The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-03 00:00:00

"A HEN ATTEMPTING TO CROW."

A convention of strong-minded women has been held at I
Chicago. Miss Buffon, one of the speakers, addressed the
convention as follows :—" Society shakes and trembles
under the reconstructive hands of women. The new
Government had assumed such gigantic proportions as was
unsuspected by the opposing powers. ' Have we a govern-
ment?' was a question often asked by statesmen. She
was happy to announce that the women had a
government instituted and officered by women—a de facto
government, acknowledged by thousands of men and
women—a combined government of Church and State.
(Applause.) It was running all right, and drawing into
it philosophers and scientific men. The great central idea
was, who should rule this earth—man or woman. A new
era had been reached, or such a question could not be
found. The blood of women clamoured for the right
to rule the earth, and to so construct the State and
Church as to prevent abominations from entering. Man
had gone just as far as he dared, and was now
waiting to take the oath of allegiance to the new govern-
ment, and become loyal subjects thereof, of which a woman
is the head and the prime mover. They needed the pro-
tection of men, but if it was denied them they would go
alone. Woman would never yield her position. Man
might pout and rave and storm, but there she would stand
immovable, with a ray of light enshrining her. The seed
was with woman, and it would bruise the serpent's head.
All things were possible with women. The same could
not be said of men."

►SEVERE CENSURE OF A COLLIER'S

MANAGEMENT.

A fortnight ago an explosion of fire-damp took place at
Hindley Green, near Wigan, by which a man, Charles
Abbott, was killed, while two others lost their lives by
suffocation when searching for him. The inquest on the
bodies of the deceased was brought to a conclusion on
Tuesday last, on which day several of the men who have
been employed in the colliery gave evidence as to the
condition in which the mine had been. Some complained
of the state of the ventilation, others of the want of brat-
ticing, and two or three spoke of the presence of gas in the
mine, particularly on the Friday and Saturday before the
explosion. Mr. Dickenson, the Government inspector,
reported the result of an inspection of the mine four days
after the accident. At the place where the explosion
occurred he had to measure the air with the anemo-
meter, but the current was not strong enough,
although since the explosion brattking had been put in
sufficient to clear out the gas. Judging by his breath
there was something less than 1,000 cubic feet of air per
minute passing this part of the pit, and the total intakes
was a little over 7,000 feet—a very small quantity for such
an extent of workings. He could readily believe there
would be accumulations of gas, the issue of fire-damps in
different parts being quite audible. There was a scaffold
in the downcast shaft which was being widened, and this
interfered with the current. He did not consider
the mine had been judiciously worked. The jury
returned the following verdict :—" That Joshua
Fishwick and John Reeves came to their deaths in the
attempt to rescue the third deceased, and that Charles
Abbott was killed by an explosion of gas, having ventured
with a naked light, knowing that the fireman had not been
round, and that one of the places in the brow had contained
gas on the previous Saturday ; and we find that Mr. John
Johnson is deserving of censure for allowing Abbott and
others to enter workings which had not been visited the
same morning ; and also that the ventilation of the mine
has been censurably irregular and imperfect, as well as the
general management underground loose and unsatisfactory,
and we recommend that, if possible, proceedings be taken
by the Government inspector for the breaches of the
colliery rules."