The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-21 00:00:00

THE MTN, LONDON', MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 21, 1864.

Boiler Explosion in Spitalfields,

The adjourned inquest on the body of Mr. Robert
Saunders, who lost his life through the bursting of
a boiler in Spitalfields on Friday week, was resumed
on Friday morning last, before Mr. Humphreys, the
coroner for East London, at the Neats Tongue
Tavern, Great Pearl street. Mr. John Saunders,
the proprietor of the premises where the accident
took place, stated that the boiler in question was
purchased by him from Mr. Shore, boiler-maker,
about three years since. At the time of the purchase
the maker gave no information as to the amount of
pressure it would bear, The engine was generally
worked at a pressure of from 351 b. to 381 b. on the
square inch. On the morning of the accident, about
three minutes before it took place, he noticed the
safety valve just beginning to blow off. The pres•
sure then was 381 b., which be considered quite safe.
John Raven, the engine driver, was on the premises
at the time, and it was his duty to know the state
of the safety valve and water. No one in his employ
ever made any complaint against the engine or
boiler. The pressure before mentioned was that
required to work the lathes and saws. On Mon.
day three weeks Raven cleaned out the boiler,
but made no complaint as to its condition. He did
not know the power of the boiler, but the engine was
a 10-horse one. There were two safety valves to
the boiler, one weighted with ilib. and the other
with 281 b. and an iron boss. It was the small valve
that was blowing off just before the accident. John
Raven said he had been an engine-driver for
the last 16 years. He had charge of the engine and
boiler at Mr. Saunders's mills on the day of the acci-
dent; he stopped the engine at 1 o'clock, when the
pressure was 301 b. He fetched his dinner imme-
diately after and ate it on the boiler, where he re-
mained until Mr. Saunders called him off at 20
minutes to 2. He then examined the gauge and
found the steam at 351 b. Shortly after it rose to
381 b., and he opened the damper and made up the
fire, He left the boiler, however, and proceeded to
oil the engine, upon which work he was engaged
when the explosion took place. He could not in
any way account for it. Mr. John Ives, an engineer
from Messrs. Grissell's works, was then examined,
and gave the following report of his examination of
the remains of the boiler :—The boiler was a Cor-
nish one, 20 feet long, with flat ends, the shell
4ft. 2in. in diameter. The internal tube was
slightly oval, being 2ft.9in, in its longest diameter,
sad 2ft. Bin. in the shortest. The plates were of
middling quality, and the workmanship was on'y
middling fair. He had no doubt the collapse had
been caused by excessive pressure. There was no
appearance of any deficiency of water. The valves
were not in working order, the lever of the small
one 'working stiff in the joint and between the
guides. From the examination of the boiler he
considered it would be dangerous to use a greater
pressure than 301 b. He thought it imperatively
necessary to have a water-gauge where the
persons in charge of the engine were unskilled.
Floating water-gauges required considerable tact
and judgment on the part of the engine-driver. He
thought that boiler-makers ought to be compelled
by law to stamp the working pressure of a boiler
upon the front of it. It was highly dangerous for
unskilled artisans to have the power of raising the
pressure as they pleased. From the evidence he
had heard he considered that the boiler was not
sufficiently strong to execute the work necessary
for carrying on Mr. Saunders's business, and that
it had been forced beyond its strength. John
Raven was recalled and questioned touching the
state of the lever of the small safety-valve before
the accident, but he persisted in declaring that it
worked quite easily both at the joist and in the
guide. He allowed that he was uncertain as to the
weights on the same lever being 41b, and 71b. re.
spectively. The jury, having consulted for a few
minutes, returned a verdict of "Accidental death
from the explosion of a steam boiler, the said ex-
plosion being caused by the bailer being worked
beyond its strength, owing to the imperfect condi-
tion of the safety-valve," Appended to the verdict
was a recommendation to the effect that a legisla-
tive enactment should be passed compelling boiler-
makers to stamp their boilers with their working
pressure, allowing none but properly educated and
licensed engineers to have charge of engines and
boilers, and providing for the periodical examina-
on of all boilers by duly qualified inspectors.

The Alleged Robbery of £500,000 of Polish

Bonds.

Mr. Stanislas Foerster, who described himself as
the agent of Mr. Lemaire, a gun manufacturer, of
Liege, and Mr. Stanislas Herniscz, of Ford's Hotel;
appeared at the Guildhall on Saturday, before
Alderman Besley and Sir R. W. Carden, at the in-
stance of Mr. De Berg, the Russian Consul-General,
to answer the charge of having unlawfully in their
possession one hundred bonds, of the value of
1:27,500, which had been identified as a portion of
a large quantity of bonds, to the value of £300,000,
alleged to have been stolen from the Russian Go-
vernment Bank Treasury, at Warsaw, on the oth of
June, 1863.

Mr. Poland, instructed by Messrs. W. and H. P.
Sharp, the solicitors to the Russian Embassy, con-
ducted the proaeoution ; Mr. Leverson appeared
for Mr. Foerster ; and Mr. Ricketts defended Mr.
Herniae z.

Mr. Poland said the bonds in question were issued
by the " SocieU: de Cri'Ait Foncier," the Polish
Landowners' Society at Warsaw, which was under
the especial protection of the Emperor of Russia.
This society obtained a large quantity of bonds on
the Crown lands, which were deposited in the
offices of the finance commission at Warsaw. On
the 9th of June last year the coffers of the treasury
were examined, and it was found that bonds to the
amount of £500,000 had been abstracted. As soon
as the loss was discovered the fact was advertised
throughout Europe, the numbers were publicly
notified, and all persons were cautioned against
purchasing them. The Russian Government then,
in pursuance of the law, claimed a right to nave
duplicates of the bonds, and such duplicates were
accordingly granted by the Landowners' Associa-
tion, which have superseded the original shares.
Sir R. Carden said that might be Russian law,
but it was contrary to English law.

Mr. Poland then detailed the manner in which
Mr. Sharp became possessed of these bonds, which
has already been fully recorded in our columns, and
submitted that he had a right to detain them. He
also urged that there was a sufficient case made out
for conviction against the defendants. In answer
to a question from Sir R. Carden, it was stated that
the defendants were not aware when they went to
Messrs. Sharp, that they were the solicitors to the
Russian Government.

Mr. Leverson, on behalf of the defendants, pro-
posed to call Mr. Lemaire, who claimed to be the
owner of the bands, in order to account for his pos-
session of them. There was, in fact, an action pend-
ing to recover them from Mr. Sharp.
Alderman Besley said in that case he must dis-
miss the summonses. The Legislature never con-
templated applying the Police Act to a case of such
magnitude, and as the objection had been raised
that the unlawfully obtaining bonds took place
beyond the jurisdiction of this kingdom, he could
not go further into the case.
Mr. Leverson stated that these bonds were taken
from Mr. Lemaire at the instigation of the Russian
agents i❑ Paris, and after explanations had been
heard on both sides, the perfect of police returned
them to Mr. Lemaire, and reprimanded the authori-
ties for depriving him of them in the first instance,
and this fact Mr. Da Barg was cognisant of.
Mr. Alderman Besley said it was not worth while
to discuss the matter further, as it was evidently a
case for the Court of Queen's Bench.
The parties then retired.

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