The Express.
London, England, 1852-02-10 00:00:00

LONDOY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10.

Hou is it that this terrible Ifolmfirth oataatrophe
does not ratite that intense public interest which the
de...friction of the Amazon aroused?
The lona of life is nearly as large; the loss of pro-
perty is far greater ; the ruin and devastation are
incalculably greeter; the surprise and suddenness of
the deluge rival those of the conflagration; the
meter.---as the tire,--came on its victims like a thief
in tlw night, carrying off a multitude of sleepers to
eternity ; m both cases horrors on horrors had aecumu-
LitA ; and yet the feelings, the sympathy, and the
bineviilenre of the country, which were so strongly
and deeply stirred up by the tragedy at era, seem to
be hut slightly moved (at a distance from the scene)
by a walla disaster, which hex afflicted a whole
dotriet on the land..

—How is this' Is it that as yet we have scarcely
ncle-ed the Holmfirth catastrophe? That wo have
not obtained in our mind's eye a pictorial view of
the bursting of this immense reservoir, and the in-
undation its contents on a peaceful town, buried
in slumber? That it wants the dramatic unity
which gave to the terrible burning of the
Amnion such simplicity in its awfulness ?
'That it leaves no tales of horrors be-
hind it, to imprint it for life on our
memories? Is it that our sympathies for human
suffering are limited—that our stock of benevolence
has for • white been exhausted—or that politics

occupy at present all our thoughts?
hatever the cause, this llolmfirth disaster—this
destruction not merely of a whole town, but the up-
rooting by bursting. roaring, impetuous, irresistible
floods of a whole district—this sweeping away of
great factories, carrying off and down the inunda-
tion huge pieces of machinery, as if they were but the
branches of trees or the hurdles from a sheep-fold—
this floating upwards of SO human beings into eter-
nity—has certainly not produced one-half the con-
sternation of the Amazon disaster; though it wants
but few of its tragic mournful incidents; and has ter-
rible features of its own of even deeper interest. The
surrounding towns of Manchester, Huddersfield, and
Sheffield, have, to be sure, hurried to see the terrible
,sent; fur to them Holmfirth, and the valley in
which it stood, was a daily reality, ascot of congenial
industry and activity; there lived their neighbours,
their friends, their acquaintances, their business
connexions;—curiosity, too, took hundreds on Sunday
to the afflicted spot, as if on a railway excursion to
Alton Towers or Castle Howard. But here at a dis-
tance, where the very name of Holmfirth,—despite its
great productive capacity and energy,—waseompara-
tively unknown, the newspaper accounts of the cotes-
tropbe have not made a deep impression.
Let us shake off this apathy and arouse our-
selves to the obligation this lawful event suggests
on as. Its consequences are too vast and serious
to be borne by the locality ; and though the
great manufacturing districts which surround
and belt in Hulinfirth will do their part liberally,
not even their benevolence can supply funds ade-
quate for the occasion. When, across the German
Ocean, Hamburg was destroyed by fire, we contri-
buted not less than 30,0001. to the resuscitation of
the Free City ; and when Quebec suffered from a
similar cause, a Queen's letter appealed to our gene-
rosity for effectual assistance ;--and not in vain. Now
we have at home, in the very centre of the island, a
fatality of as great magnitude. Surely it has
claims on our liberality larger than even those which
a German city and a colonial capital so readily
provoked?
Where, as at Holmfirth, ruin has so suddenly,
been brought on a whole district ; where, in fact, its
property. has been either totally destroyed and seri-
ously injured; where the means of employment for
the survivors are suspended, if not absolutely gone;
money is the first thing wanted. It is the exercise
of charity that must precede investigation, inquiry,
and even reflection. Winter is not yet over, and the
inhabitants of Holmfirth, rich and poor, have been
deprived of house and home. ham who,
ten days ago, were worth thawed,. ad
teas of thousands, are now as helpless, obi
even more hopeless than the labourers sal
artisans to whom they gave employment. Prollas-
sional men. tradesmen, retired manufacturers, me
all involved in a common ruin. In one night, pro-
perty to the extent of 600,00(1. was destroyed, and
by it the activity, the enterrise the industry, and
capital of a flourishing neighbourhood have been
ruined. Let our first impulse be to relieve such
suffering ; then let us proceed to ascertain where
the blame lies.

Holmfirth was a tine specimen of British enterprise
of the best sort, and it will, we fear, also turn out to be
anothi r instance of the imperfect manner in which
that enterprise is occasionally worked out.
It was an attempt, and a successful one, to carry
manufactures into the country, and there to move
great works by water power. For that purpose the
running streams of the valley were collected and
impounded in reservoirs. This was done, under au-
thority of parliament, by the inhabitants themselves;
• company was incorporated, commissioners were
appointed, and funds subscribed. Enormous reser-
voirs were formed: so enormous, that the Bilberr7
one, when it burst, contained eighty feet in
depth of water. These reservoirs were dammed
in by huge dykes. Unfortunately, either the
enzineering skill which planned them, or the
capital which executed (perhaps both), was in-
sutfit ient, and the dam of the Bilbury reservoir was
built on ground through which numerous springs
percolated. These inured and weakened it; the
water from the springs roes beneath the dam ;
that from the reservoir oozed through it ; and when
the lute rains filled the reservoir, the immense pres-
sure of the contents acted on an enfeebled bulwark;
—sway it went,--and out rushed the water, carrying
death, destruction, and ruin before it.

Some few persona interested appear to have had
their fears aroused ; but the great mass of the dis-
trict slept secure; fifty of the apprehensive watched
the reservoir on the awful night that it burst ; but
the rushing streams overtook them in their flight
ere they could rouse the confiding town; and one
old lady, a principal proprietor and sufferer, had in
her incredulity of the waters which were about to
sweep away her milt, to be dragged against her will
out of her own house for safety.
In the inquiry shout to be instituted it is to be
hoped that in no national a disaster, the govern-
ment will be represented and take part.
We live in an age of great public works,
many of which, like this, involve r sit and
danger to life and property; and though their exe-
cution is very properly left to private enterprise and
capital, some central supervision for testing their
sufficiency and their security ought to be exercised.
In the case of railways we have it without any in-
terference with their free agency; and there can be
no glssd reason why the principle so usefully ap-
plied to railways should not be extended to all great
works of a public description. Our factories, our
mines, our lunatic asylums, and our railways are
under adequate inspection ;—why not our canals, our
great drainage works, and reservoirs and dams, such
as those in the valley of the I (ohne ?
Pecuniary assistance is, however, the first require
mint; and the inure liberally that is given, the
deeper will be the interest the public will take in
investigating the causes, and in providing remedies
against the recurrence of such terrible disasters as
that which has swept away Holmtirth. What the
state does in France,--and what it has, in the ease of
our West Indian colonies, more than once done in
England on such occasions,--let us see whether we
cannot now tccomplish by our individual liberality, I
and thereby show our superior fitness for administer-
ing our own affairs.

THE ritYRTAL PAL tt•V---[To the Editor of the
-4 New-street, Spring-gardens, 9th Feb.,
•.• paragraph
the
appeared in wveral or the
^.l"..l"oritolvi to the et; et that the public may obtain
coil, iie.iilmismon to the Crystal Palace upon application
P. our nth. e, we b•g to .ay that this announceincut is en•
tinly toioulhoriwil by us. Your inserting this letter, in
order to prevent the inconvenience that must arise to nu-
merous pcnon■, will oblige, Sir, your obedient servants—
Pus, Ilititozeteotr, AND CO.