The Sun.
London, England, 1851-09-12 00:00:00

READFUL ACCIDENT IN THE
COUNTY OF ANTRIM.
Wednesday's Belfast papers contain accounts of a
"earful disaster, by which the lives of three persons
were lost, 26 persons badly (some of them, it is feared,
fatally) injured by fractured limbs, and upwards of
40 others more or, less hurt by external or internal
contusions. The Sad event occurred on the evening
of Monday last, in the old paper mill adjoining the
town of Ballyclare, in the county of Antrim, in con-
sequence of the giving way of the flooring of a large
loft, in which upwards of 500 persons were assembled
for the purpose of hearlng a lecture on Electra-
Biology.
Tne following account of the deplorable casualty is
given in the Newsletter :
" Balleclare is a pretty and thriving little town, situ-
ated in one of the most fertile districts of Antrim, aticatt
24 miles distant from the Ballypallady statiou on the
!Ballymena Railway, and ten miles north of Belfast. To
the inhabitants of this town, and those of the surround-
ing neighbourhood, it may easily be imagined the ea-
nouncement of a lecture on the new and marvellous
science of electro-biology, to be accompanied by the
usual experiments, was a most attractive novelty, and
such was the inducekant which collected them to the
number of upwards of 500 in the building which wes
the scene of the accident we are about to describe.
The lecturer on the occasion was Mr. John G.
Thornley, an officer of Excise, stationed in the town,
who: had previously exhibited >d in private with consi-
derable success. The object of giving the lecture, it is
right to state, was not with a view to Mr. Thornley's
own profit. It had been suggested that his services
might be made available to aid a fund for the repairing
of the second Ballyclare National Schoolhouse. A CoLl•
mittee of the townspeople had, it appears, taken charge
of the arrangements, and the place selected for the meet-
ing was the paper loin adjoining the town—an old and
long unoccupied structure, about the safety of which
there had been considerable doubt before the people bad
assembled. The mill is at present the property of Mr.
John Smyth, of White-park, and was formerly in the
possession of the Messrs. Archer and Co., of this town.
It is an extraordinary rambling structure, consisting of
two wings joining in a right angle, and surrounded by
a number of ruinous outbuildings, through which to the
loft above both access and egress is exceedingly difficult,
especially at night. A couple of steep ladders, very hard
to climb, formed the means of communication to the
loft from the lower chamber, which had been used as a
store, and in which old cog-wheels and other pieces of
disjointed machinery were lying. The lecture ca
electro-biology commenced at eight o'clock in the
evening, and occupied an hour and a half, after which
the lecturer proceeded to Mesmerize, or entrance, some
seven or eight young persons, who, at his request
came forward for the purpose. He sucoeded with a
few of these, and was about to exhibit his influence over
them, having removed them towards the back part of
the loft, when the curiosity of the spectators in the moi•
distant parts of the room became so much excited that
they rushed from all sides in a body to the central space
to obtain a better view. A sudden and ominous crack
beneath their feet gave but momentary warning of the
penalty of their rashness. The greatly increased weigh
on the middle of the flooring proved too much for its
utterly inadequate support to bear, and it gave way be-
neath their feet, opening downwards in a fearful chasm,
into which upwards of 300 persons, men, women, Ilea
children, were precipitated. The scene which ensued
may be more easily imagined than descr.bsd. Those
who were fortunate enough to secure seats on the back
portion of the loft, of which the flooring had not given
way, were comparatively uninjured; but nearly all who
stood, at the moment of the accident, on that portion,
which occupied the angle between the two wings, e
square of 30 feet, were engulfed in the horrible abyes,
and thrown, with the planks of the flooring and the
dislodged stonework of the dilapidated walls, to the
area beneath—a fall of no less than 16 &et—among
the hard, projecting, and scattered pieces of ma-
chinery which, as we have said, were stored
below. The shrieks of the suffering multitude, the noise
of the falling timbers, the clouds of choking dust
which instantly arose, the rush and frantic struggle for
escape, produced a scene which will be indelibly im-
pressed on the memories of all who survive it. The so-
cident was occasioned by the breaking of the beam ex-
actly in the centre, and, when it gave way, the flooring
shelved downwards from both sides, sliding, as it were.
those who stood upon it into the store below. In some
places the planks prized up the masonry into which they
were inserted, and in one spot a considerable mass of
stone and brickwork was detached, which, falling upon
the living heap below, caused the most fatal of the inju-
ries we have to record. It has since been discovered
that if only two feet more of the wall at this part of the
building had been displaced, the whole of the wing would
have fallen in, and the calamity would have been
a hundredfold more disastrous than it was. Much time
was spent before the building was completely cleared of
the maimed and bruised, and, we are sorry to add, the
dead; for two persons, vize Mr. Robert G. Howe, of Bal-
lynure mills, and a man named David Kennedy, were
taken out of the ruins quite lifeless, and a man, wood
John M'llwaine, in the last extremity of suffering.
John M'llwaine was brought to the house of D.
Woodside, where in the course of a couple of hours
after his removal from , the mill, ho expired.
Mr. Howe—a fine young man, whose loss is
greatly lamented—was killed by the falling of
one of the broken ends of the beam on his neck, by
which the jugular vein was opened, and fatal hemor-
rhage ensued. Kennedy was killed by being buried
under a mass of stones and brickwork; and John
M'llwaine died from the effects of a fracture of the
thighbone, and injury of the pelvis. The following is us
accurate a list of the names of the other sufferers which
it was possible to obtain, not including a large number of
those who sustained less serious injuries:—Mr. John
Sherrard, railway clerk, Ballypallady; Mr. Gordon,
Ballyclare; Mr. Jackson, Ballynure; two sons of the
late Mr. Simpson, solicitor, Ballyclare; Mrs. and Miss
Woodside, Skilganaban; Mrs. Kilpatrick, Ilenryfield;
Mrs. Smith, Ballyclare; Walter M'Broom, Ballyboley;
James Dickey, Ballyeaston; William Martin, Thorne
ditch; Samuel Thompson, Ballynure; M. Morgan,
Ballyclare; James Dempsey, ditto; James Marshall,
ditto; John Dickey, ditto; Lattimore, ditto; three
boys and two girls of one family named Murphy; John
Rosa, Ballyclare; Nelson Greer, ditto; James Stewart,
ditto. All of these have sustained severe fractures
either of the legs or arms. Among those dangerously
injured are Mrs. Woodside. W. M'Broom, and Latti-
more. It is impossible to predict the result of the
serious internal injuries sustained by several of the suf-
ferers. Mr. Thornley, the lecturer, escaped without
injury. Yesterday inquests were held on the bodies of
the three persons deceased before Mr. J. K. Jackson, co-
roner, and impartially selected juries. Verdicts—" Ac-
cidental death."