The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-04 00:00:00

THE EXPLOSION AT ERITH.

THE CORONER'S INQUEST THIS DAY.

The Coronet's inquiry into the circumstances attending
the explosion of the gunpowder magazine of the Messrs.
Hall and Son was opened this morning at the Belvedere
Hotel, Erith, by Mr. Carttar, the Coroner.
The Coroner expressed a hope that none of the gentlemen
of the jury were interested in the inquiry. If they were so
he hoped they would at once retire.

No one responding, the jury were sworn to inquire into
the deaths of three of the victims of the catastrophe— viz.,
Rayner, Hubbard, and York.
The effects of the explosion were visible throughout the
neighbourhood, the who'e of the windows of the room of
the hotel in which the inquiry was held being blown out.
The Coroner said they were about to enter into a very
important inquiry, and he felt he need not remind any of
the jury of the circumstances attending the terrible explo-
sion. They were, he was certain, too well acquainted wiih
them. He had held many inquiries into explosions caused
by gunpowder, but these had been caused chiefly in manu-
factories. This was the first time in which he had been
called on to enter into an inquiry attending the explosion of
a gunpowder magazine. In the cases he had referred to the
greatest difficulty had been caused owing to the death of
many of the parties who could give information, and
this unfortunate event had not been an exception to that
unfortunate result. He did not think they would le
able to ascertain the exact cause that led to
would be enabled to ascer-
tain the
w explosion,ha t
caution Lu lint
atsh e
taken in the storing of gunpowder
and also the amount of gunpowder kept in one building,
They would then have to determine whether there ought
not be some limit placed to quantity kept in store, and also
whether certain distances ought not to be fixed within
which gunpowder magazines should not be allowed. In
the event of their coming to any special verdict, he would
take care that it was forwarded to the proper quarter,
where it would, no doubt, meet with every attention.
Mr Poland said he appeared on behalf of the Messrs Hall,
who were anxious that every facility should be given to
the jury in the execution of their duty. He also might as
well inform the jury that whatever recommendation the
jury might feel it their duty to make, the Messrs Hall
would do all in their power to carry it into effect.
The Coroner said be did not know whether it would be
possible to conclude the inquiry that day. He would do
his utmost to facilitate the inquiry. So, after the jury had
viewed the bodies, he would proceed with the examination
of some of the witnesses who it might be supposed could
throw some light upon the terrible calamity.
The jury then left the room to view the bodies which lay
in the stable attached to the hotel. The body of the man
Rayner presented the most sickening appearance, the poor
fellow's brain protruding from the skull on to the mattras
upon which the body had been placed. There were lying in
the same place various portions of the human body which
had been picked up in the fields adjoining. There were
three feet, a man's chest, a portion of a man's face with
the whisker attached, portion of a skull, and other melan-
choly remains.

Oa the return to the inquest room the following wit-

nesses were examined :

Walter Silver said—l resided near the magazine. lam
in the employ of the Lowwood and Liverpool Gunpowder
Mills Company (Limited). Ono of the bodies I have seen is
that of George Rayner; he was about 37 years of age. He
was storekeeper to the Messrs. Hall whose magazines were
exploded. Another of the bodies, that of Thomas Hubbard,
a labourer, who was engaged in some buildings erecting
near the magazines. He was not at all connected with the
works. I saw him alive on Saturday morning last. The
other is that of John York, son of William York, who Ras
under storekeeper. The father of the pour boy is missing.
Mr Sidney Turner said—l am house surgeon at Guy's
Hospital. I have under my care some parties injured by
the explosion. With the exception of one, Eliza Osborne,
who is in a very dangerous condition, the others are going
on very well. We had nine brought to us. Two have
died sines their admission to the hospital. One of the
children, a girl named York, is in my opinion able to leave
the hospital immediately if required. The witness having
given in detail the condition of the various sufferers,

Mr Thomas Churton said—l reside at Erich, and am a
surgeon. I have seen the bodies of the three parties, which
I identify. I did not see any of the men alive. I recog •
nised among the remains the whisker, which I believe
belonged to the man Wright. Two of the feet I believo
belonged to one person. I have some young children injured
by the explosion under my care. One of them, a boy, was
gathering mushrooms in a field in the vicinity of the maga-
zine, and the other is a boy suffering from fracture of the
skull.

The Coroner said the object of tali ing the present evidence
was to ascertain the condition of the people who were able
to give evidence.
Police-Sergeant Cox said. the son of the man Wright who
was blown to atoms, and who saw the explosion, was in
attendance.

The Coroner did not think it would be desirable to take
so important a witness to-day.
Police constable 15 It said there were sixteen persons now
m'ssing, of whom no tidings were at present known.
The coroner said it was impossible to continue the inquiry
in the present shattered condition of the room in which
they were then assembled. Re thought it would be the
best course to at once adjourn. It had been
arranged that on the next occasion they were to assemble
in the Avenue Schoolroom, at Erith, which would be far
more convenient for them ; and he therefore had to request
that the jury would give their attendance on that day, at
the place he had mentioned.
The inquiry was adjourned with the ueual form.

Up to last evening seven out of the nine persons who
were injured by the explosion, and afterwards removed to
Guy's Hospital, were doing Well,
with the exception of
Elizabeth Osborn, seven years of age, who lies in a very
dangerous state. Elizabeth Wright, one of the nine, died
very shortly atter her admission to the hospital on Satur-
day, and James Eves, another of the sufferers, expired at
4 o'clock on Sunday afternoon. Another death, indirectly
attributable to the catastrophe, occurred on Sunday night
at the Erith station of the North Kent Railway. A young
Italian, named Luigi Lorandi, or Moraudi, in attempting
to enter a carriage in a general rush which was made for
places on the arrival of an up train, was dragged among
the wheels and sustained mortal injuries. Ile was brought
by the same train to London and taken to Guy's Hospital,
arriving there at half-past 12 o'clock, He had received a
compound fracture of the right thigh just above the knee
joint, and the whole of the leg below was much lacerated
and contused. He was in a state of collapse and almost
pulseless. Mr Sidney Turner, the house surgeon, decided
that amputation was necessary to afford even a chance of
recovery, smell though it would have been ; but the unfor-
tunate man could not be prevailed upon to submit to the
operation. He died three-quarters of an hour after his ad-
mission to the hospital. His own account was that he was
pushed under a carriage while the train was starting, and
that the wheels went over his leg. He was a young man Qf
gentlemanly appearance and gave an address at 51, Gos-
well-road. His body, with those of the two persons who
died at the hospital from injuries received in the explosion,
awaits an inquest, which will be held to-morrow by Mr
Sergeant Payne, the coroner for the City of London.
For hours on Sunday night fearful scenes of tumult and
violence occurred at the Erith and Belvedere stations on
the North Kent Railway. Throughout the whole day
thousands of people went by the li▪
ne from London and the
intermediate stations to the scene of the catastrophe, and a
great number of them lingered there until dark, The re-
sult was that until far towards mi▪ dnight they congregated
in dense masses on the station forms at Erith and Bel-
vedere, and besieged every train that stopped to take up
passengers on the up journey. The railway authorities at
London-bridge despatched extra trains one at" ter another as
fast as they could do so with safety, to bring up the people,
but in spite of that there was great delay, and the last up-
train did not leave the Belvedere station until three o'clock
yesterday morning. At intervals during the whole
evening,
henever a train stopped, either there or at Erith, a fright-
ful rush was made at it, and the people crowded the carriaEe
to suffocation, in spite of the efOrts of the police and the rail-
way company's servants to restrain them. Many clambered
upon the tops of the carriages, others took possession of the
engine tender, and some even bestrode the buffers until they
were pulled off by main force by the police. At Wool-
wich Arsenal station several of the trains were stopped, and
people who were suffering from the eve crowding taken out
of them.
Yesterday and on Sunday pieces of. the mangled and mu.
tilated remains of persons who perished in the explosion
were found here and there in the neighbourhood and taken
to a shed at the back of the Belvedere Hotel, where the
bodies of Rayner, the storekeeper, a man named Hibbard,
and a boy—at first supposed, but erroneously, to have been
the son of Rayner—await an inquest. Among these ghastly
relics are a right and left foot, portions of a skull, and part
of a jaw with a whisker, all apparently beyond identity. An
inquest will be opened to-day at Belvedere by Mr Carttar,
one of the coroners for the county of Kent. The gap in the
embankment which was repaired with such wonderful rap i•
Pity after the explosion by the Sappers and Miners and the
Artillery from Woolwich garrison, assisted by 40C of Mr
Webster's nes vies from the Main Drainage Works at Cross-
aess Point, has never in the least given way, though severely
ested both yesterday and on Sunday by high tidos and a