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Poverty Bay Standard, Volume X, Issue 1234, 28 December 1882, Page 3

After thk defeat of the American team ta Creedmoor, Sir Henry Halford explained to an interviewer that the American? Were defeated because they did not practise all the year round, and because they used the match rifle and cleaned their guns, whereas the English shot with them dirty, Colonel Bodine, the American captain, agreed with this. He said: " Some of the men had their rifles in use only six weeks, and others only ten days. We had to shoot against the picked men of the British Empire. They have been familiar with long range shooting for yean ; while as to the American team, their experience with this style of shooting has been ihuch briefer. Then, too, we never on any day under such unfortunate conThe wind never blew so strongly *he range on any practice day, and the wind was very much against us.” An alarming boiler explosion, attended by serious loss of life occurred at the works of the Stephenson Tube Company, Liverpoolstreet, Birmingham. About half an hour after the work commenced a terrific explosion Was heard in the boiler shed, followed by a shower of missiles and a cloud of seething steam. It was speedily ascertained that one of the boilers had exploded in the shed and that the engine-driver hsd been killed on the spot, and two other men who were near had been scalded in a shocking manner. William Mewia, at the time of the explosion was engaged in shovelling coal into the fire hole, and was stooping over the eoal heap with a shovel in his hand and his back to the fire. The force of the explosion drove him headlong a distance of about 10 or 13 yards, and doubled him up against the brick wall of the building. Most of his clothes were burnt off and he was shockingly scalded over his shoulders and back. Death must have occurred almost instantaneously. The two others who were scalded were Henry Deniton and Frank Wilkins. Both were standing about six yards from the boiler, and seemed to have received the full force of the escaping steam. Notwithstanding the terrible nature of their injuries they were able to stagger out of the shed, and Denston is said to have asked for some water. Denston died shortly after his removal to the hospital, and Wilkins onlylingered until two o’clock.