Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-01-14 00:00:00

street, where the aed

court, at two o'clock,
Mr. Snowball said he appeared. for the friends of the
deceased women Murray, mother and daughter.

Mr. James Thompson, who said, I am ti
Mr. Lewis's, establishment, Great George

street ; vI
am

eight years in the 'employment ;
one,' with two entrances in Great George-street; the
width was about 42 feet; as I think ; the depth of the
shop was, I think, 36 feet, There was no crew work be-
---A ;. nni n (v. nu- qnd it was commenced about

hop was a

shop nit° Rathbone-street.
Mr. Aspinall said, properly speaking, it was not an
addition.

The Witness : The old shop was to be taken down,
and in that was a new work, then to be added to the
other additional part. It was Mr. Lewis's intention to
close the old one and carry the new work through to
Rathbone-street, and it was announced about three
weeks ago to the public that such was to be the case, both
by placardls- and advertisements in the papers. I have
not a copy, but I can give the words, if you wish.
It stated that the goods Were selling at a reduced price,
to the nneninfr of the• nlace and durin

customers came to 'tie shop for the last few days
About three-o'clock I should suppose, on Tuesday, the

accident took place. I was just -pessing from one shop
to the other at the time. My attention was first drawn
to it by a very load noise, like a great weight falling.
I made to the door at once bo4re_l observed the falling,
and immediately came back, and saw the whole place in
ruins. I came back to render assistance, as I knew then
what had occurred, and I went back to render assistance.
I knew then that the premises had fallen in. The name
of the book-keeper was Mcridith Jones. I saw him
taken out, but did not see anything fall on him.
He was taken from under _ the debris in the

cellar to the dead-house. I saw four others
taken out—three females, one labouring man and one
book-keeper taken out. They were all quite dead,
The half of the flooring was all carried down. The
shop would have been closed as soon as the end wall
would have been taken down.
A Juror • What wall ? The old end wall that divided
the old and new shops ; it was to have been taken down
as far as the top of the shop. The wall was not propped
beyond the old beams that supported the floor.
Coroner : Who superintended the progress of the work ?
Mr. Lewis superintended the whole work himself, but
the new building was done by contract, consequently the
work had foremen as the contract was had by different
parties. There was a foreman over the joiners.
Mr. Aspinall said, the new work had nothing to d'o with
the present case at all.
'The Witness : There was a foreman over the party that
had the contract.

Coroner : Who had the charge of taking down the
old wall ? Mr. Lewis employed his own men to do it,
and instructed them himself. can't say if he
employed an architect. I believe he consulted
with architects as to the best mode of
takin,,,,, down the wall, but he gave the directions
himself. I did not think it was dangerous work myself.

Before the building fell in, there might be ten or twelve
customers in the shop, but I cannot say. positively.
Examined by Mr. Snowball: I heard he consulted an

architect.
By Mr. Aspinall : The place consisted formerly of
two houses, and it was the back part of the northern
house that fell; there was a front and back
room, and it was the back floor of the
third storey that fell, in, and the weight
carried all before it. Mr. Lewis was pulling. down
the place by- day labourers that he employed himself
The men were bricklayers' labourers, and wet
accustomed to that sort of work. M

spent a great deal of his time in superintending
I was from time to time on the building, and was aware
of the mode the work was done; I was chiefly in the
plane in.the shop where the accident occurred. It never
occurred to me that there was anything dangerous,
up to less than one minute of the time I was
there. I just went to speak to a customer. There. was
a wing at each side of the house. These had been taken
away previous to the accident. They were taken down
the same way as the work was going on. Mr. Lewis

and family continued to reside there after the win
were taken down.

To the Jury : The rooms where Mr. Lewis and family
resided in were those that fell. Mr. Lewis was on the
premises on the day. He came at nine and remained
until half-past eleven o'clock, and instructed, the men to
the last moment that he left. I make no doubt had he
been there, he would have come down on the falling floor
along with the men —ono of the inen who was taking down
the wall was killed. Mr. Lewis spent from nine in the
morninr, till night with the men. I frequently went
for hint to come to his meals ' • he was so anxious about it
he often neglected his meals. Mr. Lewis slept in the
room that fell in.
William Roberts examined : I am a general labourer,
and live at 4, Adelaide-place, out. of Blair-street, and was
employed by Mr. Lewis, in August last. I had charge
of the place, for one thing to take care of it ; I worked
myself, and was at work with other four men, who were
labourers like myself. We were engaged taking a
chimney breast down; master bricklayers were building
the inner walls ;_ I assisted generally in whatever was to
be done. . We dressed the bricks as we took them down ;
instead of taking the bricks into the new place,we dressed
them when wo took them down, though Mr. Lewis's
orders were to take them into the new place. I recom-
mended a labourer, named John Ellis, to the place ; he
was engaged by Mr. Lewis, on Tuesday morning last.
He was an ordinary labourer. I • had been called away
when the accident took place (about three o'clock),
to take some fixtures to .Parliament-street. I left
John Ellis at work on the premises. I re-
turned in about ten minutes, and it happened
before I reached back. I found the premises had fallen
in °limy return. I assisted in getting the bodies out.
Saw Ellis's body taken out dead. I observed Mr. Lewis,
day after day, constantly superintending the work that
was going on. He appeared to understand the work, and
appeared to be doing all that a man under the circum-.
stances could do. I was speaking to Ellis a few minutes
before I left; Saw Mr. Lewis from eleven to half-past
eleven; with us on the top of the building, and
that was the last time I s tw him before the accident, he
was then giving directions to us. The last thing he said,
was telling us to clear all the bricks off the floor, as soon
as possible.
Examined by Mr. Aspivall : The orders were obeyed.
Mr. Aspinall : Were the bricks cleared off as soon as
possible ? No sir. The bricks should have been taken
into the new place to be dressed, there were a great
quantity of bricks on the floor—they were divided—l can't
say what quantity of bricks were on the floor at the time.
None of the bricks had been carried away from the time
Mr. Lewis left ; the men were dressing the bricks in the
old building ; they ought to have been dressed in the
new ; the north side of the new building was finished,
and we were to take the bricks there ; I had charge of the
place, and gave the mon orders to remove the bricks,
bat they dtd not do so ; I was called away, and per-
haps that was why the orders were not obeyed ;
all the men heard the orders as well as I did ;
Ellis was not a bricklayer's labourer ; I was
for a spell, pulling down the wall in the morning before
Mr. Lewis came. Three were dressing bricks, and two
taking down the coiling. I can't give you any idea of
thq quAtti. a bricks eg the floor A 044 time

of - the accident. I complained to the other ma
that they did not obey Mr. Lewis's orders. I wanted to
get the bricks away, afraid that anything might happen.
I did not remove any bricks at all.

Coroner : What was it you were afraid might happen ?
Why the same thing that did happen ; and another thing
was, I had Mr. Lewis's orders to do it.
To the Jury : Mr. Lewis did not give any reason when
he gave the order for the removal of the bricks. The wall
taken down was from six to eight feet high. There wag
a chimney piece at each side of the wall ; the whole of
the bricks were on two floors. I have no idea of the
weight: Ido not kilt,* the weight of 1,000 of bricks ;
the wall was higher than the
A model of the premises was then exhibited to the jury,

and the positions of the floors, walls, &e., pointed out to
them. , _ _ _ _

James Murray identified his motfier and
at the Southern Hospital.
Mr. W. Jones, shipwrig

ht,. identified the body of

Elizabeth Jones, his wife, one• of- the .persons. )frilled,
Mr. Aspinall tendered Mr. Lewis for examinat

the coroner wished it.
Mr. James Newlands, I
said: . I first heard of the

borOugh

,noineert

abouty three
wallis-street,

and immediately Went to the spot, and fonnd the top of
the shop had fallen in. Several persons, according ro• the
police reports# were underneath. My first attention wa
to look to the:protection of the public outside, as Mir•
Hewett and the fire brigade, were removing the rubbish
I put up strong barricades outside. My attention web
called to the insecurity of the wall over the place;.,

supposed to be. I took on Myself
to give directions to prop that part of the building.
On examining the condition of the central wall, nine.
inches thick, it consisted of two 4 inch independent
brick walls, not at all connected, each having a chimney-
breast. I found on the upper floor, in the room adjoin
ing that which gave way, a great quantity of bricks and
rubbish, threatening- the same sort of aceident at the
south as happened at the north side of the shop. I and

I stood by, getting the things done, mifil a quarter io
four, when Mr. Rishton came, and I resigned it to him,
he being a competent and proper authority. Mr. Nicol
was-also-there. - Since tha-oocurrenee, I have made a,

lading of the

with . brie

thin wall,

swaying of the chimney breast, hastened its fall. Unless
great precautions were taken, the taking.down of the wall
was a dangerous work. If the bricks had been shot down
at once into the basement of the new building, and
dressed there, there would have been less rysk.

have hai

consider

architect

of the man er

an eir4neer

I heard the close of the evidence

tged in the work

- evidence of the first witness was then read for the
witness, and also that of the witness Roberts, and then
'Mr. 'Newlands went on to say) •

I do not consider the

Men the prop

have been employed in such work

;tally unfit

if they are of such a character as I heard they were•
Such work would require a man who possessed the
same knowledge

a contractor

What opinion would you form of a man employing
such men to do such, work?.

,ion, as

man Ellis was not

taking- doin the wall,, but was

dressing bricks.
Mr Newlands was then cross-examined by Mr.
Aspinall: If qualified men were taking down the wall,
it would not make any matter who dressed the bricks.
If the bricks were taken away, according to Mr. Lewis's
order, it would not have been so dangerous. I have
had no opportunity of knowing what competency 31r.
Lewis possesses in such a matter.
. .

The Jury were of opinion that the question objected to
by Mr. Aspinall,.should be put to. Mr, Newlands.
The witness, Roberts, was re-called, and said : I had
the order to take down the wall, but deceased, Ellis, w
only dressing bricks, but the men in hospital pulled doff'
the wall. Mr. Lewis gave us all instructions to remove
the bricks.

Mr. Aspinall again offered Mr. Lewis for examination•
The Coroner said he did not see any objection to hags
him examined, first cautioning him.

Mr. Edward Lewis was then examined. He said
I am the proprietor of the establishment in Great George" .
street. In August last, I began making alterations to
extend the shop to Rathbone-street. I had plans pre-
pared by an architect. The new work is nearly
complete up to the wall of the old shop•
The last beam, of the new work was put
into the gallery, and rested against the old wall —S
wedge between it and the wall—so they were a mutual
support to each other. I superintended the work as it
progressed, so far as to be there present to see that there
was no accident. Mr. Millar is a bricklayer, and worked
with his Men on the new work. I took the walls dose
myself, after the best mode that had been adopted
by advice, and before any was taken down, WC
consulted, and the mode adopted was successful ill
all the other floors. Ido not throw any responsibility
whatever on Mr. Millar; we agreed on the best plans
and followed that plan. There were five men on the
building that morning : two were employed to take down
the wall, and both said they were bricklayer-labourers
one said --
he was accustomed to pull down walls for years,
and offered to do the whole for a certain sum of money;
two of the other men were employed cleaning
bricks as they were taken down; the fifth was
employed pulling &win the ceiling ; he had a general
superintendence. I gave strict orders that the bricks
should be taken down and dressed in the new building',
and this was done in eight floors before in the two wings.
One of the men had been employed by a Mr. Edwards,
who was emp'oyed by the corporation, carting sand. 110
said he was a contractor for pulling down, and offered to
pull the wall down. I said he had been a carter, and he
said "Yes, whilst he was out of employment,
but that he was employed for years taking down old
buildings. To the jury, I would not allow them to do
the work in the dark, and the man came at nine in the
morning. I gave them special directions to remove the
bricks as soon as the bricks were taken from the wall
I said, " Men, you must move all these brie
floor to the new buildin
more." I gave MN

s off the

I had not the
and I walked aerc

down anY

test apprehension of any danger,
;he room at half-past eleven o'clock,

and I used particular caution with the men every day.
Mr. William Eishton, town-surveyor, examined :

heard of the accident at a quarter to four; and went
there, and rendered all the assistance I could in removing
the bodies, &c. I have made a careful .survey of the
place since. I have heard the evidence of Mr. Newlands,
and agree generally with him as to the proximate cause
of the accident ; I have heard the evidence of Mr. Lewis,
and the orders given by him as to . the taking . down
of the wall, and I think, if his orders were
attended to the accident would not, in my opinion, have

taken place.
To the Jury : Any practical man would be cautious--;
the men used no caution at all, for if they had obeyed
the_orders, of Mr. Lewis, it would not have happened.

To Mr. Aspinall : It would not require 'any skill to
hare obeyed Mr. Lc.:wis!s orders, but if they had any skill
they would not have eudanzered th
ing as they did.
To the Jury : Tip

mn lives by -work-

m ai to the iOl

prudence of the way in which the work was done.
To Mr. Aspinalt : My aisi4tant looked after the work►
and never-reported anything wrong to m 3 of it. I must
do the justice to Mr. Lewis to say that he frequently
came to my offi3e to consult me on the subject, and was,
always anxious to do what was.. right with the

authorities,

Mr. -Lewis, in reply to Mr. Aspinall
applied for liberty to put up a barricade.

I he had

-Mr. Nicholl, a-builder, lia
with Mr. Newlands and Mr. Rishton.
Mr. Rishton bore testimony to the
to him by Mr. Nicholl, surgeon.
John Bateson, of the Southern Hospital, proved the
cause of death of the persons there..

xanined, and

services rendered