had broken into a large building used as a Wesleyan
chapel in the Churchway, with the view of operating
with their engine on the fire beneath, were covered up
by the ruins of the old chapel, which also fell immediately
after the explosion. A prodigious quantity of
burning material was thrown across the Tyne, and
scores of people upon Newcastle Quayside were thrown
down, and many of them rendered insensible by the
shock. The mass of burning embers which flew from
Gateshead set fire to the ships in the river, and passing
over the quay, pitched upon the dense range of buildings
used as offices and warehouses by the Newcastle
merchants, which, in an incredibly short period became one
mass of flames. The vapour from the burning sulphur
came in dense masses across the river, causing numbers
of people to fall down insensible; and in every direction
the affrighted inhabitants of the lanes and alleys bordering
the Quayside, Newcastle, and in the lower part of
Gateshead, might be seen flying in every direction as
before an earthquake. Expresses were sent off to
Shields, Sunderland, Hexham, and other towns, to bring
thence the fire-engines and fire-brigades. The powerful
river engine was also brought up from Shields harbour;
and by eight o'clock all fears of the fire extending
beyond Hillgate, in Gateshead, and the Quayside,
Newcastle, was removed. The destruction of property
is estimated at not less than a million sterling. The
loss of life has been fearful. Forty bodies have been
found among the ruins. Among them are Mr. Pattison,
Town Councillor; Ensign Poynter, [or Paynter,]
Corporal Armstrong, and a private of the Cameronians;
Mr. Charles Bertram, a Borough Justice; Mr. Davison,
junior, miller; police constable Scott; Mr. Hamilton,
hairdresser; Charles Drake, foreman with Mr. Bence,
builder; Charles Drake, son of the above; Mr. Willis,
skinner; and two women of Gateshead. Great numbers
of people have received severe injuries. An inquest on
the dead has been commenced, but is not yet terminated.
The coroner has been assisted by Captain Duncan of the
Ordnance Office, sent by Lord Palmerston. The principal
object of the inquiry is to discover whether gunpowder
in the warehouses was the cause of the
explosion.

Mr. Herman, a builder in Lewes, has been Run
Over by a Railway Train and his body literally cut in
two. As he had been subject to spasmodic fits it is
supposed that he had been seized with one suddenly, and
under its influence had walked along the rail, and then
fallen down in a state of insensibility, remaining in that
condition until the time of the accident, when partial
consciousness was restored, and he was endeavouring to
get out of the way of the train when the fatal accident
occurred.

The steamer Ajax, bound from London to Cork, has
been Wrecked on the Mewstone, five miles from
Plymouth Sound, in broad daylight and in fine weather.
The people, including upwards of 200 passengers, were
landed by steamers which went from Plymouth to assist
the Ajax; but the vessel itself eventually went down in
deep water. Mr. Rochford was the master of the Ajax;
he had been recently appointed, after losing the Minerva
steamer in the Irish Channel.

A dreadful Explosion of Gunpowder took place at
Ballinasloe on the 23rd inst., in the stores of Mr.
Harpur, in Dunlo-street. A quantity of damp
gunpowder, which had been kept for a length of time above
the ironmongery department, had been brought down,
and placed in the cask under the counter in the office
or counting-house, with a view of having it dried. The
powder having been for eight or ten years in stock, it
was thought by Mr. Harpur to have lost its explosive
powers, and was ordered to be dried. A number of the
workpeople were being paid their wages. One
carelessly snuffed the candle on the counter with his fingers,
and threw the smouldering remnants of the wick
behind him, which fell on the old gunpowder, now
partially dry. In a moment there was a terrific explosion,
which rent the walls of the building, and blew off the
roof. In the shops on the opposite side of the street the
windows were broken and the gaslights extinguished.
It was at length found that several individuals were
injured from the flames, and that the unfortunate man who
had been the origin of the catastrophe was buried beneath
the mass of ruins. After the lapse of half an hour his
dead body was extricated, many individuals fearing to give
assistance lest the gunpowder had not all ignited, and
that a second explosion might occur. In a few minutes
one of the children was brought into the street enveloped
in flames, and being borne above the crowd in order to
obtain egress the flames increased. At this moment
Dr. Poyntz arrived, and having seized the child—an
interesting boy of eight years old—he immediately lowered
it to the damp street, and having procured a supply of
water, its burning clothes were quenched, and being
subsequently undressed, his sores were attended to by
the doctor, and every suitable remedy applied. Another
man, much burnt, was conveyed to his own dwelling.

SOCIAL, SANITARY, AND MUNICIPAL
PROGRESS

The following very complete and interesting summary
of the proceedings in the Incumbered Estates Court,
from the filing of the first petition on the 21st October,
1849, to the 24th September last, has been prepared by
the clerk of the statistics to the commissioners:—
Number of petitions presented, including those for partition
and exchange as well as for sale, 3,320. Of the
above about 470 were supplemental or dismissed
petitions. Number of matters in which owners were
bankrupts or insolvents when petitions were presented,
309. In many other instances the owners of estates
became insolvents or bankrupts during the progress of
the matter, and the proceedings were subsequently
carried on in the names of the assignees. Number
of matters in which owners presented petitions, 823.
Number of conveyances executed by the commissioners,
4,301. Number of owners of estates (or parts of estates)
sold, viz.:—By public auction in court, 920; by provincial
auction, confirmed by the commissioners, 278; by
private contract, confirmed by the commissioners, 193.
Number of purchasers of estates (or parts of estates) sold,
5,612. Number of lots sold, viz.:—By public auction,
in court, 4,807; by provincial auction, 1,049; by private
contract, 1,292. Number of accounts opened in the
Accountant's Office, 1,307. Number of boxes in which
it is estimated there are (or have been) 100,000
documents and muniments of title deposited in the Record
Office, 2,093.—Period during which proceedings had
been pending in the Court of Chancery in cases brought
into the Incumbered Estates Court, as furnished to the
House of Commons by order dated 28th April, 1853:—
Over 3 and under 5 years, 219; over 5 and under 10 years,
364; over 10 and under 15 years, 167; over 15 and under
20 years, 89; over 20 and under 25 years, 46; over 25
and under 30 years, 31; over 30 and under 35 years, 22;
over 35 and under 40 years, 17; over 40 and under 45
years, 6; over 45 and under 50 years, 4; over 50 years,
9—total, 974. Amount of purchase money paid by
English, Scotch, and foreign parties, £2,249,040. 12s. 6d.
Gross proceeds of sales:—By public auction in court,
£9,163,348. 2s. 8d.; by provincial auctions, confirmed by
the commissioners, £2,014,698. 10s.; by private contract,
confirmed by the commissioners, £2,331,246. 10s. 9d.
—total, £13,509,293. 3s. 5d.—Distribution of funds:
Gross amount of money distributed in cash and stock,
£9,236,811. 13s. 9d.; total amount of absolute credits
allowed to incumbrancers who were purchasers,
£1,390,822. 5s. 8d.—£10,627,633. 19s. 5d.—The difference
between the amount realised by the sales and the funds
distributed is thus accounted for: Funds allocated in
trust, where some of the trustees have died; provisional
credits, not yet made absolute; payments already
ordered by the commissioners, and not called for by the
parties entitled thereto; the purchase money of recent
sales, not yet lodged; the balance of cash and government
stock standing to the credit of the commissioners in the
Bank of Ireland.

Orders in Council have appeared in the London
Gazette, for the closing of a great number of burial-
grounds in different parts of the country. Burials are to
be discontinued in the following places in London:—
Wesleyan Chapel burial ground, Stafford Street,