The Express.
London, England, 1866-12-24 00:00:00

THE BARNSLEY COLLIERY EXPLOSIONS.

Another victim haabeen added tothe already long
list of killed. On Saturday forenoon ahoy, named Thomas
Ilardcastle, died from the effects of burns sustained in
the Oaks Colliery on the day of the calamity. Of the
18 persons recovered alive, only three or four are still
living, and one of these is not expected to survive long.
A young man, named Keithley, is in a very precarious
condition, and not expected to live. Up to Saturday
evenitg there was nothing new to report as to any pro-
ceedings at the colliery. All was quiet, but there was still
a strong smell of after-damp coming up No. 2 shaft. The
Barnsley subscription list up to Saturday evening amounts
to nearly 5,000/.
Barnsley, Sunday Evening.
The work of filling up the cupola and No. 1 shaft has
now been completed, and everything at the colliery re-
mains quiet. About 2,350 tons of spoil was put down the
cupola, and 1.100 tons down the other one, and that was
supplemented by a top dressing of puddled clay, five
yards in depth. Nothing more can now be done for a
considerable time, is it would be very dangerous to do
anything which could introduce the least air into
ery
the
pit, as there cannot be the slightest doubt that a v
considerable portion of the coalbed is on fire. The
engineers are very sanguine that the measures which
have been adopted for extinguishing the fire will prove
effectual, more especially as there have been no explo-
sions since Tuesday last. There is, therefore, everyhat pros-
pect that the last and most expensive mode—tof
tilling the pit with water—will not be had recourse to.
Indeed, to do so could not be otherwise than ruin
u 5,900
, as
the getting out of the water from workings some 1
yards in the dip would entail enormous expense, and in all
probability the sinking another shaft. The report to-day
states that since yesterday the stuff in the furnace draft had
sunk three yards, and that in the No. 1 shaft lather
snore than one yard. Everything is proceeding so far
satisfactorily, and nothing can be done until the mining
engineer into whose hands the management of the colliery
is now entrusted shall be satisfied that the fire is ex-
tinguished, and order it to be opened. That time, how-
ever, is remote, and months will most likely elapse before
any attempt will be made to unseal the colliery and
recover the bodies, as it was evident that the fire had got
a very firm hold. To-day, indeed, that fact was apparent,
for the choke-damp on the pit top was almost overpower-
ing. The pit bank remains in the same state in which it
has been since the explosion. The men who were brought
out alive after the first explosion are fast succumbing to
the injuries they received. To-day four more were buried
in Ardsley churchyard.

THE HAMPSTEAD TUNNEL OF THE MIDLAND
RAILWAT.—The extensive works at this tunnel, which
have been carried on night and day without intermission
for the last eighteen menthe, are now approaching com-
pletion. On Saturday last they were so far advanced that
communication was for the first time opened out from end
to end. This communication at present is very imperfect
and irregular, but it was sufficient to enable a small party
of gentlemen, consisting of Mr. Frederic Campion,
the resident engineer ; Mr. Ralph Firbank, re-
presenting Mears. Firbank and Co., the contractor',
for the works; and a single visitor to pan through. The
tunnel, which is more than a mile long, commences inower
the
northern part of Kentish-town, passes under the l
part of Hampstead, and emerges in the New Finchleproad,
just beyond the Swiss Cottage. Entering it at that ex-
tremity the brickwork is entirely complete formany yards,
and there is accordingly no difficulty in proceeding.
Further, on, however, the only communication is b
narrow passages cut through the earth and shored up wi h t
very solid timber. The ordinary height of these passages
is about six feet, and the width about
more five. But
in one ease the opening was not than
three feet by three for a distance of more
than fifty yards, and the three explorers were necessarily
compelled to crawl along it on their hands and knees, by
the dim light of candles, which the strong current of air
threatened every moment to extinguish. At another
point where two sections of the works joined which were
being carried on at different levels, the only mode of
proceeding from the lower to the upper was by
climbing a timber support, technically called a
" raker," thirty-four feet in leugtb, with thin
stripe of wood nailed upon it as steps, and placed
diagonally at a very abrupt inclination. As the
steps were covered with slippery clay from the
feet of the workmen, the ascent, as may be imagined,
was not very easy or pleasant. Owing to the peculiar
nature of the soil, through which the tunnel passes
the London clay, great difficulty has been experienced in
carrying out the work. It was found that solid brickwork
three feet thick would not➢stand, and brickwork six feet
thick has accordingly been substituted. Inn the narrow
passage-. too, or `wordings" already mentioned, the timber
supports though ore than a foot in thickness, frequently
split, and have to be bound withiron or renewed. It is
expected that the whole of the works of the tunnel will be
complete in about four months.
EARL GROSVENOR ON CUIJRCH ETTENSION.—On
Saturday last, the first stone of a new church, to be called
St. Pete at Birkenhead, was bad by Earl Grosvenor, in
the presence oft
Lad
Constance Grosvenor, Mr. John
P., Archdeacon Jones, and a large number of
spectators, The church is in:ended to acoommodate
nearly 700 people, and will be entirely free and unappro-
priated. The incumbent will be the Rev. Mr. Fenton,
who has been labour ing for five years in a district of 7,000
people, part of an ecclesiastical district with a population
of 22,000, and 2,
40 church. The site will cost 8751.,
the building 2,400 f., and the endowment and repair
funds 1,4101. The Bishop of Chester will be the patron,
and an endoffinent is expected from the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners. A handsome trowel was presented to the
noble earl by Mr. Laird, who remarked that he believed
no district in the country had more need of a new
church than that, the northern district (Holy Trinity) of
Birkenhead. The noble earl expressed his satisfaction in
the awakened interest taken by churchmen in the necessi-
ties of such districts, and their willingness to consider the
claims of the church and of large populations upon them.
There was a great deal still to be done, especially in Lon-
don, where the church accommodation was not nearly
equal to the necessities of the population. Ile had the
greater pleasure in laying this stone because the seats were
to be free. Lady Constance took part in the layins of the
Arne, and the Rem A. Knox and Fenton, with the Ven.
Archdeacon Jones, took Lart in the proceedings.
GREAT NORTHERN HOSPITAL, CALEDONIAN-ROAD,
Dminorow.—Number of patients for the week ending
Dec. V, 935, of width 253 were sew oases.