The Express.
London, England, 1861-02-11 00:00:00

THE FATAL OCCURRENCE IX A CITY SEWER.

Mr. Serjeaut Payne, the coroner for the City
of London, held an inquest on Saturday, at St. Bartholo-
mew's Hospital, on the bodies of the tour unfortunate men
who lost their lives in the City sewer on
Alfred Ward,
The names
of the deceased men were Julio Devaney, a 45 ; Patrick
Byes, 32 ; Daniel Harrigan, 50 ; and Alf Ward, 20.
Mr. W. Haywood, the engineer god surveyor to the City
Sewers Commission, was the first witness called, and he
produced plans, showing the sewer in which the unfortu-
nate men met with their death. He had been to the mouth
of the sewer in Farringdon-street, where it discharged itself
into the Fleet sewer. At that part of the sewer it was 12
feet high and 6 feet wide. This was, in fact, the Fleet
sewer. The sewers were well ventilated, and he should have
thought that no vapour could accumulate to cause death. He
thought that death might have been caused by a sudden dis-
charge of chemical refuse of some description in the imme-
diate vicinity into the Fleet-lane sewer. He believed that I
DO refuse from the City Gas Works was flushed into the 11
sewer. There were penalties against companies doing this. 1
The sewer did not require flushing, because it kept itself
clean. In the Fleet sewer, there was a great reaction of the
atmosphere, owing to the power of the tide and the number
of small sewers that empty into it.
Mr. Lewis C. Hashp, the Inspector of Sewers to the Com-
missioners, mid that having heard of the accident, he pro-
ceeded to the spot, and found that three of the men bed
been recovered. After the receding of the tide on the after-
noon of the same day, he went there and examined the
sewer in Seacole-lane and the Fleet sewer. The candles
and lamp burned, and he found no difficulty of breathing.
The sewer was last examined on January 4th, and in conse-
quence of the report then made, the men went down to
clear away the refuse.
W. Blackmore, foreman, said that on the previous evening
the deceased went down the same sewer, and were at work
from one o'clock until nine at night, and they then made no
complaint.
Mr. Thomas Folley, the foreman of the underground men,
said that on Friday morning he let Ryan, one of the de-
ceased, down the sewer, and 110 then smelt nothing particu-
lar. When he called at eight o'clock, the Bride-lane men
answered and came up, but the Fleet sewer men did not.
He then went down into the sewer and saw some rats there
dead, which was very unusual. The smell was bad, and he
expected that something had happened to the men. He bad
a naked candle, which burned well, but when he got into
Fleet-lane at the junction he felt a great difficulty of breath-
ing. There was a very bed sulphurous smell from different
directions. He called the men several times, but they did not
answer. At last be saw two of the men, with a candle stuck
`the wall burning over them. They seemed to have died
without a struggle. Their tools were lying at their side.
He could not get nearer then on acount of the sulphurous
small. He then got out of the sewer, and opened the side
entrance into the Fleet sewer, in order to let in the fresh
air. He then got assistance, and the three men were got
out and removed to the hospital.
The men who went down into the sewer with the last wit-
ness were called, and gave corroborative evidence.
Mr. Wooda, the house surgeon at the hospital, said he
bed examined the bodies, and was of opinion that the first
three men who were brought in died from asphyxia, from
inhaling foul air, and the last man (Ward) from drowning.
He did not find any noxious vapour from the first three,
bat be smelt it from the mouth of the fourth. The weight
of the carbonic acid was one-and•a-half per cent. more than
fresh air. He stated that in 1852 three cases were brought
to the hospital of a similar character.
After some further evidence the inquiry was adjourned
until Fridsy next.