The Sun.
London, England, 1852-05-21 00:00:00

THE EXPLOSION AT REBBURN
COLLIERY.

The adjourned inquest on the bodies of the twenty-
two sufferers by the explosion at Hebburn Colliery, in
the county of Durham, on the 6th inst., was held at the
Ellison Arms, Hebburn, on Wednesday, before Mr. J.
M. Hudson, deputy coroner. Mr. Matthias Dunn, the
Government inspector, was present. A number of work-
men were examined, whose testimony, however, did not
add anything to the facts already known. After they
had given their evidence, Mr. Dunn, Government in-
spector of mines for the northern district, stated that he
inspected this mine on the 7th February, 1850, and
again on the 12th of May last. Mr. Dunn then read
a report of his examination of the mine on those days.
His opinion was that an accumulation of gas had taken
place in the straight•on board, and that the temporary
neglect of a door at the end of that board had caused the
board to accumulate foulness; and that the shutting of
that board some time afterwards had removed the gas
from that board into Hall's board at the very time when
his lamp was open for the purpose of firing the shot.
Mr. Dunn concluded by making the following sug-
gestions as to the future:-1. That a greater
quantity of air be allowed for those workings which are
lying on the whole coal. 2. That the firing of shots be
discontinued in workings where lamps only can be used.
3. That all lamps be locked, and only opened by autho-
rised persons, in the fresh air. 4. That the furnaces be
overhauled, and trials made t 3 produce an accession of
air by more active firing. 5. That the doors and brat-
tices be strictly looked after, both in the construction
and the keeping. 6. That printed regulations be cir-
culated through the colliery as to the use of the lamps,
&c. Mr. Royd, viewer of Urepth colliery, and Mr.
Liddell, viewer of Gosforth colliery, were not examined
on oath, but they spoke freely to the good ventilation
and excellent management of Hebburn colliery. The
coroner then charged the jury, who retired for about
half an hour; after which they bought in the following
verdict, viz , " That the said explosion took place in the
middle board of the A pit; and the jury cannot separate
without expressing their opinion that there has been a
great want of caution in the working of the colliery.
They, therefore, recommend that there be an additional
trapper boy employed in this district; that all the lamps
be locked; and that no firing of shots be allowed to take
place where the colliery is wrought with lamps."

BEATING THE BOUNDARIES AT BUCK-
INGHAM PALACE.
An interesting ceremony took place yesterday after-
noon at Buckingham Palace, in the presence, we may
say, of her Majesty, Prince Albert, and several branches
of the youthful Royal Family. A's may be known, a
large portion of the Palace and grounds are within the
limits of the royal parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields,
and yesterday being Holy Thursday, the day on which
the ceremony of beating the boundaries is usually per-
formed, a long procession of the parochial authorities,
headed by the old royal standard of the parish, and fol-
lowed by the rector and clergy of the district, church-
wardens, and some thousand children, decked with ro-
settes and bunches of flowers, the boys bearing flags and
long light sticks, made its appearance at one of the
front gates of the Palace nearest Constitution-hill, for
permission to traverse the boundaries of the parish
within the royal domain. In accordance with her Ma-
jesty's usual practice, leave was at once granted to the
authorities to perform the ancient duty, and the proces-
sion entered within the enclosure, and filed off towards
the gate leading to the grounds. At this moment
Prince Albert, with several of the Royal children, ap-
peared at the corner window of the north wing, and the
novel and interesting character of the scene seemed to
afford them much gratification. The procession then
entered the grounds, and the children of the parochial
schools were drawn up under the windows of one of the
royal apartments which overlooks the garden, and in a
few moments her Majesty appeared at the window, and
the Prince Consort, with the Heir Apparent, Princess
Royal, and other junior members of the Royal Family,
came out on to the balcony. The children then sang
the National Anthem, and having given some vigorous
and protracted cheering for the Queen, Prince Albert,
Sco., the illustrious spectators withdrew, the young
Princes and Princess apparently not a little amused with
the bustle and energy with which the charity-boys beat
the bounds. The procession wended its way through
the grounds to the gateway on Constitution-hill, near
Hyde Park-corner, and taking the boundary of the
parish, proceeded along the Piccadilly side of the Green
Park. Just as the children were emerging from the
Royal grounds the Duke of Wellington passed down
Constitution-hill on horseback, and the appearance of
the children and general character of the procession
seemed to excite his Grace's peculiar attention.

RAILWAY TRAFFIC RETURNS.
LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERW RAILWAY.--Return
Traffic for the week ending May 16:—
Passengers, parcels, mails, &c. £26,425 11 1
Merchandise ... ... 17,969 8 3
Cattle 859 16 10

Total ...E45,254 16 2
Corresponding week last year ... 48,041 18 9
Ncte.—The returns as published aro exclusive of the
traffic of the Huddersfield Canal and Shropshire Union, Nortand
h
Union, Preston and Wyre, South Junction, Manchester
Buxton, and Buckinghamshire Railways, and of the propor-
tion of traffic deducted under agreement with the North
Staffordshire Company.
LONDON AND SOUTH-WESTERN RAILWAY.—Amount cl
Traffic for the week ending May 16 :
Passengers ...
Goods ...

. £8,833 12 8
2,517 15 0

£11,351 7 8
Corresponding week last year... 10,997 610
espToontdailng
NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE RAILWAY. (Miles 0pen,112.)....
Return of traffic for the week ending May 9
Railway and canal .. £5,114 0 0
Corresponding week last year ... 4,70 s 0 0
Note. —The above is exclusive of the receipts available
under the agreement with the London and North-Western
Railway Company

- -
BIUSTOL AND EXETER RAILWAY.—Tramp for the week
ending May 9 :
Passengers
Goods
Parcels ...
Mails

••• ... £2,805 7 1
••• .. 1,213 9 11
••• ... 180 16 5
... ... 223 4 2

Total

£4,42217 7
SHREWSBURY AND CIiESTER RAILWAY...ariI/fie receipts
!br the week ending May 16 :
Passengers, &c, £.856 13 5
Merchandise, minerals, &c. ... 1,012 14 5

Total .„, ••• 04 • X 1,869 710
Corresponding week last year ... 1,676 11 2
LONDON AND BLACKWALL RAILWAY.—Amount of revenue
for the week ending May 16 :
Passengers
Goods ...

.... £1,175 8 6
... 27 0 0

Total ... ... R 1,200 8 6
Corresponding week last year ... 1,091 7 11

MANCHESTER, BUXTON, MATLOCK, AND MIDLANDS JUNG.
TION RAILWAY.—Return of traffic for the week ending
May 16 :—Passengers, &c. £l2O 0 0
Corresponding week last year ... 156 18 6

CALEDONIAN RAILWAT.(IB9i miles opened.).—ltetarn f
rata for the week ending May 9 :
Passengers, &c.
Goods, &C.

£3,464 19 a
.. 4,871 5 2
Total
...
... £6,336 4 7i
Corresponding week last year ... 7,751 15 3
GREAT SOUTHERN AND WESTERN (IRELAND) RAILWAY
(188 miles). - Return for the week ending gay 15.—
Passengers, parcels, &c. ...X3,768 1 7
Merchandise and cattle ....
1,060 4 9
-----

Total ... ... £4,828 6 4
Corresponding
week lasi—ye X4l 15 1

At the annual general meeting of the proprietors
oodlilvtdhidueerPnoaraodov-fisnBtcrieaelt,BEanllkiootfttecluanacglhhter, raterday at the offices,
sq., in the chair, the
directors presented their report, recommending the usual
per cent. per annum, which was unanimously
agreed to. The profits of the year had amounted to
47,6581. 19s. 2d., and the amount of rest, or undivided profits,
'Ca* 27th NArch WM1160064

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.
GREAT WESTERN.
The adjourned special meeting of this company was
held yesterday at the railway station, Paddington, for
the purpose of submitting to the shareholders for their
consideration and approval three Bills which were not
sufficiently advanced at the period of holding the special
meeting on the 12th inst.; Mr. C. Russell in the chair.
The CHAIRMAN explained that they had been obliged
to postpone the consideration of three Bills which were
to have been submitted at the special meeting on Thurs-
day, the 13th inst. The postponement to this day
was in consequence of the Bills not having passed
the Committee of the House of Commons. At that
meeting he had expressed a hope that they would be
able to present them in a satisfactory state at the
adjourned meeting. In that expectation they had not
been disappointed, for the three Bills had passed the
Committee. The directors had succeeded in carrying
nearly all the measures they had proposed for this ses-
sion. The Bill authorising the extension of the Oxford,
Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway from Oxford to
Brentford, was rejected by a majority of the Committee
of four to one. The Oxford. Worcester, and Wolver-
hampton Bill, in which powers were sought to reduce
the number of the Great Western directors at the board
of the Oxcord, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Com-
pany, from six directors to one, in the event of the Bill
passing, was rejected. The third Bill, promoted by the
Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Company, for
minor objects only, was not permitted to pass until the
Committee inserted a clause with the intention of
enforcing a penalty on the Oxford, Worcester, and
Wolverhampton Company of 10,0001. in case the
portion of their line from Priestfield to Wolver-
hampton should not be completed on the Ist of Sep-
tember, 1853, and also a penalty of 500/. per day for
every day after that date the line shall remain unfinished
and unopened. The Select Committee had substituted
this clause in the Oxford, Worcester, and Woverhamp-
ton Bill, for the clauses in the Bill promoted by the
Great Western Company to enable them to construct
the portion of the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhamp-
ton Railway between Priestfield and Wolverhampton.
This Bill, which he would presently submit for their ap-
proval, had undergone considerable alterations in the
House of Commons. One of the principal alterations was
that relating to the construction and use of the line
between Priestfield and Wolverhampton by the Great
Western Company, subject to the authority of
the Board of Trade. He had no doubt that
theth e
penal making Committee clauses of the
Worcester,htah de introduction oc sufficiently
liyo no s ecf theu
Wolver-
hampton Bill, but at the same time
put it into
the power of the latter company to
withdraw
their Bill
at any period, and thus frustrate the intention f the
e
Committee; and, if the Bill should be carried
Parliament, they all knew very well how hard
through
hard it was to
compel parties in a. court of law to comply with such
provisions in an Act of Parliament. The Great West-
ern Company had great reason to complain of a clause
inserted in the Bill with regard to the reduction of tolls
on the Great Western Railway so soon as either the
s
Oxford and Birmingham or the Wolverhampton and
Dudley lines shall be completed. This clause was in-
serted in violation of the clause in the original Act
which imposed a reduction of the fares on the comple-
tion of both the lines mentioned. This was the inter-
pretation of the clause in the original Act by the Great
Western board, which was afterwards confirmed by the
unanimous judges in the Court of Exchequer. It usually
happened that whenever the company brought a Bill
before Parliament their opponents were sure to endea-
vour to get clauses inserted in their Bills apparently
without any object except that of injuring the Great
Western Company, and to gratify the spleen of their op-
ponents. In consequence of the Bill conferring powers
on the company of much value to them, they were in-
duced to proceed with it, notwithstanding the clause to
which he had referred.
Mr. SAUNDERS, the Secretary, then read the heads of
" A Bill to confer on the Great Western Railway
Company enlarged and additional powers for the Con-
struction of parts of the Oxford, Worcester, and
Wolverhampton Railway, and the completion of
other parts thereof, and for the purchase of lands
on the. lines of the Birmingham and Oxford
Junction, and Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and
Dudley Railways respectively; and for the alteration of
the works of part of the last-mentioned railway, and the
formation of certain additional stations and branch lines
of railway; and also for the laying down the broad
gauge on part of the South Staffordshire Railway, and
for other purposes."
The CHAIRMAN moved a resolution approving of the
Bill.

r
dh
eedd t
oto a
pkpnl
yo wt
ewahl
le tthheer
broad
ho
ae d
fgeaduugee-
eAn
ofP rwEaTsoßin
tiwished
lines of the Great Western Company, or to that only
between London and Bristol?
The CHAIRMAN said the reduction of tolls would ap-
ply only to the Great Western lines open at the time the
Act was passed.
The resolution was then carried unanimously.
Mr. SAUNDERS then read the heads of " A Bill to au-
thorise the consolidation into one undertaking of the
Great Western, the Shrewsbury and Birmingham, and
the Shrewsbury and Chester Railways; and the union
into one company of the three several companies to
whom the said railways respectively belong; and also
to authorise the appropriation of certain revenues for
securing dividends to the two last-mentioned com-
panies prior to such union and consolidation." He ex-
plained that a clause had been added to the Bill enabling
the Shrewsbury Company, prior to 1854, to extend the
period for amalgamation from 1856, as originally pro-
posed, to 1857 or 1858. The object was to give further
time, if necessary, for the development of the traffic on
the Shrewsbury line.
A resolution approving of the Bill was then carried
unanimously.
The CHAIRMAN said, the next Bill they had to submit
was that relating to the extension of time for the com-
pletion of the Wycombe line, and after giving a short
history of the project which was sanctioned in 1845, he
stated that it was intended to lease the line when com-
pleted at 3,600/. a year and half the surplus profits,
with power to the Wycombe Company to claim 10,0004
in lieu of half the surplus profits. It would be of service
to the Great Western Company to complete the lice, as
he had no doubt it would tend to increase the traffic on
their railway.
Mr. SAUNDERS then read the heads of " A Bill to
revive and extend the Time for the Execution of certain
powers conferred
by the Wycombe Railway Act, 1846,'
and for reducing the capital of the Wycombe Railway
Company; and for enabling the company to enter into
arrangements with the Great Western Railway Com-
pany, and for other purposes." He stated that the line
would be 9i miles in length.
Mr. VOUsLEY said he would take that opportunity of
expressing his confidence and that of other large propri-
etors in the directors, and their approval of the judicious
manner in which the affairs of the Great Western Com-
pany bad been managed. The reduction of tolls was one
of the conditions which Parliament had attached to the
purchase of the Oxford and Birmingham and Wolver-
hampton and Dudley liner. With regard to the advan-
tages of the Wycombe line he could give no opinion,•
but it was well known that many of the trunk lines had
been seriously injured by extensions and branches. The
Great Western Company had the South-Western
side and the London and North-Western on the
on one
e other;
and if the Greatand Western stood still
made no
branches it was impossible that the other
wool I remsda qtfet, but go on making extensionscompanies
the it traffic. Great complaint had been to sap
made by the
people in Wiltshire that the Great W
hid not carried out their extensions Wet ern Company
He hoped that the Great W in
that quarter.
Western
from fulfilling any promise they mightrn would not refrain
for-
merly, but at the same time he have made
reason-
able to expect that the . thought it was people who
be-
nefit of an extension lino were to have the
towards its construe:do:3 when made should contribute
The CHAIRMANquite
the Hon. Proprietor concurred in the view taken by
that would not r with regard to making branch lines
not made was i?y. The reason the Uxbridge line was
for the outli.ybecausewith
there was a doubt as to its. paying
would be glad b ithreard to the Devizes line they
e
they had mare•
, theye enabled to carry out anyhPerwomholle
thought,. however, that
cast burden of makinupon the
the line ought not to b. e cas
Great Western who were to
by the parties
gain bY it•—alearornhpany
, ear.)
The re •
solution approvine• of the Bill was then carried,
and the proceedings concruded with a cordial vote of
thanks to the chairman and directors.

PATENT TILE AND PIPE MAKING MACHINE.--
We were invited yesterday to witness the working of one of
Mr. Hart's tile machines, at the Atlas Works, Borough-
road, Southwark. This machine is one of a series intended
for Italy, and its construction and principle has attracted a
good deal of attention. It makes pipes, tiles, hollow and
solid bricks, cornice work, and is capable of being readily
adjusted to some twelve hundred different patterns. It is
worked by a screw, and is simple to singularity throughout,
and is indeed the very. quakerism of mechanics. A man and
a curious
yioaarse
rceavpearbsilneg or self-actingofgiv it a pressure of ten tons, and by
movement, no time is lost
a
in the working of both ends, one man being employed in
filliag, while the boy carries away. Thus, and with only
moderate exertion, we saw tiles produced at the rate of eight
miles for ten hours, and solid and hollow bricks, &c., with
like rapidity.—Morning Paper.
[ADvEnnsENENT.]---Holloway's Pills have cured
South
an affection of the Liver and Kidneys at Sydney, New
Wales..—Extract of a letter from Mr. J. K. Heyden, of Syd-
-1847:—" To Professor Holloway. Sir,
pleasure Sept.
to inform you that Stuart A. Donaldson,
nEe haves
l d
aa nt theed
eminent
, purchased of me 141. worth of your medicines strata
of the extraordinary cure performed in ten days on one of his
stations in New England, in consequence
ofoovfrewtrhseeredtrostwoonfhiasusahffeeecption of the liver and kidneys, after the best
medical advice, tried for months, had failed. (Signed) J.
K. Heyden."—Sold by all druggists and at Professor Hol-
loway's Establishment, 244, Strand, London.
THE GREAT ExiMilTioN.—The Copmissioners
for the Exhibition of 1851 have just presented their first re-
port to the Home Secretary. This report, with its appen-
dices, extends to 211 closely printed imperial octavo pages,
and is illustrated by two large plans of the Exhibition. The
report itself is a concise statement of the organization, la.
hours, resources, means, Procedure, and arrangements of the
Commission, and the result achieved. The appendices, 42
it na i
Is
. Thenumber, supply
Commissioners a body o f
smtaotset
tehxaat c tt
the
en d interesting
balance
inhadne-
a
on the 29th of February, invested in Exchequer-bills, and to
the credit of the Commissioners at the Bank of England'
and
the bank of Messrs. Coutts, amounted to 213,305/ but that
therexhibition funds will be
after
r all
le
liabilities expenses
shall
ablle
have
paida\,e out
Exhibition
it. T
say what the actual surplus of
discharged,hey ar
ane undtahbele to
ac-
countssupposefitnhaaltlythweonunet dup, "but they have no reason to
surplus will be less than the sum esti-
mated by them in their report to her Majesty of the 6th Nov.
last, viz., 150,0001.
Mr. FeargUS
and Member of the British House of Commons, arrived here
O'Connor, the great Chartist orator,
on Thursday by the Europa, and is new staying at 01910%
tliellteewATeto York kierald.