The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-04-01
DISASTERS.
TerrIbIe Accident in nn FnrIish nrinn


Terrible Accident in an FupIish NINA
English journals of the 18th contain thrilling
accounts OF q dreadful collierY accident. From
one OIL the London papers we extract the fol-
lowing account of the disaster:-
On The morning of the 18th one of tho most
serious colllery accidents which ever occurred
10 the Wolverhampton district happened at the
Earl OF DudleY's NO. 20 pit, Wallows Colliery,
LOCKS lane Briefly hill. Suddenly and in the
middle Of the night the water burst into the pit,
where there were ten men, three boys, and
Blk horse at work, and it is believed that every
lie has been lost. On Tuesday evening the
doomed men and boys descended the pit to
work night turn. The No. 20 pit Is situated in
Locks lane, near the great water pumping EN-.
gine-the strongest by far in the dislrict-and
within few feet of the road; while at its rear
Is the trough pumping engine, and the winding
engine Of the pit itself is also in close proximity
Shortly after O'Clock in the morning the
engineer of the great water-pumping engine
observed great rush of vapor up the pit shaft.
This must have been caused either by an
Intentional setting fire to quantity OF petroleum
by the men, as q signal that something was
wrong, or by the rush of water over the lights in
the pit ard huge fire at the bottom used tor
purposes of ventilation; but at such an hour 1t
was easily mistaken for the effect OF hre in the
pit. The engineer at once communicated with his
brother tenter at The winding engine, and both,
in company with a banksman and doggy, pro-
ceeded to the pit shaft. The two men
courageousIy volunteered to descend and
ascertain what was the matter. The engine
was get in motion and the two men were
brought them into collision with the water
which was high up the shaft. They immedi.
atelv cried out that 1T was water and not fire;
but before the engine could be reversed they
were plunged ten or eleven feet into the water
When the men returned to the surface mes
sengers were sent out for the Earl OF D1dlcy's
agents in the district, and very short time saw
them standing round the shaft, discussing what
had best be done. The great water engine was
set to work at the rate Of nine strokes a minute,
instead of five or six; the trough pumping en-
sv.A1 ,aI
to work, and barrel instead of skip was at.
tached to the end of the pit rope. The whole of
these arrangements were made, and water at
the rate OF $50 tons per hour was raised from
that at IL o'clock, noon, the water had only
sunk about sixteen inches down the shaft.
About half past three o'clock MIR. j. p. Baker,
the inspector of mines for the district, came to
the mouth of the pit. The sinking of the water
had been carefully registered.
Explosion I'm Paris-Several Lives Lost.
dreadful explosion took place at the chemi-
cal works of M. Peletier, at the Place de la Sor-
bonne, on Monday night, the 10Th inst. Sever
persons, 1t is ascertalned for certain, were
killed. The correspondent of an English
journal furnishes the following account:-
The catastrophe in the Sorbonne quarter was
far more dreadful than the first reports led one
TO suppose. 1t was tor some minutes thought
in the neighborhood that an earthquake had
occurred. Almost all the shop fronts OF the
Rue de Ia SoIbonne, the Rue Victor Cousin and
the adjoining parts OF the Boulevard st. Mi
chael, were dashed to shivers. The. windows OF
an omnibus passing before the Lycee st. Louis
were broken. In the Cafe Harcourt and the
Cafe du Bas Rhin all the windows and lustres
were broken or cracked. The accident did not
occur, as at first stated in laboratory OF the
Sorbonne, but in warehouse In the neighbor-
hood belonging to Nj. Fontaine, where guam
tity of gun cotton and other explosive materials
were stored M. Fontaine was lately decorated
with the Legion of Honor for the. dis
covery of a new torpedo powder for the navy,
and it is said that the material which caused the
explosion was quantity Of ptcrate de potasSe
which was to have been sent off TO Toulon the
next day. The loss of life occasioned by the
accident is not yet ascertained. Seven persons
at least were killed, among whom were two
children playing in the street. Some of the
victims were blown to atoms "a head was found
here, a leg there, and an arm in another place.
Happily the Sorbonne school was empty at
the time. Had the explosion occurred two
hours sooner scores Of lives must have been
sacrificed In the CorpG Legslauf question
will be asked touching the imprudence of gov
ernment permitting the existence of suoh ware
houses as M, Fontane's in the heart of Paris
NJ. Foptalne himself was wounded and his sol
was killed.