LATEST ENGLISH NEWS.

Wellington Independent, Volume VI, Issue 505, 14 August 1850, Page 3

LATEST ENGLISH NEWS.

Lord John Russell having presented a " petition from many of the most respectable inhabitants of the colonies of Australia," observed he was happy to say that it showed that the Bill presented by her Majesty's government on the subject of the future government of the Australian colonies had been redlived by the inhabitants of those colonies with very great satisfaction. The petitioners considered the policy adopted in that Bill, eminently calculated to attach those colonies to the mother-country. They were of opinion that it was far more advisable that any alteration which might be made in the present government of those colonies should be made iv the colonies, rather than be effected by a correspondence carried on between this country and Australia, which would necessarily occasion very considerable delay. They concluded by praying that the House would pass the Bill as at present framed. (Hear, hear.)

Lord John Russell, in answer to a question put to him in the House of Commons on the 19th March, intimated that the Australian Colonies Government Bill would be introduced by the government on the 22nd.

Mr. Baillie, chairman of the Committee for inquiring into the conduct of the Governor of Ceylon, gave notice that, in consequence of the many unfounded reports that had gone abroad, the investigation would henceforth be carried on with closed doors. The following evidence was given by Mr. Selly, the Judge-Advocate- General :—

" A priest was tried before one of the courts-mnrtiul, charged with holding correspondence -with the rebels, and other matters. He was sentenced to be shot. Subsequently strong impressions prevailed of the priest's innocence, and, upon the score of humanity, urgent representations were made to the Governor. By the Committee—And what did the Governor say to these representations ? The witness (after great reluctance) —His Excellency said, in haste, " By God ! if all the proctors in the place said he was innocent, he shall be hhot to-morrow morning." (Sensation.) Witness, continuing, said—" My Lord, that is a matter for your consideration. I thought it my duty to let yoa know what I heard." To which Lord Torrington replied—-"Iwould rather be tried by gentlemen on a couvt-martiaj

than by all the Justifies in the Supreme Court. A court-muriul is the first court in the world, and, besides, the prisoner confessed his guilt." Witness replied he was not aware of the latter circumstance. All this soon became the talk of the messtable and the military at Candy. The Siwinsea Herald announces.in the following terms, the discovery of a new substitute for gunpowder:—A communication lms been addressed to the Secretaries of the Literary and.Scientific Society, from Mr. Napier, which announces the discovery, by him, of a new explosive substance, which he designates white powder, and which has ten times the force of common gunpowder. It is composed of the following simple ingredients:—one part of yellow prussiate of potash well dried, one part of sugar well dried, two parts chlorate of potash. These materials are finely ground separately, and then mixed.

A great increase of mining activity in various parts of the United Kingdom seems to have been attended with various new and gratifying features. The Galivay Vindicator says -"considerable excitement prevails in the neighbourhood of Gort by the discovery of extensive lead mines at Caherglissane, containing a larger per centage of silver than the celebrated mines in South America, and far surpassing anything at*present known in her Majesty's British dominions. The quantity of ore raised in one week by that enterprising and energetic gentleman, William Collett, far surpassed anything before experienced in Ireland.' ,

The Editor of the London Mining Journal of the lOth March, expresses the pleasure with which he notices the provisional registration of a company, under the title of the Universal Emigration and Colonization Company, embracing also a principle of freehold and life assurance on the most approved arrangements, a prospectus of which appears in the advertising columns of his journal. This company is to be incorporated by Act of Parliament or Royal Charter, with a preliminary capital' of £50,000 in 10,000 shares of £5 each, with power to increase to £250,000; reserving the right in the Charter to further augment it to £1,000,000; and judging from the list of names connected with the formation of (he company, there can be no doubt of its bona fide and legitimate character, and that it will, when in operation, establish a system of emigration on rational and souud principles, and secure to the emigrants every possible facility and comfort in proceeding to their destinations, and protect them from those impositions and dangers to which they have hitherto been subject. The priuiary object seems to be the purchase of large tracts of land in.the colonies and the United States, which will be divided and sold to the emigrants on the most advantageous terms. The English Improvements in iron smelting have been very considerable of late, and a number of new undertakings I have been set on foot. Among those is one mentioned by the London Mining Journal, as follows : —" We learn, upon good authority, that smelting works are about being erected at South Brent, adjoining the South Devon Railway, for the purpose of reducing the ores of iron, copper, lead, and tin, by the use of peat. Messrs. Wilkins and Davy have undertaken to supply 500 tons of peat weekly, and there is every prospect of employment to a considerable extent."

The surplus of the revenue over the expenditure for the year ending April sth was declared (on the 14th March) by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to be as nearly as could be calculated, £2,252,000.

The contemplated abolition of the viceroyalty in Ireland was to be resisted by the combined opposition of the Freeman's Journal and of Mr. J. O'Connell. Sir R. Gore Booth had been returned for the couuty of Sligo, vacant by the retirement of Mr. Poliott. A "general order" had been issued from the Adjutant-General's office, dividing Ireland into military districts, viz.: those of Cork, Dublin, Limerick, and Kilkenny, and appointing their respective commanders to each, a fact tolerably indicative that her Majesty's troops are in an. enemy's country.

On the afternoon of. the I lth March, a terrific explosion took place at the powder mills of Messrs. Curtis and 'IJa'rvey, near Hounslow ; 'and the catastrophe was attended with a considerable loss of life. The following particulars are • extracted from the Illustrated London News of the 16th March.:—

'•In order to render the account of this intelligible, it is necessary to give some description of the manner in which the powder-mills are arranged. They are situated about two miles from the Hounslow railway station, and about half a mile from the public highway. The buildings are nearly all placed at some distance from each other, and those in which the more daugerous processes of manufacture are carried on are carefully secluded from the rest hy thick belts of fir-wood, by mounds of earth, or by such other means as the position in which they are placed suggests. Nearly all the works are constructed of the lightest materials, so that, if an explosion should happen, the least possible resistance may be. offered,to the shock which it occasions.

Through the grounds, which occupy a| considerable extent, runs the river Coin c,! a tributary of the Thames, the waters wi'j which are applied to set the machinery of some of the composition and corninghouses in motion. The situation of the i works generally appears to beunexcep-j tionublc, being thoroughly removed from j the public highway, and from those dan-! gers to which an exposed situation leads.<j All these precautions, however, seem to have entirely failed in the moment of trial; and the explosion which took place on Monday must be regarded as one of the most devastating accidents of the kind that lias happened for years in this country. It appears to be quite ascertained that the mischief commenced in what is called the ' treble dusting-bouse,' i.e., the house for ' dusting , or cleansing sporting powder, which was situate on the eastern margin of a fir plantation, with a field of turnips on the one side of it, and the wood on the other. In tin's small building no machinery of any kind was kept which could at all lead to such a catastrophe ; two small spindles and a sieve of copper wire being the only implements employed,

" At half-past three o'clock m the afternoon, the first explosion, the noise of which resembled that following the discharge of a park of artillery, took place in one of these buildings. Immediately afterwards, a dense cloud of smoke was seen rising into the air; and before it had cleared away several bodies were observed to fall in sundry directions amongst the tre3s. Two explosions of greater violence than the first quickly followed, by which the roofs of the coming-houses were driven high into the air.

" The inhabitants near the station of the railway, generally, consisted of the men and their families working in the mills. Upon hearing this series of explosions they ran towards the mills, but they had not proceeded far on their journey, when another explosion occurred ; and before the noise had subsided, two or three more of similar violence followed in rapid succession. "When the grounds were entered, a fearful spectacle appeared, for no fewer than seven of the mills or stores were levelled with the ground, the whole of the contents destroyed, and many of the poor workmen were lying in various directions, some bleeding from wounds, and others burnt and blackened by the force of the explosion.

" The engines from Hounslow Barracks | and other places were in attendance;; but their services were scarcely required, the devastation being so complete. " The extent of the injury to life and i properly was not fully known until Tuesday morning, when it was ascertained beyond doubt that eight human beings had been killed, and that two more had been very seriously hurt. The names of the unfortunate victims are as follows :— Richard Glazier and Henry Strange, who perished in the sporting powder dusthouse ; Robert Goddard, who was in the sporting powder coming-house when the accident took place, and who lived for an hour and a half after the explosion. John Campton was with him, and, though much injured, still survives. James Perry, who was in the middle glazinghouse at the time, was killed ; and Wm. Pearce, his companion, was seriously hurt, and is since dead. In the roller coming-house three men perished, their names being William Borrows, Thomas Penfold, and James Bookmaster. To this list the name of Henry Clifford, next in authority to the foreman of the works, must be added. When he heard the explosion he threw himself into the river Come, which passes close at hand; and in that position he remained while the roof of one of the buildings was blown over his head. He has sustained some injury, and appears to have owed his life mainly to the shelter which the river afforded.

" How the explosion, or rather a series of explosions occurred was a mystery."