A horrible explosion occurred at Witton, near Birmingham, on Friday
week. A great number of women and girls were employed; by Messrs. Ludlow in priming percussion-caps ; and it appears. that in one of nineteen sheds occupied for the purpose a fire had been allowed. One of the women went up to it to dry her apron,. it took fire, the fire caught some loose powder and ran down the benches to a powder depot, it exploded, and three sheds were blown to pieces. Thirty of the women were either killed, or so injured that they died immediately afterwards ; thirty more were frightfully injured, and many bodies are still wholly irrecog- nizable. They look when laid out like sacks of cinders. As yet the evidence points to considerable care in the general manage- ment of the works, and excessive carelessness in the management of the stoves, which were not even mentioned in the rules.
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