The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-06-03 00:00:00

A RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

•
The cause of " Welby v. the Midland Railway Com-
pany," has been tried before the Lord Chief Justice,
Mr. Justice Mellor, and Mr. Justice Quain, and was
a railway accident case, which may be of some interest
as a caution to the public. Itarose out of the common
practice of passengers running across railways, instead of
going along by some appointed course. The plaintiff was
at the Keighley station on the company's line at eleven
at night, waiting for a train. The train arrived, and,
as it was on the opposite side, it would be necessary to
cross the line to get at it. There was a proper foot-
way across the middle of the station laid with level
planks in the usual way, but as the train was drawn
across the line this way was blocked up. There
was another footway at the end of the station,
but the plaintiff, in order to save a few yards in dis-
tance and a few seconds in time, jumped down off the
platform and ran across. The ballast was being taken
up at the place where he crossed, and he put his foot
into a hole and was thrown down and injured, and for
this injury he sued the company, who set up his own
negligence as a defence. The case was tried at Leeds
before Baron Bramwell, and the evidence was that
people constantly crossed the line in the same way
when the wooden footway was blocked; but the rail-
way servants said they had constantly cautioned people
not to do so. The learned Baron left it to the jury
whether the plaintiff was invited by the company to
cross at the place where he crossed, and, if so, whether
there was a hole into which he would, if he E 0 went
across, naturally fall. They found for the plaintiff—
damages, £5O. This was an applicatim to set aside the
verdict as against evidence.
Mr. J. B. Maule. QC., and Mr. V. T. Thompson
were for the plaintiff; Mr. Fitzjvnes Stephen, Q.C.,
and Mr. J. Wheelhouse were for the company.
In the result, the Court set aside the verdict, and
sent.the case to a new trial.

THE PLAGUE.

Further information as to the prevalence of plague
in Ms iootaalia gives a cleartr knowledge of the
magnitude 1 the obtbreak. Tile following are the re-
turns for Hillah and Bagdad from the first commence-
ment of the distase in those towns, not complete, but
more complete thanany which have btfore reached
this country :—Hillah—January 1 to February 27, 74
deaths; March 20 to 26, 34 ; March 27 to 31, 42;
April Ito 7, 56 ; April 15 to 21, 159. Bagdad--March
16 to 20, 15; Man+ 21 to 27, 45: Ma-ch 28 to April 1,
75; ; April 2to 8 169; April 16 to 23, 336. At Imam "
Mouse, near Ba,dad, seven deaths had occurred up to
the 215 t of April; at Nedjef the disease appears to be Iri
slowly increasing. Toe disease has appeared at Kefil
five hours south of Hillah, on the Hindieh marshes,
and at Rut-el Amarah, on the Tigris, south of Bagdad.
It is to be inferred, incited, that the disease is widely
scattered throughout the district immediately to the
north of its area of prevalence in 1873-4. in addi-
tion to the rumour of the appearance of plague at
Mascat to the south, rumour now comes of its appear
ance at Kerkuk, withielthe limits of Kurdistan to the
north. The alarm in the East with regard to this out-
break is deepening and widening. Communications
are more or less interrupted on the different routes
from Mesopotamia to Persia, to Syria, and tc Kurdi-
stan, while physicians have been stationed at various
points on the principal routes to watch for the first
signs of the dreaded pestilence. It seems not unlikely
that, if the disease shows no signs of abatement, the
next mail may bring the news of an attempt topro-
hibit all intercourse between the infected district and
surrounding districts. It is understood that the expor-
tation of rags from Mesopotamia has been prohibited
(a very judicious precaution), and that efforts are being
made to secure wool for exportation from
.the danger
of infection, a danger, however, which is nominal
rather than real.—Lancd.

T 9

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