SHOCKING COLLIERY EXPLOSION. AND GREAT LOSS OF LIFE.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVI, Issue 3887, 5 February 1870, Page 6

SHOCKING COLLIERY EXPLOSION. AND GREAT LOSS OF LIFE.

On November 15, an explosion took place in No. 5 pit of the Moss Hall Coal Company's collieries, at Pl&tt Bridge, three miles from Wigan. The shaft is 275 yards deep, and has been recently constructed. The winding up of the men for the nighfc had commenced, and many had been brought lip, when the gas fired in the six-feet mine, the lowest seam. Exploring parties were fornled at once, The exDlosiojVwas V6,ry yiolq'nt, and much damage was danp. Eight bodies haye'b'een recovered* and nineteen men and boys are still in the workings. The colliery was on fire, and both shafts have been closed to extinguish the burning coal.

The Duke of Edinburgh has viaited Pekin incognito, and arrived at (Shanghai on October 31, where hia Royal Highness was enthusiastically received. A grand ball was given in his honour. On Septeinbi r 4 the Duke of Edinburgh paid hia visit to -the Mikado, when a totally unexpected compliment was paid him, of which the Japanese officials had said nothing to the British Legation. The tapper windows of the houses along which "he passed were all closed and sealed with paper bands, that no "peeping Toms" might "look down" upon him. This is never done in Japan except for the Sovereign. His Imperial Majesty received his guest on perfectly equal terms. The Prince offered him a magnificent diamond snuff-box, which he placed in his Majesty's hand himself, and the Mikadq received the splendid gift" with evident delight, which he repeatedly expressed. A Good Suggestion. — There is an almost unanimous wish that the new street from the Bank to Blaekfriars should be named after Mr. Peabody. "Time Works Woitoers. '— Itia currentIy rumoured that the vacancy caused amongst the honorary Elder Brethren of the Trinity house, by the demise of $he i a^ e lamented Earl Derby, li.Oc., will be filled bv Mr Bnqht. ' ' of the Duchess d'Aumale.— We regret to learn that the Duchess d'Aumale is lying seriously ill. The duchess has not been well long together since the death of the Prince de Conde. She is suffering from a disease iu the veins, which impedes materially the circulation of the blood. A BieycLi-, a Carriage. — On November 25, the Liverpool magistrates decided that a bicycle ia a. carriage \yitkm the meaning of tae Act, and fined a youth named Carrol for driving one upon the f ootpatlu Jefferson Davis, on hia way home from England to Mississippi, pasaed through New Orleans. Many visited him, while one admirer carried his idolatry for the leader of the " lost cause" bo far as to stoop and kiss he name of the ex-president on the register of j •nival* *t &• St<!Obrlti Hottl.

An Heroic Duellist. — It is evident that theeditorof theChicago Tribune must take th© first place among duelling editors. M-jPaul de Cassagnac pales his ineffectual fire by the side of such a hero. The American editor finds itnecessarytoplacethe following intimation at the head of his news : — " The editor of this paper, in consequence of the number of analogous engagements previously , contracted, will find himself compelled till Easter, or Trinity, to refuse chalfenges.froni hi$ honourable adversaries, political or otherwise." * '_.-,, Ceremonial, obsequies were never more sincere, or more truly gave expression 'to a deep general feeling of sorrow, than .those which were observed when the remains of George Peabody were placed in the shrine of England s most distinguished worthitfc, to rest there until they can be transferred "with suitable ceremony to the maueoleuin^prepared by Mr. Peabody himself inhianativeland; The funeral, if so it can be called, took place on the 12th ot November, and was largely attended, while the crowds which lined the streets through which the funeral procession passed showed every mark of respect to the i great philanthropist. The Queen has pub* listed an expression of her regret that the sudden termination of Mr. Peabody's illness prevented her receiving or seeing him • once more since his return, and in every rank of life there has been but one feeling of arixiety to show the greatest honour to his memory. The Government, our readers will be pleased tolearn, has ordered a vessel of war to be fitted up for transporting the remains to the United S hates. One of the finest vessels in the British navy, the iron-clad •Monarch,' hag been chosen for the service, and she will leave Portsmouth as soon as the American vessels of war arrive for her escort, which will probably be about the 8th of December. Denominational Education. — For many years there haB been a contest in America about reading the Bible in the public schools. These schools, supported by general taxation, have their daily sessions opened by reading the Protestant Bible, a custom which is obnoxious to the Catholics. Some commotion has been created in Cincinnati recently by the Board of Education ordering the discontinuance of the custom, and the matter has got into the courts.. , The (Ecumenical Council will meet at Rome on the 8th of December. The Pope has lately insisted on the papal infallibility, and Archbishop Manning, in a pastoral published before he left England to take his seat at the * ouncil, urges fifteen distinct and separate reasons on the side of those who> maintain that the time is ripe for a definition of the infallibility of the Pope of Rome, and that such a definition by the Council would be most opportune. On the other hand, the Bishop of Orleans, Monseigneur Dupanloup, declares himself opposed to a definition of the Pope's infallibility,, aa inopportune ; and his lordship considers it would be so because it would be likely to .drive .schismatics and heretics still further fromthe Church " their restoration to which ought not to, be despaired of ;" would also prov< ke the mistrust even of Catholic Governments, and revive the hatred of the Pontifical Power. Monseigneur Dupanloup blames the Bull of Paul III., which, releassed the subjects of Henry VIII. from their oath of allegiance. This Bull Monseignenr Dupanloup considers to have been calculated rather to precipitate the English nation into heresy than to have I brought it back to the Church, and to have [ been for all Christendom a great nisfortune. At the experimental farm of thp Depuxtment of Agriculture at Washington, trial was made on many varieties of potatoes. Of these the Albert appeared tne most proj duetive, giving a return of over 47 pounds for one of seed. Economist stood next. Early : Goodrich gave 16 pounds for one. The poorest yield was from the Blue Kidney— '9 pounds for one. The Harrison yielded nearly 33 for one of seed.