Star.
London, England, 1824-12-20 00:00:00

• PArAL ACCIDENT AD MANCRESTgR,
FURTIIIikPiVICULARS,
Wont Tilt MANCREITER CIAZITte.
About half•rast one o'clock on Tuesday afternoon,
the neighbourhood of Pertland-street was drbadfully
alarmed by a noise like the explosion of artillery, ac-
companied by a concussion which, from the shaking of
their houses, tenified the inhabitants with the apprehen-
sion that it was an earthquake. The cause, it was soon
ascertained, was the bursting of the boiler of a steam-
engine in the 'Works of ffessrs. J. Windsor and Co.
machine-makerss in Major-street, which had reduced
the greater part bf the building to it heap of ruins. As
in the recent catastrophe in Salford, the utmost conster-
nation prevailed in the neighbourhood, among the rela-
tives and friends of the men and boys employed in the
manufactory, to the number of forty five. Every exer-
tion was immediately used to clear away the rubbish, in
order to ascertain if any of the workpeople were buried
beneath it. In a short time seven of the unfortunate
workmen were dug out.
One of them, a smith, an old man, named John Blaize,
was found with his face on the re. at which his son
had worked, and which was on the same hearth with
his owns and one of his hands on his own fire, quite
dead, with his spectacles on his nose, which were per-
fectly uninjured. He was dreadfully burnt and mangled.
His son had a narrow escape, since he had only just left'
his father when the accident occurred ; he received,
however, same severe injury. The other six were taken
to the Infirmary, when it was ascertained that one of
them (who was a partner in the Foundry,) had already
expired. It was a sight truly borrible. wheeler's loser
jaw was completely comminuted; his head was frac-
tured in various places, and his left hand andthigh were
so torn and broken, that each formed an undistinguish-
able mass. The man who first died in the Hospital,
besides having a compound fracture of the tibia, wits,
dreadfully scalded in his stunk and extremities. The
ribs of another were fractured the whole extent of tho
right side, and in this individual the cranium was sio-i
verely broken. He died at eleven o'clock on the fol-
lowing morning. There still remain three in the house;
one is but slightly injured ; but of the other two, one is
scalded, and the other has a'simple fracture of the arm,
with a wasind on the occiput, and, it is supposed, a
fracture of the basis of the skull.
It was a most fortunate circumstance, that at the
Witte the explosion took place, the greater part of the
men were getting their tea in a part of the building
which suffered the least from the shock. The engineer
had just taken the jug which contained his tea from the
boiler, and got into the smiths shop, a distance of not
more than ten or twelve yards, when the boiler burst.
Nothing could exceed the consternation of the inhabi-
tants of the houses immediately adjoining the premises,
the back of which was formed by the backs of several
houses in Hart-street. Into the bed-room of one of
these houses a large shaft was driven through the wall,
but most fortunately no one was injured.
The door of a house, at the distance of eighty yards,
was forced open, and the windows broken. In order to
give some idea of the extraordinary power of the steam
with which the boiler was charged it may be men-
tioned that a fragment of the boiler, weighing more
than one hundred weight, was carried with such force
against the gable end of a building, at the distance of
ty yards, that it made a breach of eighteen inches
square in the wall. Another fragment was carried to a
similar distance, and went through the roof of a house.
A heavy lever-weight was carried an equal distance, and
passed through a window of an upper story in Minshull-
street, within a few inches of Mr. Edwards, picture-frame
maker, who was at work at the time. The impetus with
which this weight was carried may be guessed by the
fact that it broke no more of the glass than a space
equal to its own bulk.
The effects of the concussion were felt in several
streets, the inhabitants of which describe it as similar to
the viblent shock of an earthquake, which threw them
instantaneously into such general dismay and consterna-
tion, that they did not know which way to run to save
themselves; and the concussion was felt smartly at dell
Garrett Hall, a distance of at least a quarter of a mile.
Since writing the above, that. man who was wounded
in the lungs, died in the Infirmary, on Thursday eves
ing, about half-past eight o'clock.
Wednesday evening, im Inquest was held at the
Town Hall Tavern, lib...trees, before J. Mamas, Esq.
Coroner, on view of the bodies of the four unfortunate
sufferers, whose names are as follow :—Thos. Wheeler,
Henry Robinson, Henry M'Louchland,and John Blaine.
Mr. Richard Ormrod deposed, that the boiler was of
cast-iron, and that the engine was a high pressure one,
which required to be attended by a scientific man.
Joseph Hawkins, a turner, who was at work on the
premises at the time of the accident, said the engineer
employed was a professed engineer, and was perfectly
sober and steady at the time.
William Hall, the engineer, said he did not know
how the accident happened.
A Juror asked the witness what weight the valve carried? The
witness replied, that it carried twenty-four and eighteen pomade
(42 lbs.) and that there were eighteen pounds under pressure. A
juror to witness—Don't you think that was too much ? Witness—
No. The engine was between five and six-horse power. Q. You
are sure it was not overpowered with bras? Witness-I am.
The Jury were then kit to themselves, and in ten minutes re-
turned a verdict of" Accidental Death, occasioned by the bursting
of the boiler of a steam-engine."
It appears that the boiler which exploded was of east boa, and
was made at least twenty years age. Oa exambfing the fragments
of the beikr, it was !mad that, in some places, it was not more
than one inch thick, whilst in other places It was upwards of two.
In the thinnest tarts, the metal was mixed with swiss or siiesesinp,
which, in casting, ought to have been hindered from falling into**
mould.

We understand that a ship of war has been ordered
to get ready, for the purpose of conveying to Nsw
York the Government and Canada Company's Com-
missioners, who will sail early next month. From New
York they will proceed to Albany, and then, probably,
by the line of the new canal to Lake Erie, at the head
of which, on the banks of the Detroit River, they will
begin their labours, asspring commences in the south-
western extremity of Upper Canada earlier by some
weeks that at Glengarry, which is the north-east boun-
dary of the province.—Telescope.
A Loan of Four Millions sterling is said to hive been
concluded in London, for the Republican Government
of Hayti. The object of the Loan is to indemnify
France for the losses of the St. Domingo Planters, whose
estates and other property were of course wrested from
them by the suetessful revolution achieved by theblack
population. This arrangement will form the price of
. -
the recognition of Haytian independence by the French
Government ; and a commercial treaty, favourable to
the interests of French commerce, will be entered into
between the two States.