The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-24 00:00:00

...—...A.... omea4 ~..r.miirouss......
FATAL BOILER EXPLOSION.

On Tuesday e veiling, about 7 o'clock, a terrific
boiler explos ion happened at the Cockshut Colliery,
near Wolverb ipton, belonging to Messrs. Aston
and Shaw, an .d two men were killed. This is the
second fatal lr oiler explosion which has occurred at
the same colllLery within nine days. In the first ex-
plosion, which occurred on Monday week, one mall
was killed.. In that case it was shown that the
boiler \NLS excledingly old and worn out, and the
iy ding they were unable to make the proprie-
tors responsible, censured them for using
such a boile an d recommended that Government in-
ur.
Grim,fin'ually
spectors of Cloile,..s should be appointed. In this last
case, as in thy' previous one, the boiler was used to
eowine. Its dimensions were about
feet, wi.,h egg-shaped ends, and the'
w7iorfkeet a
bpyum2spi ng
engine was a condensing- one. The boiler had been
cleaned out du ring the day under the direction of
the managing engineer (Joseph Elwell) ; it had
either been ags.in set to work, or preparation was
being made to set it to work, when it exploded.
Elwell was then in a hovel which was built up
against the boiler, and there wag with him John
Legge, the engineman, who an hour before had
taken charge of the engine and boilers from John
Evans, the day engineman, and Evans was just
leaving the hovel, where they had all 131:en partak-
ing of the ale usuaily allowed by proprie tors after
boilers have been cleaned. The force with which
the boiler exploded was very great; it shook- open
the doors'of some houses situated at a considerable
distance, and the noise resembled that of a loud
clap of thunder. The boiler, which is supposed to
have weighed about 5 tons, was rent into two por-
tions, one of which was about 3-1- tons. These
pieces, after being carried about 25 or 30 feet ill
the air, fell in opposite directions, each about 200
yards from its original seat. It is the custom at
this colliery to cover the boilers with brickwork,
and this custom increased the devastation. The
hovel was laid in ruins, and Elwell and Legge, in
addition to being fearfully crushed in the ruin*
were for some time subjected to streams of hot water
and steam, which flowed upon them from the boiler
wvich stood by the side of the exploded one, and
which, with it, supplied the engine with the neces-
sary power. Elwell was found quite dead, standing
up against the fireplace, and Legge sitting down
at the opposite end of the building. Legge was
taken to the South Staffordshire Hospital, but he
died within an hour after his admission. Evans
was severely scalded, but he will recover. That he
escaped with his life is a matter of great surprise.
Examination of the boiler leads to the inference
that the plates had become red hot, or nearly so,
from a deficiency of water, and a close observation
reveals a hidden danger to which Mr. E. T. Wright,
C:E., of Wolverhampton, drew prominent attention
some time ago—viz., that for some time there had
been a hidden seam rend. Mr. Baker, the Govern-
ment inspector of mines, was at the colliery yester-
day, examining all the boilers and engines there,
assisted by Mr. Wright, whom he had instructed
to prepare a report upon all the boilers and engines
in this concern. The inspection showed that some
of the appliances were of a most primitive and dan-
gerous character, and the men who had the engines
in charge lamentably ignorant of the duties they
)n4l undertaken to perform.

COUNTRY MAREETS.