The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-10 00:00:00

_EXPLOSION OF HALF A TON 01

PO WDER.

On Wednesday last nine or ten hundred weight
of gunpowder left the Penzance Terminus of the
West Cornwall Railway for the granite quarries of
Lamorna, five miles west of Penzance. The casks
were placed on one of the stone-waggons used for
the transport of granite—a flat bed of thick, iron-
bound planks, resting on two sets of strong wheels,
and drawn by four horses. All went well until the
load reached the descent which leads to the quarry
—a steep and rugged path. Here the driver jumped
off the waggon and took one of his shaft-horses by
the head, at the same time applying his nave-drag.
In an instant the whole of the powder exploded
with a report distinctly heard in Penzance and for
miles around. Gentlemen who were trout-fishing
near saw a column of fire spurt upwards, and
thought they distinguished two reports, but this
double sound may have been reverberation. The
effect of the explosion was wonderful—the escapes
miraculous. The man was thrown violently forward
—his clothes on fire, his back, legs, and arms burnt,
and even his face scorched. The bed of the waggon
was torn to matchwood, but the wheels and axles
were unhurt. The road was blackened for yards,
as if tarred; furze were blasted; huge stones driven
about. The grey horse the driver was leading fell
dead—the strength of the explosion showing itself
by the protruding entrails. Its neighbour shaft-
horse was badly scorched, mainly about the hind
legs and belly, but even its mane, face, and eyes
affected. The explosion reacned the two fore-
horses; and their hind quarters, skin generally,
and tails and manes were scorched. The driver
and three horses returned to Penzance, and man
and shaft-horse are in a precarious state. The
cause of the accident is a matter of surmise. The
man never smokes, and this last of his numerous
casualties is a melancholy instance of the way in
which ill-luck seems relentlessly to pursue some
men. William Thomas is a remarkably steady,
sober, and careful man; vet one accident broke his
ancle, another both his legs, a third cost him an
eye, and, to say nothing of minor mishaps, he now
lies in agony from this last and terrible one. The
poor horses, when we saw them the day after
the accident, started at times in their stalls a
explosion was again upon them, and the shock o
the man's nerves must be fearful. —Cornish
Telegraph. s if the

THE COURT AT BALMORAL.—°Sunday last
11
Royal Family attended
Ruches of Atholl,
/qrs. Biddulph, the Duke
neither her Majesty nor any of the
The
divine ser vice at Crathie Church.
Major Cowell, and Dr
Lady Augusta Bruce, the Hon.
of Argyll, Colonel Biddulphy
.
Robertson were present, but did not occupy the Royal
pew. The Rev. Mr. Anderson preached from Matthew,
28th chapter, 20th verse. The pulpit and the principal
seats of the church are still draped in black.—Edinburgh
Courant.
HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE,--A debut that excites
much interest in musical circles is announced for this
evening. Madame Guerrabella makes her first appearance
inltalian opera in England, in her part of Elvira in Bellini's
«I puritani." The Dublin journals have lately been full
of enthusiastic praises of Madame Guerrabella's singing
and acting in English opera—more particularly in Balfe's
"Puritan's Daughter."

DEATH OF A CENTENAIIIAN.—Mrs. Tracy, of
Knocka, over whose head no less than 112 winters had
passed, was interred on Friday, in the churchyard of Drom,
near Templemore. She possessed a strong constitution,
and was hale and hearty—sound in body and mind—up to
within a fortnight of her death.—ffenagh Guarchan.
The 'Journal du Havre, after remarking that
the first quarter of the lune rouses had passed off favour-
ably in that part of the country, states that soon after the
beginning of the second quarter a change occurred, that
town having been visited with a violent thunderstom, fol-
lowed by heavy rain, with strong gales of wind, and a con-
siderably lower temperature,