The Sun.
London, England, 1851-08-12 00:00:00

After the cart had descended to about three-fourths
of the extreme depth the signal was given for haul-
ing up, and the men were drawn to the surface.
They stated that, owing to the twisting of the round
rope it would be impossible for them to descend to
the vein in safety, but they brought the melancholy
tidings that they had conversed with the men in the
vein, and learnt that the five poor fellows were all
dead. The engineer states that he observed the de-
fect in the rope as it passed the wheel, but that be-
fore he could stop the engine the rupture took place.
It being impossible to work with the round rope, the
men proceeded to splice another flat one, which had
been lent from the Dean-lane Colliery, and at about
three o'clock in the afternoon the first two bodies,
those Of PHILIP PRING and JOSEPH MOFFATT, were
brought up. They were dreadfully crushed by the
falling of the iron bonnet of the cart. MOFFATT had
his throat cut, caused by his neck being driven
against the edge of the iron cart. In about another
hour the three remaining bodies were recovered, but
they were only slightly bruised, and had evidently
lost their lives by drowning in the water at the bot-
tom of the shaft. We have been informed that the
rope had been spliced only four days previously in
the very place where it parted, and it is alleged by
some persons to have always been a defective one."
We have observed that of late, whenever a colliery
accident has occurred, there has been exhibited an eager
desire to throw all the blame on the unfortunate victims
of the accident, who, according to the statements
usually made in such cases, have been almost uni-
formly the victims of their own rashness, and to
exonerate the proprietors of the colliery, who have
as invariably been represented as the most humane,
and generous, and prudent of individuals, whose
only object was to preserve the lives of those en-
gaged in their service. In the present instance,
however, no such excuse for the conduct of the pro-
prietary of the colliery can be put forward. With-
out entering at all into the question as to the alleged
defective state of the rope, a question to which, as it
must necessarily become hereafter the subject of
judicial investigation, it would be improper further
to refer, we have abundant evidence in the facts
themselves to show that the proprietors did not exer-
cise that degree of vigilance and care, and did not
make those preparations which it is the boundenduty
of all persons situated as they are to make for the
preservation of the lives of those who hourly risk
those lives in their service. How comes it that the pro-
prietors had on the spot only one rope of sufficient
length to reach to the bottom of the pit ? Had not
the occurrence of this accident proved the fact, would
the statement have been credited that there could be
found persons so careless as to risk the lives of their
workmen, and the value of their property, upon one
rope alone, and that, if the rope broke, all communi-
cation between those above ground and those under
must cease for hours, perhaps for daps ? In this
case we find that five hours elapsed before, by splicing
together small ropes, any attempt could be made to
descend into the mine, and even
‘these ropes were
" borrowed ;" they were not on the spot ready for
service, in case of accident ; but this is not all, the
spliced rope was not sufficiently perfect to enable the
men to get to the bottom of the pit, and it was not
until another rope had been borrowed from another
colliery, and another splice had taken place, that after
a lapse of nearly twelve hours from the time of the
occurrence of the accident, any communication
with the bottom of the pit could take place ; whereas,
had a second flat rope of proper length been at hand at
the time, it might have been at once rigged to the
drum, and instead of a lapse of twelve hours, a lapse
of not as many minutes would have occurred, before
another cart with assistance would have descended,
in which case the probability is that the lives of the
three men who were drowned would have been saved
We hope that all proprietors of coal mines will take
warning from this fatal accident, and will take care to
have always on hand at the pit's mouth an ample
supply of flat ropes, so as to be always enabled, in
the event of accident, to at once restore the inter-
rupted communication between those above and those
below.

We would earnestly invite the public attention to
the meeting of the Grand National Cattle Show of Ire-
land, which is to take place in Dublin during the present
week. As it is the only one of the three Royal Agricul-
tural Societies which will hold a regular meeting in the
provinces this year, combining implements and stock,
and every variety of farming produce, we feel confi-
dent that the crowd of strangers now in this country
will avail themselves of the opportunity of not only
visiting the show in Dublin, but of also extending
their tour into the centre of the country. We perceive
by the programme that the proceedings are to be on
a most extensive scale. Wednesday, the 13th instant,
will be the first day of the show, and the grand ban-
quet will take place on Thursday, while the meeting
will terminate with a grand ball andsupper, on Friday
❑ight, in the Theatre Royal.
At such a time as this, when every portion of this
country is crammed almost to suffocation, it is but
fair that our poor suffering sister should come in for
her share of the benefit, and that strangers should see
with their own eyes that land for which " GOD has
done so much and man so little." For this object a
number of circumstances combine at the present
moment. The Parliament is prorogued, and Members
are taking flight back to Ireland. The facilities af-
forded by the different railway and steam-boat
companies are greater than on any former occasion,
and return tickets can be procured at the E uston-
square Station, as well as at Birmingham, Chester,
&c., expressly for the show, to Dublin via Holyhead,
returnable at the end of the week, by which parties
will see the entire meeting, under the most favourable
circumstances, and on the cheapest terms possible.
Again, if parties are inclined to extend their tour
into the country, they can procure the regular return
tickets via Dublin and Killarney, and having passed
the show-week in Dublin, proceed by the different
railways to visit the South and the West of Ireland,
returning at the end of a fortnight. To strangers
anxious to visit Ireland, we strongly advise them to
take advantage of this opportunity ; and tenant-
farmers and capitalists, whose eyes are directed to
that country, will find every facility for studying not
only the various productions of the soil, but also the
land itself, in its present state of transition.
We firmly believe that the tide has turned for Ire-
land, and that this is the critical time to take it at
the flood, and we hope to see thousands avail them-
selves of this opportunity to visit the only great
industrial meeting in the kingdom, that has not been
swallowed up by the all-absorbing influence of the
Crystal Palace.

APPROACHING MARRIAGE IN HIGH LIFE.—We
understand that a matrimonial alliance is about to take
place between his Serene Highness Prince Edward of Saxe
Weimar and the Lady Augusta Gordon Lennox, second
daughter of their Graces the Duke and Duchess of Richmond.
THE GENERAL BOARD OF HEALTH.--Yesterday
two Acts of Parliament were printed confirming certain
provisional orders of the General Board of Health. On
the 17th of September next, elections for local boards of
health are to take place at the following places : Mor-
peth, Bristol, Beverley, Sherborne, Bridgend, Bryn Mawr,
Norwich, Gateshead, Doncaster, Margate, Borough of
Weymouth, and Melcombe Regis, Newmarket, Romford,
Tenby, Kingston-upon-Hull, Hartlepool, Hastings, and at
West Cowes on the 4th of September. By the second
Act the provisional order for Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, is
confirmed.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.--At a meeting of
the Council on the 7th inst. Messrs. Peter Redfern, of Aber-
deen, diploma dated August 18, 1843, and Edward Smith, of
St. John's-wood, formerly of Birmingham (May 10, 1811),
were admitted fellows of the college. The following gentle-
men, having undergone the necessary examinations for the
diploma, were admitted members of the college at the meet-
ing of the Court of Examiners on the Bth inst.: —Messrs.
John Bredin Posnett, Belfast; Maurice James O'Connor,
Morpeth. Northumberland; Cornelius William Dennehy,
Cork; Walter Alexis Bridge, Nicaragua, Central America;
Henry George, Kirton Lindsey, Lincolnshire James Dick-
un, Charleston, South America ; Henry Spry Leverton,
Truro, Cornwall ; John Ansell Brown, Surrey-square, Old
Kent-road ; and Charles Rothwell, Bolton.le-Moors, Lanca-
shire. At the same meeting of the Court Mr. Robert Charles
Scott passed his examination for naval surgeon. This gen-
tleman had previously been admitted a member of the col-
lege, his diploma bearing date August 9, 1847.
thatS colony,
DEATH OF D. R. Ross, ESQ.—We re-
gret to learn, by the Tobago papers, the sudden death of
his Excellency D. R. Ross, Esq , Lieutenant-Governor of
yg,igocfcraemsiotnheed
sideby e his being
reeingad intopreci a ravinepitatedw about
uhehis
horse andt
thirty feet deep, whilst returning with his servant from a
public ball. Strange to say, horse, gig, and servant escaped
uninjured.

POOR-LAW RELIEF IN IRELAND.—Yesterday a
return to Parliament was printed, from which it appears
that in the three quarters of the year ending the 28th of
June last the total expense incurred for in-maintenance was
444,4881., and for out-door relief 8,0821. ; for other expenses
402,5081., making the total expenses incurred 855,0781. The
poor-rate lodged amounted to 840,3861., and the total Poor-
law valuation was 11,923,4591.

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