The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1861-01-09 00:00:00

TERTIBLE BOILER EXPLOSION AT
14ALIFAX.

' One of the most terrible boilei ettosions which ever
happened in Halifax took place oti 14,1ef:dlij ti'cofnitrg,. at
the premises of Mr. J. D. Hutchinson, odd ilibinifae-
turer, Albert Mill, Cavalry Field. A great ateOlPrit of
damage has been done, but what renders the occurferith
more melancholy is, that a fatality is likely to ensue
frotti)t. The explosion happened a minute or two after
si± o'clock, before all the hands had got to their work ;
hid it occurred Inte the consequences might have been
moire nielanchdly: The bells?, about 40-horse power,
t'' Ceded Withiti a' shed in the rani? On one side of
the yard :!4 w fi.Ve;stpiq ni li, tWelie Windoit's in height;
and at the end of antl'orposite th'e hofferilhaNse,
is a two-storey building; g.4.'l4iibt's length: A
considerable portion of the pretigsS, VfithpeVer, was
let to tenants in various branches of manttra:ti'ffe: The
other side of the yard is bounded by a shrubbery. 14
boiler was blown completely off its seat. The exhibi-
t ftotqf, the power of the explosion is marvellous. The
iron pritiht,fortning the cylinder of the boiler appears
to have beetibeiSt open' like so much mill-board, blown
right and left, dee hailiagailnst the mill chimney a few
yards distance, while 114'-diliti half Was Mown among
the trees in the shrubbery. Tl4"e' MS' of the boiler,
together with the flues which pass tlifdikilit'ilfeire'hllo,Wit
twenty yards, being lifted over a lot of tredi The flues
are perfect, not the least collapse having taken Piare"e:
The • dome of the boiler was blown off, lifted a great
height into the air over the five-storey mill, and fell upon
the eaves of a Cottage about fifty yards distant, and was
smashed ill the wall Aare the window sill. The steam
still mato distance, fell upon a gas
lag!), 4/Vietrof Coarse was' shitered, end then upon some
palisades, Wgili v7de In'oli'en: The window and roofs
of many houses within S d?sta:n6e df 106 yards were
broken by bricks and large stone Elvs stefghing
several tons were carried to a greet mSfa'nee ; the
neighbourhood, in fact, was strewn with bricks, slener,,
ashes, &c. Next, however, to the actual damage to the
boiler and shed was that to the two-storey building to
which we have alluded. By some portion of the boiler
being blown against it, or by some other means, the
side of about half of this building was battered inside,
the sequence being that the floors and roof fell in,
reiidefing the premises a sad spectacle of destruction.
The fiVe-storey Ohl tves scarcely damaged; the engine
&lid was uninsured, it being within that mill. A fore-
man .ot Mr. Hatelririsonis, /mined hales Cordingley,
iebY is Vitra to have heed in the srafd when the ex-
plosion took Ong* W die, Only person Injured, He,
however, was scalded ifemily frOM head to toot ; his
head was fearfully cut, and selete fgys Were fractured.
He was removed to the infirmary, wheee ,ffa:s• dscet,
tained that some of the ribs had lacerated his lungs, A!
medical consultation took,place, but no hopes were given
of 129 fe&Yery.
The actual /fremage to the property must be over
£l,OOO. The mills *PH` }rare to stand until another
boiler has been put down. The wryular opinion is that
the explosion has been caused by tie' ftost but it is
impossible to say yet what have been the eiatt circum-
stances leading to the catastrophe. •