loose powder was ignited, which communicated with
100lb. weight of gunpowder, and a terrific explosion
was the result. Two of the women were killed, and all
the others were more or less injured. One of the young
women killed was to have been married in a few days.

A child has been Killed by Lightning in its mother's
arms. On Sunday afternoon, the 5th instant, the wife
of William Sprugg, a bricklayer, of Grimstone, Norfolk,
was proceeding to church with her little boy, three and
a half years old, along a road lined with trees, when a
storm came on, and she took him up in her arms and
went along with an umbrella over her head. Suddenly,
when near a tree, the lightning struck her at the feet,
and she felt, as she describes, as if her feet were
suddenly taken off, her strength instantaneously gone, and
she was immediately unconscious. She had not seen
the light of the flash, nor heard any sound, although
the electric fluid must have passed with a great crash
down the tree, which it tore as it passed, proceeding
thence along the ground to the poor woman's feet,
tearing open her boots and ripping up the whole length
of her stockings, then passing up her body as far as her
breast, which as well as her legs are very much burnt;
and making its way out through her dress over against
her left breast into the child which was held there,
killed it.

A very melancholy Accident happened at Staley-
bridge, on the 7th inst. Four children, between the
ages of ten and seven, were playing on a balk of limber,
which had been thrown over the river Tame. The youngest
fell into the river, dragging his three companions
after him, and they were all immediately carried away
by the strength of the stream. Immediately on the
accident taking place, several persons promptly and
courageously rushed into the river in various places.
Three were saved, but the youngest, named David
Armitage, was never seen after he fell into the river.

Two children and a young man have perished in a
Fire at a public-house at Altrincham, in Cheshire. When
the fire was discovered, Mr. Cooper, the landlord, safely
leapt from a window into the street, got a ladder, and
rescued his wife and five of his children; he could not
find his other children; people soothed him by expressing
a belief that they hid been removed in the confusion:
but when the fire was got under, the corpses of the little
boys and that of the man-servant were found in the
ruins.

A dreadful Fire, involving the sacrifice of four lives,
occurred at George-row, Bermondsey-wall, on Sunday
morning, the 12th inst. Mrs. Fordham carried on the
business of pawnbroker in the Row; her brother, Mr.
William Wood, her three young sons, and a servant-girl,
occupied the house. About midnight a policeman
discovered that the basement was on fire, and he attempted
to arouse the inmates. Mrs. Fordham and one of her
sons tried to descend the stairs, but were obliged, after
shouting to the other persons in the house, to escape by
the top windows into the next house. A fire-escape was
quickly brought; but the conductor found it impossible
to enter any of the rooms, and no one appeared at the
windows. The flames quickly seized all the floors, and
the house was gutted. Mr. Wood, two of Mrs. Fordham's
children, and the girl, perished.

A fête at Cremorne Gardens on the 13th inst., for the
benefit of the Wellington College, was attended by a
lamentable Accident. There was a representation of the
storming of the Mamelon at Sebastopol. For this especial
occasion some five hundred Grenadier Guards and
other soldiers were permitted to appear on the scene.
At the very climax of the mimic war, when the soldiers
were rushing forward to the capture of the Mamelon
with bayonets fixed, their ardour carried them away,
and they sprang upon a slightly-built platform, not
intended for their use; it gave way under their weight,
and sixty men were precipitated a considerable distance.
The consequences were serious: five cases of fracture,
One soldier having both legs broken; and more than
twenty men received wounds from bayonets or were
otherwise hurt.

Hannah Tribe, keeper of a beer-shop in Church-row,
St. Pancras, and her young daughter, have perished in
a Fire which destroyed the house. Mrs. Tribe was in
difficulties, having been deceived as to the amount of
business attached to the house, which she had recently
taken; and she was in a very desponding state on the
evening preceding the fire; but there was no evidence
adduced before the coroner to show that the fire had
been wilfully caused by her with a view to self-destruction.
While the fire was raging she appeared at a
window, calling to a policeman to get a ladder; he told
her to jump out and he would catch her, but she
declined to do this, ran to an upper floor, and soon after
disappeared.

Several Railway Accidents have happened within a
few days. On Sunday, the 19th inst., about one o'clock
in the morning, a special train, consisting of fifty or
more carriages, drawn by only one engine, which left
Blackpool at 6 o'clock on Saturday evening, on its way
towards Todmorden, &c., entered Summit Tunnel. It
was there brought to a stand by want of water, and
whilst the engine was getting a supply, a goods train
ran into it and broke two carriages to pieces and injured
others. Several of the excursion passengers were much
bruised. Few escaped without a serious shock; some
were thrown across the line, and a man residing at
Heptonstall had his thigh fractured. An accident of
an alarming character occurred on the North British
Railway on the 20th. The express train for the south,
which leaves Edinburgh at 9.50 a.m., ran off the rails
when within about three and a half miles of Berwick.
There is an embankment at this part of the line, down
which the train was precipitated with great force,
several of the carriages having been completely smashed,
and the engine turned quite round. The engine driver
(Handyside) and stoker (Anderson) were both injured,
the latter so severely, that he is not expected to recover.
The passengers generally were more fortunate, most of
them having suffered but slight bruises. On Tuesday,
the 21st, three accidents occurred. The first was on
the Eastern Counties Railway. When the train which
left Tilbury at half-past 8 in the evening, nearly reached
the Bow junction, the engine suddenly failed, and
before it could be removed from the line, a Woolwich
train, following at the usual distance, ran into it,
smashing the back panelling of the last carriage. A
scene of frightful confusion ensued, and the cries for
assistance were alarming; it was soon discovered that
about sixteen persons were more or less injured, several of
them very seriously. The second was on the Great
Western Railway, near the Priestfields junction. Shortly
before the train (in which there was a large number of
passengers) reached the station, the engine, tender,
guard's van, and a first-class carriage jumped suddenly
off the railway, inflicting some damage to the engine
and carriages, but happily without hurting any of the
passengers. The third was on the Lancashire and
Yorkshire line, near Oldham. The accident occurred
to the train from Manchester. There were seven
carriages in the train, the first three being third class,
and the remainder being first and second class carriages.
About 150 yards from the station there is a pair of
points on the line leading into a goods yard, and it
appears that these were properly placed for the
approaching train, for the engine and the first two (third
class) carriages went on the right line, but from some
cause, as yet unexplained, the third carriage gave a
sudden jerk, the coupling chain snapped, and it fell
over on the goods line. Being near the station the
steam had been shut off, and the train was moving
so slowly that the concussion was slight; and though
there were a great many people in the carriage no one
sustained any serious injury. They all got out safely,
and walked up to the station.

SOCIAL, SANITARY, AND MUNICIPAL
PROGRESS

The Quarterly return of the Registrar-General has
been made up to the end of last March for marriages,
and to the end of June for births and deaths. The
results show the marriages considerably below, and the
births and deaths slightly above, the average proportions
for the respective periods. The winter quarter,
comprising the months of January, February, and March,
is never a favourite time of the year for marriages, which