The Sun.
London, England, 1842-03-26 00:00:00

CALAMITOUS STEAM-BOILER
EXPLOSION ON THE CLYDE

In conclusion, the reporters deem, it "better
I that the Government should not at present ask
for the power of enforcing, regulations for the pre,
vention of- accidents, and that such a power should
not be resorted to hereafter, unless experience should
clearly show the existence of general and culpable
negligence and mismanagement under the present
system: They also recommend that the examining
and licensing of engine drivers should, for the present,
be postponed. The other suggestions of the Report
have reference to the power of deferring openings, of
calling for returns, level crossings, gates, &c., all of
which are embodied in Mr. Gladstone's Bill.
The Report is drawn up with great ability, and is
signed by G. R. Porter, Fred. Smith, and S. Laing.
—Railway Times.

AMERICAN NEWS.
(Further Extracts from the American Papers.)‘
LORD MORPETIL—The Richmond Enquirer of Tues-
day last, thus speaks of, Lord Morpeth :
".Lord Morpeth arrived in Richmond on Saturday
evening, and left it on last evening, in the cars for the
South. He is proceeding to Charleston, and further
south, and perhaps some of the West India Islands. He
may return to Virginia in the course of the summer,
and visit our springs and view our mountain scenery.
But as he is spoken of as a candidate for Dublin in the
House of Commons, his sojourn in the United States
may be cut short by the necessity of his returning home.
Lord M. is one of the most liberal statesmen and popu-
lar and rising politicians in the British empire. He
has a strong partiality for the Americans, and expresses j
the sincerest desire to preserve the harmony between
the two countries. He is struck with the great scale on
which everything is constructed in America—with the
immense extent of our country—the extraordinary vo-
lume of our rivers, &c. He pronounces the Potomac to
be the noblest river he has ever seen—and he has visited
a great part of Europe, France, Russia, &c.
"He is travelling in the United States, on our railroads,
and steam- boats, in the simplest style, without equi-
page, without any species of state, without even a ser-
vant. In his manners he is equally unassuming. He
affects no airs, and appears only like a plain, unpretend-
ing, but polished gentleman, of good sense—taking a
deep interest in all that he sees, speaking of our country
with great liberality, and never boasting of his own.
" His Lordship arrived at Charleston on Wednesday
week."

LATEST FROM TEXAS.
The steam-packet Neptune, Captain Rollins, 33 hours
from Galveston, arrived last evening.
Congress adjourned on the sth instant. The
Galveston Civilian states that that body, after having
maturely considered the subject, deemed it unadvisable
to take measures for the invasion of Mexico at this time,
and left the navy, under the law of 1840, at the dispo-
sition of the President.
-

General Hamilton's proposition was declined, and
although his mission has terminated, no report of his
action under it has been submitted. Some money was
obtained, but the precise amount, or upon what terms,
have never been made public. He designs making a
statement through the public prints.
Twenty thousand dollars have been placed at the dis-
posal of the Executive for the defence of the frontier.
The Bill for the removal of the seat of Government,
was lost in the House by a vote of 23 ayes to 16 noes.
The Bill providing for funding the old liabilities of the
Government had been vetoed by the President, and his
veto was sustained by Congress.
Congress had passed a resolution extending the limits
of Texas from the mouth of the Rio Grande to the Pa-
cific Ocean, and along the coast fifteen miles in the sea,
to the Oregon territory, so as to include the Californias
in the territory of the Republic.
Dr. Ashbel Smith has been appointed Minister to
France ; W. H. Dangerfield, Secretary of the Treasury;
P. Edmunds, Consul at New Orleans ; Henri Castro,
Consul• General to France ; William Kennedy, Consul-
General to Great Britain.

The new Exchequer money is selling at a premium of
,hree per cent. _

Mr. Navaro, who lately left San Antonio to endeavour
to procure the liberation of his brother, taken at Santa
Fe, was seized soon after crossing the Rio Grande,
robbed, and imprisoned by the Mexican authorities.
At a meeting held at Galveston, the following resolu-
tion were adopted :
" Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting it is
expedient for the Executive to acquiesce in measures for
offensive war against Mexico.
"Resolved, That a Committee of nine be appointed to
correspond with the Executive, and recommend the fol-
lowing measures for immediate war :

" 1: That our navy be instructed to molest the com-
merce of Mexico on the high seas, to ravage the towns
and country on the coasts.

‘,‘ 2. Tha7t commissions be granted to private armed
vessels, under the flag and authority of Texas, to do the

same,

"3. That invitation and encouragement be given to
volunteers from abroad to come under our flag, and join
with an army in the invasion of Mexico.—New Orleans
Bulletin, Feb. 20.

FURTHER PARTICULARS FROM THE "GLASGOW COURIER."
We believe it has not been ascertained that any other
individuals than the eighteen referred to in our last, have
lost their lives on this melancholy occasion. The body
of Thomas M'Queen, one of the painters, who was mar-
ried a few months ago, and was engaged in Glasgow only
on Monday last, was found at low-water about one
o'clock on Tuesday morning., and also the body of Da-
niel Sinclair, the fireman • ' the latter being found within
the wreck. One of the bodies not identified turns out
to be that of a coal-trimmer, who had volunteered his
services on Monday to perform the duty in the place of
the regular trimmer, who is unwell. Another was
found to be that of a pastry-baker named William Laurie,
belonging to Paisley, who was on his way to visit the
Precursor in the Gareloch, in which he anticipated
being employed. This individual was so frightfully.
mangled that his body was collected in portions, and
it was only by his clothes, and by his name
being on the paper in the watch in his posses-
sion, that his friends could identify him. The body
of Peter M'Lintock has not yet been found. The James
Johnstone, from Greenock, was a young boy from Tar-
bert (Lochlomond), who had been on a visit to his
brother at Greenock, and who intended to take a sail to
see the Precursor. Jacob Laird, having no friends in
this neighbourhood, was en Tuesday decently interred .
in the churchyard of Row. One of the persons killed,
supposed to be the engineer, was actually that individual,
William Bannatyne, who, it seen.s, was on deck at-the
time of the explosion. Eight of the bodies were brought
from Helensburgh, on Tuesday night, by the British
Queen ; that of Boyle was left at Greenock, those of Mr.
Hedderwick and Caddenhead, one of his workmen, were
left at Govan, and the others brought up to the Broomie-
law, where an immense crowd had assembled to wait the
arrival of the steamer.
Opinions are various as to the cause of the accident.
The construction of the Telegraph was quite a novelty,
even in the Clyde, the cradle of steam navigation. She
was of a light yacht-like build, one hundred and twenty
feet in length, by fourteen feet of beam ; was considered
of thirty-two tons, and used a locomotive engine. In
the centre of the vessel there was a high elevation, on
which was placed the wheel, and station of the steers-
man, enabling him from his position to keep a good
look-out ; and the helm was moved by a chain running
along the surface of the bulwarks on each side of the
stern. Below this elevetion, in the stern of the vessel,
the cabin was situated, and the steerage was similarly
placed forward. She was propelled by a locomotive or
high pressure engine, which was calculated at a moderate
pressure, to work to about 50-horse-power. The boiler
being one of the tubular construction, it was necessary
to feed it with fresh water to prevent corrosion ; and
being unable to fill fresh water by the pumps further
dow the river than Dumbarton, it was ne%essary to have
tanks to contain a supply sufficient to carry her to Gare-
loch, when the tanks were again filled. The pressure on
the boiler was regulated by a patent indicator on the
valve, which pressure was increased or diminished by the
turning of a screw. It was remarked by some persons
on the quay at Helensburgh, that while stopping there
the steam was not let off to the usual extent, but no
danger was apprehended: The vessel being loosed from
her moorings was backing out from the quay, only one
or two back strokes having been given, and the rope
still in hands of the person on shore, when the explosion
took place, the engineer being at the time engaged at the
valve. The real causes which gave rise to this deplora-
ble catastrophe, may, p.erhaps, never be known, in so far
as the captain and engineer, who would be aware of the
condition of the vessel at the time, are amongst the
dead. It is said on the one hand that the valves
had become deranged or overloaded, and led to
the accident. On the other it is presumed that the
engineer (who was obliged to use fresh water,) had al-
lowed the boiler to get too low, end the plates had in conse-
quence, become heated, perhaps to a red heat. As the ac-
cident occurred while the Telegraph was backing out from
the quay, it is presumed that he may have put on the
feed pump while she was in this position, and from the
cold water coming into contact with the heated plates,
and instantaneously generating a gas possessing all the
strength ofgunpowder, the explosion had occurred. On
Tuesday, at low water, the holler, &c., was sufficiently
exposed to enable it to be examined to see in what state
it was. By direction of the authorities certain profes-
sianal men are to report to the sheriff on the subject.
The engineer, Mr. Rowland, who made the engine, caused
an examination to be made, and he stated the fol-
lowing to be the result of the investigation :
" The accident has evidently been occasioned by the
want of a due quantity of water in the boiler, as
the plates in the crown (or cover) of the fire box
have been red hot. On examination, we find the plates
riven completely across; and thb heat has been so great,
that though the fire box (or furnace) is only about three
feet three inches wide, the plates are stretched, or ex-
panded, so as to measure four feet; and there are also on
the plates several large blisters, which could only be the
result of intensity of heat. The violence of the explosion
has been so great as to tear one of the corners of the fire
box a considerable way down the plates at that corner,
being five-eighths of an inch thick. The same rent goes
through a solid bar of iron three inches by two. So far
as can be seen, none of the tubes are injured. The fire
box was made of the best Lowinoor iron plate, of the fol-
lowing thickness:—Tube plate five-eighths of an inch;
back, half an inch; crown 7-16ths. Tube and back
plates welded."
The accident has been by far the most direful of the
kind which has ever occurred on the Cl; de, where hun-
dreds of persons daily navigate its waters by this means,
and thousands in summer ; and its occurrence is likely
to throw a damp on locomotive engines, as applied to
steam-vessels, which will not soon be got over. The
Telegraph was built by Messrs. Hedderwick and Ran-
kine—the former of whom has perished with her ; and
the engine was constructed by John M. Rowan and Co.,
Atlas Works, Glasgow. The last accident of a similar
kind was that which occurred to the Earl Grey steamer,
the boiler of which exploded while she lay at Greenock
quay, on her way from Dunoon to Glasgow, on the af-
ternoon of Fridry the 24th of July, 1835. This occur-
rence was of a much less disastrous kind than that which
took place on Monday last, for then only six persons were
killed, and fifteen severely injured.
- In closing the melancholy affair, we think it a very
fitting opportunity to impress on the magistrates, the
river trustees, and the Government itself the necessity
of an official inspector beiug appointed, whose duty
shall be somewhat analogous to that of the inspector of
railroads—who will have power to examine the engines,
boiler, and machinery of steam-vessels, at all times, and
also to examine the engineer and his hands as to their
fitness for their duties.
(FROM THE " GREENOCK OBSERVER.")
The passengers from Glasgow and Greenock had just
been landed, and one of the hands was engaged in push-
ing off the bow of the boat, when a hissing noise was
observed, and in a second a report was heard, as if of a
discharge of artillery, and in the air was seen man,
woman, and child, painter's pots, large shivers
of wood, and the funnel, and engine, and boiler
of the unfortunate vessel., The engine and boiler
forced up by the deck, and was thrown about
eighty yards from the vessel. Two men in a four.
oared gig, were lying at the quay waiting for the
owner to come on board, and the engine and boiler came
right over their heads, and fell into the water a few feet
from them. As soon as the smoke caused by the explo-
sion subsided the unfortunate sufferers were in all quar-
ters-seen in the sea—some seated on pieces of the wreck
—females clinging to splinters of floating timbers, and
one or two were found lying on the quay. Two were
blown a hundred yards from the vessel,.and one poor
fellow had a narrow escape. He had been blown high
into the air and dashed down into the sea, head foremost.
The water at the time being only three feet deep he
managed to raise one of his hands and waved it, and one
of the bystanders instantly plunged into the sea, and
rescued the sufferer, who was stunned, but not hurt. If
he had not been instantly rescued he would have added
one more to the catalogue of the dead. An Irish pedlar
with his pack was precipitated through an opening in
the vessel, and there he stuck, clinging to his peck, until
he was relieved. Boats were out picking up the dead
and the dying, and in a few minutes 13 dead bodies lay
stretched in the rooms of the inn, and about a dozen se-
verely wounded individuals.
The passengers who were going up the Gareloch with
the steamer were unusually great on the occasion, as the
fineness of the day had allured a number from Greenock,
and a number of workmen from Glasgow being on board,
on the way to finish the new steamer Precursor, at pre-
sent lying at Gareloch. The quay was considerably
crowded, and, all things considered, it is a miracle that
so many escaped. As it is, a number of the bystanders
received considerable injuries, being knocked down by
the splinters from the wreck, or by the concussion con-
sequent on the explosion. The engine was just a rail-
way locomotive one, and, of course, on the high-pres-
sure principle. On the passage down, we have heard,
and that, too, from a passenger acquainted with steam-
engines, that the boiler was red-hot, and was almost
entirely neglected.

MONEY MARKET ‘nd CITY NEWS
FROM TIIE MORNING PAPERS OF YESTERDAY.
TIMES.---Letters received from Bristol, of this morn-
ing's date, announce that the eminent firms in that city
of Atramans, Morgan, and Co., and of D. E. and A.
Acraman, have determined on calling their creditors
together, An excessive outlay of capital, beyond the
means of the parties, more particvlarly in machinery
and ship-building, is said to have been the immediate
cause of the stoppage. At their own request an exami-
nation into the state of their affairs has been going on
for some days past, which is said to report very favour-
ably of the final issue.

- -
The Propagateur de 1 Aube announces the invention
of a new steam-ergine by Messrs. Stinzel and Mirlua, of Gray,
in Haute Saone. "It is not," says this Journal, " upon
the high or low pressure, but on a rotatory rinciple. It will
require a comparatively very narrow space, leaves no chance of
loss of steam by dilutation, and is so sample that even the most
unskilful person may manage it. Its cost will be little if any
thing more than half that of the present engines. Hitherto,
the force of steam engines has not been carried beyond 500
horse-power, but tbis new machine may be brought up to 1,000
horse-power. This statement, so important in the science of
mechanics, is attested by a report from the authorities of Gray.'
A Police Court is to be erected at Hammersmith,
the Jurisdiction of which is to include the parishes of Fulham,
Brompton, Chelsea, and Chiswick ; the business of the Court,
however, is to be transacted at Kensington until the new
office is built. The Wandsworth police Court will hereafter
include the parishes of Wandsworth, Putney, Battersea, Toot-
ing, Merton, Wimbledon, Barnes, Clapham, and the hamlet.
of Rod anspton.
The number of vessels which passed through the
Sound in 1841 was 14,754, being 003 less than in 1840. Of
the number 3768 were English.
TEXIAN CONSUL-GENERAL.--We have great pleasure
in announcing that Mr. W. Kennedy has been appointed
by the Texan Government their Consul-General to
Great Britain.

Cherubini has published no less than ten
canons, various in their manner, and marked
both by learning and their pleasing tone. The er-
vival of this intellectual species of music was
regarded at the time as a good sign, calculated
to raise the understanding of the science, and in.
crease its pitch and elegance.
Cherubini's published compositions consirt of
a crowd of detached pieces, written at different
periods for the Church, the drawing-room, and
the theatre, and in the line of instrumental music
he has written a fine sonata for two organs.
Among his more principal works are the follow-
ing :—" Armida," opera in three acts, published
at Florence ; " Quintus Fabius," Rome; "Alex-
ander in India," Mantua; "The Princess Fiuta'
London; "The Italian in London," Parisi;
"Anacreon," Paris, in 1804; "Achilles at Sey-
ros," Paris ; " Faniska," Vienna, in 1806;
" Pygmalion at the Theatre of the Tuileries,"
in 1809; " The Newmarket Races," Paris, in
1813; "The Abencarrages," in three acts, Paris,
1814 ; " Blanche of Provence," an allegoric
opera, 1821.
The cast of M. Cherubini's countenance during
his later years bore the impress of his age; his
eyes were full and clear; his face somewhat
long, with a well-proportioned nose, and hair,
even to the last, of a luxuriant curl. In figure
he was somewhat thin and attenuated, but not
more than would be expected front his advanced
years.

The Memoricd de Rouen mentions the following
trick recently published at Rouen upon an old lady of
eighty-five. A well-dressed man calk 4:1 a few days ago
upon her, and told her that her nephew had, in a quarrel
at a cafe, the misfortune to kill his antagonist, and that
he had sought concealment in the holuse of the inform-
ant, where he was waiting for an 'opportunity to leave
the country. The captain of a vessel in the port had,
said the pretended friend, who also st ated that he had
secreted the nephew in his house, agr:.?.ed to give him a
passage for 850 francs, bnt he was without money, and
all the friend could raise for him a t the moment was
250 francs. The old lady in her ala rm for the safety
of her nephew, immediately entrustec l this kind gentle-
man with 300 francs, all the money which she had by
her, the friend saying at length, the he would endea-
vour to make up the required sum. L. day or two only
had elapsed when the old lady found that she had been I
duped, her nephew having been tatting quietly at
home when he was represented to ha.ve committed ho-
micide, and fled. It is unnecessary to ;add that his kind
friend has not shown himself.
In consequence of the immense weight of specie re-
ceived by the collectors of the Bank of Frtnces thrintohuegirh thatdily
rounds, with the bills of exchange, which pas
establishmentl for presentation, it has long Imen found necessary
to have 'depots, at • whiCh the collectors • leave the excess of
weight, which is afterwards conveyed to the Rank. At one
of these depot', the octroi of Bercy, two days ago, when the
deposits were called for, a bag of I,ooof. was missing. A dili-
gent inquiry having been instituted, the theft was traced to a
young employe of the octroi, who has [wen taken into custody
or the offence.
Mr. White, one of her Majesty's messengers, Was seized
yesterday morning with e. fit while walking in King-
street, St. James, which deprived him of consciousness,
and he fell on his face. 1.1;) was quickly recognized,
and %%as taken by the police to St. James's Palace. Me-
dical assistance was prcocured, and the sufferer was Wed.