The Express.
London, England, 1848-08-12 00:00:00

PROVINCIAL.

LANCASHIRE.
THE BOILER EXPLOsION AT PRESTON.—The
requl-
sitinn to the mayor, calling upon him to convene a public i
mrerieg of the inhabitants of Preston, for the purpose of i
taking steps to direct the attention of the government to the
late deplorable boiler explosion, and of obtaining a satisfac- '
tory inv.atigation calculated to satisfy the public mind, and,
if possiole, to deed to the prevention of similar disasters for
the future; this document Laving been signed not only by
many of the leading men in the town, and by upwards of fifty
of the friend. of unfortunate sufferere, his worship acceded
to the reqUest, and himself presided at the meeting, which
was held in the Town Hall on Wednesday evening. Whilst
' the more influential parties immediately surrounded the
magisterial bench occupied by the speaker., the main part of
the large hall was crowded by mill operatives, many of thi m
relatives and friends of the fifteen unhappy beings
who have, within a short space of time, been killed
by boiler explosions in this town.—The mayor con-
fined himself almost r xclusively to the duties of chair-
man, deeming that it would not become him as chief
magistrate to express publicly any individual opinion upon
the subject. since, he maid, it was not impossible that the mat-
ter s ight come before him in his iu 'Mixt capacity. The first
resolution wits moved and secouiled by the Rev. Mr. Kitton,
of the church of Harland, and the Rev. Mr. Mayo rs, Homan
catholic priest, the latter gen:leman stating that whilst
engaged in attending the sits: ion the day of the acci-
dent he was told b) one man that he had left the
Brunswick mill in consequence of the danger arising
fri m the boiler being worked at a greater preasure then
it was calculated to bear. There were statements made
at the- inquest, he said, that the boiler was worked to
put in motion more machinery than it was calculated to
move, and that alone was sufficiant to can for a further in•
vestigation. He was told that the proprietors of the mill
could, if they bad an opportunity, meet this evidence, and
therefore in common justice they Should be allowed to do so,
in order to remove the stigma which at present rested upon
them. The resolution, which was unanimously agreed to,
was, "That this meeting expresses its opinion that the re-
currence of boiler explosions in this town calls for a public
manifestation of sympathy for the sufferers, and demands
the fullest investigation of the cause of such dis-
asters." The next resolutHi was moved by Mr. John
Livesey. He said he believed it was the opinion
of 99 out of every 100 of the inhabitants of Preston,
that the late investigation into the cause of the boiler explo-
sion at the Brunswick mill, had not been conducted in that
full, that searching, and that sativactery manner, which a
sem. of public justice and of humanity demanded. And, in
accordance with that opinion he moved a resolution. There
was, he said, a great lastly of evidence forthcoming, which
, was not produced in consequence of the unwilliagness of
those conducting the inquiry to protract it to that
full extent which the nature of the cue required.
The verdict returned by the jury was, he said, not only
in oppositioa to the evidence adduced, but contradictory in
itself. The jury first stated the effect, namely, the bursting
r of the boiler : and then the cause, namely. an undue work-
-1 ing of the boiler by excessive pressure ; and then, they came
to the ludicrous conclusion that this was a case of "
dental death." Such a verdict, he believed, would not have
teen received by any other coroner in the kingdom.—The
motion was seconded by Mr. Charnley, end carried unani
mously. The meeting was afterwards addressed by Messrs.
I O. Noble, solicitor, 1•. Daily, J. Livesey, and Dobson.—The
• Mayor (T. Birchall, Esq. ), undertook to forward the resolu-
t Lions to the Secretary of State.

WARWICKSHIRE.
DESTRUCTION OT A BARK RICK BY FIRE.—On
Thursday morning smoke was perceived suing from
a bark rick at Kenilworth, the property of Mears.
R. and W. Draper, extensive tanners, of that place.
The rick contained about 200 tons of bark, and 'its
estimated value is 1,600/. ; and, at the tune the ac-
counts left, the fire was but partially subdued. The rick
being thatched with straw, it is supposed that the latter ig-
nited by a spark falling from an adjacent chimney. The
property was insured in the County Fire-office, the engines
of which, together with the Warwick engines, were on the
spot as soon as practicable, tut the fire had got such a
hold of the rick that it was necessary to take it entirely to
pieces. Kenilworth has 5,000 inhabitants, but not one fire-
engine.
INCENDIARISM.—Sinee the termination of the War-
wick session, on Tuesday last, a man has been committed
for wilfully setting fire to wheat and other ricks, at Salford,
near A.lceater.

COLONISATION SOCIETT:6II Thursday, a meet-
ing, attended by several noblemen and persons of info. nee,
was held at Brighton, for the purpose of disseminating the
views of the Society for the Promotion of Colonisation.
Some chartists were also present. The High Ccnstable was
called to the chair. The tint resolution, moved by the Hon.
F. Scott, was as follows :
That, considering the distressed condition of a large number of the
labouring population of tne United Kingdom, and the catersive and
remunerative field which our colonial posasseions present for their
employment and relief, it is the opinion of this meeting that immediate
rteps are expedien,, with a vie v.. to an organised and well-regulated
systcm of emigration.
• This resolution was teconded by Earl Nelson, in a long and
excellent speech, in which the noble earl was greatly '
ap-
plauded. At an early part of the meeting one of the chartists
called out, " I suppose you want to transport us." " Cer-
tainly," replied Mr. Scott, " we want to transport you with
a change from poverty in England to plenty in Australia."
The High Constable put the resolution. There were a great
many hands held up for and against ; but the chairnann de•
clared the resolution carried.—Mr. Chapman then addressed
the meeting, and was followed by Mark Boyd, Esq. ; and it
bring now past 11 o'clock the noisy portion here retired, and
the remainder of the resolutions, in favour of establi king a
branch association, were carried unanimously.

A REPRIEVE REPUSED.—The Chelmsford Chro-
nicle of yesterday states that since the conviction of Mary
May for the crime of fratricide, at Win, the most strenuous
exertions have locenmade by the opponents of capital punish-
ment to obtain a commutation of her sentence, but no iioubt
now Clint of her suffering the extrf me penalty of the law on
Monday next. The memorial from that town, which con-
tained 1,335 si4caturee, was presented to Sir G. Grey, the
Home Secretary, at the House of Commons, on Wednesday
by a deputation, consisting of Messrs. T. and J. G. Marriage
and E. Hughes, accompanied by Sir E. N. Buxton,
Bart., M.P. The deputation was received most
courteously by the right hon. baronet, who listened
with gn-at attention to the arguments advanced in favour
of the views taken by the memorialists, and in reply assured
the deputation that he had paid painful attention to the cue
of the unfortunate convict, but neither from the perusal
of the evidence nor from the consideration of the statements
adduced by the deputation could he discover any circum-
stances of a mitigating nature that would justify him in ad-
vising her Majesty to extend the royal clemency, for it was
one of the worst cases that had come before him in his offi
cial capacity. The petition he considered a very important
document, expressing as it did the decided opinion of so many
persons in one town against capital punishment, and would
bare its weight with the government; but it was his painful
duty to have the exiting laws properly administered, and in
the present case, whsre the proof of guilt was so evident, to
act consistently, be must allow the law to take its course.
The wretched woman continues to manifest but little concern
at the situation in which she is plated, taking her food and
rest almost undisturbed ; at present she has made no confes-
sion of her guilt. The arguments put forward for a com-
mutation of the untence are thus stated by the convict's

attorney :
First, the recommendation of the jury to mercy, which implies
some doubt in their minds as to her guilt, although, of course, I am
aware that if they really had such doubt it was their duty to have ac-
quitted her; still, practically, it often happens that haltdinectitient
country jurors compromise their opinions by such a verdict, which, in
their own erroneous judgment, is a hind of middle course; at any
rate, the recommendation amounts to the expression of a wish on
the part of the jury who tried her that her life should beepared
, Secondly, her fi Ink admission at the coroner's inquest of her having
bought poison of Mr. Hooker, when neither that gentleman nor any
other person could prove the fact against her at the trial, and of her
having placed some of it on a piece of bread and butter in a hole in
the Nor to kill the rate, theetenee of which vermin was sufficiently
proved. This admission might be construed into a coneeimoneen of
Innocence on her part, especially when, but for that admission, neither
the purchase nor the possession of poison could have been traced to
her; while the absence of such evidence might have turned the scale
in her favour. Thirdly, the evidence of her eon, which, I have no
doubt, tended more than anything else in the minds of the jury
to flx her with the crime, ought to be taken as a whole, and not by
parts. lie proved that she took a powder from a paper In the drawer,
and put some of it into the beer in the saucepan. The whole
object of laying this piece of evidence ;afore the jury was to lead them
m the belief that that powder wee the poison which killed the brother,
and but for the explanation which thy. boy afterwards gave, in cross
and reexamination, such a belief might have been perfectly war-
ranted by the evidence; but it mute be borne in mind that the boy
stated the powder was soda, which his mother sometimes put into
beer for the purpose of ',aliening it when it was sour, and the colour
of it was white, while the colour of the poison sold by Maker wan of a
dark grey or slate colour. This last fact negatives the presumption
that she put Hooker's powder into the beer, while the boy's evidence
shows that *bat she put in was sash and not arsenic, and therefore
it could not have mused the death of Watts ; and it she really de-
stroyed his life with Hooker's po ,der she never would have con-
fessed to the possession of it.