ACCIDENTS AND OFFENCES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 139, 26 April 1862, Page 3

ACCIDENTS AND OFFENCES.

From the Home News.

On the afternoon of February lOili there oscurred an accident, in the - Waterloo Road, utterly discomfiting all probability" and all calculation, maiming a number of persons (p»rha;jsj fatally) in the most unforeseen and bewildering rfnimor, and -fearfully explifyinj* the trite reflection, that. " in the midst of life we are in death." Of course mnny of our readers knows that the real -banks/of the Thames at Water-loo-bridge have their level oi:!y a ft;w feet above that of the water, and that ou-''the Surrey side that level extende without,rise for a considerable distance. Consequently/on the building of Waterloo Bridge it became necessary to carry u\c roadway of the Surrey side on a gently .inclined,, embankment, extending nearly as far <is Sfamford-street. The commencement of this emuankineht was raised oil arches, crossing over more than onerond on the level beneath. Houses sprung up by its side, built on the tops of houses which had been originally built on the ground below,, bnt which thus burst forthwith aircshfront to the new thoroughfare. Very anomalous sorts of structures were thus to'be'found along its Hue, vary* ing in their irregularity with the decreasing inclinof the road. At a part called Wellington-terrace, a row of small houses seem to have been erected on a row of as small houses beneath; the areas at the back of the latter being some. 40 feet below the level of the pavement above. It appears from the calamity which we have now to report, that this section of the embankment must have been constructed with the' most shameless indiifcrence to permanence or safety ; for it seems that here the pavement for about a hundred yards actually extended over this abyss, supported merely by a few wooden beams, which have lons rotted, as might have bejn expected, from age and damp. Light is afforded to the areas below by large gratings, which rested on these beams. It wa3 evident that with a very little extra pressure they would give way. - That'extra" pressure arrived on the day above mentioned. There had been a squabble between a broker's man and some tenants of whose premises he had been put in .possession. The tenants had locked the doors in his temporary absence, refused hjm admittance,-jeered at him from the windows, and also endeavored to defeat his purpose by passing their furniture out of-;the windows to their friends. He in his turn wasistrrving to gain a re-entrance by force. AH this naturally produced the collection of a crowd. The crowd imagined they could enjoy the sight in safety from any part of the p»vem»nt im tb* vicinity. Suddenly, when-the uproar and merriment were at their highest, they were in an instant transmuted into shrieks of dismay. A huge proportion of the pavement, upon which a*mass of people were standing, actually gave way beneath their feet and disappeared, carrying down^with it into the chasm below, some thirty or forty people, who were thus dashed from a, height of nearly as many feet into the area beneath. The injuries inflicted were frightful. We read an appaling list of skulls fractured, spines injured, and thighs and legs broken ; some of the victims receiving the double injury. It is almost certain that many must die ; quite so that many more will be less fortunate, and will survive but to lead a life of agony and cripples. A large portion^of them are mere boys and girls, not above the age of sixteen.; and, as if the_ very worst was doomed to happen, after j the first portion of the pavement had fallen in, a huge grating, and several flagstones with it, fell upon the poor sufferers beneath, who themselves had fallen upon two litfle"children who were playing in the area below. [One of the sufferers, named James Robins has died since ''the above was written. A coroner's inquest on the case resulted in nothing further than a verdict of "Accidental death."] _ On the forenoon of February 11 a portion of Birmingham was thrown into a state of considerable exeiteint/nt in consequence of the frightful and melancholy end of Mrs.Sarah Stanley, the proprietress of the Stanley Satvimilla. She was in the act of stepping over a .spindle"'to; the middle, when her dress was caught^ and she was dragged into the machinery. Her son, who was standing close by at the time, immediately took hold of her, and prevented her from being carried round by the shaft, and raise.l an alarm. The engine was-at once stopped, and the unfortunate woman was extricated from her awful position. It was then found that her body was almost severed in two, her clothes torn from her person. Death must have been instantaneous. A terrible and desperate struggle took place a few nights ago between a Mr, Samuel Robinson, printer and publisher of the Fifeshire Journal, and Mr. Bell, chief constable of the county of Fife. Mr. Robinson had been apprehended in London on a charge of forgery, and Mr. Bell had come up to town to take him down to Cupar Fife. They left Kings-cross by the night express for the north. They rode first-class. The compartment had no other occupants, and care was taken to have both doors locked. The prisoner was further secured by handcuffs. On the journey he chatted familiarly with Mr. Bell, and when at York was provided with refreshment. Between York and Darlmeton, by some means he contrived to free himself of the iron cuff, the remaining cuff being left on the wrist of the constable, and manifested a wildness of manner which somewhat alarmed his > guardian. Without any further warning, he threw himself backwards out of the window, but was balked in his attempt to commit suicide by his companion, who had to stretch himself, to the imminent peril of his own life, a consiable way out of the window in order to get hold of his collar, and so recover him. The maniac was desperate, and a fearful struggle etisued, which lasted, Mr. Bell states, for a whole half-libur. The wouldbe suicide almost piteously begged Mr. Bell to let go his hold, and Mr. Bell, with a view rather to save him from inevitable, death than to retain the "custody of his prisoner, as desperately gripped him by the throat. Mr. Bell was unable to drag him in, owing to the position in which the wilful fellow hung out of the window, his legs from the knee joint only being within the carriage. Mr. Bell was overdome at last by exhaustion, and the maniac made one more desperate effort and broke away from his captor, tumbling headlong by the side of the train. The engine whistle had just then been sounded, before drawing up at Darlington, and in a few seconds more the train stopped at the station. The sideof the carriage was besmeared with blood, indicative of the fearful nature of the struggle. The express Suffered a detention of half an hour or more while a pilot engine was despactched up the line in search, it was supposed of the man's mangled remains, but in the thick darkness that prevailed no trace whatever could be found. On the afternoon of the following day, however, the police got on his track on the edge of the moors near Osmotherly; where, after the lapse of another day, they actually captured him. He was not all disabled. As lie had'no money on him, he can scarcely have expected to elude his pursuers for any length of time. He says that he intended to commit suicide. His forgery transactions were perpetrated on one of the banking houses in Cupar, and are reported to amount to between £3000 and £4000. He absconded from Cupar in the latter part of January- last, and when apprehended ■ was living in lodgings in the the Brompton-road, London. Wo have to report the occurrence of another appalling colliery accident. The scene of the present disaster is the Cethin Pit, near Metliyr Tydvil, the property of Mr. Crawshay. It appears that shortly after noon on the 19th of February a loud explosion, followed by a succession of smaller reports, was heard by the men engaged afc .the month of the pit; and almost immediately a body of flame and smoke issued from the shaft. The nature of the calamity at, once revealed itself, and a body of men were speedily gathered together, and the utmost efforts made to descend into tho workings to rescue the 50 men and boys who were known to be below; but the deadly gas which rapidly follows in the train of an explosion baffled for a time all attempts to reach the poor fellows. At length perseverance was crowned with success, but too late of course for the saving of life, as there can be little doubt that those in the pit were killed almost immediately after the first explosion was heard. Forty-nine bodies have been recovered, one at the last account still remaining missing. The scene at the mouth of the pit is described as most heartrending, and the sound of lamentation greeted the ear everywhere. The catastrophe, following so closely on the terrible occurrence at New Hartley, has filled the minds of the people of the district with terror and alarm. THE HARTLBY COLLIERY OATASTROPIIB. Some idea of the extent of the above frightful disaster, recorded in our last, will be gained from statistical returns that have been compiled by the parochial officers, assisted by the officers of the colliery. The following is a statement of the number of the nearest relatives only of those whose lives have been lost in the pit:— ' ' ' ■ - Widows .. ... 117 ' Children... .. .... .. 273 •- Sisters supported by brothers ... .. 27 Orphans ... ... .• ';.. .. 2 Parents supported by sons 16 : Aunt supported by nephew .. .. 1 Grandmother supported by grandson... '1' Total ... 437 407 living, and 219 dead, including those who were killed by the falling of the cage; and yet those figures only indicate those immediately affected" by the calamity. The male population of three pit hamlets has been swept away at one fell swoop ; and of all the men employed at this important colliery, which three weeks ago was in active operation, only 25 remain alive. The sum subscribed for the relief of the bereaved families amounts to £50,000. Quoting Scripture.—A wag going into the shop of a.tailor, just as the latter was in fheactof patching an old garment with new cloth, thus addressed the knight of the bodkin :—" You are no loan, and I can prove it by the liighest authority." " How so 1" replied the unsuspecting tailor, as he plied his needle with redoubled activity. " I should like to hear the evidence of your assertion." " You shall be accommodated, sir," says the wag, asking1 at the same time if ho recollected of ever having read the passage iv the New Testament which declares that ■' no man putteth a piece of new cloth, into an old garment."

The above appeared in our extraordinary issue, published yesterday. What follows is compiled from the latest English papers :—

- Australian Appeal Case.—The appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, in the case of " Humphrey and Christian v. Nowland," has been heard before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Present—Lord Chelmsford, Lord Justice Knight Bruce, Lord Justice Turner, and Sir J. T. Coleridge. The arguments commenced on the 4th Fab,, and concluded on the 7th. The following is a report of the case : — : " The appaal is from a decision in a case that is termed in Australia a 'squatting' aetipnjtbat means a question'between settlei-s who claim the riaht of occupancy of a tract of land acknowledged by both parties to be the property of the Crown. The present respondent was plaintiff in an action of trespass to land, comprising a very extensive tract of country, lying on both sides, east and west, of the River Mooki, at Liverpool Plains, New South Wales. It appeared from the evidence adduced at the trial, that the present respondent.' and also tin appellants, with their respective servants and flocks, had been od the locus together for several years. Each party claimed the land, as being the last of a chain of occupiers, The respondent contended that the first in the chain of his predecessors had exclusive possession of the locus before the first of the occupiers in the chain of the appellant's predecessors entered upon it, and, therefore; that the first of the appellant's predecessors waa a trespasser, and as neither the respondents nor their ancestors had abandoned the possession, nor acquiesced in the intrusion thereon by the appellants, they and their predecessors,, through whom they (the original defendants) claimed, were trespassers on the respondent. Oil the other hand, it was contended by the appellants that the first of their predecasaors entered upon the land when it had been abandoned, or at least unoccupied ; that they and their predecessors, hadhadcontinuoushnduninterrupted possession of the locus for more than 23 years; and that the respondents were trespassers upon them. The respondent (plaintiif in the action) obtained a verdict in the court below, when £2150 damages was awarded for the trespass. The defendants (appellants) moved for a new trial, on the grounds of the damages given being excessive and the improper admission and rejection of evidence. The application for a new- trial was refused by the Supreme Court of New South Wales, and against that decision the present appeal was brought. The chief point in the case was whether, the respondent not having had exclusive possession of the land during the last 22 years, and the appellants having during_ that time principally, possessed the tract of country in dispute, the damages were not excessive.—Mr. Bovill, Q.C., Sir Hugh Cairns, Q.C., and Mr. J. 0. Griffits,. were for the appellants; the• Solicitor-General, Mr. Montague Smith, Q.C., and Mr. Watkiu Williams for the respondent. Their Lordship 3 deferred giving judgment. —Home News, Feb. 26. The Bank op Australasia.—The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council gave judgment in the case of " The Bank of Australasia v. Harris" on the 11th February. This case had been argued in June last :— .-■■.,- It was an appeal from the verdict and judgment in the Supreme Court at Moreton Bay, on an action brought by the appellants on a bill of exchange for £133(5 Bs. 3d., payable three months after date to the order of Messrs. Lloyd and Co., of Sydney, the drawers, traders at Brisbane, and who are the defendants in the action. The bill, was placed by them, in June. 1859, at Sydney in the hands of the appellants, their bankers, and having been transmitted to them for acceptance, and when accepted, it was while in their hands indorsed by Lloyd and Co. The bill having been formally discounted by the appellants, and the produce passed to the credit of Lloyd arid Co. in account with the appellants, who thus became, as between them and Lloyd and Co., the absolute owners for valuable consideration, Lloyd and Co. being at the time indebted to the appellants in upwards of £5,000, stopped payment, and their estate was sequestrated "or the benefit of the creditor,*. On the action being brought, the substantial defence was founded on the alleged insolvency of Lloyd and Co. when they indorsed the bill. The learned judge told the jury that the words " being insolvent" must, under* the Colonial Insolvent Act, be taken to mean being unable to pay 20s. in the pound, and left to them four questions, which the jury having answered, the verdict was entered for the defendants, with liberty to the plaintiffs to move to enter the verdict for them. This application was refused, and hence the present appeal. There was, in their lordships' opinion, nothing to show that the delivery of the bill to the appellants was an unfair or improper transaction, or was avoided by reason that the estate of Lloyd and Co. was insufficient to -pay the creditors in full. Their lordships were of opinion that the appellants were entitled to judgment, with costs, and they would advise her Majesty accordingly.— Home News, Feb. 26. New Zealand Appeal Case.—On the 11th of February the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council dismissed the appeal in the case of "Bunny.v. the Judges of the Supreme Court of New Zealand." The appellant in this case, a solicitor practising before the Supreme Cou:t of New Zealand, appealed against two orders made •by that Court, dated respectively 2nd of November, 1859, and 20th of November, 1860. By the first order the Court suspended the appellant from practising1 as a solicitor until he should have made out to the satisfaction of the Court that the charges of fraud brought against him in a suit depending in the Court of Chancery in England were substantially false and unfounded; and that in the event of his failing to do so, within one year from the date of that order, he should, on the motion of any member of the profession, be struck off the roll of solicitors. By the second order the appellant was ordezed to be struck off the roll, an he had failed to satisfy the order of the 2nd of November, 1859.—The Solicitor-General and Mr. Edmund F. Moore were heard for the appellant; the respondents were not represented. Spirit-selling in Theatres. — Mr. Conquest,the proprietor of the Eagle Tavern, in the City-road, appeared at the Bow-street police court, on the 18th February to answer a summons, at the instance of the Commissioners of Excise, charging him with selling spirits in tho Grecian Theatre, of which he is also the proprietor, without having taken out a license under the_ Excise Act to enable him to carry on that business in the theatre. There was no dispute as to the facts ;of the case ; but Mr. Conquest's defence was that the theatre was part of the same premises.and of the same business with the tavern. The takingout a theatrical license could not, he contended, aftect the unity of the premises or of the business. Mr. Come, the magistrate, gave his .decision in favor, of Mr. Conquest. He thought the theatre was clearly an accessory only to the other trade, that of a publican. As a theatre it probably brought him little profit, but his other business benefitted. He was therefore -of opinion that one license was sufficient. : Lord SriAFTESBU ry.—Lord Shaftesbury's habits are methodical and business-like. Every morning the postman leaves at Grosvenor-square an enormous mass, of correspondence of'the most heterogenous character.' ; Dozeni of of religious and charitable associations, applications for patronage and siipportfor new philanthropiseschemes; communications from benevolent persons, • detailing the success or failure of particular institutions ; a ueluge of begging letters beseeching pecuniary aid, each morning cover Lord 6haftesbury's library table, and demand his at-