The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-01-03 00:00:00

DEATH FROM SCALDING.

On Monday evening Mr. C. J. Carttar, coroner, held a
lengthened inquiry at the Admiral Clardy," Greenwich,
Into the circumstances atta nding the death of Joseph John
Higglnson, aged Id, through falling into a copper f boiling
tea.

The deceased waif a pupil at the Greenwich Hoe. I
pital Schoule, and was one of a number of lads em-
ployed at certain intervals of the day in the cooking
kitchen. For the boiling of the tea there are four large
coppers, only one of which, however, waa in flee, en an.
count of the greater portion of the boys being sway for
the Christmas holiday& Oa Friday afternoon last
the deceased was told off by the man co .k to attend
to thin copper for the purpoae of stirring the tea as it
was drawn off by a tap, so as no clear the copper of
the tea leaven as the liquor woe drawn. At the side
of the copyer where he would be stationed, and which
I. ascended by steps, the height of the copper would be
only 2 ft. 6 in. front his feet, and five other lade were
at the same spct at the time. Daring the absence of
the man cook for a few minutes the deceased sat with
Itis back towards the opened lid, and as one of the lads
was relating a story of an Irishman describing a donkey
as being nothing more than an overgrown rabbit, a
splash was heard, and it wan found the deceased had
fallen through the opening of the lid, an aperture of
2 ft. 6 in. by 3 ft. 1 in. When rescued by his companions
the deceased exclaimed "I am dying !" and an at-
tempt was made by the man cook, who had been
alarmed by the ecreame, to cut off his clothes; but,
failing in this, some cold water was poured over him.
The admission of tan fact caused some surprise both
to coroner and jury, but Mr. G. W. Armstrong, the
hems surgeon at the boys' infirmary, said that,
coy sidering the clothing worn by the deceased, and
that he wan suffering trot the scalded clothes,
cold water wan the best thing which could be used,
as the clothes could not be cutaway, and that if he had
been present, and a pool of water had been nen,
he should have put the lad into it. It was proved
that deceased wan most severely scalded all over his
body except the outer part of the left leg and head
and face, and that death occurred about live hours
afterwards. l'he jury, who, with the coroner, had
inspected the coppen, in returning a verdict of " Acct.
dental Death," appended thereto a recommendation
I that when it is necessary to employ young boys to
work at such coppers greater precaution than at pre-
sent exists should be adopted for their protection.

Tne Foreman It I. easily to be detected if done. (Alter
examining It) This hen not been touched up.
Mr. Ke.:ealy : Then It is a bad photograph became It does
not represent the defendant's features. The learned counsel,
In addressing the Bench, suit the Foreman of the
jury, who was entitled to every retpect for the way In
which he has watcl ed the case, said on Monday that he
knew three or four persons whore Ohls had been
pierced, and yet no trace remains. We make the
piercing of the ears one of cur crucial tests of the non-
identity of the defendant with Arthur Orton. All medical
men settee that where the true skin has once been pierced It
leaves an ineradicable spot, to be dlatingniehed by sight or
feeling. I very much regret that when the medical evidence
was being given the Foreman did not mention the clrettm.
stance in order that It might be tested. Any observatl Pus
made In court by the gorernan must have • sensible* fleet on
the minds of hts brother jutymen, and therefore it might
have an it furious effect if hot. mistaken.
Mr. Justice Mell. r : I think It mote out of your challenge
to the jury that yes could see that none t 1 their errs had
been pierced. It is a matter on which medical men might
differ. A juryman Is not bonnd implicitly to a. cep, every-
thing sald uy a witness, but be beings ids expert., e to bear
upon it also, lam told by ladies th.t it is poesittle for ear-
rings to tee worn without piercing the ears. You must not
take the Foreman's ot, ervation as evidence.
atr. Kenealy No. But the F .reman's observation cannot
fail to have weight with those aronnd CANON LIDDON ON THE DEATH-ROLL
Mr. Justice M odor : No one men have been present at this
trial without bet' g imnreesed with the extraordinary atten-
tion and accuracy of memory displayed by the jury. Canon Lialalon, in concluding an eloquent sermon at
Mr. Keneata Yes. It le quite wonderful. St. Paul's Cathedral last Sunday afternoon, made a
Mr. Justice Mellor : The ouservation arose from what you
sald. brief reference to the hoses of eminent men which
The Foreman : I was not aware of Vie cares when the have been sustained not only by England but by Europe
medical witnesses were under examination. during the past year, and which he brought forward
Mr. Justice Lash : Every juryman must use his own ex. as an appropriate illustration of the truth •if ilea text
pertence, but of course they anti exercise it cautiously in that man's life hi at the beet hut transitory, that he
dealino with professional exp. rience. fades away like the grace. How many names, he
Tne Foreman : I
pt,yes,a never wore
th im b earrings, nor were my eare
s procetalma, which this time lest year stood high
thss purpose. Test ploat at I can gtv
you that they were p erced is that I did It n war. in the public liN of England and of Europe
Mr. Kenealy : The physical temperament and the condi. have now disappeared. Since that day the
then of the Wood must have a great deal to do with the Emperor on whose lightest word Europe had
healing. hung for many years has passed away, dying
Mr. Taylor, one of the jury, exhihted his hands, paying in a Kentish village close to this metropolis,
that one was buret open with a migket baler , of which w.und ! surrounded only by his own faini!y and a few friends.
there is not the *lightest trace. The othwas i..jured in
the name way, and the anger broken, and both are plant, Then, too, that great thinker and writer who 'tam pro-
visible. pagated a new philosophy, and who, whatever were
Mr. Kenealy : Within what 11.91101 did the accidents his errors—and I (oiled the Canon) have no wish to
happen 7 hide their serious character—has contributed so much
Mr. Taylor: Within ten years. to mental enterprise, has gone to discover what are the
Mr. Kent al7: I should account for the difference from
your being in better health at one time than the other. —al limit!! of the philoeophy of experience. The acute
The learned counsel said a great deal had been made by judge, whose professional knowledge wise only excelled
the prosecution of Anigall Cockren's evidence. She was by Lis humour and his profeusional capacity, has
called by the delendant, and in answer to Mr. Se. jeant gone, all hut meeting on Ire way at the gate of
Parry she said ilea nursemaid told her that Arthur had eternity the prelate to whom he had been so
a brown spot on it, bi,l3 about the sLay of a threereony often opposed in this life, anal who was, as has
bit ; but the defendant'. brown spot, its,• happened, FM five
Inches long. There wart nothing particular ill batnes bei been truly raid, the first of English prelates; a mau
•rn with holt marks, and be w, s lamed to may there wng as who for energy as well as for his great gifts stood
not 011 e of them who ware married had not had babies horn utterly alone among his brethren, and has left -none to
with fruit marks on thsm. I approach him even distantly. What a commentary
The Foreman : there are none on mine (laughter). I doom that death furnish on the text, "We all do fade
Mr. Kenealy I .hii by• it must consult your wife about it
(Laughter.) Having finished the Wapping witnesses, the as the grass." With him there was no gradual decay,
no withering of physical force no failing of mental
learned coonsel passed on to the evidence given by et news of
Arthur Orton'. personal appearance, an referring fl U f th
aimed OA by a ash a at once, from e
th. power ;he p ,
evidence of Daniel ,Iton, the 111 MI whs eant he saw lull energy of this life into the eCellea of another,
Arthur Orton at Santiago, in California, in 1854, said that Then, too, we mire the great novelist whose works
fithnugh Ala Hawkins considered th's men's et Ltetneut was h vs contribm eel so materially to the thought of the
curlone, he mutt remind them that many thin,a that were age • the leader of the Senate ; the architect who was
curia us were nevertkela es true, the third class of wittiesees
wh knew Arthur Orton were thoSehe who knew him in so closely connected with this city and with this cathe-
Australia, and who swore that t dofendaht w. not dral ; the gNat hanker and chairman of the North
the man. Mr. Woolnough, of N. rwood, who knew Aran/ Western Railway Company ; the great painter wbo
Orton, could not recognise him In the t.efendent, nor has made the animal world familiar in every home;
road he recognise him In tie photograph—
tbut blurred, and the young etatesman, who died only a few days
horrid, savageaucking pho.ogreph—which the defendant
since a martyr, as has been said, to the conscientious
sent from Australia Arthur Or.on, the wltnees maid, had no
trace of twitching of the eye. The defendant has, ar d discharge of public duties. would, added the preacher,
Ttchborne had, and the mane of that is tot VOWS cam. take long to complete the list, but we in this place can-
elusively that he in not Arthur Orton. I don't nay It proves not forget that last Sunday there passed away one who
he 's Roger TichM rue, for forty-four years had lad the service in this choir.
The learned ct unmet, in commen'ite on Woolnnugh's evl- and whom, even if he held fast to the taaditiones of a
deuce, said although it was of th.. utmost :m,oortance to the past generation, we shall long remember for his nu.
den.- ant, he nemithelese treated him witty the greatest in- -
oifference und Ingratltu te, and /although it proved lung,- affected simplicity, his fearless houesty, air-1 his unvary•
caeca, it was nevertheless characteristic of the man. ing benevolence. After this brief reference to Mr.
Thedt fondant made a communication to the let,rned coon- Lupton, Dr. Liddon concluded his sermon with a
eel, on which Mr. Kenealy said : The defendant would have powerful appeal to the congregation to profit by the
me paint him as an Incarnate angel than as he le, with all his lemons suggested by such thoughts.
tenths but I have never and over will disguise my feelings
towards hip or anyone else. I have worked for this man as
though he was of my own flesh and blood, and yet he does nct
thank ins; he never h. thanked Mr, for anything 1 have done
tor him. Phillips, of the -Norway Hotel, Truro, said the
defendant Is nut the man he promumtett at Castle name for
horee-steall g. This man was brought up by tOO proeem-
thy, to identify the defendant, baths could not, and he was
sent home. Hearing that we want fr him, and in Mts court
he said—the defendant is not Arthur Orton.
The Foreman a This is the man I referred to who traced •
r.eem't;anesta Arthur Orton in the defendant's photograph
taken In Anstralia.
Mr. K peaty : But here to the man, and he cannot recol-
lect him There wags • prosecution, the jury giving the man
thu beeeflt of the doubt, snd the prosecution knew it. Whet
motive could the It tendant have toed for imagining that he
was tried with Orton at Ca ile e Oct ti corinnet coat a
wild and bad life from the time when foe first &Mat d at
Santiago; he entail, tied it when be was thee a second time,
and also while he was in Mr Foreter's employment he was
in I.Sinie with Imehrangtra. the dietance between Mr.
Porter's led Crelernatne is but a mere trifle.
The F Tema!) : ahout Sa mites.
Mr. Kenesly : I don't know exactly, but comparatively
speaking the (Instance is a ntere trifle.
The learned counsel bad not conclnded reading and
couxnenting on this part of the evidence when the
Court adjourned.

An Indiana reporter ,aye that a man who lately had
his legs cut oil by a railroad train " will probably be a cripple
tor Ilia"