A fatal explosion happened this morning at Apothecaries Hall. At
half-past ten o'clock, Mr. Hennell, the Company's chemical operator, was preparing some detonating mercury for percussion-caps for the East India Company : a labourer who was with him left the building in which he was at work, and presently three slight explosions were heard, followed by a loud report. It was found that Mr. Hennell had been struck immediately below the chest ; the whole of the front of the body being carried away, with the right arm, the right side of the face, and the upper portion of the head. Parts of the body were scattered over the top of the building and the roofs of the adjoining houses. The right arm was found on the roof of the Hall, having indented a leaden pipe in its way. One of the fingers was blown over the Hall into Union Street. The windows and walls of the building were much shattered; the wooden block, on which the composition stood, was broken into splinters ; and the flag-stone on which it rested was shattered to pieces. Mr. Hennell was more than forty years of age, married, but without a family ; he had been twenty-eight years in the service of the Company.
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