The Express.
London, England, 1860-12-17 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS,

FRANcB:. TI

'. ~hr

(Moe ova owe coennteetsort) •••
PARIS, BATUILDAT BYEIRMO.
Count de Persigny, whom you have for some time
been expecting in London, left Pails this morning
for that destination. There is great discrepancy in
" well-informed" quarters, as to the cause of his
The
and the probable duration of his abseuce.
The readers of the Opinion Nationak are told that
be was summoned by • telegram announcing that
the Countess de Penugny was on the eve of her con-
finement. The Pays says that he will make but •
" momentary stay" According to the Paine he
has gone to pan • few days" in Loedun, on pri-
vate business. A well known lithographic sheet
says, in one page, that be will be A
i gent "a fort-
night," and n another "three week&"
I have no means of knowing, but I think it
worth while to mention • rumour that K. de Per
has a mission to the English government on
the subject of diplomatic observations from Lord
John Russell, provoked by the Emperor's equivo-
cal conduct with regard to the siege of Gaeta.
The I*dependance says, but I have heard no echo
of this news, that K de Penigny is likely to he
translated to the department of Foreign Affairs,
giving up thety. Home-office to an old imperial favou-
nts_ M. Lai
The pamphlet insisting upon the necessity of
Austria's selling Venetia is very much talked about,
and although not exactly written with the Empe-
ror's dictation, there can be no doubt that it repre-
sents the views which he oountenances for the
moment. The independence goes so far as to assert
that the proof sheets were submitted to him, and
that he made alterations in some of them. We are
now fast approaching spring, when, if the Italian
question be not settled, everybody regards a war
as certain. The Paine calls the pamphlet in ques-
tion a coup de canon, and there is a strong impres-
sion that d Austria does not give way and adopt •
course dictated by her obvious interest, a cases NM
will arise not only with Italy, but with Franoe. We
are expecting to beer that Francis 11. Las evacu-
ated Gaeta, but only to go to Rome, where he will
still be under Freach protection, and will plot with
the Pope against Italian unity. Nevertheless one
of the latest letters says that young Bombe is
still very obstinate, and has been raising a good
deal of money to carry on the war by the sale of
his Russian bonds. The Emperor Napoleon, it is
said, still presses him to get out of the way, but
why on earth does he keep iu the way himself I
The beet of all pressure would be to leave him
alone.

The complexion of the Bourse was the same as
yesterday—dull and little business doing. The
rents roes ba for each, and fell 10c. for account,
closing at 68.75 and 68.80. Mobilier fell 2.60.
The Orleans Railway fell 2.50, and Northern and
Lyons, 1.25. There was scarcely any change in the
other lines
There is much talk of the probability of a new
loan of 760 million., the pretext for which will be
the loss occasioned to the revenue by the treaty of
commerce. Attention is also attracted to a runtout
that the French army will be augmented to the
lime of 750,000 nom

. MONDAY....i E VE NI NG,
_
giar istnM.c..„)-
___..
ogre2o; :dye 10POLITAN. ODDITY &DM
lee. =6•14 —Moody, hall"
TIM.
,IL ,19 Ttameder 4lde
.11Melaml-reed.—Wedaseder, le; Thanylas.
Dbmwmterrace—Monder, Dec. 17; Tamill1,111;
Wmeniameak. 19 :meeyblliwyclaybeue.. lama. Yrldmeweyei. 11. ;
Dec.
17:
meow;
13 ; Dedmaiwll9.
Szoirtica, Mftebad'emee.Triclay, Dec. 91.
Bentlloll9.—Thmsday, Dec. M.
3mmilllMMOldetrest-roed.—Tmeday, Dec. 13. Ilareder, 93,
Friday, U.
Bow, lableldeowl.—Wsdaseder, Dec. iti.
WareasArze., Guest PriecoMetreet.—Tneeday, Dec. 18:
no=la : hider, ?I.
am; aweawtreet, Dorough.—Tweedy, Dee. 18; num
deammil ; lelday, D.
Camberwell New.remL—Wedoeeder, Der..l3. Than-
aaL fa
wooLinele.—Trlday, Deo. It
PWr or Lamar, Owlldhsll-belldbm. - "
wady. V; relele.y, ti.

r, Des. 17 ; W• -

0017 RT OF QUEEN'S BINOIL-Thr. 15.
&Wogs id Niel Prim atter Tau far losnoins.—(Befe
the Loed Chief Julien and ersalal Juriss.)

liniflalleif AID A 7021111 V. TIM =inn. OAS 0011 PANT.
This was an action arising out of as stain= of gas
which took place in the maoth of February leek whilst the
company were engaged layiog at ps to the promises of
Mr. Jon Lee Morley, 121, Woodalrest,
_Olteapolde. By
the lashes, not only went Go whole of Mr. Moeloy's pro-
misee yid, but an hamar mouse id in
the neighbourhood was mere or Ism iejsted. The -
tiffs', the Mesas. Blenkiraft's imams, No. 123, wee
situ•ted next door to Mr. Mollies, end they were limed'
in the Bun Fire Office. The odes We paid 14,500 t pa the
policy. It is understood that "no 11 ft 14 seam may
arias out of the Are, and. &mans do 0111111114 atetemet,
claims to the extent of at Wet 554 are reel e&
The declaration in the cam alga tha Ihe defenante
were mega end employed is and Wag on pe
to • mein mmenage and premises dng adjoin-
: to
.aesseeege and preplan a and the
sl teirierveatteschtly se nrearesaystea
supplyerms.
ereslws
lalmitsitut the .717 and la cm a the to
mese so explodes la:elllace, the pr
flee-
lobes were set on are and his prepay plan ittjusid. The
damages Were Lid at 30,0012.
The dafendiats' chief pleas were a dada of the algal*
of apaigeaos imputed to them, sad thot they had not in any
way mend the Are. But they likewise demurred to the
declaration, on the ground that the ire having travelled
from Mr. Morley's premises to those' all the plaiatiffs'
the injury to the latter we* note direst end wooerry sem
=near of the defendants' act. Is cater weeds, the* the
indicted on the plaintiffs was too gate, and epee
pied. 1.32; that the action as between them and the defen-
dants would set lie. On ..st ,F however, dung& worse
of lest term or , the wart the demiver, end gave
=is favour of plaintiffs. The hewn in bd.,
came on now to be tried.
Mr. Hawkins, Q.C., Mr. J. B. Banish*, and llfr. H.
Giffard eppeszed for the_piaiatille ; Mr. &ye, Q. 0., Mr.
Lash, Q.L, Mr. D. D. Keens, and Mr. Mamba for the
defendant. ; Mr. C. Pak= holding a watching brief on
lobelia the Plimnix rre-odes.
It would seem the
ii. ty of London advs. its 'apply of
pp. hoe. two namely, the Chartered Gee Com-
any and tbo Gas Oonipany, who are established
under sit a parliament. Up to Febroary in the present
year the premier of Mr. John Lee Morley, 122, Wood-
street, wire supplied by former company, but in cones-
=of the Solicitations of the defendant.' company ect•
to ]sir. Morley's fattier, be was induced to =oder
hie =town them, the defendeats being at the expense at
the almotions. The Chartered Gee Company's main rum
slang Woodmivet, beneath the entre of the roadway,
whilst the defendants' main rune madmen* the footway
as either ado of the street On the morning of htestlai,
the firth of February, two mee named Bicknell and Alm,
is the employment of the defendants, proceeded. to Mr.
Morley's in order to lay on service pipes in connemon with
the mains of the Central Gas Company. On their arrival
at the premises Bicknell alleged that be went dowa into the
hammed* story, into whieh the sery pipe was to lead,
and runes three burners alight ther he told Mr. Yorley's
men Hist iis should require them to be put out. The map,
howevw, told him they could not do so, as otherwise they
mold net see to do their work. Bicknell thereupeft west
Rehire,
w and shortly afterworde commenced Ulna, up the
-ily. The defendants' mein was about three feet me
been the external well of iforley's premises, the wan
bung about two feet six inches thick. Having taken up
the deg-way, the defendants' men ociencesona diggieg a
trench just over the Ervin pipe of the =sr eompany
wherein to lay the new service pi as they in-
tended to being it into the beset just
shover the old pipe About • foot &bon the
=ma 1•110 • witelow with a pabg, which sendto
NOM& lemenest don. The wl.lew wee apes as the
nonsag to itrib ;hill:laving dog tie =sok the men nest
comeasond • hole la the brisk wand the wall,
, through gobh bathe . The thehis
' hole were a good deed rinse haft it
was towed to be 14 babes by I, where=ilittois
Me mid the Mae node_ by them was nay piek enough
to edmit an Mesa ••ball pipe- TliellidNiamtrelei
won enplaned away by a witaies mooed , who
stated that after the explosion he had enlarged*, hole, in
order to supply an outletl for the water and do pevent it
running into the main. Bicknell. than =O,ll tapping
or the mate, ,in other words, cemenesil a hole in
the male, whereto be was to ads •as rearms pipe.
He hod burst in the aperture, ”id_ 'WA
act of pairing the sides of the brig—ilir process
baring occupied between six and bee mbintos—when
the explosion took place which led to the &desalts of
each an immense amount of property. How II eams. about
was the question which the jury had in peed degree to de-
terrains. Although no lives were last woo the measion,
in pursosirs of a custom followed in the =el Lesko •
coroner's inquest was held on the la
yer et
at Cuildbia, before Br. Serjeant Pa sot by Sts=
of the jury
.which then mat the defendants wee held Veda
for the origin of the are. On the pents. ones= the nut.
dance on the ode of the plaintiffs went to show that in lay-
ing down the gam at Morley' the defendants' somata had
Dot used proper precautions-Ist, in not baiting on the
lights being put out before they commenced working; and,
secondly, in not following the mode proper on occonons where
a main wee so clime to the external wall, and where the ser-
vice pipe to be inserted was so large, namely, of inserting
what ii known as a T piece in the main and bladdering up the
cads ; thirdly, the window ought to have been closed and the
aperture in the wall caulked until the serelcie pipe was reedy
to be inserted. The result of thesepreosialose not having
been takes was, that the gm rushed out ia a large vohnoe
from the main as soon as it had been burros, sad travelling
along the trench got into the brewer between the inter-
✓ims of the window grating es well r through the hole
in the wall, and thus the explosion wad mused. The ex-
plosion took place between half-past ten and eleven ; and
shortly before a Mr. Fretwell, who had occasion to visit
Mr. Morley's premises, oa his ooming out and seeing the
men at work at the main, told them they MOM poisoning
the people in thebasement sogreat was the smell of gas there.
For the defence it was alleged—first, that it was not
the defendants' gsa which had caused the explosion, but
that of the Chartered Or Company ; and seccnidly, that
supposing it was the defeedants, gas, they had
nevertheless used all ordinary known precautions
to prevent the occurrence of accident, and that being so,
and they acting under the authority of an act of parlia-
ment, were not liable for any consequences which might
arise from the exercise of their powers. Coder the first
head it waii attempted to be shown that there had been as
ems= of gas on the premises, arising from the alleged
neghgenee of a servaut of Morley, in not turning off one of
the burners on the Saturday eight previous. Gam had been
smelt on the staircase before the accident, and • man named
Valiant in Morley's employment, swore that about ten
minutes post ten on the blooiby morning there was a strong
smell of gas on the losement. Still, however, the defendants
had taken all ordinary and common precautions to prevent
accident; secondly, it Aas not ii.isal toinsert • T piece where
the service pipe bore an adequate proportion to the main.
Here the main was :1 inches, and the service pi, e li. Nor win
it ever the custom to bladder where a T piece was =inserted.
Although it was not the invariable custom to caulk up the
hole in the external wall, yet upon this axes= the de.
fondants' servants had Illed it up with tow, which they
had rammed home tight. The men bed called upon
Morley's servants to pot out the light., ad as they had re-
fused, Morley should be visited with the conseqnsoess. The
powire of gas in the main was not very great—it would
have been much greater at night ; and neither Brkknell nor
Allen. the men employed, bad perceived any strong pre-
monitory smell to ware them that the las wee maples
in large volumes. The tendency of ps was to rise and
diffuse itself, and for it to havo got into the basement
through the interstices of the grating it must fleet have
&acceded and then deeceoded.

We scientific evidence was called on either side.
The Chief Justice, in summing up, told the jury it was
not enough for the defendants to establish that they had
used all onlinsry precautions, they must show that they
had adopted all reasonable and proper precaution. having
reference to the surrounding circumstances. As, for
example, the lights burning so the basement, the open
window, end the proximity of the main to the external
walL True, the defeedenta' servants had asked Morley 's
roes to put out the lights ; but then ought they not have
gone farther, and on the refusal of the men have seen Mr.
Morley himself, who was on the premises, and have pointed
out to him the risk of their being kept a light. On the
other hand, no attempt had been made to disprove the state-
ment of the defendants servants, that the hole in the
external wall had been adequately caulked. But it
had been rather too largely assorted by the de.
(methods, that as they were carrying on a lawful
trade the exercise of ordinary prudence would exonerate
them from all consequences Could the jury come safely to
any other conclusion than that it was the gas of the de.
fesidante which caused the explosion, and if so, could the
defendants be held responsilde for not having examined
reasonable precauticie to avoid accident?
The jury retired to consWer their verdict at half-past two,
and about half-past four they sent down word to the Lod
Cbid Justice that they were not likely to agree. However,
at Ave o'clock they entered the tout, when, in anov a to
the question whether they had agreed upon their verdict,
The Foreman said they were not agreed upon the first
question, namely, whether it was the defendants' gas which
mewl the explosion; but they wets &grinder to the 'wood,