The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-11-14 00:00:00

pace

A contest is pending here which,
not excite much interest in the country, is yet
pasaing notice. It is that for the Coroner,'
Central Division of Middlesex, vacant
death of Dr. Edwin Lankester. The office of
is one of the moot ancient of which history he
record. It is mentioned in a charter of 925, b,
not until 1275, the third reign of the reign
Edward the FiPst. that coroners for every
England were appointed by statute. They .
for life by the freeholdere, and the office in
only ono of • judiohg character which depends

it Inay
worth 8
'of the
gh the
Coroner
I kept it

Coronership

through

ut it was
of King

county

e chosen
now the
upon

popular election. Every other post of this nature—judge,
recorder, magistrate now held at the nomination
of the Crown. Previously to the death of Mr.
Wakley, some years ago, there was but one coroner
for the whole of Middlesex : he of course appointing
as many deputies as he required. But a better arrange-
ment was then made, and the county was divided, Dr.
Laukester being elected, upon a pal of the free-
holders, to the central or more populous district. The
value of the appointment, which is held for life, is
about .C 1,750 per annum, and it is no matter for sur-
prise that there should be several candidates in the
field. Souse are lawyers, others are doctors, the
devotees of each declaring for their own particular
profession. The duties of a coroner for central Mid-
dlesex are uniformly heavy, Dr. Lankester Laving
been accustomed to hold a dozen or fifteen inquests
every day. Some one once asked him whether the
spectacles which he was compelled to witness did not
haunt him. "They make no more impression upon
me," was the reply, "than the faces of the persons
whom you meet in the street make upon you."

The announcement that the Smithfield Club Cattle
Show is to open on the 7th of December reminds
us that it will not now be long before Christ•
mas creeps upon us. The week of the Cattle
Show is looked forward to by thousands of far-
mere in all parts of the kingdom. Pass along
the Ilighstreet of Islington at any hour of the
day then, and you will notice a class of pedestrians
whose difference in appearance from the smoke-dried
Londoner is detected at a glance. Their ruddy coun-
tenances, unsophisticated air, and general heartiness
of manner really do one good to look upon. The
exhibition is always held in the vast Agricultural
Hall at Islington, and the restaurants in the neigh-
bourhood make due provision for the expected
guests. But if the weather be dry and bracing,
the tons of provisions which the Islingtonians have
laid in disappear as if by magic. It is the land of
Goshen no longer, and then the farmers turn their
faces eastward towards the City, and settle down upon
the benches of the refreshment houses with a calm de-
termination to make a clean sweep of the viands,
which is intensely irritating to the regular customers.
I have been a victim myself in this way before now;
but last year I made friends with the cook at my chop
house—a male cook, I should explain—and thus got
my steak as usual. And now let me tell you a story
which shows the exceeding simplicity of the agricultural
;mind respecting metropolitan affairs. I was sitting
near a farmer who said to me, "Governor, I want to
go to the play to-night, can you tell me what time it
begins?" So I said, "What kind of play would you
like, sir?" "Why, the play, to be sure," replied he,
'how far is it from here ? " It all depends," I said,
"whether you would prefer Drury Lane or Covent
Warden, the Haymarket or the Lyceum, the Gaiety
or the Globe, the Holborn or the St. James's, the
Olympic or the Prince of Wales's, the Princess's, or
the Strand, the Surrey or the Vaudeville, the Imperial
or the Royalty, the Adelphi or the Charing Cross, the
Court Sr the Standard, the Philharmonic or the
Alhambra., the Britannia or the Victoria, the "
" Stop, atop, Sir, for goodness sake," said the farmer,
"don t go on at that pace, or I shall never get to the
play at all." He left, and whether it has ever been
possible for him to obtain his evening's amusement as
he desired, I have no means of knowing.

"BEAKE (Executrix).T.BßlTlSH IMPERIAL
INSURANCE COMPANY."
The above cause has been heard in the Court of Exchequer,
before the Lord Chief Baron, and Barons Cleasby, Pollock,
and Amphlett It was an action tried before Baron
Pollock at the last sittings in bliddlesex to recover the
amount of an insurance—vll,ooo—ettected on the life of one
Bailey, and assigned by him to the husband of the plaintiff.
A formal verdict was taken for the plaintiff for the whole
amount, leave being reserved to the defendants to move to
enters verdict on the grounds stated at the trial, the Court
to have power to draw inferences of fact.
..„ . . ,

The Sacitor-General (with whom was Mr. George Lewis)
now moved in pursuance of such leave.
The facts of the case are both novel and curious.
Healey, it appeared, insured his life for f:1,000 on the
19th of September, 1871, and on the 22nd of July,
1872, assigned the policy to Mr. Beake, the plaintiff's
late husband, who died on the 13th of September, 1873,
leaving his wife his executrix. On the 27th of
September, 1872, Benley, upon payment of a sum of
£lO, obtained a licence from the defendants to go
abroad, and on the anniversary of that day was drowned
while crossing a ford in New Zealand. On the 19th
of November, 1873, and before either the plaintiff or
defendants were aware of Beeley's death, the plaintiff
gave the defendants notice to pay to her the "Govern-
ment Stock withdrawable." The amount of this
was fixed by the policy, and the plaintiff's right to it
indisputable ; but there was also a clause that if it
was so withdrawn all claims on the company should
cease. There was a few days delay in paying this
mosey the defendants alleging that they wanted time
to make enquiries. On the 24th of November, 1873,
the plaintiff commenced legal proceedings against them,
and on the 4th of December, 1873, the defendants
paid the "Government stock withdrawable" under a
Judge's order. About the middle of December news
arrived of Henley's death, and shortly afterwards the
plaintiff made a demand for the whole £l,OOB insured,
at d tendered back the " Government Stock withdraw-
able," which the defendants declined to accept. She
then brought the present action. In the course of the
trial it was shown that Besley had paid the extra pre-
mium of £lO to cover the risk of a voyage out and home
to New Zealand, and that he went out in July, 1872,
and returned on the 26th of December of the same
year. In January, 1873, in answer to a letter elaiin-
ing back a part of the extra premium the defendants
called the attention of lieake to the fact that the licence
for Begley to go out was at an end. On the 16th of
April, 1873, Begley again went out to New Zealand,
but without renewing the licence, and, as stated before,
was drowned on the anniversary of the date of the
licence —viz., 27th September, 1873; and this fact is the
more curious as a strong point in the plaintiff's case
was that the licence was not merely for a voyage out
and home, but to last for one entire year.
The Solicitor-General now urged, find, that the
plaintiff having taken the "Government Stock with-
drawable" the pokey was determined; secondly, that
the licence was merely for a voyage out and home,
and therefore the second voyage was not covered by
it; thirdly, that, even if there had been a licence for
one year it had expired, as there could not be two
27ths of September in the same year; fourthly, that
if a licence for a year it began in the month of July,
1872, when he commenced the first voyage, and was
therefore at an end when he died.

Their lordships granted a rule on all points.

Ech.
Raglan.
fee if. be
01111 owed •