198 
THE GARDENERS 
CHRONICLE. 
[Mar. 25, 
their wives, and attacked in a violent manner with stones, 
&c., and driven off the ground. Warrants were obtained 
against some of the ringleaders, who have been appre- 
hended, and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. 
Railways.—The returns of traffic on the principal lines, 
for last week, were as follow t—London and Brighton, 
2,176/.; London and Croydon, 203/.; London and 
Greenwich, 705/.; Sheffield and Manchester, 3207. ; 
London and Blackwall, 499/.; Manchester and Birming- 
ham, 2,2907. ; Eastern Counties, 903/. ; York and North 
Midland, 1,866/.; Hull and Selby, 891; Birmingham 
and Gloucester, 1,609/.; Liverpool and Manchester, 
3,571. ; Great North of England, 1,362/. ; Birmingham 
and Derby, 1,056/. ; London and Birmingham, 13,008/. ; 
Grand Junction, 6,8337.; Giasgow, Paisley, and Kilmar- 
nock, 913/.; North-Midland, 3,609/.; Great Western, 
10,€697.; Northern and Eastern, 1,169/. ; Newcastle and 
Carlisle, 1,360/. ; South-Western, 4,0997.; Manchester 
and Leeds, 4,110/.; Edinburgh and Glasgow, 1,827/. 
The report of the railway department of the Board of 
Trade has just been published, and is by far the most 
satisfactory they have yet issued. They state that the 
number of railway accidents of a public nature, attended 
with personal injury, during the last five months of 1840, 
amounted to 28, by which 22 deaths and upwards of 131 
cases of injury were occasioned ; while during the twelve 
months of 1841, the number of accidents of a similar de- 
scription amounted to 29, with 24 deaths, and 71 cases of 
injury. During the past year (1842), the number of 
accidents of this description have been only fen, the 
number of deaths five, of which only one occurred toa 
passenger while travelling by a train and observing the 
proper degree of caution, and the number of cases of 
injury were only fourteen. These do not include acci+ 
dents which happened to individuals owing solely to 
their own inadvertence and misconduct, nor accidents 
to servants of the company under circumstances in- 
volving no danger to passengers, neither of which ‘can be 
fairly classed among railway accidents of a public nature. 
With respect to the comparative safety of railway travel- 
ling, a comparison of the number of accidents attended 
with death or injury to passengers with the number of 
passengers conveyed by railway during the same period, 
it would appear that the science of locomotion, as far as 
the public safety is concerned, has arrived at a very high 
degree of perfection, seeing that out of more than 
18,000,000 passengers conveyed by railway in the course 
of the year 1842, only one was killed while riding in the 
train, and observing the common degree of caution. The 
first instance occurred on the London and Birmingham 
Railway on the 7th December last, and the other recently 
on the North Midland Railway. While the Board of 
Trade admit this great improvement within the last two 
years, and are satisfied that a degree of security has been 
attained upon well-managed railways, decidedly superior 
to that of any other mode of locomotion; they, at the 
same time, think it right to state that the evidence fur- 
nished by the official returns shows that the extraordinary 
exemption from fatal accidents during the past year can- 
not be expected to attend upon future years, if there be 
any relaxation of vigilance on the part of the directors and 
officers of railways, or a diminution in the efficiency of 
their working establishments, which on the contrary will 
very probably engender a recurrence of serious disasters. 
On the whole, it appears that, although decidedly safer 
than the modes of locomotion which it has superseded, 
railway travelling is still exposed to certain sources of 
danger, some of which can never be entirely obviated. The 
report then enters into an analysis of the causes of railway 
accidents, classifying them under two separate heads :— 
first, accidents resulting from management, ; and secondly, 
from unavoidable causes. Under the first are placed acci- 
dents arising from collisions, level crossings, and fences ; 
and under the second, those arising from the breaking of 
axles, slips of earth, and other causes. After some strictures 
upon the recent accidents and reductions on the North 
Midland Railway, and an allusion to some complaints of 
a trifling character being made against two or three of the 
lines by private individuals, the report concludes by stating 
that the total number of passengers carried upon 56 rail- 
ways during twelve months, from the 1st July, 1841, to 
the Ist July, 1842, amounted to 18,453,504, of whom 
2,926,980 were first-class passengers, 7,611,966 second- 
class, 5,332,301 third-class, and 2,582,057 passengers whose 
class was not distinguished. The returns of six railways 
are not yet completed, which, if added to the above, 
would make the total number of passengers for the year 
about 19,000,000, of whom 18 per cent. travelled by the 
first-class, 50 per cent. by the second, and 32 per cent. by 
the third class. The gross receipts during the same period on 
the above fifty railways, from passengers, amounted to 
2,731,687/.; and from goods, 1,088,835/. The appendices 
stated that they have determined upon a plan whereby the 
North Midland traffic and trains will fall in with the 
Rotherham up-trains at the Holmes station, and the down- 
trains will be detached at that point. By this arrangement 
it was considered that a saving of at least 1,000/. per 
annum will be effected, without diminishing in number the 
trains between Sheffield and Rotherham, and without 
materially interfering with the convenience of the public. 
—tThe meeting of the Lancaster and Preston company 
took place last week, when a dividend of 16s. per share on 
the whole shares, and of 10s. 7d. per share on the three- 
quarter shares, was declared, subject to deduction for the 
income-tax. The bill for the extension of the line to 
Carlisle has been given up for the present.—It appears 
that there is at length some probability of an arrangement 
between the Croydon and Greenwich companies, on the 
basis of a proposal entered into during a recent interview 
between the contending parties at the Board of Trade— 
namely, that the opposition of the Greenwich company to 
the bill for an extension to the Bricklayers’ Arms should 
be withdrawn, and the tolls on the Greenwich railway be 
levied on the principle of a proportionate toll according to 
distance ; the South Eastern and Croydon companies 
ing to the G h company an annual income 
of at least 6 per cent. on the whole capital expended by 
them for that portion of their railway used by the Brighton, 
Croydon, and South Eastern companies. 
IRELAND. 
Dublin.—St. Patrick’s Day passed off in this city with 
great éclat. The people assembled in great numbers at the 
relieving of the guard in the Castle-yard, which took place 
in the presence of the Lord Lieutenant and several officers 
of the Court. It is remarked that there was not a drunken 
man in the multitude. The usual St. Patrick’s ball took 
place at the Castle in the evening, and was attended by 
nearly 1000 persons. A plan isin progress for expediting 
the communication between this city and England; and 
several meetings on the subject have been held in the 
metropolis, A company of capitalists propose to make 
a line of railway from Chester to Holyhead, at their own 
expense, provided the Government consent to make Ho- 
lyhead and Dublin the sole mail communication between 
England and Ireland, and pay the Company for the con- 
veyance of the mails what it now costs. By this plan, 
Government, without further expense, will get the Lon- 
don mails expedited to Dublin in fourteen hours instead 
of twenty-four, and the country will receive a correspond- 
ing benefit.—The Windsor Castle, Indiaman, which was 
abandoned by her crew near Ireland, has been brought 
into Scattery Roads. Sheis very richly laden, and is valued 
at 90,000/.—At the meeting of the Repeal Association on 
Monday, it was announced that a great meeting of Ame- 
rican sympathisers had been held at Washington, at which 
Mr. Tyler, the son and Secretary of the President of the 
United States had made a remarkable speech in favour of 
repeal. He referred to Bunker’s Hill, and said, ‘* Who 
could have dreamt of the beneficial effects which civil and 
religious liberty had imparted to a great people? A free 
constitution would bring home similar results to the doors 
of the Irish people, and when we see that people amount 
to. nine millions, and when we know they are brave in the 
field, eloquent in the senate, wise in the cabinet, united 
and determined to be free, we cannot suppose for a mo- 
ment their freedom is impossible or even difficult, The 
libation to freedom must sometimes be quaffed in blood. 
The Irish heart he looked upon as true freedom’s pole, 
true as the magnet to the north, and their lives are given 
cheaply in the purchase of liberty. Such being the cha- 
racter of her people, we have no fears but she will soon 
work out her freedom, and he for one wished and hoped 
it might be speedy and comprehensive.” The thanks of 
the Association were voted to the Washington meeting 
for this demonstration, and after a long speech from Mr. 
O’Connell, the week’s rent was announced to be 3511. 
Waterford.—We noticed in our last the opposition 
made in this county to the collection of the Poor-rate. It 
appears that the multitude had made so formidable an 
incursion into the barony of Gaultier, that the collector 
abandoned all idea of enforcing the rate. During the 
progress of the mob along the quays, Capt. Newport 
deemed it necessary to read the Riot Act; and subse- 
quently the mayor, the high-sheriff, and other magistrates, 
brought out the military; but fortunately there was no 
occasion for their services. The accounts since received 
state, that the Government, disapproving of the course | 
adopted by the local magistrates, have determined to re- 
sume operations for the enforcement of the rate, and that 
the military have been called out for that purpose.—The 
Waterford papers announce that the alleged miracle at 
the convent of Youghal, which has obtained some cele- 
brity under the name of the ‘‘ Munster Estatica,’’ has 
been i i d by four Roman Catholic clergymen and 
of statistical returns, reports, &c., present a vol 
mass of information, of which it is impossible to give an abs- 
tract.—The half-yearly meeting of the Midland Counties 
company took place last week at Derby. The net profit for 
the half-year amounted to 70,7387. ; out of which a dividend 
was declared at the rate of 30s. per share for the half-year, 
after the payment of all-expenses. The total reduction 
effected in the expenditure for the half-year amounted to 
6,436/., and further reductions will be carried out, so far 
as is consistent with the safety of the public and the effi- 
cient working of the line. The old directors were re- 
appointed by a majority of 437, and their proceedings in 
regard to the question at issue between the company and 
the Birmingham and Derby, relative to the right of traffic 
on the line, were unanimously approved.—The meeting of 
the Sheffield and Rotherham company took place last 
week, when a dividend of 15s. each, on the original shares, 
and 6s, on the half-shares, was declared. The directors 
e 
two physicians, and proved to be a complete fraud. 
Tuam.—Mr. Michael Ward, the gentleman who some 
time since was fired at by his wife, is quite recovered from 
the effects of his wounds. On the night of the occur- 
rence, the lady deeming that matters were much worse 
than they really were, fled the house, and travelled on 
foot, without taking rest, to the residence of a near rela- 
tive in the mountains, 30 miles from her own house. It is 
said that all further proceedings have been stayed. 
sBiscellancous. 
Earthquakes in England.—The daily papers state that 
it is exactly 800 years since the first earthquake is re- 
corded to have taken place in this country, it having hap- 
pened at Worcester and Derby, in 1043. Four similar 
visitations are stated to have fallen on England during the 
following half-century. An earthquake that was generally 
felt throughout the country occurred in 1090, and was 
followed by a scarcity of food. In 1199, the county of 
Somerset suffered from a like cause ; and St. Michael’s- 
on-the-Hill, without Glastonbury, was thrown down by 
shocks that were also felt throughout the country in 1247. 
Earthquakes were experienced in England during each of 
the three succeeding years. The greatest earthquake ever 
known in this country occurred in 1318; arf in April, 
1580, another caused great damage in various directions. 
It lasted only one minute; but the shock was so severe, 
that many churches and houses were much shattered, and 
many lives were lost. According to the quaint phraseology 
of Stow— The great clocke bell in the Palace at West- 
minster stroke of itself against the hammer with shaking, 
as divers clockes and belles in the city and elsewhere did 
the like.’’ This earthquake extended into many parts of 
England; and in Kent there were three distinct shocks 
that caused much damage. In 1583, one occurred in the 
county of Dorset, that ‘‘ removed a considerable piece of 
ground,’? Earthquakes were felt at London and several 
other places in Britain, in March, 1749, and in 1750, and 
gave rise to the publication by Dr. Stukely, in which he 
attributed the phenomena, not to vapours or fermenta- 
tions generated in the bowels of the earth, but to elec- 
tricity. On one of these occasions it is stated that ‘‘a 
sound was observed to roll from the Thames to Temple- 
bar, just as the electrical snap precedes the shock.” In 
1750, the same counties now visited suffered from an 
earthquake that caused much damage in Liverpool, 
Chester, Manchester, &c. 3 and in the beginning of 1761, 
great alarm was excited throughout the metropolis and its 
neighbourhood by two shocks, on February 8 and March 8. 
In 1786, earthquakes occurred in different parts of the 
north of England. In Westmoreland, in 1790; in the 
counties of Bedford, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham, 
&c., in March, 1792; at Shaftesbury and Salisbury, in 
September, 1793, &c. The above are but a few of the 
earthquakes that are recorded to have visited England. 
The New Comet.—The following letter, dated Colling- 
wood, March 19, has been addressed by Sir John Herschel 
to the Times :—‘*I wish to direct the attention of your 
astronomical readers to the fact, which I think hardly ad- 
mits of a doubt, of a comet of enormous magnitude being 
in the course of its progress through our system, and at 
present not far from its perihelion. Its tail, for such I 
cannot doubt it to be, was conspicuously visible, both 
last night and the night before, as a vivid luminous streak, 
commencing close beneath the stars kappa and lambda 
(« and A) Leporis, and thence stretching obliquely west- 
wards and downwards, between gamma and delta (y and 6) 
Eridani, till lost in the vapours of the horizon. The di- 
rection of it, prolonged on a celestial globe, passes pre- 
cisely through the place of the Sun in the ecliptic at the 
present time, a circumstance which appears conclusive as 
to its cometic nature. As the portion of the tail actually 
visible on Friday evening was fully 30 degrees in length, 
and the head must have been beneath the horizon, which 
would add at least 25 degrees to the length, it is evident 
that, if really a comet, it is one of the first-rate magni- 
tude ; and if it be not one, it is some phenomenon beyond 
the Earth’s atmosphere of a nature even yet more re- 
markable. 8 p.m., March 19.—The tail of the comet, for 
such it must now assuredly be, is again visible, though 
much obscured by haze, and holding very nearly the same 
position.” In a second letter from Sir John Herschel 
of the 21st, he states that the line of the axis of the 
tail has evidently advanced northward, and that we 
shall yery probably soon see the head. — On Tuesday 
night, Sir James South addressed the following let- 
ter to the Times from the Observatory at Kensing- 
ton: —‘* The brilliant train of light of which notice 
is given in the Times of this day was seen here on 
Friday evening at a little after 7, and had very much the 
appearance of the tail of the comet of 1811. Its highest 
point, when I first saw it, nearly reached theta Leporis, 
and passing through the constellation Eridanus, became 
invisible to me from interposed trees when about 2 degrees 
from the horizon. More than 45 degrees of tail were 
measurable; stars of the 5th magnitude were visible 
through it by the naked eye, and with a 42-inch achro- 
matic of 23 inches aperture, those even of the 8th were 
perceptible. At 7h, 33m, 22sec. (sidereal time) a bright 
meteor issued from the very tip of the tail. No trace of 
the above light could be detected here either Saturday, 
Sunday, or Monday nights, in consequence of cloudy 
weather, This evening (Tuesday), at about 10 minutes 
before 8, the clouds cleared away ; but no vestige of the 
train could be perceived in the neighbourhood which it 
had illumined on Friday night; but a diffused and 
amorphous light, commencing at the Pleiades, and 
spreading over the entire constellation Aries, even 
through the haze, was too conspicuous to escape ob- 
servation. If this be the tail of the comet, it indicates 
a very rapid motion of it northward. B letter 
which I received yesterday from Mr. Shorts, of Christ- 
church, Hampshire, he has seen it earlier than any 
one I have yet heard of, inasmuch as he observed it 
three nights previous to the date of his letter, which is the 
19th inst. ; hence he saw it Thursday, Friday, and Satur- 
day.”—The Bristol Journal of Saturday has the following : 
—‘‘A singular meteor was observed in the heavens last night 
about half-past eight, which extended from twenty to 
thirty degrees in the sky, shedding a line of brilliant light, 
following the direction of thesun. A correspondent states 
that, about eight days ago, a comet was observed from 
Madrid over the sun in the daytime, and the supposition 
is, that the meteor seen last night was the tail of a comet.” 
—Private letters have also been received from Oporto, 
dated the 14th inst., which mention that a splendid comet 
becomes visible there at sunset, appearing in the west; 
