The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-21 00:00:00

The Explosion in North Staffordshire.

No other bodies have been found in the mine, and
it is the opinion of the managers that the whole of
them have now been recovered. The number brought
up from h
89, whi'Th, with the two men res-
cued alive since died, makes a total of 91,
tNeoi t i
haves
which corresponds, with a difference of one, with the
number of men on the colliery books, and the num-
ber of bodies claimed by relatives. The " sump" has
not yet been searched, on account of the delay in
repair of the pumps.

I A meeting of the Widows' and Orphans' Relief
Fund Committee was held yesterday at Kidsgrove,
Mr. Smith Child in the chair. The following letter
of Sir T. M. Biddulph was read
Buckingham Palace, Dec. 17, 1866.
"Sir,—Having received the Queen's command to make
inquiry as to whether a subscription was about to be raised
for the benefit of the relatives of the unfortunate men who
lost their lives by the colliery explosion at Talk-o-th'-Hill,
and having read in the newspapers of to-day that you have
opened a subscription list, I take the liberty of addressing
you, with the request that you will put down her Majesty's
name for the sum of £lOO, and that you will signify the
Queen's deep sympathy fOr those who have been bereaved
by this terrible accident—inferior only in its fatal effects to
the one which has recently been brought before her Ma-
jesty as having occurred at Barnsley.—l have the honour
to be, your obedient servant, "THOMAS M. BIDDULPH.
"Mr. Smith Child, Hanley."
A delay of one day had occurred in the delivery
of this letter through its having been addressed to
Hanley instead of Stallington-hall, the residence of
Mr. Child, who received it on Wednesday morning.
After the letter and the reply by the Chairman
had been read, the following resolution was pro,-
posed by the Rev. Sir L. T. STAINER, and seconded
by the Rev. M. W. M'HUTCHIN, and was unani-
mously passed :
" That this committee request Sir T. M. Biddulph to
communicate to the Queen on their behalf the expression
of their profound appreciation of this fresh proof of her
Majesty's gracious sympathy with the distresses of her •
subjects, and of the generosity with which she has ever
hastened to minister to their relief."

It was announced that collections in aid of the
sufferers will be made in the churches of Coleridge,
Lougton, Kidsgrove, Edensor, Normacott, Blurton,
and Tunstall next Sunday, and in the other churches
of the district on Christmas-day and Sunday week ;
and that collections would be also made in all the
Wesleyan chapels and in other Dissenting places of
worship, on Sunday next. At the various works and
manufacturing establishments in the district the
workmen are contributing, or are about to contri-
bute, to the relief of the widows and orphans. Public
meetings are being held in most of the towns and
villrges for the same purpose, and in several places a
house-to-house canvass for subscriptions is being
carried on. Everywhere there is a disposition to help
the charitable work, and large as the sum required
will be there is not likely to be any very great diffi-
culty in getting a full share of the amount in Staf-
fordshire. With regard to the provision to be made
for the unfortunate children made orphans by this
calamity, it was at first proposed that an effort
should be made to get them admitted into the Wol-

verhampton Orphan Asylum, which had not nearly
its full number of inmates; but on application to the
authorities it was ascertained that the rules of the
institution required the sum of £lOO to be paid for
the admission of each orphan sent there, and the
managers had no power to take children on any
other terms. Mr. Child, at the meeting of the Re-
lief Committee yesterday, referred to this subject,
and expressed the opinion that they had not received
the treatment they had a right to expect from the
authorities of the asylum, which was established
especially for the mining and manufacturing dis-
tricts of Staffordshire. The last appeal in connexion.,
with the asylum he had was on behalf of the orphan
of a coachman, who might have been in New Zealand
for aught he knew. Mr. Child hoped that the re-
cent colliery casualties would lead to the establish-
ment of an asylum for the orphans of colliers. There
were fatal, colliery accidents every week, which the
public never heard of, and the annual average of
deaths in collieries up to the present year had been
above 1,000. The suggestion of the chairman met
the cordial approval of the members of the commit-
_

tee, and a hope was expressed that it would not
be lost sight of. Among the additional subscrip-
tions to the local relief fund reported yesterday were
the following :---£717 2s. from 12 shareholders in
the North Staffordshire Coal and Iron Company
(including £250 from the chairman) ; £5OO granted
from the funds of that company (the owners of the
colliery) ; £5O from the Bishop of Lichfield ; £2O
from Mr. J. W. Phillips ; £2O from Mr. J. V.
Phillips ; £2O from Mr. J. Cooper ; £5O from Mrs.
Kinnersley ; and smaller sums, making a total of
between £4,000 and £5,000, contributed to the local
fund.

The sufferers from the catastrophe are returned
as :—Widows, 40 ; orphans, 8 ; fatherless children,
120 ; children badly off, 3 ; aged parents, 13.