The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-22 00:00:00

London Imp ovements•

The contemplated improvements in the thorough-
fares of the metropolis will effect a great alteration
in their appearance. Some of these works have long
been proposed, while others have grown out of other
gigantic improvements. For instance, the demoli-
tion of Northumberland-house is called for by the
construction of the Thames Embankment ; and
although the price fixed for compensation (£150,000)
is very heavy, there does not seem to be any possi-
bility of making suitable approaches at Charing-
cross unless this building and its grounds are pur-
chased.. The total cost of making this new tho-
roughfare is estimated at £190,000 ; but it is
believed that the ground rents of the new shops
and other buildings to be erected will go far
to repay the expense incurred. The roadway
along the embankment will here be 80 feet wide,
and a large clump of trees will be planted along
the road. There are a number of other improve-
ments proposed by the Board of Works, who, it
may be added, reserve to themselves the right of
approving of the style in which the shops and
houses will be built. Between Hungerford and
Waterloo bridges about 400 feetof slime is being
reclaimed from the river by the embankment, and it
is intended to appropriate this wide space by build-
ing a crescent-shaped row of shops, trees forming
the foreground. Here, of course, the board have a
splendid opportunity of erecting buildings that will
be an ornament to the metropolis. We may state,
before dismissing the subject of the embankment,
that the metropolitan main drainage system is now
complete, with the exception of that portion of the
scheme which will run under the embankment. The
drainage pumping statations are about to be com-
menced, and already all but one-eighth of the Lon-
don refuse is now sent down to Barking and Cross-
ness. The Board of Works have also applied to
Parliament for permission to pull down that great
nuisance, so often threatened with extinction—the
Middle-row, Holborn. Burdett-road, Finsbury ;
Commercial-road, Whitechapel ; and High-street,
Kensington, are also to be improved. The Park-
lane difficulty is to be conquered by pulling down
the buildings from Gloucester House, the residence
of the Duke of Cambridge, to 1, Park-lane, so giv-
ing this thoroughfare an uniform width of 70 feet,
which is the same width as Cannon-street. The noble
duke is to receive £65,000 compensation for the de-
struction of his mansion. The widening of Mansion-

house-street is, of course, absolutely necessary for
the safety of the public ; and we hope this part of
the bill will be agreed to as soon as Parliament meets.
Notices have already been served upon the tenants
and landlords of the property required for this fin-
provement. Two plans have been prepared by Mr.
Horace Jones, the City architect, for the new meat
market at Smithfield, the one for an open and the

other for a covered market. The first design repre-
sents a dome at each end of the four corners of the
building ; there are about 217 shops, about 14ft. by
34ft. in size, in each plan. The towers in the plan
for the closed market are much loftier and more
imposing. In both designs there is a wide central
roadway for general traffic. Fresh progress in the
work of demolition at Westminster is made every

day ; and it is now proposed to pull down the west

side of Parliament-street, an improvement urged
about three years ago by Lord Redesdale as an
imperative necessity when the new Foreign-offices
were completed.—Building

EWspA pER.
„0-21Vr.
44_7-
THIRTY PERSONS KILLED AND TW --SW-
INJURED. AI a
As we announced in The Sun of yesterday a ter-
rible accident occurred at Merthyr Tydfil on Wed-
nesday morning in the Upper Gethin Coal-pit, be-
longing to Mr. William Crawshay, of Caversham
Park, Reading, and proprietor of the Cyfarthfa
Ironworks. It will be in the recollection of many
readers that about four years ago a similar catas-
trophe, but still more frightful in extent, happened
in this place, by which 47 men and boys were killed.
The scene of that calamity was also the Gethin pit ;
but, in order to make it clear to persons unac-
quainted with the place, it will be necessary to state
that the Gethin pit comprises two systems of coal
workings connected by two drifts or headings, and
to a certain extent they have one system of ventila-
tion common to both. They are situated one above
the other on the side of the mountain, the shafts
being about GOO yards apart, and thus go by the
names Upper and Lower Gethin, being worked as
two distinct pits. In the lower pit, which was the
scene of the former accident, two seams of coal are
worked respectively 4 feet and three feet in thick-
ness, while in the Upper Gethin, which is about 200
yards deep, 70 yards deeper than the Lower Gethin,
the 9 feet coal is worked. The Upper Gethin, the
scene of the present deplorable disaster, is a much
newer pit than the Lower Gethin—in fact, it was
sunk for the purpose of securing a more efficient and
perfect ventilation for the Lower Gethin—and the
workings have not been very far extended yet. There
is only one up-cast for the two pits. The explosion
on Wednesday took place in a heading on the east
level, in which were about 40 men at the time, and
out of that number no. less than 30 have been killed.
All the rest, with two exceptions, are burnt and
bruised frightfully. The force of the blast was so great
that it extended to the whole level and injured many
other men, so that no fewer than 22 were more or
less seriouAlyinjured. Of these, four are terribly
bad cases, expected to terminate fatally. The acci-
dent happened about 8 o'clock, about an hour after
the " day turn" hands had gone in. Nobody knows
where it broke out, but an old stall is mentioned by
several colliers as having been reported " on fire,"
and it is said that the overman had warned the col-
liers against entering it in consequence; but no-
thing positive can be said on this head. Out of the
30 men and boys killed only three met their death
by the fire, but these were scorched almost to a
cinder, and their features were so obliterated that
they could be hardly recognised. David Beddoe,
the overman, who was not the regular overman of
this pit, was killed ; he was fearfully charred, but
his brother, who happened to be on the spot when
he was brought to the pit's mouth, and had no idea
of his being in the mine, recognised him by his
watch. Out of the whole number working in the
heading at the time only two escaped unhurt. These
are John Hall and Thomas Hall, his brother. The
former states that he worked at the furthest end of
the east level, and was made aware of the fact that
something serious had happened by hearing a loud
" puff." He immediately left his work and went to
warn his brother, but he had hardly time to do that
before he heard another " puff," and then the air
I became all at once so oppressively hot and dense
with dust that he fell down in a state of stupor.

However he, along with his brother, roused himself,
and by a happy circumstance they were saved. The
elder, John, had his can of tea with him, and he had
sufficient presence of mind to dash their faces con-
tinually with this which kept them fresh. By this
means they retained consciousness and strength
enough to find their way out of the heading to the
bottom of the shaft. As they came along they
stumbled over their fallen and helpless comrades,
and although they repeatedly called to them, in no
solitary instance did they obtain an answer. The
force of the blast reached even to the bottom of the
shaft, for there two workmen were blown violently
into the sump and sustained severe injury. This cir-
cumstance, connected with the fact that the fire did
not reach John Hall, at the end of the east level,
which does not run more than about 400 yards from
the shaft would tend to show that the focus of the ex-
plosion could not have been more than a couple
of hundred yards from the bottom of the shaft.
The excitement in Merthyr when the news came up
was intense, and people ran down to the pit in large
numbers ; but it was a remarkable feature of the
multitude of men, women, and children assembled
--tat tite -mouth that Therer-walsipo manifeatution of
that vehement grief which so frequk,utlychaacterises
such scenes. The crowd was quiet and orderly,
and the quiet was broken only now then by the sob
of a woman or a child. On the roadway in front
of the shaft a space was cleared, and a lot of straw
spread out, upon which the poor fellows were laid
as they were brought up, and the system of Dr.
Marshall Hall for the restoration of asphyxiated
persons was practised upon them by Dr. Thomas,
chief of the medical staff at Cyfarthfa, Drs. Wills,
Dyke, Probert, and Miles. At the same time
powerful restoratives were applied, but all to no
purpose—the fatal choke damp, as the colliers call
it, had done its work only too well, and the lifeless
bodies were then removed one after another and
placed upon trucks, upon which they were afterwards
conveyed by the engine to Cyfarthfa, where their
friends, who were most demonstrative in their grief
here, awaited them. A very touching incident is
related in connexion with this part of the melancholy
affair. One of the men who were burnt (we have
already stated that their features were literally obli-
terated by the fire) was taken to the wrong house.
The poor wife was on the eve of confinement, and
the shock was so dreadful that the pangs of labour
came on at once, and she had to go to bed in a
woeful state. Meantime, her friends washed the
body and laid it out, believing it was the man of the
house, but they had scarcely completed their
mournful task when the husband of the horror-
stricken wife walked into the house hale and well.
The scene may be better imagined than described.
We never heard of its parallel. The charred remains
were shortly afterwards removed to another house,
and this time to the proper one. When the in-
telligence was communicated to Mr. R. J. Craw-
shay, of Cyfarthfa Castle, the resident proprietor
of the works, he, accompanied by Mr. Jones, the
manager, and many of the agents, repaired promptly
to the spot and rendered such aid as they could.
Mr. Moody, the viewer of the pits ; Mr. Kirkhouse,
mine agent ; Mr. Carnew, the viewer of Plymouth
Collieries, and the relays of workmen, exerted
themselves heroically for the recovery of the bodies,
and by 11 o'clock, three hours after the sad occur-
rence, the whole of the men had been brought up.
Mr. Moody, the viewer of this pit, was also viewer
of the Lower Gethin at the time of the accident
there. As to the cause of the present catastrophe
speculation is rife, but nothing positive can be stated
until an investigation has taken place. It is worthy
of note, however, so far as it may be attributable
to carelessness on the part of one or more of the
workmen, that a very important case was tried hi
the Merthyr Police-court last week, in which two
workmen were charged with tampering with their
lamps in this very pit. The evidence against them,
was not conclusive to the satisfaction of the magis-
trate, and they were dismissed. How far any such
negligence may have had to do with the present ac-
cident it would be premature to say. An inquest
will be held on the bodies, and no doubt facts will
then be forthcoming upon which an opinion may bo
founded as to the cause of this lamentable affair.

BREAKFAST BLVERAGE.—Homceopathic practitioners., and
the medical profession generally, recommend cocoa as beim:
the most healthful of all beverages. When the doctrine of
honaceoPatitY was first introdue,e% into this country, there
were to be obtaiaed no preparations of cocoa either attrac-
tive to the taste or acceptable to the stomach ; the nut wag
either supplied in the crude state, or so unskilfully manu-
factured as to obtain little notice. J. Epps, of London,
homeopathic chemist, was induced in the year 1830 to turn
his attention to this subje t, and at length suc:eeded, with
the assistance of elaborate machinery, in being the first, to
produce an article pure in its composition, and so refined by
the pert et trituration it re •eives in the process it passes
through, as to be most acceptable to the delicate Elomach.
For general use Epps' cocoa is distinoished as an invigo-
rating, grateful breakfast beverage, with a delicious aroma.
Dr. Hassall in his work, "Food and its Adulterations,"
says—" Cocoa contains a great variety of important nutritive
principles; every ingredient necessary to the growth and
sustenance of the body." Again, "As a nutritive, cocoa
stands very mush higher than either coffee or tea." Direc-
tions : —Two teaspoonfuls of the powder in a breakfast cup,
filled up with boiling water or milk. Secured in tin-lined
1-Ib.. and Ilb. labelled packets, and sold at Is. 6d. per
lb. by grocers, nnfectioners, axd chemists.

HOUSES.—Messrs. TOPLIS and ROBERTS
have numerous furnished and unfurnished TOWN,
uhurban, and Country RESIDENCES to LLT or SELL.
Particulars forwarded for three stamps, upon stating,' exact
requirements and rental. Offices, 2, Conduit-street, 'Regent-
street, and South Kensington, facing the Museum.
QOUTII KENSIN GTON,
gate and Peters-
lI.YDE-PAB,K,
Queen's, and Rutland Gates, Quee
ham Terraces, Qtleen't-gate, Cornwall, and Princes Gardens,
Elvaston-place, Cromwell-ro Onslow and Thurloe
have R SquE ares,
Boltons. &c. Messrs TOPLI-1 and ROisEKTS
DEN CES to SELL and LET in these and surrounding
localities. Offices, 2, Conduit-street, llegent-street, and
)south Kensington, lacing the INluseurn.

TII ATRE ROYAL, DRURY-LANE._
'Manaers. messra. F.,. Falconer and B. Chatterton.
NOT ICE.— FOUR SPECIAL MORNING PERFORM-
.A.NCES of the PANTOMIME, on WEDNESDAY,
December 27t1i, Thursday, 28th, Friday, 29th, and
and every Monday, Wednesday, and Sa-
,Saturday, ttOtli,
tiira,ky during, the t:rion.th during anuary. Week, BOXING
NIGHT, and each Evening the the Per-
formances. will commence with the Farce, by Edmund Fal-
coner, entitled lIL SBANDS BEWARE. Principal charac-
ters by Messrs. G. Belmore, C. Harcourt, F. Barsby, C.
Warner; Misses Hazlewoocl, R. Leclercq., and Miss E.
Falconer. Concluding with the Drury Lane Annual Grand
Christmas Pantomime, written by E. L. Blanchard, Esq.,
entitled LITTLE KING PIPPIN; or. Harlequin Fortu-
natus and the Magic Purse and Wishing-cap! The gor-
geously beautiful character of the decorations, inclusive
of more than the usual amount of scenic surprises
and transformation wonders, are insured by the
fact of their being entirely designed and for the
most part executed by the celebrated artist William
Beverley, whose eminent services have been retained
this Christmas exclusively for the Theatre Royal, Drury
Lane. The general action of the pantomime arranged by
and the whole produced under the direction of Mr. Robert
Roxby. Characters in the opening : od, M
Miss Hazlewois
gus
Austa Thomson, Miss E. Leclercq, Miss.
BE. Falcon Mr.
er,
Miss Clara Morgan ; Mr. G. Belmore, Mrarshy,
Fitzjames, Mr. G. Weston, Mr. Henri Drayton, and Master
Percy Roselle. The Harlequinade includes a
the ser-
vices of those popular pantornimists (formiGlowns ;M ng double
company), Harry Boleno and Mr. C.
talLaure, r.
Mdme.
W. A. Barnes and Mr. J. Morris, pantaloons
Boleno and
ons ; Mr. Cor-
mack and Mr. S. Saville, Harlequins;
Miss Laura Morgan, Columbines. The masks, devices, and
dresses, from clesignsby the humorously renowned Dykwyn-
kyn. The Music selected and arranged by Mr. J. Barnard.
Machinery by Mr. J. Tucker and assis.tants. Gas Illu-
minations by Mr. J. Hinkley.. Properties by Mr. Need-
ham, R. Glindon, and Assistants. Dresses by Mr. S.
May and Mrs. Lawler. The Dances and action of the
Ballet arranged by Mr. Cormack. Comic Scenes, Tricks
,ste., invented by Messers. H. Boleno and Cormack.—The
erforrnances to commence every evening at seven o'clock
P
precisely and terminate by eleven o'clock. Box office open
from ton till five

THEATRE ROYAL, HAYMARKET.-
Sole Lessee and 3lansger, Mr. Buckstone.
THIS EVENING, THE OVERLAND ROUTE: Messrs
Chas. Mathews, Buckstone, Chippendale, Compton, Rog. rs,
Clark, Gordon, Braid, Coe,Mesdames Mkuhewa, Snow-
To lil Wright, Coleman, Lovell, &c.
be followed by L'IIOM3IE BLASE (USED UP). Mr
C. N athews.
To conclade with MY lIUSBA.ND'S GIIOST.