The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-22 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 22, 1859.

lIIE NAY I.

The Duke of Somerset left his official residence
at the Admiralty on Tuesday, to join his colleagues
of the Board to resume their tour of inspection at
Pembroke.

Rear-Admiral Lewis Tobias Jones, C. 8., has
been appointed second in command on the East
India and China station. He entered the navy
at an early age, and was engaged in the
Walcheren expedition in 1809. He captured
the American sloop of war Syren. He served in the
Granicus at the memorable battle of Algiers, in
whichlie was wounded in both knees. He became
lieutenant in 1816, commander in 1838, and as such
commanded the Princess Charlotte at the bombard.
ment of St. Jean d'Acre, and for his excellent ser-
vices on that occasion he was rewarded with a post
commission. He was appointed captain of the Pene-
lope, and personally commanded the boats of that
ship at the destruction of slave baracoons at the
Gallinas, under Sir C. Hotham, in 1849. He was
appointed to the Sampson in December, 1850, and
commanded the expedition at the destruction of
Lagos in 1851. In consideration or his eminent ser-
vices he was honourably mentioned in the gazettcd
despatches: He commanded the same vessel at the
bombardment of Odessa, operations on the coast of
Circassia, and at the attack on Sebastopol, for which
services he was repeatedly thanked by Admirals
Pandas and the late Lord Lyons, and was likewise
created a C. 8., an officer of the Legion of Honour,
and of the Medjidie of the third class. He obtained
his flag rank in June, 1859.
The first of the squadron intended for service
against the Chinese, the screw steam gun-vessel
Pioneer, 6, Corn. Reilly, left Plymouth for her des-
tination yesterday morning ; she will touch at Ma-
deira. The Pioneer was put in commission for ser-
vice on the West Coast of Africa, but having re-
ceived counter instructions from the Admiralty, was
got ready within 24 hours for her present duty.
Captain!M'Clintock landed at Portsmouth yester-
day from the Fox steam yacht, from the Arctic
regions, and proceeded to Lo,rdon with relics of the
Franklin expedition.
Letters received at Plymouth from the screw
steamship Orion, 91, dated Malta, Sept. 9, state
that after staying some time at Palermo, she called
at Messina, and arrived at the island on the 9th
inst. The Orion will remain in the outer harbour
for a few days, and then go inside. Her crew have
not yet been paid bounty money.
It is reported at Plymouth that the Caesar, James
Watt, and Agamemnon will convey troops to Alex-
andria for the overland route to China.

The paddle-wheel Admiralty yacht Osborne, Geo.
11. K. Bower master, left Plymouth on Tuesday
morning, under steam, for Pembroke.
The steam tender advice, M. C. Raymond, second
master, left Plymouth on Tuesday for Queenstown.
The paddlewheel steam sloop Centaur, 6, at
Devonport, was towed alongside the depot on Tues-
day, preparatory to her being put in commission.
She will have a complement of 190 officers and men.
The screw steam sloop Encounter, 14, at Devon-
port, will, when commissioned, have a complement
of 180 officers and men.

The gunboats Bounce, Snap, Weasel, and Cock-
chafer are ordered to be fitted with all despatch at
Devonport. Men are at work extra hours on them.
A Prussian squadron is expected to call at Ply-
mouth shorty, with a Minister on board, on the
way to Japan, with a view to the establishment of
an advantageous commercial treaty. •
The Avon paddle steamer arrived at Portsmouth
yesterday from Devonport, and sailed again during
the day on her return to the same port.
The Beagle, 6, screw despatch vessel, Commander
E. Hay, and the Sphynx, 6, paddle, Commander G.
F. Day, both hoisted the pendant in the steam basin
at Portsmouth yesterday. The Odin, 16, paddle,
commenced masting, and the Simoom, screw troop-
ship, Commander J. Cook, got up steam to test ma-
chinery on the completion of her repairs.
The Pearl, 20, screw, Capt. John Borlase, C. 8.,
has been berthed off the King's stairs in Portsmouth
harbour to swing for the adjustment of her com-
passes.
The Admiralty paddlewheel steamer Vivid, H.
W. Allen, master in charge, yesterday returned to
Woolwich from the west, having landed at Torquay
General Sir Henry Jones, Capt. Key, and other
members composing the Royal commissioners of
fortification, after a survey of the coast.
Messrs. Penn, the engineers, yesterday commenced
fitting the steam machinery of 800. horse power on
board her Majesty's new frigate Galatea, in basin at
`Woolwich, ordered to be ready for trial about the
20th of November.

The enrolling of volunteers for the navy proceeds
very favourably at Liverpool, where 100 seamen,
mostly able-bodied, are enlisted weekly. A batch
of about 25 volunteers was forwarded yesterday to
Portsmouth.

During the stay of her Majesty's ship Donegal
in the Mersey about 250 seamen have joined her.
She is at present short of her complement by 100
men, but expects to raise that number in the course
of a week, when she will be ready for sea.

The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—Capt. Lord John Hay; C. 8.,
to the Odin, commissioned ; Capt. Roderick Dew,
to the Encounter, commissioned ; Commander Sir
M. M'Gregor, supernumerary, to the Arrogant, for
service in the Meander ; Lieut. C. Fairholme, to
command the Havoc, commissioned; Lieut. H. L.
Holder, to command the Cockchafer, commissioned;
Lieut. A. G. Boyle, to command the Hardy, com-
missioned ; Lieut. W. Howorth, to command the
Weasel, commissioned ; James C. Jones, master, to
the Urgent; Dr. H. S. Smart, assistant-surgeon, to
the Pearl ; Richard Curgenven, to be Secretary to
Rear-Admiral Lewis Tobias Jones ; Henry Charles
Pool, paymaster, to the Pearl ; Henry W. Death,
paymaster, to the Odin ; J. B. Jackson, paymaster,
to the Encounter; John Wotton, paymaster to the
Reynard ; J. H. S. Hooper, paymaster, additional,
to the Victory ; George F. Slaughter, assistant-pay-
master, to the Hastings.

dente of the Adjutant-General of the Royal Artil-
lery, fronting the barrack-field, having been
thoroughly renovated, is now converted into the re-
sidence of the Commandant, and wat) yesterday
taken possession of by Gen. Dacres and family.
Corporal Burrell, Royal Artillery, having been
convicted by court-martial at Woolwich of fraudu-
lently appropriating the sum of £2 ls. Bd. en-
trusted to him for regimental purposes, yesterday
underwent the degrading punishment of being
publicly reduced from his position as non-commis-
sioned officer. The available force of the battery
in which the prisoner served, assembled on parade
at 2 o'clock, when the corporal, under the charge
of an armed escort, advanced to the front, and hav-
ing heard the judgment of the court-martial, which
was publicly proclaimed by the Adjutant of the
corps, he was ordered to retire to the ranks, and
stoppages to be made in his pay until the sum of
which he had defrauded the State should be repaid
in full.

The '9th Queen's Royal Lancers, after a long
career of service in India, during 17 years, are re-
turning to England, and are expected to arrive at
the Exeter Barracks in a few days. With a view
of giving such a public reception to this gallant
regiment "as shall best testify their sense of its
high character and merit, and their sympathy with
the duties and honourable achievements of the
British soldier," the principal inhabitants of the
city and neighbourhood of Exeter have requested
the Mayor (Capt. Tanner) to call a public meeting
for the purpose of adopting the necessary measures.
His worship has accordingly fixed Friday for the
meeting, and it will beheld in the Guildhall.

The Earl of Carlisle has appointed Lieut. Frede-
rick Wm. Marshall, of the 2d Life Guards, and Mr.
E. A. Berger, of the 10th Foot, to be extra Aides-
de-Camp to his Excellency.
Lieut.• General Sir J. F. Love, K.C.8., as In-
spector-General of Infantry, is on an official tour of
inspection in Ireland.
On the 29th inst., 20 officers and 750 men of the
Scots Fusileer Guards will pass through Liverpool
from Dublin ; and on the same day 17 officers and
800 men of the Grenadier Guards will embark at
Liverpool for Dublin. The City of Dublin Com-
pany's steamboats will be used for the conveyance
of these troops.

FATAL EXPLOSION OF A STEAM-

ENGINE.

LEWES, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 21.
One of the most disastrous occurrences which
have taken place for many years in this neighbour-
hood happened this afternoon at the annual lamb
and sheep fair, by which four men were killed
and two seriously injured, with minor casualties,
occasioned by the bursting of the boiler of a port-
able steam•engine used for the purpose of driving
chaff-cutting and threshing machines. Fortunately
the day was a very wet one, or the results would
have been more fearful, for the fair is generally at-
tended by a large number of country people and
others, who make a holiday of it, but on this occa-
sion the chief attendants were buyers and sellers.
The engine was placed at some considerable dis-
tance from the booths, and was exhibited for sale
(with agricultural implements) by Messrs. Cheale
and Son, of Lewes, but was manufactured by Hens-
man, of Woburn, and was in charge of a machinist
in the employ of the exhibitors.
From what can be gleaned it appears that the
engine-driver, named Gold, had stopped the engine
and was doing something to the forepart of it, when
a report was heard, like the discharge of a heavy
piece of ordnance, accompanied by a dense volume of
steam. As the latter somewhat cleared off the fire-
box of the engine was seen pitching over and over
on its ends, and finally_ stopped at a distance
of 40 yardsd its way through a pen
of sheep, and killed a man and a horse. Both the
man—the son of a farmer at Horsted Keynes,
named Albert Hilder—and the animal were cut
completely to pieces ; and Gold, who had been pro-
jected with the fire-box, was found lying on the
mutilated body of Hilder, quite dead. The others
killed are Reuben Landport, a labourer, at Findon,
and Jesse Upton, a shepherd ; and the two most
injured are Thomas Woodhall, a boy in the employ
of Mr. Fuller, of Norton-farm, near Brighton, and
a man who is unknown. The latter was standing
behind the engine, and was thrown by the force of
the explosion a distance of GO feet. He was im-
mediately placed in a cab and sent to the Brighton
and County Hospital ; and it was rumoured that he
died on the road thither, but of this we are not
certain.

A shepherd named Strong, in the service of Mr.
Tribe, of Moulscombe Farm, is slightly inju red, and
Mr. Tribe himself had a very narrow escape from
the engine falling upon him.
Thu escapes were most marvellous, but the nar-
rowest were those of Mr. Cheale, jun., and Mr. A.
Thompson, the agent of Mr. F. Edgington, the
well-known tent and rick-cloth maker, of Old Kent-
' oad. These gentlemen were talking together in
front of the engine chimney, and had not moved
from it more than two minutes when the boiler
burst. The cause of the accident is a mystery, as
the man in charge is dead, and the engine is blown
to pieces.
The inquest will be held to-morrow (Thursday),
at the Elephant and Castle, where the bodies were
removed to, and where the principal sufferers are
lying.

(From a Second Edition of the Sussex Advertiser.)
An appalling accident occurred yesterday after-
noon at the Lewes Great Sheep Fair, by which four
persons have lost their lives, and at the time at
which we write two others are lying in a danger-
ous state. It is customary at these fairs for the

agricultural implement makers of the town and
neighbourhood to exhibit their machines and en-
gines for the inspection of the agriculturists in at-
tendance. In accordance with their usual practice
Cheale and Sons, of Southover, had a number of
implements on the ground, and, in order
to show the operation of some of them, a steam en-
gine, of four horse power, manufactured by Hens-
man, of Woburn, Beds, was being got in readiness,

when by some at present unexplarncd cause a ter-
rific explosion took place, and a scene of great
havoc, excitement, and anxiety ensued. So far as
we have been able to glean the particulars on the
spot—amid many incoherent and conflicting state-
ments that have been current—the following seem
to be the facts attending this dreadful catastrophe :
Cheales's engineer was attending the engine and
getting it in readiness to work a chaff-cutting
machine, and was altering its level, when suddenly
there was a tremendous report, said by bystanders

greatly to exceed that of the largest of the cannons
at the Artillery Militia Depot. Instantly the en-
gine rose from the ground amid a cloud of steam
and smoke, ashes, and water, and dashed a distance
of about 30 yard 3, in the direction of the sheep pens,
when it struck the ground, and, turning over, was
forced with terrific violence for a farther space of
10 yards, finally alighting in a corner of a pen of
sheep. Alarmed by the noise, a crowd of persons
from all quarters of the fair. rushed to the spot, and
a most horrifying scene presented itself. John Gold,
the engineer, was lying near the engine, in a life-
less condition. Near him were three other men in a
similar state ; others were thrown down and more
or less injured and contused. The engine in its im-
petuous course had swept all before it, crushing
everything in its progress, and, in addition to the
unfortunate men whose lives have fallen a sacrifice,
a colt belonging to Mr. Hilder, of Horsted Keynes,
which was being exhibited for sale by his son,
was struck and the animal as well as the young
man killed. There were also two sheep killed and
several others injured, the boiler part of the engine
having fallen on them.
A mounted messenger was immediately de-
spatched into the town for medical assistance, awl
Dr. Smythe arrived at the scene within a quarter
of an hour, but by this time three out of four men
were dead, and the fourth expired shortly after.
The dead bodies were at once removed to the Ele-
phant and Castle Inn, whither also was conveyed a
lad who was very dangerously scalded about the
head, neck, and face, and bruised about the body.
Among others who were wounded was a man who
was driven by the force of the concussion a distance
of 50 yards from where the engine stood, but in a
direction entirely opposite to the course which the
engine took. He was most severely injured, and
was conveyed to the Sussex County Hospital, at
Brighton, in a fly. Another man was forced in the
same direction, but not quite to so great a distance,
and sustained injuries of a slighter character.
Mr. Murrell, surgeon, hearing of the accident,
promptly mounted his horse, and rode towards the
scene of the c ilamity, ready to render his services
if required. On his way he was, however, met and
requested to return to the Elephant and Castle, but
the unfortunate sufferers were beyond all human
aid. Mr. Murrell, ho vever, received the lad Wood-
hall, and directed him to be placed in a warm bed,
and otherwise attended to him.
Mr. Tribe, of Hodshrove, with several other per-
sons, was knocked down, but not much injured.
Mr. D. Cheale, one of the firm, who was superin-
tending the general business arrangements in the
field, was thrown down with great violence, and
there is little doubt his life was spared from the
simple circumstance that he fell behind the chaff-
cutting machine which was about being tried, and
which he was placing in a proper position to re-
ceive the drawing strap of the steam engine. This
chaff-cutter was turned completely round and struck
Mr. Cheale in its passage, pitching him aside, and
thus, as it appears, providentially saving him from
destruction. Mr. T. Ellman, of Beddingham, and
Mr. Boys, of Eastbourne, and others had a most
narrow escape, the engine passing within a very
little distance of where they were standing.
An examination of the remains of the engine
abundantly testified to the terrific violence of the
explosion ; the end of the fire-box was completely
driven out, the safety valve blown off; large pieces
of iron were scattered about at a considerable dis-
tance, some of them, it is stated, as far off as a
quarter of a mile. The skid-pan was found 50 yards
from the spot. The upper portion of the funnel
was thrown to a great height.
The following is a list of the killed :
Albert Hilder, farmer, Horsted Keynes.
John Gold, engineer, Southover, Lewes.
Reuben Landport, labourer, Findon.
Jesse Upton, labourer, Cliffe, Lewes.
The cause of the explosion of course can only be
at present a matter of conjecture. No doubt a strict
investigation will take place before the proper
authority.