The Express.
London, England, 1864-03-25 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 25, 1864;

which was adopted when the dam was under construction
might have been timed with effect in case of • flood.
Mr. Jackson maid be had another method to suggest for
the more rapid discharging of the dams, and he was in.
debted to Oolooel Porde for it. It was this—in the first
plum, the bye-wash should sot be oonstancted to its ulti-
mate level, but considerably below, until the reservoir was
Lerpermanent' settled and oonsolidited. It was better to
vnnhe valves on the inside than on the outaide. If his
valves at the Melbourne darn bad not been inside, it would
have burst.

Croix mined by Mr. Smith—The plan of taking pipes
through embankmente is the cue generally adopted, and
until now no serious accident has to my knowledge been
the consequence. It is an error of judgment that has been
committed by the best eogineers, from Telford downwards.
The Coroner—The question is this—is the plan a good
one! Are not all engineers to blame in this matter to
adopt such a plan ?
Mr. Jackson—l think the whole profession is to blame.
A Juror suggested that to hays proper evidence the pipes
must be laid bare._

ThrCoroner—Then we should have to adjourn for twelve
months. We can shorten this inquiry if the Waterworks
Company will pay the expenses of laying the pipes bore.
Mr. Smith said the company wet u anxious as anyone to
Wive at the came of the excident. The question wee
whether anyose was criminally responsible.
The Coroner—Oh, if you wish ns to do that we can very
soon find Mr. Leather guilty of manslaughter, and let the
question be tried at the York Amigos.
NMMr. Smith—That will be wording to the verdict of the
The Coroner—Well, the jury have made up their minds
not to return a verdict of manslaughter against anyone. The
causes of the accident are too remote for that.

Mr. Rawlinson said the inner end of the bank might be
lined, and the pipes plugged up, and at the outer end might
be bared and hydraulic preemie applied.
Mr. Smith—The fact that the pipes were broken now
would be no proof, because the ground ham been so mach
disturbed.

46.aielmon—Bare the pipes where you will, if they are
broken you will find it is =Mick the puddle-walL
Mr. Rawlins= said be wished to explain that undo exist-
ing circumetaness the pewnt condition of them pipes would
not be received es evideow of the condition before the ac-
cident occurred. It might be said with some show of reason
that the [rectum of the pipes was the result of the ac-
cident.

- intuswee to a question from the jury, Mr. Jackson said,
from the time the crack appeared in the embankment the
mischief was practically done.
The Foreman of the J ury said he would give up this point
—the baring of the pipes—if the Sheffield Waterworks Com-
pany would for ulterior purposes cause the pipes to be ex-
amined. Other reservoirs were beiag made in the neighbour-
hood on the same principle as that at Bradfield, and they
all felt how desirable it was to put an sod to the suspicion
which must naturally exist in the minds of so many on ac-
count of the gentlemen who knew most about these Brad-
field works haviag stated that they had learnt nothing
about the accident. It therefore followed that at any mo-
ment these other reservoirs might give way with most disas-
trous result. If the jury were satisfied that the company
would lay bare these pipes, and tsks such measures in refer-
ence to other works as would be dictated by the discovery,
they would came to request that the pipes should be laid
bare for the purposes of the present inquiry.
Mr. Smith—l undertake, on behalf of the company, to
place the matter ig the hands of Mr. Basilisks.
Mr. Gammon, the company's acting engineer, was recalled
and questioned es the specifications under which the Brad-
field Reservoir was made. He stated that the terms of the
specification had been slightly deviated from ; that a sped-
fication was more for guiding the works than for biding the
engineer to certain details ; and that no &Rangoon had beep
made but what were absolutely geometry. He repeated
that the Agden Reservoir was being constructed similarly
to that at Bradfield._

A jaryrnan asked several questions u to Mr. Luther's
visit to Bradfield while the works were in progress, and Mr.
Gowan corroborated Mr. Leather's admission that he had
been there once or twice.

exceeded 200 feet in length ; that this had beenfilled up with
puddle to the depth of &I feet at the puddle trench, limit-
ing itself told inches of puddle on the solid at either end,
and leaving upwards of 200 feet of pipes, in nine feet
lengths, with no bottom supports, other that the puddle
• beneath in the metre, and in that portion of the embank-
ment where the greatest prewar* would bear. In many in-
stones which have come under my notice this plan has pro-
duced serious fractures or total destruction ; therefore.
where you have a naturally compassable substratum I
should dread placing jointed pipes on an artificially
formed compressible substratum. If that line of pipes has
been carried down into that compressible material, in all
human probability it has not gone down equally in the pud-
dle trench, and under the loose embankment. But if it can be
proved that it has gone down equally, as • whalebone would
bend, it has left a cavity in the puddle trench above it; because
the puddle is an artificial and well-formed material, chopped
and made as solid as possible in thel act of puddling, and
therefore it could not have followed the pipes down in the
compression, which I expect has taken place. Hence there
would be • tendency to leave • cavity on the upper side of
the pipe in the body of the puddle. The inference from the
statements made in evidence is that the water in the
reservoir, permeating the bank as it rose, would ultimately
find its way to the puddle wall, and search out the weakest
place. The reason why that embankment did not show
signs of weakness on the admission of the first 50 feet of
water may arise from the fact that the lowest part of the
bank being upwards of 200 feet wide at the base, may have
been sufficiently tight to prevent the water finding access
to the puddle wall. As the water rose foot by foot in the
reservoir, it narrowed the space between the water and the
puddle wall 21 feet. From my inspection the upper
half of the bank is not made with watertight
material, but contains • large proportion of rubble
stones. I measured one 4 ft. long, 2 ft. 6 in. wide, sad
9 in. thick, not on the surface ; and as the water rose to
the surface of the bank it would penetrate to the puddle
wall, creep down vertically the face of the puddle wall, and
inevitably find out the weakest point. On the opposite '
side of the puddle wall there is the same defective arrange-
ment of rubble stone, in dangerous proximity to the
puddle walL That this was so through the deepest part
of the bank is evidenced by the description of the ultimate
breaking down of the top of the bank. The first top water
has been described as coming over in sheets and waves of
foam—that water was absorbed vertically into the bank,
showing that the material was of the °penult possible cha-
racter. Having seen the Agden embankment, and the mode
of tipping the waggons, and the materials used, I have no
hesitation in coming to the oxidation that the subetsoce
of that bank is as porous as a sieve. The specifications say
that the " tips " shall not exceed 3 ft. in thickness; but
the "tips" at present in work at Agden are double that
height. This method of working rolls the largest
stones continually to the foot of the tips,
and makes • rubble embankment, open and porous,
in layers. 1 hold it is most objectionable to take the =twirl
for making the embankment from within the reservoir below
the water line, except the trial shafts prove that it is quite
watertight. la the Bradfield reservoir several acres of sur-
face have been bared within the reservoir. Many square
yards of fissured rock have been bared. Into that rock
surface water readily flows without pressure, and with pres-
sure the discharge of the water would be greater. ho en-
gineer ran tell what is to become of that water. It may
mete itself harmlessly below ; but there is • possibility of
its communicating with fissures immediately below the outer
slope of the embankment. sod io such • case the engineer
has so right to bare the rock and allow filtration. Ido
not say the water has done injury here, but there is no
evidence to the contrary. The byewash Ido not think ode-
. (mate to convey away the flood waters of thatdistrict. 1 would
• have made a mach longer byewasb In this case, however,
the byewaah bas not been the cause of any injury, as the
water never rose to it. Ido not approve of • sloping bye.
, wash, such as is used in all these reservoirs. I think it
• better to break the channel by • series of steps. For such
• capacity of water, and such a drainage area, those two
lftinch pipes are quite inadequate to give safety in case of
apprehended danger. The byeivaah mod the pipes ought
always to be equal to the largest flood on • full reservoir.
By the Jury—l would have used larger pipes, butt I
would not undertake to say that if the valves were in the
I inside the danger would have been averted. I am sates
Dished that the engineers cut off the river course used to
divert the water during construction.
By the Coroner—lt will be almost impossible to come to
• conclusion as to the cause of the strident. A fractured
• pipe, • drawn or blown joint, • pressing down of the pipes
in the puddle wall by the heavy materials on both aides of
the embankment, or a washing away of the outer slope, as
suggested by Mr. Leather, by • landslip cause Iby uodis•
covered fissures or springs communicating with the inside
of the reservoir—these singly or combined may have caused
the accident. My opinion is that it was • most fatal mis-
take to lay that 200 feet of pipes through the embankment.
I believe the tips" at Agden are too high, and the mate-
rial used insufficiently sorted.
By Mr. Smith—You might never have heard of this
accident had the materials composing the „istabankmeot
• been impervious. Up to • certain height this embankment
was safe. It stood with 30 feet of water from June, but
when the water mounted to the brink, something took place
which altered all the conditions. . .

BOARDINGLSCROOL REVBLATIONS.

At the Wolverhampton County Court a few days
ago, before Mr. Skinner, the judge, Mr. Outer, henchman.
keeper, in Oharlee-etresi, in that town, was sued by the
Mimes Greet, enhoolinistresses, of Clarendon-street, for the
sum of 71. 10s., half of that amount for one quarter's board
and lodging sad education of John Carter, aged aim, his
child, and the other half for compensation for the boy being
taken from the school without squirter's notice having been
previously given. The case wee tried by • jury. Mr. J. E. Un-
derhill conducted the case for the plaintiffs, sod Mr. James
Walker that for the defendant The liability of the defendant
to pay the money sued for was admitted, but the defendant
declined to pay it because of alleged improper and inane&
tient food having been given to the boy. A similar action
had at a previous wart, it will be remembered, been tried
before the judge, in which the Mines Greet brought an
action against another defendant, and the case went in
their favour, the judge ruling that minute who put their
children out on terms so low as ISt a year for education,
board, and lodging, could not expect tint-class diet. The
Mires Green gave evidence to the effect that they bad
received no statement from the defendant er his wife se to
the cause of the child's being taken away. The child, when
he went home for a few days holiday on the 2nd of April,
1863, the eve of Good Friday, had a chilblain on his foot,
but was otherwise in his usual health. He had been •
scholar with them since the previous Michaelmas, and name
to them when he was eight years old.
Mrs. Sarah Green, the mother of the plaintiffs, and who
imperintended the dietary of the school, deposed that the
boy only none took nettle-broth, and then at his own re-
quest. She had understood that nettle-broth was good to
purify the blood if given nine mornings in succession, but
bad told the children that she would vary it. She con-
sidered that the dietary of the children was good. She
went to Mr. Pope when he was attending the boy, and
Mr. Pope said that if the child was having the food that
Mrs. Carter had stated it war not fit for • pauper. The
children had meat every day but Friday and Monday.
The children who did not prefer meat had pudding, tad
sometimes they had two plates of pudding.
Mr. Pope, surgeon, deposed that he attended the boy on
Easter Monday, April 6, 1863. He attended him for six
weeks. The boy was in a very emaciated state, and the
intestines thin. There was he organic disease, end the
evidences were all those of "lend scurvy." The injuries
to the foot were the giving way of the small blood vessels
through their not having received sufficient nourialannet
from the larger blood vessels. The gums were of • livid
colour and swollen, and blood was exuding from them ;
the blood that was so exuding was also of • pale colour.
The bleeding from the nose was of • light oolour, another
proof of the impoverished state of the blood. The break-
ing out on the lips was likewise in this case an evidence of
impoverishment Having =tidied himself that there was
no organic disseas, he could reornmde these symptoms
with nothing else than imperfect feeding. The toy was
suffering from impoverished food, and insuthcient
nourishment. A clamor case he had wen. Dur-
ing the three days the boy was at home after he left
school, and before he (Mr. Pope) was called in, the boy
could not have kept substantial food on his stomach if it
had been given to him. An occasional dose of netUe por-
ridge might not doe person in full habit hurt, but rather
good, but to give it to • child in this boy's weakly condi-
' tion would be to injure him ; still, one dose would not do
him harm. As an occasional meet sheep's head soup would
not act injuriously. Alter examining the boy, he asked his
mother if he went to school ° She replied, "Yea." He then
added, " Whatever school he goes to, he is badly fed." if
he were right in his conclusioos, the child must have exhi-
bited symptoms of ill-feeding three weeks before he was
called in, such as could not have souped the notice of an
attentive mother. Nothing would have occasioned the
evidences in the boy's system that he had described but
poverty of blood and bed diet. He lied had twenty-five
years' experience in public institutions, and he was satisfied
on this pouit. A half supply of good food would not have
produced the evidences. The food which the child took
must have been bad. if the child had been fed with bread
and milk, or tee, for breakfast, meat four times • week,
with always pudding, cocesiosany soup with sheep's head
for dinner, and tea or bread sod m,lk for tea, the child
could not have been ill. The child was ill three weeks.
When the irritation of the stomach was removed, he took
nourishing food, sod he then began to get wall. What
the boy told him as to the food he received confirmed him
in the views he had formed.