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Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 25, 3 February 1863, Page 3

lOBBERY AT THE DdNSTAN. — The Dunn News of January 23rd says : — This rning about f&ur o'clock, a robbery was ninitted in the store belonging to Mr. in Lukies, nnder the foilowing circumnees: — Thestoreman bein^sick, a young n volunteered to sit up with him ; in morning, however, the youth was is«d, as a J .so the sum of £44 1 4s 6d. spicion esatnrafty rested on the volunrnurse, and, ifjevefore, Messrs Jones, nagan, and Mayo searched for him and loeeded in apprehending him at the rear some tents in Hartley-street. Tiie •ney rras found on him, and fee was Iged attire Oaiwp. Ln extraordinary enigma has just been secured the British Museum. It is a fossil found in tho enhofen ßlate (Bavaria), and con-tains -the foro I hind extremities, pelvis, ribs, and tail of an mal like «. feathered lizard. The fore-limbs arc thered, and also the tail, and the whole suggests reature intermediate between reptile and bird, I previously wholly unknown. This discovery lid seem to soften the lines of demarcation be:en species and species, and so to make for Mr rwin'fl theory. I few ■weeks ago tbe "female Blond in" — the oine of tbe Crystal Palace in 1858, and of tha □sit of tbe Thames on a tight rope 2000 feet in Jth in August, 1861 — was removed on crutches tn St, Bartholomew's Hospital, a cripple for the t of her life, from the accidental fracturing of neck of tbe thigh-bone, more than two months >, at Highbury Barn. The heroine, with a rage truly chov acteristre, wished the surgeons imputafce the limb, if it could not be rendered viceable, rather, as she observed, than have it igling uselesslesly by the side of the other, and uiring support which she might find rery diffit; to obtain for tbe maintenance of tbe sound ;. What renders the case of this unfortunate ist the more distressing is, 6he was the only iport of an aged father and invalid uister.*— Home lot. iETtbh FEOM THE QuEEir.— -The PeteAeaii itinel makes the following singular, but apently reliable statement : — " We are glad to be le to inform our readers that the principal facts connection with the late Glasgow trial, and tho idemnation of Mrs M'Lachlan, have been laid ore Her Majesty; Before there was any word petitions being got up for a respite, a'lady in 'n, impelled by a strong feeling of Christian ponsibility with regard to the case, forwarded the Queen the " statement " of Mrs M'Lachlan, n g with an earnest personal appeal for a respite the unhappy woman 5 and we are glad to report, to the terms of the answer received (which we '« Been), that her Majesty has bad the matter u ght under her personal notice. Tbe following he reply received s — " Eaelnhardtabrunn, 29th Sept., 1862. 'Madam, — -I have received the commands of f ilajesty the Queen to inform you that your per of the 23rd tost., has been forwarded to the fretary of State for tb'B Horn 6 Department, upon °!e advice alone her Majesty acts in all criminal * B—l8 — I am," M«lani, your ob«di«nf humble" ser r 1 "£..3. Ymff?"

FRIGHTFUL CALAMITY NEAR PITTSBURG, PA., U.S. — EIGHTY PERSONS KILLED. (From tho Fittsbitrq livening Chronicle, September 17.) One of tho mo=t terrible- arid appalling calamities with which any community has ever been visited occurred this afternoon, at tho United States Arsenal grounds, in the vicinity of the city. Ever since tho connnencoment of the present war, a largo number of hands hitve been steadily employed at the arsenal, in putting up fixed ammunition for tho army. At first tho work was done by boys; but fearing, from their carehiss habits, that somo such accident as tbat which haa just occurred would follow tbeir employment, they wore, some months ago, discharged, and young women and girls, as being more, tractable and carefdl, were gradually e"mploY<3d in their stead. About one hundred and fifty of these, together with a few men, were engaged to-day in putting up cartridges in tho laboratdry buildings, when, from some chuse or other, an explosion took place. The buildings were blown to atoms, and the bodies of the inmates carftßd high into tho sky. The grater number, however, porished by fire while lying under tho ruins of the shattered building. Altogether, about eighty lives are reported to have been lost. Shortly after three o'clock Wo visited the scene of the explosion, and a more painful or revolting sight than that which presented itself to oilr view can scarcely be imagined. Tho streets leading to the ground were filled with an excited crowd, including hundreds of frantic women, tvlio rushed wildly through tbe multitude, shrieking and sobbing as though their hearts would break. We entered at the upper gate, and at the very threshold were met by evidence of the terrible force of tho explosion. Tho grounds were covered with fragments of charred wood, canister shot, sheet iron, exploded cartridges, minio balls, &c., some of which had fallen fully four hundred yards from tho scene of the explosion. Ascending the side of the hill towards tho laboratory buildings, the first object that attracted our attention was the body cf one of ths victims, partly covered with a sheet. It was lying where it fell, nearly three hundred yards from the scene of the explosion, nud presented a most horrible spectacle. Tho flesh had been blown, as it were, from the bones, and with tho intestines, lay a tangled mass, while tho face was horribly mutilated, and the corpse littlo better than a hideous, shapeless pulp. From tho bair, it. was evident that the body was that ot a female, but her identification was out of the question. Higher up was another, disfigured in the same frightful manner, and badly burned besides, and around as far as the eye could reach lay fragments of human remains — here an arm, "there a leg, here the intestines of some unfortunate creature, and there the pelvis, and so on. Continuing on our way still towards the smoking ruins, we came upon the body of a female badly burned, and presenting a most shocking appearance. The limbs wore swollen to three times their natural size, while the feet had been partially burned off, and the breast and the face were frightfully disfigured. While wo stood looking at tho remains a young woman approached, and, with an agonizing scream pronounced the victim to be a Mrs Sheppard, rosiding at Lawrenceville, and ono of her best friends. Near Mrs Sheppard lay two women, who though burned in a horrible manner, were yet alivo aud painfully sensiblo of their sufferings. One poor creature, who gave her name as Mary Connolly, writhed and twisted in the death agony until fhe spectaclo became too much even for the crowd of gazers who thronged around, and many of them turned away filled with horror from the frightful and appaling sceno. There were several physicians in attendance, but tho condition of the sufferers was beyond the reach of medical skill, and both died before we left. Wo were now on a line with the burning buildings, and could sec crowds of nwn at work taking out tho remains of such as perished in the ruins. Near here, under a tree, lav the remains of seven of the sufferers, aud ft littlo "higher up, inside the garden fence, we counted the remains of twenty-six others. Of these little else remained than the trunks. In some cases the arms had Wen burned off, and in others tho4etfs were gone, while of the arms nothing but the larger bones remained. They were crisped or burned into all conceivable shapes, and presented altogether the most sickening spectacle we have ever looked upon. We have seen death in almost every form, but never in such a shape as this. The battle-tield presents not a tithe vf the horrors of such a scene. God grant thnt we may never look on such a spectacle a^am. We believe that at lea3t seventy lives were lost, and that the mortality may even exceed this, as those who -were taken out were all so badly injured that there recovery is ott of the question. Altogether, the occurrence is one of the most .painful by all odds that has ever hnjipened here, and it has carried death mid desolation iuto meny a happy household. Mr M'Bride, foreman of the works, -was in one of the burned houses when the erplosion took place, but he knows nothing of the cause of it. When he ltfferd the first shock ho ran to a window to g'T out, and was blown a distance oi thirty feet. His daughter is, we believe, among the killed-. Those who were not •seriously injured were harried off to the eily to relieve the fears of their parents, while those who received dangerous wounds from tho balls and Other missiles thrown about fey tho explosions were talce-n to the neigh- I boring houses for medical ireatmont j Two of the "unfortunates — enc named | Mary Dugaa whose parents reside opposite tho Fair Grounds, in "the Ninth Ward, and Mary Donnellv, v.-ho resicted «<.-ith her parents in Pine-street, Fifth Ward — were carried underneath a tree, and prompt medical «id furnished them. A physician, whose name we did not learn, finding that there was no hope Tbi tho recovery of Miss Dugan, at her request made an eloquent and touching prayer in her behalf, in frhich he iva= joined by hundreds around him, Tho poor girl survived her injuries but one hour. MJss Donrrcily had the consolations of religion administered to her i by a priest in attendance, and when Wo loft she was about dying. Both of these girls suffered intensely. At tho l»wer end of the grounds is situated a very lengthy building, ia which some three hundred girls were employed. On hearing the 'first explosion, the girls rushed frantically forth; doors, and it was with difficulty the foreman could keep them in the building. When the second explosion occurred, the girls became so terrified that they eoold not be restrained, and they rushed to the windows, broke them open, and precipitated themBelves to the ground, a distance of some thirty feet. They ran round the grounds shrieking, some of them b'eeding from wounds obtained in jumping through the windows, and the sight they exhibited was enough to strike terror into any one. Some of them ran in tho direction of their home.'', and did not stop until sheer exhaustion compelled them. The horrors of the Bcene presented at this great destruction of life were heightened by the agonising screams of relatives and friends upon discovering the remains of some loved one whose humble earnings contributed to their comfort. Again, others were frantically rushing from one charred body to another, looking in vain for a daughter or a sister who was employed in the ill-fated building. There was not a particle of clothing left on a majority of them, and mangled and disjointed as they were, it was utterly impossible to identify them. The very stockings were torn from their feet, rings from their fingers, and in some instances nothing but a headless trunk remained. Nevertheless, many were identified by the hair, by a 6crap of tho dress they wore, &c. ; cut the greatest number can never be fully recognised. In the pit of tho stomach of the headless truuk wo saw there was embedded about a dozen Minie balls. That some of the unfortunate girls were thrown high in the air by the explosion is evinced by the fact that , on the branches of some of tho trees around the buiWing-, pieces of dresses wore to.be seen, which must have been torn froVn their todies in their descent. Among those who perished were Miss Sarah Donnell, of New Brighton, and two Misses Maxwell, of the Ninth Ward, opposite Fair Grounds. Other bodies were partially identified, but not sufficiently so to warrant our giving their names.