The Sun.
London, England, 1847-08-14 00:00:00

FATAL ACCIDENT AT SHELTON

THREE LIVES LOST.

On Wednesday morning, about two o'clock, the town-
ships of Hanley and Shelton were alarmed by a cry of
" fire" at. Lord Granville's furnaces, Shelton. Hastening
to the spot, the roof of the casting house was seen
enveloped in flames. The Hanky fire engine was
quickly-brought to the spot, but was found to be entirely
useless, not being in working order. The Etruria
(Messrs. Wedgwoorre) engine came next, and played
with great success upon the burning timbers. The Co-
bridge next arrived, but was not needed, as the fire was
then (about three o'clock) got under. It is scarcely
possible intelligible to explain to the uninitiated in the
process.ef iron smelting the cause of this dreadful catas-
trophe; but, from minute inquiries, we have ascertained
that the accide-rit originated through not drawing off the
melted iron sufficiently soon. The " twier" through
which the blast is passed in the furnace, is inserted
above the usual surface of the burning matter in the
interior, and by A contrivance is supplied with water, to
keep the nose, the interior surface of the twier, from
burning out, the water not actually entering the furnace.
If the nose of the twier be accidentally burned off, the
water escapes into the furnace, and is decomposed by
the iron ; this liberates the hydrogen, and, of course,
causes an explosion. The workmen had been repeatedly
cautioned by Ma-. Wean, the foreman, to tap the iron
before it rose to. the height of the twier. On Wednes-
day the " keeper," the man in charge of the casting,
deferred that or,mration a little too long, and while he
with five others were preparing to tap the iron, the
burning mass rose to the nose of the twier, which wa.,
burned off, and the water being let in an explosion took
place at an opening in the upper part of the furnace,
and the liquid iron, like lava from a volcanic eruption, I
was thrown out with great violence in all directions,
covering some of the men who were at work before it.
Shvets of the flaming matter were thrown upon the
timbers of the roof, which were thus set on fire. There
were at the time of the explosion from 15 to 20 men,
and boys in the casting-house ; six of them were
dreadfully bursted, the remainder escaped unhurt. The
scene at this time was appalling—the roof wee 4"'"
above, and the bodice .-.- ..e -uutortunate men were
burning belosr. Assistance was obtained, and the
sufferers were removed to the infirmary, where three of
them expired on Wednesday night. The other three
still survive, but are considered in a dangerous situation.
The names of the deceased are William Roden, 19,
Johri .Bladon, 14, Thomas Richards, 30. Richards has
left a widow and family to deplore his loss. The sur-
vivors are Thames Swift, Thomas Reynolds, and Henry
Price, married. men. An inquest was held at the In-
firmary, on Thursday last hafure W. Harding, Esq., and
a verdict of Accidental Death was returned. _

The worthy Coroner stated that in future the
" keepers" must be extremely cautious, and that if any
similar accident should occur, traceable to the negligence
of any responsible workman, he should feel it to be his
duty to commit the party for manslaughter. We un-
derstand that re lief is being afforded by the Noble Earl
to the widow 01. the deceased, and to the relatives of the
survivors.—Staffordshire Mercury.

EMIGRATION OF CRlLDREN.—Yesterday the Co-
lonial Land awl' Emigration Commissioners gave notice
at Lloyd's that they require a vessel of 400 tons to
convey emigrant children to Sydney and Port Philip.
MELANCROYLY OCCERRENCE.—Letters from Monte
Video bring accounts of the death of a young English•
man, the son of Mr. F. C. Dickson, wit., was shot in the
streets of that, city tinder very painful circumstances. It
appears that ain Italian emigrant, who went, out, titer,
some time ago,. had eligaized the captain of the same
vessel who took him to Monte Video to bring Out his
wife. On her arrival there she refused to live with her
tuisband, and ab owed such a decided preference for the
captain in question, that the husband became furiously
jealous, and detintnined to take the captain's life. For
this purpose Ite armed himself with a musket, and lay in
wait at a cafe until the captain passed, when he rushed
forth and shot 'him dead on the spot, in the open street.
Unhappily young Mr. Dickson was passing along the
street at the .same time, and the ball, after passing
through the Italy of the Italian captain, lodged in
and caused his. death in less than twenty-four hours.
THE GREAT BRITAIN.—On account of a fresh
gale which occurred on Weinesday last, the trial
intended to bo made for the floating of this vessel was
again postponed fri qn this day (the day on which it was
to have taken, place) until a more favourable opportunity
No precise day can at present be fixed for the experi-
ment, but it is the opinion of Captain Claxton that it
may be made on Thursday, as the highest title will
occur on 'the following Friday. The war-steamer to be
employed in to king out the Great Britain was expected
to arrive in Do tndrum Bay on Sunday evening or Mon-
day morning,. -Dentist News Letter.