On the 31st of October, 1865,[1] a terrible gas explosion took place, when ten men were killed and many others injured. At that time the houses in Haward Street being contiguous to the works, had the window frames shattered, and similar calamities occurred elsewhere. These houses were occupied by some of the Company's employés. Lately, partly on account of the recent tidal inundations, sixteen houses belonging to the Company have been pulled down and a wall built so as to keep out the flood, in the event of extraordinary high tides. The open space between the inner and outer gates is used, as well as other open spaces about the works, for heaping up the coke mountains high, which certain youngsters in the neighbourhood would only be too delighted to have the privilege of scrambling and of bearing some of the precious fuel home to their fireless grates. Alas! much of the distress prevalent in the district is caused through the drunkenness and improvident habits of parents. [Footnote 1: On October 31, 1865, at the London Gas-light Company's Works, at Nine Elms, Battersea Park Road, a gas-holder exploded killing ten persons and injuring twenty-two. This was then one of the largest holders in London, its capacity being 1,039,000 cubic feet. It was 150 feet diameter, 60 feet high, with a tank depth of 30 feet, and at the instant of the explosion was nearly full, being about 50 feet to 55 feet high. The meter-house was blown to atoms, and the force of the explosion struck the side of the gas-holder, bulging it in, and at the same time driving out a portion of the top. Mr. Timbs, who records this disaster, (which happened when the late Mr. Watson was engineer) says, "As the side plates were eight to twelve gauge, the force must have been very great. With the bursting of the top there was an immediate rush of gas, which instantly caught fire, and shot up in a vast column of flame, discernible at a great distance. The concussion ripped open another gas-holder, the escaping gas caught fire, and meeting the flames from the first gas-holder, rolled away in one vast expanse of flame: an awful crash followed, and many of the neighbouring houses were shattered to pieces."--_History of Wonderful Inventions_, by John Timbs, p. 179.]