The Sun.
London, England, 1853-07-04 00:00:00

ANOTHER COLLIERY EXPLOSION.

We regret to record two more accidents of a fatal
character in coal mines. The more serious one was that
which took place on Friday from an explosion of fire
damp at the Bowling Company's works, Softshaw-bot-
toms, near Bradford. It appears that a number of men
were at work as usual, when, some of them going into
a part of the pit where there was a quantity of foul air,
an explosion took place, attended with all its fearful
consequences. On searching the pit the bodies of two
boys, named respectively Wm. Lee and Thomas Gar-
side, were found dead, the one from having been seri-
ously shaken and burnt, and the other from exhaustion
and suffocation. Three other men, who were working
in that part of the pit where the explosion occurred,
were also seriously injured ; but under skilful medical
treatment they are progressing favourably. Another
casualty occurred at the Park Pits, Worsbrough, within
a short time of that which took place at Elsecar, on
Thursday last. The deceased, whose name was George
Earnshaw, was working in the pit as usual, when a
quantity of coal fell upon him and killed him on the
spot.

LAMBETH BATHS AND WASHHOUSES.—This important
establishment in the Westminster-road is so far com-
pleted, that the two large swimming-baths were opened
to the public on Saturday last. They are the most ex-
tensive in England ; and as they are supplied with tepid
water continually flowing, and as the comfort of visitors
has been especially studied, the inhabitants of Lambeth
parish—which is by far the most extensive in the metro-
politan district—may now congratulate themselves upon
the possession of advantages similar to those previously
enjoyed by other parishes in London, who had taken
the lead in this important sanitary movement. The
Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Bishop of Winches-
ter, have taken great interest in the undertaking, which
enjoys also the personal support of many of the large
manufacturing and building firms in the neighbourhood,
among whom stand prominent Messrs. Maudslay, Baker,
Myers, Peto, Grissell, Haward and Nixon, and others.
The possession of good swimming-baths is an advantage
not usually enjoyed by the frequenters of these establish-
ments, which will doubtless tend much to the popularity
of the Lambeth institution. Another feature peculiar
to it is the establishment of an infant school in connec-
tion with the laundries, where children will be taken
care of during the time the mothers are occupied in the
wash-houses, it having been found that the disinclination
of the parents to leave young children at home unat-
tended has often prevented the poorer classes from avail-
ing themselves of the facilities afforded by institutions
like the present. The peculiar adaptation of the situa-
tion has enabled this public improvement to be carried
out at a cost which it is expected will, considering the
advantages attained, be much below that of any similar
establishment.

FIRE AND SHIPWRECK.—Letters brought by the Mel-
bourne and other mail steamers, announce the loss of
three English ships, two by fire, and the other, from
Adelaide, on a reef of rocks some hundred miles west-
ward of the Cape of Good Hope. The latter was at-
tended with lamentably fatal results. The vessel was
the Barbara Gordon, belonging to Swansea, bound to
London, with a cargo, consisting of 181 bales of wool,
100 tons of copper, and other articles. She had on
board the following passengers :—Mr. and Mrs. Radish,
and son, of Liverpool ; Mrs. Hay, belonging to York.
shire ; and Mrs. Dalton, of Wansworth. On the night
of the sth of,April last she got upon a reef near Cape St
Agulhas, arising, it was presumed, from a strong cur-
rent carrying her ashore. Her boats were carried away
the same night, by seas which swept the decks. Some
ten hours afterwards, the Captain, finding the weather
was moderating, had a raft formed, in order to
reach the shore. In the first attempt, the mate and
four of the crew succeeded in gaining the land. On the
second, however, when the passengers got on it, the
heavy sea capsized it, and the whole of them perished, in
view of the master and remainder of the crew, who were
unable to render them the least possible aid. In the
course of the succeeding day the vessel became a total
wreck. She was fully insured. The other ships were
the Alciope, Captain Lewis, master, in the East India
trade, bound to Liverpool, and the Gondar. The former
was from Calcutta, and when in lat. 11 N., long. 88 E.,
she was struck by lightning, which set fire to the cargo,
and became quickly in flames. The crew escaped by
means of the boats, which were picked up by the brig
Geneva. The destruction of the Gondar took place at
Charlestown, on the 18th of last month, while she was
loading. She had on board at the time 1,800 bales of
cotton, and 373 barrels of resin. The crew all escaped.
NEWRY AND ENNISKILLEN.—A special general meet-
ing of the shareholders of the above company was held
on Saturday, at the Guildhall Coffee-house, Gresham-
street, City, for taking into consideration the draft of a
bill to enable the Newiy and Enniskillen Company to
extend their landing quay to the Belfast Junction Rail-
way, and for other business ; Mr. Spackman, sen., occu-
pied the chair. The meeting was purely formal, and a
resolution approving of the draft of the bill was unani-
mously agreed to.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

ADMIRALTY LEVER.—The following officers attended
the levee of Sir James Graham at Whitehall on
Saturday :—Rear Admirals—Harvey, Sir J. Rowley,
and Sir J. Stirling ; Captains--P. J. Blake, J.
Adams, R. C. M'Crea, J. Denman, W. Nevin,
Thomas Dickenson, Thomas Furber, and Thomas
Baillie ; Comrnanders—D. Edwards, E. Wilson, R.
Phillips; W. Gennys, and P. Maingay ; Lieutenants—
W. Scrymgour, C. Dyke, G. W. Webber, G. F. Wells,
G. W. Rabett, W. Blenkarne, W. E. Amiel, and B. P.
Priest ; Messrs. J. Elliot and J. Duff. Sir James
Graham discontinue his levees after Saturday next, the
9th inst.

Commander James Spratt died at Teignmouth, in the
83d year of his age. This veteran officer is the father
of Commander Spratt, now in command of the Spitfire,
steam sin veying vessel, in the Mediterranean.
The Rev. S. K. Stothert, 8.A., has been appointed
chaplain of her Majesty's steam guard-ship La _Hogue,
stationed at Devonport.

PORTSMOUTH, JULY 2.
We stated last week the probability of a review or in-
spection, provided the squadrons are not wanted else-
where. We believe it to be the present intention of her
Majesty and the Prince Albert, with their Royal guests,
to visit this port on Thursday next. Should this be
the case, it will be a sight such as has never been seen
before in any part of the world, and will doubtless draw
thousands to witness the evolutions of this powerful
squadron of war steamers, a force fit to cope with
double their number of sailing ships. We will hope for
a fine day and a good breeze.
THE SPITHEAD FLEET.--Yesterday morning this fleet
changed position, and formed three lines. At 6 a.m. the
paddle-steamers Sidon, Odin, Leopard, and Banshee
lighted fires and got up steam. At 7 o'clock the Prince
Regent loosed sails, and got under weigh, followed by the
paddle-steamers, the former anchoring at 8 p.m. off Ryde,
while the steamers proceeded and laid to in Stokes Bay,
where they remained till the rest of the ships had weighed
and taken their stations in the following order :
Wellington, Itnperieuse, klighflyer, Agamemnon, Edin-
burgh, Hogue, Ajax, Amphion, London, Encounter, and
Blenheim. On anchoring, -the Prince Regent, Agamem-
non, Hogue, Edinburgh, • Imperieuse, and Highflyer
formed the weather line, and the Duke of Wellington,
London, Blenheim, Ajax, Amphion, and Encounter
formed he lee line, after which the paddle-steamers dropped
down, and towed up some of the leewardmost ships,
they having anchored too wide apart. The Sidon has
sprung her mainmast, and is compelled to strike lower
yards and topmast in consequence.
The Conflict, 8, screw sloop, got her steam up yester-
day morning for the purpose of going out to make
another trial of the Boomerang screw ; but had no sooner
started than some part of her machinery gave way, and
the attempt was once more abandoned.
The royal yacht Victoria and Albert, Captain Lord
Adolphus Fitzclarence, was taken out yesterday morn-
ing by Captain Crispin, for a cruise, to try her engines,
with steam jets fitted in her furnaces by Colonel Coffin,
fur the purpose of proving the anthracite coal. The
yacht brought up at Spithead for the night, and pro-
ceeded to the westward early this morning.
The Thomas Arbuthnot freight-ship passed through
Spithead last evening for the Thames, from Quebec,
having landed a detachment of the 20th Regiment at
Southampton.

Captain Milne, one of the junior Lords of the Ad-
miralty, arrived at this port last evening, and Rear-
Admiral Fanshawe re-hoisted his flag on board the Nep-
tune last evening, having returned from leave.
The Sidon, 22, paddle, Captain Geo. Goldsmith.—
This most unfortunate vessel is again hors de combat,
not the fault of " looberly " engineers this time ; but
it was found out yesterday afternoon that her main-
mast was badly sprung. She signalled for the carpen-
ters of the different ships to repair on board and exa-
mine. She will require a new mast before she can put
to sea. She has consequently struck her maintopmast,
fore-topgallantmast, &c., and has a most mournful look
amongst the rest of the squadron.
The Arwogant, 46, Captain S. G. Fremantle, will go
to the measured mile on Monday, to test her new boilers
and speed, and will afterwards join the squadron at
Spithead.

The Cyclops, paddle, Master M. Rennaud, with a
party of dockyard artisans, from Woolwich, under the
direction of the assistant master attendant Mr. Pope,
commenced landing the boilers of the Princess Royal on
Saturday, and her machinery. She will return to Wool-
wich on Tuesday for the remaining portion.

PLYMOUTH, JULY 2.
Orders were received yesterday at this arsenal for
extra hands to be employed on the St. Jean d'Acre, 100,
screw steam-ship, Captain the Hon. Henry Keppel, to
facilitate her equipment with all possible dispatch. Her
engines and boilers are in a forward state, and it is
expected she will be able to get up her steam on
Friday.

The crew of the Sybille, 40, Captain the Hon.
Charles G. J. B. Elliott, got up topgallantmasts yes.
terday.

The following ships were spoken by the General
Screw Steam-shipping Company's mail-packet Hydaspes,
Captain 0. Greig, which arrived here this morning :
On the 18th of April, in lat. 28 46 S., long. 41 47 E.,
the barque Anna Maclean, from Java, for Cowes ; on the
19th May, in lat. 18 2 S., long. 3 5 W., the French
barque Jacques, from the Straits of Macassar, for Mar-
seilles ; on the 2d of June, in lat 4 4 N., long. 19 1 W.,
the barque Sagittarius, from Dartmouth, for Melbourne ;
and on the same date, the Dutch barque Henrietta Kla-
zina, outwardbound.

The launching of the Algiers, 90, screw, which was
to have taken place on the 19th instant, has been post-
poned in consequence of the desire to expedite the equip-
ment of the St. Jean d'Acre and Nile, of 100 guns and
90 guns, both screws ; for which purpose the men have
been taken off the Algiers. The St. Jean d'Acre is to
be supplied with a temporary fire-hearth, as the fitment
of Grant's apparatus, as intended, would delay the com-
pletion of the ship.

SHEERNESS, Jim 2.

The Desperate, 8, screw steam-sloop, Captain William
W. Chambers, completed taking in her stock of coals,
and left here yesterday for Portsmouth.
The Miranda, 14, screw steam-sloop, in command of
Mr. George Williams, master, proceeded on a trial trip
this morning. She was tried between the Mouse light-
vessel and the Nore light-vessel. Her speed by patent
log was 1015, which was confirmed by the distance
ground. The maximum revolutions of her engines were
29 per minute. Owing to the steam not being con-
stantly up, she was not kept at her full speed. The
water was very smooth at the time, and the wind in
force about 5. The screw was propelled at about three
times the velocity of the engines by Gearing, which
worked remarkably well. Her draught of water was—
forward, 12 feet 3 inches, and aft, 12 feet 6 inches. The
upper blade of the screw was about one foot above the
water. The rate of 1015 knots is considered a remark-
ably high speed for an auxiliary power at such light
immersion ; it is therefore confidently expected that her
speed will not be materially diminished when at deep
immersion, after she has received all her stores, arma-
ment, &c. She has been berthed on the west shore,
and is reported ready for the pendant.
The Dutch East Indiaman Jan Hendrik, of Amster-
dam, Jan de Jong commander, from the island of Java,
bound for Amsterdam, having been on shore on the
Goodwin Sands, and got off with loss of rudder, sails,
&c., in a very leaky state, and assisted in here by two
steam-tugs, was run on the mud on Lapwell for safety,
but has this day been towed off by two Government
steam-vessels, assisted by seamen from her Majesty's
ships Monarch and. Tribune, under the charge of Mr.
John W. H. Harvey and Mr. Augustus F. Mungford,
second masters, and berthed alongside the dockyard,
preparatory to her being taken into dry dock on Monday
next for discharge of cargo—coffee, sugar, &c., all
damaged (the ship having had 10 feet water in her) ---all
of which is to be discharged and deposited in the vic-
tualling stores in the yard • after which a survey on the
hull and rigging is to be held by the professional officers
of tie yard, and the ship will be repaired so as to enable
her to reship the sound portion of her cargo, and pro-
ceed to her port of destination. Most efficient assistance
is being rendered by the Vice-Admiral, the Captain-
Superintendent of the yard, and the port officers, in
permitting seamen on hire to keep the pumps and dis-
charge the cargo. The cargo is nearly all out between
decks, and deposited in store, about one-fourth of it
being more or less damaged by sea water. The ship
being lightened, her leaks have considerably decreased.
The Barracouta, 6, paddle-wheel steam-sloop, Com-
mander George Parker, arrived here at 10.15 a.m. this
day from the Arctic expedition, and has anchored in the
harbour. Considerable anxiety was felt here since the
arrival of the Desperate, in consequence of the Barra-
couta having parted company, during a very heavy gale,
from the squadron, and not having been fallen in with
afterwards, all of Which is, of course, now set at rest by
her arrival.

WOOLWICH, JULY 2.

APPOINTMENTS.

Commander.—Henry A. Kerr (1851) to command the
Nerbudda, 12, brig, recently commissioned at Chatham.
Lieutenants.—Henry B. King (1846), recently serving
in the Encounter, 14, screw steam-frigate, to the Lon-
don, 90, at Portsmouth ; Charles Gibbons (1848), re-
cently serving in the Growler steam-sloop on the
Mediterranean station, to the Simoom, 18, fron screw
steam troop-ship at Portsmouth.
Mate.—J. H. Whitshed (1853),, to the Sybille, 40, at
Devonport, making ready for service on the East India
station.
Naval Cadet.—R. P. Dick to the Winchester, 50,
flag-ship on the East India station.
His Majesty the King of Hanover has presented a
very handsome gold snuff-box to Master-Commander
John E. Petley, of the Black Eagle steam-vessel ; and
a sapphire ring, surrounded with eight fine diamonds,
to Mr. Pym, Additional-Master in the Black Eagle ,
and also 501. to be divided among the crew of that. ,
vessel, in which he came over to England. The King
and Queen of Hanover and their Royal children were
much delighted with the crew of the Black Eagle during
the voyage to this country ; the sailors having a fiddle
on board, and the weather being remarkably fine, they
got up a dance on deck, and were encouraged by their
Majesties to enter with great spirit into the hilarity and
humour so characteristic of the sailors' dancing.
An Order in Council has just been issued, detailing
the superannuation allowances to engineers of the Royal
navy :—lnspectors afloat are to receive from 130/. to
to 1801. ; chief engineers, who have served 12 years in
that rank, 1001. to 1301. ; after six years, 851. to 1051.,
and after three years, 75/. to 901. ; assistant-engineers,
after 20 years' service, from 50/. to 601., and after three
years from 401. to 501.
Inuonort or EPTAL MAMMA —The whole of the

non-commissioned officers and men of the Woolwich
I division, doing duty at the barns here, assembled to-
day in heavy marching order for the inspection of the
Commandant of the garrison. Colonel E. C. Whin-
yates, C. 8., Comnondant, accompanied by Colonel
Willis, Inspector of Mills, and Brigade-Major Bingham,
Royal Artillery, arrived at 11 o'clock, and was received
by Colonel Ellis, C. 8., Colonel-Commandant of the
Woolwich division of Royal Marines, the line presenting
arms and the band playing, as usual on such occasions.
The inspection then commenced, and was carried through
with great minuteness. The barracks and offices were
also inspected, including the record-books ; and subse-
quently the hospital, over which the Commandant was
conducted by Dr. O. Evans, Deputy Inspector of Hos-
pitals. In the afternoon Colonel Whinyates witnessed
the men go through their ship-gun drill exercises, which
concluded the inspection of as fine and useful a body of
men as there is in the service. The Commandant and
several of the officers of the garrison dined with the
officers of the Royal Marines in, their mess-room in the
evening.
His Majesty the King of Hanover has been gracously
pleased to grant a pension of 201. per annum for life to
Gunner James Moffat, of Captain Gilbert's troop of
Royal Horse Artillery, who lost his hand by accident
when firing at the review on the common on Friday last.
His Majesty has also been pleased to express his inten-
tion to obtain such a situation as Gunner Moffat may be
found qualified to fill on his arni being healed. It was
a singular coincidence that his Majesty should have ob-
served to Colonel Colquhoun, when in the Arsenal in
the early part of the day, his surprise that the double-
headed sponge used in the Hanoverian artillery was not
introduced into the British service, as it was found to
be a great improvement, and less liable to accidents.
One of the Hanoverian officers in attendance on his
Majesty went and placed a purse, containing 30 sove-
reigns_, into the left hand of Gunner Moffat while he
was 'being placed on the stretcher for conveyance on
men's shoulders to the hospital. Gunner Moffat has
been 14 years in the service, which entitles him to a pen-
sion of 6d. per day, and the loss of his hand while in the
performance of his duty will entitle him to an additional
6d. ; consequently, with his Majesty's annuity, he will
be well provided for, especially if able to fill a situation.
No. 4, the gunner whose duty it was to stop the vent
of the gun with his thumb, has been placed under arrest
until a court of inquiry as to the cause of the accident
takes place ; and No. 5, who fired the gun, when he
witnessed the accident fell down in a fit, being quite
young in the service, and had to be conveyed on a
stretcher to the hospital, where he has remained ever
since.

OFFICIAL RETURN OF CORPORAL PUNISH-
MENTS IN THE NAVY.

A Parliamentary paper has been published stating the
number of persons flogged in the navy annually since
1847. The order of the House of Commons is dated
April 7, and it was only on the Ist of June that the re-
turn was ordered to be printed. The order should
certainly have been in the printer's hands within a week.
The returns are imperfectly given ; but if what are
furnished are not " cooked," as most Admiralty reports
are, there is reason for much congratulation on the an-
nual decline of the number of punishments. We can-
not help remarking that corporal punishments have
materially decreased since Admiral Dundas's scheme
for the reduction of the allowance of spirits has been
carried into effect.

There is now, however, too much flogging where there
ought to be none ; and we again refer to the fact that
there is no corporal punishment in the Peninsular and
Oriental Company's service, so ably superintended by
Lieut. Engledue ; the majority of seamen in that ser-
vice are old men-of-war's men, and there can be no
question as to the perfect state of discipline on board
the Peninsular and Oriental Company's ships. In that
service the greatest punishment that can happen to a
seaman is his dismissal from it. The men are well
paid. well fed, are most steady and respectable, and are
neither bullied nor flogged. Why should not our sea-
men of the Royal navy be as well treated ?"
1848. I 1849. 1850. 1850.

1852.

Total number of

punishments 1,363 I 1,087 I t 967 I Sn I 578
Ditto, lashes 40,545 132,446 27,291 26,587 17,571
We shall take an early opportunity of dissecting these
returns. It will be seen that in the course of five years,
4,837 British seamen, marines, and boys, have been
flogged like hounds—some of them, no doubt very de-
servedly ; and the total number of lashes inflicted was
144,440, which, being multiplied by nine—the number
of tails of the cat, and all of which hits the unfortunate
victim with as much force as a powerful man can hurl
them on his back—gives the number of lashes as nearly
one million three hundred thousand.—Morning Herald.