The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-21 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY AND FATAL
EXPLOSION IN A COAL PIT.

TWO PERSONS KILLED,

AND SEVEN

OTHERS MORE OR LESS INJURED.

On Monday afternoon, about half-past one o'clock,
a most extraordinary and unaccountable eruption of
water and foul air, followed by an explosion, oc-
curred in the coal-pit belonging to the trustees of
Mrs. Williams, situated immediately behind the Hare
and Hounds public-house, Pemberton, about a mile
and a half from Wigan, on the road to Billinge
The result of the accident is the death of two youths
about sixteen years of age, named Richard Fair-
hurst and William Parkinson ; the serious injury of
three boys and two men; the slight injury of
two other boys ; and also a few casual bruises
to another workman in the mine. From infor-
mation collected on the spot, we are enabled to
lay the following particulars before our readers :
It appears, that there are two principal
mines in the colliery—namely, a five-foot
mine, eighty yards deep, and a four-foot
mine, twenty yards below it. From the
five-foot mine to the four-foot, there is an
air-shaft constructed, independently of the
main-shaft ; and immediately under this small
shaft, the proprietors had determined upon boring
for other beds of coal. The workmen had been en-
gaged in this for some time, and had got to a very
considerable depth ; when, on Saturday evening last,
the boring rods broke—an accident which has
since given the men much trouble. On Monday
morning they commenced work, by preparing
instruments and tools to catch the broken
rods, and were thus engaged until the time
at which the accident occurred half-past
one. It is as well to state, that the boring
hole, which is three inches in diameter, has been
hitherto always full of water, and flowing over at the
top : the rods are about an inch square. At the time
stated, the men had just succeeded in catching the
rods, a great number of yards of which had been left
in the hole; and, at the first attempt to pull them up,
an extraordinary eruption of air and water com-
menced, the latter being forced with a tremendous
rush to the top of the small shaft above. The work-
men at the bore-hole, as might be expected, were much
alarmed, and not only put out their own lights, but
instantly called to those in the mine above to do the
same. As far as they could be heard, this was done ;
and some of the men escaped just in time, by jumping
into the basket, which was about to ascend the main
shaft; but, unfortunately, two lads were bringing
a basket of coal, with their lights, along the main
drawing line (which is a hundred and sixty yards
long), in the five-foot mine, and were not within
hearing when the alarm was given. On passing near
the mouth of the small air shaft, through which the
inflammable matter was rushing after the water had
subsided, the lights ignited, and an explosion was the
consequence. The inflammable matter being forced up-
wards through the small shaft, exploded near the mouth
of it, as the boys were moving down the tram road,
and passing the shaft. These boys were much in-
jured by the explosion ; but the fatal cases oc-
curred in the five-foot mine, as the inflammable
air was making its way to the main shaft
for escape; indeed, no persons were injured except in
that particular part of the five-foot mine. Tho borers,
under-lookers, and other workmen in the four-foot
mine, and indeed all the hands in the mine above who
were removed from that part of it just mentioned,
escaped uninjured. The door was broken down by
the extraordinary rush of air in the pit, it is
thought, after the explosion. We are informed, and
certainly have no reason to doubt it, that the mine is
in a pure state of ventilation ; and that now, as
before a very srong current passes from the main
shaft through the five-foot mine, and from thence
down the small shaft into a mine below. The door
has already been refixed; the water is flowing over
the bore hole ; and the rods having been taken hold
of, it is hoped the workmen will proceed again with-
out interruption. The following are the names
of the sufferers :—Richard Fairhurst and William
Parkinson, drawers, dead ; Henry Taylor, Thomas
Taylor (the two who carried the lights which caused
explosion), and John Parkinson, all drawers, seri-
ously injured ; Thomas Topping and Edward Stock-
ley, two men, seriously bruised and burnt; James
Derbyshire and William Fishwick, drawers, slightly
injured. Twenty-three persons in the two mines
escaped without injury; one was slightly bruised by
the air forcing him about. All those we have men-
tioned are said to be more injured by bruises than by
the explosive matter. No accident from explosion
ever occurred in the pit before. Manchester Guar-
dian of yesterday.

INFANTICIDE AT WOLVER-
HAMPTON.
WOLVERHAMPTON, TUESDAY.
In The Sun of Monday appeared an account of a
serious charge of infanticide, in which three persons
who have hitherto moved in a respectable sphere of
society were implicated. In consequence of the re-
quest of the coroner, it was not intended to publish the
evidence (the inquest being adjourned) until the close
of the proceedings on Thursday next; but as the pri-
eoners were brought before the magistrates at the
police-office on Monday last, and publicly examined,
further secresy is no longer necessary. Mr. Hill and
Mr. Dehane were the presiding magistrates ; and as
will be seen from the subjoined report, in addition to
Aliss Railton, Mrs. Hildreth (her sister), and Mr.
Sheriff (the surgeon's assistant), Mr. Hildreth, the
printer, has, since the adjournment of the coroner s
inquest, been taken into custody.
Miss Railton, when brought before the magistrates,
appeared to feel deeply her unhappy situation. Both
prisoners were accommodated with chairs. The of-
fice was crowded to excess.
Colonel Hogg deposed as follows :—I am deputy
constable of Staffordshire. On the 29th of October
last I attended an inquest at the Greyhound public-
house, on the body of a female child. On Saturday,
the 9th of November, in consequence of information
which I received I went to the house of Mr. Quinton,
the surgeon. I asked him if ho knew Miss Railton,
the sister of Mr. Darby, the
postmaster? He said
he did not; he never saw her. I asked him if he had
ever attended her professionally? He said he had
not. I asked him if he knew Mr. Hildreth, the
printer, and if that gentleman had not applied to him
to attend professionally his sister-in-law, Miss Ren-
ton ? He said he had not ; that he had never upon
Mr. Hildreth's application supplied Miss Railton with
medicine. He admitted that he had given Mr. Hil-
dreth medicine for a woman at his house, who he
supposed from what was stated to him must be in the
family-way. I told him I put those questions to him
in consequence of information I had received, to the
effect that he had attended Miss Railton during her
confinement. He said he might have seen her, but
he did not know her, and never attended her. I
went to Mr. Hildreth's the same evening, and asked
him if his sister-in-law, Miss Railton, was staying in
his house, or if she had been staying there ? He
said she had left there since the races (in August),
and was now at the post-office. I said I had
reason to suppose that she had been delivered
of a child at his house, to which Mr. Hildreth
replied, it was false, and that the person who made
the assertion ought to be punished for injuring the
charaotax of a respectable woman. I then asked
him if he ever had been to Mr. Quinton's surgery, to
see Mr. Sheriff for medicine or advice ? He said he
had been there, but not for medicine or advice. I
went to Mr. Hildreth's house again on Friday last,
the 15th of November, when I took his wife into
custody. Mr. Hildreth said to me, " You are
going too far with this business ; you had better
drop it, it will not end well." On Monday week I
saw again the prisoner Mr. Sheriff, and told him J
had still grounds to suspect that he had attended
Miss Railton in childbed, and that I understood he
had some time ago applied to Mr. Doubler, another
surgeon in the town, to procure abortion. Ile said he
had done so, and the person was cook at Mr. Dehane's,
the surgeon, in Queen-street. He again denied all
knowledge of Miss Railton. I was at the adjourned
inquest on Tuesday, the 12th of November, and,
from the evidence I heard there, I considered it in;
duty to arrest him. I went with the surgeon
and Inspector Casey to the post-office. I saw Mr.
Darby, the postmaster, and told him what I came
for, and asked was the charge against his sister-in-
law, Miss Railton, true ? Ile said it was false. I
afterwards saw Miss Railton in his (Darby's) pre-
sence, and told her I had received information that
she had been confined, and that the child had been
destroyed. She said, "It is not the ease ; it is
quite a mistake." I then requested Mr. Fowke to
go upstairs and examine her. Mr. Fowke went up
stairs, and after he came down, he and I had some
conversation. I afterwards saw Miss Railton, and
told her Mr. Fowke had informed me that she had
recently been delivered of a child, and 1 was sorry
she had told me a falsehood. She told me that
she had been Confined at her sister-in-law's, Mrs. Hil-
• dreth, within three or four weeks ; that her sister
took the child away ; that she knew nothing more