stranger engine could get out of the way, to the great terror of the
passengers by the train, and as he was instructed it was almost the
result of a merciful interposition of Providence that a collision had not
occurred between them, in which event it would probably have terminated
fatally, to a greater or lesser extent. He now desired that summonses
might be granted not only against the owner of the engine so used, but
also against the driver and stoker of it, both of whom, it was obvious,
must have been well aware of their committing an unlawful act, and of the
perilous nature of the service in which they were engaged when they were
running an engine at such a time and place.

"Mr. Hammill said it certainly was a most extraordinary proceeding for
anyone to adopt, and after the learned gentleman's statement he had no
hesitation whatever in granting summonses against the whole of the
persons engaged in it."

A.B.C. AND D.E.F.

A gentleman travelling in a railway carriage was endeavouring, with
considerable earnestness, to impress some argument upon a
fellow-traveller who was seated opposite to him, and who appeared rather
dull of apprehension. At length, being slightly irritated, he exclaimed
in a louder tone, "Why, sir, it's as plain as A.B.C." "That may be,"
quietly replied the other, "but I am D.E.F."

NATIONAL CONTRAST.

The contrast which exists between the character of the French and English
navvy may be briefly exemplified by the following trifling anecdote:--

"In excavating a portion of the first tunnel east of Rouen towards Paris,
a French miner dressed in his blouse, and an English "navvy" in his white
smock jacket, were suddenly buried alive together by the falling in of
the earth behind them. Notwithstanding the violent commotion which the
intelligence of the accident excited above ground, Mr. Meek, the English
engineer who was constructing the work, after having quietly measured the
distance from the shaft to the sunken ground, satisfied himself that if
the men, at the moment of the accident, were at the head of "the drift"
at which they were working, they would be safe.

Accordingly, getting together as many French and English labourers as he
could collect, he instantly commenced sinking a shaft, which was
accomplished to the depth of 50 feet in the extraordinary short space of
eleven hours, and the men were thus brought up to the surface alive.

The Frenchman, on reaching the