The Sun.
London, England, 1869-06-19 00:00:00

MADA2tE RACHEL'S CASE AGAIN.

Madame Rachel's case was again before the Court of
Queen's Bench on Friday. Mr. Justice Hannen and a jury
took the case of " Levison v. Stack." It was an action
brought by the eldest daughter of Madame Rachel against
the defendant Thomas Austin Stack, boot and shoe manu-
facturer, of Church-street, Edgware-road, to recover back
£lOO paid to him for being bail for plaintiff's mother.
It will be remembered that some time back the goods
which were supposed to belong to Madame Rachel were
sold off at the house, 50, Maddox-street. From the
opening statement of the learned counsel for the plaintiff,
Mr. Henry James, Q.C., it would appear that the goods
so sold were the goods of the daughter, and not of the
mother, as generally supposed. At this sale the
defendant acted as clerk, took the money, and
introduced Messrs. Whitehead as the auctioneers ; and
out of the money received at the sale was paid £lOO for
being bail to the plaintiff's mother. A day or so after the
payment of the £lOO, defendant hada conversation with the
attorney for the plaintiff's mother, a Mr. Norman, of Sack-
ville-street, Piccadilly, at a cafe near the Haymarket, He
told the defendant that Madame Rachel had settled with
that omnibus company of Paris, an action against whom she
bad brought for injuries sustained by her through the
company's negligence. Of course, Mr. Stack, acting upon
this very dark hint, immediately surmised that it was the
intention of Madame Rachel to make a "bolt of it,"
and lie there and then had her conveyed to the Judges'
Chambers for the purpose of withdrawing from being her
bail. It transpired that Mr. Stack was only acting upon the
suspicious intelligence conveyed to him by Mr. Norman,
who at this time was in Madame Rachel's confidence, and,
in fact, her legal adviser. Upon an affidavit being sworn
to on this conversation at the cafe' by the defendant,
Madame Rachel was remitted back to prison. On this
state of facts the plaintiff said that the defendant
had not fulfilled his contract, binding himself to be
Madame Rachel's bail till the writ of error was heard.

The plaintiff was represented by Mr. Henry James,
Q.C., and Mr. Murphy (instructed by Mr. Lewis Heri-
tage) ; and the defendant by Mr. Serjeant Ballantine and
Dr. Keneally (instructed by Mr. Norman).
The case had not concluded at the rising of the court.

TEE GUNPOWDER EXPLOSION AT
lIOUNSLOW:

The inquest on the bodies of the four persons killed by
the gunpowder explosion at Hounslow was opened on
Friday. The most remarkable fact connected with the
catastrophe is that it should have originated in the
" glazing-house." In all the stories of previous explosions
there is no case parallel to this. " Glazing "is thought
to be the safest and easiest process connected with the
manufacture—so safe and easy, in fact, that all that is
necessary is to set the machines in motion, lock the
door of the house, and leave the process to cora-
plete itself. The " corning-house," usually the origin of
disaster, has in this instance escaped. Six mills, two of
which were worked by water and four by steam, were
situated at the other side of the pond from the glazing-
house. These mills are mere sheds, constructed with wood
and canvas, the only object being that they should be
waterproof. It is not necessary, nor is it usual, that the
men should remain on the premises while the powder is
being made. The machinery having been set to work, they
retire to another building at some distance. In addition
to the sheds which have been destroyed, there was a
large boom - proof house adjacent, in which twenty
barrels of powder were stored. The cause of the explo-
sion has not been discovered, and probably will never
be known. As usual, it is generally attributed to "fric-
tion," though the friction occurring in the glazing process
must be quite insignificant. The flash must have tra-
versed the surface of the pond, and ignited the powder in
in the mills and bomb-proof house. Two shocks, and two
only, were felt in the neighbourhood, the second occur-
ring at an interval of about ten seconds after the first.
The report was tremendous, and startled all the dwellers
near the river, from Twickenham to Kew. The result of
the concussion was the breaking of a good many windows
in Hounslow ; but the damage done was upon the whole
far less than might have been expected, and not at all so
serious, it is said, as that caused by the explosion of
1858. Nor can it be in any measure compared with the
frightful scene of devastation produced at Faversham in
December 1867. In fact, one might approach tolerably
near the place without seeing much evidence of ruin.
Green branches have been torn off a good many of the
trees around the pond already referred to ; some small
trees have been broken or levelled ; the mills, shattered
as they are, may be repaired without very much difficulty,
but the place where the glazing-house stood is now a mere
pit. The unfortunate persons who were killed were not
inside the mills at the time, but were walking along the
path in the performance of some duty connected with the
works.

Some identifying evidence was first taken by the

coroner,

John Page, who had charge of the glazing•house where
the explosion occurred, was then called. Be said: I
attended the glazing-house, and was there at half-past
three o'clock on Thursday afternoon, and then went to
the other house. There was no one in the house when I
left it. Nobody could have gone in after I left, because I
had the key with me. The explosion took place about
twelve minutes to four. I caii't say if the explosion began
in that house. I had just locked up the door of the
second house, which is next to the glazing-house, and had
got into my boat in the mill stream, when the
explosion took place, and I was blown inb the
water. The machinery was worked very slowly.
There were twenty-four barrels in the house,
twenty of which were loaded, containing about 801 b. of
powder in each. These twenty were revolving or glazing
in four " tubs." Everything was in good working order,
as it always is. I have not the slightest idea as to what
was the cause of the explosion.—A Juryman : Had you
been smoking ? Witness : No, sir ; I never did such a
thing.—The Foreman : I know, sir, that Mr. Curtis came one
day and caught one of his men with a lighted pipe in his
pocket.

James Morris : I was on the outside of the japanner's
snop when the explosion took place. The explosion began
in the glazing-house on the opposite side of the mill-stream.
After the first explosion, I and a man named Tooley
covered ourselves under the side of the warehouse. I was
never in the habit of going into the glazing-house. I had
no access whatever to the house. lam not aware of any
ill-feeling existing on the part of any man. I have had
twenty nine years' experience, and I never knew an
instance of a glazing-house being blown before. My
opinion is that friction must have been the cause of the
explosion.—A Juryman : Then you think that if any ill-
disposed person had ignited this powder, he would not
have had time to get away ?—Witness : Such an idea of
anyone doing such a thing never entered my head. There
is no reason for ill-feeling towards Messrs. Curtis.
The witness Page, being recalled, said, in answer to the
coroner, that the glazing-house was always kept very
clean, and that the corners and every part of it were
cleaned about six weeks ago. Every bearing had grease
in the grease-cups, and he oiled, in addition, every bearing
of the machinery. He did not see any of the deceased
men. _ _

Joseph Ladgrove deposed : I am foreman of the general
work. I can't say whether there were any oiled rags or
cotton waste in the glazing-house. It is not usual to allow
anything to remain about. I cannot get into the glazing.
house without Page's keys.
William Joseph Browne said : I live in the Hanworth-
road, near the mills. lam the manager of the works. It
is usual to have the glazing by itself. It is so simple that
the presence of anyone is not necessary. So long as the
grease-cups are kept properly supplied and the bearings
well oiled, there is nothing more required. I cannot
possibly give you any idea as to the cause of the explosion.
I have the greatest confidence in the man in charge of the
glazing-house at the time of the explosion. The weight of
a barrel of gunpowder is 1001bs. We receive reports daily
from the various departments on the mills, each and every
one of which undergoes official examination. The Govern-
ment inspector comes down whenever he thinks proper,
and the places are always open to his inspection. Colonel
Younghusband and Captain Smith were down at the
mills about a month ago. There are about 250 to 300 men
and boys employed on the works.
The inquiry was adjourned for a week.

It was announced at a meeting of one of the corn-
mittees of the Manchester Corporation on Thursday that the
Princess of Wales "will certainly accompany the Prince"
on his visit to that city. It Las been also resolved to invite
the Viceroy of Egypt to be present on the occasion.

FROM HULL TO LONDON ON A BICYCLE.—Mr. F.
hall, of Whitefriargate, Hull, has just performed a
novel feat. On the 13th inst. he started from Hull with
his bicycle, being conveyed to New Holland by the,
steamer. He left New Holland pier exactly at twelve
o'clock, and wended his solitary way to Lincoln, and,
notwithstanding that the roads were hilly and newly
laid with large stones, he reached that city on the
evening of the same day. Mr. Hall set off again on
Monday morning for Peterborough, which he reached
in time for that evening's post. A night's rest
was taken at Peterborough, and then the velocipedestrian
was once more en route for the metropolis. Mr. Hall
reached his destination, Clapham-common, on Tuesday
evening, in time to post a letter by that nights's mail,
informing his Hull friends of his safe arrival. The dis-
tance traversed is quite 175 miles, and 80 of the miles
'were run during an incessant storm of rain, which caused
the " going" to be extremely bad. The feat was only
performed for Mr. Hall's gratification, and not for any
wager. The return journey was coylmenced on Wed•