The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-04 00:00:00

MORNING SUN

dated on the day of such examination, and the captain
may forth With give him an acting order as mate, and if
on the first opportunity that shall afterwards offer for his
being re-examined according to the established regula-
tions he passes successfully, his rank as mate shall be
enrolled according to the date of his first provisional
certificate above ordered."
Some degree of jealousy having existed betwixt the
gunners, boatswains, and carpenters, of her Majesty's
service and tiirjrst class engineers, in consequence of
the latter adoping the embosse button on their uniform
instead of engraved buttons according to order, the fol-
lowing alterations have been made :
" With reference to the memorandum of the 23d of
November, 1837, directing that the first class engineers
of her Majesty's steam-vessels shall wear the same uni-
form as the gunners, boatswains, and carpenters of her
Majesty's fleet, the Lords Commissioners of the Ad-
miralty are pleased to direct that the uniform to be
worn by the first class engineers, in order to distinguish
them from other classes of officers, shall in future be as
follows : _ _

" Coat.— Blue cloth, double breasted; buttons having
a steam-engine, with a crown above, embossed on them,
to be placed four and four, a large button of the same
kind on the collar.
"Waistcoat.—With buttons similar to those on the coat.
"'Trousers.—Plain blue cloth.
" Cap.—With a narrow gold lace band."

THE LATE EXPLOSION ON THE

BRISTOL AM) GLOUCESTER RAILWAY.

BRISTOL, DEC. 31.—An inquest was held yesterday
evening in the Board-room of the Infirmary, before J.
B. Grindon, Esq., Coroner, and a respectable Jury,
on Henry Williams, another of the sufferers by the
late accident on the line of the Bristol and Gloucester
Itdi'way, who expired in the Infirmary.
The Jury having been sworn, proceeded to viewlthe
body of deceased, which was much burnt, and ex-
hibited two extensive wounds in the thigh.
The CORONER then briefly addressed them as to the
nature of the inquiry they would have to make,
After which, the Jury proceeded to the bed-side
of another of the sufferers, named John Hodge, who
deposed that he was a labourer, employed in the con-
struction of the line near Wickwar, at shaft No. 5.
Deceased was a blacksmith, and worked near it. The
gunpowder used in the work was generally kept in
the blacksmith's shop every night, and taken out in
the morning. There is no precaution taken against an
explosion that he knew of. It is the duty of the
banksman to put the powder in the shop, as be took
charge of all the powder. It is kept in barrels, round
which there is a bag made coarsely of hemp. The
barrel in question contained one cwt. of powder. Th•
blacksmith's shop is close to the shaft. The powder is
not kept in any particular part of it, but sometimes in
one part and sometimes in another. On Monday
morning last, at about seven o'clock, witness was in the
shop with several others. The forge was lighted,
and the deceased was hammering at a drill. Witoesa
and the other men (eight in all) were standing near
to the fire. Two barrels were standing near the wall
at seven or eight feet from the fire. There was no-
thing between them and the fire but two or three
planks which leant against the wall partly covering them.
The men in the shop were sitting down quietly smoking
their pipes, and at about seven o'clock the powder ex-
ploded and they were all blown up. Three were killed
on the spot, one of whom was Jones, the banksman,
who was supposed to have put the powder in the shop.
Witness and the others were ranch bruised and
wounded, and brought to the Infirmary. The powder
is kept in the smith's shop because there is no other
place where it can be kept under cover, and it must be
kept dry.
Lewis Crew, another of the sufferers, was next exa-
mined, and gave, to a great extent, similar testimony.
Mr. C. Gregg, house-surgeon, deposed to the
nature of the injuries of which the deceased
died ; end also gave a statement of the deceased,
made under • the appzehension of death, as Lis
the cause of the accident. He said :ho potrdar
had got a little damp, and had been put into the smith's
shop to dry. At the time of the explosion he was blow-
ing the forge fire. A spark must have flown to the
barrels. lie beard a great noise, and then a lot of
things tumbling about him.
The learned Coroner proceeded to sum up, comment.
ing with much severity on the gross negligence evinced
in the care and management of the gunpowder.
The jury then consulted together and returned a ver-
dict of " Accidental death," accompanied by the fol-
lowing addition :—" And the jury unanimously express
their great regret that in this case they have it not in
their power to mark their sense of the grossly improper
management of this line of railway by levying a deodand,
which they would have levied to the utmost extent, had
anything been left to levy it upon."

THE WOOLLEN TRADE.
___(From the Leeds

FOREIGN WOOL TRADE, LEEDS, DEC::.ll.—This being
the last week of the year, as might be expected, business
has been done on a very limited scale, but it is expected
a considerable re-action will take place at the commence-
ment of the new year. _ .

ENGLISH 11"001, MARKET, LEEDS, DEe. I.—Christ-
mils week is generally a dull one for trade, and the pre-
sent has not been an exception to this general rule. The
operations in English wool have been very limited ; ,and
we cannot notice any alteration in the general character
of this market as reported for the last few weeks.
TRADE OF LEE D.—Business continues in the same
cheerless state at our Cloth halls this week as for the
last fortnight ; and although the stocks generally arc
much lower than usual at this season, yet, from the very
dull state of the demand, prices are nominal. The same
dull state of trade continues in the warehouses ; the pur-
chases or orders for goods for the home demand are
given with the greatest caution, and only for present
use. Indeed, at no former period has there been so little
speculation at this season of the year as at the present
time, no one daring to purchase until it is known what
the Government intend to do for the relief of the com-
mercial and manufacturing interest.
BRADFORD MARKET, THOR/MAL—The demand for
pieces to-day is quite an average of what we have wit-
nessed on the last market day of other years, and the
opinion that an improvement is not far distant appears
to be generally gaining ground ; and we hope it will be
fully realized, and place our operatives again in active
employment, in lieu of parading the streets. The con-
sumption of yarn continues limited, and offers no induce-
ment to the spinners to bring their idle machinery into
operation, or extend the hours of those already only
working daylight; prices are firm. We do not observe
any alteration either in the demand, or the prices of
wool. The lower qualities continue in greater request
than the finer sorts, and the market is fully supplied
with the various descriptions of combing wool.