£200, the balance of a debt of £350, was sought to be
established by the assignees of Merrington, a draper in
Bond-street, against the estate of one Bullock, a chemist
in Conduit-street, in respect of goods obtained by Mrs.
Bullock, wife of the bankrupt, from the shop of
Merrington, also a bankrupt. The bill was handed in, from
which it appeared that the period was about ten months
between February and December of last year. It
contained the following items:—two brocaded robes, 17
guineas, in March; two ditto, 17 guineas, the next month;
sky mantle, 14 guineas; another dress, 15 guineas;
and on one day, December 14, goods, £52 14s.; also, a
velvet jacket, 4 guineas; and a sable muff 15 guineas.
It was admitted that Mr. Bullock had not been applied
to for payment until the whole debt was contracted. It
also appeared that no part of the £150 that had been
paid on account was paid by the husband. The judge
said it was quite clear that in this case there was not
sufficient evidence to establish the general cognisance of
the husband, who it would appear, only knew of a few
articles having been bought. A single instance, when a
man might indulge his wife, was not sufficient to
warrant a tradesman in supplying her afterwards with
articles of a most extravagant nature, of great value,
and at enormous prices. That would be an exceedingly
dangerous doctrine to lay down—a doctrine that would
lead to this—that because a husband, no matter what
his means or position were, sanctioned the purchase of
necessaries or a few luxuries by his wife, she might
make purchases to any extent, even though it were to
involve him in utter ruin. Both parties before him
being bankrupt, he (the Commissioner) must put
himself in the position of a jury, and, adopting that character,
the court felt perfectly convinced that no jury would
treat as necessary dresses £15 or £17 each for the wife of
a chemist. The account must be examined by some
competent person, and settled upon this principle—that
necessaries be paid for, but that all articles, say exceeding
£5 in price, having been supplied without the
sanction of the bankrupt, would be disallowed. He
might observe, that tradesmen owed a duty in this
respect to one another as traders, and ought not to
encourage such extravagance, at least unless they well
knew the husband was cognisant of it.

At Guildhall on the 21st inst., John Davis, a Welsh
cattle-dealer, staying at the Lock and Key, Smithfield,
was charged with Cruelty to Seven Bullocks. The
evidence was, that he bought the cattle, and as they
were handed over to him he took out his kniie and made
several cuts on their left buttocks, causing the blood to
flow. The usual mode of marking beasts was by clipping
the hair off the right buttock with scissors. The
defendant said, this was the first time he had visited
Smithfield market, and he did not know its rules and
customs. He had only marked the animals according
to the custom of his country. The Alderman said it
was a very cruel custom, and he should fine him 20s. or
14 days' imprisonment. The fine was paid.

NARRATIVE OF ACCIDENT AND
DISASTER.

The Forerunner, African contract mail-steamer, was
Wrecked on the 25th October, with the total loss of the
ship, cargo, and mails, and a sacrifice of 14 lives. The
vessel left Sierra Leone on the 13th October, crowded
with passengers and freight. Captain Kennedy, the
Governor of Sierra Leone, one of the passengers who
escaped, has described the calamity. After a narrow
escape from striking on the Arguin banks, "the
Forerunner arrived at Madeira without further accident
on the night of the 24th October, and sailed from
Funchal, for Plymouth, on the 25th, at four o'clock,
P.M., with fine clear weather. At about a quarter
past six o'clock, P.M., the same evening, or two hours
after our departure, on passing St. Lorenzo, the easternmost
point of the island, and ample light to avoid such
a catastrophe, we ran at full speed upon a sunken rock,
plainly laid down on the chart, and only 200 yards from
the bold precipitous cliffs of the shore. Thereupon
immediately ensued the stereotyped occurrences common
upon such occasions. A panic-stricken crowd of
engineers, stokers, and greasy-jackets rushed at the
boats, which were secured like fixtures: these cut away,
one boat was partially swamped, and the remaining two,
lowered without order or discipline, were instantly
overcrowded. At this juncture, two of the boats having
pushed off to reach a Portuguese fishing-boat, which
providentially passed near to us, a heavy roller struck
the ship; she slid forward about half her length, and
went down head-foremost in 120 feet water; her
propeller standing perpendicular to the water as she
descended with the rapidity of a stone dropped from a
height. Eighteen or nineteen souls were carried down
in this frightful vortex; the quenched fires and steam
roaring like some huge monster struggling for life.
Four or five only of these unfortunates were subsequently
saved. The time which elapsed between the vessel's
striking and totally disappearing occupied little more
than ten minutes. There occurred in this rapid and
trying scene the usual contrast of self-possession and
firmness of the few, and the selfish pusillanimity of the
many. Several of the passengers did good service, and
were the means of saving life; but all must mourn the
loss of Lieutenant Child, of the Gold Coast Corps,
whose courage and humanity were befitting his
profession. This gallant young officer refused to leave the
ship while any remained; rushed to the cabin and
brought up Mrs. English and her child. Having put
the latter in safety, he was last seen vainly endeavouring
to force the unfortunate lady over the side-rail of the
ship into the same boat, when both were carried down
together in the vortex with the sinking ship. The
survivors were landed by a Portuguese fishing-boat at
the village of Santa Cruz, where they were received by
a Portuguese family with the most cordial and unhesitating
hospitality. Not a vestige of property was saved,
beyond the clothes which the survivors stood in. I will
do the crew of the Forerunner the justice to state, that
a more selfish, pusillanimous, and incapable herd, I have
never had the misfortune to meet with. I saw three of
them in the cabin-passage vainly struggling to save the
captain's box of money, while they left the only woman
and child on board to perish unheeded. Money or men,
however, never reached the deck. To another the
captain gave a bag of gold; he was true to his trust,
and went down with it." After condemning the
inexcusable nature of the disaster, Captain Kennedy
proceeded—"As for my personal share in this appalling
disaster, I did all that I was capable of doing, by word
and act, to restore order and confidence, and to save all,
by recalling officers and crew to a sense of their duty.
I declined to leave the ship while any remained. I was
carried down to a considerable depth with the sinking
ship, came to the surface, and, being a good swimmer,
escaped the despairing clutches of those who sank around
me, and was taken into one of the boats (at one time
out of sight and hail) after being half-an-hour in the
water, when the night had become pitch dark. Had
there been sufficient boats, and properly found, all
might have been saved; but with the wretched and
insufficient means at hand, all those saved have to thank
a merciful God alone for an almost miraculous escape
from death. A very little more wind or sea, and all
must have perished." Those who were drowned were
—Lieutenant Child, Gold Coast Corps; Mr. Vertue, of
Sierra Leone: Mrs. English, widow of Captain English;
Mr. Moore, chief officer; Mr. Grimstead, second officer;
six of the crew, and three distressed mariners who had
been granted a passage. This affair is undergoing a
protracted investigation.

A terrible Railway Accident has taken place in
Canada. On the 26th of October, a few minutes after
two o'clock in the afternoon, a first-class and two second-
class passenger cars, one express and one baggage car,
left Niagara Falls by the Great Western Railway.
About three miles west of London the cylinder head of
the engine burst, which delayed the train two hours.
About one o'clock, and about thirteen miles west of
Chatham, on the Baptist Creek Flats, going about twenty
miles an hour, the train with its new engine came in
collision with a gravel train of fifteen cars backing east.
The collision was frightful. The locomotive was
completely thrown over to the right, the express cars