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The Explosion Of A Gun Cotton Factory

The Explosion Of A Gun Cotton Factory image
Parent Issue
Day
28
Month
August
Year
1847
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

I f. krsham, Saturdnj' niglit. Messrs. flall's works cover nn aren exceeding twenty ncrcs ID ex'e; t. The Gun Culton Manufm-tory, wliich hasonly been in work about six months, is situntol n tlmt portion of the preraises known as (he Marsh Works, wliich forrn tl.e northern boundary of Messrs. tlall's esta'.e. - Those works, until the manufacture of Gun Co'.ton was commenced, were used as powder-mills, and iwo of the four t.uüdmgs of wliich the range consists, are ■ tïll used for the ?nrae purpose. Ench of ihese buildings occupy an arrear of about forty feet square, and they are severally divided from each other by mounds of earth about forty feet high, hnving abase of about the same exlent, afier the fasbion of ordinarv pwder-mills - these mounds being intended lo prevent the explosión ofone building affecting either of the adjoining erectiins. The buildings are very massive, the brickwork of the wnlls being eight feet thick. They consist of one flúor only, and tbose which are devoted to the manufacture of the cotton are divided into four comp-irtments, known ns the drying room, the packing department, the labeüing department, and the conpera ge, so callea. Inserted in the wall of the drying room is an immense iron chamber, or cauldron, of a slighily conical forra; th's receives the heat from the furnace, and communicates it to the drying room, where the important process of drying the cotton is oarried on. No fire whatever is allowed to exist within the building, and the same precautions as in the non-admission of the workmen in shoes, &c, generally adopted in powder-mills exist in the buildings devoted to gun-cotton manufacture. The process of preparing the cotion may be thus br:efly described : The web is first stepped in a solution of ncids, after which it is vvaslied in clean spring water ; it is then drained of all the moisture it contains, and tnken into the drying room, where it is carefully d.'ied and subsfquently pndted in cartridge paper tubes, in which form the artirle is sold. The i-teeping process is carried on in a separate building, erected for the purpose, in the rear of the stove ! (No. 4). This building containrd some ' massive ciuldrons and other machinery. On Wednesday m irning, just previous : to the explosión, the works were in full operation. Betveen forty and fifty perj sons were einployed in ihe two cotton ! stoves and in the streping dppartment. i Noihing seems to havo occurrcd calcuI lated to occnsion t'o slighlest apprelien sion up to the moment of the accident tuk ing place. As near as can be ascer tained, about quarter past eleven while j the work people employed in ('No. 4) slove were actively engaged, the explosión occurred. The effect, a lew momenis afier ittook place, can scnrcely le imngined. The No. 4 stove was literall y blown to aioms. Of the massive brickwork forming tilia structure, not one brick remained up n unother ; and, mnrvelous as it may appear, ihe enrth, to tlie depth of five or six feeï beneath the foundation, was torn op and rent into chasms, as if by ihe shock of on earthq-iake. The malerials. rising firsi into the air to an immense heijht feil in different directions and a lnrge porlion clearing the mound of earth which separated the buildings Nos. 4 and 3, came with. great force upon the roof of the lalter. This was but ihe work of a moment, and the next instar the stove; ('No. 3,) the contents of which had, beyond a doubt, ignited f rom the fallen materials of No. 4, explodeJ in a similar manner. VVith the exception of the chimney, which is still standing, this building is reduced to a wreek. Nos. 1 and 2 (still used as powder-tnillsj were extensively in;ured, and almost whollv unrooffd ; whilé the building in which the steeping process was canied on, situated as before stated in the rear of No. 4, was blown comletely down, and the massive machinery which it contained hurled into a stream which skirts the norihcrn boundary of the premises. Of the unfortunate beings nt work in the building No. 4, scarcely a vestige was discovered near the scène of the ex plosión. Arms, legs and portions o shattered trunks were thrown in everv direction, and in some cases, to an in credible long distance. The remains o: the ur.fortunate creatures engnged in No 3 were less tnutilaled. Some of the par ties in No. 3 wereextricated nlive. One youth, named Bunting, had a most inir aculous escape. He was busy at work when the explosión took place ; and hav ing momentarily lost his senses by the shock, on recovering, found himself bu ried up to his middle in ruins, thougl without havingsuslained any serious in jury. Some of the poor wretches serious ly mutilated n this building meta miser able end, being burned to deatli before they could be extricated. The extraordinary effect of the explo sion on the buildings in the neighborhooc and the cornfields, in the vicinity, can not possibly be realized except by an eve witness. The roofs of all the buildings vttthin about a quarter of a mile of the explosión are completely striped of their liles, and llie walls are much shaken. - E en in llie lown of Feversham, fully a rnile 'Jistant from the scène Of the disaster, windmvs were broken, tind the houses otherwise damnged, in some intances. On tlie opposile side of ihe stream wliich forms the norihern boundary of the Mar.sh works is a field of wheat of some extent. The explosión lias coinplelely blasted ihis over a space of about two acres ; and the enrs, drooping and rliscolored, present a scène of desolation in perfect character with the adjoining ruins. The willow trees wliich skirt the bank of the stream referred to, and indeed, nll the trees wilhin about ñfty yards of the buildings Nos. 3 nnd 4, are torn up by the roo!s and scattered about in all directions. Those more dislant are less seriously injured, but the fulinge of all within a very large circle is ivholly destroyed. Another rem;irk;ib'e instance of iis power vas shown in the forcible ejeclion from a deep well of two massive pumps, the eading pipes of which, nearly twenty feet ong, were drawn up and thrown to & very considerable distance. The explosión wns heard at an enorTious distance from Fevershnm. At Deal and Maidstone, and even nt some places more than thirty miles from the scène of he acciden', parties are describad to have ïoarJ it distinctly. It may be interesting to state tliat the uength of guncotlon is just six times that f gunpowder; in other worbs, ten drams of the cotton are equal to two ounces of

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Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News