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A railway scheme of some interest to London comes fairly before the public this week for the first time. The North Metropolitan Railway Company obtained a bill last session for the construction of a line under the New Road, from the Edgeware Road to King's Cross—a distance of two and a quarter miles. The first meeting of the Company was held on Wednesday. The report stated, that it is intended to lay down two lines of railway in a continuous archway under the road, of ample dimensions; to be constructed by excavating the road from the surface at convenient intervals, and relaying it as the work progresses : proper provisions will at the same time be made for the sewage and gas and water services. There will be stations every half-mile ; the trains will proceed at the rate of twenty miles an hour including stoppages, and start every three minutes. It is proposed to connect the line with the Great Western and the West India Dock Junction; and the directors contemplate an ex- tension of under-ground railways to the Post-office. In his speech, the Chairman, Mr. W. Melina said, that he considered this railway to be the commencement of an extensive system for accommodating the passenger traffic of the Metropolis. The subterranean way should not be called a tunnel, but an " arcade" ; and as locomotives will not be used, the nuisance of steam and smoke, which cause damp and foul air, will be avoided. The report reckons on 8 per cent profit. It was unanimously adopted.

There is a strike among the lightermen of the Thames, but it is not universal. It is said that the men earn very high wages. The trade is a monopoly—only licensed watermen and lightermen can work in it : there is a talk of applying to the Waterman's Company to suspend this licensing restriction if the men hold out.

The workmen in the London building trade have adopted a new system of striking.. all the workpeople of a particular class do not strike at once, but those engaged in one or more large firms. When these succeed in obtaining the advance demanded, the men of other establishments take their turn at "strike." The manceuvre seems hitherto to have been generally successful.

For some days a number of men have been engaged in painting the stone front of Buckingham Palace. From the perviousness of the stone, the wet oozed in so much as to cause great inconvenience to the inmates ; and it was therefore necessary to paint the face of the front building, which has been up only two or three years.

Mr. George Stevens, a plumber of Bermondsey, and owner of many houses, has been assassinated by John Lawrence, a fellmonger's jobber. On the evening of the 23d August, Lawrence applied to the Southwark Magistrate for a summons against -Mr. Stevens, for an indecent assault on the applicant's wife, perpetrated while she was at Stevens's house on some business. The Magistrate esid that the application for a summons must be made by Mrs. Lawrence herself, on oath. Lawrence went away in great excitement. soon after, he attempted to fire a pistol at Mr. Stevens, in the street; but it missed fire ; then he seems to have put on a new cap, followed Stevens, stooped, down, and fired at his leg.; the wounds inflicted ended in death. It was proved at the inquest that Lawrence purchased the pistol on the morning of the 23d. After he had wounded Stevens he escaped, and has not been taken since. The Cosoner's Jury pronounced a verdict of "Wilful raneder" against Lawrence. is wife and father-in-law were present at the inquest.

An unnatural mother, a married woman named Cocker, has been com- mitted to prison on the City Coroner's warrant, for the manslaughter of her infant. A few weeks ago, she was brought before Alderman Lawrence for cruel neglect of the child—she had left it untended for two days, while she got drunk : on her promise of amendment she was liberated ; but she has repeated her drunken negligence, and the Coroner's Jury believed that the infant bad thus been killed.

Two men, Thompson and Jackson, were arrested for a burglary in Pall Mall. Thompson was remanded by the Marlborough Street Magistrate ; but Jackson had committed suicide at the station-house: he had wrenched an iron tip from the heel of his boot, and with this had divided the arteries of his arm, so that he had bled to death in the cell.

An impudent thief has been sent to prison by Alderman Lawrence for an attempt at pocketpicking. A Policeman saw him try a person's pocket. He was arrested, and three handkerchiefs were found in his possession; for which he could not account. Alderman Lawrence—" What have you to say, prisoner, to the charge?" Prisoner—" Please your worship, the gentkmaa [meaning the Policeman] says he saw me pick the pocket ; and I could not pick the gent's pocket, for there was nothing in it." Alderman Lawrence— "Then you did try to piok the gentleman's pocket?" Prisoner—"Cer- tainly, sir; but I got nothing." Alderman Lawrence—" And you are in the habit of carrying three pocket-handkerchiefs about with you, not know- ing whether they are marked or not?" Prisoner—" Well, if I was to say I am, you would not believe me."

From the number of convictions recently for assaults on women, in which the Magistrates exercise their power of sending the offenders to prison for not more than six months, the Metropolitan gaols must have received no small addition to their average population.

John Boxhue, a Lasear, has been sent to prison by the Clerkenwell Ma- gistrate, for begging and addressing a young woman with obscene language.

The pseudo "Joseph Rattenstein " has been fully exposed before the Lam- bethi..'strate. The real Rattenstein, who was a brave soldier in the Hun- garian army, is now in prison for stealing a watch. The impostor has been sent to gaol for obtaining money by fraud.

Mr. Norton having received 101. from two ladies, and some smaller con- tributions, for Policeman Dwyer, who suffered so much from Cannon the sweep, Dwyer attended at the Lambeth Police Office on Saturday, to receive the money. Mr. Norton inquired into his circumstances, as the ladies in- tended, if necessary, to assist him still farther. Dwyer—who seemed ex- ceedingly ill, and complained of severe internal pain—said the Commis- sioners had kindly continued him in the force, and allowed him his full pay: he still had a strong hope of recovering sufficiently to be able to resume his duties, and therefore he had not yet resolved on any other mode of life. The Magistrate invited the poor man to let him know if any change occurred in his prospects.

There was a frightful collision on the Great Northern Railway, at Hornsey, on Wednesday afternoon. In shunting some coal-trucks across the down-line, the tender left the rails. An express-train leaves London at five o'clock : two minutes after it had started a telegraphic message was received that the line at Hornsey was not clear. That warning came too late. 'The driver of the express seeing the stopping-signal at Hornsey, shut off his steam, and re- versed his engine 200 yards on the London side of the signal-post; but having ten carriages attached, so great was its impetus that the express- train dashed into the tender, and the carriages of the express were thrown one upon the other, some shattered to pieces. Many persons were hurt, some dangerously. Marsh, guard of the express, was a great sufferer. Mrs. Harrison sustained a compound fracture of a leg ; Mr. Harrison and Mr. H. Justine had each a leg broken; while other passengers were out and bruised. The Bishop of Lincoln, Lord Enfield, the Lord Mayor of London, Mr. Roe- buck, and Sir James Duke, were more or less hurt.

Pardington, the driver of the express-train, and Woods, the stoker, were arrested : the collision was ascribed to their neglect of a signal. It is re- marked, however, that others were somewhat remiss : coal-trucks were shunted across the down-line a few minutes before an express-train was ex- pected, and no fog-signals were placed upon the rails—had that been done, the people in charge of the express could not have failed to observe their explosion. The prisoners were brought before the Clerkenwell Magistrate on Thurs- day, charged with endangering life and property by negligently driving the engine. Witnesses proved that a man was sent from Hornsey towards London with a red flag ; he exhibited that flag at a distance of upwarde of six furlongs from the station ; had the prisoners seen that flag, and im- mediately taken measures to stop the train, collision would have been avoided. But instead of keeping a good look-out on approaching a station, the men were talking together. The driver, in answer to this, told the Magistrate that he and his-mate were both attending to the fire at the time : when he saw the danger-signal on the post at the London side of the station, he reversed his engine. It 'teems that this post is 600 yards from the station. Mr. Williams, an officer of the railway, stated that the driver should not attend to the fire : he frequently does so, though wrongly; near stations both men should keep a good look-out. The men not having seen the red flag, there was not time to stop an express-train going at full speed when the signal-post was Bighted. The prisoners asked to be remanded. Mr. T. Owen, the locomotive foreman at Peterborough, asked if bail would be accepted, because, if so, he should be happy to become bail. He added, that the distance-signal was not far enough from the station ; and that it was very difficult for the driver to look out for signals, inasmuch as both he and the stoker would be pretty constantly engaged in feeding the fire and keeping up the steam to the necessary point for the high speed at which they travelled. The Magistrate said, that appeared to be the case ; and even Superintendent Williams seemed to think that the distance-signal was not far enough from the station. He thought it would be desirable that there should be three men upon these express-engines, one of whom should be con- tinually on the watch for signals. The accused were liberated on bail.

It is feared that two men will die from hurts received on the North- western Railway at Easton Square. Six workmen were engaged, on Tues- day morning, in repairing the rails; they were carrying a long rail across the road when a tram approached ; the men thought there was time to clear it, but they miscalculated—the locomotive struck the rail, and though four of the workmen escaped unhurt, the other two were knocked down, and the engine and tender passed over them. When taken to the hospital, their con- dition was considered to be hopeless.

Peter Adams, an apprentice at Addle Hill, and 'Joseph Cortes, barman at a public-house in the same street, have been drowned near Westminster Bridge. Cortes and another man, Cupton, were swimming for a wager ; Adams would leave the boat and join them ; presently he called out for help. Cortes swam to him ; the youth clutched him round the neck, and both perished. Cupton stated at the inquest, that he called to the people at an adjacent pier, but they would not render any aesistanoe,—they did not send for the drags, and would not aid Cupton in searching for the bodies.

Mr. Crabb, a pickle-manufacturer in the Old Kent Road, was driving a cart heavily laden with cauliflowers; his brother, a lad of fourteen, was seated on the top of the vegetables; as the cart was going rather fast, the boy rolled off, fell under the wheel, and was crushed to death.

Mr. George Frank Stanley Smythe, a gentleman of twenty-nine, has com- mitted suicide, in the Cathedral Hotel, St. Paul's Churchyard, by swallowing essence of bitter almonds, which he had obtained of a chemist on pretence that it was wanted to flavour custard. It appears that the mind of the de- ceased had been affected a few months back, but it was supposed that he had recovered latterly : he was to have been married, but he had a morbid feeling that he was not worthy of the lady. In his pocket-book some lines were found, written in pencil, bewailing his want of merit.