ACCOUNT OF THE GUN COTTON EXPLOSION
The Illustrated London News August 26 1871

THE FATAL EXPLOSION AT STOWMARKET.

Particulars were given last week of the terrible explosion, on the 11^th inst., of a gun-cotton factory at Stowmarket, by which twenty-four persons were killed and seventy-two others injured. A local journal says:—"The scene of the accident is one of perfect ruin. The only thing that appears intact is the tall, handsome white brick chimney shaft. At the base of this lies a confused mass, extending over a wide area, of broken walls, rafters, tiles, slates, masses of half-burned cotton, iron rods and beams, twisted into the most fantastic shapes, corrugated iron fencing and all the remnants of what had been an hour before an extensive pile of buildings. The site of the magazines is, however, the most telling of all the strange and horrible spectacles on the spot. There the only thing to be seen is a huge chasm, nearly circular in. form, and more than 100 feet in diameter. The soil is boggy, and has been turned out in huge, boulder-like lumps, leaving the bottom nearly twenty feet below the natural surface of the surrounding soil. Scarcely a brick or tile, or vestige of any building is to be seen near this centre, and the trees which stood around, some of them of large growth, were torn out by the roots or broken short off, and the fragments scattered, around, affording testimony of the awful force which dug one in an instant the huge pond-like hole where the magazine had stood.  It may be mentioned that the telegraph wires on the railway have been torn off, the rails themselves being started in many places from the sleepers and scattered about with portions of the trees and fragments of the buildings. A farm-house in the occupation of Mr. Woods, on the Ipswich road, about 400 yards from the factory, is all but ruined. The windows are blown in, the tiles cleared entirely from portions of the roof, and in the centre the framework of the roof looks as if crushed in by some mighty blow. The cottages in that neighbourhood are similarly damaged. Window-frames may be seen forced out and hanging only by a nail or shred;  tiles are scattered in all directions.  In the town a like scene presents itself. In the district called California the houses, principally cottages, are wrecked as to the glass and the roofs. The streets in other parts of the town are strewn with glass, and at five o’clock all the shops have closed shutters, simply as a matter of precaution to save the goods, for the glass is gone from nearly every frame. The church windows are all broken, the leads and glass having been forced inwards upon the iron framing, and in some cases blown entirely away. The cast window of the north aisle has suffered even more severely, for the mullions have given way to the pressure, and hang tottering to their fall. 

An inquest has been held. Yesterday week evidence of an important and painfully interesting character was given by Mr. Trotman, manager of the works. He was in his office when the explosion occurred. He heard a heavy thud, and at that moment found himself standing amid the ruins of the building. He at once ran to the shattered sheds by the river side, and calling cut to know if anyone was there, he was answered by moans. He dragged away the bricks, and discovered two men, whose lives he was instrumental in saving. He then met the two Messrs. Prentice, and had scarcely left their side when the second explosion occurred, which blew one of them to atoms. On the Friday preceding the explosion there were twenty-one tons of gun-cotton, on the premises, but ten tons were sent away. The place was so full that a packing-shed was made temporarily into a magazine. The cotton made for Government was of the greatest dynamic strength. An explosion occurred some years ago through too much hot air being admitted into the drying-house. No heat-meter is kept in the magazine. He believed that heat had  something to do with the present explosion, such accidents having always occurred in this unlucky month. With his present experience, he considered the factory too near the railway station and the town.  The earth, mounds between the buildings had been removed and brick walls substituted. The rules of the license had, he contended, been generally adhered to. The inquiry was resumed last Saturday, when the examination of Mr. Trotman was proceeded with.  Witness was questioned at some length respecting a suspicion that some of the cotton had been tampered with in the process of manufacture, but upon this point the evidence was not clear. Mr. Trotman stated that he could not account for the occurrence at all.  Colonel Younghusband, superintendent of the Royal Gunpowder Works at Waltham Abbey, described the results of some experiments showing the explosive qualities of gun-cotton by ignition, which were carried out several months ago by direction of the Government.  These established the following points :—1, The non-liability of compressed gun-cotton to explosion by accidental ignition when stored in magazines in the proper boxes ; 2, the ignition of a package of compressed gun-cotton, forming part of a store, was not necessarily attended by the immediate ignition of the neighbouring boxes, as would be the case with gunpowder; 3, gun-cotton was perfectly non-inflammable when stored in the damp condition. Colonel Younghusband added that further experiments ought to be made with gun-cotton in a dry state, and that its storage should be conducted with great care. The further hearing was adjourned.

STOWMARKET HISTORY AND HERITAGE
2007
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