The Sun.
London, England, 1868-10-08 00:00:00

A SCENE IN A CHURCH.

A correspondent of an Irish paper sends from Portadown
the following " plain, unvarnished tale" of a singular scene
in a parish church which, he says, is not twenty miles from
where he writes :—" A few Sundays ago, a gentleman and
a lady from this neighbourhood attended church at the
evening service, and were shown into a front seat, almost
touching the baptismal font. A child was to be baptised, and
its parents and sponsors came forward for the ceremony. A
portion of the service usual on such occasions was gone
through by the rector, and he then called on the
congregation to stand up. Being in so conspicious a
position, neither the gentleman nor lady obeyed ; and,
after a pause, during which the rector kept staring at
them he said loudly to the former, Stand up, sir !'
There was no movement. Stand up, I say, sir ! '
roared his reverence, in a voice that made the roof
ring, and brought all eyes on the unlucky objects of his
wrath. Amazement was in every face, as the rector
stood, book in hand, as if waiting for a reply, the
service being at a stand-still all the while. Seeing he
must say or do something, Mr. -- retorted : I think
your conduct very impertinent. Though a stranger
here, I have been brought up as an episcopalian, and
for years have regularly attended the services of the
Church, but I have nowhere met or heard of such unwar-
rantable interference. I'll keep my seat.' No one in the
congregation said a word, and, finding he had caught
a Tartar,' his reverence proceeded with the bap-
tism. He was all excited and confused, how-
ever, and indistinctly put some question to one of the
sponsors. There was no reply, and his wrath broke
out anew. `Answer my question, sir!' he said, in a tone
louder than ever. This, after what had occurred, only
irritated the other, who, though in poor circumstances
(I trust not a tenant), replied that if he was to be
insulted also, he would leave the church and never
return. This had a calming effect, and the remainder of
the service was decently performed, but not without much
blundering."

DREADFUL EXPLOSION AND LOSS OF

LIFE.

About seven o'clock on Tuesday morning a dreadful ex-
plosion took place at a firework manufactory belonging to
Mr. G. Norris, Doncaster-road, Barnsley, resulting in the
death of seven persons, and so dreadfully burning some
thirteen or fourteen others that scarcely any arc expected
to recover. The first indication of the explosion was a
loud report like that of a cannon, which shook all
the houses in the neighbourhood, and was heard
at a distance of more than two miles. One or
two men who were near to the place at the time
rushed to the building, which was quite close to the
road, and were horrified to find it on fire from one end
to the other, whilst a number of boys and girls whc
had been working on the premises were running about,,
most of them being enveloped in flames. A man named
Robinson was one of the first to rush into the place, and
at considerable risk to himself caught hold of a girl
whose clothes were all ablaze. Ile tore them off as
quickly as possible. Her name was Emma Hawkey. He
got a stretcher and assisted in removing her home, where
she died in a very few minutes afterwards. More assist.
ance having arrived, several of the boys and girls, of whom
there would he 16 or 17 on the premises at the time, as
well as Mr. Norris, the proprietor, were got out, all very
much burnt. The foreman, George By-water, was found
at a distance of 100 yards from the building, lying on
the ground, every portion of his clothing, even to
his shirt, being on fire. They were at once cut and torn
off, and the poor fellow, in the greatest agony, was
removed to a house in an adjoining street. On examining
him, it was found that, in addition to being dreadfully
burnt all over, his back had been broken ; so that no hope
of his recovery is entertained. Nearly an hour after the
occurrence the engine belonging to the town made its
appearance, and played on the fire, which was not extin-
guished until the whole of the building, which was about
twenty yards in length, and divided into four compart-
ments, was completely destroyed. A search was then made
for the sufferers, and amongst the first of the killed found
was Mrs. Mary Cooper, the forewoman over the girls. Her
remains were found, in a sort of fire-place which had been
inside of the building, very much burnt all over. The
body of a girl of about 14 or 15 years of age, and two
boys, were also found where the building stood, the flesh
on all of them being black, and shrivelled in some parts
and hanging loose in others, and presenting a most
sickening appearance. A young man, Richard Evans,
21 years of age, and his sister, a servant with Mr. Norris,
and with whom both resided, were found very badly
burnt. Mr. Norris himself was also very much injured,
being burned in the head, face, and body, so much so
that he is not expected to survive. The whole of the
children who were working in the place at the time of the
explosion with hut one exception, were got out, and three
of them were removed to the workhouse, where every
attention was paid to them, and the remainder to their
own homes or to some of the adjoining houses. The four
bodies found in the ruins were laid out in an adjoining
stable, but the only one identified there was Mrs. Cooper.
They were afterwards taken to the Ship Inn, where the
inquest on them will be held. There were three or four lads
outside the building at the time of the explosion, but they
escaped with trifling injuries. In addition to those named,
one girl was said to be missing, and for whom a search
was made in all directions, but without effect. The cause
of the explosion, owing to the state of the injured parties,
who alone can give any reliable information relative
to it, could not be ascertained. Nothing now remains of
the building, its site being marked by a considerable
quantity of masonry and timber, with vast numbers
of empty and exploded squibs, crackers, and rockets,
together with reams of paper and parts of casks of sul-
phur, which by some means escaped. The magazine,
which is distant about 120 yards from the building
destroyed, fortunately was not touched, otherwise the
consequences would have been still more serious, seeing
that it contained a quantity of manufactured fireworks as
well as gunpowder.

Further news received is to the effect that the missing
airl has been discovered, thus making up the seven dead.

IMPORTANT TORPEDO EXPERIMENT.—Some en-
gineers have just been making experiments at Antwerp as
to a means of defending the passes of the Scheldt by tor.
pedoes placed in three lines, the explosion of which is
regulated by the use of a camera obscura. The instrument
is fixed at a certain point, and whenever a ship passes oyez
it its image is reflected on the mirror at the camera. When
the image arrives at a certain determined point the electric
current is applied, and the explosion takes place imme.
diately. The [mines are numbered, and each has a corn.
sponding'mark in the chambg, The mer4Al Of AtItIYALit.I
PION* and sure.