The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-04 00:00:00

DREADFUN COLLIERY EXPLOSION.

TEN PERSONS KILLED AND FIVE INJURED.
(From the Manchester Examiner).
A colliery explosion, causing the deaths of no
less than ten persons, and the serious and probably
fatal injury to five others, took place yesterday
morning, at the Prince Albert pit, Shevington,
belonging to Messrs. J. Tayieure and Co., a colliery
situated about four miles from Wigan, and at which
the Arley mine is worked. The pit is about 260
yards deep, and on the south side of the workings
twenty men were employed. At half-past nine
yesterday morning the poor fellows were startled by a
loud explosion of fire damp, which seemed to take
place nearer the shaft than where most of them were
working. Many of them were severely scorched,
but a large number succeeded in escaping the fire,
and pushed on to the pit eye. In this effort many
were suceessful, but ten others, some without
a burn upon them, and others with faces scorched
beyond recognition,. were met by the after-damp,
which struck them down one by one. Information
of the explotehe
ien
was soon conveyed above ground,
and whilst
below, Ms.mahfitrnggle for life was taking place
the manager, and Mr. Close,
the fireman, were descending
phea of the shaft and making
the necessarypreparations for examining the work-
ings. At the
searching party, the two
men we have taentionedt:)vrerthe shortly pushinm their
way up the south side
ase About one-
half of the men were met
some few unscathed, but other: one-
Party proceeded,
trighxt'uallnydpro
disfi-
gured. All who were alive were got
Tided with medical assistance, watt._
those who, it was feared, were now beyondle search fcir
aid, was continued with vigour. Soon the human
of four were discovered, but the choke LEterabodies
vented the remainder being reached till half-past
trei
three in the afternoon. Not one of the dead men
was found in his working place. All were making
their way out when struck down, and two, a father
l
and bis son, had evidently mistaken the road. The
spot where the gas was ignited would be about 300
yards from the pit shaft, and the furthest bodies
would be about 400 yards away.
The scene as the bodies were brought to the sur-
face was most heartrending. The low moaning in
which the grief of bereaved mothers and wives
found vent was sufficient to melt the stoutest heart,
seconded, as it was, by the sorrow too deep for
words of many a strong man in the throng near the
pit. The bodies themselves presented a most ap-
palling spectacle, identification now being, in some
instances, almost impossible. Another circumstance
which has tended to deepen the gloom hanging
over the neighbourhood is the death of the wife of
0u" of the unfortunate sufferers. She had been to
'Wigan to market, and had left home in the morning
before the accident. On her return she is said to
have aka a
convey:4'cl. few minutes after the information was
Mr. Tan".
grcatet I,,,xte was at the colliery during the
attended to th'-the day, and Mr. Daglish, of Wigan,
sanerers.

POLICE IN2ELLIG-lENCE, Nov. 2.

MANSION-HOUSE.--A respectably -eressed
man, who described himself as John O'Fliamagan,
81, Church-street, Mile-end New-town, formerly a
commercial traveller but now out of employment,
was charged before the Lord Mayer, cn remand,
with being in the bank of Messrs. Robartes and
Co., with intent to commit felony.
Mr. Richard Mullens, the solicitor to the Bankers'
Protection Association, appeared for that body.
Sergeant Michael Haydon, a detective officer,
said—About 20 minutes before 4 o'clock on Tues-
day afternoon I saw a man whom I knew to be a
convicted thief, and a companion of the prisoner as
well, within a couple of yards of the entrance to
the bank of Messrs. Robartes and Co., in Mansion-
house-street. Seeing me he made off along the
Poultry, and was soon out of sight. I went into
the banking-house and met the prisoner coming
out. I stopped him, and, addressing him by the
name of Flannagan, which I knew to be his, asked
his business there. He replied that he had come to
the bank to meet a friend. I asked his friend's
name. He said " Henry." I inquired the surname,
but he declined to answer any further question. I
told him I should charge him with being in the
bank for an unlawful purpose, and I took him to
the Bow-lane police-station. On the way he begged
that I would net lock him up, promising that, if I
would not do so, he would keep out of the City as
long as he lived. He refused his name and address.
On searching him I found a gold watch, a gold
ring, a gold pencilcase, a pocketbook containing
some memoranda, and 4s. 12cl. There was nothing
upon him to show he had any business in the bank.
The Lord Mayor asked the prisoner if he wished
to put any question to the officer.
Prisoner—No ; I admit the truth of all that the
officer has said.

The Lord Mayor—That is, that you were at the
bank for an unlawful purpose ?
Prisoner (smiling)—No, not exactly that much.
Sergeant Funnell, a detective officer, said he saw
the prisoner in Threadneedle-street about 12 o'clock
on Tuesday. Witness was then in company of Ser-
geant Webb. The prisoner, who was alone, saw
them, and went into Bishopsgate-street, they fol-
lowed him. Seeing he was going out of the city
they left him. On the previous Friday witness saw
the prisoner in the city and followed him into
Bishopsgate-street. It was then about half-past 11
in the morning. He spoke to the prisoner, observing
that he was paying them an early visit. The pri-
soner turned round and walked down Bishopsgate-
street, witness following until he got beyond the
limits of the city. About a fortnight before witness
saw him close to the banking-house of Messrs. Han-
key. Finding he was noticed, he partly concealed
his face with a handkerchief, and went away at a
quick pace. Witness followed him as far as the
Minories and left him. The prisoner was generally
well dressed. He sometimes wore a light overcoat,
and usually carried a silk umbrella. Witness did
not know how he got his living.
Mr. Mullens said that since the prisoner was re-
manded it had been ascertained that he had been
previously convicted.
Mr. Beard, who attended for the prisoner, said he
did not dispute the evidence. The matter to which
Mr. Mullens had adverted took place 10 or 11 years
ago, and he had not since been in trouble.
The Lord Mayor thought there was sufficient evi-
dence to show that the prisoner had been found
prowling about the neighbouring banking-houses,
and to justify the belief that he had an unlawful
object in view. He sentenced him to a month's
imprisonment, with hard labour.

GUILDHALL.—James Ridley, a man about 35
years of age, with a profusion of beard and a wooden
leg, who described himself as an engineer, was
brought up charged with endeavouring to obtain
money under false pretences.
Mr. Henry Hewetson said the prisoner called
upon him and asked for assistance to enable him to
get an artificial leg. He stated he was an engineer,
and had been for six years in the employ of Messrs.
Mandalay, Son, and Field, of Lambeth, in whose
establishment he lost his leg through an accident.
The witness told him to call again. In the mean-
time he inquired of Messrs. Mandalay, and ascer-
tained that the prisoner was an impostor, and had
never at any time been in their service.

Cross-examined by the prisoner—Knowing wit-
ness to be a Cumberland man, the prisoner repre-
sented himself as a native of that county. He also
produced a letter stating that he left Messrs,
Maudslay's to have his leg amputated, and contain-
ing a list of names, headed by those of the Messrs.
Mandslay as subscribers of 1 and 2 guineas each.
Thomas Pearce, the timekeeper at Messrs. Mauds-
lay's, said he had been in his situation for the last
20 years, and never saw the prisoner in the employ
i of the firm.

The prisoner said it was not likely the witness
could recollect him, as he could not know every man
in an establishment in which there were from 1,200
to 1,600 persons employed.
Alderman Copeland said he employed 1,500 per-
sons, and he would venture to say tkat his gate-
keeper would know every one of them.
Mr. Joseph Stamper, from Messrs. Brettle's, in
Wood-street, said the prisoner came to him with a
similar story. He said he wanted £25 to get an
artificial leg. Witness had a brother who was un-
fortunate enough to require a wooden leg, and that
circumstance induced him to sympathise with the
prisoner. He had also befriended the prisoner as
he was a Cumberland man. The witness added
that the men at Messrs. Maudslay's had made a
collection, which with other subscriptions had nearly
made up the amount required. Witness gave him
10s., and saw no more of him.
Horsford, the thief constable of the Mendicity
Society, said he had known the prisoner for some
time. He was last convicted by Mr. Mansfield,
who gave him three months for obtaining money
under false pretences.
Alderman Copeland asked if the circumstances
under which the prisoner lost his leg were then
inquired into.
Horsford said they were not, as the story he told
then was that he lost several cows. He also made
nse of a clergyman's name.
Alderman Copeland said that he could not have
much sympathy for the prisoner. It was clear he
was making a raid among the Cumberland men,
whose liberality towards their county people was
unbounded. He should therefore commit hiai to
prison for three months.
On the prisoner saying he must either do what
he had done or worse for a living,
Alderman Copeland recommended him to apply to
the parish authorities for assistance.

BOW-STEET.—Joseph George Clark, a book-
binder's apprentice, was charged with being drunk
and disorderly, and a gentleman named Thompson
with attempting to rescue him, and both with
having committed an assault on a constable.
Policeman E 54 stated that he saw the prisoner
Clark quarrelling with some other persons in Hol-
born. After endeavouring in vain to induce him to
go away he was obliged to take him into custody.
Mr. Thompso,who was passing at the time, and who
evidently knew nothing of Clark or his companions,
interfered. He said witness was to blame,
and desired him to release Clark, at the same
time striking him several times. Upon a second
constable coming up both were taken into
custody. Thompson resisted and struck him
on the face and chest, and Clark struggled so
violently that it took three or four constables to
remove him to the station-house.

Mr. Hughes, a tradesman in Holborn, and Police-
man F 13 corroborated these statements.

Thompson, who was defended by a solicitor, de-
nied that he struck the policeman or attempted to
rescue the prisoner. He did remonstrate with the
constables for using more violence to Clark than was
necessary. One of the constables tripped him up,
and he fell to the ground, after which he walked
quietly to a cabstand, and got into a Hansom, di-
recting the man to drive him to the station, that he
might make a complaint of the conduct of the police.
There must have been a mistake as to identity.
The policeman said that Mr. Thompson certainly
fell, but it was in running away, and no constable
was near him at the time.

The cabman swore that Mr. Thompson walked
quietly to the cab, and was not then followed by
any policeman or other person.
Mr. Corrie said it was clearly not a case of mis-
taken identity. Either Mr. thompson struck the
constable or the witnesses were telling an untruth.
1 He was satisfied by the evidence of Hughes that
\
Mr. Thompson did strike the officer, and he there-
fore should order him to pay a fine of 40s. The
conduct of Clark, the other prisoner, was much
consequence to him
worse ; but, as money was probably of much more
, an equal penalty might suffice.
He must pay 405., or in
default be imprisoned for
one month, with hard labour.

aged
man, of ,Kof
finalrespectable
examinationconnexions, nei -
layl,Va°mßiSdlidlieP- -STRE
was placed before Mrn
on the charge of stealing znoloxofor
of the Eastern Counties Railwayin Sid
gold, the
property
upon two fresh charges which were e:mPanY, and also
Mr. Hughes, from the office of
and 3laynard, solicitors to the railwsars.
!Nine? Vial) into,
Crowder
appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Lewis, evils, ion.,
for the defence.
The prioner, it may be remembered, from the
particulars of the first charge published in this
paper a fortnight since, had been 20 years in the
service of the company, latterly at a salary
of £l6O per annum. It was his duty to carry to the
bankers of the company, the Union Bank, all sums
received in the eashiees office at the Bishopsgate

terminus, and handed to him by the cashier, Mr.'
Sproule, for that purpose. On Feb. 15, 1860, Mr.
Sproule handed him checks, notes, gold, and silver,
to the amount jointly of £2,510 16s. 9d., to pay in
to the bank, and the prisoner left for that purpose,
but did not return to his duties, and it was then
discovered that he had appropriated £lOO out of the
gold parcel, having only paid in £2,410 16s. 9d. A
warrant was issued for his apprehension, but no-
thing was heard of him till a few weeks ago, when
he was discovered at Scarborough, acting as the
musical director of the Concert and Assembly-rooms
there, under the name of Staples.
This was the first charge. The two others now
gone into were cases of embezzlement, supported by
the evidence of Mr. Sproule, the late cashier at the
Bishopsgate terminus, and Mr. J. Phipps, present
cashier at the Brick-lane goods station, who respec-
tively proved the payment to the prisoner of various
sums in Jan. 1860, by the latter, to be accounted for
to the former, and that two sums so handed in by
the prisoner to the eashif r's department were less
than those paid him by Mr. Phipps as the daily
amount received there for goods traffic.
The defence set up by Mr. Lewis was that it was
no robbery at all, but a mere misappropriation, aris-
ing from the large sums constantly passing through
his hands and the confusion naturally resulting
from multifarious nature of his duties ; in addition
to this too, the company had been repaid the £lOO
so unaccounted for, a relative of the prisoner having
returned it on his behalf.

Mr. Hughes contended that this made no diffe-
rence, as the sum so repaid did not cover the whole
amounts involved in these charges, and the repay-
ment of the money did not absolve the accused
from the original offence.
Mr. Knox took this view of the case, and ordered
the prisoner to be committed on all ree charges,
but consented to accept bail, fixing the amount at
£4OO. This being at once put in, the prisoner was,
liberated, and left the court with several friends.

WANDSWORTH.—On Mr. Dayman taking his
seat on the bench a woman named Lewis, who com-
plained a short time since that the Rev. Mr. Jen-
kinson, the vicar of Battersea, refused to church
her after her confinement, or to christen her infant,
on the ground of her not being married, attended to
state the result of the application she had made tc
the Bishop of Winchester. She handed the magi-
strate a letter, of which the following is a copy :

Farnham Castle, Suirey, Oct. 31.
Mrs. Evans,—l am directed by the Bishop of Winches-
ter to acquaint you that ho has communicated with the
Nicer of Battersea, who will be prepared to baptise your in-
fant on its being presented for that purpose at such time as
he may appoint, with.the sponsors required by the Church.
—I am, yours faithfully, G. H. SumNEr., Chaplain.
The applicant wished to know whether she could
recover from the Rev. Mr. Jenkinson the expenses
she had been put to.
Mr. Day man said he could not answer the ques-
tion. The Rev. Mr. Jenkinson might have some
grounds for refusing to church her, as she was not
a married woman, but he did not however remem-
ber a case in which baptism was refused because
the child was illegitimate.
The father of the child, who accompanied the ap-
plicant, said he would have married the latter if he
had been free to do so. He had, however, been mar-
ried when he was very young. His wife had become
a drunkard, and had left him and gone on the
streets.

Mr. Dayman desired the officers of the court to
inform the man that he could now obtain a divorce
from his wife at a trifling cost, and that having
done so he would be in a position to marry the
woman. --

HAMMERSMITH. A well-dressed young
woman named Lily Vendinning appeared to
answer the complaint of Henry Edwards, a lodging
house keeper, of No. 16, Grove-place, Brompton,
for obtaining by false pretences three trunks and
several other articles.

It appeared that the defendant on the 21st October
attended before Mr. Dayman in support of a sum-
mons against Mr. Edwards for unlawfully detain-
ing her property, the goods in question. The com-
plainant did not appear, and upon the statement of
the defendant Mr. Dayman made an order for the
goods to be delivered up on the payment of £3 12s,
which she acknowledged that she owed Mr. Ed-
wards. On the following evening the defendant
and a man went to the complainant's house. She
remained outside, and the man went inside the pas-
sage, and represented that he was an officer of the
Hammersmith Poliee•court, sent by the magistrate
for the defendant's property. Mr. Edwards asked
him why he was in plain clothes, and the answer he
made was that they generally did those things in
plain clothes. He also said he had got an order for
the delivery of the goods on payment of £2, and he
held a piece of paper in his hand. He further said
that if the complainant refused to deliver up the
goods he would procure the assistance of a brother
constable and take them away by force. In the
belief that the statement was true he received the
£2 and gave up the property. He also gave the
maa a &billing far himgplf. Th A next day. the 23d of
October, the real officer of the court waited upon
him and served him with the order, much to his
astonishment: He then found that he had been
duped out of £1 12s. _ _ _

For the defence it was urged that the complainant
kept a gay house, which was denied.
Mr. Dayman said the character of the parties was
quite beside the question. He looked upon the case
as a very serious one. It could not be allowed that
the orders of the Court should be trifled with. A
warrant had been granted for the apprehension of
the man, and he intended to send him for trial.
The prisoner was remanded for a week, and sent
to prison, as she had no bail.

CROYDON.—George Cleave, alias " Dublin
lee," of 3, Obelisk-yard, Waterloo-road, and Joseph
M'Evine, alias " Crabby," of Ship-court, Shore-
ditch, respectably-dressed men, were charged with
being concerned with others not in custody in steal-
ing £ll6, the money of James George, a baker
carrying on business at Bedford-terrace, Sydenham-
road, Croydon.
The prosecutor, a young man of 24, said—On the
afternoon of Friday, the 4th of October, I was going
along the road at Croyden, when I met the prisoner
Cleave and a man not in custody. At this time
there were four men in the road playing at cards.
I stopped and watched the game. Having been
there about five minutes, the man who was in the
company of Cleave asked me to go to the Railway
Bell and have a glass of ale with him. I consented,
and shortly afterwards the prisoner M'Evine came
in, and ordered a glass of ale for himself. The man
not in custody then asked M'Evine to lend him some
money, saying he could give him good security,
upon which M'Evine offered to lend him a sum of
£5O at 5 per cent. interest. On my being repre-
sented to this man by M'Evine as a friend, he also
offered to lend me as much money as I could pro-
duce myself, to show that I was a respectable and
substantial person. M'Evine then said to me, "If
you go home first and get £IOOI will lend you that
sum. (Laughter.) I directly went home for the
money by their advice, the man not in custody
accompanying me nearly to my house. I only
brought a £lO-note at first. Then the man
who had accompanied me suggested that we
should leave the Railway Bell. We accordingly
went to the Volunteer publichouse, when
M'Evine ordered half a pint of sherry, which
we drank between us. M'Evine here turned to
the other man and said he would lend him the
money, and then, turning to me, said he would
also lend me the money as he had promised. I left
the £lO-note with M'Evine, who said he could not
lend any money upon that, and that I must pro-
duce at least £lOO. I then went out, leaving the
£lO-note upon the table. M'Evine and the man
not in custody remained in the room. Cleave was
not in the room at this time. I left the £lO-note
as a security for my coming back with more money.
(Loud laughter, in which the magistrates joined).
I returned with £lO6, made up of £35 in notes and
£7l in gold. I counted out the money upon the
table, and M'Evine said, "It's all right now—(loud
laughter)—and, as you have fetched your money,
I'll lend you £lOO at 5 per cent. interest." He
said he. must have a stamp. I then took up my
money, and on M'Evine asking me if I had got it all
secure I told him I had. One of the men began
tossing with M'Evine, and wanted me to toss also,
but, never having tossed in my life, I declined.
M'Evine then said I must get the stamp, and I
have the money directly, at the same time telling
Cleave to go with me. On returning to the room
I discovere that all the men had taken their de-
parture. lat once recollected that I had placed my
money upon the table, and covered it with my
handkerchief, and, although M'Evine said that it
would be all right there, it was not. Cleave did
not want me to go back, but urged me to go for the
stamp. On saying I must go back and see after
my money, he went off another way. On Thurs-
day last I was in London, and having occasion to
go into a shop in the Borough, I saw M'Evine pass,
and, immediately recognising him, I went up to
him and said, " How are you this morning ? It's a
fine day." (Laughter.) He asked me if I knew
him—(renewed laughter)—and on telling him I
thought I had seen him at Croydon he denied ever
having bean there. I then asked him for his ad-
eteeticetemt
dvtga, and he told me No. 4, King-street. I kept
up:with. bin until I saw a police constable, and then
gave him into custody.
further evidence. endgeaat-
D Bell, 39 P, deposed to appre-
hending
asked for a remand to produce
for them to be admitted to bail;
prisoners, asked
Mr. Binns, who appear d f
The magistrates refused the a' buit: n and the prisoners were ordered to be broughtici° '
examination on Saturday next, uP for final