Star.
London, England, 1825-03-28 00:00:00

PROM THE EDINBURGH OBSERVER 07 PRIDDY.

Wednesday evening, about half-past eight o'clock,
a tremendous explosion of gas occurred in a cellar in
front of the house of Colin Mackenzie,Esq.of Portmore,
Shandwick Place, Edinbugh. It appears that a gas meter
had been recently placed in the cellar, immediately
under the steps leading to the hall door, and the distri-
bution pipe not being properly united, the gas had
escaped in considerable quantity. A young lad. servant
to Mr. Mackenzie, anxious to discover the cause of the
disagreeable smell which had annoyed him throughout
the day, and ignorant of the danger, entered the cellar
with a lighted candle, when the gas instantly exploded
with a terrific report. The boy was killed on the spot,
and the cook so severely injured, that she is not expected
to recover. The butler of another family, who was pre-
sent, was struck speechless. Great part of the win.
doors in front of Mr. Mackenzie's house, and also those
in the two dwellings to the westward, belonging to
Lady Menzies and Mr. Monteith, were blown to ; and
several panes of glass were shattered in the windows on
the opposite side of the street. Almost every house on
both sides of the street as far as Stafford-street, has been

,
more or less injured. The front of the cellar was blown
out—the stone plates leading to the hall door dislodged,
and several bars of the iron railing, immediately above
the centre of the explosion, were snapt asunder. Mr.
Mackenzie's family were happily from home, and only
two or three persons in the house when this melancholy
accident occurred. We nted scarcely add, that the
families in the neighbourhood were thrown into a state
of great consternation. Yesterday, Shandwick Place
was visited by a vast number of inquisitive persons,
anxious to ascertain the extent of the devastation.

Referring to the above account of this melancholy
accident, compiled from the Papers of Thursday, we
have to state from authority, that the accident was
occasioned entirely by the extraordinary carelessness
land rashness of the unfortunate boy who has fallen a
victim. It appears that he was in the habit of trying
experiments on the gas and burners ; and that, in the
absence of his master and family from town, he removed
the burner from a pipe to which he had access, in a
small and wholly uninhabited outhouse (the dimensions
of which were only six feet by four), without securing
the gas by the stop-cock. The consequence was, that
in a short time a very great stream of gas issued from
the pipe, and filled the out-house, where it was pent
up
: and when the boy approached it with a light, it
exploded with such violence as to cause his death. No
blame whatever is attachable to the Gas Company,
whose pipe., meter, &c. were in the best order; and
the accident is one which is not likely again to occur.
Equal danger might have arisen from the same degree
of carelessness and imprudence, in tampering in oil,
spirits, or many other inflammable substances.

The Bankrupt Laws are very severe in France. In
the course of the last month, a person was condemned,
at Bordeaux, to five years imprisonment in irons, for
having some days before his bankruptcy purchased
goods upon credit, and resold them at a lower price.