DEATH FROM PRESSURE.

Press, Volume III, Issue 335, 26 November 1863, Page 3

DEATH FROM PRESSURE.

The following accident occurred on board the ship Norfolk, on her passage to England from Australia. I have not heard or read of a similar catastrophe .— On the 23th of February, 1863, two men named William Joyce and Isaac Watkins were sent aloft to rig out the top gallant studding sail boom; and while in the act of so doing, a tremendous roll of the ship caused the main-topsail tie to part, the tie being an iron chain of three quarters of an inch. The men were standing on the foot rope, and when the snap took place they instinctively seized hold of the yard, and were instantly ' rolled up in the folds of the sail, the topsail yard being one of "Cunningham's patent self-reefing yards ;" in fact, they revolved round the yard ju»t as a fly might be caught in a patent spring window-blind, and were enveloped as rapidly. The tie parting on the fore aido caused the yard to revolve forwards, which would not have been, the case had the tie parted on the aft aide it would then have revolved buck wards. But the most singular circumstance is, that alongside of the yard is what is called the chafing-yard, being only six inches from the yard itself, and the men wrapped in every fold of the sail had to pass, eveiy time the yard revolved, between this yard and the yard itself. At first sight it would seem that every Ixme in their bodiea must have been crushed ; yet this was not no. When the yard fell on the cap, which it could uot have been more than one eeoond in reaching, both men were al.ve, although surrounded by four or five folds of the sad; and to show the fearful pressure they must have undergone, one man's head and shoulders had bunt through the canvas, being nearly a new saiL An idea of the pressure may he sained by putting a narrow piece of tape once round the finger, wlien very little pressure is felt; but add five or six turns, and the pain becomes unbearable. On being rut out of their winding sheet, as I said above, both were alive. Watkius died while being lowered to the deck in a sling, and carefully guarded by Uo of his inatc3. Ou examining his body, which I did twice, I was surprised to find oqly a comminuted fracture of the left thigh bone, without aey external abrasion or wound. Hie riba were perfect, and the appearance was that of suffocation. The other man (Joyce) was perfectly sensible, but pulseless, cold, and clammy, when I examined him, which was after he had been put into (he captain's swing cot. He said he felt something burst in his belly. Everything wan dona to promote reaction, but without effect, and he sank nineteen hoursafter the accident, perfectly | conscious. The only injuries I could detect j were a comminuted fracture of the right thigh ! bone, and an abrasion of the skin over the right temporal region, where his head had bunt through the sail. And now conies the question, lioiv is it only one boue m eoeli man's body was broken after having passed *c*eral times through j two rollers, almost similar to a patent mangle, | only of gigantic dimensions i Oα iustituting further inquiries, I ascertained that the thaflng yard would possibly give from 4 lo 8 inches ss the bodies pawed between it and the main yard.

This would give from 10 to 12 inches at most as the space through which they passed. Death seemed to be from inte» se siiot-k. It woul.l 'i:»v«» b»-en sufisfiet o % y Jo h> ye in»Jt- a post-tnorlem exiumnttion, mul I m.ido v re \\t<t to ttie captain to liiiSfUeit ; but from the -ev.rity of the weather, anil tue superstitious fi-ars of the sailors, he l>cjig~v ; of mc not to do it. Not the slightest blame is attachable to any one. The chain w:is proved in Mes*r». Wigiim'e yarvl, and found to a sfnuu of su toue, the man yard about two tons. That it should have parted just as ttiese men were rigging out the boom, which occupies but a short time, is not a little singular, and verifies the old adage, that " in the midst of life we are in death."—Win. Story, Esq., F.R.C.S., in the Lancet.