182 Miscellanies. 



Every friend of his country and of mankind will wish success to 

 this infant institution which affords a happy presage of the character 

 of the young and rising State in which it is situated. The society 

 have published an important document signed by the Hon. Nathan 

 Dane, of Beverly, Mass., showing what were the true foundations of 

 the government of the United States, and of the free land tides of 

 the States north of the Ohio, and also of their exemption from the 

 curse of slavery. 



The people of the United States formed their own government be- 

 fore there were any States, and Mr. Dane was chiefly instrumental 

 in procuring the free land tides and in excluding slavery from the 

 States and territory north of the Ohio. 



13. Explosion of bellows by inflammable gas. 



TO PROFESSOR SILLIMAN. 



Sir — An explosion happened in this place, last week, in a smith's 

 shop occasioned, as I suppose, by hydrogen gas. The circumstances 

 of the disaster were related to me as follows : — The workmen had 

 been in the practice of putting into the forge fire a small piece of hard 

 wood, when leaving work, to obtain fire from in the morning ; the 

 evening before the explosion, they, as usual, put in a piece of elm, 

 wet from being immersed in water, (as was their usual custom,) and 

 covered the same with the cinders and ashes of the forge, probably 

 half a bushel in all, and left it after hooking up the bellows with a harsp 

 to the gallows on which the lever for working the same rests. In 

 the morning, they found the j'lre and covering undisturbed, but the 

 bellows, which were made of two inch plank, split to pieces, the 

 leathers torn from them, gallov/s torn down which was fastened by two 

 four inch spikes, and the brick work cracked and started at its base. 

 The place for the tube of the bellows was of cast iron, six inches 

 through, and the tube about twenty inches long, which remained un- 

 injured ; not the slightest appearance of fire, on any thing near, was 

 to be found. As this is the first instance in which any thing of the 

 kind has ever happened here, some were led to the conclusion, that 

 it must have been done by gunpowder, which I think could not be 

 the case, as there were no indications of it. Yours respectfully, 



Anthony S. Jones. 



Newburyport, February 3, 1833. 



Remarks. — The occurrence stated by Mr. Jones, although by no 

 means uncommon, was one of unusual violence ; but, from the cir- 

 tumstances it appears to admit of a satisfactory explanation. The 



