The Sun.
London, England, 1818-10-01 00:00:00

DREADFUL ENIPLOSION.

It is with great pain thet we cotnrhunicate the
fono,t-ing particulars Of flirl.“ &stressing casual-
ty which occurred ai Nottinghatti On Aionday
!ast

" NottinghaM, Tuelithe mOrnitig, Sept. 99.
" A most dreadful calamity occurred here yeSterday at the
Canal Company's Wharf, by the explosion of a quantity of
apowder on hoard a haat. The vessel was lying in the
oder the arch of the Cothreinv's warehouse, arid ~ne
men we employed in landine, the cargo, when in an itiatatit
an explosai took place which threw the whole town into C"O-
-sternatioo, and spread the most extensive .:era tat ion through-
out Ihr neighb,mrhood. The reori'rt was air tretoendoos a; to
he heard at a Instance of many miles, and every !noise in the
town was shaken as if by an earthquake. The Company's
warehouse, with all its contents, Was completely blown into
the air, and not a vestige of the building rerhains. The
fragments were scattered over the meadows to a considerable
distance. and the boat *as io part shivered to pieces. and
the rest sunk. Several roof; were carried off from the ad-
joining buildings, lead and tiles torn off. windoW fraMes
blown out , and hundreds of Windows demolished. But tbcmost
dreadful part of
.the calamity is the extensive destruction 'if
huMan life, no less than elevest persons already ascertained
hating been precipitated into eternity, besides two taken to
tire hospital who are not expected to survive. The man-
gled remains of eight men and a boy had been collected last
night, and two more were knoWn to he buried anioogst the
ruins. The Wawa presented a shockiug spectacle ; two men
were found lying on the edge of the boat, With their heads
completely taken off; two 9thers lay near the gateway of
the yard, with their skulls dashed to pieces and otherwise
disfigured ; tier) other bodies were (mind in the meadows,
havistr, been blown across the Canal, one to a distance of
about one hundred yards, the other more than three hundred,
and the limbs and flesh scatteredithont in different directions;
another was ta'sen out of the ruins a complete trunk, with
both legs arid arms blown off; and the remaining two mangled
in a manner equally shocking. Most of them were married
men and had families. The accident (as related by a boatman
belonging to another vessel lying near, and who happily es-
caped with a few slight bruises,) originated by a youth of
the name of Cross, the son of a boat-owner, imprudently
fetching a hot cruder from another boat, and applying it to
some loose powder, which lay scattered about. with the view
of having a " flash," as he termed it. The consequence
was, that the fire communicated instantly by a sort
of train to the cask from whence it had dropped out,
which ignited, and setting fire to fire other barrels,
the whole exploded with a most tremendous noise.—
The damage is estimated at many thousand pounds—
some calculate so high as 30,0001. hot certainly it is very
great. Mr. Wilkes, the Agent of the Company, was fortu-
nately from home on a journey, and Mr Fawbert, the book-
keeper, had only left the premises about some limitless not
more than ten minutes before the accident happened. The
explosion took place about three o'clock in the afternoon.—
Amongst the property destroyed was a large quantity of corn
in the warehouse in sacks and loose. The papers and books
were fortunately deposited in a counting-house at some dis-
tance from the warehouse, which escaped destruction. A
waggon belonging to Mr. Hooton was standing in the yard,
and the waggoner, who was [rear the shaft horse at the
time, lost his life ; the waggon was utterly destroyed,
and two of the horses in the team killed on the spot.—
The boy that was killed was a son of Mr. Howell ; he
was going on board with the intent of gathering some
of the loose powder, when the explosion took place ; his
two companions (boys), who were waiting for him at a short
distance, happily escaped without other injury than being
slightly struck in the face. Tire other sufferers were princi-
pally boatmen and labourers about the whatf. Mr. Wilkes
house, which stands near the gateway, sustained comparatively
little injury; the windows and the furniture in the house were
for the most part demolished ; Mrs. Wilkes was thrown with
great violence from a table to the other side of the house, but
escaped without other injury than what arose from the sudden-
ness of the shock and the fright. One person crawled out of
the ruin; unhurt, owing to several bettors falling C 1.095 gays
over him, which fortunately preserved his life. The bodies
of the sufferers now Re at the Navigation tots for the Corouer's
Inquest. Their names are not yet ascertained."