The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-16 00:00:00

THE FALL OF THE ATLAS IRON-WORKS.

ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.-CAUSE OF
THE ACCIDENT.

Yesterday morning, at an early hour, Mr. Polgaserthe
proprietor of the Atlas Iron-works and Government
shell manufacturer, whose premises in the Borough-
road fell and buried several of the workmen on Monday
last, as previously announced, with assistance•of
- --seveta pkactical s urveyortratortde :a most seitchini
quiry . for- the .purpose -of,. if ,possible, finding put the
cause of such a lamentable occurrence. The result .of
the inquiries, and the inspection of the remaining_pora"
- tions of the girders still adhering -to the walls, at Mice
shOWed the precise cause of the fail.
Mr. -Thomas PolgaFie stated that his: brother, the pro-
.- 'Yrietor-• of ;theworks, had been; some time back-pro.-
seeded against by the CrOWn for.not complying-with
the recent act—of :Parliainerit, making-A compulsory for
furnaces to consume their -own smoke. Having Go-
vernment work on hand, such as the casting of bomb-
shells for the East, and knowing the importance to
the country of getting the same finished as soon as
possible, the proprietor made the necessary inquiries as
to whether the alterations that were required to con-
form with the act of Parliament could be carried out
with perfect safety, so as not to jeopardise either
the several workmen or even the building. The
advice he then received was to this effect, that a new
and larger boiler was required, but that an iron pillar
standing on a turned arch which covered the former
boiler used would have to be removed ; but providing a
tarnpOrary wooden column sufficiently strong was used
during the removal of the iron one no danger need be
apprehended. Consequently a timber plank of 12 inches
square was placed on the old arch, and which ran as hills
as to support the main wooden girder that ran the ex-
treme length of the premises. The great heat of the ad-
joining furnace, or some other unexplained cause, made
the timber shrink, and at the moment of the accident,
Mr. Thomas Polgase, who was within a foot or so of the
prop, saw it fall out of the perpendicular, and, as may be
supposed, made a hasty retreat, giving, as he proceeded,
a general alarm. Before, however, he had time to ac-
complish his object, the girder, which was 99 feet long,
snapped short in the centre, which caused floor after
floor to fall to the ground in rapid succession, making
the walls on either side to swing precisely like a ship in
a heavy sea.
It appears a perfect miracle how so many of the nu-
merous workmen could have effected a safe retreat ; and
it is gratifying to know that a vast number received not
the least injury, and the proprietor's brother, who stood
in so mach danger, got out of the premises unscathed.
A workman named Joseph Brady, who was attending
at the side of his lathe, on seeing the floor bending, at
once made an attempt to get to the window, for the
purpose of jumping out ; but not having sufficient time,
he lay down at the side of the machine, which was ex-
ceedingly fortunate, as the girders and wheels fell in a
slanting form, and resting on the lathe at one end, the
man's life was preserved, although the millstones, of
several hundred pounds weight each, kept rolling over
the temporary covering of his head.
The roll was yesterday morning called, and, with the
exception of those in the two hospitals, it was ascertained
that no persons were missing.
Upon making inquiries last evening at the hospitals,
it was ascertained that the man who it was at first ex-
pected was mortally wounded, and was carried to the
hospital in such an insensible state that the authorities
of the institution were‘afraid to even ask him his name,
lest it might hasten his dissolution, in the course of a
few hours recovered sufficiently from the shock he ex-
perienced to be taken home. The whole of the others,
though suffering exceedingly from the injuries they sus-
tained, are likely to recover under the excellent treat-
ment they receive in the hospitals.
It will no doubt be satisfactory to the country to
know that the contract entered into by Mr. Polgase
with the Government, for the manufacturing of a certain
amount of shells for the Crimea, will not in the least
degree be delayed, as the proprietor, having other large
works at Stepney, &c., gave orders for carrying on the
casting of the instruments of war at the last-named place,
which was accordingly commenced yesterday morning
at an early hour.

It is the opinion of the firm that the ruins can be
cleared, a temporary building erected, and the business
resumed in the course of a week, or a few days later at
the most.
Although the loss of property will amount to several
thousand pounds, it will not reach near as much as was
at first anticipated, owing to the timber rafters shelter-
ing to a great extent some of the lathes and other valu-
able machinery. The millstones, with few exceptions, '
have not received much injury, but a large drilling ma-
chine of great value has been completely knocked to
pieces, and several paper-folding machines have ken
either destroyed or reduced to mis-shapen masses.
A. vast crowd of persons flocked to the scene of the
catastrophe during the whole of yesterday, but owing to
the dangerous state of the remaining portion of the walls
no one unconnected with the works was allowed by the
police to enter.

HEALTH OF LONDON DURING THE TVEEK.

( From the Report of the Registrar-General.)

The returns of mortality continue to show the effect
produced on the public health by an ungenial spring.
The number of deaths recorded in London in the
week that ended last Saturday was 1,183, almost the
same as that of the preceding week. If the deaths had
been the same in proportion to population as, taking the
average, they were at the beginning of May in the ten
years 1845-1854, they would not have been more than
1071. During the last fortnight the excess of deaths
1 has been about 15 in a day above the estimated number.
The mean temperature has been, more or less, below the
average every day, except two, since the 20th of April,
( and last Saturday it was 9 deg. less than the' average.
The total number of deaths referred last week to dis-
eases of the respiratory organs was 225 ; the average
number in corresponding weeks of previous years, cor-
rected for increase of population, 176. Of those 225
cases 94 were caused by bronchitis and 95 by pneu-
monia, and the close coincidence which appears in the
results of the last two weeks deserves to be noticed, for
each of these diseases was in the previous week fatal in
94 cases. In the colder weeks of winter bronchitis
always bad a large majority. 28 persons died last week
of smallpox, 8 of whom were above 20 years of age.
Scarlatina carried off 35 children, hooping-cough 47,
croup 10, measles only 9. The mortality from phthisis
was great, 182 having sunk under that malady. Four
deaths from scarlatina occurred in Islington East, and a
man died of "English cholera," after a short illness, in
Bethnal-green.

Last week the births of 909 boys and 769 girls, in all
1,678 children, were registered in London. In the ten
corresponding weeks of the years 1845-54 the average
number was 1,472.

At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean read-
ing of the barometer was 29.636 in. The mean tempe-
rature of the week was 47.6 deg., which is 4.4 deg. below
the average of the same week in 33 years. The mean
temperature was below the average on every day, ex-
cept Thursday, on which day it was the same as the
average. The highest temperature in the week occurred
on Thursday, when it was 65.8 deg. ; the lowest was 31.5
deg., on Wednesday. The mean dew-point temperature
was 40.0 deg., and the difference between that and the
mean temperature of the air was 7.6 deg. The wind blew
from the south-west, except on Tuesday and Saturday,
when it was in the north-west. The amount of rain in
inches was 0.52, more than half of which fell on Friday.
On the afternoon of that day there was a heavy thunder.
storm, with vivid flashes of lightning. The electrical ap-
paratus exhibited very strong positive and negative elec-
tricity, with volleys of strong sparks and galvanic cur-
rents.

MORTALITY IN THE METROPOLIS.
NUMBER OF DEATHS FROM ALL CAUSES REGISTERED
IN THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, MAY 12
Zymotic Diseases
Diseases of Uncertain Seat
Tubercular Diseases
Diseases of the Brain, Nerves and Senses
Diseases of the Heart and Blood-vessels 45
Diseases of the Lungs and other Organs of
Respiration
Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, and other Organs
of Digestion
Diseases of the Kidneys, &c.
Childbirth, Diseases of the Uterus, &c.
Diseases of the Joints, Bones, and Muscles
Diseases of the Skin, &c.
Malformations 6
Premature Birth and Debility 24
Atrophy 52
Old Age
Sudden 4
Violence, Privation, 6
Cold, and Intemperance 27
Causes not specified

DEATHS FROM ALL CAUSES
Population Deaths in corre- Deaths
Enumerated. sponding week in the
1851. of 1854. Week.
West Districts
North Districts 490,396
Central Districts 393,256
East Districts 485,522
South Districts

Totals
Males
Females

1,093

1,183
................ 616
......... 567

BIRTHS IN THE. WEEK..
Ma1e5....................................... 909
Fenia1e5..................... . . 769
T0ta1......................

..1,675

about at par (according to the last tariff), which, at the
PRICE or GOLD.—The quotation of gold at Paris is
English Mint price of :3/. 17s. 100. per ounce for ktand •
and gold, gives an exchange of 25.17 ; and, the exchange
at Paris on London at short being 25 20, it follows that
gold is about 0.12 per cent. dearer
ginLh London thani)
is
of
rice in
Paris. By advices from Hamburg the price of gold
4244 par mark, which, at the English
3/. 17s. 10d. per ounce for standard gold, gives au ex-
gaomldbuirsgo on
cLhaaandga
lie oaft
81h3o* 4r 5:
bean ngd ,1
3,5eL exchanges at Hamburg
per cent. dearer in London than in Hamburg. The
course of exchange at New York on London for bills at
60
between En' sight is 1101 perAcmenet:, and, the par of exchange
cent., it follows that the exchangeneabeing 109 23-40 per is nominally 0.67 per
gland and
. in favour of England
13
rt ;and, after making allowance
fort of
of trans
Staates. profit o and difference of interest, the
present rate leaves
n the importation of gold
from the United