The Press.
London, England, 1857-05-16 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

of Messrs. Maple's three houses, and ordered the
wall to be underpinned, and new brickwork to be put
in from the ground to the first floor. The next
morning the men came to work at six o'clock, and
commenced to remove the old brickwork, and by
seven o'clock had succeeded in knocking out two
large holes, about oft. by 3ft., at each end of the
wall, when suddenly a workman called out to one of
the principal clerks, then watching the process on
the ground floor, " See how the dust is coming from
that wall—l don't like that ;" and instantly after he
cried out, " Run, Mr. Hughes ! Run for your life ;
the wall is coming down !" In a moment a crash
like thunder was heard, another and another followed,
and the three houses were a mass of ruins. The
thick bressemers, strengthened with iron, which
carried the front of the houses, cracked in two like
thin laths of wood ; girders and beams snapped,
flooring boards were wrung from their joists, sheets
of lead, torn off like paper, rolled and curled up in
the most curious shapes; lath and plaster, brick and
mortar, doors and staircases, window frames and
cupboards, bedsteads, chairs, tables, and looking
glasses, were all smashed and broken and pounded
up into one vast heap of rubbish, while underneath
lay the crushed and breathing bodies of dying men and
women. The horror and excitement in the neigh-
bourhood was intense. Thousands of people rushed
to the spot, and energetic means were at once taken
to rescue the sufferers known to be buried under the
ruins. Ten persons, more or less injured, were soon
rescued, and the dead bodies of four more recovered.
The chief clerk of the establishment, a Mr. F. Byng,
was found lying in his bed, which had fallen with
the upper floor. He had evidently been suffocated,
as there was n 3 mark of violence whatever upon
his person. One small drop of blood was at one of his
nostrils. Another body, that of the cook, when dis•
covered had a knife grasped firmly in her hand. At
the moment of the accident she was preparing
breakfast. One miraculous escape is noted ; the
knife•boy fell literally from the top to the bottom of
the house, and escaped with only a few scratches.
On Wednesday the coroner's inquest was held.
The bodies of the deceased having been identified,
the medical evidence was heard as to the cause of
death in each case, after which evidence was taken
as to the cause of the accident. Arthur King, a
bricklayer, who was at work at the party-wall, de-
posed :
He was running up some brickwork to strengthen the
party-wall between Mr. Maple's two houses. He was at
work, with two others, under the direction of Mr. Taylor.

By the Jury : In running up the brick he used Roman
cement. It was about twenty feet from the street.
Examination continued: The first intimation he had of
the accident was the tolling down of dust from the party-
wall. The foreman called attention to it. He said toJohn•
son's men, " You are cutting away too much brickwork, and
we shall have the wall down." Did not hear what reply was
made to this. The observations were made about five minutes
before the wall fell. He saw the party-wall on Mr.
Hunter's side bulge, and split in the middle. Two men
shouted to Mr. Hughes, the foreman at Maple's, and
others whom he could see, to get out of the way, as the
place was falling. He ( witness) ran and made his escape
by getting down a ladder into Tottenham•place. Just as
he got to tte doorway the place fell down with a heavy
crash. There were two openings in Mr. Hunter's party-
wall, one at one end and one at the other, about four feet
square, as near as he could judge.

Mr. Hughes corroborated this witness's evidence,
and Mr. Harrison, the builder's foreman, employed
at the same time upon Mr. Hunter's premises,
said

At half put seven he was called out by a man named
White, who said he was alarmed at seeing some dust fall.
ing over. He (witness) then looked in from the front of
the shops, so that he could see the partrwall, and thought
he saw it cracking. The wall is fourteen inches thick.
On examining it he fancied he saw it cracking. Knowing
the state of the party-wall between 146 and 147, he called
out to both sets of men. One of the openings was about
flee feet by three. The dust came from the party-wall
between Mr. Hunter's and Mr. Maple's. Immediately
after he called out to the men he heard a crash, and saw
the building fall. He then assisted to get out some of the
injured persons.
At this stage the inquest was adjourned till Friday,
when, after viewing the body of another deceased
sufferer, further evidence was heard, and the inquiry
again adjourned.

SIR WILLIAM MAGNIN'S CASE has fully occupied the
attention of the Court of Common Council this week.
The charge against Sir William Maknay is simply
this. A few years since Sir William became a director
of the Great Luxembourg Railway Company. The
board was guilty of great extravagance and indis-
cretion. Legal proceedings in Belgium ultimately
arose with respect to a charge against the board for
having misappropriated a sum of 58,000/. ; and on
the 27th of February last the Court of Appeal at
Brussels decreed that Sir William Magnay, charged
in connection with Mr. Masterman with having
abstracted 58,000/. from the funds of the company,
be adjudged in default guilty of fraud, and be con-
demned to three years imprisonment, and a fine of
3,0006.

SATURDAY,

Mr. Blake last week submitted a motion to the
court :

That Sir William Magnay not having taken any steps
for the revocation of the judgment against him, this court
feels bound to express its opinion that he ought no longer
to occupy the position of an alderman of this city, and to
request that he will relinquish that office.
This was met by an amendment by Mr. Millard,
that the court was " not bound to express" its opinion
on the question.
The discussion was resumed this week, when on a
division the amendment was lost by a large majo
rity, and the original motion negatived by 39 to
Mr. r. H. FRY then moved, as a further amend-
ment :

That it be referred to a special committee to examine
into the nature and truth of the charges brought against
Sir William Magnay in the Belgian courts, on which
judgment by default has been pronounced, and to report to
this court to what extent those charges, if true, affect his
moral character, and whether in consequence it has be-
come necessary that he should be called upon to resign his
gown as an alderman of this city.

➢lr. Ross seconded (the amendment, which was
carried.

A committee, consisting of Mr. Alderman Cubits,
Sir J. Musgrove, and a commoner selected from each
ward, was then appointed to institute an investigation
in accordance with the terms cf Mr. Fry's amend-
ment.

THE ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL OF THE SONS OF THE
CLERGY was celebrated this week with the usual
service at St. Paul's and banquet at Merchant
Tailors'. His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury
and nearly two hundred guests were present at the
dinner. After the usual loyal toasts, the report was
read, by which it appeared that the income for the
year had amounted to 28,500/., while the expenditure
fell short by 1,8251., which remained as a balance on
hand. A most liberal contribution was made to the
funds of the charity, amounting to 3,2701., while
donations and legacies, including a gift and legacy
from Miss Charlotte Beaumont, were announced
amid great applause as amounting in all to about
14,0001., of which sum Miss Beaumont's legacy alono,
was 12,0001.
THE METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS last Tues-
day received a deputation of architects, upon the
subject of keeping open the vacant space at the
south-east angle of St. Paul's-churchyard. The value
of the area is 75,0001. The City corporation also
sent a deputation. It appears that the corporation
have it in view to build upon one-fifth of the extent
and leave the remainder unoccupied, but they will
give up the whole plot upon compensation. The
question was referrA to the Committee of Works.