The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-03-13 00:00:00

THE LATE COLLIERY EXPLOSION.

In our last notice of the condition of the colliery at Lund
Hill, we stated that the water would have to reach a height of
thirty feet before it gained an altitude as would reach and
overcome the burning matter. On Monday the water had
reached 20 feet ; on Tuesday 22 feet 7 inches ; Wednesday
afternoon 26 feet 4 inches, so that there will only require a rise
of four feet to gain the staetd height. Operations, it is expected,
will then at once commence for drawing the water off. For
this purpose, instead of the wooden cisterns already made, and
which have been abandoned, as it was thought that they might
become disarranged, three largo iron buckets, capable of hold-
ing six hundred gallons each, have just been completed. The
cupola has been uncovered, and fenced round. The tempera-
ture of the water is found to be gradually lowering, showing
that the water has reached the burniog mass. Yesterday, a new
rope was put up, whilst the chair for descending with the
buckets has been got ready, so that all are now anxiously
waiting for the rising of the water, so as to commence the work
of emptying it. The subscriptions up• to the present time
amount to about £5,000, including £2OO from her Majesty
the Queen, and £lOO from his Royal Highness Prince
Albert.

DETERMINED SUICIDE.—VERDICT OF " FELO DE Sr."—
An inquest was held at the Town Hall, Preston, on
Tuesday evening, on the body of Joseph Grice, steam loom
weaver, aged 19 years. Thomas Grice' brother to the
deceased, said that on Sunday evening, in consequence of
his brother having been told by his master that he ought
to be a good lad and work for some more clothes, the
deceased left the house, without coat or scarf. The
witness followed him as far as the first bridge over the
Lancaster and Preston canal at Maudland, and on coming
up to his brother, he asked him if he would come home.
The deceased said " No," and immediately afterwards he
added " Farewell, Tom," and then he jumped right into
the canal. Witness called out for assistance, but it was
half an hour before the body was taken out. His brml--
was then Avail 1/;. 1,..,,fier was rond of drink, but
he had not had any drink for a week previously.
The mother of the deceased deposed that she had
had no quarrel with the deceased, but had told him
he ought to keep himself steady, as he was rather fresh in
liquor on Saturday. The jury returned a verdict of" Felo
de se ;" and on the same evening the churchwardens and
police seized the body under a warrant from the coroner,
and it was interred by torch light, between eleven and
twelve o'clock at night, in the Preston New Cemetery.
The weekly arrivals of a batch of Irish paupers by the
London boat, extruded frotu the shores of free and hospit-
able England, has become matter of as much regularity as
the receipt of the merchandise usually shipped by the same
conveyance. This week's consignment consisted altogether
of six persons, but one of the cases was of a description so
characteristic of the reckless cruelty with which the law of
removal is carried out, that we think it right to give the
facts in detail as taken from the sufferer. John Keefe, a
native of Millstreet in this county, after residing ten years
in London, fell put of employment, and his child being ill
of the measles, he and his wife were obliged to seek the
shelter of the workhouse. He was two days subsisting on
the bounty of the parish, when he was hurried before a
magistrate, an order obtained, the little family clapped
on board the steamer with the rest of the cargo,
getting just as much provisions as did them for the rest
of the voyage, and landed on the quays of Cork, forty
miles from Millstreet, without a penny or a loaf,
But John Keefe is a British soldier—he is a member of that
distinguished corps, the 4th Middlesex Militia, and he is
bound to obey the call to glory by appearine. in London
under arms, in company with his gallant comrades' on the
17th of next month. If he do not, he is liable to be
arrested and punished as a deserter. Mr. Donegan, the
presiding magistrate, to whom Keefe's statement was made
ordered his depositions to be taken and forwarded to the
Poor law Commissioners and the Secretary at war. The
other cases are less peculiar ; they were only the ordinary
ruri—working people who had spent years in London, while
they could get work, and when the toil of their hands and
the sweat of their brow was no longer required, they were
sent to Cork, with permission to beg their way, two tar
Macroom, and one to Fermoy. Cork Exarnmer.