The Express.
London, England, 1868-06-29 00:00:00

THE EXPLOSION AT QITENAST.

The Indt'pendance Beige of yesterday says :
It would be difficult to give an idea of the desolated
aspect of the place where the catastrophe occurred. The
trees are without a single leaf ; their branches nod
trunks torn or split, and the crops to a large extent
are covered with the debris of stones, bricks, iron,
and wood, which the force of the explosion carried
to a great distance. The vast and solid structure by the
aide of which the explosion took place was literally pul-
verised in the space of a second. There is not one whole
brick left. Enormous beams have been hashed up, and
others have been hurled to an incredible distance. The
shop contained working materials and iron machines. Iron
was also employed to a large extent in its construction.
The whole of it was bent, twisted, and sent flying over the
country. We have seen an enormous bolt fixed several
inches in the trunk of a poplar tree at a distance of more
than 100 metres from the place of the accident; also what
was once a tie-beam twisted round the trunk of another
poplar like a bracelet. The bodies of two sawyers
who had been working at a distance from the
shop were found without any clothes. As to
the eight persons who were engaged in discharging
the nitro-glycerine, not a trace has been found of any one
beyond a piece of flesh, a shred of clothes, or a button. A
fragment of a skull with long black hair attached to it
was picked up and recognised as that of M. Grillot. A
five-franc piece, bent and burnt, was also found. The
1,800 kik*. of nitro-glycerine which exploded had an
expansive force equivalent to 200,000 kilos. of powder,
and was sufficient to blow up the entire city of Brussels.

(nrEouow Rzu=les AomrcY.)
THE WRECK OF THE BENARES.

SHANGHAI, Joys 8.

All the treasure and twenty-three bales of silk
have been saved from the Benares. The Ellora is
still by the wreck. Some hopes are entertained
of saving the Benares and the remainder of the
cargo. The silk has been much damaged by the
salt water.

AMERICA.
NEW YORK, JUNE 28.
The Inman royal mail steamer City of London
arrived here at noon to-day. All well.

DEATH OF PROFESSOR IiATTEUCCI.—The
papers record the death of Professor Matteuoci on Friday
morning last at Florence after a short illness. The de-
ceased was an Italian senator and minister of public in-
struction, in which capacity he was very active in pro-
moting the extension of education. But he was better
known as a man of science than as a politician or a
minister. Ho obtained in 1844 the prizes of the French
Academy of Sciences and the Copley Medal of the Royal
Society for his investigations in electro-physiology. His
" Lectures on Physics," passed through four editions. He
published also " A Manual of Telegraphy." " A Treatise
on Eleetro-physiological Phenomena," " Elements of
Electricity as applied to the Arta," " Lectures on the
Physico-chemical Phenomena of Living Bodies; " which
has been translated into English and French. Hu was
reporter of the bill which conferred the title of King of
Italy on Victor Emmanuel, and of that which declared the
annexation of the Two Sicilian to the Italian kingdom.
He succeeded Mamiani as minister of public instruction
in 1862.
A meeting of " distinguished Roman catholic
ladies," with Cardinal Cullen at their head, has been
held in Dublin, to take measures for raising funds for
supporting the Papal army. Among the patronesses of
this movement are the Lady Mayoress, the Marchioness
of Londonderry, the Countess of Portarlington, the
Countess of Grauard, Lady Mauch, Lady Bellew, Lady
Burke, 10.