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June 1740. Volume 10.
Friday, 20. - Complaint having been made to the Lords of the Admiralty
that the Gunpowder used by the 3 Men of War when they took the Princessa
was weaker than the Powder taken in the said Ship in Proportion of 7
to 12, it was thought proper to make a publick Tryal; in order thereto
some Gunpowder was taken out of each of the above 4 Ships, put into
4 Boxes at Portsmouth which were sealed up by some Officers of the Navy
and Ordnance, and sent to Town, and this Day try'd at Woolwith
before the D. of Montagu Master General of Ordnance, Sir Charles
Wager, Lord Vere Beauclerk, General Borgard, some
Captains of Men of War, &c. in three divers Waye.
1. By raising a Weight of 20l. 7 Ounces with two Drams of Powder.
2. By firing a twelve Pounder shot Shot out of a 5 2/3 Inch Mortar with
a Quarter of an ounce of Powder.
3. By Firing a half-pounder Shot out of a Swivel Gun with two Drams
of Powder.
In the first Experiment the English Powder raised the Weight
from four Inches to six and some tenths, and the Spanish no higher
than one Inch and 9 tenths: In proving by the Swivel Gun the English
Powder threw the Ball 15 1/7 Foot at an Elevation of 61 Degrees, and
the Spanish had not Strength enough to throw it out of the Gun;
and the Tryalby the Mortar turn'd out equally in favour of the English
Powder. -- [Notwithstanding the above account, many Persons who have
been at Portsmouth affrim that the Shot of the Pricessa
were much Sharper thrown than those of our Men of War, some of hers
going through the Sides of our Ships, when ours stuck in her Half-way.]
April 1748. Volume 18.
Memoirs of the Academy of Sweden
...... ... M.Stromer made experiments on the strength of gunpowder.
A double charge will not carry a ball double the length, but much more
is required; M.Stromer inquires into the cause of the phenomenon.
...... ...
September 1748. Volume 18.
Terrible Accidents by Gunpowder
SIR,
Being confined to my house by lame-nets, reading is my chief amusement,
and in Stow's Survey I met with a most meloncholy accident, which
happend some years ago, by gunpowder, which may fill a corner in your
Magazine, preferable to Directions for dressing beans and bacon, roasting
beef, cleaning the spits, &c. so circmstantially given by a younger
brother.
Jan. 4, 1647, some people barreling up gunpowder, at a ship chandler's
opposite Barking church, in Tower-street, by some accident
the powder took fire, and blew up the house, and demolished 50 or 60
others, among the rest the Rose Tavern, which, at the time, was
very full of company, it being the parish feast. It's uncertain how
many people lost their lives by the blow; for when they came to dig
in the rubbish, they found heads, arms, legs, half bodies, and some
whole bodies, not so much as fingered. The mistress of the Rose Tavern
was found sitting upright in the bar, and one of the drawers standing
by her, leaning on the bar, with a pot in his hand, both dead. The upper
timbers falling cross one another, prevented them from being buried
in the ruins. But the most remarkable thing of all was a young child
was found the next day, blown upon the uppermost leads of Barking
church, in a cradle, alive and well, and not the least damage done to
it. The parents of the child were never known, being killed, as suppos'd,
by the fatal blast. A gentleman of the parish took the child home, and
brought it up as his own; and Mr. Stow says he saw the same girl,
when she was about the age of 18 years.
- Leaving the reader to his contemplations on the strange preservation
of this helpless infant, I shall take the occasion to warn the public
against the danger that may happen by preparation of fireworks, designed
to be made for celebrating the approaching peace and its proclamation.
- As the same Street felt the dreadful calamity in 1715, I was induced
to turn to the chronicle of that year, and find, in that useful work,
the Historical Register, the following article, which I choose
to annex, as the late fire in Cornhill was said to have done
more damage than any in this city during the present century.
Jan. 13, 1715. Between four and five o'clock in the afternnon,
the boy of one Walker, who kept a small gunpowder shop near Bear-key
in Thames-street; between the Custom-house and Billings-gate,
being in an upper room with a light; and making rockets and squibs,
unwarily set fire to the gunpowder; upon which the house blew up. The
wind being very high, the fire soon spread from that house to others
towards the warehouses on the keys, did great damage there, cross'd
the way to the north side of Thames-street, and burnt up Water-lane,
and the back part of Harp-lane to Tower-street, taking
Baker's-hall and Trinity-house in its destructive career,
which, about 5 o'clock the next morning, was stopp'd in Tower-street,
over against Mark-lane, above 120 houses were either burnt or
blown up, and great quantities of sugar, oil, wine, and other rich goods
and merchanizes, were consumed and destroy'd. The loss was computed
at over 500,000l. and above 50 persons perish'd in the flames,
or were bury'd in the ruins of houses.
So much damage and sorrow have been the consequence of gunpowder rejoicings,
as may rationally call for a prohibition of them, for the future, by
the legislature. But as this, it is presumed, cannot be done before
peace is proclaimed, for which such expensive fireworks are making,
'tis hoped care will be taken, that the end of our mirth may be heaviness.
January 1749. Volume 19.
...... ... A woman, being relapsed into a certain fever, had recourse
to a remedy, much in vogue among the soldiers, viz. gunpowder
in brandy; it threw her into a lethargy, which was quickly followed
by her death. Being opened, the cerebral vessels were found oppilated,
with all the symptoms of a congestion of the blood towards the head.
...... ...
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