The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-10-10 00:00:00

Diseases peculiar to Women.

NOTICE.—In consequence of the wonderful Cures
and Great Sale. the PATENT EYE LIQUID now corn.
elands unparalleled success. Persona are now trying to
pelm off a Spurious Article on the Public. Ask for and
see that you get EDE'S; PATEN t AMERICAN EYE
LIQUID on each label. Sold in every town in the
Kingdom. By post from Mr. John E B de,irchfield Road, A well.bred Shi
Birmingham. O. Horsley's, top

There is no medicine equal to Holioway's Yids for cor-
recting the ailments peculiar to femmes. Their very
mild and painless action highly recommends them to
every household, as they may be taken with safety for
any irregularity of the system. Any mother, nurse, or
young person, guided by the directions which accompany
each box of Holloway's Pills, has t once available means
for checking disease, purifying the blood, and expelling
from the system all gross tumours.
Weakness, Languor, and Debility.

These famous Pills will immediately remove all sy m -
toms of debility, languor, and weakness, no matter the
Mist., as they quickly eject all impurities from the
system, give tone and energy to debilitated constitutions,
and brace and strengthen the nervous system in a most
wonderful manner.

Biliousness, Loss f Appetite, and Lowness of
Spirits.

The Pills effect a wonderful change in persons subject
tobilious attack, as they create a healthy appetite, cor-
met indigestion, remove excess of bile. and effectually
cure jaundice, bilious remittents, and all the varietic o
disease generated by an unhealthy condition cf the live
The Kidneys—Their Deranyentent and Core.
If these Pills be used according to the printed direction
and the Ointment rubbed over the region of the kidneys
for at leant half an hour at bed time,as salt is forced into
Meat, it will penetrate the kidneys and correct any de-
rangement. kihould the affliction be .ton' .3r gravel, it
is particularly recommended that the in cinch
cases, be used night and morning, am by its judicious ap-
plication the most astounding cures may be performed.

The Pi and Ointment are sold at Professor Hotto-
WAY'S Establishment, 533, Oxford-et., London; also by
nearly every respectable Vendor of Medicine throughout
the Civilised World, in Boxes and Pots, at la lid, 2s 9d,
ts ;6d, lls, 225, and 33s each, the smallest Boa of
Pills contains four dozen; and the smallest Pot of Oint-
ment one ounce.

Full piloted directionu are affixed to each Box and Pot
and can be bad in any language. even in Turkish, Arabic,
Armenan. Persian or lime..

rt-horn BULL is kept at
of Cbarch•strtet, Stoirbridge.

ttLr e t 34(. =twin*,
Silooting Agent.

I I
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7131111111MINIMMIS" -4,1409er
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thereof is estimated at a million and a half sterling.
The new Home and Colonial Offices, which were to
have been completed by the last day of September,
will not be ready for occupation until next month.
The present Home Department will be assigned te the
Paymaster-General, and the Clarity Commissioners are
to be located in Gwydyr House, now the seat of the
Local Government Board, which is to have new offices
in Downing-street Whilst upon the question of met-
ropolitan improvements I may say that the reconstruc-
tion of the l'antechnicon has been going on rapidly,
and it is now nearly ready to receive goods. The con-
flagration which destroyed the old building was one of
the grandest sights witnessed in London for many a
day. One of the precautions now taken against a
recurrence of such a calamity is a huge tank of water,
connected with which are hydrants in every part of the
structure. The value of the goods deposited for safe
keeping in the Pantechnicon is expected to be enor-
mous, and everything which science can suggest will
be carried out so as to ensure adequate protection from
an outbreak of fire.

The TERRIBLE EXPLOSION in LONDON.
The following particulars of this terrible explosion
are extracted from the detailed account in The
Times
An explosion of gunpowder on Friday morning cost at knot
three lives, as well as the destruction of a great deal of pro-
perty. At about 3a.no a train of six large barges, of which
the first wu a steamer, left the City wharf of the Grand
Junction Canal Company in the City-road. Next after
the steamer, the Ready, was the fly-boat Jane, whose
steerer or captain was named Boswell. Next to her was the
Dee, the steerer Edwards ; and next the Tilbury, whose
steerer was Charles Barton, of Loughborough, in the county of
Leicester. The Tilbetry was followed by the Liniehowe, steerer
Edward Hall, and by the Ilairkesbury, steerer Blewer. The
Jane "had a little gunpowder on board ; the Tilbury's
lading is thus dewribed by the company : "The cargo con-
sisted chiefly of sugar and other miscellaneous articles, such
as nuts, straw-lioanls, coffee, and some two or three barrels
of petroleum and about five was of gunpowder. It is
staled to be a common practice to send gunpowder and
petroleum in one and the same barge. Most of the gunpowder
was in barrels, but there was one box which was probably
filled either with powder in canister or in flasks. When the Til-
bury with her inflammable freight was under the North-gate
bridge which spans the Regent's Canal, nutting a way from
the inter Circle in Regent's-park to the Regoit's-park-road,
she blew up. A few minutes before five in the morning
most people in town heard between sieeplog and waking the
sound of an explosion. It was heard sod felt at (Angle-
horst, Bermondsey, and Peckhanorye, as well as in the
central districts. The concussion was felt on the high
ground beyond Primrose-hill, along Haverstock-hill, and
up at Hampstead. All along the north-eastern side of the
high road up Ilaverstock-hill about one house in every six
or seven has lost a pane of glass. A pane was broken on
Hampstead-green, and one or two others in the neighbour-
hood of Fleet-road. At Enfield it was thought to be an ex-
plosion of the rifle factory or at the Waltham Abbey Mills.
At Woolvrich, where they are used to these occur-
rences, people supposed that a magazine in the marshes had
exploded. The shock was felt as far as Gravesend, and at
Aveley in Essex in the north-west, for a radius of two
inib's, if was aeconipanied with the shivering of glass in the
windows or on the walls. The glass of the refreshment room
at the St Pancras Station was destroyed. In the closer
neighbourhood of the explosion beds rocked to and fro,
doors and shutters were burst open, plaster fell from ceilings
furniture was shaken, broken, and piled together in the
middle of the room, and at a distance of a mile from the
Regent's-park people rushed as they were into the streets,
lest what they took to be an earthquake should make of
their houses their graves.
In a house quite near an ailing lady and her children ran
for more than 200 yards to a friend's in their panic. It is
no wonder, for this house is completely gutted as if by fire.
In the garden of it a great piece of torn and twisted iron
from the bridge has been cast, the stable has been stripped
of its roof, and the coachman sleeping in the upper story
narrowly escaped with his life. The great kerb-stones which
fringe the towing-path of the canal were thrown up into the
road. Pieces of clay were hurled by the force of the concus-
sion out of the canal bed over the three-storied house, against
the ivy-clad wall of the outbuilding behind, and into the
room where the coachman was sleeping. A chimney on
the roof is in a perilous position, and threatens to add
to the destruction by falling into the house. This is one of
the worst cases, but the Baptist College close at hand, and
the houses for many hundreds of yards and in many streets
have suffered similarly. Far down Albany-street the houses
were pitted with broken windows ; in streets like John-street,
close by, sashes and all are blown out, shop fronts destroyed
with the shutters or in spite of them. Doors and furniture
are turned into torn and shattered planks. Clocks, ornaments,
and looking-glasses have of course suffered. Heavy coach-
house doors, firmly secured with large iron bolts and locks,
have been burst open. A wall with iron railings on it was
blown down for about sixty yards. Trees on the canal banks
were uprooted and their branches blown to long distances.
In the Zoological Gardens the glass is broken in the
elephant-house, the monkey-house, and the giraffe-house.
The monkeys appear to have successfully avoided the falling
glass. The giraffes were found huddled together in terrible
fear. The elands, and one little deer, recently presented to
the Gardens, have suffered, as their timid nature would sug-
gest, very much from their panic. At the main entrance a
pane of glass was blown into the room where the attendant
stands, and driven into a door with a force which would
have severely injured the usual occupant of the room if the
hour had lteen later. Fortunately the plate-glass before the
reptiles was not injured. But about a score of the Society's
birds escaped, their cages broken, and £3OO is the glazier's
bill which the society anticipates. The cages of the
beasts were fortunately unimpaired in efficiency. Mr.
Bartlett, superintendent of the gardens, lives on the spot,
Mal he heard the concussion. He tried to light his gas, but
there was no gas in the pipes It was at first dark ; but its a
few minutes the sky was lit up by a great blaze, and other
persons also were directed to the spot by the blaze of fire.
The petroleum and sugar nmst be held accountable for this
great radiance Men going to work at Fulhani saw allifferent
sight-- a great ball of smoke rising in the air and bursting,
they said, into a flame.

i

At the bridge the smoke was at first too dense for any-
thing to be seen, but when it cleared the bridge was ob
served to be entirely destroyed. A main of gas and another
of water crossed the canal with thesbridge. The gas caught
fire and shot out a great tongue of flame above the stream.
Beside it the water from the main came pouring into the
canal. The telegraph wires also crossed by the bridge. Of
course, couummication was cut off, and Mr. Walker, the Dis-
trlct-Superintendent of Police, was unable to telegraph to the
Assistant Commissioner, Captain Harris However, lie sent a
mounted man, and Captain Harris was soon on the ground.
colonel Henderson was also on the spot during the day, and
so were Captain ahaw and Major siajendie. The firemen and
salvage-men arrived early, and were of the greatest use in
extinguishing the burning barges and dragging out their
crews. The boats were about 23 yards long, and they were
attached to each other by oboist 20 yards of rope. It is pro-
bably due to this distance that only one boat besides the
Tilbury sank. That was the boat next behind her, the
Lime/more, under steerer Hall. The Tilbury exploded under
the bridge, and it is conjectured that a spark from the
steamer, kept by the bridge from rising and so being canted
far away, fell upon her and caused ignition. A pipelight
may, of course, have done the damage.
The first effect of the explosion was utterly to destroy the
bridge. The bridge was a substantially-built composite
structure, supported upon two strong lonic pillars of iron.
It had a roadway of about 2.21 t in width, and pathways for
pedestrians. The suddenly-expanded gases then rushed in
two directions from each shin of the bridge. A watch-
man who had been upon the bridge all night had fortunately
left it to call a person with whom he had made that
arrangement lose by stood a cottage, the new North-
lodge, in which the aged gate-keeper, Mr. Edwards, a man
aged 75, lived with his family. The house was conipletely
ruined. One sou jumped out of window. Another heard
nothing of the concussion, but awoke to find one wall of his
room entirely gone. Of six people in the house the father
alone is seriously injured, and the account current through-
out the neighbourhood is a series of wonderful escapes. Two
bodies were early recovered from the canal. They were found
beside the L imehouxr, not beside the Tilbury, which blew
up, and it is therefore doubtful to which of the two crews
they belonged.

A third body, supposed to be that of Charles Buxton, the
steerer of the Tilbury, was taken out at a quarter to four
In the afternoon, and was carried up the steep and muddy
sides of the canal cutting by policemen and firemen to the
place where the other bodies were deposited, the mor•
tuary of the Marylebone Workhotse. Two of the crew
of other barges than the Tilaury were take,' to St.
Mary's Hosdpital Paddington. Of these, George Mont-
gomeryw his u
td et
found
t t,
vaenrdy
ne sewvalerel yniontju injured
shout the head and body. Many of the inhabitants of the
district have also been treated for cuts and contusions. The
canal authorities were communicated with at an early hour,
and workmen were soon on the spot removing the ruins of
the bridge to open the water-way again.

- -
The explosion has been grotesque and capricious, it would
seem, in its result& Some houses have escaped altogether,
while their neighbours' windows have been all blown out. In
&Mouse in Portland-terrace, Regents-park, there had been
lett on the table overnight a bottle of water and a silver fug.
The water-bottle stoorl unhurt, but the handle of the jag was
twisted, and looked as if it had been violently wrenched. At
the Farringdon-street railway station all the lamps were
blown out by the concussion of air, and the place was left In
total darkness. Mr. and Mrs. Bell, thing in St. John's-
terrace, Primrose-hill, found the window before their bed
thrown In upon them. The wall at their back was forced
Into the adjoining room, and their bed covered with glass
and rubbish Broken glass and fallen plaster strewed the
doors of most of the houses near. A pretty house, with
Salve" written above the door, was entirely dismantled, and
the wreck rendered more prominent the hospitable invita-
tion to enter into it, at the same time that it made It a
mockery.

The following are extracts from the report in The
Tema on Monday:—
lhe explosion was the occasion of comment In very many
places of worship on Sunday, and the sufferers in property
acknowledge the abundance of kind offers of temporary

most abundant. It is noteworthy that the expansion shelter made to them 4 their friends. The poor help the catastrophentolli,a..d.zoln.rico.;
of the cities of the States is far more swift than in the ,sttlfehaw:netnutes earlier, and within
teocoirierddisf ouTitita,eteelLitteuee ui ImmediatealargenepeigilZat:irehuo.iiiii of the stui:,u,a,l-eriiii.ew
adjacent
whith intervene. luetween Um church aned
itneViteletflutfildt4eul'a'd ll'elii
Dominion. In the ten years between 181i0 and Ig7o daily wages. There are, however, some back streets of as It was,
a aullutuuouses
uiz
.eruhdlcsliineneotoonle y hrdeeeekl...l.l.4l7 and seadshue; muo,vueedez.la pane of
the inhabitants of chicago increased by 1.7;.i is t.; u ofhom were now
'Detroit aUgMenthfljay 71tir cent. ;1W okie 57 t fossil as been broken by the Shatters in•fven in, and assealled, leluattilePaVee-; Ithtreitth'esViVitiredw
pet. cent.; Broi
glass, broken ; nor had any of the
1. V,
o .by per en ' ; .I ', by uses shalt 0 their foundations re rickety
-
Ci
I 1
• 7 per cent. N ' ork, New Or ..,
, W the lowest tee t
th f
r -me d 'he Sat y holyday finotled the, gent's Park witfi ' ~,,,,,,..,.., ~
,_, Were was difficult tel canal. buffet:ell'46lll'..t r. 1161rda,'"t"ld''' 'tt
st,,re at the deal hoardings put upin place of No , titissex place Regence Park, on the body of Mrs Mary
Ma da Lawreme, agel 4Z ye vu widow of 3, Si dicitor, of the
•ng only Mier cent cities a Cana .la ',how a doors and whelows. at the glaziers and earpentikvorking
alio . address, who was bum or
more uniform increase—that of Ottawa being 4ti per aellunnifthut, and at the diaunonds of minutely-sOn d glass ths ga odel dead tubed the m ning of
repowder explesieu
le 1 gin all the roadways. 1 esterday. even in e rainy
cent., Hamilton 39, and Fredericton 34. morning, crowds made their way to the canal ; but In the One The evidence showed that decisaed on Thursday night ar-
afull "tu 5110„hnigasiihkplitkeirekto n
'One of the questions touched upon by Lord R ternoon omnibuses run f the explosion-k
Rose- thgetntsAlitan ltatilweyeatemendillentled, and teine oniruwas as eOl d ,odrolegrilerseiCeas shoold.
..,,ii.dibuiddmkto,fulnySeeffftlikillenee (''-'" police-colistejles c Id do to cops with the al"‘ tepting tile deceased lady, the who eof the family and
ow, Ins tie nincessity for providinebetter house
a , pirte.4.llirnitrwityu,!f to. holy y-makers The publicans scrvasiiii were aroused, the Ill•IISIon being situated within a
fil not be sorry to luse their windows on
.shueortg..,liialtuluncee.ouiefilienegtsca:cipe .4 the exploehm, the flames from
accommodation for the pisirer labouring classes in such terms every week. . . park and
London. vicinity were 00 fire and the impremion in Ifousehuld
London. This matter has engaged the attention of Sa.' .
where the
being done, everybody is anxious to re- ,
was that an earthquake haPti7ell:epla"ceir. the
l'ilt'trl'leeltoy ale:
e plosion was not . -
the statesman an well se of the philsmthropist, Pair
.."dr:V:Tribeii istsglailftilt lite x Mg with the deceased lady asked her what WU the matter
1 in a tunnel, or ,
and indeed there is urgent cause for prompt where the banks are lower, or at any 'other time, more and the time, but she made him no answer. Fanny Llo).1,
.
e •
uu.t.„.lle.l.aly •fm...aeiiiel d " into I,..keer rt.7%..aandr.oazkiiiimg at ILI;
and energetic action. If any one acquainted with terrible consequences must have followed
..
wile:m:lom=
the subject and the locality mentally surveys the owlegiecilist (car ttenitwir.eswatiered
sh'wt:pt.thin through the rooms, entering the room soon after eight o'clock, and finding her
•
still ill the same position, the maid went to Miss Lawreine,
north side of the river, he will find few smashing furniture and bringing down ceilings and party
walladsothat Ift envie.: hail Iren atimding up he wunld have ;:5,.1 e.doeceased's Bistenth.glaw.o, seuadimfyo.rnueu eedughueeruo.t
dseileug.duflauri
available sites except at such distances as render them 1 deceased Mee
lying down, in the '
virtually useless for the purpose. A central situation position which seldeiers are e 'tapili;tetowealusreume to avoid the scene which had taken place, and upon that lady pro.
is urefuestionahlyone of the chief requisites to be kept in fusee of explosives. Many people must have been cAeedimendg to the room she tumid that deceased was nearly cold
view, for some of the railway companies have expressed izieezfeuleyadastte,t,uldegdiass and tLieree:rei=bgizisevhaadvse;uurul scat' geetlemius from an adjoining terrace was called
ill, and ultimately, under the coroner's warrant, made a
rdilist.ii.norteni e.nuimition, which' showed that the cause of
their intention to abolish workmen if trains, and it from the hospitals severe cases have not been re- was heart disease.
would therefore never do to plant the men at a con. ri°,ertg.,tt„,,,St` thoughttion'im"ugisl,'"akwshit.dw was
bbrukirioonif The Coroner having commented on the effects of the shock
aiderable distance from the scene of their daily labour, the thigh, hallo'. doh-11'g well. The mere: parry,of mon-street from the explosion on nervous and other persons sufferiug
There can be little doubt that on the Surrey side of Upper Gt.:ester-pile!, who was reported to have died of froTihne,w.,jeiaiaryk.neys:sat:ukdLielh:tart,eir ttn;fit
the river a labouring man can obtain more respectablefraagidwaean det°ll4'bywliirr Tort°
r;nifelflnvtrftralro.ir gam g 5 dt t ,ilie.a.thpiotro.nui
hanauturnotal
lodgings for a given sum than on the Middlesex side, like that of Friday cannot be without deplorable effects. The anything to du with the occurrence.
inirereitemileerfusetei::mto.t.hi.emstreueetsiufr.o.m. gu.l izulleitn. te.to.isoe::.
There are certainly more slums and alleys on the 1
northern than on the southern bank of the broad and , There is a hospital for nervous diseases close to the Avenue.
xd..
eiThe explosion sent the glass of the witdows on to the
ample stream. The rookeries of St. Giles's, the human
warrens of Drurydane, and the wretched hove/8 of being awtten,tiel7;Vrrsrrrac.igelYinii‘ieicgehie; ePolrePrii:d irp
St. Luke's have but few counterparts in Lambeth their faces. The front rooms are deprived of sashes and
or Southwark So well is this known to workmen, ifi1,11.,, tewra ~, the
,nraetiveenitys placed
,11;io,tr i the the luck,
of terliettliegi:l
that large numbers of them have crossed the 'l'hames sAs, has done nothing since but look for the roof tit' fall in
in the belief that they can live more decently there isPen her. A boy has lissome idiotic. We publish two reports
than in the courts and alleys of northern London. rhe'llantiteueesieasvtherileitereitieneeetraruge the et.np;oardehnof.rh
enepon
But as the north is the centre of industry, the work- by one and the same medical coroner.
man has, in all probability, to pass over a toll bridge it remains almost as difficult as before to convey an idea
twice a day to and from his work, or make a of the extent of the calamity Figures would be almost
eloquent on this oint, but no man has reckoned up his
long detour to reach one of the free bridges. I see p
own individual losses, and the generalyet sum of dansage is
that a scheme has been under discussion in the Metro. doubly unattainable. The way beside the canal from the
politan Board of Works for rendering the whole of the iiisp:onngzott,t:ld at the footeouf.,Pr. putiocse-hlllutu- W.
i I. ernenillgtqyjvittitel
London bridges free from toll, and that the cost into Park -load and Albert-road -I.:nen 'into numberless ter-
_ . .

races. Not a house here but sustained some damage.
From many of them the occupants have gone away, the
houses having been reported by the architects to be unsafe.
Not only are the roofs often dangerous, but bricks are
blown out in places. There are rifts and clefts all over
Mr. Howard Paul's house, which hi thirteen doors down
the Avenue-road, in a line with the direction of the
exploded bridge. Those who remain in their ruined
homes have been obliged to board up doors and
windows, and if they have been fortunate enough to
be able to have the gas-fittings repaired they are
able to see the faces of their friends. Falls continue to occur.
A mantel-piece came down with • crash on Saturday night In
Mr. Alma Tadema's house. A glass door which had been
spared before fell shivered lathe presence of a caller yester-
day afternoon at Mr. Gorstenberg's. The residence of this
gentleman, Stockleigh-house, was built by Sir Thomas Wyatt
at the order of George IV. for Mrs. Fitzherbert. There were
two reliefs opposite each other in a room in the upper part
of the house, supposed to have been by Sir Thome. Wyatt
himself line r emains untouched. The other fell, ruining in
its fall itself and other objects of art beneath. One of the
children in the house awoke to rind himself covered with
plaster, above which tile window blinds had arranged them-
selves ; but he was dug out unhurt. The stone stairs hold to-
gether as yet, but are splintered In one place. Only one
room Is now occupied. On the other side of the canal,
Hollord.house is so damaged that all estimate for repair is
that 2,00 squares of glass will be required. . . .
The wreck of Mr. Tarlema's house, with its "Salve" upon
the lintel, has been described by us from the exterior
already. It is impossible to speak of many Interiors ; this
one may be an example. Mr. Tad(-ms was in the Ilighlamb
when lie learnt by telegraph the irreparable misfortune
which be has suffered. In the same way, Mr. Hepworth
Dixon was expected to land in New York yesterday and to
Ihul what is called a " cablegram " informing him that his
son was blown out of lied and his house half to pieces.
Mr. Tailema's lons Is greater, for no one was more careful
to work in what he thought a proper milieu. The front
door is boarded over, but ingress is obtained through the
area; and the first thing seen is a bust of the Indian
Jracchua with the beard blown off. The bust re-
mains on the shelf precisely where it was and other-
wise unhurt. Some photographs were hung upon the stairs,
close to a pair of glass doors. The doors had been blown
out, one of the photographs in. These photographs are not,
like Mr. liatton's engravings, riddled with glass. A lady
sleeping in the top of the house woke and found half the
ceiling on her, the roof destroyed, and the sky visible The
daylight can be seen through fissures in the artist's luxurious
Pompeian studio. In a room at the top of the house
there were three beds. The two nearest the window
escaped unhurt. The blind dew rwross from the ease-
ment, knocked the plaster off the ceiling., and fell with
that upon the occupant of the third bed, a non-ant,
and the only person in the house who was seriously hurt.
She has gone home to her friends. The children had
one consolation 'I lie Tribitry was partly laden With note.
The nuts have been blown ever into Mr. Tirdeina's garden.
From the liaise can be seen a neighbour's roof with shattered
slates, displaced and ready to fall in. and an apple. tree on a
neighbour's trees - the apple-tree uprooted, like ninny others,
from the garden of the gatekeeper's lodge. The side of a
rupb.rard was blown open said a dress blown out. Anoilier
cupboard had been locked, but a Meteor glass from the window
was found in it. Although the front of the house tea wreck,
two vases of blue Minton, with plants. outside are unhurt;
although the sashes of the s indows are blown in, some fans put
to distribute the light of the gas are unscathed. I file cabinet
is pitted with little fragments of glass, another untouched.
Of six China cups on another cabinet, one is destroyed, rive
are left. All these things are seen in the dim light
struggling through chinks in the walls or the boards of the
windows. They are told with the enforced resignation of
a worker very sensitive to externals who sees the order of
his lomso almost irretrievably destroyed. The curious glass
in the patterns of Ronre or Southern Italy lies broken upon
the floor ; the tapestry is soiled with smoke and mud. In
short, the artist who has revived for us l'ompeii in its glory
has a mournful opportunity of studying an imago of Pompeii
in its desolation.

The Times has published the following letters on the
fearful catastrophe :
Mr. John Leighton, writing from the Royal Institution of
Great Britain on Friday, says :
" I was awakened this morning in the Regent's Park by a
terrible explosion. I rose in bed to see a column of fire
mount into the air carrying with it black masses of &Ma.
It appeared to issue from the other side of the mansion of
Dr. Swathe Taylor, F. 118., on St. James's-terrace. The
windows of my chamber, with a portion of the frames,
covered my bed, while In the room below the windows, with
an inner lining of stained glass, the chairs and drawn blinds
were driven into the apartment, portions of glass passing
through the drapery, penetrating the walls anti furniture,
and splitting the door. The cause was at first thought to
be lightning passing down the conductor, though some
thought it the end of all things; while I, who saw it, ima-
gined at the moment it was the magazine in Ilyde Park,
a place I always ride past as speedily as possible. I
could hardly realise the fact that it was within so short a
distance of nay sleeping-place. The noise of the explosion
was tremendous, but the concussion just under it hardly
what one would have imagined. The displacement of air
and the rush to fill the vacuum must have been immense, but
from the providental disposition of the force—ln a deep
cutting, embedded in foliage, and upon an elastic fluid below
must have deadened it much. The long roll that causes a
chattering and shaking I think we had not, being too near
the centre of force; at a distance they had it; the concussion
was too near, the falling of glass and shrieks being sad in the
extreme. The smoke passed away in the cool gray half-light
slowly in one mass into Essex or fleets. The way the force
flowed about is curious. In my house the basement suffered
the most, being, as I presume, affected by the recoiL The
escape from broken glass is marvellous. Splints got into our
beds, boots, clothes, food, and indeed everywhere. This and
mortar cover everything. It is to be hoped that the In-
surance Companies will sympathize with their clients, who
will not abuse the benefits. Something ought to be done for
the poor of Portland-town and parts affected."

Dr. William J. Collins, M.D., of Albert-terrace, Regent's
Park, thus describes what he witnessed: --

•
AR I am living in el on pnuchnity to the scene of this
awful calamity, and, like my immediate neighbours, have
sustained very considerable damage by the breaking in of
plate and other glass windows, doors, flashes, kr , it may be
Interesting to your numerous renders Iff give a brief sketch
what I witnessed upon first going out into the street im-
mediately after the explosion. At a few minutes before five
o'clock this morning I was suddenly awakened by a 1010 and
deafening report. which fearfully shook the very foundations
of these premises : then followed a tremendous crash from
the breaking of the plate and other glass, which was flying
about in all directions. I at once proceeded to adjust
what few clothes I could find, and made my way Into
the street. Here I witnessed an extraordinary scene
—men, women, and children rushing about in a
state of semi-nudity, uttering the mos :hideous cries.
one lady in her nightdress clung to me, exclaiming,
'ls it come? Is it come ?' I had no sooner extricated
mjself from her grasp than 1 was clutched by another,
who, in a confidential way, said, with terror depicted in a
care-worn face, that she was 'so glad to see any one.'
Soon afterwards we were enveloped in a dense suffocating
smoke, with strong sulphurous odour, the wild beasts in the
Gardens, too, screaming Inc their very lives. Suddenly I
saw a large mass of flame ascending into the air. To the
spot whence it proceeded I speedily made my way, and
there learnt the nature of this sad and melancholy cata-
strophe."

The Daily News of Tuesday says :
" Rapid progress has been made with the work of clearing
the Regent's Canal, and confident expeetations are enter-
tained of the reopening of the waterway for ordinary traffic
in the course of this day. The two hundred men employed
under the direction of Megan. &twin and Hubert Thomas,
the engineers of the Canal and of the Grand Junction Coln-
pony, have now effected the removal of the immense mass
of some live hundred tons of dawis which blocked the
channel, and little remains to be dime beyond the removal
Junta
of the ams in order to restore free passage A nes
wall has been erected in the place of portions that were
blown up by the explosion. The wreck of ithe Dee still liee
in the dry bed of the canal, but will probably be removed
without much difficulty. In the course of the work the un-
doubted site of the actual explosion has been discovered
few feet on the weat aide of the bridge. Here a cavity several
feet in depth has been driven into the bed of the canal,
clearly proving that the front part of the ill-fatod Tilbury
must have passed the arch before the powder exploded.
Every fragment of the boat has disappeared, except only a
few chips, which are accepted in good faith as relics by
those who are curious in such matters. A strange circum-
stance in connection with the total demolition of the vessel
and with the utter destructin u of the bridge, is the
fact that the bodies of the three men killed present
singularly little evidence of that extreme mutilation which
might have been expected from their supposed close prox-
imity to all explosion of five tons of gunpowder. In the
majority of such cases, as in the sudden blow-up of gun-
powder manufactones, the men who happened to be near
have been shivered to atoms or so mangled and torn as to IA
utterly unrecognisable. In the present instance, not only
could each man be readily identified, but in the case of two
of them scarcely any signs of burning or scorching appear on
the bodies. Each man when found had the whole or a con-
siderable portion of his clothing on, though in one instance
the outer garments and the shirt also were much torn. The
ntost remarkable fact, however, is, that the principal or
most noticeable injury to each of the three men is
Indicated by a wound on the forehead above the right
eye, very deep in one case, but quite prominent in the
other cases also. Had these three men been on board
when the main explosion actually took place it
seems almost incredible that a force which brought down a
massive bridge, tore up the ground, stripped trees, and
wrecked a number of houses, should have left the two men
scarcely scorched. It appears probable therefore that either
they were blown off into the water by a minor explosion
before the main shock, or that seeing the danger they jumped
overboard, and were knocked on the head by the falling
debris. The ntan who is still unidentified, though perfectly
recognisable, has sustained considerably more scorching
about the body than either of the other two, but has also
been struck on the forehead in the same part as his fellow.
sufferers. Nothing whatever has been found in the course
of the excavations that tends to throw any light on the cause
of the catastrophe.. ..

Mr. L. W. Henry, writing from Southgate on Saturday,
says :

The public -will be glad to learn that none of the dumb
occupants of the Zoological Gardens have suffered severely,
and that the few cases in which worse consequences were
anticipated now show fair signs of restoration. The enroll
red deer presented to the Society by Lord EL Russell, which
was at first believed to he on the point of death from sheer
fright, has, under gentle management, recovered amain, and
is now on his legs again. The larger and heavier animals have
entirely got rid of their fright. The hippopotamus stood a
whole shower of broken glass, and walked about among
the fragments without showing even a scratch or betray-
ing any subsequent irritation, although in an ordinary
way a very slight wound on the skin of thia
animal will produce bleeding. Most of the birds
that escaped have either returned of their own volition or
have been restored to the Gardens by persons who have been
struck by their appearance, and have captured and retunied
them. Indeed, had the authorities of the Gardens been
at all unscrupulous, considerable additions might have
well made to the aviary, letters having been re-
ceived from several suburban correspondents who had
noticed strange birds, which, however, did riot prove to
be wanderers froni itegeuts.park. The doves, true to most
ancient tradition, return.' if their own accord small Java
birds had not dared to venture far away into the, to
them, vast world of Regent's-park, arid were easily
recaptured. A favourite specimen of the West African
glossy starling was reported from the neighbourhood
of Oakley-square, and was there recaptured on Sunday
by means of the parent birds, who were taken down to recall
the truant to his cage. At the time of the explosion the
animals were presumably asleep, and did not, therefore, ex-
perience the same degree of alann that would have been felt
hail a second shock taken place when they were wide awake.
Thu effect of fear, Mr. Bartlett observes, is to render
the larger animals particularly silent, and such seems
to have been the rue when the keepers hurried out
in the darkness of early morning. Nobody knew
at the moment whether Isr not the doors of the
dells containing the larger carnivorous animals had been
blown open. It was deemed unwise to carry lights, which
would only increase the terror of the beasts. Mr. Bartlett
and his staff of keepers crept stealthily about, therefore,
giving soothing words to old acquaintances, but, neverthe-
less, in some doubt as to whether a much-prized hin, tiger,
or bear might not any moment spring upon them. Happily,
while the doors of several cages had been blown open, those
of the ferocious auimals had withstood the shock."

" Yesterday morning, at ten minutes to five, I num awoke
by a sound very much resembling thunder it appeared to
shake my house aml also the door of my bedrooms, well as
the windows, and lasted, I should say, from ten to fifteen
seconds. Considering we are over U miles from where the
accident occurred, it is very surprising, and lean only account
for it through the tact of our village lying so high."

"An Inhabitant of Duncan-terrace " also write,:—

. . . . I an, a householder In Duncan-terrace, Isling-
ton, within little more than f 0 yards of the ground_under
which the canal passes. so that the barge Tillno with
Its inthunmable freight must have been close to our
dwellings a few hours previous to the calamity of yester-
dxy morning. The imagination, as you truly say, can
scarcely realize the consequences of an explosion under
one of the streets of London. The terrine nature even of
that which has occurred under less formidable circum-
stances has been powerfully brought home to us by the
shock which the explosion caused even at this distance from
the scene of its occurrence. I was myself awake at the time
of it, and was led to suppose, from the loudness of the re-
port, that the explosion came front the immediate neigh-
bourhood instead eta distance of more than three miles. I
do most earnestly hope that effectual precautions will be
taken to prevent, as far as human foresight can prevent,
the recurrence of so frightful a catastrophe. If a subscrip-
tion for the relief of the sufferers should be opened I should
be happy to contribute my mite towards it as an act not
merely of Christian charity, but of gratitude to Almighty
God for a preservation from dangers, heretofore unsus-
pected, which the recent crisis has been the means of re-
sealing."

A crowded meeting of inhabitants of the district in which
the explosion occurred was held oil Monday evening at the
" Eyre Arms," St. John's Wood, under the presidency of Mr.
Forsyth, M. R for Manlebone. Resolutions were agreed to
for appointing a committee to collect subscriptions for the
poorer clogs of sufferers and organizing a deputation to the
Government with a view to the prevention of any such
calamity in future. The question of compensation for
damage was avoided, it being outside the scope of the
meeting.

"I). D." writes from Loughton, Essex
I have not noticed any record of the force of the explosion
at Regent's Park being felt at so great a distance as this is
from the scene of the disaster. I was awake at the time,
and, in the midst of a perfect stillness 1 felt a sudden shock
to the window frames which reminded me of the Erith ex-
plosion. I told my wife shortly afterwards that there had
been an earthquake or explosion. This house is over 13 miles
from London, and must be 17 or 18 from the Recent's Park.
lain sure it was not more than two minutes to five, for our
church clock, which is generally correct, struck almost im-
mediately alter."

At the Church of St. Mark's, Albert-road, which stands
exactly opposite the foot-bridge over the canal, leading to
the broad central walk of the Regent's Park, a special tlisnks-
giving was offered, at the close of the Litany, on Sunday for
the preservation of the sacred edifice from any harm by the
explosion, in the course of the sermon the vicar, the Rev.
Mr. Galloway, said the Lord had given to that congregation
especial ground for thankfulness for so ordering that
calamitous event as to have saved from destruction the
building in which they were now worshipping—an edifice
which there would have been no means of rebuilding even
the insurance upon the church would not have been avail-
able, as It did not cover injury from explosion, U the