Agricultural, 8ft. 2in. long, 3ft. 6in. diameter in the barrel, 5/16ths inch plates, internal fire box, 2ft. 4in. wide, 2ft. 4in. high, and 2ft. 10in. deep. From the back of this fire box, two 12-inch tubes passed to an internal chamber at the back of the barrel. From this again passed nine 3-3/4 inch tubes to an exterior smoke-box fixed over the fire door. The boiler was fitted with one spring safety valve, which was screwed down tight, but there was no pressure gauge. The front plate was intended to be bolted on so that the fire-box and tubes could be taken out for cleaning, but it had been rivetted, leaving no means of cleaning, and it was nearly full of scurf. The crown plate of fire-box which was too flat and unstrengthened, rent at the front and along both top edges, and was driven into the fire. The boiler was thrown backwards and reared against a wall, resting on the front right hand corner. The cause of the explosion was that the very dirty state, caused overheating where the water was not in proper contact with the plates, and the defective construction did not admit of proper cleaning. The mountings were insufficient for the proper protection of the boiler. _No. 8. Durham. (Fig. 5.) January 29th. 1 killed, 3 injured._ [Illustration: _Fig. 5._] Plain Cylinder Boiler with hemispherical ends, 30ft. long and 6ft. diameter, 3/8 inch plates, 30 lbs. It was the second from the engine in a bed of five, and had been at work three years, then remained idle for eight years, working again fourteen years. The boiler was mounted with two safety valves 3-7/8 and 4 inches diameter, a float and alarm whistle. The boiler had been more than once repaired over the fire with several new plates. One seam over the fire had been observed to leak about a week before the explosion, but not seriously, and had been caulked. The boiler had just been started after cleaning. Six months before explosion, the boiler had been tested to 69 lbs. About 5 feet of the front end of the boiler opened out flat, and was thrown to the rear about 60 yards; the front hemispherical end was liberated and thrown 20 yards also to the rear and right hand. The back part of the boiler was thrown in a mass, and after bounding twice, lodged at a distance of 230 yards. The cause of the explosion appeared to be from the failure of a seam over the fire place in a plate deteriorated by age, and overheated through a deposit of scurf and mud. _No. 9. Birmingham. (Fig. 6.) February 7th. 1 killed, 4 injured._ [Illustration: _Fig. 6._]