The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-02-20 00:00:00

1,4 THE MATTER 01' LORT POPTS,METH.A T.I-NATIC.

Hu Loit;itte that he would givejudiituent in this
ease, as to the appointment el a receiver on the Irish mates, on
Saturday.

COURT OF KING'S BENI'lf, Tnrasmr, FEA. 19.

lefrre the LORD Clfitr r lc and a Common Jury.]

HOPKINS r. cutprs IND ()Turns.

The Assorts Rat stat,al that this was an action
brought by the plaint-K, a your.;; Lady in the dress-making and
embroidery line, to recover damages Crum the dmeatiants, who ate
extensive coach-proprit tors, for a very Actions injury sustained by
her, in the month of August, b) the upsetting of the Brighton
coach, on which shc was a passeitger, owing to the furious rate at
which the coachman wan tlri ging. al.d also to tile coach being in
that shattered and rover, state, that should have prevented its being
put Into use at all. F-0111 the rase ahich he should prove to them,
the Jury would learn :led the plaiatilf had been thrown with great
violence to the grettnd thrd part of her face had been so bruised
by the fall, as to render it doubtful whether she would ever recover
her appearance t that he: ar.cle and toot had been nearly crushed by
a part of the luggage falling on them ; and that, in consequence,
-her leg bad been since wasting away. to such a degree as to have
become quite useless to her, and to compel her to have recourse to
crutches. He mild not anticipate the defence that would he made
to this action, as he never, during the whole of his experience, had
to deal with a clearer case.
The that witness called was . .

-
James Calkin, who stated that he lived in Pail-mall, and on the
211th August, 1822, ltsd taken places for three ; himself, and two
others, to go by the Brighton coach, which passed his door daily,
at a quarter past one t but that on this day it did not arrive until
twenty minutes past two: it woo full inside, and there were already
eight passengers on the outside ; he remonstrated with the coach-
man ; stating, that as it was a light coach be did not think that
there was room for three more passengers on the outside ; the
coachman assured him there was, and told him that the than who
had charge of the luggage, of which there was a great quantity,
would leave them at the Elephant and Castle; that he and his
friends got up. and that as they roe proceeding over Westminster
an object ofertteacvelt onthtaotetvieler:•: one thfri'at 41pasitsseodver. overladen
statecoac,
was driving very furiously, in toosequence of his being late, and
that just as they came to the Asylum, the man who was taking
area the 1 e told hint to mind what he was about, or that
the coach would be over; be had hardly spoken when it overturn-
ed with a tremendous crash ; be received some injury, and wrote
afterwards to the defendants to pay his doctor's bill ; Mr. Crippa
I waited on hint, and told him that he was very sorry, but as the
overturning of the coach was the result of an accident, the pro-
prietors were not responsible ; but when he threatened to institute
proesedinis to recover the amount, in consequence of the mazy
state of tbe tom, be was paid the money. The coach uas an old
Norwich and Ipswich coach, with a placard on it, stating that it
went to Brighton in silt hours.
On his cross-esaminstion by Mr. St:Altail.—He Raid, that the
adident was oecasioued by the breaking of the pole, which he at-
tributed to the overladen state of the coach, there being an immense
quantity of luggage on it. Indeed the whole aymeamnce of the
coach was such that nothing but the most urgent business should
have induced him to travel by it.
John Leech was in the sets ice of the defendants in August 1C2:1.
He had repaired a pair of crutches for the plaintiff, by the defend-
ant's order at that time. . _ _

Thomas }Jeannie was near the Asylum at the time of the acci-
dent. The coachman was whipping his horses very furiously, the
pole broke, and when he went to Inok at it he found it quite mien.
He first lent his assistance to the lady (the plaintiff in this action).
but while so doing he was pulled by the coat by a gentleman to Mr.
Hitchcock, who was an inside passenger), and he left the lady and
went to the gentleman's aid. Found that his leg was broken; did
not know what became at' the lady afterwards ; every thing was in
great confusion, and nearly all the passengers hurt.
Cross-examined—Knew that the pole of the coach was rotten, be.
cause he could pick out pieces of it with his nail; it was decayed
from age. like himself. (Lxughter.)
James Warren was on the spot at the time, and corroborated the
statements of the last witness, as to the rotten appearance of the
pole.
Jane Manning lived near the Asylum, and heard the crash occa-
sioned by the falling of the coach; came out immediately, and suc-
ceeded by herself in extricating the plaintiff: She carried her in her
arms to Mr. Forster, a surgeon near the place ; she was perfectly
senseless, her face was bruised, and her ancle scented to be broken.
John Forster is a snmeon living in Mount-street, Lambeth. Re-
membered the plaintiff' being brought to his house. Her face was
much swollen, and she also complained of her ancle, which ap-
peared greatly contused; and her leg has in consequence so wasted
away that she has since been obliged to have a wooden one and to go
also on crutches, and I do not think she will ever recover the use of
it. She has been under my care for more than eighteen months, and
my bill amounts to about CUL of which I have never received any
Crass-examined by Mr. Scaitxtrr —Don not remember any
proposal being mailein his presence, that Mr. Keate should attend
her and that the defendants would pay all expenses and give her
23L

Sir Astley Cooper first saw the plaintiff in November, 1822, three
months after the accident. at that time her cheek was not healed; she
had also lost the use of her leg, in etmsequence of her foot having
been crushed by the °renaming of the coach. In examining her
foot, he found it to be much swollen ; and on pressing it, which
caused much pain, he found some of the smeller joints broken.
Ile had seen her again en Saturday last, and had paid particular
attention to her appearance, knowing that he %honld be called on
in Court to state what it was: he found that her leg had wasted
away, and that nothing but the bone was left; that she never
would retiree the use of it ; that it caused her extreme pain ; that
her rest was completely broken ; that the general state of her
health was very bail ; and that in consequence of what she had
suffered, he considered her as for ever disabled from following any
of the occupations of an active life.
Cross-examined—The dissolution of the flesh in this case was
not owing to the inactivity of the limb, but to disease.
Mrs. Stone was called to prove the capacity of the plaintiff in the
line of life in which she bud intended to employ herself, and stated
that she had formerly, allowed her 11111. a year, and her board and
lodging, for her services in dress-making; and that she was on
her way to Brighton. to establish herself, with very good prospects,
at the time when this accident happened.
Sarah Benson stated, that she called, on behalf of the plaintiff,
on Mr. Hall, one of thedefendants in November last, who said he
could do nothing foe her until he had seen his partners. She also
spoke as to the plaintiff's intention of setting herself up at
Brighton in the embroidery and dress-inaking line.
In answer to a question front Mr. SCAM LEI T, she stated that
i the plaintiff never had been at Brighton before.
The ATTORNEY-GI:1V ERAL.—This is my ease.
Mr. SCARLF.TT then ruse to address the Jury on the part of the
defendants, and admitted that it never hail been disputed that the
plaintiff was entitled to a fair and reasonable remuneration for the
accident that had happened to her, and his clients were and ever
had been ready to make this remuneration ; but the misfortune was,
that the plaintiff mesa ton exorbitant in her demands; the sir.'!
curnstance of the action having been so long delayed, wes an sham.
dant proof that the Kuhl, et of it had been matter of negociation.
The Learned Counsel then eulogised the great advantages that the
public derived from stage-coaches, and dwelt on the great risks
and hardships to which the proprietors of them were exposed, in
consequence of these accidents : he concluded by entreating the
Jury not to suffer their sympathies to lead them away, but to award
reasonable and temperate damages.
The Lon n 'tit Ei• de:vete': then recapitulated the evidence,
and told the Jury the: their verdict must be for the plaintiff,
but cautioned them against suffering their prejudices to Iced them
away.
The Jury retired, and after an hour and a half's deliberation,
returned a verdict for ti:e plaintiff—Damages .1001.