The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-16 00:00:00

The Colliery Accident near Wigan•

The inquest on the bodies of the eight men who were so
suddenly swept into eternity at the Kirkless Hall Company's
Oalifornia pit, Penning-ton-green,- on Tuesday afternoon
last, was held on Thursday, at the Running Horses, Aspull,
before Mr. Rutter, district coroner. The bodies, enclosed in
neat coffins, provided by the firm, lay in an adjoining out-
house, and round the inn were gathered a large number of
the friends andrelatives of deceased. The Government in-
spector, P. Higson, Esq., was present, as well as Mr. Pickard,
miners' agent, and two representatives of the firm. The
evidence showed the facts already stated in our columns to
be quite correct. They were simply that the rope slipped
off the drum, fell between two eccentrics on the drum shaft,
and was there cut. The cage then fell down the pit, and
the eight men were killed. As to the cause of this slipping,
neither the mechanical engineer of the firm, Mr. P. John-
son, nor the Government inspector could offer any deci-
sive opinion. Mr. Johnson thought it probable that when
the engine-driver took the steam off the engine, the cage
then being close to the top, the power might be taken off
the drum, and the rope might raise itself and recoil a little,
and then it must necessarily come off.
Mr. Higson said that when he examined the pit he found
the pulley pointed to the centre of the coil of rope, where-
as, in his opinton, it ought to range with the top coil on
the drum, so as to pull the rope up, and not down. If the
pulley was in that position on the previous Tuesday, that
would account for the accident.

It transpired that Mr. Higson paid a visit to the pit only
a day or two before the accident, and expressed an opinion
that the angle of inclination of the cone of the drum was
too acute, and the proprietors had agreed to alter it. Pre-
parations were making to carry out the recommendation
when the catastrophe occurred.

A plan was produced at the inquest showing how much
the drum was to be flattened, and showing that the flange
which prevents the rope at the small end of the cone from
slipping would be raised from 3i. to 10 inches. The men
would not be allowed to work again till this had been done.
The jury then returned a verdict of "Accidental death.'

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE—This D—ay.

BETTING AT THE VICTORIA CLUB.

CEE3AREIVITCH.

100 to 6 agst Nuneaton
100 to 6 agst Morris Dancer
20 to 1 agst John Davis ;
1000 to 60 agst Privateer
Very little betting. Nothing done but the above.

AMERICA.

ARRIVAL OF TILE PERSIA.
(Via Crookhaven.)
NEW YORK, Sept. 5 (Evening.)

General Slocum has forbidden the formation of
militia companies, which Governor Starkey had
ordered to be organised in every county of Missis-
sippi to prevent depredations by vagrants and
guerillas.

General Slocum has also ordered all citizens pos-
sessing arms to deliver them up to the military
authorities.

General osterhaus having taken from the Court
room a prisoner on trial for an offence against the
civil law. Governor Starkey telegraphed to Presi-
dent Johnson to ask for the delivery of the pri-
soner. Secretaries Seward and Stanton had pre-
viously given their decision that the military
authority must remain to a considerable extent
supreme in Mississippi; especially in cases of ill-
treatment of negroes.

The killing of negroes by the white population
is reported to be increasing throughout the South,
especially where the Federal troops are withdrawn.
Conflicts between loyalists and those who aided
the rebellion continue in East Tennessee. ,

The Knoxville Vigilance Committee have sum-
marily warned numerous secessionists to leave the
city.
The Georgia Central Railroad has been repaired
for a distance of 45 miles from Savannah. The
cotton trade has consequently increased.
Mr. Johnson, in reply to the farewell address of
the Columbian Minister, said that the United States
would adhere to their republican principles ; con..
stantly and especially to the policy of seeking to
preserve, through peaceful courses, the establish-
ment of free institutions throughout the American
continent.

The Golden City sailed from San Francisco on
the second for Panama with $lOO,OOO for New
York, .and $650,000 for England. The City of
London, Peruvian Saxonia, and the Scotia have
arrived out.

(POSTSCRIPT.)
NEW YORK, Sept. 6 (Morning.)
Washington despatches deny the statement that
has appeared in the English journals that the Presi-
dent had invited John Bright to visit America in a
Federal frigate.