The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-13 00:00:00

days. No accident of this nature has occurred in
the neighbourhoJd for many years, and this, per-
haps, made the men less cautious. Platt, it is
said, has been a collier for upwards of twenty
years.
The wounded men have been removed to their
homes, and are attended by surgeons, but it is
feared that some of them cannot survive their in-
juries, which are of a very frightful nature. The
coroner for the district has been communicated
with, and he has fixed Monday next for opening the
inquest. It is probable, however, that the inquiry
will be adjourned to enable the Government In-
spector to visit the mine.

ANOTIIER COLLIERY EXPLOSION.

SWANSEA, APRIL 10.

An explosion of firedamp occurred last night at
the Gorse Colliery, the property of Messrs.
Richards and Glassbrook, whereby three persons
were killed and several others seriously injured.
It appears that the men who were to take the
night turn proceeded to their work as usual at six
o'clock, and that nothing extraordinary happened
until about 1.1. o'clock, when one of the men en-
gaged in the pit proceeded to a part of the work
where it was necessary the safety lamps should be
wed. He carried a saft.y lamp himself, but for
some reason he had taken the cap off, so that the
light was exposed. Some of his fellow-workmen, it
is said, remonstrated with him upon his conduct,
and requested him to replace the cap, but he paid
no attention to their injunctions, and the coupe-
quence was that the air, which was of a highly in-
flammable nature, became ignited, and an explo-
sion took place.

As soon- as it was known that an explosion bad
taken place in the pit measures were immedia'ely
taken to ascertain its extent and to afford assist-
ance tothose engaged in the colliery. Mr. Joseph
Evans, the agent to the colliery, and a man named
John Matthews, descended into the pit, and the
whole of the persons employed at the time, with
the exception of four, were sent to the mouth of
the pit in safety. Six of these it was found had
suffered from the effects of the explosion, being all
more or less burnt,. some of them having received
severe contusions in consequence of the violence
with which they were thrown against the sides of
the pit or other objects in their immediate neigh-
bourhood.

As soon as these persons were removed, Mr. Evans
and John Matthews proceeded to search for those
who were missing, but had not gone far before they
were overcome by the after damp, and fell down in
a state of exhaustion. They were speedily removed
to a place where the air was more pure, and upon
their recovery the search wasresumed ; but for four
hours their efforts to rescue the unfortunate men
were fruitles, and when at length they succeeded it
was found that three of the poor fellows were past
hopes of recovery, having been suffocated by the
choke, or afterdamp. The names of the men are_
John Griffith., aged 35 ; and John Mort, 16 ; and
a lad, John Knight, 13. The fourth, a lad named
Stephen, abut 14 years of age, was found to be
eisensible, but upon proper remedies being resorted
to he recovered his consciousness, and hopes are
!entertained that he will riot long suffer from the
effects of the explosion, as be is but slightly burnt.
• This lad might haire escaped without injury, but
seeing a companion about his own age (John
Knight, who was killed), lying upon the ground
insensible, he nobly resolved to stay behind to
render him assistance if possible, but the gallant
`little fellow was himself soon rendered insensible
by the afterdamp, and it is miraculous how he
`escaped being suffocated. John Griffiths, the
oldest of the sufferers. might, it is said, also have
lescaped, but in tie confusion of the moment he
'went in an opposite direct'on to that which he
'should have taken, and thus met the volume of
flame which was advancing. When discovered, his
'body presented a frightful appearance, being com-
pletely charred. The bodies were removed to the
respective homes of the deceased for the coroner's
inquest.

THE GREAT COMET.

The following letter has been communicated by
the eminent German astronomer, Von Littrow, to
the Vienna Gazette :
" Inquiries have been so often made of late about
the great comet, the arrival of which has been ex-
pected, that we think it desirable to state briefly the
actual state of the case. About the middle of the
last century observers first perceived the resem-
blance between the orbit of the comet of 1264 and of
that of 1556, and began to conjecture that they were
in fact one and the same body, which accordingly
might be expected to appear every 300 years. Cal-
culations subsequently made confirmed this view,
'but, owing to the extremely defective observations
'made, those imperfect data which we have received
concerning those two comets could serve only as a
ground for conjecture. The whole question was
'sinking into ;oblivion, till the undersigned hap.
pened to discover last year three new sources of in-
formation respecVng the comet of 1556, which,
considering their date, contained definitions unusu-
ally clear and perfect. The undersigned, however,
'ventured even at that time to state his opinion
that valuable as this discovery was in itself, and
serviceable as it would be for the recognition of
that cometary body in case of its re-appearance,
there was little or no ground for a prediction be-
forehand. Several astronomers, however, in con-
sequence of these fresh sources being opened to
'them, were induced to investigate the subject anew.
M. Hoek, at Leyden, obtained some results most
unfavourable to the supposed identity of these
comets of 1264 and 1556 ; and Signor Carlini, at
Milan, likewise started some doub•s not easily to
be solved ; but, on the other hand, M. Valz, at
Marseilles, disputes Hoek's views, and finds the
return of the comet probable. Professor Hind, in
London, is also of opinion from these fresh data
that the original conjectures are corroborated, and
it would be excessively difficult to say which of
these antagonistic opinions is the correct one ;
whether the decision incline this way or that way
must depend upon rather arbitrary explanations
'of the'old authors ; and only this is certain, that
we may see the comet between the present year of
1857 and that of 1860. The greatest astronomical
'authority of this century, Gauss of Gottingen, has
always been of this opinion. Hitherto, therefore, so
far as the matter has publicly transpired, the wbole
subject would be reduced to a little useless talk and
expectations prematurely excited. But recently a
certain individual, having nothing better to do,
thought proper to invest it with renewed interest by
giving out, ahotrdly enough, that the comet would
reappear on a certain day, the 13th of Juae this
year, and, at the same time, he connected the
event with some piquant predictions about the de-
struction of the world, and the like. Unfortunately
our nineteenth century, notwithstanding its much-
vaunted enlightenment, still contains a great deal
'of soil only too favourable for the growth of such
seed. The false prophet has found credulous lis-
teners, and, wnat is yet worse, called forth un-
bidden comforters. Now upon this last-mentioned
question let us remark in a few words, that from
facts which fortunately render the vacillating argu-
inents of the physicist Babinet quite superfluous, it
is irrefutably certain that the matter of which
comets consist forms an extremely loose texture,
that comets are in reality not coherent masses, but
there agglomerations of small corputcules separated
from one another by large interstices. ilighly im-
probable as it is, because it could only take place
by a concurrence of circumstances hal-illy conceiv-
able, that a collision of the earth and nucleus of a
comet should ensue, such an event, far from en-
tailing destruction on this world, could only be
compared at the moot with the fall of a meteor, and
in its effects would barely equal those produced by
our thunder storms and hurricanes. A mere pass-
ing of the earth through the luminous appendages
of one of these bodies, which it is true might more
easily happen, would be unattended by any injuri-
ous consequences, since the matter of which comets
consist is not coherent substance, nor is it even an
atmosphere such as we could not inhale. With re-
gard to the comet of 1556, its orbit is so situated
that it cannot approach the earth within some five
millionsof miles, and thereforein its nearest possible
advance would still be about nineteen times more
remote than the moon. It is, to say the least of it,
a waste of words, if it be not practising upon the
credulity of ignorant people, to attribute to this
most innocent among the inn scent he tvenly bodies
evil designs of any sort against this earth of ours.
Incredible as it may appear, we hear it from too
trustworthy a source not to believe
it, that in
Austria, too, the country folks, in expectation of
what is to happen, have ceased to till their fields,
and are wasting their time in idleness. Such a de-
lusion might provoke a smile if it were not too la-
mentable. Whatever tile use of comets may be in the
universe, assuredly it is not that of 'liberating us
men from the care of the future. Beside, a mall
must be very young who has not already outlived
without injury mina similar destructions of the
world. To conclude, I t tke this opportunity of
mentio:oing, by way of correcqog some reports in
Lie journals, 'that the com:1 recently di ;covered by
Professor d'Arrest at Leipsic, and which is now
visible, is an entirely different body from the cornet
of 1556—that the Emperor Charles V., 1 -tag before
tLe appearance of that comet in 1556, had taken
the resolution of abdicat ng his crown, and that the
very rumour of his doing so was craftily taken ad-
vantage of by the as'rologers of that time to connect
the expected event with the cornet. It is natural
that inquiries should have been made upon the ap-
pearance of every comet during the last few years,
in order to see whether it had anything in common
with that of 1556, but in no one instance as yet has
any sufficient proof of its identity been perceived.'