instant that the roof above their heads would fall in and extinguish
them. In consequence of the spindle of the regulator having got out of
its socket the very same accident occurred shortly afterwards with
another engine, which, in like manner, walked through another portion of
this 14-inch wall of the stable that contained it, just as a
thorough-bred horse would have walked out of the door. And if such be
the irresistible power of the locomotive engine when feebly walking in
its new-born state, unattended or unassisted even by its tender, is it
not appalling to reflect what must be its momentum when, in the full
vigour of its life, it is flying down a steep gradient at the rate of 50
miles an hour, backed up by, say, 30 passenger carriages, each weighing
on an average 5.5 tons? If ordinary houses could suddenly be placed in
its path, it would, passengers and all, run through them as a musket-ball
goes through a keg of butter; but what would be the result if, at this
full speed, the engine by any accident were to be diverted against a mass
of solid rock, such as sometimes is to be seen at the entrance of a
tunnel, it is impossible to calculate or even to conjecture. It is
stated by the company's superintendent, who witnessed the occurrence,
that some time ago an ordinary accident happening to a luggage train near
Loughborough, the wagons overrode each other until the uppermost one was
found piled 40 feet above the rails!"

NOVEL NOTICE TO DEFAULTING SHAREHOLDERS.

In the early days of railway enterprise there was often much difficulty
in obtaining the punctual payment of calls from the shareholders. The
Leicester and Swannington line was thus troubled. The Secretary,
adopting a rather novel way to collect the calls, wrote to the
defaulters:--"I am therefore necessitated to inform you, that unless the
sum of 2 pounds is paid on or before the 22nd instant, your name will be
furnished to one of the principal and most pressing creditors of the
company." The missives of the Secretary generally had the desired
effect.

A QUICK DECISION.

The elder Brunel was habitually absent in society, but no man was more
remarkable for presence of mind in an emergency. Numerous instances are
recorded of this latter quality, but none more striking than that of his
adventure in the act of inspecting the Birmingham Railway. Suddenly in a
confined part of the road a train was seen approaching from either end of