re
receded into obscurity and the distance, the planter caught a sound
vastly like 40--40--120--200.--And that was the last he ever heard of the
railroad.

_Appleton's American Railway Anecdote Book_.

MR. FRANK BUCKLAND'S FIRST RAILWAY JOURNEY.

Mr. Spencer Walpole remarks:--"Of Mr. Buckland's Christ Church days many
good stories are told. Almost every one has heard of the bear which he
kept at his rooms, of its misdemeanours, and its rustication. Less
familiar, perhaps, is the story of his first journey by the Great
Western. The dons, alarmed at the possible consequences of a railway to
London, would not allow Brunel to bring the line nearer than to Didcot.
Dean Buckland in vain protested against the folly of this decision, and
the line was kept out of harm's way at Didcot. But, the very day on
which it was opened, Mr. Frank Buckland, with one or two other
undergraduates, drove over to Didcot, travelled up to London, and
returned in time to fulfil all the regulations of the university. The
Dean, who was probably not altogether displeased at the joke, told the
story to his friends who had prided themselves in keeping the line from
Oxford. 'Here,' he said, 'you have deprived us of the advantage of a
railway, and my son has been up to London.'"

SCENE BEFORE A SUB-COMMITTEE ON STANDING ORDERS.
PETITIONING AGAINST A RAILWAY BILL, 1846.

"Well, Snooks," began the Agent for the Promoters, in cross-examination,
"you signed the petition against the Bill--aye?"

"Yees, zur. I zined summit, zur."

"But that petition--did you sign that petition?"

"I do'ant nar, zur; I zined zummit, zur."

"But don't you know the contents of the petition?"

"The what, zur?"

"The contents; what's in it."

"Oa! Noa, zur."

"You don't know what's in the petition!--Why, ain't you the petitioner
himself?"

"Noa, zur, I doan't nar that I be, zur."

["Snooks! Snooks! Snooks!" issued a voice from a stout and
benevolent-looking elderly gentleman from behind, "how can you say so,
Snooks? It's your petition." The prompting, however, seemed to produce
but little impression upon him for whom it was intended, whatever effect
it may have had upon the minds of those whose ears it reached, but for
whose service it was not intended].

"Really, Mr. Chairman," observed the Agent for the Bill, who appeared to
have no idea of _Burking_ the inquiry, "this is growing interesting."

"The i