The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-30 00:00:00

ALLEGED ATTEMPT TO POISON A TEA

PARTY.

About 1,400 or 1,500 men, women, and children assem•
bled in a ball on Monday evening, at Wolverhampton, at
a farewell tea meeting to Fiddler Joss and his wife, on the
conclusion of nine weeks' Revival services which they
have been holding in that hall, Ample preparations were
made for satisfying the demands of the keenest appe-
tites ; but no sooner had the tea been poured out, and
milk added, than it was evident that something more
than usually entering into the composition of a cup of tea
was there. On tasting, it produced, though in a stronger
degree, the sensation upon the tongue which is felt
upon tasting alum-water. The greatest excitement pre-
vailed, and at once the cry arose that the water had been
poisoned. In the midst of the excitement Mr. Cooper
came upon the platform and announced that some one
acquainted with chemistry had tasted the tea, and was of
opinion that the alarming characteristics it presented were
due to a lump of green copperas having been thrown into
the water. There is, however, another theory which
perhaps more satisfactorily accounts for the occurrence.
Immediately adjoining the hall are the extensive
works of Mr. E. Davies for galvanising iron, in which a
large quantity of diluted vitriol is used, and the infusion
flows away over the ground. Now, as the water was
drawn from a well, it is probable that some of this liquor
has in process of time percolated into the well, and hence
the state of the water and the alarming condition in which
the tea was found. The people had to content themselves
with edibles and go away without partaking of potables.
But this was not a result with which all were content.
A small minority complained that they had paid for tea,
and tea they meant to have. Mr. Poole, on coming on
to the platform, after the tables had been cleared, alluded
to this, and said he understood that some discon-
tented young men were within the ball with stones
in their pockets, and those stones they intended to
throw at the speakers on the platform. He advised
them not to do so. At this moment a young fellow was
seized in the body of the hall, with the cry of " Here's one,
Mx. Poole." Many strong hands were laid about the neck
of ihe young man, and an attempt was made to force him
to the platform. He stoutly resisted ; a struggle ensued ;
in which forms were overturned and sitters scattered ;
children cried, women shrieked, the platform swayed with
the weight of its excited occupants, and hundreds, in panic,
rushed to the doors, and a threatened disaster was averted
ty the police, who rescued the young fellow, and removed
Lim from the hall. Mr. Poole exhorted the meeting
to quietude, and assured them that God would punish the
person who had tampered with the water. Mr. Raybould,
of Birmingham, spoke of the success which had attended
the services which had been held by Mr. and Mrs. Poole
in Birmingham and other parts of the district. He asked
those present who had been converted by the services held
in Wolverhampton to hold up their hands. A large
number of hands were held up ; but we are assured that
the number is much greater, as during the services SOO
signed the -pledge, and 500 professed to be converted.
During the course of the evening Mr. and Mrs. Poole
were presented with upwards of £l2, the collection of
workinz men in the room.

THE SECOND COLLIERY EXPLOSION
NEAR, WIGAN

No more additions have yet been made to the number
if persons who have lost their lives by the explosion of fire-
damp at the Norley Colliery, Pemberton, near Wigan, on
the 21st inst„ but two of the injured men are so seriously
hurt that it is more than probable in a day or two they also
will be numbered among the dead. These are Taylor and
Sharrock, who, as already recorded, were working in the
tunnel at the time of the explosion. On tb, .umption
of the inquest on the seven deceased whose names have
already been published, at the Red Lion, Pemberton, by
Mr. Driffield, district coroner, the Government inspector,
Mr. Higson, was present, as well as Mr. Pickard, miners'
agent, and several of the proprietors of the colliery, who
were represented by Mr. Maskell Peace, town clerk of
Wigan. Evidence in identification of the bodies disco-
vered since the inquest opened was first given, and
then several of the officials of the colliery were called. The
evidence of the manager is given below.
Mr. Joseph Thompson, manager of the colliery, said
The district in which the explosion occurred was reached
by two tunnels, which were worked pretty equally, and
had between them a communication for ventilating pur-
poses only. The explosion appeared to have occurred
at the further end of the workings along the direct
level from the pit. Ire was met on his way to the
works about a quarter to nine by a man who told him
that something had occurred at the pits. He found
it impossible to descend the No. 3 pit, where the
casualty appeared to have occurred, and consequently
vent down the No. 2 sha!'t to the yard coal, which be
traversed as far as the No. 3 shaft. From there be was
able to shout to persons at a mouthing below, and they
nformed him that an explosion had occurred in the lower
tunnel, that the cage was fast in the shaft, and that the
signalling apparatus was out of order. The latter hal in;
been got right, a capstan was put down, and a batch of
injured men was sent up. He subsequently went down,
and remained until late in the evening, in company with
several gentlemen from neighbouring collieries. In conse-
quence of the after damp, the whole of the bodies could
not be rec )vered until the 24th inst.
By Mr. Higson : Had the pit been in full work, about
fourteen men, including officers, would have been in the
district where the explosion occurred, and about 6,000
cubic feet of air per minute would have been entering the
workings. The only places actually in working were
along the straight level. He had only had one report of
gas being found, and that was about the middle of Sep-
tember last, when some bratticing was deranged by the fall
of a stone from the roof. He was down these workings a
iew weeks before the explosion, and • everything was
then going on in a satisfactory manner. He thought the
ventilation at the time quite sufficient. The furnace was
stopped for clearing a short time on the Sunday, but the
air ought to have been quite right by the time the men
descended on Monday morning. Cheetham was fireman
in the district, and appeared to have fired a shot in the
warrant. All the men were required to provide them-
selves with safety lamps, which were alone used in the
mine, and these were locked by the firemen in the pit.
Blasting was allowed, but the shots were fired by firemen
only.

By Mr. Pickard : The return air had to traverse a
distance of about 4,100 yards, and along that distance
the average superficial area would, he believed, be about
twenty-five feet. About 280 yards of bratticing were
in use.

The inquiry was adjourned until the Government
sector has completed his examination.

Booth, the tragedian, had a broken nose. A
lady once remarked to him, " I like your acting, Mr.
Booth, but, to be frank with you, I can't get over your
nose." "No wonder, madam," replied the tragedian,
" the bridge is gone."

HER MAJESTY'S NEW YEAR'S GIFTS.—Early on
Friday moaning her Majesty's New Year's gifts to the
poor of the parishes of St. John, Windsor, Holy Trinity,
sod Clewer will be distributed, in the presence of the
mayor and clergy, to the numerous recipients. These
gifts, amounting in value to nearly £200., consist of prime
pieces of beef, the weight being in proportion to the num-
ber of each family, and coals. The meat will be distri-
buted to the holders of tickets in the Butchers' Market, at
the rear of the town hall, while the coals will be de-
livered at the homes of the recipients.

THE ST. ALBAN'S RITUAL CASE.,—IrI this case
no formal notice has been served on Mr. Mackonochie, or
the procter, Mr. Brooks, and no legal contumacy, it is
stated, has been committed in continuing the use of lighted
candles in the administration of the Holy Communion.
The judgment of the Judicial Committee must be con-
firmed by the Queen in Council, after which Messrs.
Moore and Currey will issue a monition to be served on
the respondent, admonishing him t abstain for the future
from the practice condemned by the Judicial Committee.
It may take some weeks to perfect the judgment, and
until the monition is served no notice need be taken of
the decision, and consequently no legal contumacy will be
incurred by the defendants.
MATRIMONY AND ITS VICISSLTUDES. The
Nottingham Guardian has the following :—" There ie
now living, not a hundred. miles from Shelford, a mar,
who, at the age of twenty-five, was engaged and about
to be married to a woman of the name of Walker, but
she was taken away by death. Having mourned her for
some time, he married a woman named Voce. After
a few years she died. His next wife was a widow named
Vickerstaff. After a few years she also died. He next
married the sistqr of his last wife's first, husband. In a
few weeks she died. Feeling almost discouraged by past
experience he waited awhile, but being lonely, he again
entered into matrimony with a woman named Webster.
After having enjoyed each other's company for se eral
years, she also was taken away by death. It is a
remarkable fact that all the deaths were from decline.
The widower then commenced a courtship with a
woman named Holland, whose husband had emigrated,
and nothing having been heard of him for a number of years,
and thinking he was dead, they a length became man and
wife. They lived together in perfect harmony for two
years, when, to their great consternation, her former
husband, after the lapse of seventeen years, returned and
claimed her as his lawful wife. They are now living
together. So we see that this man has had as good as five
wives stolen_ SWAY by death. and the siNth by a livizu: