The Sun.
London, England, 1839-06-12 00:00:00

the late unfortunate explosion of the boiler of the
Archimedes steam-vessel, having been just pointed
out to me, in which these gentlemen deny that Mr.
G. Rennie stated at the inquest that no blame
could be attributed to me, and implying, therefore,
that I was to blame—l trust you will excuse my
troubling you with a few lines on the subject in
question ; and be it observed, in the first instance,
that the unfortunate accident, which no one can
deplore more than I do, did not in any way affect my
invention, which consists of the Propeller or Screw,
and this was at the time of the accident stationary,
as well as the engine. The vessel, at the moment
of the explosion of the boiler, was waiting for the
dock-gates to be opened. Now, with reference to
the accident, what are the facts of the case ? It
was attempted at the inquest to be proved that
I had loaded one of the valves of the vessel, and
that this had strained the boiler, which occasioned
the accident ; the fact being, that the utmost addi-
tional weight placed upon the valve alluded to, did
not exceed Leib. to the square inch. Now, to sup-
pose that a boiler properly constructed will not bear
an additional pressure of lflb. to the square
inch, is ridiculous, since it is notorious that boilers
are made to bear twice or thrice the pressure at
which they are usually worked, or who would trust
themselves in vessels worked by steam, if they were
not ? Mr. Field, the eminent engineer, and friend of
Mr. Rennie, stated in his evidence that if the
boiler had been properly stayed, the accident
would not have occurred ; and Mr. Rennie, on
the first day's inquest, stated that he did not con-
sider 81bs. to the square inch an overpressure—and
that the boiler was capable of bearing three times
Blbs.—and yet, with the additional weight, it was
never worked up to more than Vbs. to the square
inch. Besides this, you are aware, Sir, that there aro
two valves. The object of this is, that if one gets out
of order the steam may escape by the other. Now one
valve bad never any extra weight put upon it, but
was so placed in the boiler that no one can get at
it, and this was always laden at six pounds and a
half, and therefore could not have been put of order
frOm overloading, and by this valve the steam ought
to have escaped when the other was obstructed, and
would have so done had there been no fault in its
arrangement. Before the boiler was tried, also, it
was proposed by the Committee of Proprietors to
test it up to 131bs. the square inch, but Messrs:
Rennie refused to allow it to be tested—it is cer-
tainly not usual to test boilers, but why should it
not have been done in this case when requested by
the Proprietors ? Mr. Rennie stated also he had
been pressed to complete the boiler. Why the
contract for making them was entered into in May,
1838, and the engine and boiler were to have been
completed in five months ; instead of that eleven
months was taken, and they were not even completed
when the accident happened. It is not my wish to
cast blame upon any one, and so little did I
consider that any blame could for a moment
be attributed to me, that I had not pre-
pared myself with any evidence. Mr. Rennie,
on the contrary, had his own witnesses, was with
the Coioncr alone for half an hour on the day prior
to the inquest, also on the morning of the day of
the adjourned inquest at the vessel ; there are also
other circumstances connected with this affair which,
should it become necessary, I shall hereafter call the
attention of the public to, as well as to the fact that
the additional weights were first put on by Mr.
Rqaul tehsot.ug stur
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,whaoswaetvteerm, pt
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t
I
mind that not a particle of blame can be attributed
be
hdenied
n si elswf aon
ettilheani
sufficient to satisfy every unprejudiced
to me for the unfortunate accident in question.
I should not have troubled you with this but for
the letter alluded to of Messrs. Teasdale, Symes, and
Weston ; and that Mr. Rennie did state that no
blame could be attributed to me although contra-
dicted by Messrs. Teesdale and Co.„ can be proved
by several parties who were there. All I want is
justice, and if any blame can be attributed to me,
I neither want Mr. Rennie nor any other party to
say the contrary.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
F. P. SMITH.
1, Wade's-terrace, East India-road,

10th June, 1839.

ATTEMPT OF AN INSANE MAN
TO ENTER BUCKINGHAM PALACE.

On Monday night a most daring attempt was made
by an insane man to gain admission into the interior of
Buckingham Palace, which attempt was in the act of
being carried into effect when the police and military
fortunately interfered.
The particulars of the case have been collected with
great difficulty by our reporter, in consequence of the
man not having undergone an examination at the police-
office ; but the subjoined account may be relied upon
as authentic.

It appears that about nine o'clock on Monday night
the sentry on duty in that part of the garden situate
immediately beneath the terrace of the north wing
of the Palace heard a rustling among the shrubs,
and upon looking around saw a man emerge
from them, and immediately prepare to ascend
the steps of the terrace. The sentry called out to
him, when the man answered it is all right, and
the soldier seeing that he was dressed as a labouring
man, conjectured that he was employed either in the
garden or kitchen. The man accordingly passed on up
the steps, and having reached the terrace, walked some
paces towards a glass door which leads into the interior
of the Palace, when he was noticed by one of the ladies'-
maids who was sitting Lear the door, and who upon
seeing him screamed out to the soldier to seize him, as
he was a stranger, and from his singular and ferocious
appearance she imagined that he meant harm. The
soldier immediately secured the man, and intelligence
of the occurrence was forwarded to the police on duty
at the Palace.

Inspector Russell was immediately on the spot, and
the man was deliverA over to him. The prisoner then
began to use the most horrid language, called the Queen
by every opprobrious term that he could at the moment
think of, and repeatedly said his intention was to have
killed her Majesty—" he had come there for no other
purpose." Amongst the expressions made use of by
him was one, " That no Protestant Queen ought to
sit upon the Throne of England." The prisoner, who
is a middle-aged man, and apparently of great strength,
used great resistance, but after a good deal of trouble,
the Inspector succeeded in getting him from the Palace
into the Bird Cage Walk, where he became so
iolent, that Inspector Russell, who was unarmed, was
forced to handcuff him and obtain a file of the guard at
the Wellington Barracks, to assist to convey the prisoner
to the station-house in Gardiner's-lane. All the way
there, and after his arrival, he continued to use strong
language respecting her Majesty, and several times
lamented he had not killed her. It being evident that
the man was mad, his actions were watched all night,
during the greater part of which he continued raving.
Yesterday morning a private examination of the
prisoner took place before Sir FREDERICK Ror, as
chief magistrate, at the Home Office, and after evidence,
embracing the facts detailed above, had been given, he
was remanded, in order that he might be visited by ex-
perienced surgeons, and his connections inquired into,
the prisoner having refused to state who and what he
was.
At the conclusion of the examination the prisoner was
taken to Tothill-fields Bridewell.
how the pr:sonc:r contrived in the first instance to
gain admission into the garden is easily understood. It
is gc neral4 known that the gardens, which are a mile in
circumference, run parallel with Constitution-bill. In
one part of this road the wall enclosing the garden is
so low, that a man with little difficulty may climb over,
and it is generally believed that it was at this spot the
prisoner contrived to make his entry into the garden.
That be had not been long in his lurking place is evident
from the fact that sonic of the police saw him pass and
repa •ss tl:e Palace but an hour before. No deadly
weapon was found in his possession.

The Tories have just discovered that economy
is a public good. The Cambridge Chronicle says, "On
Wednesday evening last, Mr. Spring Rice applied for and
obtained from Parliament a grant of 70,000/.—Severity
thousand pounds—for building new Stables at Windsor
Palace, for the use of her Dl: esty I We do not exactly
know what sort of stables are necessary for horses of royal
blood, but it certainly does strike us that 70,0001. is a little
too much in thcte glorious days of retrenchment and
economy !"
NEW METHOD OF FINING "TINE.---O„ Mon-
day, at Malborough-street, Mr. Richard Webb, wino-
merchant, of the Haymarket, was summoned to appear
und.. r the Act " for preventing obstructions on the fog'
pavement." It app,e:red that Mr. Vv had been getting,-
Into his vaults eight butts cf sheiry, and although only
tvvertv in:nitres had been occupied in accomplishing this
task, vet; through the ignorance of the carmen, three of
the butts were upon the pavement at one time. This,
however; did not eseqe the argus eyes of an informer; and
the worthy and witty Magistrate said he teas left no alter-
native hut to fine the wine, and ordered the wine-merchant
to pay two sovereigns, which the latter did with great good
humour, saying, that, " after such fillings, he could
conscientiously recommend the %vine to his customers as
gold-coloured shet ry."