The clerks of Messrs. Smith were engaged in the
counting-house, when they were startled by a flash of
light on the opposite side of Union Street, and, going
out to ascertain the cause, they were astonished to find
that their own place was on fire. So rapid was the
work of destruction, that it was impossible even to save
the books, and in less than a quarter of an hour, the
whole building was in flames. A number of engines
were quickly on the spot, but it was some time before a
supply of water could be procured. The firemen
succeeded in preventing an extension of the flames, but all
efforts to save the Union Hall proved abortive, and it
was completely consumed by eleven o'clock.

An Explosion took place on the 2nd inst. in a rocket-
factory, near Dartford, belonging to a Mr. Callow. The
factory was levelled with the ground, and seven work-
people were destroyed. The body of a man named
Haggard was found with the whole of the clothing
consumed, portions of the flesh stripped, and the brains
protruding. The remains of five persons were soon
collected together, and two others were picked up
alive. One had both his arms broken, and the other
(a woman) had her legs and thighs fractured, and her
eyes blown out. The man lingered for an hour and a
half. The woman only lived half an hour. An inquest
was held on the bodies, and the jury, in their verdict,
declared themselves to be "unanimously of opinion,
that gross carelessness had been displayed on the part
of Mr. Callow, in suffering blasting cartridges to be
manufactured in a building quite unfitted for the
purpose, having imperfect floors of wood and gravel;
in suffering the men employed to work in nailed boots
and shoes; and in not having any defined rules or
regulations, either written or printed, for the guidance
or protection of the persons employed in the premises."

Two dreadful Colliery Explosions have taken place;
the one on the morning of the 20th at Warren Vale
Colliery, near Rotherham; the other on the morning
of the 22nd at a colliery near Wigan, belonging to
Mr. Halliburton. By the first accident, forty-three
persons were destroyed; by the second, eleven; besides
many more frightfully injured. Inquests on the bodies
have begun to sit in both cases, but the investigations
are not yet concluded.

Mr. Lacy, cabinet-maker, of Whitechapel, was Burnt
to Death in his own house, on Monday evening, the 15th.
He was nearly eighty years old; he had been out in the
evening to see his daughter, and returned to his house
about eleven. Soon after he entered his house fire
was seen to rise in the shop, and when the door was
broken open the old man was heard crying out, "Oh
save! for God's sake, save me!" but a body of flame
intervened which could not be passed through, and he
perished. After the fire was subdued, his charred
remains were found on the floor of the workshop. It
is supposed that he let a spark fall from his candle
amongst some thin wood-shavings.

There was a fatal Boiler Explosion, on the 12th, at
the Lower Soundwell Pit Colliery, Kingswood, near
Bristol. A number of men had just been hauled up,
when, without any warning, the boiler blew up, and
scattered to an immense distance the materials of the
massive masonry into which it was built. Thomas Waller
was killed on the spot; Francis Fowler, John Palmer,
and a boy not named, were dreadfully scalded and
wounded. Waller has left a widow and five children.

A large portion of the immense pianoforte-manufactory
built a year since by the Messrs. Collard, in the Oval
Road, Camden Town, was destroyed by fire on the
morning of the 19th. It is stated that upwards of three
hundred finished pianos were destroyed, and that the total
damage was £60,000. Messrs. Collard were insured, but
their skilled workmen suffer the total loss of their whole
stock of tools.

On Thursday morning, the 25th, Mr. J. Douglas, a
special pleader, who resided in Garden Court, Temple,
was Found Dead in his chamber, having a deep wound in
his head. It appears that on his return home on
Christmas eve, he remained in his sitting-room for some
time, and it is supposed that on retiring to his bed-room
he was seized with vertigo, and fell against the key in the
door lock, when the key inflicted the wound. He was
about sixty years of age.

SOCIAL, SANITARY, AND MUNICIPAL
PROGRESS.

THE intentions of Government with respect to Postal
Communication with India and Australia have at
length been announced.

The project invites competition for five distinct lines
of service, which may be resolved, however, for the
purposes of general comprehension, into two—the first
from England to Calcutta and Hong-Kong; the second
from Singapore to Sydney. As the service on the first
of these lines is to be executed twice a month, each
fortnightly voyage is made the subject of a separate
contract, and, as the distance is divided into two stages
at the Egyptian isthmus, a corresponding division is to
be made in the advertisement for tenders; so that, in
point of fact, four of the "lines" simply represent the
intercourse between Great Britain, India, and China.
The fifth line alone is concerned with Australia, and all
that it provides is a communication every alternate
month between Sidney and Singapore. The general
result of the arrangement will be as follows:—Once a
fortnight, that is to say, at the beginning and middle of
every month, a steamer of not less than 1000 tons, and
bound to perform ten knots an hour, is to leave England
for Alexandria, with directions to touch at Gibraltar
and Malta. At Malta a branch packet from Marseilles
will bring such mails as may have been forwarded
across France. When the mails and passengers have
been carried over the Isthmus by such means as the
Viceroy of Egypt may provide, another steamer will be
found in waiting at Suez, which will immediately take
them on to Aden. At Aden the vessels of the East
India Company will be in readiness to receive the portion
of the cargo destined for Bombay, and the remainder
will then proceed by a divided route, one steamer
making way by Madras to Calcutta, and another by
Penang to Singapore and Hong-Kong.

Some important proceedings have taken place on the
subject of Education. The National Public School
Association had its annual demonstration on the 1st
inst. at Manchester, including a meeting of the general
council in the morning, and a public meeting in the
evening. Mr. A. Henry, M.P., was chairman of the
council meeting in the morning, and Mr. Cobden,
Mr. Milner Gibson, and Mr. G. Combe, of Edinburgh,
were present. At this meeting Mr. Cobden was
the principal speaker, and—as well as Mr. Gibson
—supported the views expressed in the resolution,
which expressed that doctrinal religion should only be
taught at certain hours specified, that the attendance of
scholars at those hours should not be compulsory, and
that no part of the school payments should be directly
or indirectly applied to that especial purpose.——The
meeting in the evening at the Corn Exchange was a
very numerous one, and the chief speakers on the
occasion were, as before, Mr. M. Gibson, Mr. Combe,
and Mr. Cobden. The same subject was, of course, a
prominent feature in the discussion. Mr. Gibson, who
was of opinion that the system of separating secular from
religious instruction must be adopted by the National
Association, moved the following resolution: "That
any system of free instruction established in this country,
and maintained at the public cost, can only be accordant
with justice, and prove satisfactory in its operations, by
providing secular instruction only."—Mr. Combe
developed at considerable length the views he entertained
with respect to secular education, and showed in what,
in his opinion, true teaching consisted. He expressed
his belief that the National School Association would
work out that secular education in which the religious
sentiment would do its own part, and thus prove a
blessing to humanity.—Mr. Cobden made some observations
on the application about to be made to Parliament,
for a Private Bill for giving to Manchester and
Salford, a local system of education. The Manchester
and Salford Association, he remarked, insisted that in
all schools religious education should be given at the
expense of the whole community, which, in his opinion,
involved insuperable difficulties, the principal one being
that by that means were excluded from those schools
many of those whose parents have been rated to the