The Sun.
London, England, 1842-10-28 00:00:00

FRIGHTFUL EXPLOSION.
THREE LIVES LOST.
Between three and four o'clock on Wednesday after-
noon last, the inhabitants of West Collingwood were
thrown into great consternation by a loud explosion,
the shock of which was sensibly felt by many. It
was quid, ly ascertained that the explosion had occurred
at the re: idence of a man named Pinner, a manufac-
turer of fiieworks, and the first object that presented
itself to tl,e persons who ran to the spot, was the life-
less body of Pinner, lying upon the open space in
front of his house, amidst a- quantity of bricks, shat-
tered pieces of wood, Sze.., whilst the entire of the
upper story of the house was completely carried away.
The body of an old man, an assistant of Pinner, was
likewise found shockingly disfigured lying in the gar-
den at the back of the premises. No signs of life
were perceivable in Pinner or the old man, and the
remains of both presented a horrid spectacle. On
proceeding up the stairs of the house, the lower part
extending to the floor of the second story of which
was left standing uninjured, it was discovered that
every vestige of the roof, walls, and the va-
rious articles which had been in the upper room,
had entirely disappeared. Jammed against the lower
part of the wall of the first story, and near the
top of the stairs was the body .of a lad, aged 14, with
the features so dreadfully disfigured and the body
blackened and mutilated, that but for the circumstance
of its being known that the remains were those of a
boy employed by Pinner, considerable difficulty must
have ensued respecting the identification of the body.
The house, which is a detached one, c,pnsisted of two
stories, the upper one having been appropriated to the
purpose of manufacturing fireworks. From the
statement of an elderly woman who was engaged by
r to superintend his domestic affairs, it appears
that a large quantity of gunpowder had lately been
placed in the upper room for the purpose of making
fireworks for the 6th of November, but in what
manner the explosion was caused remains a mystery.
The woman alluded to, who was in the room on
the ground floor when the explosion took place, had
a narrow escape. She had been up to the workroom
only a short time previously, for the purpose of taking
a half pint of beer to Pinner, who, with the old man
and the boy, wen, then employed in filling squibs.
She had barely returned down stairs when the shock-
ing catastrophe occurred. There were no lights in the
room when she was there, as it had not become dark.
Several windows in the neighbouring houses were
smashed in, and a number of chimney-pots thrown
down by the explosion.

CORONER'S INQUEST. Last evening, at seven
o'clock, an inquest was held at the sign of the King's
Head, Borough, before William Payne, Esq., on the
body of John Welling, aged thirty years. The de-
, ceased was a wire-worker. About six o'clock on
Monday evening last he was engaged in a pugilistic
encounter with a young man named John Hackett, a
brother-in-law of his, in York-street, London-road,
they having met by accident, and had so:ne words re-
specting- a family quarrel. They continued to fight
for about twenty minutes, and then both of them fell
together, and the deceased, who was undermost, struck
the, back part of his head against the kerb stone with
considerable violence ; he seemed to be greatly hurt,
and called out that "he would have no more of it,"
after which he shook hands with Hackett, and was
carried home, and died about five o'clock the follow-
ing morning, he never having spoken after he arrived
at home. The evidence was extremely conflicting,
but it was fully proved that the wife of the deceased,
who was present during the contest, was the first to
urge her husband on to fight, and "wiped" his hands
and face between the rounds. The Jury returned a
verdict of " Manslaughter" against John Hackett, and
the Coroner issued his warrant for his commitment to
Newgate for trial.
REASONS FOR LEARNING TO SING.—The celebrated
William Byrd, the author of Non nobis Domine, gave
the following very forcible reasons for learning to
sing, in a scarce work published in 1598, entitled,
" Psalms, Sonnets, and Songs of Sadness and Pietie
First, It is a knowledge easilie taught and quickly
learned, when there is a good master and an apt
scholar. Secondly, The exercise of singing is de-
lightful to nature, and good to preserve the health
of man. Thirdly, It doth strengthen all parts
of the heart, and doth open the pipes. Fourthly,
It is a
singular good remedie for a stuttering and
stammering in the speech. Fifthly, It is the best
means to preserve a perfect pronunciation, and to
make a good orator. Sixthly, It is the only way to
know when Nature hath bestowed a good voice ;
which gift is so rare that there is not one amongst a
thousand that hath it; and in many that excellent
gift is lost because they want an art to express na-
ture. Seventhly, There is not any music of instru-
ments whatsoever comparable to that which is made
of men's voices, when the voices are good, and the
same well sorted and ordered. Eighthly, The better
the, voice is, the meetcr it is to honour and serve God
therewith ; and the voice of man is chiefly to be em;
ployed to that end Omnis:spiritus landet Donnnum.
—Musical Times.

NEW CATHOLIC Cuunctr.—WocrosLur
—At twelve o'clock to-day an imposing ceremony
took place at the laying the foundation-stone of a
new Catholic Church, on ground liberally granted
for that purpose by the Board of Ordnance. The
new church is dedicated to St. Peter, and imme-
diately on the arrival of the Right Reverend Dr.
Griffiths, service commenced. An appropriate ser-
mon was then preached by the Right Reverend Dr.
eecahcnord os
chose to
Morris, and afterwards the Bishops and Priests all
The foundation-stone having been sprinkled with.
joined in performing the Litany of the Saints'
the holy water, and blessed, was struck three times
gaitcipthe building
Present offerings laid their money on the stone, and
beingwith a
placedsilver n trowel,Ti
thseß i
propers
Bishop,
yo
p,B precededi sl
position,
goathveertshlevihrodocnoautlidoinisottogteitlenvearire,stoswtion
of the church.g
proces-
sion, cross, and the following cler
Rev. Dr. Morris, the Rev. Messrs. men—the Right
North, Moore, Stasiewic7, Sisk, Lee, Walsh, Foley,
Morris, Applegarth, Kelly, Conway,l Robson, Edmund
Beaumont, Dr. Cox, and the Rev.
Sidden, O'Neal,
Ca-
tholic clergyman a iw , e Rev. Mr. Coles,
whole of the foundation ootwich, walked round the
the Bishop of the future building,
sprinkling every part with holy-water,
and repeatinr, that part of the Catholicservice '
appro
printed to thatb ceremony.
The whole of the services
concluded by the Right Rev. Dr.
,
Griffiths delivering
the pontifical benediction. The
Bishop ,
NI as dressed in his cope and mitre, and had his
crozier with him. The Right Rev. Dr. Morris was
. dressed in rochett and moxetta, and the clergymen
in their surplices, and the scene altogether appeared
to interest a great number of the spectators who were
present in addition to the members of the Catholic
Church, and the military of that religion, for whose
accommodation it is intended to be built, the present
chapel being very limited in its accommodation.
WOOLWICH,
al
such as I I'
atrthss'
h, OCT.
26.

CONSTANTINOPLE, OCT. 5.—A tatar arrived last
evening from" Bagdad. Private letters received by
him give us a piece of intelligence which is most im-
portant,
if true—viz., that the British army had
reached Caubul, and beleaguered it. General Pollock
had proposed conditions to the inhabitants, and had
threatened to storm the city if they were not ifistantly
granted. Igive the report as I got it, and shall only
add that, though the channel through which I receive
it is respectable, I can in no way vouch for its cor-
rectness. On one or two former occasions we have
received by indirect routes details which turned out
to be exact, and I should be happy to learn that this
is equally well founded. Our prisoners would then
be safe ; for the Affghans, though fierce when victors,
are true Asiatics, and always yield to "the powers
that be."--Correspondent of the Morn* Herald.

RAILWAY ACCIDENT.
A most alarming accident occurred on Monday
evening on the Brandling Junctieh Railway. The
particulars of this occurrence are briefly these. The
seven o'clock train from Sunderland to Newcastle
started as usual, and proceeded to near where the
railway crosses the Cleadon-lane, where the engineer
felt some slight interruption, and immediately turned
ofi the steam. The train was then moving at the rate
of about fifteen miles an hour. The sensation was
but momentary, but the direction of the engine was
suddenly changed, it having left the line, and was
apploaching diagonally the edge of a fearful precipice,
formed by the embankment of the railway, about
eight or nine feet in height. The engineer and his
assistant maintained their positions on the engine with
the greatest composure, wihich, in the end, proved
most fortunate, for bad they leaped ff they
would, in all probability, have lost their lives. On the
engine went, followed by its tender, over the
embankment, through a quickset hedge at the bot-
tom into the adjoining field, and was finally brought
to a stand-still several yards from the railway. The
engine maintained its erect position the whole time,
and sustained no injury, with the exception of the
pipe which carries the water from the tender to the
boiler, and which was broken asunder. The engin e
man instantly opened the safety valve, to allow the
escapement of steam, and then descended from his
perilous ..position. There were five carriages, two of
them being first class and three second class, attached
to the engine. Fortunately, the connecting-rod be-
tween the t& nder and the first carriage broke, and
thus separated the engine from the train. The first
carriage remained upon the line ; the next, bting dis-
sevcred from its companions, was thrown over the
cml ankment ; the next, a first class carriage, was
crushed against the following one, and all the others
were partially overturned, some of them having been
thrown over the embankment, against which they
rested obliquely at the bottom. On proceeding a few
yards down the line, the cause of the accittent was
soon discerned. There lay the mutilated remains of
a horse:which had evidently strayed upon the . line
from one of the adjoining fields. It was cut completely
in pieces.