wards entertained by the Dock Company at the town hall. The chairman, Mr. Jarvis, presided. The banquet was sumptuous. The Grenadier Guards' band performed during the repast. At the dessert the usual loyal toasts were proposed and enthusiastically received. The Prince, in responding to the toast of his health, expressed the pleasure which he and the Princess had derived from their stay in this part of England during the last six years, and assured the meeting that they should always feel the deepest interest in the welfare of Lynn. The Prince subsequently proposed " Prosperity to the Lynn Dock," coupled with the name of Mr. Jarvis. His Royal Highness expressed his hope that the dock would be the means of restoring to Lynn its ancient commercial prosperity. Mr. Jarvis responded, and several other toasts followed. The Prince and Princess left about eight o'clock for Sandringham.

18. FIRE AT THE WINDSOR RAILWAY STATION.-An alarm was given at Windsor that the Great Western Railway station was on fire. It was discovered shortly before three p.m. that flames were raging in the extensive goods warehouse which occupies one side of the company's premises, and before any material aid could be rendered the building was one mass of fire. Some books and invoices and other light matters were saved, but the heavier goods stored in the warehouse were consumed. Soon after the alarm was given, the powerful engine of the Borough Volunteer Fire Brigade, under Mr. F. B. Buckland, the lieutenant, a small but efficient engine from Messrs. Nevile, Reid and Co., the Windsor Brewery, a third from the Windsor Cavalry Barracks, with a strong detachment of the 1st Life Guards, and a fourth from the infantry barracks, in charge of Lieutenant the Hon. J. L. Lindsay, proceeded to the scene of the conflagration, and strenuous efforts were made to confine the flames to the burning building, and to save the main structure. The passenger station and the Queen's private waitingroom were at one time in imminent danger, and there were considerable apprehensions that the fire would spread to the Windsor gas-works, immediately below the viaduct upon which the railway station is erected. The goods warehouse was entirely destroyed, as well as its contents, in addition to some six or seven trucks filled with coal and merchandise, which stood upon two sidings immediately adjacent. The efforts made to save the passenger station were fortunately successful. By five o'clock in the evening the flames were entirely extinguished. Captain Bulkeley, managing director of the Great Western Railway, was present, with Mr. Simmons, the station-master at Windsor, directing the operations of the brigades and military; and most of the borough magistrates and principal residents were among the vast crowd which assembled on every available space commanding a view of the fire. The heat endured by those present near the conflagration, added to the heat of the sun, was something terrific. The premises were insured.

19. VISIT OF THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES TO MANCHESTER AND HULL. The Prince and Princess of Wales left Marlborough

House for Worsley Hall, Lancashire, the seat of the Earl of Ellesmere. Their Royal Highnesses travelled by the midday express train from Euston station. At the Congleton station the Mayor and Corporation presented an address to the Prince and Princess, and a similar token of loyalty was presented to their Royal Highnesses at the Macclesfield station. The Prince and Princess arrived at Manchester at six o'clock, amid the acclamations of some thousands of people. The royal carriages were detached without stopping, and passed over the Manchester South Junction line to the old Manchester and Liverpool Railway, proceeding to Weath, and thence to Worsley, where their Royal Highnesses were received by the Earl of Ellesmere. The station was tastefully decorated with flowers and evergreens. The Prince and Princess drove to Worsley Hall, escorted by the yeomanry, cavalry, and volunteers.

On the following day their royal Highnesses proceeded in a state barge on the Bridgewater Canal, convoyed by the Nemesis and Prince of Wales Rowing Clubs, to Manchester, the boats being towed by horses. The royal party landed at the Botanical Gardens, and drove thence to the show-grounds of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, of which the Prince was president. After a short inspection of the exhibition, the Prince and Princess were entertained by the members of the local committee at luncheon, in a tent-the Earl of Sefton presiding. Their Royal Highnesses returned in the evening by the canal to Worsley Hall.

On the 21st the Prince and Princess visited Salford and Manchester. A general holiday was observed in honour of the occasion. Upon the arrival of the royal cortége at Peel-park, an address was presented by the Mayor and Corporation of Salford, which was graciously responded to by the Prince. Miss Cardley, daughter of the senior member for the borough, also presented a bouquet to the Princess. Their Royal Highnesses afterwards drove to the town hall, Manchester, where an address was presented by the Mayor, and responded to by the Prince. The Prince and Princess afterwards drove to the Agricultural Show, and the Prince presided at the annual meeting of the society. Their Royal Highnesses left Manchester at half-past two o'clock for Hull, where they were received at the station by Mr. Christopher Sykes, M.P. The Hull artillery volunteers formed a guard of honour. Their Royal Highnesses drove to Brantinghamthorpe, and remained the guests of Mr. Sykes during their stay in Yorkshire.

The next day the Prince and Princess inaugurated the new Western Dock, and afterwards returned to London.

21. FEARFUL COLLIERY EXPLOSION AT HAYDOCK.-An explosion of fire-damp, which resulted in the loss of fifty-eight lives, occurred in the South-west Lancashire coalfield, about eight miles from Wigan. The scene of the accident was the Queen Pit of Messrs. Evans and Co.'s collieries at Haydock, where but twenty-nine weeks before in the same mine an explosion occurred, causing about thirty deaths. Since that casualty the proprietors had made alterations in

the mode of working the colliery, with a view of providing the most ample means of ventilation and protecting in every possible manner the lives of their workmen. When in ordinary work, the pit was capable of accommodating about 350 men, but since the last accident, in consequence of the alterations and other circumstances, the number was seldom much above 100. About this number descended the shaft this morning, from which were worked two seams -the six-feet and the nine-feet, the latter lying at a depth of 320 yards. About five minutes past eleven o'clock there were the usual indications on the pit-bank that something extraordinary had happened in the workings. There appeared to be a momentary reversion of the ventilation, and a volume of dust ascended the upcast. Mr. Chadwick, the manager of the collieries, was at once communicated with, and in a very short time he descended the shaft. Mr. Harvie, the secretary to the company, was also on the spot immediately, and, aided by the officials at the colliery, he proceeded to organize an exploring party. The news spread with marvellous rapidity, and offers of help were proffered from those who assembled. About forty men prepared to enter the workings, from the state of which it was evident that a frightful catastrophe had occurred. Stoppings a very short distance from the shaft had been blown down; the roadways, in many instances, were partly blocked up, and the ventilation was entirely disorganized. The first lot of the exploring party had scarcely reached the bottom before a number of men arrived at the shaft from various parts of the workings, nearly every portion of which appeared to have been affected by the casualty. Many of them had with the greatest difficulty struggled through the fire-damp, and were almost powerless. As speedily as possible these were sent home in carts; twenty-three vehicles of all kinds were brought into service, and in these about sixty persons were conveyed. All of them had either been slightly burnt or were suffering from the effects of after-damp, and one died on his way home. The explosion had been so violent that it was with great difficulty the explorers carried on their operations. Along the roadways many bodies were found, the majority having evidently succumbed to the damp. In many instances, however, there were marks of severe burning, and some of the remains were fearfully mangled.

Several mining engineers and managers of the adjacent collieries joined the searchers during the day, and one of the parties had a very narrow escape. This consisted of Mr. Clark, surveyor to Sir R. T. Gerard, the lessor of much of the coal in the district, Isaac Billinge, the underlooker, and two others. When examining the "far end" of the workings they came upon a large body of afterdamp, which soon overpowered one of the party. Then a second succumbed, and shortly both Mr. Clark and Mr. Billinge, exhausted by dragging their companions along, also began to feel the effects of the deleterious gas. At last Billinge decided to push on for help, leaving Mr. Clark with the two prostrate men, but Mr. Clark

shortly felt it would be necessary for him to make a struggle for life, and he followed Billinge. He was soon nerved to fresh energy by the glimmer of a lamp, but on reaching the spot he found Billinge there insensible. On again, therefore, he went, and fortunately he quickly came across another exploring party, who assisted him out of the pit, and also succeeded in rescuing the three whom he had left behind.

At half-past ten o'clock the whole of the workings had been explored, and the total number of bodies was then found to be fiftysix. The winding up the shaft was then commenced, and it was after midnight before the cage had made its last dismal journey down the shaft, and the carts had conveyed the burnt and mutilated remains of the victims from the pit-bank to the shed which had been prepared for their reception. Here during the remainder of the night the bodies were washed and decently laid out preparatory to commencing the work of identification-a task on this occasion of no ordinary difficulty, for comparatively few of the dead had escaped burns more or less severe; many were horribly mutilated, and some had their heads literally blown to pieces. In fact, the condition of the corpses led to the belief that the force of the explosion, though not apparent at the pit-mouth, had been more severe than in any of the many similar catastrophes which have lately occurred in the district.

Most of the injured men progressed favourably, but two died from the effects of choke-damp.

The inquest on the bodies was concluded on August 10, when the following verdict was returned by the jury:-"We find that the explosion was of fire-damp, caused by a shot igniting the gas brought from a fall in Pilkington brow to Pilkington's place; and we are of opinion that this explosion was greatly aggravated, and the loss of life considerably increased, by the great quantity of gunpowder in the mine. If proper care had been taken to remove the gas from the cavity in the fault, we think the explosion would not have occurred. We recommend that the coals be cut on one side, and that all blasting operations be carried on at night during the absence of workmen. We consider it objectionable for the ninefeet air to return through the six-feet workings."

The Coroner asked the jury whether they considered the explosion was a matter of accident, or wished the point to be left open.

The Foreman said they wished it to be left open, as they thought due care had not been taken about the cavity.

23. INAUGURATION OF THE PEABODY MEMORIAL.- His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, in the presence of the Lord Mayor and a distinguished company, publicly unveiled and inaugurated the statue which the citizens of London had erected to commemorate the unexampled act of munificence of Mr. George Peabody towards the poor of the metropolis, the renown of which has already become world-wide. The ceremony was conducted with much dignity. The principal civic authorities, headed by the chief

magistrate, played a conspicuous part in it; many of the principal merchants and bankers, including the Governor of the Bank of England, joined in the pageant, as did also his Excellency the New American Minister, with many other persons of consideration. The windows and roofs of every house commanding a view of the spectacle were crowded with spectators, and altogether the occasion was extremely interesting.

The Prince of Wales first honoured the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress with his company at luncheon, which was served with much splendour in the great saloon of the Mansion House. There a select company had been invited to meet his Royal Highness, including the American Minister (Mr. Motley), Miss Burdett Coutts and Mrs. Brown, Sir Curtis Lampson, Sir Anthony de Rothschild, the Governor of the Bank of England (Mr. Crawford, M.P.), General Sir William Knollys, Lord Alfred Hervey and Major Grey (in attendance on the Prince of Wales), Mr. W. W. Story (the sculptor of the statue), and a host of civic digni

taries.

At half-past three o'clock his Royal Highness was escorted from the Mansion House by the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress, the Sheriffs, the American Minister, Miss Burdett Coutts, the members of the Court of Aldermen, and some of the high officers of the Corporation, all in open carriages, to the site of the memorial on the eastern side of the Royal Exchange, and immediately in front of the Scottish Amicable Life Insurance Company. A great crowd thronged the route and the windows and housetops. A troop of the Hon. Artillery Company, of which his Royal Highness is the honorary colonel, attended as a guard of honour on the occasion, and the ground was kept by a picked body of the city police. Arrived at the site, the Prince, the Lord Mayor, the Lady Mayoress, Miss Coutts, Alderman and Sheriff Cotton and Mr. Sheriff Hutton, the Governor of the Bank of England, the American Minister, Sir Benjamin Phillips, Colonel Fraser, Commissioner of City Police, Sir Anthony Rothschild, Sir Curtis Lampson, and other persons of consideration, including the Committee of Management, took the positions assigned them on the dais, and the ceremony proceeded.

Sir Benjamin Phillips, Chairman of the Memorial Committee, after eulogizing the beneficence of Mr. Peabody, hoped that this statue, erected by the sons of free England to the honour of one of Columbia's truest and noblest citizens, might be symbolical of the peace and goodwill that existed between the two countries, and that a people springing from the same stock, speaking the same language, and inspired and animated by the same love of freedom and liberty, might live in uninterrupted friendship and happiness.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales then presented himself to speak, and was hailed with enthusiastic cheers. He said, "Sir Benjamin Phillips, my Lord Mayor, ladies and gentlemen,-I feel sure that all those who have heard the words which have just been