The Express.
London, England, 1851-01-21 00:00:00

INQUEST ON THE_BODIES.

Yesterday ao inquest wu held before Mr. W.
Payne, in the vestry room of St. Mageus's Church, London-
bridge, on the ,bisdies of George Ellis and W Ebeling,
who toil their lives by the breaking in of the bed of the New
River, au Friday last, whilst the deceased were engaged in
constructing a drain into the main sewer recently constructed
by the Commissioners of Sewers in the Lower road,
Islington. The bodies of bath the deceased were found at
the month of the sewer at London-bridge, having been
drifted to that point by the force of the water—that of Ellis
on Saturday, and that of Birling on Sunday night. Mr.
Frank Forster and Mr. Woolrych, on .the part of the
comstirsioners, were present.
Mr. Edward Gum, surveyor ; Mr. Besse, clerk of the
works or the commissioners, were examined, as also •
number of other witnesses, wham evidence was in substance
• repetition of the facts which have already appeared in the
Elgeesstatement of new facts commented with the •vi.
deuce of— . _

William Bevan,laboanr, of the Paacras-road, who deposed
that he was at work in the heading upon Friday afternoon,
shoat 3 o'cicek, when the accident occurred. Mr. Kesteven
had employed him to m ke a drain from Mr. Cox's collar at
the Kies'. head into the new sewer. Witness had contracted
to do it for Mr. Kesteven, and commenced a fortnight ago
last Saturday. He began at the cellar, and had sunk a shaft
16 feet deep, and he then started to drive • heading from the
bottom of the shaft towards the sewer. He had driven this
heading about 25 or 28 feet, sad the sewer was 34 feet from
the shaft, the tunnel of the New River being between the
sewer and the shaft. The beadicg was about 3 feet high and
18 inches wide. No part of it had been leeched, the inters
Ilea being to carry earthenware pipes through. Believed
he had got his heading beyond the tunnel of the New River.
Did not knew himself the depth of the tunnel from the road,
bat had heard that it was 12 feet 6 inches. For all he knew
he might have run right into ir. On Friday week lest, after
working at the heading, he found live or six feet of water
standing in the shalt. He thee ceased working at the hesdiag
natal Monday, when he shored the shaft is order to p
its sides breaking in. The "heft bad not been examined
since, but he had filled it up. The heading also he had filled
up. Did not give sty information of the matter to the
commisaioners, but understood that Mr. Kesteven bad been
to them. Oa Friday, between 11 end 12 o'clock, Mr. Cox
told Mr. Kesteven to go to Mr. Johnsoa'o ofiloe for leave to
go into the sewer, and before he came beck witans went
down into the sewer along with two other men to try tomtits
a hole through to join the heading that be had previously
made. Nobody told them to go. They begat to awl a
heading about the same size as the other.
The Coroner—How did you know your ends would meet?
How did you take levels?—(The witness' proceeded to ex-
plain, and showed that though he bed some g I and
incomplete knowledge of the 'object, he had a very imper-
fect notion of the principle of taking level., and that no
spirit level had bee. employed. He admitted, is fact, that
it was all guese.") He then used as iron searcher about
the thieknem of kis finger to find out how they were with
reference to the position of the other *ad of the heading,
and Ito had not put it in above three inches when the water
began to come in with great force and rapidity. Witness
was carried about 40 feet by the strength of the water, and
he ultimately estesped up a shaft. The two deceased men
were not employed is the heading, but bad merely come
down to look on; and they were lying upon some struts at
the time when the water broke in.

Mr. Ootto recalled—Upon the 3rd January I gave leave,
upon the application of Mr. Kesteven for Mr. Co:, to make
a iii inch drain from his premises into the newer. Mr.
Kesteven, however, was hound to give notice of his inten-
tion to commence the work, and this he lied not done. Had
be done so a competent offieer would ave been appointed to
watch its progress. It w► improper, moreover, for him to
have dose say work in the consmisidoners' sewer, and he had
no ant►:sky to work from that sewer, and I did not know
that this work was noise on ►y Mr. Kesteven.
Wm. Anthony Harder's, clerk of the works over house
drainage, deposed that, on the 4th inst., in consequence of
Mr. Kesteven's application, be made a plan and section of
Mr. Con's premises. Oa the 11th. witness was informed
that Mr Kesteven had sunk a shaft acd commenced a head
lag. Witness told Mr. Kesteven that be bad done very
wrong, but sa be bad driven the heading within seven feet
of the sewer, he had better lay his pipe drains, fill up the
heading, and complete the remaining portion when the
sewer Amid be completed to past the house.
By Mr. Layton-1 made no official report to the commis
slaters of the convenation between Kesteven and impel,
nor did I examine the works that he was carrying on
between the Ilth (the date of that conversation) and the
17th, when the accident occurred.
Some further evidences bevies been adduced to identify
the bodies, and to prove the finding of them,
The Coroner inquired when a ecientiffit report as to the
cause of t►e letiJelit could be laid before them.

Mr. Forster said some time must neceeserily elapse first,
as the sewer was now completely filled up to • level with
the Nor River, which flowed on in its natural course. He
might add, that though it was very irregular for Mr.
Kesteven to have commenced this drift, he eho•ld not him.
self have anticipated that the breakisc in of the New River
would have resulted. He should certainly characterise this
ea.astrophe more as the result of accident than negligence.
The Coroner said, that being ao, the Commissioners of
Sewers b tog the penooe who would coffer damage from the
stoppage of their works, &c., and they not suggesting that
blame attached to any one, possibly the jury would be of
the same opinion, and think that this was an accident.
The jury thceurred in this view, and returned • verdict
of " Accidental Death."

MONET AND PASSENGERS POE INDlA.—Amospt
the cargo taken out by the Indus, which left Sntharepton
yesterday with the Indian mail, was specie to the value of
300,0001, destined for India. This is the largest quantity
ever taken out by an Alexandrian steamer. It was con-
tained in 1,2 X) Imes, weighing 45 tone, and arrived at Broth.
ampton on Saturday in eleven railway waggons; cote hun-
dred men were employed is emberkieg it, who were
guarded by all the officers of the Peninsula Oast in the
,whanapton docks. A very strong guard was plated over
It on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday morning, during the
time the ludas was alerageide the dock quay. The specie
*waisted of gold end silver but principally silver, a great
portion of which was to Indian rupees. The lodes took
eat also Dearly 130 penmen, most of that first class.
About twenty of the latter were cadets in the
Bast India Company's service. The transit of Indian
paseeegirs sod cargo acmes the Egyptian desert, the tan.
wmest of which has bees in the hands of the Pasha of
Rgypt about f.ur years, bee just begun to be remunerative
to his highness, sod the management has never been so
satisfactory to the public as it is at present. The Nil*
beets have hoes inertias. d in number, and the accommoda-
tion on board of then has been much improved. The
bona about 300 in number, employed in drawing the
carrier's acmes the desert, are in good order, and are ea-
cadingly well hammed. Crest complaints used to be
made by the Indian perinea on accoust of their being
hurried away teem Cairo as aeon as they landed from the
Nile, althoogh they had perhspe to wait at the unintereet.
ing and ill provided town of Suss for the Red See steamer.
Abbas Paeha boa attended to these complaints, and the
paseenprs are now allowed tee hours' stay en Cairo to
refresh themselves ad see the place before they start /or
the desert.
THE MEDTTERIANZAN SQUADRON,—ID Malta bar-

bear, Jan. 10.—Qmpen, Ceylon. Powerful, Superb,
Caledonia, Merlin, Terrible, Firebrand, Scourer. Traca
en roots from C-oln ; Ober's, en route for Ragland.
Medusa for Kamilla, with overland mall. Powerful was
to leave Malta for Maenad about the 14 b. Albion tutored
M ilta as the Ripon 1 on the 14th.—At Gibraltar, Jan 15.
Jame, steamer, and °Moon. The latter was to sail for
Zeglesi ea the wessfra nedsestag.