The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-11-06 00:00:00

PH STOTIRRRIPGE OPSEIVEII.

be raised from that condition of death into which
we were all brought through the sin of our first
father, Adam, and we shall all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ. Thus we belonged to
God, not only because he had made us but because
he had ransomed us by the blood of his own dear
Son, for God gave him up freely, a ransom for us
all. And so all men shall be raised from the dead,
in consequence of this glorious work—this re-
demption which Christ had wrought out for us all;
a redemption co-extensive with the fall of man. And
when they stooel before God at the lastday he would
not ask them a single word about the sin of their
first parent, Adam. They were free from that. He
would hold them accountable forthe sin of not
believing in the son of God. That was the sin for
which they would have to answer, and that was
the sin which' Adam had nothing to do with, so
far as they themselves were concerned. They
had heard the good tidings, and they could either
accept that good news or reject it—one or the
other—so they would enter into eternal joy and
happiness, or into everlasting woe. If he heard
that God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten son that whosoever believed in him
might have everlasting life, and that the sins of
the whole world were laid upon God's dear Son, he
put out his hand—he .opened his heart—he em-
braced the gospel—he recived it with 'feelings of
unutterable joy, and his eyes flowed over with
tears of gratitude to God, who had so loved him,
and to Christ who had laid down his life for him.
But suppose he did not accept it;and said there was
something mysterious about it which he could not
accept at all. There were plenty of men talking
in that way at the present day, and they thought
their position was altogether unassailable. There
they saw the seductivenness of Satan. Let them
deny the Lord and what came of it?
Condemned the man who did that must be of ne-
cessity, because God having loved that man, and
Christ having shed his precious blood for him,
when he hears the good news he threw back the
mercy of God, and says, "I will not have it ;" and
so the wrath of God abides upon him in conse-
quence of his own rejection of the love and mercy
of God. He had said that all men should rise
again from the dead in consequence of that glori-
ous work. It did not, however, follow that all men
should rise at the same moment; in fact they were
told that such was not the case. The resurrection
was a work of order and time. .Even as in Adam
all died, so in Christ all should live; but every man
in his own order. What was the order of the re-
surrection. First, Christ himself; secondly, those
that were Christ's—those who had died in the
faith and hope of the Gospel, who should arise at
his coming; thirdly, the end, when the rest of the
dead should arise. Here they so,* were three dis-
tinct stages. First, Christ himself, the first be-
gotten, from the dead. He was aware of the fact
that the resurrection of Christ from the dead was
frequently denied in the present day; but there
was no fact in history better attested than the
resurrection of Christ. The lecturer here quoted
numerous passages from the Bible, in support of
his arguments, with reference to the resurrection

of Christ; they that are Christ's; and of the re-
surrection of the remainder at the end of the
world. He then passed on to consider the present
state of the departed, and their hope, and said
that many people entertained an idea that they
believed in a sort of purgatory; but such was not
the case. They held similar opinions on this sub-
ject to those of John Wesley, whom few would ac-
cuse of anything like a leaning towards Popery.
He said, " It is generally supposed that the souls
of good men, so soon as they are discharged from
the body, go directly to heaven: but this opinion
has not the least foundation in the oracles of God.
On the contrary our Lord said to Mary, after the
resurrection, Touch me not, for I have not yet
ascended to my Father in heaven.' But he had
been in Paradise, according to his promise to the
penitent thief, 'This day shalt thou be with me in
Paradise.' Hence it is plain that Paradise is not
heaven. It is (if we may be allowed the expres-
sion) the antechamber of heaven, where the souls
of the righteous remain till, after the judgment,
they are received into glory." The lecturer then
showed that St. Paul at one time entertained an
idea that he might be spared to see the second
con ing of our Lord in the flesh. But when he
came towards the close of his life the one great
hope that sustained him was that he should be
amongst those who should share in the glory of
the first resurrection. And surely they would not
wish to have a greater or better hope than that of
the good Apostle to the Gentiles. They were all
waiting for the sound of the trumpet. Then
should corruption be replaced by ineorruption—
mortality should put on immortality. The lecturer
concluded by announcing that there would be two
more lectures on similar subjects, on the two fol-
lowing Wednesday evenings. .

THE LATE EXPLOSION AT WOLLASTON.
ADJOURNED INQUIRY.

The adjourned enquiry on the bodies of Eli
Jonathain Gibson, John Wilkinson Ford, and
Frederick Hall, was held at the Barley Mow Inn,
Wollaston, on Thursday evening last. •
_ .

Mr. Wall appeared for the Messrs. Norris.
Mr. Jones, of Wolverhampton, Inspector of Fac-
toles, the Rev. G. Gilbanks, and the Rev. T.
Williams were also present.
Mr. Edward Bindon Marten, C.E., said he had
examined the boiler which exploded. It was what
was commonly called a balloon boiler, of low pres-
sure. It was 1 2ft. diameter, made of iron plates,
and was originally designed to work at about 51b.
pressure. It was worked at 151 b. pressure. There
had been no alteration made in it to the altered
pressure. It was so constructed that its strength
depended upon the position of the stays. There
were four stays extending from the crown of the
top to the crown of the bottom. The boiler gave
way by the dome-shaped bottom being forced
downwards until the crown plate ripped out, and
the rent extended round the plates joining th,e
bottom and top of the boiler, when the reaction
of the issuing contents sent the top of the boiler
upwards, and its fall divided it into two pieces.
The bottom was dragged some distance, and one
portion was hurled into the middle of the pool.
Balloon boilers were designed for generating a
large quantity of steam at a very low pressure for
use in the old atmospheric engines, which only
required the pressure of a few pounds to make the
steam flow quickly into cylinders for condensation.
The bottoms of such boilers were shaped like the
bottoms of ordinary wine bottles, and they would
sink down upon the fire with the slightest pres-
sure unless held up by support stays. The ex-
ploded boiler had four good stays, or it could not
so long have borne the working pressure of 151b3.,
and at times considerably more. The stays were
attached to the shell by two angle-iron brackets,
with a cottered bolt through them. At the end
of at least one of the stays one side of the bracket
had broken off some tinie previous to the explo-
sion, leaving that stay insecure. The immediate
cause of the explosion was the giving way of the
other side of the fastening, so that the stay be-
came useless, and the sudden extra strain thrown
upon the other stays caused them to give way
also, and the whole fabric ruptured. Mr. Martin
produced the end of the stay and connection, and
also a model of the boiler. A boiler of that des-
cription should be cleaned about once a month.
A boiler should be examined every time it was
cleaned. If a labourer cleaned it, the tenter in
charge of it should examine it.
Mr. Wall said if it would assist them, he might
that the engineer was present, and he would state
that the boiler was cleaned the Monday week be-
fore.

Mr. Marten said it was generally considered that
a boiler should be thoroughly cleaned inside and
out once a year. If the boiler was an old one,
showing signs of weakness, it should be examined
oftener. The boiler in question looked to be a
old one. It was good of its kind when it was
made, and, except the defect pointed out, in work-
ing condition for the pressure for which it was
designed—a 51b. pressure. It had been repaired
in several places, and the strength was restored
by tha repairs. He thought it was a very great
error of judgment to work it at 151 b. pressure,
but it was not enough to burst it without some
defect in the structure. He did not think
it was safe to work it 151bs. They might have
gone up to 101 b., but he thought 151 b. was dan-
gerous, which caused the stay to break. He did
not think that working, it up to 301 b., would have
burst it if the stays had been all right. Had the
boiler been worked at its proper pressure it would
have been soft.

The Coroner: Is it your opinion that those in
charge of the boiler should have discovered the
defect in the fastening?—Mr. Martin.: I think they
should. I think anyone who pretends to any
knowledge of boilers ought to have, discovered it.
He thought it would escape the attention of the
class of persons who ordinarily attend boilers.
By Mr. Wall: He and his engineers *ere con -
tinually inspecting boilers. He did not think an
ordinary engine-tenter might appreciate the im-
portance of the defect if he saw it. He might
not notice it at all. The repairs to the boiler
were well done.

By a juryman: If the fastening of the stay had
not given way the boiler might have been at work
now.

Richard Hughes was the next witness, and Said
he lived at Wollaston, anewas an engineer, and
was employed at the works when the accident
happened, and had charge of the boiler, and known
the boiler for four years. He worked it on the
first occasion 13 months, and had charge of it on
the last occasion one month. He had worked it
altogether 2 years and four months at intervals.
The boiler was examined a week and a day before
the explosion by himself. He sounded it well all