The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-03-23 00:00:00

to a query regardir

d that he could, with tbe ut-
most confidence, assure the proprietors that the line should
be opened to the public during the present month, on what
lot prepared to s,ay. The announcement gave
ation, and the meeting separated.--Greenock
I by them, in which I Advertiser, March 9

the utility of

!ngineer,

Mr. Jrrington, st

At the same

more jealous

day he V

DURHA

SUNDERLAND RAILWA'

A. meeting of

the Shareholders of the Durham and Sunderland Railway
was held in the Long Room, in the Arcade Buildings, Sun-
derland, on Tuesday last, to hear. the provisions of the bill
for raising a further sum of money to complete the works
a second read-

hich bill has gone throng':

ing, and is now in committee: Caleb Wilson, Esq., was
called to the chair; and Mr. John Gregson, one of the clerks
of the directors, read the principal clauses of the act, which
enables the directors to raise, in addition to the capital
already subscribed, a further sum, not exceeding £BO,OOO.
Of this sum they are empowered to raise £26,000 upon mort-
gage, and the remainder by the creation and disposal of new
shares. On the motion of Chris. Bramwell, Esq., seconded'
by Johu Scott, Esq., it was resolved that the bill now read
be approved of by the meeting. Thanks were then voted to
the chairman, and the meeting adjourned till Tuesday the
31st inst. at twelve o'clock.—Newcastle Journal.
RAILWAY TO IN VERNESS.—Wg beg to direct attention to

the memorial which will be foundlin our columns of to-day,
addressed by the provost, magistrates, and town council of
the burgh of Inverness to the commissioners of her Majesty's
treasury, on the important subject of the extension of the
railroads, with which the country is now about to be inter-
sected, to tl

apital of the Highlands

This we consider

most desirable in the circumstances of Inverness, and we
think the memorialists have clearly shown that it is practi-
cable. We understand that the public are indebted to our
intelligent provost for the proposal of this great improve-
ment. it is of importance that the north should reap the
benefit of this new mode of communication as speedily as
possible • and in matters of this kind, the public here always
look to tile kindly assistance of government, who, we trust,
will not refuse to Scotland what has been granted to Ireland
—a survey of the capabilities of the whole country.—lnver-
'zees Herald.

RAILWAY COMMUNICATION BETWEEN LONDON AND
EDINBURGII.-It will be observed, by the proceedings in
parliament, that the government engineers have reported,
that of the different lines proposed to unite the capitals, the
preferable one is a continuation of the London and Birming-
ham, Grand Junction, and Lancaster and Preston Railways,
by Carlisle, Gretna, Lcickerby, Beatock and Crawford, to
Symington, in Lanarkshire ; and from this point by two di-
verging lines to Edinburgh and Glasgow,—Symington being
about thirty miles distant from each city. From Syming-
ton to Edinbnrgh two alternate routes are proposed,—one
by Biggar, Linton, and Penicuik ; the other by Thankerton,
Wilsontown, and Mid-Calder. The route by Linton is the
shortest by a mile ; but, from the nature of the ground,
that by Wilsontown is considered preferable. The line by
the north of the Pentland range, besides being a much easier
line, runs through a more productive mineral district than
the one by Linton, on the south of the Pentlands ; but the
point of divergence commands both sides of that range, as

Ld Wales

well as both sales of the Clyde. It is a curious fact, that it
appears to have been by this line, and also from a similar
point in divergence, that the Roman armies marched from
England to both the east and west of Scotland ; and from
near the same Roman station diverges the great Parliamentary
Road, executed by the late Mr. Telford, under the Govern-
ment Commissioners for improving the communication be-
tween England and Stirling, and the north of Scotland.—
Edinburgh Observer.

DREADFUL COAL-MINE ACCIDENT NEAR
HAMILTON. •

zi
not fixed

On Tuesday, the town of Hamilton and neighbourhood
were thrown into great consternation on hearing of an ex-
tensive explosion of fire damp in the coal mine near Quarter,
accompanied with the loss of eleven lives. On repairing to
the spot, we found the account given of it too true. It ap-
pears that about eight o'clock that morning, (the breakfast
hour) there were six men and a boy in the mine, all of whom,
it was too plain, must have perished instantly by the explo-
sion. On the alarm being given, the overseer of the mine
not being at hand, seven men, who were on the outside of
the mouth of the mine, spontaneously, and under the influ-
ence of humanity, and vainly hoping to aid their fellow-men
in the midst of this dreadful calamity, rushed thoughtlessly
into the pestiferous atmosphere of the newly exploded mine ;
three of whom were dragged out alive, and four dead, by a
third party, who, becoming alarmed for their safety, went to
their assistance. Unceasing exertions were made to relieve
the mine of the noxious vapour, but it was not till yesterday
morning that the bodies of the seven first sufferers were
recovered, some of whom were shockingly mangled by the
explosion,' in a way that evidently showed that the death of
the whole must have been instantaneous. Of the eleven
sufferers, nine were married, who have left wives and fami-
lies behind them to deplore their loss. The noble proprietor
of the mine, the Duke. of Hamilton, who is now at the palace,
was in the greatest distress on obtaining intelligence of the
sad event, and immediately sent pecuniary assistance to the
families of the poor sufferers, and has caused every exertion
to be used on their behalf, and arrangements to be made, at
his own expense, as to their funerals and otherwise, suitable
to the sad occasion.
The terrible accident, it appears,

not fixed
not fixed

23
25 or 26

not fixed

not fixed

not fixed

'as in no degree owing

.. •
to the negligence or want of skill of his grace's overseerss or
engineers. The mine, which is an ingoing eye, or-day level,
when the explosion occurred, was completely ventilated, be-
ing open at both ends to the day, with a current of air con-
stantly passing through it, and on the morning whenthe'acci-
dent occurred, had been carefully examined by two oversmer.,
and reported to he free from danger. It appears that the
carbonated hydrogen had been instantly generated from •cer-
tain fissures connected with a rise in the metals, the sad effects
of which no human foresight could prevent.
For the satisfaction of those at a distance, who may have
friends employed at the Quarter coal mines, we subjoin a
list of the sufferers. The seven first were in the mine at the
time of the explosion—the remaining four went in to their
rescue :—William Brounlie, and his son—a boy ten years of
age ; James Duffle •• John Duffle ; Hugh M'Lean ; John
Smith ; William. Wotherspoon ; James Fleming; George
Plate ; James Fisher ; Jame Fyfe.—Argus.