Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-10-13 00:00:00

FEARFUL COLLIERY EXPLOSIONO.

The Butterley Company's new Colliery, at Riple7, Derbyshire, h is
'been the scene of a series of explosions, by wLI3II about
fifteen persons have bean more or lass injured. On Monday the 'sth
inst an explosion took placo, when two men were severely bunt. On
the foliowing day (Tuesday) the ground bailiff, Mr. John Smith,
went down the FE to ascertain the state of the workings, and whale
going round, the gas ignited an I burnt o.le •poor fellow very badly
and Mr. Smith hicase'f was also burnt, but not sorions'y. Pre-
cautiona ware taken to prevent further damage from the dangerous
element, and, netwlth 'tanning the con intt.4 presence of much foal
gas, it was cons,dered safe for the men to continue at work. Early
oo f ridgy morning. however, intelligence was quickly spread that
another and more fearful explosion had taken place, by which nine
men and two la.ss s had bee., severely burnt. Their iames aro George
Bunting, William Walter, Samuel Shotter and his son (a boy), Enas
Yates, Samuel Meakin, Will'am Bullock, John Green, James Wragg,
Henry Ivin, and John Mille *ship. S :vend are very bad, and serious
doubts are ent,rained of their lives being preserved. Lome idea
may be formed of the sevarity of th! fire, from the fact that a new
sult of flannel, which one of the sufferers wore, was completely burnt
to a cinder on his body ; and a valuable pony, afeerwar Is brought up
the pit, presontad rho most f 4ghtfal appearanc-, havieg been literally
roasted alive. The sufferers were promp ly attended to by Mr.W.
H. Fletcher, surgeon, eif Ripley. A2cor I in; I o latest aaouots, they
wore doing fully as well as might be exFected. The colliery being
newly started, we are inlerm d that great difficulty is at present
exp!rieneed in obtaining prover ventilation until the "headings,'
now being pushed on, are furth:r advanced, and tiro proper
"airways" are formed. Tills is being done wi h ail possible* speed.
The immediate cause of the accident on Friday appears to have arisen
from one of rha mon h eying olued a nakal candle too near the roof.
Bullock died on Saturday morning.

EXPLOSION AND LOSS OF LIFE ON THE
SOUTH-WESTERN RAILWAY.

On Saturday evening, an inquest was held at Basings'oke, before
the cliqr.ct coroner, on the bodies of two men, recently in the
cmphiment of the London and Southcalres'ern Railway, who lost
their lives by the esp!esion of a locomotive engine, at BasingstoPe,
sho:tly after t xelve the previous night. The evidence taken
was rather voluminous, but the fßowin; are the short facts of the
ewe :—A man, name] Reuben T:sorogood, an'exparienced driver on
other lines, was maki-g his first trip en th:s line, and whilst in the
act of stopping for his engine bein{ fed with coal, the fites-p'ace
blaa up, and seat the driver a distance of at least thirty yards into
the air.s Ha fall upon the roof of the ref:eshmant department, and
so great ireartherwatglit of the pour fe lo.v'e bo iy falling from such a
distance, that it made a hole in the roof .uffii3ieatly larg-, as one of
the witnesses stated, to pass through two paLs of water. The fire-
man was also bla vn a constderab'e chstaqc and when phked no
was also ratan(' to be quite dead. It is barfly necessary to state iu
what a shocking mutilated con 'Rion both bodies were ; bat as the,e
appeared na blame whatever attached to 'the Railway Company, who
had previously t stet! the engine, the jury, in each case, returned a
verd ct of " Ac, idental de3th."