NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 265, 8 December 1874, Page 7

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

A ft 4® CASE. Otte of the moat painful and, at the same lime, wouderful incidents of modern days (saya the Rohe News), occurred last month at Phillips County, United States. An »tniable and gifted lady, Miss Boomerriiine, died under peculiarly distressing circumstances. It seems from account given of the affair by the Trog ttnie/i that about a year ago'A family from Georgia, of German descent, named Bpomershine, settled near the western line of Phillips County. Miss Boomershine had an awkward; habit of eating clay, which she usually obtained from the roadside. Unfortunately, early this summer the grasshoppers swarmed in the district where the Boomershines lived, and soon began depositing their eggs in tlie gardens, fields, and roadside. It was not long before Miss Boomershine began to complain of internal pains and exhibited other symptoms of a nature so alarming as to cause serious anxiety to her friends. Her fancy for eating clay subsided, bub she was constantly nibbling blades of corn, leaves of trees, dog-fennel, and other weeds, and frequently said she felt as if sbe “ could take wings and fly away. 1 ’ At last her r father called in Dr Le Due, of Phillipsburg, who said be had never before seen or read ■of sneb a case, and that, in bis opinion, Miss Boomershine must be labouring under a mental hallucination. Her desire to •“ fly” continued unabated until the other day, when the grasshoppers commenced rising and taking tbeir flight. Miss BoomerShine appeared very restless that morning —standing at the window and watching the grasshoppers, while her friends were as anxiously watching herself. Suddenly, as though unable to control herself, she rushed out of the house, flapped her arms as though %hey were wings, rose about ten feet in the -rtir, and then fell to the ground dead. A post mortem examination by Dr Le Due 'revealed the fact that within she “was literally swarming with grasshoppers.” ‘The instincts of these insects prompted her to migrate with other grasshoppers, and hence the eccentric conduct and death of ■this unhappy girl. A PERILOUS VOYAGE. A balloon ascent, which took place on the Sls't August, caused a great sensation. It was on a fete day at Calais, and M. Duniorf, the French aeronaut, was announced to ascend in his balloon “ Le Tricolor,’ but the weather was very bad, and the atmospheric currents driving towards the ■German Ocean. To attempt an ascent was hazardous in the extreme, and had Mr Duruorf yielded to persuasion, and his own •common sense, he would have decided to postpone the ascent, but some ill-disposed persons in the crowd taunted the mronaut with cowardice, and worked him up to •such a pitch, that spite all remonstrance, ■and saying to his wife, (who accompanied him), “ Let us show these people we are ’not afraid to die,” they inflated the balloon : and commenced the ascent, and drifted Tapidly towards the North Sea, and this when getting dark, about seven in the •evening. No one hardly ever expected to hear anything of the ill-fated couple again, ■as it was hardly possible for them to reach the coast of Norway, and if they dropped in the open sea the chances were dead -against their being picked up, or dropping -near a passing vessel. But through 'God’s mercy they were rescued in an exhausted •condition by the crew of a fishing vessel, who loft their nets and after an hour’s chase managed to succour them, and this nearly in raid-ocean. They lost their balloon, and a •subscription was opened on their behalf in ’Calais, and also a subscription in this ■country on behalf of the crew of the fishing smack, by Mr Glashier, and towards making good to them the loss of tbeir nets. M. and Mdm. Durorf made an ascent at the Grystal Palace on the 14th September, for their benefit. One of the persons who reproached them and caused them from a mistaken sense of honour to take this rash voyage, committed suicide, leaving a note stating his remorse For his share in the matter. TERRIBLE RAILWAY ACCIDENT. The Marquis of Waterford, who apparently inherits some of the family eccentricities, is said to have offered the Great Western Railway Company liberal compensation For ail losses if they would only afford him the opportunity of seeing two trains, empty of course, run into 'each other at express speed from opposite directions. The Great Western Company did not think the game worth the candle, and refused to do anything of the sort; but had his lordship only known when the affair was coming off, he would have found that the Great Eastern Company were able to gratify him. Had he been at a certain spot on the line between Norwich and Brtmdall, on the night of the 10th Septeta-

ber, he could hare witnessed the desired spectacle without .paying anything at all, and with the more thrilling accessories of full instead of empty trains. At Brundall station, between Yarmouth and Norwich, the line becomes-single, and the up night mail from Yarmouth should pass the express just jiefore reaching that place. If, however, it arrived at Brundall without passing the express, it remained there for orders from Norwich. At Norwich, if the express was twenty-five minntes late, it was the rule to order up the mail from Brundall, and of course if the express arrived in the meantime, to datain it until the single line was clear. Considering what was at stake a heavy responsibility rests on the directors, who allowed the safety of the trains to depend on a happy-go-lucky system like this, where everything rested on the clear-headedness of one or two over-worked men, without any mechanical check, as in the “ block” or “ staff” systems. For years it answered, but at last came the inevitable break-down of so flimsy a measure. On the night of the 10th ultimo the express from London was late as usual, and the night inspector at Norwich ordered up the mail from Brun■dall. Within the next two minutes the express arrives at Norwich, and through some misunderstanding between a telegraph clerk, the night inspector, who had ordered up the mail, and another inspector, it is sent on down the single line, up which the mail is now whirling. The mistake was discovered just too late, and the consternation at the station may be imagined. The inspector who had ordered up the mail was, according to the witnesses at the in quiry, “ like one paralysed with horror,” and another official tore off his coat and rushed down the line in a futile attempt to catch the express. All in vain. No human power could now avert the catastrophe. There was nothing to be done but to prepare for the worst. Carriages were lighted, the country scoured for surgical aid, places provided for the reception of the dead and dying, and all these provisions were actually being made while the victims were sitting in life and health, and utter unconsciousness of danger. In all the sad long history of such disasters never has there been so weird a feature as this. The crash came, and it was heard for miles aro ind. The two engines, from their positions afterwards, must have reared up perpendicularly, and then fallen over backwards. The inextricable confusion of tortured humanity and debris was something appalling. Altogether in this terrible ca .astrophe twenty-five people have been killed, and about seventy injured. The coroner’s jury have found verdicts of manslaughter against the night-inspector who ordered up the mail from Brundall, and the telegraph clerk who sent the message.