The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-09 00:00:00

FOUR LIVES LOST.

A most awful explosion occurred between four and five
o clock on Tuesday afternoon, in the mining district of
Wyke, near llalifax, when four,men were killed and much
damage done. A shaft to a bed of coal is in course of
formation by Messrs Pitts & Robertshaw, of Bradford.
The shaft is already between 40 and 50 yards in depth, cut
principally through strata of shale and limestone grit, of
a very hard character. Gunpowder is therefore liberally
used to dislodz,e the rock, though, it is affirmed, the
workmen have been careful to avoid accidents. A blast
was prepared, and the usual provisions taken, on Tuesday,
to prevent accident, but unfortunately without effect.
About a dozen men were employed at the excavation, four
of whom, named John Tordoff, Ezra Relict, Sam. Robert-
shaw, and John Robinson, were looking in at the mouth
of the shaft, when an explosion occurred which quickly
deprived them of life. The body of Kellett was found,
almost naked. in a field about twenty yards from the
shaft, his head severed from the trunk, and lying beneath
the left arm. Robertshaw's remains were found lying
about the same distance, his head blown almost from his
body. Tordoff was blown over a cabin some yards in
height, and falling upon the eaves of the engine house, the
body broke the tiles, and then fell into a yard, leaving
one ear adhering to a tile, and his brains scattered in
various directions. These men were never heard to speak
or observed to move afterwards. Robinson's death was
not so sudden. He was thrown with tremendous force
against some machinery, and, although his left arm and
right leg were fractured, and his head and face fearfully
lacerated, he lived about four hours. The shock appears
to have been tremendous. A large "headgear," weighing
several tons, erected at the mouth of the shaft, was lifted
clear from its foundation. The huge machine was also
besmeared with the flesh and blood of the unfortunate
workmen. The landing, constructed of wood, was torn
up, and pieces several feet in length were found lviog
between 140 and 150 yards distant. Part of the clothes
of one of the men were subsequently found suspended at
the top of a tall tree 30 yards from the excavation. One
man, a farmer, who was talking with the men at the
moment, had part of a guard torn from his watch by a
splinter. The ground for some distance was strewn with
evidences of the terrible effects of the explosion. It is
supposed that a heated iron set the rope or fuse of the
blast on fire, and that it caused an explosion of firedamp.
Mr. Robertshaw was one" of the owners of the colliery.
All four men were married, and leave young families. The
inquest was held yesterday, at the King's Head, Scholes,
and a verdict of "Accidental death " returned.—Manchester
Guardian.

The Times has an article on the magnitude and agency
of the question touching our supplies of cotton, and points
to India as the grew' field for extending production.
BROADSTAIRS HOVELLERS.—There is a heavy sea running
into the little bay, and the surf breaks over the Mary
White; but she plunges through it, and presently we hear
them setting, the sail. The second life boat follows the
Mary White; and now the luggers are under way. Save
those laid up with rheumatism, there is not a hoveller left
in Broadstairs. Why the men employed in saving life and
property are called hovellers I know not, and no one here
can inform me. God speed them on their way ! While
they are absent let us afford a few particulars touching
these venturesome men. . . . When at home, on shore, the
hoveller leads a rather lazy life- You may see him leisurely
strolling about the pier, or up and dawn Albion-street,
smoking ; and now and then you may observe him slant—
ing into the Tartar Frigate or the Dolphin, and coming
out again, after partaking of some liquid refreshment.
But you rarely see a hoveller drunk or noisy. The truth
is, a hoveller can carry a great deal without feeling it, and,
like a prudent man, he knows pretty well when to bring
himself up. Some of the youngsters, after a good haul, go
away, and are no more heard of until their money is
expended; but the bulk are men who drink as much as they
can afford at home, and are seldom out of their houses
after half-past eight or nine o'clock, at which time, during
the winter months, they usually go to bed. The hoveller,
in short, is, to all intents and purposes, a good member of
society. He is almost invariably a kind and affectionate
husband, an indulgent and good father, and anything but
a bad friend. As far as I can see (and I have a very large
acquaintance with our hovellers), the wife, in nine cases
out of ten, rules the roast, manages the household, and
takes care of the bulk of the money received for a prize.
. . . . The house of a hoveller is a curious place. It
is very clean and comfortable, but lined with tarpauling
garments—coats, jacks, trousers, caps. And then he has
such a propensity to pitch every outside wall and railing
that the smell, albeit it is very wholesome, is nevertheless
overpowering. The back yard is even more curious than
the house. Bits of panelling from wrecked vessels, bottles
and jars of every nation, and of every size, shape, and
colour, cooking utensils, bits of old iron, a broken boat,
an odd oar or two—each telling a tale of some disaster on
the "Gorden," where these matters are mostly picked up.
A hoveller found there the other day several vases of the
best Bohemian glass and workmanship. Sometimes a
watch or a pencilease will be picked up on the sand at low
water. But among the most extraordinary things found
by our hovellers on or near the Goodwin Sands was an
anchor which must have belonged to one of the largest
vessels of the Spanish Armada.--Dickens's Household Words