The cause of the explosion is still uncertain. It is
believed to have been due to lightning. Unquestionably, a great deal of lightning was seen on the night between the 1st and 2nd of October, and up to the very moment of the explosion. Other causes are possible enough, such as that the spark from a bargeman's pipe may have ignited the powder ; but it has not, as yet, been shown that the explosion was due to any negligence of the Grand Junction Canal Company or the Regent's Park Canal Company. Of course, there has been a great deal of dis- cussion as to the precautions which ought to be adopted in storing gunpowder in populous towns like London, or in carrying it through London. Mr. Gale's patent, which mixes the gun- powder with a vast number of non-inflammable particles, would be too bulky, expensive, and troublesome for use in the carriage of gunpowder, and as far as we see, the only safe remedy is to prohibit the storage of any large quantity of the more explosive materials in cities of a certain population altogether, and to compel those who transfer such materials from place to place to carry them round such cities, instead of through them. No precautions as to the mode of carriage could make the
carriage really safe. Life is risk. But there is no reason why the lives of millions should be risked, when .twenty or thirty miles more cartage would prevent it..
