The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-13 00:00:00

AWFUL EXPLOSION.

Yesterday afternoonseveral explosions took place
at two firework factories, the result of which is that
serious injuries were inflicted upon a great many

persons.
The.scene of the terrible casualty is the West-,
n-tinster-road, near the corner of the Waterlop-road,
and ficing the newly erected.district church of St.
Paul's, Southwark. At the corner of Charleii-street
and Elizabeth•place stood the well-known factory

belonging to Madame Coton, th
Th _R e pyrotechnist ar--
tto the. _Royal 'Gardens, Vanxball, And At the
opposite envie of...the street wal the building be-
loning to. Mr. Gibson, late Cannon,, also a 'well-
known .firework mak,r. The --present being the
Mos-, busy part of the London and suburban seasons
both fictoiies were.- more than u.g.tally, occupied in
preparing .tl-sose dangerous projectiles. Madame
Coton having received. the contract for Vauxhall-
gardens,had beep since Monday, week propatiug
an extra supp)y far that cstlblishment ; and last
eveniu..: about half-pas 6 o'iloCk, Coton
was )nt'he biiilcling'; but in what pile-lees not ap-

pear guile clear; there were also a:•youri,, womau
and a little girl uipstairA, and a boy ahluti3 yca.
of age, named David Bray, in the tin-room in the
trent kitchen • the brother of this boy was in what
is termed "the coloured, -fire-department" in the
back kitchen. All of a sudden the latt-er cried out

"Oh, the red fire is Alight," and im7.ne...iat ely.ruihed
out'of the building. The brother foliow, but b?.-•
fore he. could get:to:the tole of the s tt,irs 1,(7
encircled in flames, and c e ri•t, say L:hAt NI;
th. 1,1111 he mil:aged to get, out of th bhilding he
was fearfully ilnot fat ,lty injured. ae was ;tit once
removed to the surgery of Dr. Donah,l.O, N 6. 3,
Westminster mid, nearly 'facing, 'where that gen-
tleman did all that was 'possible: that humanity or
surgical skill could devise,. hut while he wa3'at7
tending to this sufferer the flames reached the dif-
ferent rooms, which became ignited, when a ter-
rible event occurred. _

It ought, however, to be here stated that the
Waterloo-road and Southwark-bridge-read en-
gines, together with that of the ;West of Eng-
land office, had just arrived, and Eund, the turn-
cock of the Lambeth Waterworks, had drawn a
main for the supply of the engliiei; • but there
being another nearer the premises of iladame Co-
ton, he was in the act of drawing the plug, when
the whole building, except a portion of the external
walls, was blown into the air, as well as across the
full extent of the wide road, and at the same time
rockets, Catherine wheels, and the more powerful

description of fireworks explode4scattering every-
thing used in the business, in every direction,
,
kriccking down firemen, and, it is said, 100 men,
women, and children. The flames laid hold of
Thomas Dunn, the turncock,,burnt his hat off his
head, and so severely injured him that it is feared
he is mortally hurt. At the same instant the rocket',

as they exploded, half spent of their destructive
Contents, shot into the premises of Mr. Gibson,
and the stock of fire works in that place also became
ignited, and before Mrs. Gibson bad time to escape
she was also fearfully burnt. Fur some Minutes the
firemen and police hardly knew what to do, for ex-
plosions continued to follow etch other until every-
thing in each building of an explosive character
was totally destroyed.
Just before the•first explosion took place five or
Six persons were at the first floor, window of Ma-
dame Coton's premises, and while they were'maltiug
an attempt to enter the combustibles exploded, and
they were all blown .to the ground. It is hardly
necess try to say that (hey were all bldly injured.
In less than half an hour after the ou,breAk not
fewer that 6O sufferers had been removed to Dr.
Donaboo's4sur,tery. Among the most serious cases,
and one that demands especial attenti in, was that
of Mr. F. Bonham; a livery-stable keeper, of No.
2, Obelisk-yard, who ran to the front of the house
and rescued a little girl, but had no sooner
done so than a rocket struck him on the head, blew
I the child out of his arms, and they were both
seriously injured. At the same time Mr. Barnard,
of No. 5, Gibson-street, Lambeth, was passing
along the road in a lightcart with four otherper3one,
and so great was the force of the explosion, and so
fierce the shower of rockets and pieces of the ro ,f,
that they were all blown down in the cart, and
Mr. Barnard much injured about the legs. Mr.
Patterson, a licensed victualler, who was standing
in a timber yard opposite, was surrounded with
burning rockets, awl his legs were in consequence
much burnt.

By ten o'clock the fire that remained was so far
got under as to allay any fears of further mischief.
As far as can be at present seen the exploSion
ap-
pears to have extended in no less than five or six
directions, and to have been most severely felt in
the Westminster-road, Borough-road, Waterloo-
road, Duke-street. and Charles-street. The pre-
mises of Madame Ooton and all they contained, in-
cluding the furniture, fixtures, and stock in trade,
are entirely destroyed ; the adjoining house, on the
south side, is likewise nearly 'destroyed .; the
various houses in Charles-street, and several otherti
opposite in the Westminster-road, independent of
those before enumerated, as well as the district
church, are greatly damaged ; and Mr. Gibson's
stock in trade and building are almost destroyed.
The present is the third or fourth time that
Madame Coton's premises have been destroyed by
a similar casually, and her predecessor, Madame
Hengler, lost her life in the same way, by an ex-
plosion of firework.
A police-con,table, No. 95 of the L
picked up a child very severely burnt who lives in
some part of Duke-street, the flesh being all burnt
from its back. Police-cons-able 89 L was blown
by the force of the explosion under a cart and
horse, the latter treading on his kneecap.
The police under Mr. Superintendent Beckerson,
of the L division, with Inspectors Harmeworth,
Byron, and Reid, of the M division, together with
Mr. White, of the County Fire-office, were soon on
the spot ; and, had it not been for their exertions
and that of the firemen and turneocks belonging to
the Lambeth and Southwark companies, the damage
would have beer' far more- serious than it unfor-
tunately has been. Besides the GO persons treated
by Dr. Donahoo, Mr. Bateson, surgeon, of No. 2,
Hadden-place, Waterloo-road, had six sufferers
brought to his surgery. Among the most serious
cases were the following :—A. daughter of Mr.
Paged, confr-ciioner, of 85, Waterloo-road ; a per-
son named Manning, of 20, Duke-street ; another,
named Hart, GO, Apollo-buildings; another, named
Wallace, of 42, Webber-street ; and Mr. Lick,
of
the Borough-road, who was knocked do vn and
trodden upon.
A St Thomas's Hospital the following were re-
=titling at midnight :
John Bennett, of 54, Dake-street, much injured.
Joseph Brooks, of 46, Oakley-strew, run over,
and severely injured.
Richard Sampson, of 16, Valentine-row, burnt
very much.
Elward Hart, of 16, Apollo-buildings, very
fearfully burnt.
Richard Corner, of 5, New-street, Borough-road,
knocked down by the explosion, and much injured
by being trodden upon and run over.
George Delaney and Emma Delaney, of 21,
Apollo-buildings, severely burnt by the explosion,
its passing aloog the road.
John Murray, 22, Francisreet, Westminster-
road, seriously buret.
Mrs. Gibson,
the wife of Henry Gibson, pyro-
technist, of Melina-place, much burnt.
Emily Clark of 56, Duke-street, severely burnt.
A child named Frampton also much injured by
the explosion.
In Guy's Hospital are lying G Glue, of Strat-
ford, very much burnt ; Mi-s. Frances Ellen Cotou
also dangerously burnt ; serious ease.
Caroine Brilgee, of 42, Duke-street, i s also
seriously injured by burns, and is not expected to
get over the injuries.
The official report describes the damage done to
property as fellows:—
" Madame Osten, firework maker, No. 4, Eliza-
beth place and Charles-street ; house and contents
all but destroyed.
"No. 2, Charles-street.—W. Shipwright, ma-
thematical instrument maker ; back premises
destroyed by fire and explosion.
" No. 1, Charles-street.—Mr. A. Taylor, cabi-
net-maker ; a house of three rooms, severely
damaged by fire and explosion.
" No. 2, Melina-place. —Sarah Milton, to'nso-
conist ; front scorched, and back windows burnt
out.
" Ditto.--Mr. Tfenr Ca= shop and par.'