3 NOVEMBER 1838, Page 5

'fhirty.five persons were killed, on the :14th October, by a

tree mendous explosion of gas in " John Pit," a cold mine belonging ets Mr. Henry Curwen of Workington Hall, at Lowca, about four miler- from IV hitehaven. The Mitcham& Herald supplies the following rw_ count of this disaster- " The John l'it has been for some time back the soure: from whence Igo Curwen has drawn the principal part of his coals ',hipped at th,2 port of Har- rington. Nearly one huudred men and bi.ye were employed in it; and it superintendence devolved upon Mr. 'rate, of %whitlow, .Jr. Curwen's cvall steward at Harrington. The overman and deputy uvermaa engaged wide.: hint to look after this pit were Harrison Kay and Williatu Iletberiogtore The colliers left the pit on Tuesday evening le fore dus'e; arid those who have un- fortunately pet isheil, on the following morning returned, soon after five o'clock, at which time the awful and astounding cao.strophe took place. The regulatism adopted in Jolla Pit, we uuderstatel, was for the workpeople to wait about 1•1:: hundred yards from do:bottom of the shaft, at what is called the steer, until 41.4 overman and deputy-overman had gone into the workings and seen that all was free from danger. At this spot thirty-feur human beings were cons' gustedwhen the foul air took fire; and they were swept, with six othert, t& lust:out de.ttuetruo. An explosion so tremendous aud terrible iu its character, perhaps scarcely ever occurred before, certainly never in this part of the country. The shaft is niciety.five fathoms in depth, and yet for many yards Above its month the tire was seen to blaze with awful brilliancy. Baskets from the bottom were whirled up the Iihaft high into the air, and thrown to a consider- able distance. At the moment the explosion happened, a basket, containing two men and two boas, had descended the what about six fathoms ; these were blown into the air as fru. na the mouth of a cannon : one man was driven over the bank of coals at the pit's mouth, One boy fell close to the mouth, the other boy alighted in a btate of imensihility on a sloping ledge, with his feet hinging, over the yawning chasm beneath, and WAS thus foutal after the shock of the ex plodon, and removed in aafety. On being laid hold of in five or Six minutes after he hat! alighted on

Lis per:"ous sait, he awoke ft uni a t of stupor, and lpgged to be taken front whete be was, as he felt cold, and said chat Ire thought he had been there for about two hours. This la's naive is Nutter, and he live at Partoa : he arid the man and boy just apoken of have recoveted, and are now well again. The fourth individual who was in the basket was Iv., finnan:ate ; he, :des! after being blown into the air, fell perpetelicu"r1s mo the shaft, and %vas dashed to Fnecea at the bottom. This was the lirmt sufferer got out of the rdt ; and towards eviming the bodies of William Ailili-on and Robert Nicol were brought

up, they hi rig the hoit of thme who weer it in the morning.

"fhe bodies of thirty.font of the stiff Ters were foil nil nearly all together on

the northern side Of the ' tl:e in one ft ightfel MASS, h blended with corves, rol"e) s, aolvarieus of '.‘1,ny of them were sadly di,figured anil their faces were Wad:each, the skin torn form differ- ent rats of ti: :ir bohies, lirtiha mangled, awl their 1114- adtioiq invariably

sitiged or shrivelled up itito a (litry matteil sub-:tare:T. One poor bliy had a stake driven throuzh his ha ly ; in other t'..e eyeballs were

treaty forcell from tic.:o. thit ty• Luc tinhipay bei,:s were all, to ho,aht, aoeino of the :lay torrioit hi sic. pt aloog the ■ . wolhi,q44 with y alai farce. ( It little hay way found

on his Lc, Ws I mse in its -aaide ; lie wa rot harm or disfigured,

and Lail died of soli,: tiori from the cloi"nodalop. IL.: lai.1 c d tile over 'Han 0%1,1111 /II re or lit iho iionil I ; Clot of K:iy briug far in the hi iit to the south, :mil IL:therivAton in the ikilt to the moth."

It is conjertureil that in new " luso," wiC.cli Lad venLi'aited the Jut, was choked ip by the falling in of its real; and th it the "over-

man " hay, o eta along this pa-sage with aIi ed el though tl.e atmosphere was known to bu iti a diingarott- st ilk i till' Si co iii

accident which has ametirrea in Mr. mine. v; dd.: fourteen months ; and t 'oat gentlemairs distress iii' into. ii is esti tone. E very care bas been taken oi tile !amities oi" the pour people, wile, sulila by the calaniity.

On Tuesday week, a most simenlar and di.astrotts event took place at Dunkirk, lemilt ti qiiarter of a mile ft cit Northwieli, ill One instanta- neous sinking of a plot of gruithd ii iii an acre in extenr, to the

is eeLuss4ry dint

depth of about fifteen or twenty yards. It at 0.. depth of ala■ut yal di from the !airface rims a el ill or mine of Of fiat i2:1 ,•aiiis in thickness, wli:ch at is spot had, as usual, been wioki d :col excavated, b fore siokieg to 0 o teats vein, at a da pth of aboot yartis. For some time pr t, typor mitie had been coo-hilt:Jell hist mire, floin tile pillars left i0 the superb'.

Curran:nit earth heir: in a totteatia state. 'Ihe teen, ao as'ci, had con- tinued to svai Ic niti Soto, ; Alum: dtalined

going down to %seek, in yen-aro:ilea- of he ii hg noses '1: like the

falling of large p'.(7(..., of rod; salt, ee row.i-tred it i:Itorval-: during

the day. t)o the followin4 inoririeg. four of the mon vi unwed down the waters shaft, aral funnel there wai not: room for a bucket to puss down the undo shaft, as the planks (in oat; side were kola: inwards.

Still thi re was not nay denger oppr.d.entle.1; rind it was re- solved to let the alerai subside by the lap,e of a Fury days, before ally further sr 'pa sycre titan. But in It ss it an hour the ground gave

way, a treinendous roar : the rock home, tower, gin, house, houie, stables, am! two cottages, were tl.t.lAril init.) a heap of