The Sun.
London, England, 1846-02-02 00:00:00

DREADFUL EXPLOSION.

On Friday afternoon an accident of a frightful and
painful nature took place at the house No. 14, King-street,
Lambeth-walk, by which two fine young men were instantly
deprived of life. and four other persons so severely injured
that the lives of three of them are in the greatest possible
danger. It appears that William Kenyon, aged 19 years,
had been in the employment of Mr. Darby, the firework-
maker in Itegent-street, Lambeth, and that his master not
having sufficient space on his premises to perform his work
had allowed him to take about two hundred weight of com-
position home with him to manufacture into " stars." The
house No. 14, King-street, Lambeth-walk, is occupied by
the father and mother of Kenyon, where they carry on the
laundry business, and the place selected by him to manufac-
ture the "stars" was a small back cellar, the ceiling of which
was very low, and is this place he kept a strong fire for the
purpose of drying his work as he finished it. Several youths
of his acquaintance were in the habit of calling to see him at
his work, and at the time of the fatal, occurrence there were
three young men there, named Holmes, Smith, and Spear.
Of these the two latter were frightfully injured, and the
other, Holmes, shared the melancholy fate of poor Kenyon.
At a few minutes before two o'clock the mother of Kenyon
proceeded from the front parlour to the top of the kitchen
stairs to call her son to his dinner, and on looking down the
stairs she observed a dense smoke and a peculiarly coloured
flames issuing from within. She endeavoured to give an
alarm, but the vapour
.ascending was so strongly impreg-
nated with sulphurw, for a few moments, nearly to deprive her
of life, and it prevented her calling out. An alarm was,
however, anon given, and in a few minutes, police-constable
Thomas Misser, L 39, was on the spot. It was then found
that the cellar was on fire, and the sulphurous vapour was
still so strong that there existed considerable danger in ap-
proaching the place. At length the flames were sufficiently
subdued to enable the persons to enter, when a truly fright-
ful spectacle presested itself. Kenyon and Holmes jay close
together with their clothes, with the exception of a few shreds,
burnt off; their flesh peeling off, and in many parts the skin
removed from the flesh in large patches. Smith and Spear
were is another part of the cellar, fortunately removed from
where the great body of flame was, groaning with agony,
and severely scorched and injured. They were removed
without loss of time to Guy's Hospital, where they still re-
main in a very precarious state. A young woman named
Sarah Hales, in the service of Mrs. Kenyon, was in the cellar
when the fire took place, with a child nearly two years of
age in her arms. The instant she saw the composition
ignite,-she with great presence of mind rushed out of the door,
but before she could do so the flames caught her arms and
face, and she was severely burnt. The child was also much
scorched about the face and arms, and both were sent to
Lambeth Workhouse, where they were promptly attended
by Mr. Duke, the parish surgeon. The bodies of Kenyon
and Holmes were also removed in shells to. Lambeth IVo:Iss
house to aw..it the coroner's inquest,
(ANOTIIItti ACCOUNT.)
Upon inquiries on Saturday at St, Thomas's Hospital we
regret to say that tke two unfortunate men, Smith and
Kenyon; have died from the severe injuries they received.
The young woman who escaped through the floor is still
alive, and attended by Mr. Duke, surgeon to the werkhouae ;
but very little hopes are entertained of her ultimate recovery.
The poor little boy Ainger still lingers in the greatest agony,
and his dissolution is hourly expected.
• Mr. Carter, the Coroner for Surrey, hss appointed the in-
quest to take place on the bodies of olrnee and Manning on
Tuesday.

This-is the fifth explosion, attended with loss of life, which
has occurred in Lambeth within the last six years.

OFFICIAL HOUSES AND BUILDINGS.—Saturday a re-
turn, procured by Mr. Hawes, was printed, giving an account
of offices, official residences, with the names, &c., of the
officers residing in the same, as also an account of allowances
made in lieu nt mitlences. The return extends to 40 pages,
and in the list 16 establishalents are mentioned. In the
Mint 25 officers have residences, some OP which are of the
value of 175/. a year, others of 1001., and other sums, the
lowest be 101. XiInIPTPIII 9ther offices, under the super-
intendence of the Commis,ioners of Woods and forests,' are
set forth ; some of the residences are not the property of the
Crown, and in five cases allowances are made to officer's in
lieu of residence. Ma. J. H. Ley, the clerk of the House o
Commons, has an allowance et .500/. In the naval depart.:
Mont of the Admiralty the First Lord has a residence of 37
rooms, which ape estimated at a yearly value of 9901., the
highest sum in the return. The Cord Llenteanp
Ireland
has the Vice-Regal Lodge for his residence, which includes
41 bedrooms, and the value of the whole is 6001. a year. At
the Post-office, st. Martin's-le•Grand, the President and
Vice-President in the inland office and 11) plerks hayp real-
dences, which are worth to each about SO/. a year. Itrevi-
oply to the consolidation of the Foreign-office with the In-
po
land-office, lio§ were officers of the former departrent,
n
were allowed apartment; .viithin the
building, which are still enjoyed by them, though they will
not be continued to their successors. An apartment in the
and in ilia
capacity
same estab!lahment ij appippriated for the use of /he clerics
in waiting, one of whom &ways aleeps Karma. The
0W and of
i
housekeeper and 14 servants ocPPPY 16 rooms. The return
gives the names of the panici 40144
those to whom allowances are made n lieu of official tali:-
deoce,s, with the declared value of the same, and the sums
respectively granted to the nonresident officers in the
United Kingdom.
INFANTICIDE AT BRIGHTON.—During the weelf the
bodies of two infants have been found in the church-yard of
St. Nicholas, I.lfightgu. The first discovery was made on
Friday morning, by the beadle employed to take carp of thp
burial-ground. It was some distance from the public path,
and but for the circumstance of the beadle going accidentially
to the spqt, it would probably heve remained a long time
undiscovered. On examining the body, Ur. W.erral,
surgeon, found that it was that of a full-grown child, whiph
hag' evidently been born withont the nsual assistance; and
V
there was a malt of a Tioient blow on the head, which had
fractured the parietal bone,_ and which the surgeon said had
no doubt caused death. On a post mortem examination, the
pp ceswehr eeaslut
healthy.
to indicate
coroner'sindi cate
ithatinquest
utesh et chhasi 1 d
beenhd beenheld
aborneaalive and
on the body, and the adjourned inquiry terminated on Thurs-
day night, with an roan verdict of " Wilful Murder against
a vnearing expressed
de spot;
an
opinion ut
that tile. t
the
eufht
child
the a parishs s
still-
born, 1
some person unknown!, 'Vise 'seconds bogy was found
surgeon, Thursday,i
this case.
was given on the
borLne,, taqinqs;eocstxwalis:xhcellidAiNnothEi.
•
shao list, on -hioncla7, that it is intended to insert at the
Blot of the list, *bin time to titite,'the'nanies'of such parties
IS have been found (V a •select committee) utiworthy 8f
confemenFe non-fiflfilment of pait ph-u
••