National Opinion

The board of experts, Messrs. Fletcher, Vanderbilt and Copeland, on the causes of the Westfield explosion, report that the steam gauge indicated in no case less than the true pressure, and that the safety valve blew off freely at twenty-four pounds pressure; the lock up safety valve blew off at thirty-two pounds by mercury gauge, showing an incorrect scale, or that the valve had become less sensitive by oxidization. Tests of the six specimens of iron taken from the boiler showed an average strength with grain of 45,000 pounds per square inch, and across the grain 16,054 pounds.—The experts express the belief that the cause of the explosion was an old defect in the boiler. Mr. Vanderbilt thought the pressure at the time must have exceeded twenty-seven pounds.