CHINA.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume XIII, Issue 568, 13 April 1868, Page 4

CHINA.

DREADFUL GUNPOWDER EXPLOSION. REPORTED LOSS OF 800 LIVES. The Hankow Times, in speaking of an explosion which took place on the morning of the 11th of December, says that it was composed of three discharges, and from the direction of the report no doubt was left on the minds of the hearers that the powder magazines at Wuchang had exploded. A rush was immediately made for the locality of the magazines, when the site, as well as a considerable area around, was seen to be covered with one indistinguishable mass of blackened and smouldering ruins, whilst as far as the eye could reach there was not a house or temple but showed signs of having been severely shaken from roof to basement. The streets were scarcely passable for the heaps of debris scattered about, and of every house there merely remained the broken and disjointed framework, tottering threateningly over a heap of tiles, rafters, floors, furniture, &c., mingled in one tangled mass below. Immediately upon or about, the site of the explosion there was of course nothing left standing but the numbers of charred and mangled corpses lying about presented a sickening spectacle. A curious fea ture in the extraordinary scene was the number of bullocks standing about amonngst the debris, alive and perfectly quiet but utterly denuded of all hair, and in some cases of skin likewise. The powder is ground in mills turned by bullocks, and doubtless several were in harness and at work at the time of the explosion.

The extraordinary part of the story, however, remains yet to be told. The amount of gunpowder lying in the Pao-gan-keuh at the time of the explosion was but trifling, for as a rule, it is never kept there when made, but forthwith removed it to the magazine called Yung-gan-koo, which is distant about 300 yards from Pao-gan-keuh. On Wednesday the Yung-gan-koo is re ported to have bad stored in it 17,000 cattais of gunpowder, or about 100 tons foreign measurement, and, curiously enough, although there was no communication between the two establishme»ts, and the magazine was more carefully enclosed and isolated than the manufactory, the explosion at the Pao-gan-keuh by some means or other fired the Yung gan-koo, and hence the third and most violent of the discharges which we all heard.

The loss of life is put down by the Chinese at fully 800 souls, but it is to be hoped that this estimate is above the mark.

The origin of the accident, it is reported, has been discovered by the mandarins, A number of workmen, it appears had been occupied with their usual employment in the Pao-gan-keuh, and then retired to the room allotted for smoking. One man contrary to orders, returned to work with his pipe alight, but concealed under his cotton garment, if mnrt 4 V ouu nop tvuuoii his pips is reported to have burnt a hole through his robe, and catight some loose powder lying about him.