The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-08-22 00:00:00

HEAVY DAMAGES FOR A RAILWAY

ACCIDENT.

At the Leeds assizes the case of " Clay v. the Lancashire
and Yorkshire Railway Company" has been tried before a
special jury.
Mr. Seymour, Q.C., and Mr. Kemplar, appeared
for the plaintiff, a teacher of music, aged twenty-eight,
who resides with her parents in Trafalgar-street, Brad-
ford, but formerly resided in Manchester, and by
her profession obtained an income of i:200 a year or
more.
On the 7th of March last year she was a second-
class passenger on the defendants' railway, and going
to Huddersfield, when a collision took place in the
Bowling Tunnel, and the plaintiff was one of the
greatest sufferers. The carriage was broken all to
pieces, and crowbars had to be used to separate the
broken woodwork, and to liberate the plaintiff, whose
legs were jammed in. The engine of the train broke
down in the tunnel, and a train from Leeds for Low-
moor ran into the tunnel at full speed, because the
signalman had neglected his duty. The plaintiff laid
her dainages at 1.'2,000 and one of the directors of the
1 company had seen the plaintiff's father with a view to
a settlement, but had not succeeded in effecting one.
In consequence of the accident every function of her
body is disordered, and she must bea confirmed invalid,
and will, in the opinion of the medical men, be for
ever prevented from following her profession.
The plaintiff was brought into court in a perfectly
helpless state, and was obliged to recline on a couch.
In order to net her at liberty she was examined and
crows-examined before the usual speech was made in
opening the case.
The Judge, as the case was proceeding, said: What
a pity it is that some arrangement cannot be made by
which some annuity could be secured to this young

lady!
Mr. Overend : lam not authorised, my lord. The
learned counsel then addressed the jury, admitting
that there had been a very severe accident, and the
plaintiff had suffered very much, but he thought the
physicians and surgeons took a more desponding view
of the plaintiff's condition than really was called for.
The jury awarded the plaintiff £1,500 damages.
The Judge asked whose special jury it was, and was
Old it was the defendants'. He said he could have
understood if it had been the plaintiff's special jury,
but railway companies were such mighty grand folk,
that they could not think of anything less than a special
jurY !
Mr. Overend said railways often had to pay dearly
for their misfortunes.
The Judge: And not unfrequently they very well
deserve it.

PROTESTANT DEMONSTRATION AT
THE CRYSTAL PALACE.
(From The Standard.)
On Monday a monster meeting was held at the
Crystal Palace to protest against the scheme for dis-
establishing and despoiling the Irish Church. The :
weather was untoward, but there was, neverthe-
less, an immense assemblage, chiefly working men.
The chair was taken by Lord Fitzwalter, who
for so many years as Sir Brook Bridges has
been a champion of the Protestant cause, and most
eloquent speeches were delivered by his lordship, Mr.
Newdegate, M.P., Mr. Hardinge Giffard, and others.
The greatest enthusiasm prevailed, and strong resolu-
tions were passed against the unprincipled party none
of the leader of the Opposition ; one of the speakers
remarking that, although he objected to strong corn-
parisons (like those of Mr. Robertson Gladstone), he
must say that Judas Iscariot was a gentleman com-
pared with Mr. W. E. Gladstone. The most note-
worthy incident probably was a letter from the Duke
of Portland, one of the greatest of Whig magkates and
a munificent supporter until lately of the Liberal
patty, enclosing a cheque for £2,000 in support of the
patriotic movement in defence of the Irish Church.

(From the Morning Star.)
The "Protestant Demonstration" duly took place,
as announced, at the Crystal Palace on Monday. It
was a very tame affair, and for this the dullness of the
weather must share the blame with the dullness of the
subject before the meeting. The numbers were very
little in excess of the ordinary attendance on miny
Mondays; at no time were there more than 4,000
persons assembled in front of the great orchestra from
which the speeches were delivered. Lord Fitzwalter
was in the chair. The proc-edings opened with
prayer and closed with the National Anthem, supple-
mented with a new verse that was quite on a literary
level with the old ones. The usual entertainments
were provided, and go the enjoyment of the mass of
the visitors to the building was very little interfered
with.

(From the Daily News.)
The Protestant demonstration in opposition to the
proposed disestablishment of the Irish church, took
place on Monday at the Crystal Palace. For such a
gathering th e day was most unpropitious, and the
speeches were accordingly delivered in the central
transept, instead of in the open air, as originally in-
tended. The chair was taken by Lord Fitzwalter,
better known as Sir Brook Bridges, and the first
resolution, deprecating the attempt "to effect a solemn
and radical change in the principles of the constitution
by hasty and ill-considered legislation," was moved by
Mr. Harding Giffard, Q.C. About 5,000 persons were
Present, and the proceedings were characterised by
order throughout. A donation of £2,000 was forwarded
by the Duke of Ptrthmil "for Protestant purposes."

(From The Timex)
On Monday a demonstration, which was expected to
be most imposing, was held at the Crystal Palace,
Svdenham. It was summo-sel "in defence of the
Throne, the Church, and Constitution," according to
the advertisements, while it was described as a "tie-
montration in support of the Established Church in
Ireland and our other National Protestant Institu-
tions" in the demonstration tickets. The Committee,
it was rumoured, cherished the belief that the atten-
dance would be little short of 100,000, and the Palace
authorities calculated that it might reach 30,000.
Regrets have been expressed at the growing practice of
holding political and party demonstrations at the
Crystal Palace, and the directors probably imagined
that they had taken measures to render the demon-
stration as little objectionable as possible by stipulating
that the meeting should be held in an enclosed part of
the Sports' ground. Here, accordingly, a platform was
erected, and precautions were taken to prevent any
disturbance by confining the admission to those who
came provided with demonstration tickets. These
preparations and precautions were, however, rendered
nugatory by the inclemency of the weather.
The audience in front of the orchestra formed a compact
body at the commencement of the proceeding of about 1,000
persons. As soon as the cheers with which Lord Fitzwalter
and the committee were received rang through the building,
the ordinary Monday visitors of the Palace, attracted try
the unwonted sounds, ht.rried to the centre transept and
formed a kind of fringe around the meeting proper. About
1,000 or 1,5000 pencoss were thus attracted by curiosity, but
after the first half hour the number greatly fluctuated,
according to the interest of the speeches and the audibility
of the orators. A considerable number of persons at the
opening of the proceedings claimsti the right to indulge in
occasional hisses and other vigorous marks of dissent, but
they soon found themselves in so small a minority and the
Protestant sympathies of the vast majority were expressed
with such unmistakable heartiness anti enthusiasm that the
dissentients either left the meeting or listened without inter-
ruption Only three or four hands were held up against the
first resolution, and the others may be said to have passed
with unanimity. The cheers were throughout incessant.
Hats and orange handkerchiefs were waived, and the plaudits
were eter and anon varied by the Kentish fire. The wet
afternoon was unfavourable to the attendance of general
visitors, and this circumstance may not have been without
its influence Upon the orderly character of the proceedings.
If the working classes had attended, as is not unusual on
Monday, in any considerable numbers, they might have
asserted their right to make a counter demonstration.
The band of the Commissionaires was in attendance and
played the march from "Athalie" ylc,cielosohti from the stage
opposite to the Handel orchestra. Several lathes found seats
in the capacious orchestra, and a fair sprinkling of women
was observed In the body of the crowd. Nothing could ex-
ceed the patience of the Protestant defenders of the "(torch,
Throne, and Constitution." They stood for three hours in
front of the platform, am! cried "Go on" whenever a
speaker talked of the lateness of the hour as a reason for
brevity.
The Right lion. Lord Fitzwalter having been voted by
acclamation into the chair, the proceedings were opened by
prayer, which was offered by the Bishop of Perth. The Old
ilmitiredth Psalm was tnen sung by the meeting.
The Hon. Secretary Mr. Nugent, said he had received a
letter from one of the Princes tithe land cries of "Name !"
—the Duke of Portland. 'Cheers and some hisses, anti
laughter. His Grace, having expressed his sympathy with
the object, expressed his opinion that the country was more
indebted to those who gave their personal services than those
who merely assisted with the Ways and Means. The Duke
added that he had ordered that there should be placed to
the credit of the fund the sum of £2,000 . Vociferous cheering.?
The Hon. Secretary then read a letter from the Lord Bishop
of Ripon, conveying his entire sympathy with the ohject
of
the association lie was only prevented by his episcopal
duties from being present. The right rev. pi elate said that
it became those who prized the principles of the Reforma-
tion to exert theniselves to repel the threatened attack upon
a branch of the United Church of England and Ireland, be-
cause, if successful, the inevitable cetnsequences sooner or
later, would be the overthrow of the Established Church of
England, and the infliction of a severe blow upon the Consti-
tution, the liberties, and the prosperity of the country. The
hon secretary added that he had also, received a letter of
sympathy and approval from the Rev. Dr. Begg, of the Scotch
Free Chun h.
The Chairman then addressed the meeting, and said—
We have met, 1 may say, on an extraordinary occasion.
The occasion is extraordinary, the place is extraordinai y, the
numbers are extraordinary. But it is no new thing in this