did so, he alleged, at the request of his wife's family.
He demanded 1000 francs from M. de Castillon for the
expenses of the journey, and, after some bargaining,
consented to accept 500 francs. Negotiations were
subsequently entered into between Cremieux and de
Castillon, the result of which was that the former undertook
to resign his wife to the latter, and never to prosecute
him, on the condition that he would pay 30,000 francs.
The money was duly paid, and it was Cremieux himself
who went to de Castillon's notary to receive the
promissory notes and definitely settle the affair. He
had at first asked for 40,000 francs, and it was only
after some discussion with de Castillon that he
consented to accept the 30,000 francs. In virtue of this
strange convention, Madame de Cremieux returned to
de Castillon; but Cremieux subsequently laid complaint
against them for adultery. Just before his wife returned
to the young man, Cremieux said to him—"Though
you have got my wife for 30,000 francs, I offer to bet
you 500 francs that in less than six months she will
have another lover." To this de Castillon replied—
"I will take your bet, but it must be written down."
Cremieux, in giving evidence, spoke of this scandalous
transaction with the greatest unconcern, and his conduct
and language excited intense indignation. Madame
Cremieux, on being called on for her defence, did not
deny the adultery, but said that her husband had illtreated
her and driven her from his home. She admitted
that she was aware of the pecuniary arrangements
between him and her lover. M. de Castillon said that
after he had entered in the convention to pay the
30,000 francs, he thought that Madame de Cremieux
was perfectly free, and that Cremieux would have
taken measures to procure a legal separation from her.
The tribunal only condemned Madame Cremieux to
fifteen days' imprisonment, and M. de Castillon to a
fine of 1000 francs.

NARRATIVE OF ACCIDENT AND
DISASTER.

A Fatal Explosion has occurred at West Moor Colliery,
near Newcastle. The gas took fire in one of the workings
in which fourteen people were engaged; six men and
two boys were killed, and the others were dreadfully
burnt. In the very extensive galleries of the mine there
were two hundred persons at work. The explosion
took place in what is called the metal drift, a very
explosive quarter, situated about half a mile from the
main shaft, and flew from the level half-way up a steep
incline, where it came in contact with some rollers and
tubs that had got off the way, which split it, and kept
it in the working where it originated. The mine is
worked with lamps. Not one who was engaged at the
spot where the explosion began was left alive: it is
supposed that the accident was caused by a man smoking
a pipe.

A Disastrous Collision at Sea occurred off the Norfolk
coast on Sunday morning, the 2nd inst. The Alert
schooner, of Ipswich, ran into the sloop Samuel and
Eliza; the master of the sloop boarded the schooner to
learn her name; in attempting to return, he was so
crushed between the vessels that he died in a short time.
Both vessels were greatly damaged, and in a short time
the crews were obliged to quit them in their boats, as
they were fast foundering. The mariners were picked
up by passing ships.

At an early hour on the morning of Monday, the 3rd
inst. a Fire broke out in the house of Colonel Mitchell,
in Langham Place. There were sleeping in the house,
the colonel, his lady, the steward and butler, three or four
female domestics, and a young gentleman who was on a
visit to the family. An alarm having been given it was
not without considerable difficulty that the inmates
could be made sensible of the danger. This, however,
having been at length effected, they contrived by various
expedients to make their escape, but we regret to say,
notwithstanding the speedy attendance of the engines,
the flames were Hot extinguished before a serious amount
of property was reduced to ashes.

On Sunday afternoon, the 2nd inst. last, a fearful
Explosion of Fireworks took place on the premises of
Mr. Bull, grocer and oilman, Lower Smith Street, Clerkenwell,
by which Mr. Bull and his two assistants, named
Thomas Phillips and James Prickett, were so seriously
injured as to be obliged to be conveyed to the hospital,
where Phillips and Prickett have since died. Mr. Bull
was preparing some fireworks, and in trying an experiment
with a squib a spark came into contact with a tub of
gunpowder, and caused it to explode. On Thursday, an
inquest was held on the bodies of the two workmen,
when Mr. Payne, the coroner, observed that the
manufacture of fireworks was prohibited by law, and that,
being an illegal act, any one who should be accessory to
the death of another, by an explosion of the composition
for making them, would be guilty of manslaughter. In
this case it unfortunately happened that all the parties
concerned were sufferers. The verdict was, "That the
deceased men came to their deaths by an explosion of
fireworks, which they were making."

On the 4th, a man named Owen, keeper of a coffee-
shop, in Bear Street, Leicester Square was Killed on
board the "Queen of the Thames," steamer, near Erith
Pier. He was going to see a boxing-match, and was
much intoxicated. He was sitting on the frame-work
surrounding the engine, when he lost his balance, and
fell among the machinery. He laid a desperate hold of
the side ledge; but the cylinder rising at the moment,
the arm was chopped off, and he was dragged down
between the engines. The engineer stopped the vessel
as soon as possible, and then a sight, the most appalling,
presented itself. The head of the unfortunate man
was completely cut off, as were a leg and an arm; the
brains and portions of the body were scattered amongst
the machinery. The scattered remains were gathered
together, and having been tied up in a sail-bag, were
rowed ashore in the custody of a waterman and some
of the passengers. The deceased, who was a man of
middle age, has left a wile and two young children.

A Fatal Steamboat Explosion occurred on the evening
of the 5th at Conham Ferry, near Bristol Bridge. A
small steam-tug, on the screw principle, the property of
the Kennet and Avon Canal Company, was engaged in
towing one of the barges of that company laden with
general merchandise from Bath to Bristol. When it
arrived at the place named, the boiler burst with a
terrific noise; and on the smoke and steam clearing off
not a vestige of the steamer could be seen. The deck
had been blown out and hurled into the air, descending
to the fields on both sides of the water; while the hull,
shattered and torn asunder, had sunk to the bottom of
the channel, which in that place is more than twenty
feet deep. The crew of the John and Sophia barge,
which was a short distance astern, immediately
commenced an active search for the poor fellows, four in
number, who were on board the steam-tug, when
suddenly they observed a person in the water calling for
help. He was immediately rescued, and proved to be a
man named Eacott, who had been steering at the
moment the explosion took place, and was blown clear
off the deck into the air. The poor fellow was dreadfully
injured, his left foot hanging to his leg by the skin,
just above the ankle, and his body being shockingly
mutilated. The bodies of the other men were subsequently
found in the river, from which they were taken
out and landed. At the inquest on the bodies, it was
made highly probable that the boiler burst from excessive
steam-power, negligently or recklessly got up by
the engineer; but an open verdict was returned. The
jury said, that if the engineer were living they would
heavily censure him; and the coroner thought, that if
he were living a verdict of manslaughter ought to be
returned against him.

The American papers contain a narrative of the
Destruction of a large Whale Ship by the attack of
a sperm whale; an occurrence of which only one
previous instance is recorded. The ship Ann Alexander,
Captain Deblois, sailed from New Bedford, Massa-
chussets, in June, 1850, on a whaling voyage to the
South Pacific. After a considerable time spent in
fishing in tile Atlantic, the ship arrived at the fishing
ground in the Pacific, on the 20th of August last. In
the morning of that day, whales were discovered in the