The Express.
London, England, 1861-02-14 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 14, 1861.

RAILWAY BILLS IP PAI7LI4MENT.

Yesterday, the examiner, declared the standing
4nieis emptied with in the following men:
WNW, AND KURTH WEATEMN ILAILWAT.—BiII No. 1.
For weer ham and odibtional powers, at • coot of O,UOOf.
Bill No. 2. Foe Cheshire lines, from Stockport to Attria
chain. and branches...t a cost of 150,001 v. ; and 1.4 A lire
from Chelford h Koutafonl. at a cost of ortrsittf. Bill
No. 3. Railway from Edgehill to Bootle, 19o,Otart ; from
Witiwick to Goitorne, 40,0001. ; from Autos to Dittos and
Bridgwater Casa!, :40,0U01.
H•1111fRAMITII, PADDOWTON, AND CITY JCICTION.—For
a line harem' Pailliogke and the Cite. at a cast of
ISO,OIO. . • Great Wagers and Ilatropolitas Railway to
attba;nl..so.lool. mcb•
ALTON. ALIUD4INMD, AND WINCHP•Tri RAILWAT.—Ycrt
a railway betweeo these points at a cost of Itikuore.
KLITNNEY RAILWAY.— For new lines asd geoend image-
Ingots. at • coat of 90,0001., and for additional capital of
3.1,00);

fhu following bike also complied : —Limelly Railway and
Mob Cease, ke.) ; Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway and
Duck, Coleford, Monmouth, l'sk, and Pouts pool Railway;
flavor's' Private Telegraph Compaq, Luton Water,
Hawick Police and Improvement, Tyne improvement,
Westminster Life ltolurarce Society pho,olutool, Ports-
mouth Water, Tiverton Roads, Londonderry and Lough
Swill,' Railway.
The subdais orders were declared riot to have been eons.
plied with in some particulars in the wee of the Cardiff anal
Caerplidlv Railway.
The following bells were "withdrawn :"—Peterstield and
Batley Railway, East London Railway, Holadirth Imi rove.
:bent. and Boston Harbour Improvement.
SELD:T COMMITTEE ON STANDING ORDERM.—rbe follow-
ing cases reported not to bare complied with the stealing
mders will be taken into consideration by this committee at
their Bret meeting on Friday : }Livia Harbour, Bridge and
Railway, Uxbridge sad litickmaaeworth Railway, London,
Rucks, and West Midkad Railway, Cheltenham and Boni-
tos-on-the Water Railway, Brecon sad Merthyr Railway,
Cowes and Newpoet Railway. Bolton Corporation, South
Staffordshire Radway, and Frasterky and Stanhope Railway.

THE I:MCA COLLIERY EXPLOSION.

RLMCA, WZDVESDAT.
Yesterday, Mr. Alfrtil Heptimus Palmer, mining
engineer and colliery manager at %o, Bedminster,
c Dear Bristol, was examined, and to the state in
which he found the workings of the k Vein Pit imme-
diately after the explosion and since. He stated that be
knew of no colliery where, M proportion to the quantity
of coal raised, so large an amount of Mr was passed down
for rentflation, and he cot rohorated the opinions of the pre-
rions witness in accounting fur the explosion by supposing
that an accumulation of gas, occasioned by a sudden out-
burst, or "blower," was amitientally tired by context
with the take] flame of an injured Limp.

Mr. Thomas Evans, one of the government inspectors of
coal mines for South Wales, deposed that he had,
acting under an order from the Secretary of State,
assisted Mr. Brough in endeavouring to ascertain
the cause of the explosion, and that with that
object he had diligently examined the workings of the
Black Vein Pit. From personal observation, as well as from
the evidence adduced before the coroner, he had arrived
at the opinion that the explosion originated in the
third cross heading of the fourth east working, and that •
series of minor explosions followed, as the fire from the first
came into contact with different bodies of gas, as they were
set free by successive falls of the roof from COOCIIII4IOO. The
original explosion he attributed to an accumulation of gas,
which, owing to the low state of the berometer, could not
become sufficiently diluted with atmospheric air to become
inexplosive, and which fired at last from accelerated contact
with the naked flame of a safety-Limp. He considered
the means adopted for ventilating that part of the
pit to be defective, inasmuch as that the air passed
in a single comet, instead of being " split," and
that the foremen had not done their duty in leaving por-
tions of a fiery pit with a dangerous roof unvisited for a
period of six hours consecutively. With regard to what
bad been said by previous witnesses as to the accumulation
of gas, which gave rise to the original explosion, having
arisen from a blower, it might have been so, but wither
bad been unable to satisfy himself upon that point, and
believed rather that a large body of gas was soddenly set
free by an extensive fall from the roof. He be.
lieved Struve's ventilator to be the best mechanical
means of ventilation ever invented, and that it was
better adapted than the furnace system to shallow
mines, like the Rises Black Vein. On cross-examination
be stated that be had had personal experience of blowers,
that he had heard one at • distance of 100 yards, and known
it to go on blowing for • fortnight ; but at the same time
be admitted that blowers did not always give any warning
of approach, and that the gas might accumulate very
suddenly, and without being heard. He described some
defects in the underground amangements at Rises ; but, on
the whole, thought the syatem there was that generally
adopted throughout South Wales, and that the quantity of
air passed down was greater than in most coal mines.
Mr. Lionel Though, inspector of that division of coal
mines known as the Western District of England, was next
examined, and put in a long and elaborate report, in which
be described the whole system of workings and ventilation
adopted in the Black Vein, sad dealt at large, and more imme-
diately, with the question of the explosion itself. He thought
the air should have traversed the workings in more
" splits," and that on the east side the workings were too
distant, so as to produce a certain amount of drag on the
air. With regard to the explosion, he said he considered that
I there was a rapid, if not • completely sudden, elimination of
gas in the stalls of the third heading of the fourth east level,
with which the current of air was unable to cope at once.
The meteorological coalition of the preceding months had
been unusual, and the barometer had undergone remarkable
oscillations, while on the morning of the explosion it was
recorded that there was not more than a column of 291 in. of
mercury even at the bottom of • shaft 141 yards in depth.
Within the months specified the number of explosions in
Great Britain had been beyond parallel ; and Mr. Brough was
convinced that the Race explosion was attributable to the
late abnormal condition of the atmosphere, with which the
ventilating power was insufficient to cope, although quite
equal to ordinary occasions. Like his colleague, Mr.
Evans, he had been unable to satisfy himself that the ex-
plosion had arisen from • " blower ;" but however the
accumulation of gas arose, he believed there would bays
been no explosion at all if the lamps had been is good order
and had remained in sound condition. He declined to fix
upon any particular stall as the spot where the gas first
fired ; and with regard to the hand or the lamp that fired
the gas, he said—" Pipes and tobacco have been found
in the pockets of a few of the sufferers ; a key
fur unlocking lamps was found on another ; and for
anything we know to the contrary, matches or other
means of obtaining light may have been carried into
the pit on the very morning of the horrible catastrophe.
Furthermore, it appears in evidence that four lamps were
found unlocked, but with the gauze cylinders unremoved ;
but this was not in the distract clearly proved to have been
the scene of the explosion, and iu the absence of direct and
reliable evidence as to say particular lamp or person, las
the inspector of the district have no tight whatever to bring
• specific charge against the workmen. In the spout hole
between the one and two stalls of the No. 3 cross headings,
Richard Jeanie should have been at work that morning,
but his corpse and his lamp were found two or three yards
from the face of No. 4 cross-heading in the same level. The
remarkable evidence in this case is that his lamp, now pro-
duced, is perforated as if by the blow of • mandrel, though
if, as his lamp was suspended from a nail or spike in his
place of work (as is the custom), he had by a back stroke of
his pick suddenly struck it, and if at the same time the por-
tion of the mine where he was occupied was surcharged
with carburetted hydrogen gas, as had been already
surmised, an explosion would inevitably have been the
result. It may be objected that if so, his death on the spot
would have been certain, but that, though most likely, does
not invariably follow ; the very man who is the chief cause of
the calamity occasionally does escape, inasmuch as explosion
radiates from him, as from a common centre, and exercises
its utmost vehemence at distances varying according to lo-
cality. Now if the circumstances had taken place as I have
just described them, then the terrible event would be at
once elucidated, but °either myself nor any other person can
swear to the parities fact, however reasonable and conclusive
it may appear. But after all, this unfortunate man, if it
really was he, was unable to case his owu life, for both he
and his lamp were found nearly 120 yards from his actual
place of work ; nod the inference is that, simultaneously with
the explosion or a few moments after it, he might run for
his life in the first direction that presented itself, and have
even reached the face of the No. cross heading before he
fell, overpowered by the dually after-damp. hot very far
' from the spot where be died his partner or butty wasfound,
and it is not unlikely that the one had followed the
other, and that the death of both was almost at
the same instant. Apart from the likely circumstance of
ignition by Richard Jenkins' lamp, and separate, again,
frum the equally probable taking off a lamp-top to obtain
1 more light, or to smoke, or es-en the use of a lucifer match
itself, are the following modes of setting fire to infiam-
. mable pa, any one of which may have occurred on the
present fatal occasion :—By drawing the dame through the
gauze to light • pipe ; or • colliery may be all at once per.
'faded by fire-damp, and it is just at such a moment of
danger that panic generally ensues, Iron' total loss of
bpresence of mind, either in any one individual or
y the whole pit's company. A lamp may, in
fright, be suddenly blown out by its owner; or
another man, finding the gas flashing in its in-
side, may throw it from him in his agony of fear, in
either of which cases the dame nay be passed outside and
the pit fired. Again, some of the people will commence
to run, and if their lamps get red hot (a very likely
contingency) the speed with which they are cnde•-
vourms to escape danger will be the most certain
method of bringing it on • for with • hot lamp
carried with accelerated motion through an explosive atmo-
sphere, the flame will be equally liable to pass the gauze
and spread destruction throughout the mine. I give this
evidence to chow that when disaster is difficult of explana-
tion it is not always justice to endeavour to fix the Llama
on the workmen, by orating that some of them must have
broken the rules by removing their lamp tops." Mr.
Brough then proceeded to deal with the question of venti-
lation, admitting that the adoption of StruM't ventilator
had considerably improved the old state of things in the
Black Vein Pit; hut at the same time he expressed a decided
preference fur furnace ventilation, and stated that he had
long recommended the sinking of a new pit in order to per-
fect the ventilation anil underground arrangements. He
concluded by respectfully asking the coroner and jury to
add their urgent solicitations "that a new shaft should be
put down as quickly as possible to the depth of nearly 300
yards, so that it may become the main downcast, and that
I the present winding pit be converted into au efficient upcmt,
I and be provided with two most powerful furnace., for that
description of ventilation after all is, in my opioion, the
only one to be continuously relied on."

FIRE. AT EIROREDITCH.—Yesterday morning, be-
tween the hour. of 4 and 5 o'clock, the inhabitants of Shore.
ditch were kept in a date of excitement fur several hours, in
consequence of the raging of a fire on the premises of Mr.
A. E. Young, builder, No. 1:18, Curtain-rood, Shoreditch,
adjoining the premises of Mr. H. Spurgeon, bed pillar and
liedetead manufacturer. On the arrival of the engines, the
firemen found that the entire length and breadth of the
workshop. were enveloped in flames, which had attacked piles
of timber in the open yard, a. well as the premises of Mr.
H. Spurgeon. A good supply of water being obtained from
the mains of the hew River, the engines were set to work
under the direction of Mr. L.' Bridge., the district foreman.
Shortly after the 'twines were called into action the roof
fell in. The fire was not extinguished until several thousand
pounds worth of property was destroyed and the adjoining
premises considerably damaged. The cause of the misfor-
tune is unknown. The lose will fall on the County, Royal,
Sun, and other offices.

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April last, he would have taken earlier steps to have ascer-
tained whether the speech applied to him or not. I was
present ►t the dinner alluded to, and I can may that no part
of it alluded to him or any other persons than those who
were the makers and inventors of the two hank notes you
refer to." The learned counsel mid, that this being no
apology, but really a repetition of the charge, the plaintiff
felt bound in justification of his character to bring the action
into court. .

Mr. Costerten, the plaintiff, having been examined in
support of his case, be stated, in cross-examination, that
before he first spoke to Fayerman about his evidence Mr.
Finch had taken down his depositions in writing. Those
depositions were sent to him by Mr. Finch, and he asked
Fayerman whether he had the notes which he mentioned in
his evidence. Fayerman said he bad them at home, and at
witness's request he brought them to him.
Mr. O'Malley asked for the production of the notes.
Mr. Serjeant Parry objected, on the ground that they had
uothing to do with the present action.
Mr. O'Malley said he merely desired to show that there
was some justification for the excited feelings of Sir Ed.
mood Lacon when he made the speech in question.
The Lord Chief Justice observed that if the notes were so
clumsy that no one could be misled by them, they would
certainly afford some excuse for the defendant's statement.
After some further discussion,
Mr. O'Malley sail the defendant did not believe that the
plaintiff was a party to the conspiracy, but he believed that
be had been imposed upon.
The Lord Chief Justice observed that that amounted to
a retractatiou of the allegations in the defendant's speech.
Mr. Serjcant Parry said the plaintiff was challenged by
the defendant's conduct to come into court, and it was abso-
lutely necessary for his salvation as a professional man that
he should have a public and honourable retractation and
IsPologlf.
Some other evidence having been adduced,
The Lord Chief Justice said the statement complained of
made one of the most serious charges which could be
brought against any man ; and it was unfortunate that Mr.
Cory did not in his letter withdraw the imputation, but in-
sinuated its truth.

Mr. Serieent Parry mud that if Mr. Cory's letter were
withdrawn and a full retractation given he would consent, on
the part of his client, to a verdict for 40s.
Mr. O'Malley said there were circumstances in connexion
with the petition calculated to excite suspicion on the part
of Sir Edmund Leon that there had been a conspiracy to
get up evidence against him ; but after a full investigation
into the matter, he came to the clear conclusion that the
persons engaged in prosecuting the petition were them.
selves imposed upon by the witness Fayerman. He
had therefore given • public apolk•ws , dictated by
one of the members of the bed committee, and
he intended it to apply to the whole committee.
The learned counsel then, on the pert of Sir Edmund Leon,
amply apologised for the charge made against Mr. Coster.
ton, and expressed his regret at having been under any
misapprehension with regard to him in connexion with the
petition.
The Lord Chief Justice thought the defendant had pur-
sued a right and becoming course in the step he had now
adopted. It was to be regretted that Mr. Cory, hie legal
adviser, slid not avail himself of the opportunity he had
when he wrote to the plaintiff to make au apoloy, the
defendant having then discovered that the chargesbe pre-
ferred were without foundation ; but instead of doing
his letter was calculated to leave it ambiguous whether be
intended or not to retract the imputation. The plaintiff
was, therefore, perfectly justified in pursuing his action,
but he had now received the full apology which he desired.
A verdict was then returned for the plaintiff, with 40s.
damages.