of shopkeepers to that resolution.

The grocers and provision-dealers of Worcester have resolved to close their shops at eight o'clock.

The Grand Junction Railway Company have erected baths at their extensive workshops at Crewe, for the use of their workpeople.

The Birmingham Journal of Saturday last announces that the fund subscribed for public baths in Birmingham amounted already to 3,000/. ; "the joint contribution of comparatively few individuals, and most likely to be largely increased."

Inquests have been held on the bodies of those who were killed by the accident near Nottingham on the Midland Counties Railway, on the 21st instant; and the evidence puts us in possession of a better account of the causes than that which was received on Saturday morn- ing. It is important.

The inquest on the body of Mr. Varnalls began before Mr. Swan, the Coroner, at Old Lenton, on Friday ; was resumed on Tuesday, and was continued from day to day. The room was crowded with spectators. Messrs. Wadsworth and Patchitt appeared to watch the proceedings on 'behalf of the Railway Company, and Mr. Brace Campbell on behalf of Mr. Lightfoot, a managing clerk in the Company's employment. 'William Varnalls, the deceased, was about sixty-five years of age : he had been butler to Mr. Ichabod Wright of Mapperley, but was out of business at the time of his death. He had been visiting Mr. William Gel! at Nottingham ; and was in good health, but lame, and very corpulent. The inquest on Mr. Dean, who was travelling with his sister-in•law and a child, was also begun on Friday, at Nottingham, before Mr. Browne ; was resumed on Monday, and was continued from day to day. Mr. Varnalls died from loss of blood, which flowed from a broken leg. The physical cause of Mr. Dean's death was remarkable- " Mr. Sibson, the house-surgeon, is of opinion that death arose from the body of Mr. Dean having been suddenly arrested whilst proceeding with great velocity and immense momentum ; whilst the large viscera had retained their motion, and were thus dashed against the parts which lay anterior to them. Thus the liver was torn from its ligaments, and all the large vessels which run into it ruptured, producing great internal hemorrhage ; whilst the brain was dashed against the skull with such force as to cause considerable effusion on the sub- stance of the brain. There was scarcely any external injury, with the excep- tion of a few scratches and a contusion of the lumbar muscles."

The evidence at the two inquests was the same ; but as a better ver- sion was sometimes given at one, sometimes at another, we take the two together ; beginning with that at Old Lenton.

Of the two pairs of rails constituting the railroad, that used for trains going from Nottingham towards London is called the "up-line " ; the other, the "down-line." The Beeston station is about three miles from Nottingham. A train arrived at Nottingham from Derby a little before two o'clock, with coals ; but just above the Wilford gate, it came back along the up-line, to be turned into a branch-line for coals. On this railway, the "points," or moveable pieces of rail that are used to pass from one line to another, are "self-acting ": by some accident they did not work properly ; and, throwing the train into confusion, the engine went on one line and the tender on the other : the tender was thrown off, and could not be moved ; blocking up the up-line. Several men came to the spot ; and Kearsley, an engineer, sent Howitt, the Wilford gate-keeper, to Beeston, to stop a train expected from Derby ; as the next two trains from Nottingham would have to go on the down-line. Before Howitt reached the Beestoo station, strain from Nottingham, go- ing along the down-line, passed him on the engine was Mr. Lightfoot. the station-master and manager at Nottingham. At Beeston, this train was transferred to the proper line. As soon as Howitt arrived at the station, he told Mr. Raven, the station- master, to show a red board "up the line"—that is, towards Derby—as a signal to stop any train coming from that direction ; which was done. It appears that Mr. Lightfoot had also come to Beeston in consequence of the accident. Exactly at three o'clock, a train arrived at Beeston from Derby ; and it stopped on seeing the signal. What followed is thus related by Howitt- " Mr. Lightfoot said, 'You and I will go down by the train to Nottingham.' 1 said, We had better wait until the train from Nottingham comes up ; it may come on this line.' Ile said, 'Oh, no, it will come up on the right line: John Searsley's there, and he will see all But,' I said, it may come up this line.' I believe that Mr. Lighttoot went to the engine. 1 rau iuto the station-house, and said to the station.master, If I were master here I should not let that train go down until the up-train has come, for it may come up this line.' "

The Coroner—" Stop, I shall not put that down."

A Juryman did not see why it should not.

The Coroner said, because it was merely a conversation affecting Mr. Light- foot, and it was not legal evidence. Mr. Patel:tilt contended that the evidence ought not to be received. Mr. Campbell said, that if he were disposed, he was entitled to object to the evidence; but he would not, lest it should be misconstrued against him. The Coroner said, it was most decidedly illegal evidence ; and if the case should ever come into a court of justice, no judge would allow it, if, there- fore, Mr. Lightfoot objected to it, he would not take it. Mr. Campbell—. I do not object to it."

After a sharp discussion among the Jury, the Coroner consented to take the

evidence. The witness repeated it; adding, ur I said 'It should stat art a quarter past three, and it is three o'clock now.' I considered Mr. Raven was the station-master, and said this expecting him to stop the train, (although Mr. Lightfoot was there,) for I thought he had that power. I then ran to the sta- tion, and got up to the guard. I don't know the Derby guard's name, but I think it is Cooper [Coleburo]. I said to him, • Now, if I were master, I would not let this train stir until the other has come up.' He said, ' Why not ? ' " The evidence was again interrupted by the question whether the conversa- tions were to be admitted.

Mr. Patcbitt rose and addressed the Court ; observing, it was highly probable, whatever might be the result of this inquiry, that ulterior proceedings would be taken in the matter. He was instructed by the Company to furnish them with every possible facility for prosecuting the inquiry ; but he was bound to remark, that the Jury, pursuing the course adopted by some of their body, were defeat- ing the very ends they so palpably bad in view. For if the notes of the Co- roner were thus to be overloaded with extraneous matter, and it could be shown to the satisfaction of a superior Court that the Jury had in any manner founded their decision upon it, he had not the slightest doubt that the whole proceed- ings would be immediately quashed. Another conversation then ensued ; and it was agreed that the Coroner be requested to erase this answer, as well as that respecting which there had been a dispute, from his notes.

Mr. Campbell hoped the Jury would also erase it from their minds. The Coroner promised, in summing up, to make a remark to that effect. He could not legally take down conversations like these ; but if the Jury wished, he would ask the witness his opinion, which he might give, as he was supposed to have skill and knowledge in the matter.

Examination resumed—" I was of opinion then, as I am now, that it was not prudent of Mr. Lightfoot to let that train go down, because there was danger of a collision with an upcoming train. I warned the guard when I got up, and the train started directly."

[On a subsequent day, Mr. Swan said that he should receive evidence of this nature, as it might have a bearing on others besides Mr. Light- foot.]

Mr. Thomas Cooper, a lace-manufacturer, was waiting at the Beeston station, intending to go to Nottingham by the Derby train, which had been delayed beyond its time; and he overheard what passed- " Mr. Lightfoot there got off, and came back to the station-house. He went into a little room, began to talk to a policeman; and I overheard Mr. Light- foot say that there was a tender off the line, and that was the reason they came on the down line ; and he had come to stop the Derby train. After they bad been talking some time, the policeman fetched a red flag and gave it to the boy, and said, Go full half a mile up the Derby line.' In about ten minutes the Derby train came down at a slow pace, as I thought, in cons, quence of the flag; it stopped at the station some time. Whilst the Derby train was stand- ing, I saw a policeman [James Howitt] running up the centre of the road as if he had come from Nottingham ; and I heard him say to Mr. Lightfoot, If I were you 1 would'nt start the train yet.' This I heard him say above once or twice. [The witness here minutely described the policeman.] In five Or ten minutes after that, I heard Mr. Lightfoot say, ' I think they have had time enough to get the tender off.' Mr. Lightfoot then came out of the little room, and mounted the tender. I should have gone down by that train, hut I was alarmed after what Howitt had said, and determined not to go: this I state upon my oath. I was very near Mr. Lightfoot when be got upon the tender, and I heard him tell the engine-driver to go at a slow speed. The train then started at a slow pace."

We resume Howitt's evidence-

" There was a very thick fog. I think the down-train consisted of:two pas- senger-carriages and two coke-waggons. As I stood on the last carriage, I could see our engine, but not more than thirty yards or so before it. Tile train

did not go fast, but I cannot say whether the engine whistled or not. I should think we were going at the rate of four or Else miles an hour. When be had

got about half a mile, I saw the engine-driver put up his band to the guard, as

if cautioning him; and when we had proceeded a short distance further, I could just perceive the other engine meeting us; it appeared to be about twenty yards before us. The trains ran into each other, and there was a great crash.

I was thrown to the ground. I was nut much hurt. As soon as I got up, I saw Mr. Lightfoot upon the ground. I saw no other person on the ground,

but I heard a good deal of screaming. I did not go to Mr. Lightfoot, but I ran

back immediately to Beeston, as I knew that another train was due. When I got part of the way, the guard of the Derby train caught me. 1 was lame, and I told him to go on as fast as he could and stop the train. Then I turned back again to the place where the accident had occurred. I assisted two or three persons who were hurt ; and a gentleman told me to go to Nottingham for help ; and on my way I met Kearsley corning up with an engine and a carriage or two, in order to assist. One of the firemen, it seems, had gone down with- out my knowledge before me. I found that the tender had been replaced on the line, but the coal-waggons were still remaining. Another train afterwards came gently down, and drove them into the yard."

In examimtion by a Juryman, Howitt said that the rails were da- maged by the coal-train; and he did not know that the tender could be got on the rails in less than an hour. He did not tell :‘,1r. Lightfoot what he had come to Beeston for, as he assumed that he knew it.

Here another altercation occurred in the Court.

One of the jurors detailed his experience in railway-travelling, and told the Jury how Mr. Lightfoot had " served him once or twice." Mr. Campbell rebuked the Juryman tor his, gross indecorum in thus letting his private spleen appear while in the exercise ot a public duty. Mr. Campbell then proceeded to cross-examine the witness, as to whether be thought, when he had stopped the Derby train, he had completed all the directions he had re- ceived ?—The witness hesitatingly admitted that he bad; but stated, though he always thought it his duty to obey his superiors, he did not look on Kearsley in exactly that light ; on the contrary, be thought it his duty to use every en- deavour to pr.-vent an accident.

Mr. Campbell continuing his examination respecting the trains, another al- tercation, warmer than any of the preceding, occurred.

Mr. Cleaves (a Juryman) said the witness had given his evidence in a clear, straightforward manner; and he would not permit Mr. Campbell to attempt to confuse him.

Mr. Campbell retorted, that Mr. Greaves was a mighty loquacious indivi- dual; and told him " to keep his ears open and his mouth shut." The Coroner at length put a stop to the skirmish, by requesting them to keep to the evidence. The accident was not'unexpected by the passengers in the Nottingham train ; fur the sight of the tender still remaining on the up-line showed some of them that they were on the wrong side : the alarm passed from one to another ; and one passenger, Mr. England, a saddler and shoe. dealer of Alfreston, who sat on a hamper in a third-class carriage, un- bolted the door, with a view to jumping out if need were. He became reconciled to his position, however, and had leaned back in his seat for a few minutes, when the collision occurred: he, like most of the passen- gers, was stunned. Mr. Dean died almost immediately after he was

extricated from the carriages ; which were "smashed like egg-shells." The engine-drivers jumped off and escaped with little hurt ; the driver of the Derby train first reversing his engine. Mr. Lightfoot tried to jump off ; but his foot caught, and he turned completely over before he reached the ground.

James Murden, a labourer, who was at work in a field near at hand, beard the crash, and ran to give assistance, with a cart. Some of the passengers lay upon the railroad, hurt and bleeding. Mr. Varnalls and three others were put into Murden's cart, and taken to Lemon, about a mile distant. Varnalls kept on saying, " Oh 1 my back "; and his leg was bleeding very much.

" All the four in the cart were alive when we came to Godfrey's, the White Hart. A man who went with me asked Mr. Godfrey to take them in ; but he refused—he said they were full, and could not do with them. The deceased said, Do not let me stop !—take me out! ' he kept saying. I do not know whether Mr. Godfrey heard this, but he was pressed several times by several persons. We then went on to Mr. Lee's: the same man who asked Mr. God- frey begged of Mr. Lee to be taken in, and he consented."

This evidence was contradicted by Mr. Godfrey,—who did not, how- ever, deny the main fact ; and it is corroborated by that of Richard Clif- ton, a farmer : Mr. Clifton had been at the White Hart to pay his rent to Mr. Gregory, the lord of the manor, (whose tenants were assembled at the public-house for the purpose;) and he had walked towards the railway, returning with the cart- " Before we got to Godfrey's, I asked Iranians whether he would like to be taken to the Infirmary. He said, if he was not immediately taken out he abould burst. Ile did not say anything more when we arrived at the White Hart. I said, ' Godfrey, here is an old ID an who must be taken out, or he will die.' Godfrey said, We have no room : why did you not stop at that house ? ' (pointing to Booth's.) I replied, that we did not come that way, or else we abould have done so. Ile said, You had as much right to stop there as to come here.' I went to the cart ; and the old gentleman repeated, I must be taken out, or I shalt die.' Mr. Lee then came up, and I asked him to take him into his house. Mr. Lee said he would."

At the house of Mr. Lee, a gardener, Varnalls received every atten- tion: his sole wish was to lie down, at the first place possible ; and Mrs. Lee made a bed for him before the fire : brandy was given to him, but he soon lost the power of swallowing ; and he died before medical aid could arrive, in ten minutes after he had reached the house.

As soon as it was all over, everybody began to ask how it had hap- pened; and the more inquiry there is on the point the more contradic- tory the evidence becomes. Mr. England, who went towards Beeston with some of the people who were hurt, spoke to the station-master there- " I said, How, in the name of fortune, could you allow this train to pass here ? ' " [This evidence of "gossip" was objected to by Mr. Campbell; but Mr. Browne the Coroner, not knowing how Raven himself might be affected, determined to admit it. The witness proceeded.] " When I asked him how be could have allowed the train to pass, he said it was not his (Raven's) fault, for he told Mr. Lightfoot that if he went on he would have a mess. A person standing by said to Raven, John, if that be so, you are all right ' ; and he an- swered, Thank God, I am.' He added, that Mr. Lightfoot said it would be all right, as he would go himself with the engine; and said that they had suffi- cient time to get the tender on the line, and the train would come down its own line. I made that statement to the station-master at Derby on that evening. I saw no signal, and beard nothing to show the state in which the train started."

John Fothergill, who was on the spot immediately after the accident, spoke to the guard of the Derby train-

" I said to a guard, that a fearful responsibility rested on some one for going on the wrong line ; and the guard said, that he had been frightened by the train going on the wrong line, and he refused to go, but they said they would go without him."

Mr. John NVildy, a passenger by the Nottingham train, deposed thus-

" About half an hour after the accident, Mr. Lightfoot asked me what o'clock it was; and I told him it was half-past three. The driver of the down- train then came to Mr. Lightfoot, and said, • Oh, Mr. Lightfoot, what a job this is !—you can't blame me ; it is entirely your own fault.' Mr. Lightfoot then o alked away and made no reply : he appeared to be very much troubled. I took as much precaution as possible, by placing myself in such a position as would break my fall in case of a collision." John Kearsley, the engine-driver, gave this account of what he had said about the arrangements for sending up-trains on the down-line- '. I told Reilly [the driver of the train that took Mr. Lightfoot from Notting- ham] to go to his engine ; and he said he did not well know what to think about going up that (the wrong) line. I had before told Howitt to go to Beeston, and stop all the trains on the down-line till the next two trains had passed. I told Mr. Lightfoot that I had sent Ilowitt with this message, as a tender was lying badly across the up-line. If Howitt had gone to Beeston and done what I ordered him, no train would have come on the down-line until after the three o'clock up-train had got to Beeston. There is no place between the part of the rail where the tender was off and Beeston at which a carriage could have crossed from one rail to another. I gave all the directions according to our rules for directing us how to act when there is any thing to prevent a train from going along the rail. Reilly would not have gone on the down (the wrong) line without being directed by Mr. Lightfoot." This witness stated that he had several times gone on the wrong line before. Kearsley produced a book of instructions; pointing out the following regulation (the 9th)- " In case of accident, when an engine shall be obliged to run on the wrong line, the enginemart shall send his fireman, or some competent person, back BOO yards before the engine moves, to warn any engine coming in the opposite direction. lf dark, the man who goes back shall take a light to make a signal, by moving the same up and down. The engineman, when going backward, shall make constant use of his whistle, and shall not exceed a speed of four miles an hour; so that his fireman may be enabled to keep 800 yards before the engine whilst on the wrong line. Enginemen shall not run in the wrong direction on any pretence further than to the nearest shunt." [In answer to the Coroner, who seemed to think that this rule did not apply to the case, the witness said, that it applied to all engines going on the wrong line. lie had had a book referring to fog-signals for about a fortnight.]

Mark Markland, the driver of the Nottingham train that was de-

stroyed in the collision, corroborated Kearsley's statement that Howitt was told to prevent any down-trains from being allowed to pass Beeston until two up-trains had passed the station from Nottingham. He sup- posed that Mr. Lightfoot had gone to Beeston to prevent anything from coming down the line; for a train would start from Nottingham for Derby about twenty minutes afier Mr. Lightfoot went away ; and it did actually start at that time: it would be due at Beeston before the train which he went to stop. hlarkland went slowly, only fifteen or twenty miles an hour, because it was on the wrong line; though he was not apprehensive of meeting anything : and he was told by Kearsley, at starting, to blow his whistle all the way—

Mr. Coroner Browne—" Did you send your fireman 800 yards before you, as far as the nearest shunt, to make a signal of your approach, according to the directions in the book of rules which you produce ? "

Witness—" I did not : for I did not think it necessary, as Howitt went up before the train that went on the wrong line, with Reilly and Mr. Lightfoot. I have had the rules which I produce a long time, perhaps two or three years; but I got a new book of rules last Friday morning. I heard of those new rules more than a week before Friday, but I did not see them printed till Friday morning last." [After the accident!] Mr. H. Youle, One of the Directors of the Midland Counties Railway Company, approached the Wilford gate on horseback [about two o'clock] on the Thursday ; and seeing men at work, shouted to know what was the matter- " Mr. Lightfoot advanced towards me, and said that a tender was off the line; and added, as the time is now near at hand for the train to London to start, and it must of necessity go on the wrong line, I think I had better go with it to see the line is clear, and caution the police at Beeston station before the arrival of any down-train. I said I think you had better do so. The gates were then opened. I proceeded about ten paces ; and reflecting on what Mr. Lightfoot bad said, I turned round and said again, I think, Mr. Lightfoot, you had better go yourself, to see that the line is clear. I then rode away. My impression was that Mr. Lightfoot would adopt every precaution ; for I had known him for years, and had the highest opinion of his experience, his caution, and prudence, having often admired him for those qualities. I therefore cal- culated that he would give every necessary order to secure trains from accident."

A Juror—" Is there any understanding of which train, the up or the down, must be kept back in case of accidents interfering with the rail ? '

Witness—" I am not aware of any such understanding."

Mr. Coroner Browne frequently asked for some explanation of the fact that two different printed sets of regulations were in the hands of the servants,—one as old as 1842; one recently issued, but not to all the servants. Neither Mr. Youle nor Mr. William Evans Hutchinson, another Director, could give the desired explanation.

On Tuesday, Mr. Robert Lightfoot, the Nottingham station-master, laid a written statement before Mr. Browne's Jury ; observing that he had suffered greatly in mind, and had not had snore than one hour's continuous sleep since the accident. Part of his narrative coincides in the main with what has been recounted above. According to him, he objected to sending up-trains by the down-line, on Kearsley's proposing to do so ; but Kearsley replied that there would be plenty of time be- fore any down-trains were due, and that the engine-driver should blow his whistle all the way to Beeston. Mr. Youle then came up on horse- back— " I went to him to explain the situation of the engine and tender ; stating that Kearsley intended sending up the down-line the 2 hours 15 minutes London train. I asked Mr. Youle if I should go on the engine to see if the driver was careful in going, and blowing his whistle all the way to Beeston, as there might be men working on the down-line, or persons crossing at the time. He said, ' By all means, do so,' or words to that effect. I them went to the men that were working at the engine. Up to this time the engine attached to the tender was the great obstacle which caused delay. After, the engine was disengaged, I said to the men, All will be right now very 80013, and the engine clear.' One of the men said, Yes, in a short time.' I then got on the engine of the London train that had started from the station, fully convinced in my own mind that the line would be perfectly clear before the 10 minutes before 3 train, the next train up, would start, and never for a mo- ment supposing the least possibility of a second train being sent off on the wrong line without some previous intimation, or I should never have put myself in that dangerous situation." Mr. Lightfoot stopped at Beeston, and told the station-master that the next up-train would come upon the right line. Howitt came up soon after, much exhausted with running ; and borrowed sixpence to procure some rum. Soon afterwards, the Derby train arrived, and went forward for Nottingham ; Mr. Lightfoot going on the engine.

In reply to questions from the Jury, Mr. Lightfoot said, that if a dif- ference of opinion occurred between Kearsley and witness on the sub- ject of arranging the trains, Kearsley's authority would be superior. There was no imperative necessity for getting the train from Beeston. He did not remember that Howitt said anything to him besides asking for the sixpence— He felt quite satisfied that when he was coming to Nottingham there was no possibility of a second train coming up the wrong line against him. Witness left no instructions as to the second train coming on the wrong line ; for he was convinced that the second train could go on its own right line, as be be- lieved that the obstruction of the tender might be removed in time. Witness had no conversation with Raven as to the propriety of coming back previous to the collision ; and the reason he went so slowly, being on his own line, was on account of the fog. When witness arrived at Beeston, and gave notice to stop the trains, he considered that he had done his duty. The driver of the train on which the witness came from Beeston, towards Nottingham from Beeston, frequently blew his whistle. Witness thought the tender might be removed in time to clear the up-line, for he never saw a tender require more than half an hour to clear ; but in this case the water flowed out of the tender, and washed away the earth which was under the rails and supporting them. The result of this was, that the rails, not having due support, became bent ; and that was the cause of the unusual delay in getting the rails adjusted. Witness had seen worse cases of tenders and of engines, which are much heavier, getting off the rails, and had seen them remedied in less time than this occupied. The guard of a train could refuse to go on the wrong line ; for he is the master of the train, and he could refuse to go. The engineman must obey the orders of the guard; so that if the guard went on the wrong line, the responsibility of doing so would lie on the guard. Witness is master until the guard gets the despatches; but when the guard gets the despatches the responsibility is im- mediately removed to him. Witness had no authority beyond the station. Howitt ought not to have gone with the message without letting witness know; for Hewitt is the servant of witness and not of the engineer. Witness gives the despatches to the guard, without which the train cannot go ; but the guard starts it.

Mr. Coroner Browne—" You, then, really start the train ; for the guard cannot go without your permission?" Witness—" No, the guard starts the train."

The Coroner—"It might be as well said that the engiueman starts the train. You do not put your hand to it, but the guard cannot go until begets the despatches from you."

Witness continued—He went to Beeston under the direction of his superior, Mr. Youle. Witness never heard Raven say to him that if he went down he'd have a mess of it. Ile is quite sure that if Raven had said so to him he must have heard it.

At a subsequent examination, Mr. Lightfoot said, inter alio, that the

train by which he went to Beeston was due there at eleven minutes past three o'clock : it came in at five minutes past three; but it was an accommodation-train, and not always punctual. "If the tender could not have been righted, it was the duty of the guard not to have started so, as he had received no instructions from me. I cannot say whether the guard would be justified in sending the train if the ninth rule had been complied with. I think he would ; but if he had done so the accident would not have occurred." In his absence, it would be the duty of Mr. Pettifer, a junior booking-clerk, to give the guard his despatches. The witness had authority over all departments except the locomotive. Mr. Kirtley, at Derby, is chief of that department ; Kearsley is the engineer of the Nottingham department. Mr. Light- foot had even been ordered out of the engine-room. "It was Kearsley's duty to make the fresh arrangements, both up and down, which were rendered necessary by the line being blocked. Pettifer, when he had delivered the despatches, had nothing to do with the train on the wrong line; and if I had delivered them in person I should not have been in any way responsible."

Jonathan Raven, the Beeston station-master, was examined at great length ; and his account of what passed at Beeston coincided with Mr. Lightfoot's- He received no instructions from Howitt Mr. Lightfoot gave him all the directions he received. If Howitt had said anything to him relative to stop- ping the down-train until the next one had arrived from Nottingham, he should have done so; but if Mr. Lightfoot had said all was right, he should have yielded to him as being a superior officer. Ile never advised Mr. Lightfoot not to start the down-train, as Mr. Lightfoot had informed him that the next up- train would come on the proper line, and therefore he was not apprehensive of danger.

Thomas Deacon, a boy fourteen years of age, who assisted the station- master at Beeston, deposed that he did not hear anything pass between Mr. Lightfoot, Howitt. and Raven, when the train started for Notting- ham. He heard Mr. Lightfoot tell the station-master, before the Derby train came in, that the train which leaves Nottingham at ten minutes before three o'clock would come on the proper line—the up-line. Dea- con heard the crash of the accident. The mail-train was then due from London ; and after the crash, the boy was sent up the line to stop that train- " No steps were taken at Beeston to stop the London train till I heard the crash, unless turning the red side of the signal: but it was very foggy, and the train might possibly have gone on if the crash had taken place lower down the line. My having heard the crash, and the Nottingham train not having ar- rived at the proper time, was the cause of my going towards the London train with the red flag. The points of the railway are self-acting points. Two trains going the same way are not allowed to go after each other until ten minutes elapse. The London train could not have seen the red signal to stop at a distance of a hundred yards, as it was so foggy ; but they would have seen it when they came up to Beeston. There are fog-signals given to the engine- drivers. I never heard such a crash before as that which I heard when the two trains met. I told the station-master that it was like the report of a cannon, but not such a dead heavy sound as the report of a cannon."

Joseph Coleburn, the guard of the Derby train, partially confirmed Howites account ; saying that the policeman warned him at Beeston that the train ought not to go on, because there was a tender off the line, adding that Mr. Lightfoot knew it. After the accident, Mr. Light- foot exclaimed to Coleburn, "I expect you'll all lay the blame to me : dear me, what a job it is!" After the accident too, Coleburn heard his engine-driver, Fisher, say, " Mr. Lightfoot, this is all your fault." Coleburn had no printed book of instructions. He considered himself under Mr. Lightfoot's orders. " If Mr. Lightfoot told me to go up the wrong line, I should consider it my duty to do so, as I consider him my superior officer. I should be afraid of losing nay situation if I refused to go on the wrong line according to his directions." James Longden, the guard of the up-train from Nottingham that was concerned in the collision, averred that it was an understood thing at the station, that Mr. Lightfoot had gone to Beeston to prevent any thing from coming down to Nottingham. The up-train started without Long- den's orders, and he mounted it after it began to move: he imputed that breach of rule to anxiety to recover lost time. He repeated a conversation with Raven, after the accident : "He said, 'Why, whose fault is it 2' 'Nobody's else,' returned I,' but Mr. Lightfooes.' He said, • I expected so: when he came into my house to wash his hands, I would fain have had him not to go, lest there should be something amiss ; but he would not be ruled."

A question raised in the course of the inquiry, and often alluded to in a passing way, was some reduction that had taken place in the num- ber of servants, but nothing very distinct came out on that head : ex- cept that Fisher, the driver of the Derby train, complained he had too far to travel in the day ; and that Deacon, the Beeston engine-master's assistant, said that he, receiving 6s. a week, was in the place of a man who received 18s. It was not shown that there was any want of suffi- cient labour engaged about the trains on the 21st, or in removing the obstruction. Mr. Lightfoot said that only two servants had been dis- missed.

Both inquiries are still proceeding. Mr. Roberts, a commercial traveller, whose leg was broken in two places, had been obliged to undergo amputation. It was begun just above the knee; but ugly symptoms having appeared at a fracture higher up, the limb was taken oft' close to the body. He was in a very precarious state. The other wounded persons were doing well. General Pasley was at Nottingham on Saturday : he examined a few witnesses, and was off again, leaving a note Lfor Mr. Browne the Co- roner; who was rather nettled at the General's absence from the inquest on Monday.

The Leicester Chronicle recounts another accident which happened on the Midland Counties Railway on the 21st, just beyond the Knighton Hill tunnel, near Leicester-

" A coal-train started from the Leicester station for Rugby a little before seven p.m.; and stopped just after passing the tunnel, in consequence of the breaking of a coupling-chain. During the delay thus caused, Edward Jowett, the breaksman, got off the tender, and, it is supposed, went to the other side of the railroad to gather some eand to strew before the engine ; and from being in a stooping position, together with the noise of his own engine in his ears, he was not aware of the approach of the second goods-train; by the engine of which he WU struck on the forehead, and was killed on the spot."

A third accident on the same railway happened on Wednesday morn-

ing. A train left Rugby at seven o'clock. At Syston, some luggage was handed up to Joseph Woodford, the guard, who was seated on the top of a carriage, to be arranged there in the usual manner. The train went on ; and Woodford was seen, for some distance down the line, still standing erect. At Sileby he was missed. He was found

lying on the top of a carriage, with his brains dashed out. There is but one bridge between Syston and Sileby, and some fur from Wood- ford's cap was found sticking to the bridge : while still busied on the roof of the carriage, his head had dashed against the bridge. An inquest was held at Sileby, on Wednesday. The correspondent of the Morning Post states, that among the members of the Jury were the parish constable and a person who holds a contract with the Rail- way Company ! It was shown in evidence, that a man of even short stature cannot stand upright on the top of the carriages under the bridge. A verdict of " Accidental death," without any comment or suggestion, was promptly returned.

An accident on the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway formed the subject of an inquest held at Kingsnorton on Saturday. At that place there is a bridge, which is supported by seven iron pillars, that run along between the two lines, parallel to the rails. On the evening of the 21st, about twenty minutes to eight o'clock, a train approached the bridge ; and William Murry wood, a fireman, who was on the tender, went to the side to look out. In a moment after, John Fox, the engine-driver, saw him rear himself into an upright position and then slide off the tender. Fox blew the whistle ; John Stanton, the guard, applied the break ; the engine was stopped ; and the two men went to search for Murrywood. He was found lying between the rails, quite dead; and it is presumed, without doubt, that his head was dashed against the first of the iron pillars as the train passed it. He was a steady man, about twenty-nine years of age, and was quite sober at the time. Fox stated that the distance from the line to the pillars is about two feet ; but the carriages project about six inches from the rails and the engines still more. Fox first said he did not consider the pillars at all dangerous ; but he afterwards confessed that he considered it more dangerous to pass the bridge than any other part of the line, in consequence of the pillars. He believed that if any passenger put his head out of a carriage-window he would not be injured. Stanton said of the pillars- " I consider they are dangerous, because passengers are in the habit of look- ing out there ; and if they were to look out too far, they would catch the pillars. If people were to look out in the usual manner there would be no danger ; but if they were to lean out with their body there would. I have frequently warned passengers not to look out. I never told any of the managers respecting the pillars. I generally considered it my duty to look out when passing under the bridge to warn passengers."

A County policeman gave similar evidence. The inquest was ad- journed to Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the Jury returned a verdict of " Accidental death," with a deodand of Is. on the engine. Mr. C. Shaw, one of the Direc- tors of the line, admitted the ill-construction of the bridge, though the attention of the Company had not before been called to the danger. It would immediately be altered.

An inquest was held at West Drayton on Saturday, on the bodies of Samuel Brooks and William Tuckwell, who were killed by an accident on the morning of the 21st. George Inglis, the engine-driver of a train which left Paddington at eight o'clock a. m., observed, when it got to Swindon, that there was blood on the guard-iron of the wheels, and there were fragments of clothes on the wheels themselves. David Close, a man employed by the Railway Company, was going by an up- train to West Drayton ; when he saw the two men on the line, and he saw them struck down by the train from London ; but the act was so momentary that he could not tell whether they were walking or stand- ing at the time. The two men were packers, or repairers of the rails ; they had been employed for many years, and were both steady men. They formed part of a gang of six who were at work. They had orders to get off the line on hearing an engine ; and there is a side-path on purpose for their use; but it is supposed that the noise of the up- train drowned that of the other, although Inglis frequently sounded the alarm-whistle. The labourers, however, are very heedless. One of their own number observed, "that all the footpaths in England would not, in his opinion, prevent such an accident ; for he had himself seen the men stand and dare the engine to its face, and then walk away with a sneer as it passed." The Jury returned a verdict of " Accidental death." Brooks has left a widow and ten children ; Tuckwell, a widow and three children.

" A Railway Traveller" states, in a letter to the Times, that on the 11th October last, he and several of his family rode from Nottingham to Long Eaton in a train which was preceded by another, at a distance ot only two or three hundred yards ; both trains going at a pace of thirty miles an hour. He complained to a clerk at Derby ; who politely re- plied that the case should be inquired into, but said that a start of one mile suffices to insure safety. On the London and Birmingham line, an interval of ten miles is deemed necessary.

At the Maidstone Assizes, on Wednesday, the recognizances of the witnesses against Mr. Richard Dadd, who killed his father, were dis- charged; the unfortunate gentleman having been sent to a lunatic asy- lum by the Home Secretary.

The persons charged with infanticide at Wolverhampton have been committed to prison ; Miss Railton for concealing the birth of the child, and the others as accessories ; Mr. Sheriff, the surgeon's assistant, being also committed for feloniously attempting to procure abortion.