The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-17 00:00:00

KING'S BASTION AT foBTSAIOUTIL

TUESDAY, 9 P.m.—An inquest was hell this evenine,
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 disehar;.e
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 se ere idea-
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 statroned at Portsmouth ; he was on
duty on Monday, the 14th instant, on the liinfel Bas-
tion, on the Portsmouth lines ; the deceased men,
Michael Walker and Alexander Miller, belor.ged to his
company, and were under his command on the bastion.
He was there for the, purpose of directing the royal
salutes for ber Majesty Queen Victoria and the
King of - the French on their arrival at Pot tsmputh.
At about a quarter to four o'clock in the afternoor,
in accordance with preconcerted signals, a salute was
commenced firing:, and the deceased, together with akOttn r
gunner, Archibald Guthrie, were on duty at No. 3 Sur.
The gun had been once fired (there being only four guns
on the bastion it was necessary to fire each gun fi e
times, and one of them six, to produce a Royal salute).
Ho was going to give the word of command to "
when suddenly the gun was discharged without the Word.
On the smoke clearing away, the bodies of the two
.me! ,
Walker and Miller, were discovered lying on the ram-
part in front of the guns, at some distance from their
!nuzzles 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 irrune-
diately conveyed t-) the works below the bastion, `and
covered over. The bones protruded through the skins
of the bodies, where the bat of the eharg,3 hal taken
effect.

By a juror—lt is usu.:l to stand upon the works to
charge the guns upon the King's Bastion.
By the ConoNEn—The guns mounted en the King's
Bastion are 32-pounders.
Witness—Walker was never heard to speak or utter
any sound after the =idea. He examined the gun- im-
mediately after the aecidvnt, and theru was nu defect

whatever in it. They are all new guns on the King's
Bastion ; and, in order to prevent the possibility of cc:-
eident, the sponge to clean out the guns IV:1s we:, and a
bucket of water was kept close at hand to keep ti,e
sponges well wet, notwithstanding the heavy rain whi,h
was descending. His inference was, that a p'ece i f 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—N,) blame whatever can possibly
attach to the soldier who stopped the vent with- Ins
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 ?" is a
very steady man, and was at his post. I believe he is
thoroughly careful, and that no blame whatever attiaches
to him. Ire is an old soldier, and has seen sere ice ; he
is a very good man, and understands his duty perfectly,
John Saundenon was then called, and stated that he
was master-gunner of the linos. He went on dutp.at
the King's Bastion on the 14th inst. His duty was to see
the guns loaded, under the direction of Capta;n 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
tent or not. He suddenly heard a discharge, without,
the order to " tire," and on the smoke clearing away, .1:e
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 net well

sponged, nor the v,2nt well served, whieb. 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. Iles been
gunner for nearly nineteen years. Was on duty on the
King's Bastion on the 14th inst., and served the vent iff

No. —3
gun, the same which caused the accident. The

bodie3which the jury had viewed were thosQ 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 ch.coased were engaged in reloading it. He
had his thumb upon the vent, his bare thumb, when ti e
gun exploded. He' saw the gun previously sponged by
N 0.2, 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 tie
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 Ix-
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. The ignited wadding,
&c., 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 o
from the hand to near the top (witness appeared with.te
left arm in a sling). The deceased were blown from
each side of the muzzle of the gun. his experience it
a gunner did not enable him to explain accurately tie
cause of the heartrending calamity.
By a juror—Thinks such a circumstance might hare
happened as a spark flying upon the flannel cartridge be-
fore being put into the gun.
This being the principal evidence touching the
Coroner
direct
cause of the death of the young men, t
summed up, and the jury returned an unanimous verdict
of " Accidental Death.'
belong A Nvrtiostthaendbotwoa;
oflfn ge rs
Walker,st cwk
,a,tibeego
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auel irpdetivoedirdeamtyo
about twelve o'clock on thebeach, yards
Ibtiliotwhen moffountoirs
toibet
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enK)ei.iretj King's
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nbn ed, r.i nmembers
v

OPENING OF THE MANCHESTER CUSTOM-HOUSE.
(
T's establishment was opened for business on Friday.
Our readers are already aware that it is situate in
Mosely-street, at No. 73, near to St. Peter's-square.
The house is a spacious one, and the various rooms have
been appropriated to the different offi.ces required.
The establishment consists of a collector, comptroller ,
six clerks, a landing surveyor, two landino-waiters,
lockers, &c. Mr. Powell, late comptroller of the
Customs at Newcastle, has been selected as collector ;
and Mr. Shelly, late warehouse-keeper at Liverpool,
has received the appointment of comptroller. It being
desirable that the officers should be persons familiar with
the business of custom., the majority of them, we un-
derstand, have been selected by the Commissioners of
Customs from the Liverpool officers. As we have inti-
mated above, yesterday was. the first day of business ;,
and though the fact had not been officially notified to
the public, we understand that a considerable business
was transacted. The building itself has undergone some
alterations in the interior, to adapt it fur this new pur-
pose, and these are not yet wholly completed ; but, in
the course of a few days, it will no doubt assume more
the appearance externally of the important purpose to
which' it i nv devoted.—Manchester Courier.

Her AhjeAty Queen Adelaide has just forwarded,
with her.accustomed lit rality, a donation of 25/. to the
London Society An. the Protection of Young Females, of
which society her Most Gracious Majesty has become
the patroness.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON.BRIDGE THIS DAY.
Morning ... 1:: minutes after 51 Evening"... 37 minutes after 5