The Express.
London, England, 1851-01-10 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 10, 1851.

ADJOURNED INQUEST ON A PAUPER

LUNATIC AT PECKUAIL

Yesterday, at ten o'clock, the inquiry into the
caste of death in the ease of Mows William Barnes, late •
pauper lunatic la Peckham Hones Asylum, was resumed at
the Rosemary Breach Tavern, Peckham, before McCarter,
coroner for the county.
Toe names of the jury having been called over, the set.
dines woo proceeded with.
William ktnr.caster, sworn.—l am an attendant in the
service of Mr. Armstrong. I ksew the deceased as • lunat:c
patient. 1 knew him for nearly eight mont►,.
C ironer—De you know anything about the cause of
death
Witnees—l knew that he had fits and • bruise. I first
NIP him standing buid• the fireeguard in the infirmary.
Samuel Hill called my attention to the bruise. The haws
eras oa the right um jest shove the elbow. lam wrong :
it wee the lett. It was about Unr inches in length.
Coroner—What took place then/
Witness—Hill said that the patleat had met with • very
serious accident. The arm was broken and the shoulder
out of pace. I hove not the least idea how it happened. I
said It must be reported to the doctor. I met the doctor but
did not report it to him. Hs went in and I followed Lim up
stairs. I; was Hell who ',ported the •ecidoat. I was not
pres•mt whoa he did so. The doctor celled my attention to
it instantly. That was Mr. Horton, who said it was • very
eeriest eau, and ask, d his It happened. I said it appeared
as if It bad teen does two or three days. Hill sect he
could, not imagine Low it had been done. The patient
was then ordered to bed.

---AiOtiet.--I;toiLiiaa Mill continuid la the infirtaary
alter the nottlest I—No. More you any knowledge why be
wee ',moved —No.

Coroner—Yon saw him on Siturday ?—Yee. Was he
hart thee ?—No. Were the patients ever left to themselves ?
—Sometimes the keeper left them for a moment or two. Hill
attended him at the bath on Saturday.
By Mr. Law—lt was Hill's duty to have reported an au
(debut immediately. My impression on the obligatioa of my
oath is, Hill told me the tee.° when he informed, me of the
accident, and that he had not discovered it previously. The
circumstance might have occurred without his knowledge.
The accident wee entered by Durriagton, mean keeper,
atter the commissioners came.

Mr James Hill, @turn's, sworn—Was medial 'Medea'
at the say WEB Lnss low at 98, Albany •rvad, Camberwell.
I Sae attendent for was years up to the 20th December lair.

I sew the deceased on 114 27th'Ildecember. He was then
in bed. I examined hie left arm and found it traetured. It
sea much swollen and bruised in different puts, especially on
the beck part ef the 'builder ; also on the fore arm. I cen-
eluded that the patient bad struck himself in falling. The
braise extended to the lore part of the chest. The upper
um presented a peculiar appearance, sad jibed ken bruised
by the suers grasp of another person's baud. I discovered '
RO ether meek of injury at that time. I inquired how it
arose, first from the patient himself.
Coroner—We cannot take that.
Witness—l also inquired from Hill. The injury had then
been in existence certainly two or three days.
Hr. Law —C.,uld the deceased during those two or three
days have dressed himself T—Certainly not. I 14,1 him on
thou day., and be was droned sitting one form, and pre-
tested nothing sensual in his appearance. It wu Hill's
duty to dress him occasionally, assisted by a patient, or if
aseusary by another attendant. I saw Hill on the 2lth and
26th, and he mid nothing to me abut Barnes. Winn I
arks to Hill 'bout it, I said Toni is a sad occurrence: the
man's arm is broken, and he states that it wee you who did
it." Hill replied, " That is quite false; I never injured him
see lilted my hand to him " I said, " 1 am scary to hear
you so acenutd." He replied, " I assure you I knew nothing
about it until this morning." I then said, "It certainly
meet have horn done tao or three days ave." To which he
replied." I have no l.nowledge of it." I did not Pion it
peeper, for various runes, to make further inquiries. I
kaew a patient named Donnelly. Li common oonverutioti
he is rational, but labours under delutioos. He is a decided
Lusa*

Mr. Law—Wouhl you trust the account he pre of this
tesesaction ?

Witnem—l believe that Its told me the truth, but I do not
chink I should trust him implicitly. Thera are hundreds of
palmate to the asylum who koow well what is going on
am and them, and could give a rational account, and still are
decided lunatics.
. . _ .

Conner—ll be committed a violation of the law, would
bo he ate matable ?

—Wits;----(Yeitaialy sot. But his mount wee Ersiphr-
fermsed, sad I believed it to he perfectly cocsistent with
troth.

Colllllll,—Thes we cannot take it.

Mr. Law—Thew any *
injury way be done in a lane':
asylum. and U there be Done but tuns, meta% the
iodated p.rty io the lout protector of Use Quito's subjetto.
I leader the witness Donnslly It-re, and shall don r!oe-
whore, al bough of course I bow to your &e'er*. The
ow,' boa beta ruled by Duos Aldereln, who took the eel.
donee of twa lunatics, and convicted on it.

The Corester—Tbe question is, was the am so rational es
to viva a tree savant ?
Witty—Certainly, I b. Here he wee.
The Jury were strueiey of opinion that the evidence
soaiht to be tesoinal. . .

The Cor, nee relayed to " Phillips's Law of Evidence,"
sad rationed to be of opinion that Dannelly's evidence
ghoul I not be moved. He baked what wee the nature of
D &Imams ? . . . . . . . .

-
Witoess—lie fancied he bad 'pints in his head, but in
ordinary conversation he was perfectly rational. lie made
no observation to me until &ter the man was hurt. The
other pinatas were questioned u well as Donnel4, and
their w.ounts coincided perfectly with his. On drat asking
Donnelly, be said he had no recollection of the Met, but on

citing him up to the patient, be ircolleeted all about it,
and made a cleat ar d e iherent statement.

—Coroner—Did Hill tippler to nst any mentos over Dos.
only ?—Now whatever.
The Coroner said that seeing that Dismally was not a
resporteible agent, and that the inquiry was to go to a sew
rim court, where the Commissioners of Lunacy might tender
what evidence they pleased under the direction ut the judge,
he should take spoil hineselt the responsibility of &aiming
to tike al *Mammal Donnelly in the present case. Even
the statement of till patient would not Lave been admissible,
seeirg that be had no showledge that h, VII on the point of
death. This proper couhe will be to take it to sniped.,
c .urt.

Mr. Law—That course will be taken.
Mr. Swan Flower, rergeou, swore I examined the
body of the deeenoid. 1 lowed the arm bone fractured
.but hall an inch below the capsular ligament of
the *boulder joint. The head of the bone remained
in its natural position, the joint itself being an-
tique!. The lower end of the fracture wu driven into
the 'silk under the arm. It was • comminuted fracture,
and in my opinion must have been caused by conaderabb
violence, and attended with great pain from the head of the
bone mating on the asillary plexus of nerves. On removing
the Ain from the arm, from the shoulders down to the
knuckle! of the left hand, there wu great extravustion of
blood, which must have also been the mutt of violence. On
removing the akin from the right side over the saw and
seventh ribs, there melba mark of the braise internaliy, SOmr
what larger in extent than eke bonne oaths external seitarea
On opening the chest and examining internclly the ribs, the
sixth and seventh, as well as the eleventh and twelfth, were
found to be (fleeted, the two Luau projecting through the
lining membrane of the ribs.
Coroner—What do you believe to have been the imme.
diate clued of death? _ _

Witness—The injuries le had received, fracture of the
left arm, fracture of the sizth and erventh u well as el b
and tweltth ribs, and the shock that the nervous system must
have sustained therefran. Toes' had bleu no attempt at
reparation by nature subsequent to the inittrite. The injuries
be received were more likely ¶0 be fatal in bis cue than in
that of a strong man. die wee a man of a low vitality. I
have no doubt whatever but that he died in consequence of
eh act of violence.

Coroner—Do you attribute that violence to perms.' ac-
tion or to a tall ?

Witness—By either; but it mast have been an tatrsor•
dlnavy fall. It might h►re been blows, thrusting ageinst
as iron bedstead, or otberviolenee...

Mr. Law—Do you think the patient Wing of himself
would hove received such tojurire?
-•-- - - • .

Witness—l do not. It might have arisen from a despe-
rate struggle with another person ; but there must hare
herrn tremendous violence. They might have arisen from
blows of a powerful man.
The Coroner then shortly summed up, and the jury found
• 'melte% of Manslaughter against some pence ere persons
makatown."

PROTOSED SAILORS' Ho= AT LEITH,—A public
meeting was held on Monday in the Mariners' Chapel,
Leith, to consider the advantages of Sailors' Hoses, and
the propriety of establishing such an institution at that port,
and to hear Captain W. H. Hall, R N., and P.R.8., on the
subject. Captain Hall was commander of the Nemesis war-
steamer daring the last China war ; and since the termina-
tion of the war be has been instnemeatol in establishing
sailors' homes at various porta in England and Ireland—
Liverpool, Dublin, Portsmouth, Belfast, &a. He is at
peasant on a tour through Bintland, with the view of estab
Miss similar institution' at the various ports in that
wasatry ; and he bait already mi.ited Glasgow, Greenock,
Marsoway, Invernma, Banff, Peterhead, Arbroath, Kir-
ks*, Aberdeen, Matron, Dundee, and other parte, where
stops Lava been taken to carry the views of the gallant
swain into effect.
WINDING-VP JOINT STOCK COMPANIES.—Ont of
t,120 gaiety and Joint Stock Companies now being
wound up by order of the Court of Chancery, upwards of
40 are almost entirely in a state of suspension, either Irons
the parties petitioning neglecting to proceed, the solicitors
having liens upon them declining to give op papers to the I
aMeleil managers without being paid their costs, or from
the parties conducting the proceedings being bought off
from prosecuting the inquiry. To meet this state of things,
the 41st section of the Joust Stock Companies Winding-up
Act declares that in default dale diligence in the prolecu-
lion of pronediap under the order, it shall be lawful upon
applitstins to the Muter to commit the matter to any other
esetributory in the company in the event of the original
party not proceeding. Considerable delay in these proceed-
ings generally is also occasioned by the present unsettled
slate of the law of liability in connexion with Joint Stock
Companies. His Honour Master Brougham has issued an
order to*, effect that ell ofhlial managers of the compa-
nies he is wintrag up shall leave their accounts in his office
Mle pared and waned three times • year, ,in Jan-
. Jam, and November.
AR AND MIDDLESRIOI7OR ReIVKAT.—On
Maeda? the branch lice connecting the free stone works at
idea Nab in North Yorkshire with the Middlesbrough and
Maims Railway was opened.