The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-10-16 00:00:00

DREADFUL ACCIDENT AT MANCHESTEI4

'''''......

MANCIREiTert, OCT. 13.
[CITHACT OF A PSITATL I.CTTYi 1
About ten o'clock this mornitg a shocking see:tarts to..k phrs
in r, spinning factory bel4rging t, Mr. Ornigh, of Ifiddeld.reed.
Oto• of Melton beams sonportunj die third or flmrth story broke.
when instantaneously the Soar ire de way, ceerying ev-ry thateg
along with it, and forcing down the Oars Odle lower morns, tit
men, women, children, a tochineryl. briOke. te. &c. formed a bor.
rid mass in the eery cellars. What ce•dtata melancholy, it took
plats at an hnnr when all the hands week at work. The news of
this catastrophe soon spread far and wide, sod. the anxiety of eels:
fives and friends, summoned no awfully to the spot. may be better
imagined than described. Indeed it were Impossa.4 to do so;
here were mothers weeping In horrible uncertainty ei the fate of
their children--and wives hopel-ss of seeing their husbands alive I
As soon ash was possible, men began to dig into the ruins diesel
had fallen inward, and the outer walls of the mill are yet standing
It wet rot until tour &clock this afternoon that the Ivert.rendinz
task was CAMPleted. when it appears that nineteen persona. mall
and ferrier, had been taken out dead. This statement tnay ku
safqy relied on.
1 orlon., ofd, at mital. exaggerated are some of the moons, and
no furtherthatt this can 1 aafely state; though some of the follow.
tug are trite, yet cannot say which are not:— ' • • ' •
One young woman's•hand was severed from her body, and ano-
ther absolutely cut in two. A youth, who pereelt.d the sudden
shock, lea;o our of a window three stories high, and was ought us
the Irma ref the engineer,hearing who ran out on the unusual noises
another lithe boy, wiut had been pcocipitated from the uppermost&
floor, was dugout in the sight of bit tuuther, unhurt ! 1 hutting
last are true.
It is not at present known how many are bruised ardisabled, nor
will it, I conjecture, until the duet of the leek, when oot Deems
papers will hare ;gathered all the faces of theme& • 'Duels mass
finned. also .is Out .ezpeental ee same, till wanwin4. Amongst
the mime talk _upon the wtAaosMsly anon, the roma and meet
pmbattiacause.aaingtuad for the misfortune is, the warn of-strength
in the iron work used to 'support the floors end machinery, and *he
;'want of pidlans, in the great proportion of one less than usual one
of three. ' The builder's skill has been called in question ; but it
appears clear, on all hands,: that the fault, for not having the ma.
ferias of etiatomary strength, lay in the proprietor, who thought
slighter would do,ittul • thorn them rather than pay extra, secordtag
to the estimate of the contractio. It is said aide, that the tenant
paid a per centsge upon the coat ; and it k likely, if that acre truly
the case, that the original expenses were made an light as_poestble ;
too light, alas ! as it now appears, for the safety of their fellow.
creatures. We hope, for the honour of human nature, this won
not the case.

ANOTHER ACCOUNT.
lifewentreurt, OCT. 11.
A most shocking event has occurred here this moroing, whirit
will cause much grief to many families in Intoshielfe. Amongst
the immense number of cotton factories Reeler this year in the
town, one has been built near Oldfield-road, in Salford, we believe
by J. Bateman, Esq. It was fire-proof. No timber was used ht
It. The principal Nippon.' were of cast iron. The floors toe.
sisted of iron beams, over which were thrown arches of brick-work,
which were covered with Hap. The building is about seven stories
high. ft has been a short dine dace essarldleil, and filled with
machinery, and let to varied' teams, sweet whew is Mr. floret,
well knodn to many mechanics dean Inweestseel et steam carriage.
Several hundred persons were elapleyed in
Ab.iut nine o'clock this morning the leantesnt which enplaned
the floor of the fifth story suddenly broke. In two. Instantly one
halt of the heavy floor gave way. and in a few seconds a chasm was
made within the building, from the fifth story to the cellars. Envy
floor was broken through, and machinery, iron, and bricks and
fiap, all went in one congregated mass. The unfortunate hutnan
beings who were at work under the part of the building where this
event occurred, were, many of them, buried in the rums, and in-
stantly plunged into eternity. Those in the other part of the mill
appear to have escaped withoufany nheerial injury, though many
in their fright jumped out of the windows.
The state of alarm and confusion while the event occurred was
dreadful. Modest' and wives were seen running about in every di-
rection, anxious to know the fate of their relatives, and many of
them wore hours before they could obtain information, and then
probably they ascertained they were lost for ever.
On account of the threatening appearance of the outer wall, a
short time elapsed before the workmen could venture to remove the
ruins. They woe, however, proceeded to work with considerable
confidence, and by their exertions a number of bodies have been
dug out of the ruins.
It is yet difficult to obtain a precise state of the killed and
wounded. Seventeen dead bodies arc now lying in ass outhouse
pear the mill. Two more have been known to be taken home by
their relatives, and it is yet currently reported that two other per.
sons who were known to be in the factory are whirring, making is
dm whole twastpone killed. About thittan nee
foreseen are badly
wounded. &vend were got out of the robes altar tieing there some
time without material injury. The indieidurdiskNed were rind.
f.aely females.
The Ildroughreeve and constables of Salford, with a number of
Police officers, immediately repaired to the place of this dreadful
accident, but the immense arocenne of people which ga.hered front
all parts, rendered it impossible for the civil power to keep the
ground and premises clear for the labourers employed in reouvi.ig
the ruins. A dismounted detachment of the Scots tiny* was
cordirgly sent for from the liulme Barracks, who rendered great
assistance to the civil power.

•
LEIO3I • IPZITATt LETTLII. I
BleeteeflesTist, OCT. 13.
Thls town has been, during the whole day, in a stare of extreme
ag'tation, on account of a temtic accident which occurred this morn-
ing. About nine o'clock pert of the uppermost flour of the fire.
proof cotton factory in Salford, recently erected by Mr. ?fathom
Gough, gave way, owing, as is supposed, to the breaking of two of
the iron beams by which it was supported. The bricks of whirls
the floor was composed, together with the machinery upon it, and
the fragments of the iron beam*, falling upon the neat floor, carriel
down a portion of that also, and so on to the next floor, down to Use
ground-floor of the factory, which is six stories high, burying in the
ruins all the work-people who happened to be standing on those
parts ofthe floors which gave way. About 251 persons, principally
children, were employed in the factory ; and the scene, for sonist
time after the accident, was dreadful beyond description. The thick
cloud of dust raised by the fall of the arches rendered it impossible,
for some time, to see the extent of the mischief, or to form any
conk eure as to the number of persons Who had suffered by it.
Parents were running about in every direction, in a state of itiatrae-
thm, railing fur their children, and wringing their hands when none
answered them. At first few persons dared to co near the scene of
mischief, from • fear lest the other parts of the floors, or the walls
of the building, which were considerably shaken, might full upon
them.
After a short time, however, seeing that no further fall toot
place, a number of men were induced to lend their assistance to ex-
tricate the unfortunate persons who were buried under the ruins.
A number weu got out alive, but all more- or less injur d ; and
about twenty dead bodies, chiefly of women and girls, were dug out
of the rubbish. Seventeen are now lying in an outhouse adjoining
the factory, and two or three have been taken away by their friends.
Two women are in the infirmary, one of irbom, it is feared, well
die; but all the rest who ate hurt, amounting to about 15. are ex-
pected to recover. With regard to the cause of this shocking cte-
currence, many reports are in circulation. It is to be feared that
considerable blame will attach to some party concerned in the
erection of the building; bat, as a Coroner's Inquest will be held
on the bodies to.nierrow or on Friday, when the truth will, no
doubt, be elicited, it would at present be premature to say any
thing further on that subject.
Another account says, upwards of twenty persons arc killed ;pro-
I stably many more). and numbers wounded ; report says upwards uf
.A birdies are missing. Mary heads are found. the bodies being
buried in the ruins. The outer walls are stending. The rout'
; forced its way down two stories. A boy jumped out of the fourth
story, and is not at all hart.

T [llan s:ECTIfGII.
Foster, J.. Abchurth-lane, much/on -
Ilervey. H. S., Oxford-street, hosier -
Jones, W., llatcliff-highway, grocur
Rickards, J., Dur.le), Gloucester bite, cloth mant.fsettirer
Simmons, A., Strand, sailor -

SECOND NETTING/.
Burgess, T., Sittingbourne, Kent, Banker - - 12
Burge s, D. and E., of Maidstone aid liittingbourne. Kent,
milers 12
Byng, C., Acton-Green, Middlesex, bookseller - - 12
Hanson, IL 11., Bedford, boot and shoe maker • - 111
Jackson, E., or Uley, Gloucestershire, clothiw - - 12
Loud, T. sad'Burgess, T., Sittingbourne, Kent, bankers - IU
Millard, F.. Cheapside, lioendraper - - It
Sheppenl, E. M., Hornsey, tavern-keeper - le
-
Stubbs, J., nadlow-street, Burton-croscent, wine merchant
_lll

riarr MEZTINGS.
Davies, S.. Great Surrey-street. Itlarkfrisra, dealer in drugs IS
Duncan, .1., Trafalgar-,quare. Su pney, merchant - It
Eveleinli F. and S. Ilnion-strect, Southwark, hat inanufactuti -s 12
Martindale, 11., jun. Date-gran, Lincoln's Inn-Fields, mouey.
SCriVeriet - . -
. .. II
Metcalf. F.. Friday-street . 11
.
Nunn, J., Quern-street, Cheapsidc. watehnusernan - 12
Smith, .1. and F., (lenient's-lane, wine merchants . 11
Thonisan, 31.. Siwrolk,treet, Commercial-road, and Lalg.
ridge, It., South Shields. colour nistufacturets - 12
Woriliiiigtua, W. J., Lower Thiuncs-street, wine and quit
nierch...t.t - - - le

DIV MENDS.
Ashton. T., jun. 01.'antos-place. East India Road, Poplar,
and Lloyd's rotreehouse, underwriter - - I I
Shepheani, W., Boswell-court. Carey-street. money-acriventr 11
{cage, W., liloucetter-street, Queen suture, carpenter - 10

At FETIM:S OF cftEDirons
AT TUX AAAAA I:PTS. COVILT, DASINCHIALL-STIStST,
THIS DAY.