The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-11-27 00:00:00

SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES OF GAS

EXPLOSION,

About ten o'clock on Wednesday night last the Tee'
dents of Childwall-street (Prescot-street), and its vieinirft
were alarmed by a loud indescribable noise, louder tbss
the report of a cannon, but in character a sort of cot
ling sound, and on the neighbours going to the spot
where the noise had proceeded, it.was found that an et
plosion of gas had taken place in one of the house; 5
Childwall-street, occupied by a family of the name
Lusty. The exterior of the house did not give eel
decided indications of the structure having suffered me
from the shock, if a quantity of glass from the front vrke:
dows, which lay scattered about the pavement and road o
excepted, this being the apparent extent of the damage'
However, on entering the house a complete wreck pre'
seated itself. The explosion took place in the front Per,.;
lour of the house, which is a small one of the genteel
class in the arrangement of its rooms, &c., having iv"`;
dow on each side of the door, one being the parlour, an
the other the kitchen light. The gas in the parlour her
not been lighted since Sunday evening, the room no
having been used after that day. On the evening of die
unfortunate occurrence an unpleasant smell was discovered
as of an escape of gas, by the family as they sat in til!
kitchen (the door of which is opposite the parlour door); It
became so disagreeable that the front door was opened se.'t
left so for the space of a quarter of an hour; ultimately 0
was closed, and no more notice was taken of the annoy-
ance. At ten o'clock, a young man (Mrs. Lusty
nephew) took a lighted candle, in accordance with the
custom prior to the family retiring for the night, wen"
the house, to see that all was secure, and in coulee
opened the parlour door, for the purpose of examining
the room. No sooner was the door opened, than the
- apartment was filled with a blue flame, and the terrific
explosion above noted was heard. The hand of the pee°
holding the candle was singed, though he experienced no
more serious injury ; but Mrs. Lusty, who was close be'
hind her nephew when he opened the door, was pree"
trated, and part of the hair on one side of her head burnt
off. She lay for a short time in a state of insensibility
In the parlour, the room to which the explosion was COn"
fined, the cornice is stripped from the ceiling, and lies ie
a heap on the floor. The front wall is removed from the
perpendicular, and bulges outwards; having a chasm, et
it were, between it and the ceiling, which is otherwise rent
and warped. The rending of the wall from the floors of
the respective 'rooms is observed to the very top of the
house, which is three stories high. On the first floor,
party wall has been torn from the front wall, and has been
rent from the doorpost, and stands at present in a very
dangerous condition. Not a single room in the house liar,
escaped without more or less damage to the walls and
plaster. The shock has evidently pursued a course from
the parlour upwards, as if seeking a vent either by.the
roof or by the front of the house; and hence the serious
damage experienced by the whole of the premises, whiell„
appear so unsafe that little force would be required to pall
the whole down. At first the spectator is struck with the
resemblance the house presents to one on which the
electric fluid has descended and done its utmost. The,
injury sustained by the furniture in the parlour is estP
mated at £lO. The dangerous state of the house has ren-
dered it necessary for the family to leave it ; indeed, in all
probability, it will require to be taken down.

Mr. W. Jackson, M.P., transacted business at the rail-
way department of the Board of Trade on Friday.
On Saturday and Sunday London was visited by an un-
usually dense fog.
Her majesty's ship Constance, from Brazil, arrived at
Portspouth on Saturday, with a freight of 2,000,000401-
lars of placer gold from California.
Later accounts from the Cape of Good Hope state, that
the excitement relative to the arrival of convicts continued
unabated.

A country gentleman, when he came to return a book,
was asked what he thought of it. "Oh ! the style is veil'
good," he said, " but I think there are rather too maul
figures." He had been lent, by mistake, a railway guide-
The Minerva, which arrived at Portsmouth on Saturdali
after leaving Madras experienced very bad wea-
ther. She fell in with the wreck of the Dutch brig
Gertrude. More than half her crew had been washed off;
but the Minerva received seven men, the chief mate one
of them, and landed them at the Cape.
THE POLICE.—The police corps of Liverpool nevi
numbers considerably above a thousand. The men or
consecutively numbered, and officer 1000 gave evidence 10
court yesterday ; but there are frequent vacancies. There
are amongst the force six superintendents, and a number
of inspectors, bridewell-keepers, and their assistants, ll&C
The body has latterly been slightly reduced, and in round
numbers is at present about 1150 strong,—a pretty large
regiment to keep the vicious and the refractory of our
town in order or in awe.

TERRIFIV CONFLAGRATION.-011 Saturday morning►
shortly after one o'clock, a most destructive fire broke out
on the spacious premises of Mr.. Muggeridge, perfume!,
Union-terrace, Notting-hill. In.the course of a few mi-
nutes a number of females made their appearance in their
nightclothes, screaming for assistance, and were rescued
and carried to the opposite tavern. This hid been scarcely
done when a loud and fearful noise was heard, supposed
to arise from the explosion of the gas metre, and in an
instant afterwards the flames burst forth from every part
of the lofty building, and spread to the adjoining premises'
of Mr. Hill, corn chandler. The neighbours immediately
commenced removing the property of Mr. Hill, Mr. Hnme.-
stationer, and Mr. Robinson. fishmonger. Four brigade
engines, which were the first to arrive, were at once set
to work, but it was nearly four o'clock before the fire was
entirely extinguished. Several other premises were de-
stroyed.

THE ACCIDENT AT THE BRITANNIA BRIDGE.—At the
inquest held on Wednesday, at Carnarvon, before Mr.
Poole, the coroner for the district, on the body of John
Williams, killed, and who was one of the sailors working
at the capstan, Mr. Clarke, the resident engineer, stated
that the deceased was assisting in lowering the hydraulic
press or cylinder, which was about 15 tons weight, the
rope passing from the press through two three-part blocks
led to a powerful capstan, manned by fifty men. The'
press was being lowered by the backing of the capstan,
the rope making three or four turns round it. Deceased
was assisting in the coil of rope behind the capstan,
serving it out as the men walked back the capstan bars-
The press or cylinder was not descending at the time, but
was hanging on the tackle. Jones, the foreman of the
gang (who has since been suspended) had left the men to,
attend to some other part of the tackle, and. he unfortu-
nately left the turns on the capstan on the bottom or
largest part of its diameter ready to surge. Whether
from the wetness of the ropes, the day being showery, or
from relaxation on the part of the nine men who were
holding back the rope, the line of rope surged unexpect-
edly up the capstan, and overpowered the men employed
to hold it back. The cylinder then descended precipi-
tously a height of 132 feet into the straits, dragging the
rope through the blocks and round the capstan, which was.
enveloped in smoke and fire, arising from the rush and
friction. Deceased was dragged out of the coil, and wilt
thrown about with the other men, by the contortions of
the rope. He was picked up near the capstan, sensible,
but died from the injuries received, consisting of com-
pound fractures. None of the other men were seriously
injured, and, with one or two exceptions, had resume('
work. They were taken to the Carnarvon hospital. 11113
cylinder glanced off from the stone shelf at the base of the
tower, and fell into twelve feet of water, rolling about 30
or 40 feet down the slope of the straits.. The tackle being
attached to it, it was easily taken out and safely conveyed
to its destination, without the slightest injury either to
the press or the tackle, which is the most extensive ill
Europe, and sufficiently powerful to raise with safety fIV
times as great a weight. Other witnesses corroborate('
this statement.

SLEEP.—The poet Young says, "Sleep is great Nature
second course,--the balm of hurt minds." Johnson says'
"It is the parenthesis of human woe." Sleep being thus
appreciated by mankind, how desirous ought we to be
that all should tranquilly enjoy " sweet repose," the
general obstruction to which is through an unhealthy
action of the liver or other viscera. A little attention to
the " young disease," by having recourse to a mild ape'
rient, often produces the most salutary effect, and for
such purpose Frampton's Pill of Health stands prominell"
in üblic opinion.

METEOROLOGICAL REGISTER,

BY MR. C. H. CHADBURN, 71, LORD-STREET

DailylDirec-
tion g
of
Pressure at shade by self-1
registering Difference° at
of Wind s
thermometer
-%1 Nine Six
Wet and Dry Rain. Noun.
a.m. ! p.m. Max.l Min. bulb.
____ ;1-

ATMOSPHERIC
Temperature

Humidity el Fall
Noon. _

--...... 1"......
g 504°
s.s. • ,2
S. s
48 E. 49 I
14,e41
481.
4515
42'39
1....

I In. I In. Deg. Deg
20 30'14 30'14 51 44
211 30'06 ; 30'03 49 43
221 29'88 29'79 48 44
23; 29•60 29'44 50 42
24' 29'40 2941
251

26; 29'92 3010

s.s. I--

THE WEATHER.-20th: foggy ; rain.-21st: clouded.-22nd:
continuous rain.-23rd : rain.-24th : early foggy ; bright.
25th : light rain ; clouded.-26th : dense fog; clouded.

LIVERPOOL :
TUESDAY, NOV. 27, 1849.

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED
EVERY TUESDAY MORNING'

By JOSHUA FLETCHER LACE, of 53, Grove street, aPe

LEONARD ADDISON, of 14, Great Orford-street,

At No. 4, ST. GEORGE'S CRESCENT, LIVERPOOL.

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