suddenly the driver noticed an alarming oscillation of
the viaduct, and looking in front, observed that some of
the timbers had given way. He instantly shut off his
steam, but finding that an accident was inevitable, he
and his stoker sprang off the engine into the sea, and
thus escaped; but in a moment or two afterwards the
train reached the point where the viaduct had given way,
and the whole of it, with two unfortunate breaksmen
clinging to the waggons, was precipitated into the sea.
The two breaksmen were not seen afterwards, which
has led to an inference that they were crushed to death
between the waggons. As soon as possible the
superintendent of the works caused several divers to go down
about the spot and search for the bodies of the
unfortunate men, but their efforts were not successful.

A great Slaughter of Sheep has been committed by a
railway train. On the 14th inst., about one o'clock in
the morning, as the Great Northern mail train was
proceeding to London from the north, it passed through a
flock of about one hundred sheep, which had strayed on
to the line from an adjoining field, killing fourteen of
them and maiming several others. The sheep which
were killed were literally cut to pieces, and the line was
covered with gore and mutilated portions of the animals
for some distance. The flock had strayed through a gap
in the fence near the line, and ran in front of the train
as it approached them. The obstruction, though
momentary, was sufficient to alarm the passengers, but
no personal injuries were sustained.

A dreadful Death from Hydrophobia has taken place
at Merthyr. Evan Richards, a boy of twelve years old,
was bit by a dog on the 8th of September. He remained
in good health for two months, when the symptoms
appeared; and gradually growing worse for several
days, he died raving mad. On the same night he was
bitten, his father took him to a Mr. Jones, an engineer
in the neighbourhood, who had a cure for the bite of a
mad dog—a powder made of certain stone—which (he
said on his examination at the inquest) he had previously
administered to thirty-six people. The cure did no
good; and when a surgeon was called in it was too late
to attempt a cure by cutting or cauterising.

London was enveloped on the 22d inst. in a Fog of
Extraordinary Density, which led to an almost total
cessation of business, and caused a number of accidents,
some of them fatal. A poor woman, named Eliza Frow,
who lived in Hertford Place, Drury Lane, was run over
by a Great Western Railway van in Searle Street,
Lincoln's-inn-fields, and whose head falling under the
wheel, was literally smashed. At St. Thomas's Hospital
two sufferers were received. The first is William
Reddle, of Bexley, whose waggon was drawn off the
road by the horses, and ran against a post. This threw
him off the shafts, and the wheels passing over his
thighs produced a compound fracture. The second case
was that of Mrs. Smith, of Lewisham, who lost her way
on Blackheath, and fell down a gravel pit 12 feet deep.
Both her thighs were broken, and she has sustained
other injuries. A youth named Edward Field was
admitted into the London Hospital. His father was
driving across Bow-common a van drawn by two horses
and heavily laden with timber, the property of Mr.
Rigby, of Westminster. The lad was carrying a link,
but he slipped off the footpath into the road, and was
immediately run over by the off hind wheel. His right
thigh bone was found to be fractured and the ankle
smashed. It is feared that his accident will terminate
fatally. Several other accidents have also occurred in
different parts of the suburbs. The cessation of business
on the river was even more complete than in the streets.
A great number of collisions have taken place, but none
appear to have been fatal.

An Alarming Collision on the Lancashire and
Yorkshire Railway took place on the morning of the 23d
inst. at Knottingley junction. The parliamentary train
from Leeds, consisting of engine and tender, three
passenger trains, and break van, which is due at
Knottingley station at twenty minutes past eight, arrived
there at about the proper time, and the passenger
carriages having been attached to others from York, the
united train was proceeding on its way to Doncaster,
when, on crossing the junction with the up-train to
Goole, about 200 or 300 yards from that station, a goods
train from that town, which arrived at the point of
intersection at the same moment, dashed through the
passenger train, cutting it in two about the middle, and
knocking off the body of a third-class carriage, containing
about twenty passengers. The vehicle rolled over
on its side, amidst a terrible screaming from the persons
in it, whilst the wheels and the under part of the
vehicle remained standing on the line. Assistance was
promptly rendered, and the passengers were extricated
without serious injury, excepting one man, who
complained of internal injuries from having been severely
crushed under the great bulk of the other passengers.
The goods engine sustained scarcely any damage, owing,
no doubt, to the body of the carriage with which it
came in contact separating so easily from its supporters.
The driver and stoker of the goods engine received no
injury, although they remained on the engine; indeed,
they had no alternative in the matter, for the dense fog
prevailing at the time prevented them from seeing the
passenger train until they had run into it, and the
signals were totally invisible. The broken passenger
carriage was replaced as soon as possible, and the
travellers were forwarded to their respective destinations
with less delay than could have been expected
under the circumstances.

On the evening of the 24th inst. a Fatal Accident
occurred at the Bury station of the East Lancashire
Railway. The guard of a luggage train, a young man
named Samuel Millet, was engaged in assisting to shunt
some waggons, when his head was caught by the coupling
hooks, and he was instantly killed.

SOCIAL, SANITARY, AND MUNICIPAL
PROGRESS.

The Registrar-General's Quarterly Return of the
Marriages, Births, and Deaths, just published,
comprises the births and deaths registered by 2,191
registrars in all the districts of England during the
summer quarter ending September 30th, 1853; and the
marriages in 12,039 churches or chapels, about 3,424
registered places of worship unconnected with the
established church, and 625 superintendent registrars'
ofiices, in the quarter that ended June 30th, 1853.

The return of marriages is not complete; but the
defects are inconsiderable, and approximative numbers
have been supplied from the records of previous years.
The marriages exceeded the average in the quarter
ending in June. For the quarter that ended in
September 30th the births have also been above the average
number, while the deaths have been fewer than is usual
in proportion to the population. The mortality of the
town population has experienced a marked diminution
during the summer; but one town (Newcastle-on-Tyne)
has suffered severely, and others are threatened by
Asiatic cholera.

The Marriages in the quarter ending in June last
were 40,335; a number exceeding by 328 the marriages
in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The
marriages in the spring quarter have gradually risen
from 30,048 in 1842, to 40,335 in 1853. The increase of
marriages within the last five years is particularly
conspicuous in London, Cornwall, Staffordshire, Cheshire,
Monmouthshire, and South Wales.

The Births in the quarter ending in September last
were 147,581. This is above the average number; but
it is less by 3,612 than the numbers (151,193) which
were registered in the corresponding quarter of 1852.
The decrease is, singularly enough, observable in every
county except Middlesex, Surrey, Cornwall, Staffordshire,
Rutlandshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, Cumberland,
and Monmouthshire.

The number of Deaths registered during the above
period was 92,332. As the births were 147,581, a
balance of 55,249 remains in the population. The births
and deaths are not registered in Scotland and Ireland,
as they are in nearly all other civilised countries, so that
the increase of the population of the United Kingdom
cannot be ascertained; but if the excess of births in
those divisions of the United Kingdom bears the same
proportion to the population as it does in England and
Wales, the increase by natural causes must be about