The Express.
London, England, 1851-08-29 00:00:00

THE COLLI ER? DISASTER AT WASH-

INOTOS.

After the re port given ht lays Exproie Wa3
deli itched
Mr. Nichol is Wood, colliery viewer, Hutton, stated that
he, with
.a n- amber of other viewers, examined the colliery
Monday. , anew of the workmen accompanying then. Ills
opinion w: that the pit had fired in the second cast board
beyond doors in the cruse-costwey. Observed the way
the fire I log taken by the morns and by the cinders against
the Pr"' ,P. Wu perfectly convinced the fire had onme out of
umc_ 'W. AM tamed. It camp down south, *ea west to the
Too b' uncle, and then expaeded towards the pit. lie did
not! alert that the fire itself had been a large one, as they
101, d Mad no indication of it towards the Nat. The reason
men were lost was net so much from the fire as
Al the air being withdrawn. The fro had blown
d awl. the end of a crossing nearly at the bottom
' if the engine-bank, which made a communication
between the air going in and the retara air to the recast
ehi:t. It ones a dusty team, and he thought those not Isurnt
lwesild be choked with the dust, or kffled with the
' after-
riamp. The 'toppings were all replaced when be went
dawn. In the breed where Mr. Muir was found there
were some picks, eel the bottom of a l)asy lamp, with the
' top off. which he was told had net been removed from
where it was Forted. Ile was told *at the top of the lamp
was feund at the opposite side of the board, which, coupled
with the direction the fire had taken, led him to conclude
that the fire must have otigiugeed there, from the man
halite; taken his lump top off. There were no blowers.
Ile thought something must have checked the vcr.tilation
utthe mine ea the time she fired. That would produce a
diminution of the quantity of the atmospheric air, and have
the efilret of rendering the pit at the quarter where the fire
oseurred unsafe. Ile thought that if everything was right,
and tight thousand feet of air going down the pit per mi-
nute, that she would be ia a safe state, and could not have
fired. lie was told that the fire took place in two boards
near to where there was a fall, which if true, the full would
tend to obstruct the return air, and so render the pit
unsafe, and alternately cause her to explode. Ile could
not tell whether there was ono or two tiros; for at pits
he had coder his eagniraince where there had been
tiro., it has frequentiy happened that the air
being so disturbed has caused every small accumulation of
jos in the pit to fire, thus causing several small fires at one
tame. Considers this a very simple tire to have caused web
disastrous effects. teas comes off, and act umulatea in this
and every Hutton oesw, and requires to he carried off.
From the description there appears to have been a mixing
of gas. The system of ventilation practised in that part is
consistent with the practice of the district. There is as
doubt that the quantity of air going iu was quite sufficient,
providing the stopping* were good. The gas ouzel from the
thill. When a candle burns with a large top, us explained
by Hartley, it must be mixed with carbonic acid as well as
odd immahle gas. Carbonic acid gas often comes (rem the
thill. Should not like to trust a candle with a top of two
*ekes on it.
Mr. T. E. Foster, viewer, Newcastle, agreed with Mr.
Wood as to the cause of the fire.
Mr. Anderson, of South Shields, Mr. Southern, of Neb.-
blesworth, Mr. aws, of Springwell, Mr. Butkus, of Tram
colliery, Mr. Samuel Wood, Mr. Charles W. Anderson, of
Harton, viewers, who assisted to make the survey on Mon-
da), agreed with what had been said.
Mr. Phillips., leut he the regulations adopted at the col-
liery; and Jain Hunter, au engine-wright, was produced,
who swore there was plenty of material at hank for bratticcs.
The jury expressed a desire to have Mr. Dunn's opinion
as to the cause of the fire.
Mr. Dunn, being sworn, said he was inspector of mines
for the northern counties and fur Scotland. Ile had not
been down the mine previous to the accident. Ile quite
agreed with the gentlemen who had been examined that
the fire had origivated in Sl•Naire's board; mid was also of
opinion that there had been a deficiency of air la that
eastern quarter. The fire might arise partly from three
causes. First, there might be a temporary obstruction of
the returns from the falls spoken of. Another cause might
be leaving open the rolleyway door, kading south ; or
the door leading east to li•Naire's board. lie had uo rea-
son, however, to suppose that they were left open. A third
cause might be the sleekening of the furnaces. Ile had
thought it his duty to go down and look at the furnaces;
and had gone down again that morning for the purpose.
He found one of the furnaces nine feet in width; the
other four feet and a half. The upeast is 71 feet in
diameter. These furnaces require a heavy fire to keep
up the ventilation, and used a good deal of attention—they
were also remote from observation. He agreed with the
other gentlemen, also, that if from seven to eight thousand
cubic feet of air per minute can be steadily maintained
it would be sufficient, generally speaking, to keep the pit safe.
It being now seven o'clock in the evening, a consultation
was held as to whether the inquest should be adjourned
mail next morning, or finish that evening—it warthought
best to finish it. The jury retired to refresh themselves,
and returned at nine o'clock, when the coroner commenced
to sum up, commenting upon the strange circumstances,
reported by us yesterday, of the backwardness of the pit-
men in furnishing the government inspector with informa-
tion when a mine is in a dangerous *edition. If the men
upon the colliery had done so in this instance, in all hareem
probability he said the bees of those mia, upon whom they
WWI WSW holding an inquest, won't not have been
seerilised.
The kelt' head • venliet to the mowing effect :
" The doWgi of et in they& had been caused
by it firing .at Wassat's beard, eat they consider that
lamps shagd duets boss niallitestend of sases, awl there
should have been mere bunglisse• as wasseseml by the
government ingeetar."

ItE3LtliKaaLß Sabuillitr int all
as inquest w commenced before Mr. E. Cox ' borough
coroner, at the house of Mr. G. Barnes, the 61:ma Inn,
Sevilla Valley, on the body of Themes Modem, aged 34,
who died on the preview evening under the following ex-
traordinary circuinstauew detailed in the evidence : The
inquest having been opened, and a witness, who was pre-
sent at the death of the deceased, examined, it wes ad-
journed to Tuesday erasing, when lb. P. Mackey, sur-
geon, said he had attended the deceased up to the day of
his death, for about ten dap, for injury,to the throat, .pro-
duced by a tobacco-pipe being forced down it in a wet of
" lark.' He was extremely ill until Thsuada, last, madam
that day a large abscess, which bad formed in the *mt.
broke' and to the evening be appeared esosiderably re-
lieved. The deceased's idea We/ that ho bad drawn the
pipe out of his throat, and he did not appear to b• swans
that any was left. On Saturday he made a post-mortens 1
examination of the body. He toned a piece of tobacco-pipe,
which he produeed,two-and-a-half inches long, imbedded in
the muscular part of the neck, after having passed down-
ward through the windpipe, and lacerated a blood-vessel,
which produced death by blood perpetually oozing out into
the lungs. This would be likely to produce sudden death.
In other respects the deceased was in a healthy state.
He had known him some years.—Elizabeth Kelly,
waitress at the Hearts of Oak beerhousc, in Bridge-
street, said she was acquainted with the deceased from
seeing him frequent the public-house where she worked.
Last Wednesday week the deceased was at the Hearts of
Oak, smoking a pipe, and she was passing the table with a
pot of beer, when the deceased pulled her backwards by the
gown, and in falling she came in contact with the pipe. He
said directly, " Mrs. Kelly, the pipe has cut my mouth, and
a drop of rum would dome good." She:got three-penny-
; worth of rum and gave it to him, he having previously
taken the pipe from his mouth. She did not see that it was
broken. After he had had the rum he left the tap-room,
went to the front of the bar, and she served him with three
glasses of sixpenny ale, one for himself and two for other
I people. He was then larking with the other people, but
i complained of his throat being very sore, and she saw no
more of him until the next morning, when he came in about
eight o'clock, asked for • glass of water, and said he was
going to Mr. Mackey's, as his throat was so bad. He waited
in the tap-room until nine o'clock, when he went away, and
she neither saw him nor heard of hiss until last Friday eve-
ning, when she heard of his death. The jury returned a
verdict of accidental death.—Heists Adoertiver.

SOUTHAMPTON RAGGED SCHOOLB.—In consequence
of the large amount of juvenile depravity at Southampton,
and which has greatly increased of late years, owing to the
port having been made • packet station, an eatensive
wed
school has founded there. Lord H. Cholmondele7l
Mr.
Wilcox, M.P., and Archdeacon Wigram, are amongst its
most liheral and active supporters. Dormitoricsand industrial
training classes are now about to be established in connexion
with it, owing to the numerous applications which the
ragged school committee have had for protection and /Mil-
-1 mum from boys let out from the Southampton gaol.