The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-18 00:00:00

KING'S BASTION AT PORTSMOUTH.

TUESDAY, 9 P.M.—An inquest was held this evening
before Mr. Cooper, the Coroner for Portsmouth, on the
bodies of the unfortunate young men, Michael Walker
and Alexander Miller, gunners of the Royal Artillery,
who were killed on Monday by the accidental discharge
of a gun they were loading whilst announcing the ar-
rival of her Majesty and the_King of the French at this
port by a royal salute.
The jury having viewed the bodies, which were iden-
tified by a comrade of the Royal Artillery corps,
William Henry Bent was sworn, and deposed—He
was a captain of the Royal Artillery, and commanded
the detachment stationed at Portsmouth ; he was on
duty on Monday, the 14th instant, on the King's BAS
tion, on the Portsmouth lines ; the deceased men,
Michael Walker and Alexander Miller, belonged to his
company, and were under his command on the bastion.
He was there for the purpose of directing the royal
salutes for her Majesty Queen Victoria and the
King of the French on their arrival at Portsmouth.
At about a quarter to four o'clock in the afternoon,
in accordance with preconcerted signals, a salute was
commenced firing, and the deceased, together with another
gunner, Archibald Guthrie, were on duty at No. 3 gun.
The gun had been once fired (there being only four guns
on the bastion it was necessary to fire each gun five
times, and one of them six, to produce a Royal salute).
He was going to give the word of command to " fire,"
when suddenly the gun was discharged without the word.
On the smoke clearing away, the bodies of the two men,
Walker and Miller, were discovered lying on the ram-
part in front of the guns, at some distance from their
muzzles, each having an arm torn away, their thighs
shattered, and Walker, his head horribly disfigured from
the blast of the powder. He had the bodies imine-
diately conveyed to the works below the bastion, and
covered over. The bones protruded through the skins
of the bodies, where the blast had taken effect.

By a juror—lt is usual to stand upon the works to
charge the guns upon the King's Bastion.
By the CORONER—The guns mounted on the King's
Bastion are 32-pounders.
Witness—Walker was never heard to speak or utter
any sound after the accident. He examined the gun im-
mediately after the accident, and there was no defect
whatever in it. They are all new guns on the King's
Bastion ; and, in order to prevent the possibility of ac-
cident, the sponge to clean out the guns was wet, and a
bucket of water was kept close at hand to keep the
sponges well wet, notwithstanding the heavy raia which
was descending. His inference was, that a piece of the
flannel cartridge had remained in the gun after it was
first discharged, which ignited the second charge on its
being rammed home.
By the Foreman—No blame whatever can possibly
attach to the soldier who stopped the vent with his
thumb. The rammer was blown away, and has not yet
been recovered. Cannot answer the question " whether
the man who stopped the vent did his duty ?" He is a
very steady man, and was at his post. I believe he is
thoroughly careful, and that no blame whatever attaches
to him. He is an old soldier, and has seen service ; he
is a very goad man, and understands his duty perfectly.
John Saunderson was then called, and stated that he
was master-gunner of the lines. He went on duty at
the King's Bastion on the 14th in-A. His duty was to see
the guns loaded, under the direction of Captain Bent.
He saw Miller and Walker, deceased, load No. 3 gun,
having sponged it and turned the sponge. Archibald
Guthrie had charge of the vent ; saw his hand over the
breech, but could not tell whether his thumb was on the
vent or not. He suddenly heard a discharge, without
the order to " tire," and on the smoke clearing away, he
saw the bodies of the two men, whom but a moment
before he had observed loading the gun, lying on the
rampart, blown to pieces. A similar accident occurred
when saluting his Majesty William IV., as Lord High
Admiral, in 1838 ; but then the gun was not well
sponged, nor the vent well served, which doubtless, was
the cause of the accident. (The other part of this wit-
ness's testimony was merely corroborative of that given
by Captain Bent.)
Archibald Guthrie deposed—ls a gunner of the corps
of Royal Artillery quartered in Portsmouth. Has been
gunner for nearly nineteen years. Was on duty on the
King's Bastion on the 14th inst., and served the vent of
No. 3 gun, the same which caused the accident. The
bodies which the jury had viewed were those of Michael
Walker and Alexander Miller. • Is No. 4 of No. 3 gun.
The duty of the deceased was respectively to sponge and
load, and his to serve the vent. The gun had been once
fired, and deceased were engaged in reloading it. lie
had his thumb upon the vent, Isis bare thumb, when the
gun .exploded. He saw the gun previously sponged by
No. 2, Alexander Miller. The sponge was carried to
the breech, and it appeared to him the gun was properly
sponged. Walker loaded the gun. Saw him put the
cartridge into the muzzle, and a few moments after he
did so witnessed it explode. There was scarcely time
for the cartridge to have been thrust up to the breech be-
fore the explosion took place. He had his thumb upon
the vent in the way in which gunners are taught to place
their thumbs in serving the vent. Tne ignited wadding,
&e., was flying about from the other guns as they were
discharged, the wind was blowing so very strong at the time.
Could not remember any accident having occurred in con-
sequence of the sparks or wadding from other guns hav-
ing blown into the muzzle of a loaded gun. It is the duty
of Saunderson to see the guns are properly served. On
the explosion taking place it blew his (witness's) thumb
from off the vent and burnt it very much, laying it open
from the hand to near the top (witriFss appeared with his
left arm in a sling). The deceased were blown from
each side of the muzzle of the gun. His experience. as
a gunner did not enable him to explain accurately the
cause of the heartrending calamity.
By a juror—Thinks such a circumstance might have
happened as a spark flying upon the flannel cartridge be-
fore being put into the gun.
This being the principal evidence touching the direct
cause of the death of the young man, the Coroner
summed up, and the jury returned an unanimous verdict
of " Accidental Death."

A wrist find two fingers stuck together, believed to
belong to the body of Walker, were picked up today
about twelve o'clock on the beach, about 100 yards from
the King's Bastion, in a line with the mouths of the guns,
but neither the other members blown off nor the rammer
have yet been found.

. -
CLERICAL INTOLERANCR.—A few weeks since the
following circumstances, disgraceful in their effect, and
ridiculous as proceeding from an individual appinted to
teach good will and charity with all mankind, took place
at the village of H , a few miles from Ipswich.
It appears that in this village stands a chapel attended by
a body of Christian Dissenters, in connexion with Stoke
Chapel, Ipswich. No regular minister being appointed,
the service is sPrved by an occasional lay preacher, a
highly respected inhabitant of this town, who journeys
over fur the occasion every Sunday. On the Saturday
previous to the day on which the circumstance; we wish
to relate took place, a persaa living near the chapel was
surprised by the clergyman of the parish calling upon her,
and asking in a loud tone, " what time the abominable
practices would commence on Sunday." Not under-
standing him, she asked for an explanation, when it ap-
peared he referred t 3 the performance of divine service.
She replied, that two services were performed in the day
—in the morning at ten, and in the afternoon at two.
The clergyman left. On the Sunday afternoon, while
the person who officiated as minister was seated in the
vestry previously to the
rseravniy, he was surprised by a
loud knocking at the doo
he found the clergyman opening it, to his sur-
prise,an in
of full
i. canonicals, book in
band, and followed by a string si,nnd girls. "I am
come to denounce your proceedings," quoth
A the Rev.
Gentleman, and began an excited !rs'atioti soon as
the minister recovered his surprise at the novels
he gave the clerical disturber to understand tliatseseun et:
proceedings would not be allowed, and if persisted in c a
NI.. po4corn - would be called, and a charge exhibited
7.—. ' i '.l,This appeared, if not to produce a calm,
/ ...r. —at lettAto prevent further annoyance, for gathering up'
‘4l,- -ha robedis 'red, saying, " I can only do what lam
eI. . b9undfo dic: e Scriptures—shake off the dust of my,
"I — reit, is Os against you." The zealot then per-
; Jfirnietiille .liC I bodily and quitted the spot, not how-
-1 Mr-before 9.19 Lira-taught labourer, thinking he might
(..,... )
,•-:------tiv.iitifie paison some unnecessary labour, cried out to
14 hip" "Fetr: you won't have much trouble to do that,
IP • -,A...A 1....1 .. 1.,...........‘in 0 rr.nrn ”—.CHFEAII PlirninLio

FRENCH RAILWAYS.
(From the Constitutionnel.)
A circular of the President of the Committee of Stock-
brokers recommends the members to abstain from all
negotiations in reference to the railways which have re-
cently been adjudicated, until it receives the royal sanc-
tion. A Ministerial journal published the above cir-
cular this morning, accompanying it with a warning to
the more ardent speculators. This is very well ; but
there will be some difficulty in repressing speculation,
which is the inevitable consequence of the system of
financial companies adopted by the law of 1842. Spe-
culation was not relaxed with regard to promises of
shares in the Bordeaux and Vierzon railways, and the
jobbers are yet on the Bourse using the activity of
cartesien atoms. We do not know if they profess to be
stock-brokers, but true it is that promises of shares in
the Bordeaux and Vierzon lines realise enormous pre-
miums to the profit of those men who are most conver-
sant with the usages and resources of the Bourse.
Without doubt these operations have no legal character
any more than bargains for time, which, however, do not
inspire the Committee with similar scruples.
Although the circular of M. Courpon does not appear
to us to produce a great effect upon the speculators, we
think, however, that it would have been more proper to
have published it on the Bth than the 12th ; that might,
perhaps, have prevented some dupes from trusting, be-
fore the adjudications, to the promises of shares in a
rival company, and of losing 10 per cent. upon the spe-
culation. Now this company seems to play, with regard
to the Mackenzie Company, the part of the fox in the
fable of the " Fox and the Raven." In effect, all is not
over with the adjudicated company. Many things re
main to be arranged, and more than one detail may
stop the confirmation. With regard merely to the
sinking fund, how will it be fixed ? To redeem the
capital in twenty-eight years will require a. large reduc-
tion from the receipts, or else a combination, which the
company does not seem to have agreed upon, and which
M. Dumon awaits with impatience. However, it may be
the excluded companies are still in hope, and are using
more means than one to carry off the prey from the pro-
visional conqueror.
(From La Patrie.)
M. Courpon, President of the Committee of Stock-
holders, has, by a special circular, recommended the
members of the company to abstain from all speculation,
in reference to promises of shares in railways. Why
was not this circular published before the late adjudica-
tion ? It might have opened the eyes of some dupes
of the second order. As to the speculators, they know
what they are about, and it is perfectly useless to give
advice to them. Besides, the three excluded companies from
the late adjudication do not despair of resuming their posi-
tion in the affair. It is said that the victorious company is
sufficiently embarrassed respecting the redemption of its
capital in the short and unheard-of space of twenty-
eight years.
(From La Pa trie of the 156.)
A report was current this afternoon on the Bourse, that
two of the companies who had presented themselves for
the adjudication of the Bordeaux Railway, had proposed
to contest for the Vierzon line, in case the Minister,
withholding his sanction to the aljudication made to the
Bartholony Company, should make a new adjudication.
(From the Paris Globe )
We frankly avow that we are of the number of those
who are astonished at the boldness of the company to
whom the Bordeaux Railway has been adjudicated.
Until proof to the contrary, we believe ourselves to be
fully authorised by the most simple calculations to ex-
pect a reduction' of duration of near fourteen years of
the lease; the ch.ances of success are but little favourable
to the operation. The National more penetrating,
without doubt, than the general good sense, than the
Government and the reporter himself, pretends to de-
monstrate that the term of the Mackenzie tender pro-
duces the identical results of the expose of the Minister
of Public Works, as well as the estimate of M. Dufaure.
In short, if the National is to be believed, the forty-six
years of the Minister, the forty-one years of M. Dufaure,
and the twenty-seven years of the company, are in
reality the same. " The calculations of the Minister
and M. Dufaure," says this Radical paper, " were
equally wrong, because they had both a basis equally
wrong. Thus, the Minister and the reporter both admit
that the company would expend a capital of seventy
millions, whilst the capital necessary is only sixty-five
millions. They both admit besides that the sinking
fund must be of the entire capital, which is a palpable
error. The capital will, in effect, be divided into two
parts—two-thirds devoted to the laying down of the
rails, and which will not be repaid, and one-third to the
acquisition of material, and which will be repaid at the
end of the term. Now, what is the object of .a sinking
fund ? The reconstitution of the expended capital.
Therefore, since a third of the capital will be restored by
the repayment, it evidently follows that the sinking fond
need only provide for the two-thirds which will not be
repaid."
If ever the National has been an imprudent and dan-
gerous friend it is now. In desiring to prove too much
it compromises that which it seeks to defend, and raises
arguments to answer itself. It is true, as it pretends, that
a third of the capital is devoted to the acquisition of
material, but it is not true that this third is to be re-
imbursed to the company. No one is ignorant, except
the National, that this reimbursement is never made
upon the original price ; we know on the contrary, that
at the end of the term the company receives only, as a
valuation of old materials, what they may be declared
entitled to—that is to say, after a reduction of fifty per
cent. at least. In adopting, then, this fifty per cent., as
the amount of reimbursement for the company, it will
be seen that a sixth enly of the entire capital escapes the
necessity of a sinking fund.
Until the most ample explanations on the part of the
Mackenzie Company, we are warranted in expressing
our doubts upon the advantages of its operations. We
will add, that it is impossible that this company can fix
its sinking fund upon a higher rate than one per cent.,
as has been established in the report of the Commission.
Now, by the system of annuities, we only reimburse, at
the end of twenty-seven years two hundred and
seventy days, a capital of forty-four millions
(according to the calculations of the National),
and not the total sum of sixty-five millions, from which
it is true would have to be deducted seven or eight mil-
lions paid by the State under the head of reimbursement
of material. We sincerely wish that the Mackenzie
Company may be able to furnish in this respect the ne-
cessary explanations. We are, as it is well known, far
from being opposed to the system of companies, but we
are also desirous that these companies may never become
the subject of ultimate embarrassment to the State, and
on this head we will quote the words of M. Dufaure, in
his report upon the railway from Orleans to Tours (ses-
sion 1844). relative to the Barry Company, which pre-
sented itself in competition with the Drouillard Company :
—" We ought, gentlemen, to receive with some dis-
trust the advantages which are promised to us by the
competition excited between the applicants for conces-
sion of railways. We know the results which have been
already produced. It is because the Government and
the Chambers had too favourably listened to them, that
the two sessions of 1839 and 1840 have been employed
in affording aid to so many companies who were on the
verge of ruin—in discharging some from the terms of
their contract ; in dispensing others from onerous obli-
gations which they had themselves incurred. The dis-
credit which has attached for so long to all railway pro-
jects has, perhaps, had no more direct or powerful cause
than that which we have just referred to.' I

THE MANCHESTER REGISTRATION.—The labours
of the revising barristers of this division of the county
are closed, and the following is the result, as far as the
Ntanchester polling district is concerned:—Objections by
Conservatives, 550 ; struck off the list, 404. Objections
by the Leaguers, 1,355 ; struck off. 215. Gain upon
objections to Conservatives, 189. New claims by Con-
servativt s, 1,015 ; allowed, 756. New claims by
Leaguers, 1,898 ; allowed, 1,189. Leaguers gain upon
new claims, 443. Deduct from this number 189 gained
by Conservatives on objections, makes a total loss to
Conservatism of 244.

DR. WOOLF.— The German papers received yester-
day contain a letter, dated Constantinople, September
25, relative to this enterprising traveller. It would not
deserve notice after the important communication which
appeared in The Sun, ,if Mond.tv, if it did not state that
the Ameer, who, according to Dr. 'Woolf's letter of June
27, was then at Samarcand, had eturued, and manifested
great kindness to the doctor. We therefore presume
that the information, whatever may be its authority on
which this letter was written, must have been of later
date than that transmitted by Dr. Woolf from Bukhara.
The following is a translation :—" Constantinople, Sept.
25.—The most recent accounts from Teheran speak again
somewhat more favourably for our countryman, Dr.
Woolf. The Emir, of Bokhara, after his return from
Samarcand, sent for Dr. Woolf, gave him a very good re-
ception, presented him with 100 pieces of gold, a horse,
a kaftan of honour, and gave him permission to commence
his return journey. Nevertheless, p apple in Teheran
had little confidence in the affair, and strongly suspected
that the Emir would cause the missionary to be over-
taken and murdered on his journey. Of his actual de-
parture we have yet no intelligence. It seems he was
waiting until the Persian embassy, then in Bokhara,
should sat out. Should he succeed in joining it, his
safety may be regarded as secured."

A curious delusion appears to have prevailed for
centuries amongst the inhabitants of the Isle of Wight
with regard to a royal residence being established in it.
The general impression was, that, in the event of the
Sovereign sleeping a night on the island, all claim to the
territory was forfeited by the British Crown. This delu-
sion appears to have been favoured and encouraged by
the course adopted by King George the Fourth, who,
when he was in the habit of visiting Mr. Nash, the
architect, at East Cowes Castle, as Prince Regent,
always slept on board the Royal George yacht,
anchored in the roads, and, subsequently, after
his accession to the Throne, when the Manor
House was purchased, and fitted up ns a royal
residence, and called the King's House, he was never
known to pass a night under its roof. So popular had
this absurdity beccme, that many people in Cowes might
be found at this moment, who really believe that her
Majesty passed the night on board the yacht, but that,
for obvious State reasons, the fact is not avowed. Hcw
this delusion could have continued, after King Charles's
captivity in Cariabrooke Castle, is astonishing ; but the
natives account for that by pointing to his unhappy eO.
TILE LATE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.—B 7 the
demise of the above estimable Duchess the families of
the Earl and Countess of Galloway, the Honourable
Captain Keith Stewart, RN., the Hon. E. and Lady
Katharine Stewart, Lady Charlotte Crofton, Lady Eliza-
beth Inge, Lord and Lady Churchill, &c., are placed in
mourning.
Tan Boox o
calf,S.hoTrtaly e
Mysteries
of nhaees
published, handsomely
of London." The first number will be filled with
account of the election of Alderman Gibbs as Lordn
Mayor. The second will give facsimiles of the receipts
of the Alderman during his churchwardenship of Bt.
Stephens, Walbrook.—Puneli.

ANOTHER COAL-PIT EXPLOSION