The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-08 00:00:00

Fatal Boiler Explosion in Chatham Dockyard.

Shortly after the hour for the commencement of
work in Chatham dockyard yesterday a terrific ex-
plosion occurred in the steam hammer-shop, by
which two of the workmen lost their lives, while
between 20 and 30 others sustained more or less
serious injuries. The scene of the calamity was a
building in which the steam was generated for work-
ing one of the large four-ton steam hammers, as
well as for driving some of the machinery used in
the metal mills. It would seem that steam had
been got up in the large boiler, when from some
cause which at present seems altogether inexplicable
the boiler, which was of 20-horse power, and capable
of working up to a pressure of 601 b to the souare
inch, burst shortly after half-past 7, when all the
establishments were in full operation and the yard
crowded with workmen. The results which fol-
lowed the explosion were most fearful, nearly the
whole of the buildings adjacent to the steam ham-
mer-shop being laid in ruins: The top of the boiler
itself, which was calculated to weigh between six
and eight tons, was lifted high into the air over the
roofs of the foundry and smithery, in the passage-
way between which, marvellous to state, it fell,
without effecting any damage beyond tearing away
a small part of the foundry wall. Had this portion
of the boiler in its descent swerved only a very few
feet either to the right or left it must have fallen on
one of the shops, each of which was crowded with
workmen, when the consequences would have been
most calamitous. The boiler-house, a portion of
the foundry, and the hammer-shop were levelled
with the ground, and the boiler in the adjoining
building turned completely round, while portions
of the iron roofs of the buildings destroyed were
carried to a considerable distance, pieces of angle
iron weighing several hundredweight being hurled
on to the roof of the adjoining building sheds.
Immediately the occurrence became known all the
available members of the dockyard police force,
under the direction of Mr. Superintendent Strength,
together with numbers of the dockyard hands, were
on the spot to render assistance, and to search among
the ruins for the bodies of those workmen found to
be missing. After searching for about an hour the
body of Robert Stallwood, one of the stokers, was
discovered, and an hour or two afterwards that of
Frederick May, also a stoker, was found, both men
being very much mutilated, and quite dead. The
bodies were afterwards removed to Melville Hos-
pital to await an inquest by the coroner.
As intelligence of the occurrence became known
in the town crowds of the wives and other relatives
and friends of the workmen congregated in front of
the dockyard to ascertain any particulars respecting
the injured, but every precaution was adopted by
the dockyard officials to allay the anxiety mani-
fested, the whole of the workmen employed in the
departments where the accident occurred being sent
to their homes.

Among those who received the most serious in-
juries were Mr. llooper, foreman of smiths, who,
while engaged at his duty, was struck by a portion
of the building, a stone from which was hurled
through the smithery, striking him on the thigh,
which was broken ; Edward Willmott, severe burns
from the scalding water and steam ; and William
Shackleton, who sustained a compound fracture of
the arm. The whole of the above were immediately
removed to the Melville Naval Hospital. Among
the workmen who sustained less serious injuries
from being struck by portions of the exploded boiler

or the debris of the buildings were H. Fuller, R
Reed, W. Brewer, A. Bennett, A. Cooper, C.
Brewer, J. Hillman, W. Brown, T. Barnes, T.
Scott, F. Boatman, H. Hastrick, E. Nest, G. Phil-
lips, W. Pitt, Record, R. Overy, J. Fowler, J.
Terry, H. Sinclair, J. Meagher, W. West, J. Hodges,
A. Lovett, R. Harris, W. Colesworthy, and W.
Webster. These were removed to the dockyard
surgery, where their wounds and injuries were
promptly attended to, after which they were con-
veyed to their homes.
With regard to the causes which led to the ex-
plosion of the boiler no satisfactory reason can at
present be assigned. An examination of the broken
portions made immediately after the occurrence by
the writer proved the plates of which the boiler was
composed, as well as the, rivets, to be of very supe-
rior workmanship, while the boiler itself had not
been comparatively a long time in use. The safety
valve was found in its proper state, and therefore
negatives the supposition that it had been tampered
with by the engine-driver or stokers to make up for
a deficiency of steam. A minute inspection of the
remains of the boiler appears to lead to the con-
clusion that the water had been allowed to get too
low, and that caused the explosion.
During the whole of yesterday a large number of
workmen were engaged in clearing away the ruins
of the buildings destroyed and in taking down those
portions which were considered to be dangerous, the
operations of those employed being superintended
by Major Pasley, the superintending engineer at the
dockyard. The lofty chimney-stack, which escaped
destruction, way found to be in such a tottering
condition that it was decided to throw it down, and
the work was effected, without accident, during the
morning. The still loftier stack at the metal mills
appears to have been shaken by the explosion, and
it is not improbable that, from prudential reasons,
it will be decided to take it down. For some con-
siderable distance round the scene of the accident
the yard was strewn with rubbish, while scarcely a
single whole pane of glass remains in any of the
adjacent buildings. The whole of the machinery in
the shop adjoining the boiler-house in which the ex-
plosion occurred has been rendered useless, while
the roof and sides of the building itself have been
blown down, and altogether the large workshop so
shattered and shaken that it will require to be re-
built. The extent of the property destroyed by the
explosion may be inferred when it is stated that it
will occupy several months to re-erect the buildings
entirely and partially swept away.

Last night Mr. T. Ilills, the coroner for Chatham,
opened an inquest on the bodies of the two men
killed.

The coroner, accompanied by the jury, proceeded
to the scene of the accident. They found the boiler
which burst lying on its side among a mass of brick-
work and rubbish. One of the safety valves had
been thrown some distance, but the other remained
attached to the disconnected part of the boiler. An
examination of both the safety valve and steam-box
proved that they were in good working order. The
plates of the boiler were three-eighths in thickness,
and, with the exception of one or two which will
doubtless be found to have led to this accident, were
as nearly as possible perfect. The inquiry by the
jury will, therefore, resolve itself into the exact con-
dition of the boiler, and the quantity of water it
contained at the moment of the accident, the latter
being not the least important point to be kept in
view.

The coroner said as it would be necessary to ob-
tain professional evidence as to the condition of the
boiler, he proposed to adjourn the inquiry until the
following week, and this course was acceded to by
the jury. _ _

From inquiries made at the hospital last night it
appears that all the sufferers are going on favour-
ably. The official report of the accident was trans-
mitted to the Admiralty last night:

Interestin; Antiquarian Relic.

Under this heading a paragraph appeared in The
Sun of December 16th, in reference to the finding
of a curious old gold cross and chain in the process
of excavations in Castle Bailey at Clare,;,in Suffolk.
The discovery was a matter of great interest and
curiosity to the lovers of antiquity throughout the
kingdom, and at length Mr. Stephen Jenner, the
owner of the Castle Bailey, forwarded particulars
bf the discovery to her Majesty's Treasury, where-
upon her Majesty was pleased to express a desire
to possess the curious relic. Accordingly it was at
last delivered up by the person who had taken pos-
session of it to the Treasury for her Majesty, and
the Queen now possesses it as her own, it being
claimed as " treasure trove." Her Majesty ex-
pressed a wish for the true history of this curious
relic to be searched out, and directions were ac-
cordingly given by the Treasury for that pulpose,
and the investigations prove the account we pre-
viously published as to its supposed history not to
be correct. The Secretary of the Treasury has now
favoured Mr. Jenner with the following very inte-
resting particulars of their research, which are this
week made public by that gentleman :—By a re-
ference to the will of Countess Philippa, dated the
21st of November, 1378 (proved 11th of February,
1381, and registered at Lambeth Palace, and also
by the will of Edmond, Earl of March, also regis-
tered at Lambeth Palace), it is clearly proved that
the gold cross found in the ruins of Clare Castle is
not the jewel bequeathed in the will of Countess
Philppa to her son Edmond, nor that bequeathed by
Earl Edmond to the Abbey of Wigmore ; but there
is strong reason for believing that it formed at one
time a part of the Royal collection of jewels belong-
ing to King Edward 111., for it is recorded that he
had among his jewels, kept for safe preservation in
the Tower of London, " un croys d'or double overe
de triffure quo est de la croys Jhesu Crist, et ne puit
estre preise,—" a cross of gold which represents the
cross of Jesus Christ, set with pearls, and cannot be
valued." This description exactly answers to the
cross found at Clare, for that, it will be remem-
bered, had four large pearls, one at each tranverse
section of the cross, while the cross itself, with the
figure of our Saviour upon it, was most beautifully
foliated, and the chain, about two:feet long, was of
the richest description. How this precious Royal
jewel came to be found in the ruins of Clare Castle
is thus accounted for :—lt was the common practice
of our Sovereigns, in former ages, to bestow on their
children and grand-children, as wedding gifts, rare
jewels and relics ; and as Edward lll.'s grand-
daughter Philippa was married to Edmund Mor-
timer, the Lord of Clare, and upon her marriage
came to reside at the Castle, she in all probability
had this jewel given to her on the occasion, and
it was by her taken to the Castle, where it got
lost. What confirms this history, almost beyond
all doubt, is the fact that this particular jewel,
before-described in old French, disappeared
from that very time from the numerous inven-
tories which are extant of the Royal jewels. Thus
this once Royal jewel, which has been buried at
Clare, lost for 500 years, has once more come into
Royal possession in the person of our beloved Queen.
The real finder of this curiosity was a poor lad of
Clare, named Walter Lorking, and recently, upon
the representation of Mr. Jenner to her Majesty,
through Sir T. M. Biddulph, the Keeper of the Privy
Purse, she has been pleased to forward to Mr. Jen-
ner a donation of £3 for Walter Lorking, who has
rightfully become the possessor of the reward.

. EXTRAORDINARY LARGE STURGEON.—On Wed-
nesday last the crew of a Harwich fishing smack captured
a noble royal sturgeon within a few miles of the shore.
It was found to be of the extraordinary length of 12ft. 2in.,
girth 40 inches, and entire weight 156 lbs. This superb
fish was forwarded to Mr. Smithers, of Duke-street, Lon-
don-bridge, where it has been exhibited during the past
two days, attracting a vast number of spectators.
" There is no shame to our manhood- if we distrust
our own ability to endure the anguish of the body. . . It
is no secret that of late local anvethesia has been produced to
such a degree that the patient, retaining his consciousness,
can watch the surgeon's knife as it cuts to cure, and yet be
without the slightest sensation of physical suffering."—Daily
elegraph, July 13, 1866. "To none is the public more in-
debted than to Mr. Day."—lllustrated News, page 8,0, June
9. "Mr. Day has succeeded in robbing tooth extraction of its
horrors, and we think we are only fulfilling an act of duty in
giving publicity to the fact."—Court Journal. p. 582, May 2.1.
Painful teeth, or diseased stumps extracted without pain.
,No chloroform, and perfectly safe. Every description of
teeth, combining the latest inventions and improvements in
dental mechanism, may be procured from Mr. DAY, dentist
(late principal assistant to Mr. Eskell, of 8, Grosvenor-street,
, 291,liegent-street (3 wort, tcom the Polytechnic).