The Express.
London, England, 1847-09-08 00:00:00

commenced working the engine for the purposes of the mill,
with one pair of stones, on Thursday lest. Messrs. Carter
end Wharton, with two of their men, icre at the cognac all
the day whilst it was working. I voint down to the mill
about 2 o'clock, and found Messrs. Carter and Wharton and
their two men, with my nephew, there. The engine was
then at work, and the mill grinding. I heard a remark th.t
there was something wrong with the pump, and the engine
was stopped. At this time the three deceased, Meow.
Carter and Wharton, and myself, were in the engine-house.
The two men of Messrs. Carter and Wharton were taking
some refreshment, and my nephew was looking on. I and
Messrs. Carter and Wharton came out and stood near the
fireplace outside. The engine-house door was wide open.
I wee looking at the boiler, and whilst I wee looking it
seemed 'o me that the front of the boiler gave way, I was
just pointing out to Messrs. Carter and Wharton that I
thought something was going wrong, and en explosion
instantly took place.—J. Hughes, of Nottingham, engineer,
said : I examined the steam-engine and boiler at the mill of
Mr. Hervey. I have had considerable experience for many
years in the making and working of steam-engines. I found
a fracture 13 inches long and 2 inches wide in the flue. The
flue.plates were collapsed from end to end. There were
several other small fractures, all caused by the giving way of
one plate. The fracture was long enough to rause a
very large escape of steam. The plate which gave way
was defective in the material of which it was com-
pued. The external appearance of the plate is very good,
but by the fracture it is new plainly to be seen that the ma-
terial is bad. There are very few instances of engineers
making their own plates ; it is generally a distinct business.
It would be almost impossible to detect a defective plate,
except by proving the boiler, which is seldom dens by
engineers. I have not measured the boiler, but from the
appearance I should think it is large enough for an engine
of 10-horns power. I have no doubt whatever the accident
was caused by the giving way of the plate in question.
If the plate in question had been good, I should net
have hesitated to have worked the engine from 401 b.
to 451 b. to the inch. I don't think that the accident
happened from an under supply of water; if that had
been the case the plate would have been discoloured,
which is not the case.—J. Bullock, ef Costock, steam-boiler
manufacturer, said.: I have examined the boiler of the en-
gine of Mr. J. Hervey's mill, in this Own. I found a frac.
tune in the plate farthest from the fire. It was fres
tared very short ; the material was bad and defee-
tive. There is nothing in the external appearance
of the plate which would make me suppose it to
be defective. After examining the plate, it seems to me
there must have been a greater pressure than 251 b. at
the time the explosion took place. I think the boiler ought
to have been able to have borne the pressure of 60:b., but
the plate in question would not have borne such a prewure.
The manufacture of steam-boilers is generally a distinct
business from that of the manufacture of steam-engines. I
always test my boilers before they are used ; but I think a
great many manufacturers do not. I think the defective
plate in this boiler would have been discovered had it bees
testa, but not at the pressure of 251 b. I saw nothing wring
in the manufacture of the boiler itself, and it would have
been very difficult for the manufacturer of the boiler to have
discovered the deficiency of the plate in question. The
giving way of the plate would instantly cause the flue to col-
lapse. If. Wharton, steam-engine manufacturer, deposed to
supplying the steam-engine to Mr. Hervey. He was super-
intending the erection at the time the accident happened. He
does not manufacture his own boilers, and he had the boiler in
question of Messrs. Smith and Sons, of Gsinsborough ; he
had had many bailers of them, and never found a defective
one before. He had observed the index, and it was at 25
just before the accident happened. He then described the
circumstances at the moment of the explosion, in terms simi-
lar to the first witnesa—The jury, after a short consultation,
returned a verdict of " Accidental death," but recom-
mended the parties erecting engine-houses to have the door
to open from the outside, so that, in case of an accident, the
door may blow open, cad not shut to in the inside, as it did
in this case.

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COMMISSION DT TUE LORD-LIEUTENANT.—J. F.
Stanford, Esq., to be Deputy Lieutenant.
KENT.
ANTIQUARIAN LARCENY.—The Athenerum of Satur-
day says :—The archreological spirit is walking the land to-
day to many valuable and instructive uses: but he should
learn to have the moral control of his hammer, and prevent
its becoming an instrument of petty larceny. A corre-
spondent writes :—" Being last week at Dover, I accom-
panied a friend to inspect the Roman Pharos in the Castle,
and was grieved to see how much injury bad been done to
it since I examined it three years ago, by that clew of
arehteologists (?) who seem to regard a hammer for
obtaining specimens so important a companion as if
they were on a geological expedition. Since my return, I
bare been informed by my friend theta few days after he saw
persons breaking off large pieces without the slightest inter-
ruption from any one. Perhaps a word from you at this
season, when so many idle hands are applied to such mis-
chief, might be of service in an influential quarter. I should
be sorry to see the public excluded from free access to that
choice example of Roman masonry, but it would be well if
they were somehow made to understand that they are to re-
frain from picking and stealing, or otherwise injuring what
they cannot appreciate."—lt la needless to say, that the true
genius of Archaeology is directly opposed to this species of
demolition and appropriation.
ESSEX.
_

PASTURE.—A correspondent of the Essex Herald
says As agriculture is now open to the competition of
the whole world, the farmer should not be encumbered with
useless timber, or with almost useless pasture, and I think
it would be to the mutual benefit of both landlord and
tenant to bring the poor pasture land (of which most farms
have a field or two) under the plough, and by good manage.
ment they would produce double the quantity of food for
both man and beast, as well as afford additional employ-
ment for an increasing population. It is a most difficult
thing to improve a poor pasture, and if it contains • bad
sort of gram it is almost impossible to introduce or renew
it with a better, as you have not the means of altering the
soil by either clay, chalk, or lime, as when under the
plough. A great portion of the pastures aro a light or
dry soil, therefore more adapted to the growth of corn,
and the climate in the south and south-east of England is too
dry to produce much grass; therefore I conclude that an
acre of the above sort of laud under the plough is worth an
acre and a half in pasture. Both bulk and quality are much
easier to be obtained by artificial grasses, such as Italian
and Puy grass and Dutch clover, a field of which should
be sown every year upon mat farms in Essex, to lie one or
two years, and then there would be one to plough each year,
by which plan the farm would more generally partake of
rest from corn. The beet plan for ploughing up lays, lu-
cerne, or grass land, is to plough • very thin furrow
of the grate, or top, to the bottom of the furrow, and
then follow with another, which will bring the moulds to the
top; and after having the frost and rain of the winter upon
it, will be in fine order, with almost a certainty of a plant,
and if oats, drilled about six inches apart, hoed, and well
rolled with a heavy roller in the spring. The ley should
be well fed off in the autumn and ploughed early in the
winter, as it can be doue at almost any time, even if rather
wet. This double ploughing may be considered rather ex-
pensive, but I have found myself well paid for adopting it.
I don't like to conclude these few remarks without recom-
mending the more general growth of lucerne ; it is a most
valuable plant, and may be grown upon almost any soil to
advantage."