The Sun.
London, England, 1838-09-20 00:00:00

j~G

STEAM-BOILER EXPLOSION.

We gave yesterday an account of the calamitous explosion
that occurred last Monday in the Viaduct Foundery on the
Manchester and Liverpool line of Railway. Newton-on-the-
Willow. We See by the Manchester Guardian that on Tues-
day an inquest was held to inquire touching the deaths of
Joseph Dangerfield, Samuel Appleton, Gorge Fazakerley,
George Hough, William Wells, John Dean, and Thoroa
Price, the seven sufferers who had died from the effects of
the explosion.
The Jury, prior to the inquiry, went to view the bodies,
which presented a sad spectacle. Dangerfield had sccreely a
whole bone in his body : Wells had both his' arms broken,
and the brains protruded through his skull ; his jaw-bone. was
also carried away. The others were dreadfully bruis.'d And
scalded: Two of the bodies were at the workhouse; the o;I: `es
were lying at the cottages near the works.

Peter Traverse, a labourer residing at Burton Wood, stated
that he was in the employ of Messrs. Jones, Turner. and
Evans, and had worked at the Viaduct Foundry since March
last. He knew all the deceased men. 'I hey all worked for
Messrs. Jones and Co. Dangerfield was the manager of the
works, and had the overlooking of the setting up ~1- the new
boiler. Witness went to work about twenty minutes to six
o'clock. There were then about twenty or thirty men stand-
ing before the boiler furnace. Witness works as a coke bur-
ner. When the bell rang at six o'clock, Dangerfield was:
working the engine. He directed witness to bring a can, and
fetch some oil, and said, after he had oiled the shaft, he would
have a fair start. ylie stopped the engine. Some men put on
nit: straps, while witness oiled the shaft Whin that was
done, 2angerfield started the engine. There is a wall be..
tween the e;:n;ine and the boiler. The engne had not been at
work more than
a minute when the boiler burst with a loud
explosion. Several ,;1 the men were thrown into the wheat
field adjoining. They w; ._e knocked through a sheet of
borer
paling. Dangerfield, Fazakerle:. and Appleton, were killed
on the spot. Dangerfield only gas
'e one sigh. Wells di
11 o'clock. Three of the others were tn.ly just alive. The boedil at
was not burst, it was only the flue. The...team from the boiler
quite darkened the windows. Mr. Jon,'s came in ten
minutes after the accident. Witness sa;v Dangerfield
look at the guage-cock a little before six. Ere turned it, and
the water poured out freely. Witness believes be tried the
lower cock.—Mr. Jones deposed that he was dress'ing himself
about six in the morning of yesterday, when he heart.' what he
at first conceived to be a loud clap of thunder. He iivimedi-
ately went to the foundry, and there found Fazakerlcy, ANle-
ton, and Dangerfield, dead. The survivors were removed LO
their several places of residence. The boiler was quite new..
It was made at witness's foundery, and was fixed up and set
going on Saturday, fur the first time. It worked well, and it
was intended to be started fairly on Monday morning. The
engine was a ten-horse power, and the plates of the boiler
were 3-Bths thick. The boiler was twelve feet long, and four
feet six inches diameter. There was a tube through it of the
same thickness. The apparatus to the boiler was two guage-
cocks, and water-guage, and it had two safety valves upon it.
It was calculated to bear a pressure of 80lbs. to the inch..
Only 351bs. were upon it when the accident happened.
Witness has endeavoured to ascertain the cause of the acci-
dent, and he is of opinion that there was not a sufficient van-
tity of water in the boiler, which caused the flue to get r.:(1
hot; and when the engine pumped in the cold water, the
boiler collapsed. The boiler remains firm and sound on its
bed. There is an aperture made in the flue at the further
end of the boiler. Dangerfield had got up the steam, and
had attended the erection of the engine throughout. Witness
considers that Dangerfield was perfactly competent ; but in
this instance had not been sufficiently cautious. The other
men were mere spectators. The steam was not blowing off.
In his opinion, hydrogen gas was formed in the boiler the mo-
ment the cold water was let in. He drew that conclusion
from the fact of the engine not having been worked more than
a minute before the explosion took place.—Peter Ditchfield,
the watchman, deposed, that Dangerfield ordered witness
to call him at five o'clock, and to get a fire under
the boiler at half-past four o'clock. Dangerfield came
soon after five o'clock. At that time the water ap-
peared to be about a nail's length from the top of the
guage. He did not try his guage-cocks while witness was
near him. Witness went with Dangerfield to see some eels
on the top of the pond. They floated, in consequence of some
lime having been thrown into the water. He had not started
the engine when witness left, about five minutes before the
bell rang. Dangerfield fed the fire himself. A number of
men were coming to the work just as he left. The accident
happened ten or twelve minutes after. Dangerfield might
have tried the gunge-cocks during the time witness was un-
locking the doors —John Ditchfield, the gate-keeper, con-
firmed this testimony. He said that, had the accident hap-
pened only a few minutes sooner, thirty men would have been
killed.—Two other witnesses were called, but deposed to no
new facts.—The Jury returned a verdict, in all the cases, of
Accidental Death, occasioned by the insufficiency of water in
the boiler, upon which they found a deodand of five shillings.
They expressed themselves also to be of opinion that no blame
was attached to Messrs. Jones, as the manufacturers of the
boiler.

THE REGISTRATIONS.

WESTMINSTER

Yesterday morning Messrs. Mylne and Craig, the Re% ising
Barristers fur the city of Westminster, entered upon the busi-
ness of their office, and held Courts for that purpose in the
Guildhall. The following is the list of claims and objections
with which each of those Learned Gentlemen was furnished
Claims. Objections.
121
80

St. Ann's, Soho
St. Clement Danes l3
St. George's, Hanover-square 8
St. James 2O

St. John, the Evangelist

St. Margaret's —
St. Martin's.in-the- Fields l9
St. Mary-le-Strand 3
St. Paul's, Covent-garden
The Precinct of the Savoy 0
Of the above parishes it was arranged that Mr. Craig
should take the last four, and Mr. Mylne the rest.
(Before Mr. MYLSE.)
Mr. SCORE, jun., appeared for the ,Conservatives, and
Mr. TROTT for the ‘Vhig- Radical party. The first list called
oa was that of the parish of St. Ann, Soho.
Mr. Score, jun., objected to George Archer, who
ela;mei as a scot and lot voter on the ground that, as his
n ime did not appear on the List for 1832, the inferen-...e was
that he was not entitled to vote at the time of the passing of
the Reform Bill. The List for 1832 was produced, and foun
not to contain Mr. Archer's name.

27
50
20
34

Mr. Trott produced the lists fur the two last years, in which
the name was inserted.—Vote allowed.

SCOT AND LOT VOTERS

Several objections were made by \lr. Score to persons who
claimed as scot and lot voters, in the parish of St. Martin, on
the ground that their names were not in the r-gistry of 1832 ;
but as generally they wire found io the sub.cqucnt lists, the
cases were in order thit the proper documents might
be produced fur the purpose of ascertaining whether the
claimants were rated in 1832.
REVISION OF THE COUNTY OF