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Leader (1850-1860), 7th August 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 749, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      to way so heavily for accidents arising from no neglect or want of forethoug ht , or from : false economy , but ttora the individual carelessness of men employed , and which were as purely accidents as if the tyre of a wheel had been broken or a train had been struck by lightning from heaven . It resolved itsolf into this : railway companies were made to insure their passengers against all possible casualties while travelling upon their line . If that were the law and the companies were allowed to charge accordingly , there would be nothing to complain of ; . but he did not see whv railway companies should be placed in a different position from other companies . Take , for instance , the case of the Amazon , in which there had been so tremendous a loss of lifeNo doubt that accident arose from the negligence or

      . error in judgment of one of the numerous servants of the company . It was quite clear that no blame could be attached to the board of directors , who had taken every means to build a first-class vessel , and to secure the best men ; yet from the negligence of one man , the ship took fire , and so lamentable a loss of life was the result ; That was an exact parallel with the case which had resulted to them in the payment of so large a compensation . The directors of the company had spared no pains to obtain the best men ; but it did happen that , one foggy morning , one of the servants—a very steady , able , and intelligent man—was sent out with two flags , and with strict orders to show the red one , but he made a mistake , and held out a green one ; th ? result was a collision , and several of the passengers

      sustained shocks to their nervous systems , which , under the skilful treatment of certain doctors and lawyers , produced serious consequences . All attempts at compromise were resisted , and the matter was referred to a jury . The West India Mail Packet Company got off with a subscription of 200 guineas , and had great credit for their liberality , while they , finding , from the time that had elapsed , great difficulty to find evidence to rebut the statements made by the parties alleged to be injured , had to pay between 3000 Z . and 4000 ? ., and , he was sorry to say , got no credit for liberality from anybody . ( A laugh . ) These , however , were contingencies over which they had no control , and all that they could do was to exert themselves , as far as possible , in order to avoid accidents for the future . "

      Mr . Bell objected to this philosophy" Although a shareholder , he thought it far more important that ample protection should be afforded to travellers than that the directors should treat the matter as a mere affair of pounds , shillings , and pence . He begged to dissent altogether from the following passage in the report on the subject of the conduct of juries in cases of compensation for accidents on railways : — ' With regard to compensations , the directors will only observe that they believe the time is approaching when the common sense of juries , or the interference of the Legislature , will set some limit to the system under which extortionate fined

      are inflicted upon railway companies for accidents altogether beyond their control , and resulting from some momentary act of inattention , or want of presence of mind , on the part of some one out of the many hundred servants in their employment , however carefully the best men may have been selected for their respective situations . ' Such allusions to the common sense of juries were most unjust and uncalled-for , inasmuch as the lavs ' did not make railway companies liable unless neglect was clearly proved ; nor did it make any exception in favour of railway companies from the ordinary rule , that a principal was liablo for the acts of his agents . "

      Mr . Laing , in reply , said that there was only one case of litigation pending at this moment , and that was in its earliest stage . " tt arose out of the case at Fordbridgo , whero it would be remembered the ongine-driver attempted to commit suicide . A gentleman of Portsmouth who was in tho train had died subsequently , and tho engine-driver was charged with manslaughter . On tho ease coming before the judges of assize , at Winchester , a few days ago , tho judge stopped tho cane , and diroctod tho acquittal of tho prisoner , on tho ground that tho deceased had diod , not from tho accident , but from a complication of diseases under which ho laboured at tho time . With such a decision in thoir favour , lie could scarcely imagine that tho company would bo

      saddled with any compensation . Ho should bo sorry to have it supposed that they looked at tho question of accidents merely oh one of pounds , shillings , and pence , or that tho value of human lifo could bo estimated by money . All that ho wished was , that tho principle of the Carriors' Act hIiouM bo applied to railways . Supposing that by ono ot thcur express trains nornu evening half a dozen bishops , or tho Lord Chancellor , should bo travelling , and , although tho company paid wagon and used every exertion to obtain tho bosk men , one of thoir servants should hold out a wrong Hag , or give a wrong signal , and any of those dignified portions woro injured , why should tho company bo called

      upon to pay 10 , 000 / . for a bishop , or 20 , 00 )/ . for a Lord Chancellor , while they only paid their 2 \ d . per mile liko any ordinary passenger P ( lloar , hear . ) Tho Curriers ' Act provided that npociai compensation should not bo paid lor goods carried at tho ordinary rates , and valuable goods , an , for instance , bullion or silk , if the carrier were required to bo responsible for them , were charged at higher rates . All that ho wanted wan to apply the Hame principle to ImhIiojw and to the Lord Chancellor as wan now applicable to bales of Bilk or chests of bullion . " ( Cheers . ) Tliis in certainly a clussincution oi artificial products wore compendious than satisfactory .

      Untitled Article

      RAILWAY ACCIDNNTS . An accident of arrange nature bofol the train leaving l ) irininghiuii for 'London , at a quarter pant nine on Tuesday morninfr . Ah the train panned . BnrkHwell cutting , about a » mlo south of j tampion Htation , the engine , as the driver < lo « cril ) oa it , began to osoillute very juuuch , and tho dust and gravel flow about so that ho could scarcely hoc . Ho turned tho utoam off and gave tho alarm , and tho next

      moment the engine had broken from the train , and the carriages were rolling over upon the down line . A second after a down train was running into the displaced carriages . One of the carriages was driven up the bank on the side , and was completely shattered . Two passengers , Mr . John Thomas Beddington , and a boy , named William Floyd , of Oxford , were killed . The dr iver of the detached engine went on to Coventry for assistance . It was found that the ashpan had been torn from the firebox and fallen upon the line and thus eaused the accident . The enginedriver of the down train , as soon as he saw the carriages upon the line in front of him , reversed the engine , put on the whistle and jumped off , receiving little injury . An inquest was held on Wednesday , in which the main to ascertain the of the

      object of the investigation was cause ashpan coming off . At the commencement of the proceedings , Mr . Bar , on behalf of the company , assured the Coroner that the company would render every assistance in their power to ascertain the facts . Jenkinson , the engine-driver , and James Crawford , the foreman of the locomotive department at Rugby , declared positively that they had examined the engine on the Tuesday morning before starting , and had found her perfectly safe . The engine was about . five years old . They thought that the ashpan must have been torn off by coming in contact with something upon the line . However , the driver had not felt any such jar as would probably have been produced in such a case . The coroner was about to close his inquiry on this evidencebut Mr . Whit ten , ' an alderman of

      , Coventry , on behalf of the friends of William Floyd , insisted that they should not be satisfied with the evidence of the servants of the company , but should have a further examination of the engine . Upon a suggestion of one of the jurymen , Mr . Mosedale , an independent machinist of the town , went to inspect the engine . He found it altogether , in a bad state . One of the nibs which held up the pan appeared to have been broken off for some time , and the others to have been very imperfect . The ironwork belonging to the pan was decayed . There were some parts of it missing . The fire , however , was burning when he looked at it , and he could not examine it properly . The jury decided that a further inspection ought to take place when the engine was cool . The proceedings were adjourned for a week .

      A man in the employment of the Great Western JEtailway , named Thomas Watts , was standing at the Wallingford station on Saturday . An express train was approaching , and just before it passed , he threw himself upon the rails . Tlie engine caught him and threw him a hundred and fifty yards , after which the train passed over him and cut him to pieces . An inquest was held at Canterbury on Saturday evening ; to inquire into the death of Samuel Gr . Daniels , who was killed at the Ashford Station of the South . Eastern Railway , on the twenty-fourth of last month . He was in a third-class carriage which was unusually wide . The train was passing along a siding , which was roofed over ; the roof was supported by iron pillars , which are but

      thirty-three inches and a half from the inside of the ran , and which were but nine inches and a half from the sido of the carriage in which Mr . Daniels was travelling . The carriage was roofed over , but was partially < open at the sides . Mr . Daniels put his head out of the window so far as to strike against one of tho pillars . The train stopped at the next station , and tho sufferer was taken to Canterbury , but he died tho same night , his head being found to be terribly crushed . On the application of tho coroner , tho Commissioners of the Board of Trade had sent Captain Wynne to iriquiro into the matter , and he states that carriages of this width require bars across tho windows to

      prevent passengers protruding thoir heads . Ho found tho first ana second class carriages provided with such bars . Tho jury returned a verdict of accidental death , with a censure upon the company for their disregard of tho safety of third- class passengers . Another railway accident happened on Thursday , on the Worth-Western Railway . Tho express , preceded by a pilot engine , was on its way from Liverpool to London . For some unexplained reason , tho pilot got in the way of the express , and a collision followed , which resulted in tho death of tho driver of tho express . Tho passengers were not much hurt , only " thoir nervous systom received a shock . "

      Untitled Article

      RELEASE OF MR . COHIJETT . Mil . ComiKTT , tho victim of thirteen yours' " standing , " who i . s almost ns well known by the habitues of tho Court / as Miss Fide herself , has at last escaped tho clutches of tho Court of Chancery . Tho Lord Chancellor , on Saturday , stated that ho hud discovered , by looking carefully through tho papers in his case , that Mr . Cobbett was not detained for contempt of Court , but for non-payment of costs . Mr . Oldfield , tho plaintiff , ( in tho cause to which Mr . Cobbett is , or was once n party , ) consented to his being discharged at once . So , alter thirteen years' captivity , Mr . Cobbett at length learns tho occasion of his imprisonment . Although cleared of " contempt , " wo doubt whether ho takes leave of tho Court of Chancery with any increased resvect for that venerable institution .

      Untitled Article

      IM 1 MIDENT INTOLERANCE . The Oxford JTerald , of Saturday last , furnishes tih with the following disgraceful , placard . No cause , much less that of democracy and free thought , can bo served by such menus . " Tho Holy Uiblo vomits the Mans Book . —Protestants and Catholics of . London . The past three hundred years loach , ( hat the mind-perverting nnd tyranny-upholding CUuroh of 16 ) ine , shall poriah by mortal blows , struck ac the root of her bystom by practical demonstrations . An you lovo God , humanity , and justice—come , therefore , and

      behola your faithful servant , D . de Chylinski , how effectively he upsets the whole system of Popery and priestcraft , by demonstrative lectures . Dr . Teodor will perform in all its pomp the Romish . Mass , to enable D . de Chylinski to demonstrate , by practical illustrations , the mocker ies of religion , the derisions of Christianity , and the awful revilings of God , which the Pope , Wiseman , pr iests , and monks are doing daily , when acting the theatrical burlesque called the Romish Mass , to pilfer the people of Mass money . The Wafer Gods will be sold at Id . each , at the doors . —On Tuesday , August 3 , 1852 , at St . Mary ' s parochial boys ' school , Newington-butts . On Wednesday , August 4 , 1852 , at Bingfieldrhouse assembly-rooms , Lansdowne-road , South Lambeth . On Friday , August 6 , 1852 , at the Ebenezer chapel , Edward-street , Upper Park-place , Dorset-square . Admittance , by tickets , 6 d . each , front seats Is . To commence at

      seven o ' clockprecisely . Britons of all parties ! Rbme , abetted by continental tyrants , tries to overthrow your Protestant throne , British institutions , and freedom—and because I proclaim these facts , must I be therefore sacrificed by you to the vengeance of wicked ambassadors , hon . and rev . wolves , and Russian spies ? Whoever tries to kill me by libels and backbitings ^—whoever opposes our expositions of priestly frauds and papal extortions—him you must bring before " me , and I will prove that all our slanderers are indeed the impostors—aye , and high traitors to your Protestant throne , institutions , and liberty ,- read The Two Witnesses Vindicated ; and insist upon our libellers to justify themselves face to face before me , from the villanies of which we have convicted them—for if you will hearken unto their backslidings—God shall punish you for helping thus Rome , Russia , Austria , and Prussia , to destroy your best friend and faithful servant , D . de Chylinski , 5 , Clarence-place , Clapham-road . " Does the rector of St . Mary ' s imagine that this is a creditable way of resisting " Papal aggression" ?

      Untitled Article

      MURDER : MADMEN AT LARGE . A widow , named Elizabeth Thomas , lived at Prenton , about two mites from Birkenhead , with three sons , William , Joseph , and Samuel , of the respective ages of twenty-five , twenty-three , and nine years . The eldest , William , who was very affectionate towards his mother , has for some time suffered from mental weakness , but he was not considered dangerous . On Saturday night about nine o ' clock , the family were waiting for Joseph ' s return home , when the maniac suddenly told the mother to go to bed , saying that he would sit up for his brother . The mother went to bed with her little boy who always slept with her . William then went to the garden and dug a grave of considerable length . Having finished this to his satisfaction , he took a razor and

      went to his mother ' s bedroom , and deliberately cut her throat . The little boy was aroused by his mother ' s struggle and screamed with fear . The brother told him to be quiet and carried him in his arms to his own bed , and then left him , kissing him twice and saying he would be with him presently . He went back to the body , and after tying the hands together with a handkerchief , wrapped " it up carefully in the counterpane . He carried it down stairs to the garden and burried it in the grave he had dug . An hour or so later Joseph came home . The madman went down stairs to meet him , and said , " Joe , I ' ve killed my mother and buried her in the garden . I ' ve made her comfortable , and she will bo a good deal better oil " . Don't you go and say anything . " The body was afterwards found buried in the garden .

      The miserable man was brought before the magistrates at Birkenhead on Monday . Ho seemed quite insane and altogether unconscious of the nature- of his position . He was asked whether lie was guilty of tho charge ; ho said , quickly and vehemently , "No , I did not ; not ns I can recollect . " Samuel Thomas , tlio younger brother , was then sworn , and gave the following account : —My mother was a labouring woman . She wont out washing . She was a widow . William Thomas is my brother , and lived with us . Another brother named Joseph lived with us . On Saturday night I went to bed about nine o ' clock . My mother wont to bed at the same time . We slept together in the

      top room . Thoro are three rooms up stairs . Soon after I got into bed I wont to sleep . When I went to bed William was left in the " house-place" alone ; and booh after I got into bed I hoard some one go out of the house-place into the back-garden . After I had been asleep some time 1 was awakened by my mother , as it Boomed to me , pushing against me . I . then saw William standing by the bod , < m the side whore my mother lay . Ho had a razor in his hand , and was going to cut her throat . It was dark « fc tho timo . . He hud hiu two knees on her holding her down . Ho held the razor in his right hand , and a lighted cuiullo in tho other . He put the candle in the window-place and graspod my mother ' s throat with one hand , and cut her hold in tho other

      throat with tho razor , which lie . My mother wrestled and tried to getaway , but did not struggle much . She struggled a little , but was soon quite ntill . Mo then came round the bed to mo , « . nd earnedlinoto Ins bed in the front . When he loft mo ho fluid , "I will be with vou itiHl now . " I was crying very loudly all the time , and he told mo to hold my noise . When 1 , <> loft mo he went back to my mother ' s room , and preHontif afterwards , hearing his stoi » s on tho Blairs , 1 looked and saw my mother ' s howl . 1 could not see the body ; it won b « iug dragged down stairs . I < lid not hear where William went to after ho got down stairs . About ten ininutOB afterwards ho came back fco mo , and put a clean shirt on . Ho then wont into my mother ' s room . Presently I hoard a noioo ,

      Untitled Article

      Atmus * 7 , 1852 . ] TBiE LEADER . » 49

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 7, 1852, page 749, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1946/page/9/