The Sun.
London, England, 1851-08-21 00:00:00

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I The board to-day inspected the 'ltoYalVilliant
Victualling-yard, the Royal Naval Hospital, &c. To-
morrow they will probably land on the llreakwater,
and in the evening, or on Friday morning, leave in
the Black Eagle for Pembroke.
Captain Milne waS sufficieno3l(recovered yesterday
to resume duty. .
The steamer, Myrmidon,/ Conanimidei', Joliffe,
,arrived „yesterday morning and went ..up harbour to
coal. Her crew wi l be. pat here 'Miff, to departure
'for the coast' of Africa.
Wooiwica, AUG. do.—The Vesuvitis, steam-sloop,
'wft Woolwich yeqer,Okritnorning for peyonport, and
as to call at Sheerness and Portsmouth on her way
:iiound. She is in charge of Mr. Brown, Assistant-
Master-Attendant at_EieVonport dockyard.
The Hydra, steam-sloop, went down the Tiro-
day to try her engines.
The number of visitors to Woolwich.doolgFd yes-
terday.' 4sts''3;2s2 British subject=, and 1:32 foreignere,
making a total of 3,384.
a.
DESTRCYCTIVE COLLIERY EXPLOSION.

On Meaday4ifght one ofChTbse disastrous and fatal
events which are of such frequent occurrence in the
coal-mining-districts took place at Washington
colliery, whichli"libout two miles from the Wash-
ington station on the York,: Newcastle,,and Berwick
Railway ; and we regret:..to say that the explosion
was one of the
,most lamentpble andleainful descrip-
tion that hallappened in thia-clistiictifigi'Many years,
resulting, as it has done, in the oe/cyst-um ,death of
from 30 to 40- periens, molt' etigliidm were in the
health and viginiiknf youth. It appears that between
4 and &o'clock is the afterrioen Of"Matn;lay about 60
men went down intd,the o(cti the night Bhaft, and
everything' seemed- to gore= regularly until about
half-past 11 the inhabitant§ of the
neighburhoodysierearonsed by a loud explosion;.upon
the report of -which -largo masses of people rushed to
the mouth of the Pit nier all the assistance that
lay in their power., ecLfnfortunately the resident
viewer, Mr. Cruddeefellfict, icalio one of the owners,
1
was absent on a visit-to,
Peat Exhibition, and no
person being left to act for him. inth4 absence, the scene
became one of the greatest confiisseiaseiahe head. over•
man was at length aroused, and heir itilaimpany with
a few of the miners, descended the pit, and found
several dead bodies very much burnt and mutilated
near the cross-cut way, where it is supposed the pit
was fired. They discovered that the explosion took
place in the " whole" workings, where about forty
men were employed, and that the other twenty men,
who had been working in the " brokings" were un-
injured. Nu language can describe the intense grief
and horror of those who, on the first report being
given, rushed to the spot, and remained to witness
the blackened and disfigured corpses of their husbands,
children, and fathers, who only a few hours previously
left them in their.usual health. Three hours in the
dead of the night passed away in the most painful
suspense beforel. any of the bodies were brought to
bank. Almost immediatelv after the explosion took
place, two furnade-men, desirous of being instrumen-
tal in saving the lives of their comrades, went down
to render assistance, but the afterdamp was so strong
that they were brought up again almost dead. One
of these brave men has since died, and little hopes are
entertained of the recovery of the other.. At 3 o clock
in the morning, when only a few of the bodies had been
recovered, it was found necessary, on account of the
afterdamp, to put out the furnace before anything
further could be done. This was eft:o64lv nine
o'clock. During the night the crowd' hourly in-
creased, and a number of viewers also `'thrived from
the neighbouring collieries, and rendered very, valu-
able assistance. Throughout the day from nine
o'clock in the morning corpses were at intervals ex-
tricated, and up to seven o'clock in the evening from
28 to 30 had been brought to the bank and identified
Ilay their relatives, whose shrieks were of the most ap-
palling and heartrending description. At seven
o'clock there yet remained, it was supposed, about ten
corpses in the pit, which it would take several hours
to recover, but the exact number had not been ascer-
tained. As to the cause of the explosion, it is difficult
at present to cbtein any satisfactory account, but an
impression generally prevails that it is a badly venti-
lated pit, and many were heard to say that such an
accident had been anticipated for several weeks, and
one man, that seeing the danger, he left the pit just
before the explosion took place, and thus saved his
life. The whole matter, however, will undergo a
searching investigation before a coroner's jury, which
was 'to meet yesterday (Wednesday) morning. The
Government inspector of mines for the district (Mr.
Matthias Dunn) is unfortunately from home, and,
therefore it could not be learnt whether the mine had
been recently inspected. tii.‘,

HIGHWAY ROBBERY.
BRISTOL, AUG. 20.—A very daring outrage, which
it is not improbable may be attended with fatal re-
sults, was committed a day or two ago near this city
by a man named John Williams, whom the police
have just succeeded in apprehending under very sin
gular and curious circumstances. He is charged with
highway robbery, accompanied by considerable vio-
lence; and the following are the facts elicited at an
examination taken by the magistrates at the bedside
of Mr. Godwin, of Auburn Villa, Cothana New-road,
the gentleman on whom the outrage was committed :
—Mr. Godwin, who is 75 years of age, stated " that,
he was taking a walk for the benefit of his health in
the carriage road which passes beneath the pleasure
grounds of Redland-court (a thoroughfare much fre-
quented at this period of the year), when he was sud-
denly seized from behind by a powerful man who
placed his hands over his face and eyes, kicked his legs
from under him, knocked him down, and then threw
himself upon him. The man then kicked him in the
head and stunned him, and when he came to himself
he found that his watch with the appendages had been
stolen from him." It so happened that a young man
named Callacott, a short time previous to this atrocious
act, which was committed in broad daylight, was car-
rying a pair of boots to Redland-court, theresidence of
Mr. Edward:, and when he entered the carriage road
he was followed some distance by a man, and suspecting
from his manner that he would try to steal his boots he
turned round and looked him full ,in the face, when
he went away. Callacott went to the court and
delivered the boots, which detained him sow time,
and as he was returning he heard a groan, and on
looking up the road he saw two perions struggling
on the ground, and on going to the spot observed the
same man he had before seen get up from the other,
kick liian several times in the head, and then make off
across the fields, leaving Mr. Godwin insensible on
the ground. Callacott raised an alarm, and the poor
o'd gentleman was conveyed home seriously injured.
Information was given to the police, and it so hap-
pened that subsequently, as police 'constable 143 was
making inquiries at the Boar's Head, Lamb-street,
Bristol, for evidence against an utterer of base coin,
he observed the prisoner Williams run out into a
yard at the back of the house and clamber to the roof
of some premises in the rear. Suspecting something
wrong, the policeman followed, and chased him across
the roofs of several houses. The prisoner threw a
heavy pantile at the policeman, which nearly knocked
hiss off the housetop, and then jumped off into a
court, followed by police-constable 143. The court
did not communicate with the street, and the pri-
soner Williams took refuge in a house. He rushed
towards the fireplace with a view of seizing the poker,
when he stumbled and fell. The constable at once
seized and held him, and assistance being procured
he was conveyed to the station-house. His Wear.
ance tallying with the description of the person who
had committed the outrage on Mr. Godwin, the
.Ivl4
ness Callacott was sent for, and be at once pa v 1
identified him .as—
being the mail; The prisoner
Williams was taken before Mr. Lunell, the magistrate
who took Mr. Godwin's deositimh dbe was fully
committed to take his trial p for the highway robbery
at the ensuing Gloucester assizes.

-,-, c,,rntime since a 'memorial
aOuyldni.bene eeux.-
PUBLIC xs,BCORDS.--- Some pa Rolls, as the official
ielsiteshr was forwarded to the Alaste.'n '-
roarclnrls:quired at the Rolls Chapel, at
keeper of all public
gaged in historical
empted from the fees
now
ter House, Carlton Ride, Sec. Th •
the ChaP
the Tower, at
returned afavourable answer to this me-
morial, of the Rollssigne - .
d • by Lord Mahon, President of the
tiquatiainderintqhuaitr
morial, whichntliaLries; hy Lord Strangford, Lord Bray-
Society of An f ondesborough, the Bishop of Oxford, Mr.
brooks, Lor •thillam, Dean Milman, and a long list of well.
jay gr.,
taken
blacau . , ati. That answer was into consideration
known hter
. meeting of the subsbribera to the memorial on Monday
l" - which Mr. Payne Collier presided, when several
last, over
lotions were unanimously agreed to, expressive of the
resolutions f
lette
g historical ude of all men, o rs, especially of those engaged
rar investigations, for the concession thus made,
add with so much alacrity, on the part of Sir John
Romilly. It appears that, until the new record offices are
completed, some temporary arrangements are to be adopted,
under which all persons who are not making professional
searches on behalf of clients, but who are employed bone
fide in the acquisition of historical information, shall be
entirely exempted from the payment of any money for
facilities afforded in the various situations where records are
now deposited. When all these documents shall hereafter
be brou.sht into one collection, the Alaster of the Rolls has
undertaken to make new and permanent regulations upon
the subject. lewd' be obvious that an important step
been thus gained, and that what has hitherto beens felt
___ bysevere
men of letters as so great an inconvenience a0(12‘,..37c11:::
a hardship, will ultimately, and ere long, be !'"1."
Chronicle. ,
MELA.IiCHOLT Al D FATAL Acm v
'a.—Yeaterday
Mr. Bedford, the coroner for Westminster, received informa-
tionr,
t:.....1t appears that
a
of the following distressing d
n
a
On the preceding morning gentleman named Spradbury,
accident:—lt
who resides in Frances-streete waterloo-road, heard violent
screams proceediag
'rat door of No. 2, in the same
street. Feeling convinced
fromthe
thatfirst
something wrong had hap-
pened,the dear in, and on rueiing ep
stairs discovered the hod on
he immediately burst the
and a little girl, about three
years of age. daughter l o
Mrs. Redd ing,completely enveloped
f assistance the fire waa ot
in flame. With the
ai
ooPr child was most frightfully bullet
out, but not until the p
over her body.
She was removed to the surgery of Mr.
Robert Brooks, in
the Waterloo-road, tint owing to the
.
yeeekved, it was found necaseary to remove
serious injuries 7- - • hospital,where li ereal
ser the IN estmnaster she ng
the sufferer to . .
most excruciating agony till halt-past five yesterday
in the
morning,
when death terminated her sufferings.