The Sun.
London, England, 1851-03-17 00:00:00

MONDAY

NEW MUSIC

THE FLAG OF OLD ENGLAND. A Cen-
tenary Song. Written by the Hon Joseph Howe.
Composed and Arranged by R. C. Halls. Robert

Cocks and Company.
A national song, breathing in every syllable the
enthusiasm of a patriotic devotion to fatherland, has
in this noble production given utterance to the ardour
with which our colonists in the British possessions
look back to the home of their ancestors in old Eng-
land. It appears from the title-page to have been
penned originally for the centenary fete on June
the Btb, 1849, in commemoration of the settle-
ment of Halifax, and is appropriately dedicated to his
Excellency, Sir John Harvey, K.C.B , Lieutenant-
Governor of Nova Scotia. In its present form of
republication the melody is accompanied by a charm-
ing lithographic sketch of the capital of the province.
Gladly and cordially do we recognize any such evi-
dences as these of the affection still subsisting between
the population of these islands and the inhabitants of
our more remote possessions—bone of our bone, and
flesh of our flesh, springing from the same parentage,
obeying the same laws, speaking the same language,
rejoicing in the same literature. Anything
which can tend to keep alive this feeling not
only of friendship but of near relationship, anything
which can serve to remind the people of our colonial
territories of their propinquity, cannot fail to be wel-
comed by those who are in any way interested in the
conservation of the British empire. And nothing can
arouse these generous sentiments more effectually than
the stirring words of a national song. The fact has
been asserted with the emphasis of an adage. Every
one has heard of the philosopher who said, " Let me
make the ballads of a people and any one may make
their laws." The writer of the present nervous and
melodious verses has not been contented with partici-
pating in only one of these labours—he has
been at once a legislator and 4 " ballad maker"—
that title gloried in beyond all others by the
illustrious Baranger. We exult to witness a demon-
stration of civic fervour so genuine ; and heartily
commend not merely the legislative and administra-
tive assiduity of the Hon. Joseph Howe, but his
poetical efforts in like manner. That these are of no
indifferent merit we think the song before us suffi-
ciently proves. It is impossible to hear without
emotion the passionate earnestness of its refrain—

" All hail to the day when the Britons came over,
And planted their standard, with sea-foam still wet,
Around and above us, their spirits will hover,
Rejoicing to mark how we honour it yet."
Very beautiful, moreover, are the lines—
" Beneath it the emblems they cherish'd are waving,
The rose of Old England the roadside perfumes ;
The shamrock and thistle the north winds are braving,
Securely the May-flower blushes and blooms."
As a blending at once of exquisite imagery and pa-
triotic feeling, we take these four lines to be entitled
to our admiration :

" As travellers track to its source in th© mountains,
The stream which far-swelling expands o'er the
plains,
Our hearts on this day fondly turn to the fountains
Where flowed the warm ellrients that bound in
our veins 1"

The song cannot fail to secure to itself in North
America a lasting popularity.

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COAL-PIT ACCIDENT.
UPWARDS OF FIFTY LIVES LOST.
On Saturday morning, shortly beforo five o'clock, a
fearful explosion took place at the coal-pit of Mr. George
Coats, near Nitshill, between two and three miles from
Paisley, by which it is believed upwards of fifty human
beings have lost their lives. The Victoria Pit, in which
the explosion took place, is the deepest in Scotland,
being 1,050 feet in depth at the downcast shaft, which
is situated about the centre of the southern edge of the
workings, from whence the inclination of the strata
tends upwards to the north, at an angle of about one foot
in five, so that at the upeast shaft or pit, which is about
a quarter of a mile distant from the working pit, the
workings are only 780 feet beloW the surface.
The plan of the workings represents an oblong square,
occupying about fifty acres; the portions of the coal
seam worked representing a series of passages of about
18 feet wide, crossing each other at right angles, and
leaving what are calle pillars, or rectangular cubes of
coal of 18 yards by 11. The whole workings thus pre-
sent the appearance of a tartan shock.
The only portion now being worked is the northern
face, along which a series of galleries or cuts are being
made, which will be precisely similar to those portions

already worked out.
The air is carried along the face of these workings by
means of projecting wooden brattices or partitions, which
cause the air to take a tortuous course. All those por-
tions of the works which are exhausted are closed in by
means of brick walls, so that only a very small portion
of air can pass through them, the main current being
led round the extreme circumference of the entire field,
until it reaches the workings oe the northern face.
Being pay Saturday morning a larger number of the
men employed in the pit had commenced work at an
earlier hour than is usual on other days, and at the time
the explosion took place from 50 to 60 men and boys had
gone down. This was about twenty minutes to five
o'clock, and the report was so loud that it was heard
distinctly at Paisley. The 'whole neighbourhood, of
course, was alarmed, and on the people rushing to the
pit mouth it was found that one of the cages, which had
descended a few fathoms, had boon blown up the shaft
to probably the height of the pit framing, some thirty
feet above ground, and after jerking the rope of the pul-
ley at the top of the framing, fell with a double fold of
the rope under it.
The banksman had not arrived when the accident oc-
curred, and it is uncertain whether any one was in the
cage at the time or not. Some said there wore two men;
but, if so, they must have been precipitated down the
pit, as their bodies have not Yet been recovered.
As soon as possible after Ow occurrence every means
were taken to endeavour to relieve those in the pit, should
they be alive; but the partition which divides the shaft
from top to bottom was so injured
and displaced, as to
render the progress of those working in removing the
obstructions a tedious operation, especially as only two
men can get down at a time, Up
to Saturday afternoon
the workmen had not got the
pit cleared much above
one-third of its depth; and the
probability is, that as the
mass of debris will be accumulated in increasing quantity
as they go downwards, the bottom would not be reached
before Sunday.
At present (Saturday night) nothing has been ascer-
tained as to the fate of the unfortunate miners; but the
probability is, that none of tlieln survive, as the explo-
sion was followed by dense volumes of smoke and flame;
and from the smoke, which continues to rise from the
upcast shaft adjoining the present workings, it is evident
the pit is still on fire. However, until the workings are
explored, it will be impossible to ascertain the reality;
and the relatives of the unfortunate individuals in the
pit are so far buoyed up with the hope that some et
least may be saved, and that those most deer iu them
may be amongst the survivors,
Some of those in the pit had been at work 511 night,
whilst others had only come down an hour or so before
the explcsion happened. Moat
of them are married,
and of course have families, but very few of them belong
to the district, the greater number being natives of
Ireland.
The precise cause of the explosion
will probably ever
remain a mystery, but enough is known of the pit to
point out the probable cause.
The Victoria pit is what is called
a fiery one. The
coal is used principally for furnace
purposes, and emits
n large quantity of inflammable gas in the workings.
Ordinary oil lamps or candles
are, notwithstanding,
employed by the miners; and so large an escape of in-
flammable gas goes on, in the face of the workings,
that a candle, held close to the wall when the air-
current is sluggish, will cause n sheet of flame to cor-
ruscate along the whole face where the coal is being
dug out.
No artificial means of producing
cur-
rent of air is adopted in the pit. Ventilation by a
The air finds its way
down the downcast or working shaft, and after travers-
ing around and through the workings for perhaps miles,
finds its way to the upcast shaft, which it ascends, owing
to the heat it may have acquired whilst wriggling along
amongst the workmen.
the day several of the relatives of the sufferers
were During
greatly
excited, and one ma, we were informed,
n
was only prevented by force from jumping down the pit,
he having three sons in it. Amongst the other indivi-
dual cases of distress which have been mentioned to us,
is that of a woman who has no fewer than four sons as
well as her husband in the pit.
The procurator-fiscal from Paisley was early at the
place, with the object of taking a precognition of the cir-
cumstances; but nothing could be learned beyond the
8
fact that the explosion had occurred.

FIRE IN THE COMMERCIAL-ROAD.—On Saturday
morning, between six and seven o'clock, a fire broke out on
the premises of Mr. Peter's, a linendraper, in Hareford-place,
Commercial-road. The flames were first discovered by some
dock labourers, who in passing the house found the front
shop in a general blaze. An instant alarm was given, and
the inmates were aroused, who were happily enabled to
escape safely. Several engines soon arrived, and plenty of
water was obtained, but unfortunately the flames were not
subdued until the whole of Mr. Peter's valuable stock in
trade was reduced to ashes, and the building partially de-
stroyed. Mr. Peters was insured in the Imperial Fire Office.
The origin of the fire has not been discovered.
The blindness of the understanding is as much to
be pitied as the blindness of the eyes; and it is neither
laughable nor criminal for a man to lose his way in either
case.—Eliza Cook's Journal.
DANGEROUS EXPERIMENTS.—It has been usual
when the experiments were carrying on at the Royal Arsenal,
Woolwich, by a detachment of the Foot Guards, for the
officer in command, with two non-commissioned officers, to
stand behind the target, and the non-commissioned officers
to show themselves after each firing, and signal to the firing
party, with the aid of a small flag, en which side of the
target the balls passed when they did not hit the object
against which they were directed. While the experiments
were being carried on on Thursday, one of the musket-balls
passed under the target, and struck the captain's leg, passing
through his trousers and boot, but fortunately only! grazing
the skin. During the experiments yesterday (Friday) one
of the balls passed through the target in a part which bad
been previously fractured by the firing, and struck one of the
corporals on the back, and tore his clothes nearly the entire
breadth of his body, as he stood with his side to the back of
the target. These narrow escapes will cause a change inthe
arrangements for firing in future.
The royal mail steam-ship Canada, Captain Har-
rison, sailed from the Mersey on Saturday morning for Hali-
fax and Boston, with the usual mails, a heavy freight, and
71 passengers.

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