The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-25 00:00:00

HUDSON'S BAY.

A special meeting of shareholders in this company
was held yesterday at the London Tavern ; Mr. L.
M. Bonar in the chair.

Mr. DODDS at some length went into the history
of the company, and described its territory. He said
it occupied the central portion of British North
America, and was supposed to contain 2,500,000
square miles. It was divided into three portions,
called the granite, lake, and prairie regions. The
granite region was the seat of the fur trade, and the
country proposed to be immediately dealt with was
the fertile belt of Rupert's Land, commencing at the
United States' station of Pemina, containing about
65,000 square miles of the most fertile land, which
presented the appearance of an English park. Mr.
Dodds next went into the question of the title of the
company, and contended that it was a freehold, ex
facie, standing on the same basis as the freehold es-
tates of noblemen in this country. The company
took their stand on the charter, and challenged the
whole world to dispute it. Eminent jurists said the
title was a pure freehold, as good as the best in Eng-
land. He thought the ultimate settlement of the
question could not be delayed beyond two years.
The company must either find a purchaser who would
give an adequate compensation, or else they must
take staps to form a well established plan of coloni-
sation. (Hear.) In conclusion he urged the share-
holders not to part with it without due consideration.
Mr. GOSTENBERG then moved to the effect that as
negotiations were going on for_ the purpose of the
territorial rights of the company, and that the lands
immediately available for settlement were at least
40,000,000 acres, besides the other enormous tracts
of country possessed by the company, they were of
opinion that the price or compensation to be accepted
should not be less than £5,000,000, being at the rate
of 2s. Gd. per acre, otherwise the company should
carry out a plan for the colonisation and settlement
of their territory.
Mr. SEWELL seconded the motion, which was
carried.

A vote of thanks to Mr. Dodds and to the Chair-
man closed the proceedings.

Terrible Colliery Accident near Wigan.

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THIRTY LIVES LOST.

One of those appalling calamities which too fre-
quently occur in extensive colliery districts took
place on Tuesday afternoon in the Wigan coal field.
The spot was Messrs. Mercer and Evans's Highbrook
Colliery, situated about a mile from the high road
leading from Wigan to Ashton, in Mackertield, and
about three miles from the boundary of the borough,
and here on Tuesday 30 men and boys were in a
moment ushered into eternity by an explosion of
fire damp. .
The colliery in question consists of two shafts,
known as No. 1 and No. 2, both sunk to the Orrell
5-feet seam, which here lies at a depth of 290 yards
from the surface. Below this, about GO yards, lies
the Orrell 4-feet. On Tuesday morning, some-
where about 50 colliers, drawers, and day labourers
descended to follow their employment. They were
lowered into the shaft by the eng;neer between 5 and
6 o'clock, and the fireman, William Marsh, who had
been in the pit from 4 o'clock, reported that the pit
was free from gas. All went well till noon, at which
hour the fireman, who had not left the pit during
the morning, proceeded to the pit-eye to get some-
thing to eat. His repast over he started to return
to the farther workings, but he had not moved more
than a few yards when there were indications of an
explosion, a blast of wind coming along the road
with such strength as to lift the hooker-on at the
mouthing off his feet, to whirl his cap into the
shaft, together with a cloud of dust which was
carried some distance upwards. The underlooker,
HenryAshcroft,was down the other pit at the time,
in the five-feet seam, and information of the explo-
sion being promptly conveyed to him, he joined
Marsh in a few minutes, and an examination of the
workings was at once made. They first explored a
slant to the right of the main jig brow, but it was
soon evident that the gas had not fired here as the
men, about a dozen in number, who had been wOrk-
ing in the district were met running towards the
mouthing. They then proceeded along a brow run-
ning straight from the pit-eye until-they reached a
tunnel which runs through a number of vaults until
the seam is struck again, and in this tunnel three
lads were found, two almost in the last stage of suf-
focation. Their names were Thomas Morris, a boy
who attends to the waggons at the bottom of the
jig brow, John Ashcroft, a pony driver, and Thos.
Watkinson, and though they had sustained some
few bruises they quickly recovered on being con-
veyed into the fresh air. It was soon placed beyond
doubt that all who were alive in the pit had now
been recovered, for a short distance farther in the
tunnel it was found that an arch over the return
air course, and forming part of the floor of the tun-
nel, had been blown down by the explosion, and the
ventilation of ,tke mine was completely impeded.
Before any further steps could be taken to examine
the remainder of the workings this arch had to be
repaired. By this time, there being no lack of assist-
ance, the works progressed rapidly, but still it was
not until a couple of hours after the explosion that
the exploring party could advance. Thcpoint where
they had been stopped was 140 yards from the pit-
eye, and 240 yards more had to he traversed before
the end of the working was reached. As they moved
forward they were joinedbypeveral gentlemen from
the surrounding collieries, who had learnt of the
catastrophe and were desirous of lending all the
assistance they could. Mr. Watkin, the manager
for Messrs. Blundell and Sons, was one of the vo-
lunteers, and Mr. Clark, the milling surveyor for
Sir Robert T. Gerard, another.

Between two and three o'clock the first dead body
was found a few yards from the top of the jig brow.
At the top of the brow three or four more were
lying. The scorched corpses were not to be recog-
nised in the dim light of the mine. Beyond this lay
the working places, and the discovery of the re-
mainder of the bodies now progressed slowly but
steadily, as the places could not be ventilated. As
each body was found it was forwarded to the pit's-
eye, where, shortly after ten o'clock, when the whole
of the mine had been examined, lay a grim row of
30 corpses, some calmly reposing as if they had died
without a struggle, and others so hideously dis-
figured as to be almost unrecognisable.
On the pit bank had been witnessed heartrending
scenes, but towards evening the crowd was thinned.
Mr. Mercer was present during the afternoon, and
was wishful to join the searchers below, but was in-
duced not to do so, especially as the staff at work
was already sufficiently numerous and competent.
By 11 o'clock all the bodies had been drawn up to
bank, at the central portion of the works, where
they were laid out, and preparations made for their
identification the following morning.

The cause of the explosion is at present enveloped
in perfect mystery, and it is scarcely expected the
coroner's inquest will throw any strong light on it.
The scene in the fitting shop yesterday morning,
when the crowds of relatives and friends assembled
to identify the deceased, was one of the most ghastly