The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-19 00:00:00

THE CATASTROPHE AT P.ARII

Later particulars of the explosion at the Sorbonne sheW
that it was caused by a new powder, which M. Fontaine,
one of the proprietors of the manufactory, had invented
for marine torpillos. A barrel containing biclrate
of potassium, which is one of the component
parts of the newly discovered powder, had been that
morning deposited at the manufactory, to be for•
warded by Tuesday night's train to Toulon. One of the
workmen, wishing to carry home a specimen of this
bichrate of potassium, took a small portion out of the
barrel, and let a few particles of it fall es
the ground, and by accidentally treading on it set
fire, not to the fallen particles alone, but to the whole
barrel. The explosion was frightful. The earth shook,
the neighbouring houses tottered, the foot passengers
were thrown on their faces, and on the Place de is
Sorbonne alone 5,000 panes were shivered to powder.
The first and second floors of M. Fontaine's house
were torn open, and men and women, inhabitants
of these floors, were precipitated into the flames. The
staircase caught fire, and a stifling stench prevented 01
access to the incandescent volcano. Trunks of human
bodies, arms and legs, and fragments of smoking flesh
were found 200 yards distant. A washerwoman was lite•
rally reduced to powder ; the concierge was flattened
against the wall.

SHOCKING OCCURRENCE AT SUDBUBZ

An inquest bas been held at Sudbury on the bodies of
Mary Ready, aged 70, and of her daughter Mary Ann
Ready, aged 34 It appears that the deceased women
lived at No. 56, Cross-street, Sudbury, and that theY
were discovered dead in their residence on Tuesday
morning. The mother and daughter were known to he
eccentric, and according to the medical testimony the
younger woman was not of sound mind. Owing to wont
of work as staymakers and milliners, they had been
in a state of great poverty for a considerable period,
but would not apply to the parish for relief. Nothing boa
been seen of the mother for some three weeks or a month
past, and very little of the daughter. Between nine and
ten o'clock on Tuesday morning the attention of a police'
man was called to the cottage by seeing a crowd of
people against it, and he was told that there was a woven
lying inside the house naked. He entered the -cottage,
and found the bodies of the two deceased women, one IA
a lower apartment, the other in an upper room of the
cottage. The place was in a wretched and dilapidated
condition, destitute of furniture and of all traces of boa
Dr fuel. The body of the mother presented the appeal"
ante of a skeleton merely covered with skin. It 151
naked on the floor of the upper room, with a sort of coverlia
thrown over it, and had apparently been " laid out" after
leath. The postman had delivered a letter at the
house on Friday morning, and it was taken in by the
younger woman, who partly opened the door for the puf
pOse. Mr. Mason, surgeon, deposed that there were ne
marks of violence on the bodies, that they were 'gel,
emaciated, that the elder female had probably been de
eight or ten days and the younger one from twenty-four t:
Forty-eight hours, and that death appeared to have resulted
from starvation. The inquest was adjourned to enable
a post-mortem examination of the bodies to be made.

THE STAFFORDSHIRE COLLIERY

ACCID.ENT.

.111. .---- --.--

The details which have reached us respecting the dig;
astrous accident at the Lock's Lane pit, Brierley
7onfirm the news already received. The pit in question 1'
:onsidered one of the finest on all Lord Dudley's estate. 111:
machinery used in it is of the best and most costly kind
and all the newest appliances for ensuring the safe*"
the men are in operation. It was generally suPPri;
therefore, that the risk of accident was very small.
years ago the pit was flooded, but the water was puroped°lll
and every precaution taken to prevent the recurrencec't
langer. Whence the water came from on Weclnesd
known, and the facts of the inundation areas yet imperfeetu
understood. On Tuesday night ten men and three b 0434
lescended the pit for the night work, and nothing Per_Aw,
:ular took place till about two or three o'clock on Wit
aesday morning, when the engineer in charge of
pumping engine noticed a quantity of smoke issuing fr°/:
`he pit. At first it was thought that the pit had ter,
ire, but steam was mingled with the eil3°,e'
and it was therefore seen that water had burst ie"",,
the workings, extinguishing the fires in the fureace°;
The great pumping-engine, which can throw out 170 teoo
an hour, was set to work, and other means adopted ',vbe
all possible promptitude to get rid of the water. ,vibe
;neatest apprehensions were entertained from the 60'0
respecting the men and boys in the pit, 8.3
the water had destroyed the ventilation of the world
There was, it was said, a slight chance that the Os::
where they were might be free from choke damp, e° h
they might keep alive until the water was reduced en°",/
to render access to them possible. On Wecinesu;;;
afternoon the underground manager, accompanied
-
;wo others, descended the downcast shaft, "tb
round the water was more than twenty feet In del'
ed
n• about eight feet above the inset. It was being redeco
at the rate of eight inches per hour. The Governineou
:nspector, Mr. Baker, was soon on the spot, and the °f
)f the pit was thronged with the friends and relative!
Li,
the unfortunate men. Eight of them are oarrrifebe
%nd the anxiety felt in the neighbourhood is intense. 0
work proceeds but slowly, although every exerti°llo
made, and it is feared that the water is still flosvinfl3o s
the pit. There is too much reason to apprehend 70
thirteen lives have been lost by the accident, `hide
also destroyed six horses and greatly damaged the 'IP—

Some planters in Georgia, Alabama' and Sotith°l
Tennessee have ploughed up magnificent fields of Wile°
for the purpose of putting the ground in cotton. R. 0.
Thursday was the 21st birthday of 11.rom. I
Princess Lou.sa, and it was recognised in the lout'.

by the Royal family at Windsor. fed
The Oxford and Cambridge boat race bag a N.
melancholy end this year. Mr. Mellor, the original gig
of the Cambridge crew, died on Thursday =omit* big
death will cause a deep feeling of sorrow 01°46-

numerous friends. - r•
At the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce,lest°c
day, the home bade committee recommended the actor
to petition Parliament in favour of the compulsorl " r
tion of the metric system of weights and measures °lift:o9
certain time to be decided upon by Parliaments Widc—

IgrleVecodot:EN PAPER.—An agent of 'an Aillericoll
...poapheere-nhiiiil)lphedastobepehniliandNelpehwiaß. rulnlslevisckt. p_
juorhenhsaaricegu;r-a_°_Pii
says the agent has already contracted for 3,tiv- tout 00
~,,Aral °
tlied tßealy-,i rocfhpatinnddysperhuecree,wmooodre, whichparticularlyis being velarg t7rn o reo;
intobl aen sde.tehneBaSatrat free office.
that
ts of excellent paper made from poloriiTgo
poses. of dTuthye, bNeweingßforur Manwtifcalev,:art7i:og.lls.l
EXTRAORDINARY RELIGIOUS MANIFES,---T .0g 0
For a fortnight past a remarkable work has been gcl welt
among the fishers of Aberdeen. During the lastkratecl'
n:rnidi.-ni
nbhgel
arevsueotf
tdseterctolhnaergeLmdeerntdh, yetyeouhsnaag an d old, have
have cried
out they see departed relatlve those
heaven, ,and reply to the beckonings tod
their
wve vmiesrtnysu—ptohneYtla' e13:7 rill;
Tips
that they are coming. Their eyes are fi2'e 'beta
aps quiver, and thq lie on the ground, their lfrabl,e COw
quite.rigid and motionless. This' is de:.:lared bi t'c-,,irit-
verted fishermen to be the genuine work of the 'e'lit to
The revival work still continues. The fishera'cil ss Their
hseaavotilEe
OPENING
IrhNsetGetniomFe
eatingmo nuTosurEetissld:raespy i
Onf ogNr
laysi fortnight
regularity'tDn Ai girh.t_P a_ A
largo
OutTlll2"'
Jay evening the Earl of Shaftesbury presided over
._ tile
meeting at Exeter Hall, convened in opposition tusoio.
movement for opening museums on Sundays. 14..rveg tte
.-on was moved by Mr. T. Chambers, M. P•' 2161.M-100a
Eeedm,
r.ecessity for a day of rest, and declaring the °Pi lee of
the meeting to be averse to the views and PririciPd 10
tt_beegarif
the Sunday League. This having been Carrie ' rest
success of the Saturday half-holiday find of tile ~_r the
closingC. 07:m.e,ntmaosysedffeardriensoglution reco,gnising
working classes to visit the British Museum and, 6110 a it
institutions on week-days. This also was adopte:e woo
was agreed that a deputation should wait upon t eottoo
Secretary to urge the opening of the national coil
on week-day evenings. f 14031
The GII-mian say; at a rece::t auction 0
, lit of the,
ample opportunities for the
property there was offered for sale the copyr,g; of that
Church 1,-ezcs, started by Dr. F. G. Lee, the own',ste, the
ititua:oircer to
Mel', as the organ of the Disraelito
auett.bornsatta
actual sale of which was stated by the
have been between four thousand and il'i'" tts f tild
weekly. This valuable property, with fifty fe
_„.°titleo
back numbers, elicited a bid of £5. , "fora' sa
then began between, as wo understand, Mr. m°-- but the
an agent of the Church Press Company' the price
eloquence of the auctioneer could not raise,ea joisra
offered beyond £BO, at which it was Dr.ku°oc,s ed
to the company. The copyright, and blocks I _
.r.,,ith 0
edition of the ~ Direetorium Anglicanuro," together;ber of
impression of the book, fetched £47. A great pr. f• 6•
copies of the Altar Service-books edited bY leodidlY
Lee were sold at various prices. One 004.4:, sets of
but thin:
,iotot
bound in antiquo morocco, fetched £4;
A smart cooly- a
the small-paper edition went fur 45., though the a c;_ht if
suggested that by omitting the Preface the viol,e9r:
made available for two by men of mu' party.