30. VISIT OF HER MAJESTY TO THE EMPRESS OF THE FRENCH.Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice, and attended by Lord Charles Fitzroy and the Marchioness of Ely, left Windsor Castle this morning, in order to visit her Imperial Majesty the Empress of the French, at Chiselhurst. The Queen drove to the Windsor Terminus of the London and South-Western Railway, and was received at the station by Mr. W. M. Williams, superintendent of the line, Mr. Beattie, Mr. Jacomb, and Mr. Cheesman (station-master), and conducted to the royal saloon, in which her Majesty took her seat, with Princess Beatrice. The special train consisted of a fast narrow-gauge engine, two royal saloons, and four other carriages, provided by the directors of the South-Western Line, and furnished with Mr. Preece's system of electrical communication. A number of ladies and spectators assembled to witness the Queen's departure for Chiselhurst. Her Majesty and the Princess quitted Windsor at 10.50 a.m. precisely, and proceeded rapidly over the South-Western line, vid Staines, Richmond, and Clapham Junction, to Waterloo, which was reached at 11.35 a.m., and where, under the supervision of Mr. Cockburn, the engine was changed for one belonging to the South-Eastern Railway Company. The journey was resumed at 11.38, and Chiselhurst was reached at 11.55. Royal carriages, sent from Windsor, were in readiness at the station, and in these her Majesty and the Princess drove to Chiselhurst. Her Majesty was warmly welcomed by the Empress Eugenie. At the close of the visit the Queen and Princess took leave of the Empress and drove back to Chiselhurst Station, where the special train had in the meantime been waiting. Her Majesty and the Princess then

returned to Windsor.

DECEMBER.

5. THE SMITHFIELD CLUB CATTLE SHOW. The seventy-second exhibition of the Smithfield Cattle Club was opened in the Agricultural Hall, Islington. The champion plate of 100%. was carried off by Mr. Pulver's short-horn, shown as extra stock, which had previously taken the principal prize at Birmingham. The silver cups for the best steer and best heifer, value 407. each, were awarded to Messrs. Taylor, of West Ham, and Senior, of Aylesbury, for their Devons. In Herefords the Queen took two second prizes, and one first, and the Earl of Darnley a first. In short-horns the honours went to the Marquis of Ailesbury, Colonel Loyd-Lindsay, Mr. Searson, Mr. Stratton, and the Earl of Faversham. In sheep the cup for the best long-wools was won by Lord Berners, and for the short-wools by Lord Walsingham, who also won the 507. plate for the best pen of sheep in the show. In other classes, Mr. Brown (of

Yorkshire), Colonel Lowther, M.P., Mr. Hall (of Great Barford), Mr. Lister (of Lincoln), Mr. Foljambe, M.P., the Duke of Richmond, Mr. Morrison (of Tisby), and Messrs. R. and J. Russell (of the Vale of Darenth, Kent), were the principal prizemen. The cup for the best pig in the show was awarded to Mr. Benjafield, of Stourbridge, Dorsetshire.

6. FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.-The close of the year 1870 was rendered memorable in England by a succession of alarming and fatal railway accidents. On the 26th of November seven persons lost their lives by a collision at Harrow Station, and for December we have to recount three more very serious accidents.

The first of these occurred on the 6th, at Brockley Whins, where the passenger traffic from Newcastle to Sunderland and Shields separates, and whence also a large coal traffic is turned off from the main line to Sunderland and to the Tyne Dock. The express train which came into collision with a coal train at this place, left Sunderland at half-past ten o'clock; and this morning, in addition to the ordinary passengers, there were several butchers proceeding by it to Newcastle cattle-market, and millers and corn merchants who were going to the corn-market. At the particular place where the collision occurred the coal traffic is turned to the left for the Tyne Dock, and the passenger traffic from Newcastle is brought across from the left to the right, to enable the train from Sunderland to discharge or take up passengers at the Brockley Whins, where one platform is used for up and down traffic. The cause of the collision, from which such fearful results followed, is very easily explained. The switches were in charge of a pointsman named Hedley. As the express train was coming from the east and was being "slowed" to pass the Brockley Whins station, at which it had not to call, however, a coal train for the Tyne Dock was coming from the west, and when it reached the points to be turned down to the Tyne Dock, Hedley had got into a fluster, lost his head, and had opened the wrong points, which turned the coal train into the crossing leading to the station platform. But the disastrous mistake did not end here, for the same action opened the points at the other end, and brought the express train, which consisted of a guard's van and five carriages-a first class, a composite, and three seconds--off the up line on to the crossing, and dashed the two engines on to each other, end on. The speed of the express at the time of striking was estimated at about the rate of ten miles an hour, while that of the coal train was about eight; and the force of the collision was sufficient to smash in the fronts of both engines, and to strew the whole of the surrounding spot with shattered plates, loosened wheels, and innumerable pieces of rubbish from the terribly shattered carriages themselves. The van, indeed, was broken to fragments, one of the sides flying out in a perfect piece; while the adjoining first-class was forced in at the bottom in such a way as to hurl the occupants high into the air, and to cause several of them to fall upon the burning boilers of the locomotives adjoining. The sides and roof of the composite compartments disappeared in the same manner, and two

of the three carriages for second class passengers, being forced aloft by the shock, were literally smashed to atoms by falling on to the embankment and the travelling-way. The station-master and porters at Brockley Whins at once hastened to render what assistance they could to the unfortunate people who were entangled among the ruins. When a sufficient clearance had been made to enable the searchers to reach the people embedded in the rubbish, they came upon the dead body of Mr. Frederick Younge, a gentleman well known for his acting in Caste, Play, School, and several other plays of Mr. T. W. Robertson. The blood was streaming from his head, which appeared to be terribly fractured at the back; but beyond this there was no other sign of injury to the body or limbs. A lady, also severely cut and bruised about the head, was lifted from a compartment near Mr. Younge, and was carried away insensible. It subsequently transpired that this was Miss Julia Martell, a member of the Caste company. She eventually recovered very considerably, though still deprived of the power of speech. The dead body of Mr. H. Y. Richardson, a paper manufacturer at Bishopwearmouth, was lifted from about the same spot, and was almost instantly joined by that of Mr. C. Turnbull, a clerk and commission agent. Both were sadly cut and mutilated. While people were making ready to remove the dead, others had been successful in releasing Mr. W. B. Ogden and Herbert Taplin from the wreck, but both were so frightfully smashed that even then but little hopes were entertained of their recovery. Mr. Ogden's face and head were much battered, and his left eye appeared to have been knocked completely from the socket; while Taplin, a porter at the central station, who had been merely put on temporarily to act as guard to the express, had the bones of both legs crushed almost to powder. They were at once removed to the waiting-room, and promptly attended to; but Mr. Ogden succumbed to his injuries about one o'clock, and Taplin, who had been compelled to have one leg amputated, also died in the course of the afternoon. A majority of the injured were taken to the Queen's and the Palatine Hotels, in Sunderland. On the arrival of the officials, among whom were Mr. Alderman Hartley, Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Mitford, Mr. A. Harrison, Mr. Smith, Mr. Simkins, and Mr. Forsyth-a good staff of workmen were set to clear the line, and so rapidly did the work progress that the shattered engines, tenders, and carriages were all removed from the line before three o'clock, and the traffic was then resumed. On inquiries being made for the pointsman, Hedley, he could not be found, and accordingly rumours were at once circulated that he had either absconded or committed suicide: but later in the evening he was apprehended in his own house, and conveyed to the lock-up at Jarrow. The man was originally a platelayer, and had only been at his new duty for about three months.

The following is a list of the killed:-Frederick Younge, manager of the Caste Dramatic Company; W. B. Ogden, chemical manufacturer, Deptford, unmarried; Henry Y. Richardson, Wearmouth, paper manu

facturer, Deptford, aged between 40 and 50; R. C. Turnbull, commission agent, Sunderland, and agent to Mrs. R. H. Tweddell and Co., aged 24 or 25; Herbert Taplin, guard of passenger train.

At the inquest the jury were of opinion that the accident was caused by "Robert Hedley having omitted to place the points right, and that it was an error in judgment on the part of the said Robert Hedley." Robert Hedley was tried at the Durham Winter Assizes for manslaughter, and acquitted.

COLLISION NEAR BARNSLEY.-Scarcely had the public recovered from the shock of the accident at Brockley Whins, when they were startled by the news of a terrible collision on the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire line, at Stairfoot, two miles from Barnsley. This took place on the 12th, when, shortly after six p.m., some trucks which were in process of shunting at the latter place got loose, and ran down the incline into the Sheffield train just as it had been drawn up at the platform. The break-van and two of the passenger carriages were smashed to pieces, and the line for some distance was torn up. Fourteen passengers were killed, and upwards of twenty seriously injured. The following is a list of the dead-Richard Parks, landlord of the Ordnance Arms Hotel, Hathersage; Hannah Walton, domestic servant, Mortemley, near Sheffield; James Stoperth, miner, Hemmingfield; William Allerton, sexton, Darfield; Thomas Richmond, mechanic, Chapeltown; Frank Thorpe, miner, Highgreen; Clara Wadsworth, domestic servant, Headingley; Emma Flint, domestic servant, Lundhill; Sarah Briggs, girl, Tankersley; John Cusworth, banksman, Tingle-bridge; John Winstanley, landlord, Crown Inn, West Melton; John Harsfield, Elscar; John Beaumont, wine and spirit merchant, Wombwell; and George Flint, miner, 20, Hemmingfield. As there was no telegraphic communication with Stairfoot, some time elapsed before proper assistance could be rendered, but at length special trains were run from Barnsley to remove the injured. The line was not cleared till midnight. The Sheffield Independent describes the scene as follows:

"The train arrived at Ardsley station at thirteen minutes past six o'clock; and the passengers who got out there had scarcely crossed the rails on their way from the station when a number of goods waggons-probably nine or ten-were seen coming down the line in the direction from Barnsley. They were without an engine and were travelling at the rate of forty or fifty miles an hour. Almost as soon as the waggons were seen, and before any thing could be done to avert the impending collision, the waggons dashed into the end of the passenger train, killing and maiming severely several of the occupants of the last two carriages, and covering the line with débris of broken waggons. The collision is described as being most terrible to witness. It is said that the first two waggons, immediately on coming into contact with the hind part of the train, appeared to dash right through the composite carriage, the waggons behind jumped up in the air, and then fell, some on their sides and

some partly on the up and down lines. The two last waggons were heavily laden with gas-pipes, and in consequence kept the rails. All that is at present known is that by some

means or other

a number of waggons, which were on what is called the Pontefract siding at the Barnsley station, suddenly left their positions. From Barnsley to Ardsley there is a descent of one in 100. This soon gave the waggons a high rate of speed, and at the time the collision occurred they could not have been going at a less speed than between forty and fifty miles an hour. On their way to Ardsley they must have passed several pointsmen, but, singular to say, they were not shunted, nor was any information given to the officials at Ardsley as to the runaway trucks. There is a conflict of testimony as to whether the passenger train, when the collision occurred, had actually started from the station, or whether it was still standing. There is however, very good authority for saying that the train was just on the move, and the guard, William Duce, was in the act of jumping into his van when he looked back and saw the runaway trucks coming towards him with fearful velocity. He instantly leaped back on to the platform, and immediately the trucks dashed into the rear of the passenger train with a terrible crash, which was heard at a great distance."

At the inquest the jury delivered the following verdict :

"We are of opinion that William Allerton and others have come to their death by a collision caused by the breaking away of a goods train from Barnsley station; that such goods train broke away owing to the guard, John Hathershaw, not having properly spragged the waggons, and to improper shunting. Also we are of opinion that the company, on all inclines where goods have to be shunted to form a train, should provide catch points immediately below the siding."

In answer to the Coroner, the foreman said their opinion was that John Hathershaw was guilty of manslaughter.

Bail was accepted.

ACCIDENT NEAR HATFIELD.-A third deplorable accident occurred on the 26th near Hatfield, which caused the deaths of eight persons, and injured, more or less, four others; but the sufferers were not all passengers, four-two of whom were killed and two injured-being persons who happened to be near the line when this unforeseen calamity occurred, and so shared in its dangers.

There was no mystery attending the accident, for the cause was traced to a simple breakage, and the circumstances can be stated with precision. The train to which the accident occurred was the one which left King's Cross at 4.25 p.m., being the fast train to Peterborough, timed to stop at Hatfield, which is twenty miles out of London. The train was made up, in the fore part, of a breakvan next to the engine-tender, a second and a third class following, and five other carriages with a guard's break at the end. The train travelled at good speed until about midway between Potter's Bar station and Hatfield station, near a place called Bell Bar, where