The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1867-03-12 00:00:00

NIBI PRtUS COURT, THURSDAY.

(Eldon Lord Chid Bares KZILLT. and a special jury.)
DAMAGIVI 1101 • RAILWAY AOCIDRITI AT ISRARYORD
ABBAS.

John Bidoet sr. the London anal booth-Viertorn
linilway Company.—Tlois was an 'ration for coropeum-
• Con for the 1.11 Of plaintiff's wife. arbe was hill-if be.
t,ain when soh( over the cream% on the rail•ay which
pager. through the village of Bradford Abbas, trent
Sherburne. Mr. So rleant ILinglake and Mr.
Rower were for the plaintiff, and Mc. Cole ,c,op
Mr. Keaton, p.c., and Mr. Pinder were for
the ...pen', ybe plaint if •is an agrig threat
Labourer, earning 171 s. a-week, and with hie wife, had
lived in a Imores ahcut a quarter of • mils fee, the
creglieg for 2/ spars. The wife was 52 loom .1 age,
land concritowteii ta their livelihaal 4 drers-mak inv. The
populaoiou *1 Bradford Abhan in &boot 100, and the line
of railway *vides the village into two ne rly algal
Parte, In swab of whieh there in *bout Aar-qua number of
inhnhitmeta. The nature of the croosing was the.
described by Progeny.? Buckman, of Bradford ebbe&
The height of the railway line was about 10 feet above
the lentdooth which spproarben it. ihstering by a
ageing into at the bottom of the embankment be rider ' towpath prows d d in a sto•ight line but in a•• obligee
direction. There was • hornl rail rra eith-r aide of the
path. The gradient of the fo•twe, wee eery try ewer
and full of tonna stones, which tk • Prof.... peesaereg
rendered the path oar" dangt-onm. The railway itself
wee 30 feel wine., an' i ihe Cimen.lisir path was similar
to that for asoen,l,teg 1,40 re dosaribed. On the
°lnnlielf of the 17th August lirs. Ridnut had
ce"°°°° to te' re a kettle to the smith to be
mended, and
to get there bad to walk over thin
ertl°i"' fi _a she wooded the p•th the train
..111 muni' ep inin Yeovil toward. London, anal
liar fans c
aroalot he %wards' the train. She had crowed
the dow
in th g line arid was going or,' the ao, line, looking
• Aireetiou opposite to the gooridg Crain, when
she
„ was {Worked down by the train, and crashed almoat
. omega, an that she timid r•orcely be indentified.
Of triune she we. {MA instarseoanly. This r•ilwav
ltras original', °oestrus-al by the &below, anal Yeovil
, Radom, Conin•nv, and we eventually leased to fir,
W London cod Booth estern Railway Company, who work
%be Moe as their main railway between London and
Exeter. Mr. Sergeant Kopecks onntended that the
ta•koag of the embankment was an illegal act, as it moo
CM made in the staoutory war, i.e., either by. bridge
neraYing the relive! over the p.tb, or • bridge e.m. Mg
tbo path, for they were interdicted from ermine the
path, on • level without the sanction Of two jeotial.,
which, he was I tod, was not ohrainowl —ludo ed.
they had not @rowel on a hovel at all, bet had destroyed
and annihilated the original footpath. Rat, while
tbi. had been done, they took no trramoliwas to
protect the marlin by watchmen, or in any other
teey• Re, therefore, maintai• wl that the poor
...ma earns to her death throogh the negligeasa
of the nolnisanY, and the claim for rompencation we.
Rloo.—Mr. Cole, in addressing the J ury for the ilourpans,
con-ended that the accident •ros.• by the reale. want
of catulittio on the tart of the poor woman. Asia the
in•hillot of the meaning his cliento had nothing to do
with it, but before it mina into their hand, the whole
line was nurver.d by an °Sitar from the Board of
Trate. and was pasted a• legal y and properly Made.
lie celled evidence to show that the train could he .000
approaching this crowing far Imlf•aduile. and tbe engine.
driver end guard attic train which k•lled the women
to prove that the "caution wr Lane wee sounded when
I the train, travelling at 25 Milk. •ar hour, was Iff) y•pla
I from thecrowing,.t which time &mewed wan gr•lking up
the ombankrnent. She wooed to take no notice, put Irv.
aseded to walk &woo the line. The "danger whistle"
ma. then used, and the breaks were put on. She
thee seemed to accelerate hae pane, but it was
trio km, she was knocked down and killed.
Mr. Boolean{ Kinglake having replied on the
whole em., the learned judge summed up. The
Juay retired for half-an•linur rind, on coming into
Cosrt, gave a verdict for £2OO. Mr. Cole, on behalf
of the Conpany, waked that judgment might be
stop al. and, after some 6,llVefeetloo, his lordship said
be would not mitre, any .point, but he would at,
execution till Ph" fifth dry of mxt term, an that if the
Court above should bold he wee wrong, they might
move for a new trial.