The Sun.
London, England, 1850-09-17 00:00:00

%al
etAwit SEPTEMBER 17, 18r0
a •

locomotive repairing shops these are being completed
according to the original plan. Sixty now-houses for
the workmen were built last half-year. The report
of Mr. Barlow, the engineer-in-chief of tke company,
show; that the line from Ashford to Hastings and
St. Leonard's will be Completed in three .weeks,
and that the principal portion oVtlie line from Tun-
bridge Wells to St. Leopards opened in three
months. The directors look forward anxiously to the
completion of these works as theekeett important step
toward closing the capital accoent•f the company. The
public sales of surplus propek•ty have already been satis-
factorily made, and the directors will proceed to dispose
of the remainder as circumstances permit. The amount
remaining at the credit of the account for the renewal of
permanent way, locomotive and other stock, now amounts
to the sum of 39,657/. 4s. 6i., after charging that account
with the sum of 5,401/. 12s. Id. for renewals effected in
the last half ear. The directors are inclined to believe
that the amount laid aside by the charge that has been
made against revenue for renewals is in excess of the
proportion that will hereafter require to be set apart for
this purpose; but it is satisfactory to know, that if au
error has been committed, it is on the safe side.
I❑ accordance with the resolution passed at the last
half yearly general meeting of the proprietors, that sal
classes of shares in the capital of the company be con-
verted and consolidated into. capital stock at 301. for
each share, and 10/. for each third share, on and after
the Ist day of May, 1850. that consolidation has bsen
effected. The sum of 616,000/. of the nominal capital of
the company is thereby extinguished. That amount
may be looked upon as representing 2445041. 6;. 2d. lost
by the issue of the original shares at a discount and the
sale of forfeited shares; and the stun of 371,4952 I3s. 101
in part of the interest paid to the proprietors of the Nos.
3 and 4 sharer, out of those capitals respectively. The
sum of 371,492/. 13a led. so extinguished is to be de-
ducted from 9,245,029/. 3a. 7d., the total expenditure of
the company, as shown in the annexed accounts, which
expenditure is thereby reduced to 8,873,5331, 9s. 9d.
"The present meeting has been, specially convened for
the purpose of submitting to the proprietors resolutions
to confirm, if they see fit, the resolutions pissed on the
15th August last, admitting the Nos. 3 and 4 share-
! holders to a participation in all dividends to be there-
' after declared, including the dividend for the past half
year. The amount of the balance at the credit of profit
and loss, 113,4781. 14s. 7d., will allow of a dividend for
the half-year at the rate of 3 per cent. par annum oa the
consolidated stock of the company, &ter providing the
guranteed dividend at the rate of 4-A- per cent. per annum
on the preferential stock issued. It will be observed
that the dividend will be payable on the capital expended
on the Ashford and Hastings, and Tunbridge Wells and
Hastings lines, which are not yet opened for traffic. The
injunction granted by the Court of Chancery to restrain
the company from paying a.dividend until the Ashford
and Ilastings line is open for public traffic will make it
necessary that the resolution declaring a dividend should
make it payable after that event has occurred.
" At Vie last half-yearly meeting of the company the
following resolution was passed:--` That a register of
the shareholders of the company, with the amount of
shares or stock they individually hold, bo made up and
published annually, and that every shareholder be en-
titled to have one upon payment of Is.' The time has
not yet arrived at which it would be necessary to act
upon this resolution, and the directors have, theref
the opportunity of submitting, for the consideration of
the proprietors, the inexpediency of publishing the
amount of stock held by each shareholder. The direc-
tors submit that this publication would prove detrimen-
tal to the general interests of the company ; and, in
order that the proprietors may dispose of the question
upon adequate notice, the directors wil: bring it before
the meeting.
" Since the commencement of the present half-year
the traffic has shown symptoms of further improvement,
which must be as gratifying to the proprietors as it is to
the directors, and looking forward to the Great Exhibi-
tion of next year, and to the completion of this com-
pany's lines of railway, and of those from Paris to Mar-
seilles, the directors trust that they may anticipate an
era fraught with greater success to the South-Eastern
Company than the past has been. No efforts shall be
wanting on the part of the directors to secure the inte-
rests of the company."
Then follow the engineer's and auditors' reports.
Voluminous statements of accounts are annexed to
the report. The revenue account for the half-year
ending 31st July last shows the total receipts to have
been 291,2461. 10s. 3d., and the expenditure (includ-
ing rates, taxes, tolls, and Government duty)148,352/.
25., leaving a balance to he carried to profit and loss
account of 142,894/. Bs. 6d.
The reserve fund account showed a total (after de-
ducting the expenditure in renewals for this half-
year) of 39,6571. 4s. 6d.

The returns showed the total number of miles run
by passenger, goads, and pilot engines to be 1,059,860
miles, at a cost of 3.3584 of a penny per mile.
The statement of the capital account showed the
receipts for the half-year to have been 504,7481. 10.,
which, added to the amount received up to the 31st
January, 1850, makes a total of 9,206,012/. Os. 6d.,
leaving the balance overpaid to the 31st July last
39,017/. 3s. ld. The expenditure for the half-year
was 360,7061. 12s. 3d. ; which, added to the amount
expended up to the 31st January, 1850, makes a total
of 9,245,0291. 3s. 7d. . .

'The debenture account showed a total outstanding
on the 31st July last of 1,418,9821, contrasted with
a total outstanding on the Ist February last, of
1,156,432/.
The return of rolling stock to the 31st July last
showed 134 engines (passenger and goods), 224 first-
class carriages, 123 second-class ditto, 132 third-class
ditto, 38 luggage vans, 61 horse boxes, 64 carriage
trucks, 1 post-office carriage, and 1,132 merchandise
waggons (inclusive: of goods, cattle, timber, &c.,
waggons and bricks).

AWFUL EXPLOSION OF FIRE.

WORKS.

One of the most frightful explosions of fireworks
that have occurred in the metropolis for many years
happened yesterday at a few minutes before noon,
and speedily laid in ruins a large amount of property,
besides'serieusly, if not fatally, inj wring the proprietor
of the manufactory, and one of his men. A great
ir.any other persons, some living many hundred yards
from the immediate scene of the catastrophe, were
badly hart, and we regret to state that a lad, in the
progress of the engines to render assistance, was
knocked down by one of them, the wheels of which
paused over his neck and head, and caused his almost
instantaneous death.

The scene of this disaster was Weaver-street Spi-
talfield. The premises were in the tenure of Mr.
John Clitherow, an artist in fireworks, who carried
on an extensive shipping and wholesale business at
No. 13, in that street. The building in which the
explosion occurred was upwards of 50 feet broad, and
was erected at the rear of the private dwelling-house,
and divided into three or four compartments. One
was used as the i i h In_x_ng...nmA, sinnthpr was tormod
tho Ailing-room, and one place, rather larger than
the two preceding, was used as a store-house, which
was filled with articles of the most explosive charac-
ter, including fire-balls used for battering or blowing
down stone walls, maroons, Roman candles, and
rockets. It appears that the first explosion happened
in what is termed the mixing-house, at which
time only Mr. Clitherow and one of his
men were at,vvork. It is supposed that whilst en-
gaged at their dangerous calling some of the rockets
must have fallen to the ground, and that the force of
the blow caused them to explode. In an instant a
series of loud and fearful explosions followed, which
made a noise like the roar of a park of artillery. At
the same time some hundred rockets shot through
the roof and ascended many feet above the house-
tops, whilst two men, who have since been ascertained
to be Mr. Clitherow and one of bis workmen, were
blown out of the building into the yard. They were
immediately dragged away. Two young men, named
William Cawood and John Elfenbein, had climbed
over the back wall in the hopes of rendering assist-
ance, when another and a still louder explosion than
the first happened, and some score of fire •balls and
maroons rose to a great height, showering their con-
tents in every direction. houses -nearly a quarter of
a mile distant suffered severely, whilst some buildings
nearer were partially riddled, the furniture destroyed,
and the occupants thrown into an indescribable state
of alarm. The two men who had thus volunteered
their assistance were obliged to lie down in order to
allow the combustibles to fly over their
heads, bUt one was notwithstanding severely
ipjured by a fire7ball striking his knee-cap.
The noise occasioned by the second explosion
had scarcely subsided when the contents of the store-
room became ignited. This part of the factory was
in a line with the backs of the houses in Weaver-
street, whilst Buxton-street bounded it on the other
side. New Church-court and another alley, termed
Weaver's-court, ran between the factory and the
houses further off. But although those buildings so
closely surrounded the manufactory they proved of
little avail in preventing injury and destruction from
extending. When the third explosion, which is de-
scribed to have been in the magazine as well as the
store, occurred, the houses in Weaver-street, Spicer
street, Buxton-street, and New Church-court were
shaken to their very foundations; window-frernes:were
forced from their bearings, the roofs broken in, and
the furniture thrown into the utmost disorder or.bro-
ken into fragments. The force of this third explo-
sion was so severe that nearly every window in All
Saints' National School was forced in and the glass
shivered in all directions. In the lower school-room
there were 113 infults in the gallery, and a great
1 many of whom wire forced down, but with the excep-
tion of a few slight cuts, occasioned by the shower of
broken glass, escaped unhurt. . .
When the explosions bad subsided, the raeinitfAc.

[PRICE SD.

tory broke out into a general mass of fire, which at
one time threatened destruction to Mr. Dew's timber-
yard and carpenters' workshops. Fortunately, the
engine belonging to Messrs. Trueman and Hanbury,
the brewers, two of the parish, several of the Lon-
don Brigade, and West of England Company quickly
attended, and owing to the exertions of all present,
the flames were prevented from extending beyond the
factory.
The moment the fire was extinguished the firemen
commenced an inquiry with a view of ascertaining
the extent of the mischief done ; but some time must
elapse before the whole of it will be known. The
following damages were ascertained :—The premises
of Mr. Clitherow, used as the firework factory, blown
down, the contents consumed, and private residence
very extensively damaged, the roof being displaced,
window-glass demolished, and furniture much broken.
About twenty houses belonging to JNIr. Dew, the
builder, in Buxton-street, are very severely damaged.
The major portion of the large sheets of plate-glass
in the goods depot of the Eastern Counties Rail way
in St. John-street, a long distance off, is demolished.
All Stints' National School and the church are
seriously injured, especially the former building, es
scarcely a window is left entire. Numbers 10, 11, 12,
13, and 14 in Spicer-street, have the windowelforced in,
the roofs broken, and the furniture of the occupants
astroyed. Numbers 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19,
in Weaver-street, are similarly damaged. On the
other side of the same street, the houses numbered 1,
2,3, 4,5, and 6, are extensively shattered and the
furniture broken. The Spitalfields Catholic Schools
have also received material injury, hut none of the
children were hurt. The silk works of Mr. Jeffrey,
in front of the factory, have also sustained great
damago, and so has the stock•in-trade. The whole
of the windows in Mr. Dew's carpenters' workshops
aresiernolished,and the roof of his painters' shops forced
in. Nearly the whole of the houses on the north side of
Spicer-street are also more or less injured. In fact,
as far as the eye can reach, nothing but broken glass
and roofs displaced can be seen. Mr. Harris, one of
the inspectors of the H division, has lost a consider-
able deal of property, and his son, who was lying ill
in bed, had a narrow escape with his life. Almost all
the occupants of the above houses were thrown down,
but happily, with one or two exceptions, they re-
ceived only trifling injuries. Mr. Clitherow and his
workman, John Wheeler, have been removed to the
London Hospital, where they remain in a state of
great suffering. •
At nine o'clock last night a number of inhabitants
of houses in Weaver-street, let out each to several
families, were standing in the street afraid to return
to their homes lest in the shattered state of the pre-
mises they should fall upon them. The greater part
of their humble furniture had been broken to pieces,
the ceilings thrown down upon their beds, and every-
thing of a brittle character destroyed. We also
learned that the whole of the skylights which covered
the workshops belonging to Messrs. Link and Sons,
musical-string makers, were forced out at the time
twelve young women were at work under. The
glass fell upon and severely cut several of them. Some
idea of the force of the explosions may be formed
when it is stated that one of Mr. Dew's workmen was
blown from a stack of timber into a sawpit, and Mr.
Reynolds, the high constable of the Tower Hamlets,
who was as far distant as the Commercial-road, dis•
tinctly felt the earth vibrate under him. Mr. J.
Cousins, of Fleet-street, Spitalfields, is the owner of
several houses in Weaver-street, and the destruction
to his property is very great. The buildings were all
insured against fire in the Sun office, but the policies
of insurance state that the company will not hold it-
self responsible for any loss occasioned by explosions.
It has been ascertained that the youth who was
killed by the engine was in the employment of a
merchant in the city.

31117—. GORHAM AT BRAMPFORD
SPEKE.
(PROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
BRAMPF3RD SPEKE, SUNDAY AFTERNOON.—This
being the day appointed for Mr. Gorham to preach
the first sermon in his own church, great interest and
anxiety prevailed to see Mr. Gorhain and to hear him
preach. Bramford Speke is distant about five miles
north-east from Exeter. I got up at an early hour
and wandered along from the city of Exeter till I
arrived at the church. The walk from the city
along the Crediton-road is one of the most romantic
walks in Devon, or, perhaps, in England ; there
is the carriage-road and a foot-path. The foot-path
is cut out of the bank or siding, and in some
places it ascends ten or more feet above the carriage-
road ; then a quarter of a mile level, then descends
undulating, till you come on a level with the carriage
road, near to the railway-bridge, which crosses the
Bristol and Exeter Railway. Along this foot-path
there is a noble line of oak, beech, elm, and ever-
green pine trees, and here and there are seen large
trunks of oak and pine trees literally covered with
ivy. While walking here you are shaded from the
sun, from the east wind, and you can see below vehi-
cles of every description pass perpendicularly below
you. On the left is the Bristol and Exeter Railway,
and a few yards from it is the river Ex,
gently flowing on the rich fields and fertile meadows,
with herds of cattle and flocks of sheep feeding on
its banks. I crossed the railway-bridge, then came to
Cowley-bridge. From this the traveller sees Cowley-
house, an elegant mansion of modern architecture.
The present occupier is Mr. Shepherd, an Exeter
merchant. This house commands a most interesting
view, is protected by well-trained and gigantic trees.
On my applying for an order to view the grounds,
the proprietor courteously gave instructions to
his gardener to show me, everything. I
was tempted to go inside, and my eyes
were dazzled with flowers. There is a hot-house,
hot-beds, flower-garden, kitchen-garden, green-house,
full of rare and foreign plants; the most interesting
part of the grounds is the shrubbery near to the
water-side. There are several walks, well-thatched
summer-houses, majestic trees, deep pools in the
river swarming with fish, six or more swans moving
along like phantoms—to me this scene was replete
with delight, though I was surrounded by roads and
highways, by a railway constructed by a
master mind, with its trains careering to and
fro—here in this lonely spot, this poetic,
this fairy sylvan retreat, in which a man could find
a few moments to breathe from the busy scenes of life.
On leaving these delightful grounds, whose owner's
liberal example it would be well that the Duke of
Athol should follow, I turned to the right and pro-
eeeded along till I came to Pyne, the scat of Sir Staf-
ford Northcote. I was told by a venerable old lady
who keeps the lodge, that I might go through the
park, which I did. I passed Pyne House on
the north. The noble owner of these grounds
and house is in the 89th year of his
age. I could now perceive by the number of people
moving onwards, that I was not far from Brampford
Speke church. I arrived there exactly at half-past
two o'clock in the afternoon. The doors of the
church were shut till within a few minutes of
three o'clock ; on opening the doors there was a
rush to obtain seats. I made up my mind not to go
far from the door, as the church would not contain
half the number of people that were outside..
Several ladies fainted, and were obliged to
be removed, scent-bottles were in requisition, hand-
kerchiefs -were used for fans. Just as the clock had
finished striking three, Mr. Gorham entered the
church in the deepest and most solemn silence. The
primitive choir, who were stuck up in a little gallery,
commenced singing the Evening Hymn, and the
rough voices of the bold peasantry joined in the
chorus. All that is wanted to make it a most in-
teresting and delightful country choir is a few more
female voices. After the usual formal prayers were
gone through, Mr. Gorham read the certificates
from Sir H. J. Fust empowering him to preach.
He read the text from St. James, chapter Ist,
and part of the 21st verse, " Receive with meekness
the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls,"
from which he preached, in my humble opinion, a very
good sermon, plain and simple. The whole service
was conducted with the solemnity and respect which
is usually observed in places of worship.' On leaving
the church I asked a countryman if he liked Mr.
Gorham'. preaching ? lie replied, " Yes, he be a good
man—he preached a plain sermon, and that's
the man I likes," and I agree with this worthy
man. Mr. Gorham'a preaching is simple but impres-
sive. I suppose there never was such a crowd of
people seen at Brampford Speke since the church was
built.

On my return to the city of Exeter I am told
that the Bishop of Exeter preached also an impressive
sermon in the Cathedral to-day. Let the Bishop
preach impressive sermons there, and Mr. Gorham
good and simple ones at Brampford Speke, and, per-
haps, some good may come out of all this contention.

There were at least twenty gentlemen of the press
present—not reporters—but gentlemen who are in
the habit of writing in the first person plural. Among
theml saw Mr. Latimer, the Bishop's terrifrator.