THE NITRO-GLYCERINE EXPLOSION IN WALES.

Southland Times, Issue 1138, 29 September 1869, Page 3

THE NITRO-GLYCERINE EXPLOSION IN WALES.

(Denbigh and Carnarvon Herald.) To supply the demands of the districts around, Messrs Webb and C0.,0f Llanberis, act as retailers, carrying on a large trade, ] and for the purpose they have a licensed ' { magazine at Llanberis, and also another in which the bulk of the stock is stored, at Abermenai,onthe Anglesey side of the Menai straits, near Carnarvon, at which place there is also a powder magazine. The nitro-glycenne is brought to Aberinenai from Hamburg, and to cover the risk a , heavy premium in freight is paid the j Vessels conveying it. These vessels are j not permitted to unload at Carnarvon, i but discharge in the stream, and the packages when required are removed in boat loads from the store. On Sunday last, a vessel, the Heroine, brought five tons of the nitro-glycerine from Hamburg, and it was safely delivered into the magazine at Abermenai ; on Wednesday last a large quantity of the cases were brought into Carnarvon harbor, and five carts were laden, two destined for the magazine belonging to Webb and Co., at Llanberis and three for Bethesda, for use at the Penrhyn Slate Quarries. The carts appear to have been carefully loaded, there being, it is conjectured, about twenty-five cases, or wooden boxes,in each cart. The boxes are about eighteen inches cube in size, and the inside is made in the form of a rack, the oil being contained in elongated metal cannisters packed in gawdust, and placed in layers. Two carts appear to have started earlier than the other three. All proceeded well till the village of Cwmyglo was reached. The carters here pulled up, and slaked their thirst at a public-house, taking another glass af ale each at a second house at the further end of the village. The men then went on towards LI an - beris, but when the new piece of road was reached, the. two men walking abreast of the first horse, a terrible explosion took place, and in an instant there was not a trace except a few mutilated and charred fragments of the two men, horses, and carts! The time was about ten minutes to six o'clock in the evening, and parties of workmen were returning along the road going home. These men principally were those engaged at the Llynrhonwy Quarries, and left work half an hour earlier, as is the custom at these quarries, than the workmen at the Llanberis Quarries — Mr Assheton Smith's. Had the casualty occurred about fifteen minutes later, the sacrifice of human life would have been more lamentable than it is, for the road would have literally swarmed with workmen. As it was, a number of men and youths, quarrymen, were put in jeopardy, three of the wayfarers, in addition to the carters, lost their lives, one being killed on the spot ; and some eight or nine others were seriously injured. The effect of the explosion was astounding. The report was as if all the thunders of heaven had burst in one deafening crash. Far and wide, reverberating from rock to rock, that dreadful boom went forth, atuxuiug not only the inhabitants in the vicinity, but the country, for miles round. The sound was distinctly heard in Carnarvon and in Bangor ; in Upper Bangor, indeed, people rushed out of their houses, thinking they were visited by an earthquake ; in Anglesey also the same report was heard. In the neighboring villages of Llanrug, Bbenezer, JLlandinorwic, and Llanddeiniolen, and in Port Dinorwie, an indefinable awe fell upon the inhabitants. But it was in Cwmyglo the effects were most strongly felt. Every house at the end nearest the scene of the explosion, though about a quarter of a mile distant, had its windows broken. Most remarkable it appeared to us that not only the panes, but in some instances the entire sashes and frames had been forced away; the windows of the two chapels situated to one side on risina ground were also shattered. A new brick bouse, intended for an inn, had every one of its windows blown out, and the front wall gaped with a long fissure. The goods warehouse referred to had a side of its roof almost entirely carried off, and the station close at band had not a single window left whole — indeed, not a pretence for a window remained, and at the time we saw the building it was boarded up. Testifying as all this did to the violence of the concussion, the really appalling nature of the disaster was not known till the anxious crowds repaired to the fatal spot. In a few moments hundreds of blanched faces witnessed a eight which made their blood curdle. Two circular holes, about four yards in diameter and three in depth, were seen, each marking the place on which the ill-fated carts stood; these holes were speedily filled with water up to the level of the lake at hand. The wall along the road for the space of 25 or 30 yards had been carried clearly away, and the stones from this and the road were found plunged, in some places about two feet deep, into the boggy land to the left of the scene. The chief signs of what had occurred, and of the destruction, were a few pieces of scorched horseflesh and bones, iragments of harness and at the edge of the road, a bleeding human form frightfully disfigured. Before and behind were wounded men aud boys — two of the latter of whom subsequent! j died — but of the poor carters there was naught but unrecognisable remains. The two carters, two horses, and two carts had absolutely vanished. The marsh, it is true, was strewed with horrid tokens Near the lake and about a hundred yards off a human tongue and portions of brain were discovered, and near the toll-house the seachers came across the feet and legs of a r man. Portions of the carts were Mown in one direction to Brynyrefail (by

the side of the railroad, a long distance) and in another directisn a part of a cartwheel was found. Over an adjacent mountain, called Criegian Elwyncoed, near the residence of Mr Evan Jones, frail ty-colyn, fragments of gear were had: this is a distance of one mile on foot, and half a mile as the crow flies. We saw parts of the iron bands of the wheels, five-eights of an met thick, broken up into six or eight inch lengths, and twisted as though they had been pasteboard. Directly the shock was overcome steps were taken to remove the wounded and the dead, and scores of searchers ranged the marsh, road, and mountain side, to collect together the shreds of humanity they could find ; the remains were wrapped up in sheets and removed with all due despatch to a wing of the Craig- y-don Inn, the nearest and most convenient receptacle, to await the coroner's inquest. The wounded, where | practicable, were removed to their own j homes, and medical assistance was quickly j got. The inquest was opened on Thursday, when, after the coroner had addressed the jury in Welsh, evidence was given in accordance with the facts above stated. According to one of the witnesses the explosion itself was a sort of invisible one ; we believe the nitro-glycerine emits neither flame nor smoke, so that his description may be perfectly coreect. the verdict of the jury was as follows : — The deaths were caused by this occurrenc, the explosion of nitro-glycerine, and it accidentally exploded ; how it occurred there is no evidence to show."