The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-21 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—The accustomed quiet of this city has been
turned to bustle and excitement by the arrival and
departure of regiments, and the coming in and
sailing of steamers, men of war, and transports.
Our streets have been gay with the uniforms of
Guardsmen, Riflemen, Liners, Artillery, Engineers,
and Military Train ; the first and the last, never
having been seen here before, attracted much atten-
tion.

The first arrival of troops was on the 26th of
December, when the Australasian, foiled in her
attempt to go up the St. Lawrence, steamed up to
the dockyard with the Ist battalion Rifle Brigade
on board. She remained here about a week, the
delay arising partly from the state of the weather
and partly from the fact that the roads in New

Aranswiekwcre blocked up,witiEutthro7l-7,'
Oteefirhail 'not been able to complete
their arrangements for forwarding the men from
St. John's, New Brunswick. This fine ship had a
very rough passage round to that port, and, as you are
perhaps aware, the navigation of the Bay of Fundy
is not the safest. However she reached there safely
and landed the regiment in good order. It blew a
fearful gale during the night after she left here, and
as the fierce wind howled without, and the snow
and hail dashed furiously against the windows,
many a family seated round the cheerful hearth
thought of that storm-tossed ship, and the gallant
fellows on board who had come all the way from
Old ogland to defend us, and many a prayer not
unheard went up for their safety.

The Persia arrived here from the St. Lawrence
on the 31st December; so rapidly did the ice form
in the river that she was forced to depart very sud-
denly, leaving behind two of her officers, a number
of her crew, and most of her boats. She succeeded
in landing at Isle Bic all the Ist battalion 16th Re-
giment, with the exception of one company, which
returned in her to this port. On the same day the
Adriatic came in with the Grenadier Guards on
board, and after the departure of the Australasian
she went alongside the dockyard pier, and the men
were thus enabled to have a run on shore within the
walls. They remained here about a week and left
yesterday morning for St. John's, where they should
arrive in 48 hours. During their stay here the offi-
cers amused themselves with sleigh driving, and
soon became proficient at the difficult task of turn-
ing the corners of slippery streets. I could tell you
of how the swells were at first imposed upon by the
cabbies, and hew soon the former found them out,
and the game was up; of how a captain, driving a
sleigh through the principal street, ran down a
black woman, did not hurt her in the least, paid
£5 damages for breaking the vehicle when the
horse ran away, and said his hands were so
cold he could not hold him—and of the fabulous
prices they paid for bearskins and so-called
Newfoundland dogs, but that your space is
better occupied by my saying how deep was
the impression made by the pluck and
spirit of these noble fellows, who have left
to many pleasures and comforts behind them, to
face the cold of a Canadian winter and the toils
of a long march through the snow, in order to
be ready to defend the national honour. We had
one or two fiercely cold days, which no doubt quite
equalled their expectations, and gave them an idea
of what it might be in New Brunswick where it is
usually colder than at Halifax. The regiment
paraded through the town the day before its depar-
ture, and, of course, excited the admiration of all,
for, though many fine corps have been and are in
garrison here, such a splendid body of men was
never seen in this province before. You, in London,
accustomed to see these fine fellows in the Park,
would hardly recognise the men you are so justly
proud of, in their sealskin caps, top boots, fur mitts,
gray coats, and woollen comforters. They were in
fine order, every man warmly clothed and looking
none the worse for the voyage. I may say they
looked to me healthier and better than I ever saw
them in England. Many a time of a cold March
day I have seen the sentries about the foot of St.
James's-street looking very cold and miserable, but
with the excellent clothing so bountifully provided
for the men on this expedition there was nothing of
that in their appearance. I happened to be stand-
ing near to an American when the battalion passed.
He said, " Yes, Sir ! they are fine men, and march
good, and no mistake. I reckon we 'aint got many
boys like those in our army."
The 2d battalion, 16th Regiment, arrived last
week in the Magdalena after a fine passage, were
landed in good order, and took up their quarters in
the Citadel. A few nights ago two privates of the
regiment, stupified by drink, sank to sleep on the
glacis, and were found frozen to death the next
morning. The Cleopatra came in last night with
the Ist battalion of the 17th Regiment on board,

The 62d left for St. Andrew's, New Brunswick (a
small port nearer the American border than St.
John's), whence they have been conveyed by rail to
Woodstock, where the march to Canada begins.
They will be put through by companies, and after
one regiment has passed the road will be
very good. The 63d are to leave shortly
for the same place. The harbour of St. Andrew's
is too shallow to all3w such ships as the Adriatic
to go in there. _ _ _

All those troops intended for Canada would have
been comfortably lodged in Quebec and Montreal
within a couple of days after their arrival here, if
we had a railway to join the Grand Trunk line at
Riviere du Loup, thus making us independent of
the Americans at all seasons. There are delegates
now in England, reiterating our frequent petition
for Imperial aid to carry out this undertaking. We
have built a portion of the line, and so has New
Brunswick, but neither province has the means to
continue the good work without assistance from the
home Government. We should become bankrupt
in the attempt. The necessity of this line being
completed was never more apparent than at the pre-
sent time, and I venture to say the difference in the
cost of sending all these soldiers and stores to Canada
by the tedious and hazardous route that is being
adopted would go far to satisfy our demands. In
fact, the only practicable communication between
Canada and England is through the United States,
and up to the present moment not a single com-
pany of soldiers has been got over the road to
Riviere du Loup. The difficufties- and danger/I-of
this route are greater than is thought in England,
and a handful of determined men could render it
impossible for our troops to traverse such a country
at this season. Let us hope some steps will be taken
in the spring to commence this national work, for
such it is, and then, in a few years, the whole of
British America will have free access to the Atlantic
through this harbour, the finest in America. Until
this is done, the task of holding Canada against the
Americans will be a far more difficult task than we
are willing to admit.—l remain, Sir, your obedient

servant,
Halifax.

A NOVA SCOTIAN.

THE DREADFUL COLLIR.RY ACCIDENT

IN NORTEUMBERLAND,

SHIELDS, MONDAY, 8 A.M.

A telegraphic message, sent last night to London,
stated that a fall in the shaft on Saturday night
had prevented the sinkers ping on with the re-
moval of the bratticing. The same state of suspense
obtained until about 5 o'clock this morning. It
seems that the shaft of the pit was cribbed round
with oak timber, which was carefully planked in
the fore part. The engine-beam, in its terrific fall
down the shaft, carried much of this timber and
planking with it, exposing the strata, which hap-
pened to be of large loose stones. A perfect torrent
of water runs down the sides of the shaft, and this
water washed the stones out, which made it im-
possible for the working parties to go on without
loss of life until the stone was all carefully bratticed
up, which has been done under the direction of Mr.
Coulson, the master sinker; and as it is now per-
fectly complete and safe it is expected the work of
removal will go on rapidly. In fact, some good
lifts of timber have been made this morning. Mr.
Coulson informed your correspondent this morning,
about 7 o'clock, that the sinkers were within 12
feet of the furnace drift, and the greatest confidence
is expressed that when they reach it immediate
communication can be opened with the men and
lads below in the yard seam; and, even if they
cannot get them up thence to bank, strong active
relays of pitmen and miners can soon clear the shaft
from the yard seam. The yard seam at the face of
the coal is three feet in height ; but there is an
arched way in it leading from the shaft to the
staple, up which the men are supposed to hare
escaped from the low main, only six feet in height.
The whole of the buried party, if alive and in the
itirttipm, will be-gathwed together in the arched
way. It is not known whether they will have a
fire, but it is col tain they will have a good supply
of oil for their lamps for some days to come.
Mr. Telford and and some of the most experienced
viewers and overmen in the steam coalfield were
assembled at the pit this morning, ready as soon as
the obstruction is cleared away down to:the furnace
drift to work their way through in search of the
lost party.
Mr. Foster, with Mr. Atkinson, the Government
Inspector of Mines, and a large party of gentlemen
experienced in the working of mines, arrived at the
spot at 7 o'clock this morning.
The bodies of the five men killed in the shaft on
Thursday were brought up from the high seam this
morning, and removed to their homes.
The labours of the past four days in the shaft have
gone on with wonderful order and regularity. There
has been no noise or confusion at bank, as the rub-
bish sent up the shaft has been stowed away in the
high seam; the only sounds breaking the silence at
the pit mouth, which has been kept quite clear of
idlers and lookers on by the police, being the shouts
of the workmen—" Bend up the gin ;" " Bend up
the Jack ;" " Heave up the crab." After Friday
night the wives and children of the buried work-
men were induced to leave the pit head and have
been kept away, which has been a great relief to the
working party. Dr. Davison, the colliery surgeon,
relieved now and then by Dr. Pyle and other sur-
geons, has been in attendance for any emergency
since the first hour that he received information of
the catastrophe. Mr. Carr, Mr. Humble, and the
other officials of the pit appear to be nearly worn
out with their four nights and days' labour and
anxiety. Mr. Coulson, however, the master sinker,
who has had vast experience in shaft work, and
under whose directions the tedious process of re-
moving the obstruction has been conducted, is bear-
ing up well. The anxiety of every one connected
with the district is becoming more intense every
hour as time wears on, and the fate of the poor men
and lads still hangs in the balance. Last night, the
fourth of weary watching by the families of the
entombed men, was one of extreme anguish in their
homes, though hope and the report of the jowling
of the buried men in the shaft keep up the hearts
of the poor women and children wonderfully.
Very many of the men have families, and, indeed,
they number nearly the whole working male
population of the village. One poor woman has a
husband and six children, with a boy, whom she
and her husband had brought up, buried in the pit,
and many other persons are in no better position.
One man is reported to have taken his little boy
down with him at 9 o'clock on Thursday morning
to show him the pit, little more than an hour be-
fore the accident took place. It has not been ascer-
tained whether the broken half of the engine beam
is in the shaft or has fallen to the bottom of the pit.
If it fell to the bottom of the pit, however, the men
there would be warned by the thundering noise of
the material brought down the shaft with it, and
would get out of its way. The beam was of east
iron, and, as already reported,
the arm that has
broken off weighed 21 tons. Practical men who
have examined the half from which the fallen mass
reason broke off, describe it as of good metal. There is no
aanp
suddenly breaking at the axle. The pumping
engine at Hartley Colliery is one of the most power-
ful in the coal trade. The beams of the larger
dp eine
o r an
sufficient
they
has been assigned for its
of an old fracture or fi ;
pumping engines that have subsequently been put
up in the Northumberland Steam Coa!field have
been made of malleable iron. Hartley Colliery has
been very costly to its present owners in conse
quence of the immense quantity of water flowing
into it; and the huge pumping engine, the broken
beam of which has been the cause of the present
terrible disaster, had been at work about six years.
The loss that is likely
to arise to the owners from
the present calamity will be extremely severe, for
the amount of water flowing into the mine may be

I have just returned from a second visit to the
pit this morning. The work is going on steadily.
The last report from the shaft is, that there is a,
space or hollow in the obstruction about six feet
deep, and the working party earl hear the loose
rubbish falling into the bottom of the pit. Mr.
Coulson and four picked men have just descended.
and it is confidently hoped that a communication
will be opened with belowthis afternoon. Dr. Davi-
son has made the most ample arrangements for the
attendance of medical assistance. An immense
number of people were gathering round the pit this
forenoon ; and the anxiety of the wives and fami-
lies of the poor fellows has become intense since it
was known that they might be reached this after-
noon.

SHIELDS. MONDAY, HALF•I'AST 6.
At one o'clock to day Mr. Coulson, the master
sinker, sent up word that he oped the men might
be reached in two shifts (four hours). Every pre-
paration was made, and a large staff of surgeons
were, and remain, in attendance ~ but it is to be
feared that it will be many hours before the men
are reached.

There are surgeons on the bank ready to follow
the most daring miner down the [pit, and we have
now the ablest men in the coal trade at the colliery
to give advice and counsel in this terrible emer-
gency. No tongue can tell or pen describe the ex-
citement and anguish prevailing here at the
thought that these poor creaturtid have to pass
e S itd: upper. world;:_
another gloomy night in their terrible prison-
house, although there are men here of all classes
capable of the most daring ..,pts of heroism in
efforts to _taster& thiputforrs
but the work in the shaft is of the very slowest and
most tedious character.

There has been an immense concourse of people
here to-day. The anxiety in Newcastle and Shields
and in the neighbourhood with respect to the safety
of the men continues unabated.

-----
ANOTHER COLLIERY EXPLOSION