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

REMARKS.

The sudden depression on the S.E. was: noticed yesterday after.
noon has ceased, and during the night pressure has recovered itself-
especially on the Irish coast : readings are now generally higher at all
stations than they were yesterday morning. The lowest pressures
still lie in the north ; the leading at Nairn is o'sin. below that at
Rochefort. Temperature is generally less : there has been a consider-
able fall at southern stations. In the S.E. of England strong S.W.
winds blew esterday, whilst on our W. coasts the force was moderato
and the direction N.W. Winds are now N.W. in the Channel, and
light ; elsewhere they are variable. The westerly gale continued in
the West of France yesterday, and has not yet ceased. The sky I.
cloudy or overcast, with fog on the E. coast. Much rain has fallen in
southern and south-eastern districts, and is falling on the coast of
France. Some snow is reported. The sea it calmer.

A shocking accident happened at the Shrewsbury
station on Monday. A passenger standing on the edge of the
platform was watching a passing train when his foot slipped,
and he fell on the rails, and eight carriages passed over his
body, dreadfully mutilating him. He survived only a few
minutes.

!The anniversary meting of the members and'
friends of the Radford (Nottinghamshire) branch of the
Working Mon's Constitutional Association was held on
Monday. Mr. Smith, M.P., was among those present. In
responding to the toast of the " Health of the Conservative
member for the county," Mr. Smith alluded to the fact that
ho and his two brothers had b,.en returned to Parliament.
He believed it was the first time that three Conservative
brothers had thus been returned.

Master Burke sat on Monday to hear certain ob-
jections raised to the securities in the matter of the
Athlone election petition. It was objected by counsel
for Mr. J. J. Ennis, the sitting member, that Mr. Stani-
fortb, the petitioner, was himself the surety; that
the recognisance was taken before a police magistrate
in London, whereas the Act of Parliament contemplated an
Irish justice of the peace ; that the recognizance had not a
stamp ; and various other technical objections. The Master
held that the recognizance was irregular and imperfect, but
e(!rtifled that the lodgment of £l,OOO would make it perfect,
:,/,d gave the petitioner five days for the lodgmept of the
-• -e7. if so advised.

The entire management of the Round Table has
devolved on Mr. Henry Sedley, who has all along been its
principal, but not its sole, conductor, as Mr. Dorsey
Gardner, his former associate, has left. A chess depart-
ment will be added, and the drams and music will in future
f;) criticiaed.

THE SECOND COLLIERY EXPLOSION

NEAR IVIGAY.

WIGAN, Tuesday.

No more additions have yet been made to the
number of 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.

The inquest on the seven deceased, whose names
have already been published, was resumed this
morning at the Red Lion, Pemberton, by Mr. Drif-
field, district coroner. The Government inspector,
Mr. Iligson, was present, ai well as Mr. P.ckard,
agent, and several of the proprietors of the
colliery, who were represented by Mr. l'ilaskell
Peace, town clerk of Wigan. Evidence in identi-
fication of the bogies discovered since the inquest
was opened was first given, and then several of the
officials of the coliery were odic I. lhe evidence
of the manager is given below.

Mr. Joseph Thoinivon, manager of the colli. ry,
said—l he district in which the explosion occucre I
was reached by two tunnels, which were worked
pretty equally, and had between them a communi-
cation for ventilating purposes only. Tha explo-
sion appeared to have occurred at, the further end
of the workings, along the direct level from the
pit. He was met on his way to the works,
about a quarter to nine o'clock, by a man, whs)
told him that something had occurred at
the pit. He found it impossible to descend
to No. 3 pit, where the casualty appeared
to have occurred, and consequently went down the
No. 2 shaft to the yard coal, which he traversed as
far as the No. 3 shaft. From there he was able to
shout to persons at a mouthing below, and they in-
formed 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 ;
and the latter having been put right a capstan was
put down, and a batch of injured men were sent up.
He subsequently went down, and remained until late
in the evening, in company with several gentlemen
from neighbouring collieries. In consequence of the
after-damp, the whole of the bodies could not be
recovered until the 24th inst.

By Mr. Higson—Had the pit been in full work
about 14 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 working. 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 September last, when some brattice was
deranged by the fall of a stone from the roof. He
was down these workings a few 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 morn-
ing. 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 fireman 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 be-
lieved, be about 25 feet. About 280 yards of brat-
tieing were in use.

The inquiry was adjourned until the Governmen
inspector has completed his examination.

711 E VICEROY OF INDIA AND I.HE SUEZ

CANAL.

(From the Correspondent of the Times.)

Lord Mayo's chief object for loitering in Egypt
was to see the Suez Canal, and ascertain for himself
its practical working and merits. With this view
we all made a start on the afternoon of the 27th of
Nov'ember for Ismailia, the present headquarters of
the Canal Company. Accompanied by Egyptian
and French officials, we made a very good run to
this place by rail, partly through the land of Goshen,
which hardly struck one as being a desirabie loca-
lity for our friends the Israelites, although no doubt
the face of the country has greatly- changed since
then.

At Ismailia we were received by M. de Lesseps
and others, who put us up and entertained us most
comfortably for the night. A char-a-bane, drawn
by four mules, conveyed Lord Mayo and Lard
Napier, and other carriages of various sorts the rest
of the party, from the station to M. de Lesseps'
house, where we found a large party assembled to
meet is, including several French naval officers and
the Russian Count and Countess de Jarbelle, tra-
velling en route to India. _ _ _

On our arrival at Port Said we found all the ships
of the liarbour dressed in honour of our visit.
Changed in eight years from a narrow bank of sand
wild and useless, it is now a flourishing town of
nearly 20,000 inhabitants, its commodious harbour,
protected by two large breakwaters, being capable
of holding ships drawing 23 feet of water. Sand
has risen, however, on the western side, from the
interruption of the ordinary current and the ad-
vance of the line of coast, and it yet remains to be
seen whether the mouth of the harbour can, with-
out great expense, be kept sufficiently clear.
The first general results at which Lord Mayo has
arrived are that about two-thirds of the work are
completed, and that, unless some unforeseen mis-
fortune occurs, it will be finished early in 1870 ;
that ships for the present will be unable to pass
each other, and that the traffic will have to be
worked as in a single line of railway, with wider
places to act as sidings; that the crumbling of sand
into the middle of the canal, caused by the wave
created by the passage of large vessels, will for the
present have to be met by dredging, although the
amount to which this will occur is at present very
uncertain ; that the difficulties to be anticipated
from the drifting sands are confined to a compara-
tively small portion of the works, and can be got
over by artificial means, such as planting and culti-
vating ; that the approaches by sea are already so
complete that no obstacle will be found in that di-
rection ; that the filling of the Bitter Lakes will be
accomplished, though the time it will take is very
uncertain. _ _

With regard to the commercial success of the
project the tariff of charges is as yet quite uncertai n
M. de Lesseps talks about a ton, which he calcu-
lates will give them, the first year, a million and a
half of money. In this estimate, however, he in-
cludes a large portion of trade now borne by sail-
ing vessels.

The navigation of the Red Sea has hitherto been
confined to steamers alone, audit remains to be seen
whether in a narrow and difficult sea, of which the
normal state is that the wind blows always up or
down, and in a different direction, for half the dis-
tance, navigation will be profitable for ordinary
sailing ships. It is very probable that in course of

time, if the undertaking succeeds, a large quantity
of shipping with the auxiliary screw will be con-
structed to meet the peculiar circumstances of the
voyage. The best means of towing sailing vessels
through the canal itself is as yet undecided—whe-
ther by traction engines from the bank, by an end-
less chain along the bottom of the canal, or by
ordinary tugboats. IVe heard no estimate what-
ever as to the cost of maintaining the works,
but if in course of time the commerce between
the west and cast pas3es over its waters, there
s no doubt that a toll of less than £1 a ton
will be more than ufficient to repay its con-
structors and maintain the works, even though
their cost be immense.

EARTHQUAKE WAVE.—Iu a recent discussion at
Melbourne, before the Loyal Society, relating to the South
American earthquake, it was stated that the great wave
which rolled on the coasts of New Zealand and all the
eastern and southern shores of Australia on the 15th of

August must have rolled over .the I'acitio Uceau in_lB
bons, ox at tho rato of 333 mile 4 la9ur.

THE OLD MANAGER.

(Front AllSoll'S Drarnlfic Alinanack for 1869.)

On the 26th of November, 1761, there died in
the neighbourhood of Covent-garden one John
Rich ; he was at that time manager of the theatre
bearing that name. Perhaps, at Christmas time,
few names ought .to be more remembered than
that of the man who gave Pantomime existence;
and, although more than a century has passed, the
creation of his brain and the child of his fancy still
delights and pleases thousands.

John Rich was the son of Christopher Rich, the
patentee of Drury-lane Theatre, and was born in
the year 1691. Old Christopher's sole idea of ac-
quiring wealth, as a manager, was by the engage-
ment of French dancers, Italian singers, and any
odier exotic exhibition, than by any skill of an
united company of actors.

John Rich iuherited the same taste as his father,
though he is said to have imbibed from his youth a
cli like of the people with whom he was destimxl to
live and convers,.?.

After the death of his father, Rich, in conjunc-
tion with his brother, carried on the theatre in
Linculu's-inn-fields, and there tried his talent for
acting, making his appearance in the fart of the
E-trl of Essex, but after many trials he abandoned
speaking parts, and devoted himself entirely to
pantornimical representations.

The theatre being at that time at a very low ebb,
Rich, to retrieve its fortunes, imported a species of
dramatic composition into this country, which he
called a pantomime. It consisted of two parts, one
serious and the other comic. By the help of gay
scenes, fine habits, grand dances, and appropriate
music, and other decorations, he exhibited a story
from " Ovid's Metamorphosis," or some other fabu-
lous writer. Between the parts or acts of this
serious representation he introduced a comic fable,
consisting of Harlequin and Columbine, with a
variety of surprising adventures and tricks which
were brought about by the magic wand of Harle-
quin.

The pantomime that drew such crowds a century
ago was a very different affair to the one that thou-
sands flock so eagerly to see on Boxing Night, and
which managers look upon as their " Goose with
the Golden Eggs." The pantomime of that day
ran thus :--

The opening scene generally was a farm yard
with a large barley mow in the background. The
clodhoppers were seen going to work singing a
chorus, a scaffolding was raised against the farm,
which, at the magic wand of the harlequin, entirely
disappeared ; sometimes harlequin was disguised as
an old woman, and, as in the pantomime of the pre-
sent day, the police were brought in in the shape
of village constables, and just as they were about
to seize him they were tripped up and buffeted, and
ran away in great confusion. Another trick was
harlequin disguising himself as an ostrich, and his
pecking at the various characters brought down
great applause. Then harlequin would ride on a
broom between two witches, and a transformation
took place, which would appear now of a
very humble order, viz., a garden wall
changing into one covered with prints, ballads,
broadsides, &c., and harlequin, disguised as an old
woman,selling them, and generally the last scene was
a glittering temple with cascades of water, varied
at times by harlequin being carried off, like Don
Juan, to the regions below, amidst a blaze of fire-
works and demons. This was some famous harle-
quin sorcerer which always had a great run. The
music was generally of a very high order, being
composed by Dr. Arne.

Rich improved very much upon the tricks, and
the sudden changes by the aid of his magic wand of
temples and palaces into cottages and huts, men
and women into wheelbarrows, trees into houses.
It was under the name of Lunn that Rich played
harlequin, and which performance was said
to be marvellously great in grace and
dignity. He commenced these performances in
1717. In 1733 he removed his company to
Covent-garden, and went on a career of prosperity
until his death, as recorded previously. He was
excessively ignorant, and often offended his
company with his excessive vulgarisms—one habit
he had was that of calling everybody " Mister,"
which offended the great mimic Foote so much
that upon being so addressed he asked Rich the
reason he was not addressed by his name ?
" Don't be angry," rejoinod Rich, " L r I some-
times forget my own name."

" Indeed," said Foote, " that is very extra-
ordinary. I knew you could not write your own
name, but I did not suppose you could forget it."
Quin and Rich had more than one quarrel in their
time, and the former having a wish to leave Bath
for Loudon, wrote thus to Rich :
" I am at Bath.—Yours, JAMES QUINN."
Rich laconically answered thus :
" Stay there and be damned.—Yours, Joint

Notwithstanding the many squabbles that Rich
had in his managerial capacity, and his dislike of
actors as long as he lived, he was extremely chari-
table to the unfortunate and distressed in that pro-
fession. lie had a long list of theatrical pensioners
both male and female, and he never upon any pre-
tence diminished their income, and it is said that in
his dying moments the recollection of his benevo-
lent acts afforded him great consolation.
le was continually at warfare with David Gar-

rick. Rich never allowed au opportunity to pass
without ridiculing his rival, and a vast many ludi-
crous parodies were floating about town, which
caused great mirth among the frequenters of the
theatre.

In the church of St. Paul's, Covent-garden, lies
buried

The Father of Pantomime.

LuNDON GAZETTE-LAST EVENING.

WINDSOR CASTLE, DEC. 12.
The Queen was this day pleased to confer the honour of
Knighthood on John Duke Coleridge, Esc!, M.P., her Ma-
jesty's Solicitor-General.