were conveyed at fares, there and back, of seven and sixpence
and five shillings respectively, the distance being 400 miles, and four
clear days were allowed in Manchester. As might have been expected,
trains were well filled, and, but for the fact that the other traffic was
much interfered with, the fares would, it is said, have been
remunerative. As it was, it is said the shareholders lost 1 per cent.
dividend.

"Another memorable contest was carried on about the year 1853 between the
Caledonian and the Edinburgh and Glasgow Companies. The latter suddenly
reduced the fares between Edinburgh and Glasgow for the three classes
from eight shillings, six shillings, and four shillings, to one shilling,
ninepence, and sixpence. The contest was continued for
a-year-and-a-half, and cost the Edinburgh and Glasgow Company nearly 1
per cent. in their dividends."

ACCIDENT HOAX.

The following impudent hoax, contained in a letter which appeared in the
_Times_ in 1860, was most annoying to the officials of the Great Northern
Company. It is headed:--

"Accident on the Great Northern Railway.
"To the Editor of the _Times_.

"Sir,--I beg to inform you of a serious accident, attended by severe
injury, if not loss of life, which occured to-day to the 8 o'clock a.m.
train from Wakefield, on the Great Northern railway, near Doncaster, by
which I was a passenger. As the train approached Doncaster, about 9
o'clock, the passengers were suddenly alarmed by the vehement oscillation
of the carriages. In a few seconds the engine had run off the line,
dragging the greater part of the train with it across the opposite line
of rails. By this time the concussion had become so vehement that the
grappling chains connecting the engine, tender, and first carriage with
the rest of the train providentially snapped. This circumstance saved
the lives of many. But the engine, tender, and first carriage were
hurled over the embankment, all three being together overturned, and the
latter (a second-class one) nearly crushed. The stoker was severely
injured on the head, and his recovery is more than doubtful; the engine
driver contrived to leap off in time to save himself with a few bruises.
The shrieks of the passengers in the overturned carriage (three women and
five men) were fearful; and for some time their extrication was
impossible. One middle-aged woman had her thigh broken, another her arm