The Sun.
London, England, 1839-09-14 00:00:00

FATAL COAL-PIT ACCIDENT.

On Saturday morning a most painful accident haP-
7;ened at the pits of the Sheffield Coal Company, near
a/artnall. The steam-engine, which is four horse power,
:about nine o'clock blew up with a tremendous crash,
s.dreading devastation and ruin in the immediate vici-
)iity. The engine-house and chimney were smashed to
iaeces ; the boiler was blown to a considei able height
in the air, and fell at a distance of 127 yards from its
o7iginal position, sinking at least two feet into the earth.
'lle son of Mr. William Hobson, the engineer, a lad
red 14, was in the cabin at the time of the explosion ;
e was taken out alive, but expired shortly after. His
A-her was going towards the place from Mr. Jefcock's,
. ad was sufficiently near to witness the awful event.
_in inquest was opened on Sunday before Mr. Badger
ad a respectable Jury, at the house of Mr. Jefcock,
:;,ad adjourned till Wednesday. Since the above was
';.l type a correspondent has sent us the following parti-
culars :—lt appeared that about the hour above-men-
Toned the man in charge of the engine left the engine-
eouse for some article or other, leaving his son, a
south about J 4 years of age, in the place. He had not
been absent mere than five or ten minutes when the ex-
plosion occurred. A faint idea may be gathered of the
damage done from the following few particulars :—The
top part of the boiler, supposed to weigh from three to
three and a half toes, was carried a distance of 125
rd, and on its descent sank three feet into the
;:round, and in consequence of the confined air was
lifted out of the earth and carried a distance of eight
)ards farther. A fire grate was carried upwards of 80
yards, and sank entirely into the ground. There are
eot two bricks left standing of the building, and, which
is very singular, most of thorn are as free from mortar
is if they had bi•en dressed, and were carried over the
Immediate neighbourhood to a distance of 150 yards
upwards, breaking boughs-off trees, and cutting up
the ground in a manner which must be seen to be be-
lieved. A supporting rod which passed through the
wails of the engine-house, and secured by screws, was
carried upwards of ten yards. When the unfortunate
)'outli was found he was alive, although both his thighs
were broken and otherwise seriously injured. He ex-
pired immediately upon being taken home. A great
part of the engine work is only two years old. The
loss amounts to nearly 1,000/.—Sheifield Iris.

In some of the letters written from the Indian
army advancing' upon Cabul, great complaints are made of
preferrances shown by the Commander-in. Chief of the
Queen's troops over the East India regiments in the selec-
tions for service, by which the latter are precluded from
het: fair snare of the promotions to which the chances of
war may lead. This is a grievance which officers in any
department, either of the army or navy, will readily enter
into; and if it should really appear, on inquiry, to exist it
should demand instant attention from those who desire
the welfare of the country, which must ever mainly de-
pend on the efficiency of the military service. To illustrate
he point at issue, it is enough to quote a passage from a
letter written by one of the East India Company's officers,
whose phrases cannot be better chosen for the purpose, and
hich says—" We are full of groans about the treatment
of our old officers whenever an army is formed for service.
Every opportunity is taken of degrading our officers.
There are 10 Queen's regiments in Bengal, and there are
99 regiments and battalions in the Company's service, and
yet, whenever our troops move for service, they have the
lion's share.' At Bburtpore they had six general officers
including the Commander-in-Chief, while we had only
one, General Adams, and he was only a brigadier; both
the brigadiers of cavalry were Queen's officers. In Ava,
including Arracan, that is, in the BurmeSe war, five gene-
ral officers of the King's service were employed, and none
of ours. In the army of the Indus Sir John Keane com-
mands, and the following general officers are employed
in the command of divisions ;—Major. General Cotton
( Queen's), the Bengal Infantry ; Major- General Wilt
shire, the Bombay Infantry ; Major- General Thackwell,
the Bengal Cavalry division, his corps being at Martaban,
while Nott, who is a Queen's Major, General, but a com-
pany's officer, is only a brigadier, and is left behind. The
disgust which all this occasions is, I assure you, deeply
felt. Memorials have been sent home about it. It is the
most cruel blow, because the most degrading to the whole
army, that has every been inflicted. The Horse Guards
are, of course, delighted." Such letters as these, as has
already been intimated, must force attention, but it is
difficult to collect from them where the fault lies, whether
in the Commander-in-Chief's office at home, or the board
in Leadenhall. street. If publicity, however, is but freely
given to them, it cannot long remain in doubt on what
quarter the responsibility should fall.—Times.
IMPORTATION OF APPLES.—The duty on
apples from the Continent having about a year since bees
reduced from 4s. per bushel to an ad valorem charge
of five per cent. on the value of the cargo, immense quan-
tities have recently been shipped for the London market at
every western French and Flemish pot, extending from
Rouen to Ostend; and great quantities have been imported
even from Holland. Of the kinds of fruit there are many
' varieties, but the chief importations consist of the corp-en-
dieu, the royal rennet, the malines, the mainotes the pe-
nang, and the grisette. The actual state of the home
crop, however, is this season upon the whole very favour-
able, though in Kent and some other counties it was ge-
nerally apprehended that the growth was much below th,
average crop, it being feared that this would be what is
termed a blighting season. It now appears that in the
vicinity of London the crop has not been surpassed i t
quantity for some years; nay, in Berkshire, Oxfordshire,
Cambridgeshire, and other inland and western counties,
there is unquestionably a very heavy supply. Considerable
quantities of the early apples have already appeared in 11 e
metropolitan markets, and at low prices; and it is qu'r,
certain that the demand this year for the foreign apple will
be very small compared with that of last season.
GOSSIP ABOUT QUEEN VICTORIA..—IIi the
course of the evening I found myself via a-vis in the
quadrille to the Queen's most beautiful maid of honour.
She is a daughter of Lord Rivers, rather tall, and com-
bining a roost majestic embonpoint of figure with a slight.
ness of limb and a slenderness and stateliness of neck
seldom seen in such graceful proportion. To the' 3001,
a year which the maids of honour receive for dress, the
Queen, my partner informed me, has added another hun-
dred, thinking the sum insufficient. You know, probably,
that, on their marriage, they receive also a dowry of
1,000/. Then, there are the Ladies in Waiting, who are
of the highest rank of nobility, and the Bedchamber
Women, who receive also 3001. a year, and are generally
ladies of good birth in reduced circumstances. These
all take their turns of service for two months together.
sly pretty and noble informant gave me these household
statistics very good naturedly between pastorale and dos
a dos; and as she was closely connected with those who
had the best opportunity of knowing, I asked her a
question or two touching the personal qualities of her
Majesty. She thought Victoria fancied herself very
beautiful, " which she was not," and a very good horse
woman, " which she was not decidedly," and that she was
very i,npaaaent of a difference of opinion when in private
with her ladies. She admitted, however, that she was
generous, forgiving, and " cleverer than most girls of her
age." When alone with two or three of her maids, she
said, the Queen wai " no more like a Queen than anybody
else," and was " very fond of a bit of fun or a bit of scan-
dal, or anything that would not have done if other
people were present.—N. P. Willis in the Corsair.
It is said a Member of Parliament has taken a
house for six months in the island of Guernsey, to watch
the proceedings in that island, and collect information for
Government; it is added there is sufficient evidenee for
the transfer of its judicial and administrative functions to
"„schedule A."—Sherborne Journal.