The Week.

has failed , and that the men have been invited to return to thenwork on their old terms . It is said , too , by the workmen ' s committee , that the smaller masters in various parts of the metropolis are coming in , one by one , to these terms , and it is only a few of the leviathan contractors who refuse to yield them themselves , and who encourage the others to resist . The masters have not , as far

as we are aware , put forward any fresh manifesto . Not only is the short time movement spreading in Lancashire , but we regret to see that one mill has entirely succumbed , throwin g 700 people out of employment . The chemists and druggists of Manchester and the surrounding towns decided , at a meeting held in this citto form themselves into a distinct association . The

y , society contemplates , among other objects , the establishment of a benevolent fund for the assistance of members , "in sickness , old age , and death ; " the carrying out of any improvement that may be deemed necessary for the welfare of the trade , such as " early and Sunday closing ; " and the formation of a reading-room ancl library of reference . It is also intended , at some future period , to

establish a school for the education of members' children , and to adopt measures for facilitating anlytical inquiry . At the Metropolitan Board of AA'orks , ou Friday , Mr . Bazalgette made a report as to the progress of the main-drainage scheme . It will be remembered that the sewers are to run in three different levels on each side of the river . The engineer reports that the two upper levels

on each side are making rapid progress , the lowest levels appear to be stationary , probably waiting the decision of the Legislature on the main-drainage scheme . The works are expected to be completed in the course of the next two years . As usual , the estimates are to be exceeded . The engineer already prepares us for an excess

of half-a-million . The members of the Board of AVorks , on AVednesday , inspected the works . About 60 gentlemen were present , and examined the most important portion of the system from Bow to Barking on tbe north side of the river , and from Plumstead to Deptford on the south side . The manner in which the contractors have done their work appeared to give very general satisfaction . OnThursday thernetropolitanvestries went overthe same ground .

We regret that tbe intelligence from the west of Ireland justifies grave apprehensions of the speedy approach of a famine . There has been a most serious failure of crops , and already , to quote the language of a Dublin contemporary , " the sharp cry of distress begins to reach us . " A meeting was held at Kilmoree on Sunday last , from the report of which it appears that in that parish

fivesixths of the potato crop have been destroyed by blight and recent floods ; and that , if the corn there were converted into meal , it would not provide the people with food sufficient to last them for two months . An appeal is made to the Government , who are called upon to provide public works by which the poor may earn the means of subsistence . Mr . Lindsay , M . P ., addressed his

constituents at Sunderland last week . The hon . gentleman reviewed the proceedings of the late session , and denounced at considerable length our heavy expenditure for naval and military puiposes . He ridiculed the fear of a French invasion , and , alluding to the rivalry of England and France in the construction of iron-cased ships , expressed a wish to " put a stop to that tomfoolery . " Speaking of the cotton supply question , he contended that it was " the duty of

our Government to endeavour to induce the Federal Government iu the cause of humanity to remove the blockade . " He also argued that it was " almost time that the governments of England and France thought of recognising the independence of so numerous a body of people , " as that represented by the Confederate States , Mr . Clay , M . P ., delivered a spirited speech at a volunteer banquet

given at Hull . The hon . gentleman warmly defended the means which had been taken by the country for the protection of the vast interests of the British empire . He saw no reason to doubt that the Emperor Napoleon is sincere in his professions of friendship to England . His Majesty had repeatedly given us proofs of his desire to cultivate a close alliance with us . But though this was true , he was surrounded by an immense army , whose vain ambition he could

not always control , and it was , therefore , our duty to see that we were as fully prepared as possible for any emergency which might arise . He enlarged upon the signal service which had been rendered to the country by the sudden creation of our great force of volunteers , and denounced in the strongest terms the conduct of those London firms which had placed before their emploges the

alternative of doffing the volunteer uniform or quitting their establishments . A number of daring burglaries have been committed in the North Riding , apparently by a single gang pf desperadoes . In another column will be found the particulars of one of these outrages . The ruffians displayed a boldness seldom evinced by the wary " cracksmen" of the present clay , ancl we regret to

have to state that one of the inmates of the house— lady who was in a weak state of health—died next day , from the effects , itis stated , of the alarm excitedby the presence and violent proceedings , of the burglars . The police have now secured all the men supposed to have been concerned in the murder of Mr . Bagott , at Bilston , and-Clark , who assassinatedMr . Frater , the tax-cellector , at

Newcastle-on-Tyne , has been committed for trial on the charge of wilful murdeiv The Secretary of State has determined to grant a reprieve to Malony , In a case of this peculiar kind , the Royal prerogative could not have been more righteously exorcised . At the Westminster police-court on Wednesday , Mr . Bury Hutchinson laid before the magistrate written informations , upon which a charge -of perjury

against Saunders , who swore that he saw the murder committed is to be based . An extraordinary affair is under investigation at Sheffield . Some time ago—according to the case for the prosecution—a boy , named Frudd , was proceeding along the high road ona pony , when he encountered three soldiers who were in

chargeof a baggage waggon driven by a man named Mason . The sergeantofthe party forced Frudd from the pony , and the lad rad to . inform , his father of what had taken place , Mr . Frudd came up , with a number of neighbours , when the sergeant and Mason fired several shots at them , luckily without doing any of them harm . The sergeant is in custody at the barracks , but Mason has been brought before the magistrates at Sheffield . The evidence seems to establish

the fact that Mason and the sergeant at least were in a state of intoxication ; and the presiding magistrate , taking a very lenient view of the matter , expressed an opinion that the whole affair was . a " drunken lark . " Mason was remanded . AVe are once morereminded of the dreadful railway accident at Kentish Town by the announcement of the death of another of the sufferers .

Joseph Cox , a signal man , who was in the brake next the engine of the passenger train , died yesterday morning . ¦ On Sunday morning , Peter Hill , a pointsman on the North Staffordshire Railway , was found laying across the metals in a cutting , a short distance from Macclesfield . The man was frightfully bruised , and his statement , when restored to consciousness , was , that he had

encountered a body of poachers , who had attacked him with savage ferocity . He died on Monday , ancl a suspicion arose that his story was incorrect—that , in fact , he had fallen upon the rails while in a state of intoxication , and had been run over by a trian . Tho medical evidence at the inquest , however , conclusively disposes of this theory ; ancl it seems to be tolerably clear that he was , as he

stated in his dying deposition , assailed , by a body of poachers , who , after rendering him unconscious , placed him across the line , with , the horrible intention of leaving to the first train which might pass the spot , the completion of their murderous design . A murder was committed last week by a mulatto cook , named Hawkins , on an American captain , on board an American ship , the

Lammergier . The captain was found murdered in his bed , but the cook had been heard to mutter threats against him ; and the chief mate put him in irons and brought the ship back to the Thames . Thecase was under investigation , but was stopjied , he having been under the Extradition Act , and after a very strong prima facie case was established against him , he was detained in order that he might be delivered over to the United States authorities to be tried there for his crime . Mr . AVilliam Bunvood Balclry , the captain