The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-26 00:00:00

THE SICK OF THE HIMALAYA.

PORTSMOUTH, WRDAEsDAr NIGHT.
At a meeting of the guardians of the poor of the Port.
sea Island Union, held in the Poor-house, Kingston,
Portsmouth, this evening, at which were present—Mr.
Alderman Levy, vice-chairman, president, the following
members of the town-council :—Messri. J. A. H.
Howell, Hannam, Newlyn, R. F. Jolliffe, Palmer, Daw,
Well, White, and Dore ; Messrs. King and T. latched
lor, guardians ; and Mr. Devereux, solicitor, clerk to
the board, the case of John Williams, the distressed
British seaman, landed from the Himalaya on the 3d,
and who died in the Poor-house on the evening of the
4th, of alleged exhaustion and neglect both on board and
after landing, was re-opened by the chairman, who road
the following letters which had been reoeived since the
last meeting of the guardians, held this day fortnight
"13, Cannon-row, Westminster, Jan. 12.
" Gentlemen,—l have read the report of your pro.
ceedings at your meeting on the 10th inst., as given in
The Suis of this date, and with !reference to that part
of the certificate and declaration of Mr. Bull, the sur•
geon of the union, wheroin he states that the seaman
Williams died in consequence of 'neglect while on board
the Himalaya,' I think it right to forward you a copy
of a communication which I have sent to Lord Palmer-
ston, in the hope that his lordship will do me the justice
to take measures to relieve me of the most unjust im•
putation ea:A on me.— I am, gentlemen, yours obediently,
" JAMES M'CANN, DT. D.,
"Late Surgeon in charge of Himalaya."
"To the Guardians of the Poor of the Portsea
Ish4n.l Union."
The following is the statement alluded to in the above
letter:—

"On the arrival of the Himalaya at Spithead, on the
2d inst., one of her 117njssty's tenders, with a naval cap-
tain in charge, came alongside- and received the naval
invalids, 11 in number, put on board at Malta. By
order of Captain Russell, of the Himalaya, I made over
the invalids, with their papers, for the purpose, as I be-
lieve, of being taken to the hospital. The complaint
under which the seaman Williams laboured was chronic
disease of the liver, accompanied by hceraorrhoid. The
man Williams, during the 14 days he was on board the
Himalaya, received every attention, professional aid
otherwise. He was seen twice a day by me, and Dr.
Manifold, medical officer in oharge of military invalids
on board the ship, saw him with me. I declare that
Williams received every kind of attention, with suitable
diet, and six ounces of port wine daily, and that that
part of the report of Mr. Bull, surgeon of the Portset
Island Union, that Williams died of neglect while en
board of the Himalaya' is entirely incorrect."
A letter was also read from Mr. W. J. Cooper, the
coroner, in which he explained the motives which had
induced him to decline to hold the inquest. Mr.Coepes
stated that he thought it unnecessary to have an inquiry
in the absence of evidence to sustain the shadow of a
doubt that the death of Williams had twisen from disease
engendered by exposure to the morbific influence of
climate. " If,, said Mr. Cooper, "I had hold en in.
quest on the body of Williams, I must, in consistency.
do so on the bodies of all the invalided soldiers of the
Himalaya, who may die within my jurisdiction."
Mr. Howell said, he was not satisfied with the answer
of the coroner, and he had therefore a resolution on
the subject to submit. No one could deny that all
the officers of the union who had had to do with the
case, including the relieving officer, the governor, and
the medical officer, had done their duty. He was per-
fectly sure of this ; the public, however, were not satis-
fied as to tho way the case stood at present, and a very
strong opinion bad been expressed in this borough. Re-
ferring to the way in which the man Williams had been
carried from place to place, And the refusal of the Sailors'
Home to receive him, Mr. Howell observed that he
should naturally have expected that a committee of
gentlemen who managed a sailors' home, would hay.
been in waiting at the dockyard to receive and take care
of invalids, in place of denying admittance to one who
was taken to their very doors. Mr. Howell concluded
by moving the following resolution :
" That this board having maturely considered the reply
of Mr. William Cooper, the coroner of this borough, in
reference to his not holding an inquest on the body of
John Williams, a seaman, who was landed from the
Himalaya, and who, in the recorded opinion of the me-
dical officer of the board, died from exhaustion and ne-
glect on his passage in that vessel from the Black Sea ;
resolve, that in the opinion of this board the said corn.
nor of this borough ought to have held an inquest on the
body of the said John Williams, which they regret was
not done' to satisfy the public mind."
Mr. DonE seconded the motion.

The CIIAIRMAN (Mr. Levy) considered the reso-
lution a very mild one, and one for which he was
quite prepared to vote. He did not, however,
agree in all that had been said by Mr. Howell. It
was in the dockyard where the first lapse had taken
place : the man had conga home in one of her Ma-
jesty's ships ; the Government thought proper to
take charge of the invalid sailors and soldiers,
and yet the parties present in heraMajesty's dockyard
had left this unfortunate creature without attending to
his case ; it was the officials at the dockyard who were
to blame more than any other party. Now, was it right,
he asked, on the part of the Government officials to
suffer John Williams, a shipwrecked sailor, who had
come home and landed in her Majesty's dockyard, to lie in
the dockyard, so long suffering under piles, because that
was the complaint under which he was suffering l The
poor fellow had first of all been taken to the Military
flospital, and there he was refused admission because he
lid not belong to her Majesty's service ; he was then
conveyed to the Sailors' Home —a home for sailors with
money in their pockets—and bad he had money in his
pocket he would have been received ; then he was taken
to the local hospital, and there he was refused admission
because he bad no order. (Cry of " Shame.")
Sir R. F. JOLLIFFE 'regretted that any misunderstand-
ing should have occurred with the coroner, and was of
opinion that it would be proved the man had not been
neglected in the Himalaya ; the neglect had been in the
dockyard and in the man being hawked about. (Hear.)
It was a great shame that a hospital (the local) to which
they ail subscribed should have acted as they had done
in this case. It was most disgraceful that the man
,hould have been brought to their gates and then turned
adrift. (Rear, hear.)
_ _

Mr. PALMER defended the medical officer of the union-
house. He had no doubt that before their medical offi-
cer had made such a statement as to the man's treatment
on board of the Hima'aya he had some foundation for
it. (Hear.)
Mr. HANNAM said he should vote for Mr. Howell's
motion ; the man had been treated most cruelly by the
Government authorities, the gentlemen at the Sailor's
Home, at the Military Hospital, and lastly at the Royal
Hospital (the local hospital, styled "The Royal Ports-
reoeth, Portsea, end Gosport Hospital").
The motion was then unanimously agreei
Mr. IlowEx.r. then moved—

" That a copy of the foregoing resolution be sell to
the Secretary of State for the rlome Department, an d
also to the town-clerk of this borough, to be by him laid
before the town-council."

The resolution was egreed to unanimously.
The board then discussed what ought to bo done in
reference to the letter from the surgeon of the Himalaya.
Mr. PALMER moved that a► copy of that letter be for
warded to Mr. Bull, the medical officer of the union
house, and that he be requested to report to the gua r
diane thereon. Ile thought Mr. Bull must have had
good grounds for what he had stated in his certificate
and that it was but right to give him au opportunity o
justifying himself. (Bear.)
The motion was unanimously agreed to.

THE ORBIT NORTHYRN Pit; 4.4.N0

POULT.RY SNOW.

The third annual exhibition of the Great Northern
Pig and Poultry Association, open to all England, took
place at Doncaster on Wednesday and Thursday (yestd
day). The principal features of the poultry department
were the game, the Spanish, and the coloured Dorking
classes. The game birds were allowed to be the fines t
collection of that variety of fowls ever shown. The
strongest competition was in the classes of black-breasted.
and other reds, of which there were 90 pens against 61.
last year. Mr. Mellowes, of Carbaston, near Worksop,
obtained the first prize for the birds above oneyear old;
Mr. Frith, of Tarne-wood, Anston, the second prize ;
Mr. Mellowes the first prize for the chickens of the
same er.riety ; and Mr. Chaloner, of Steetly, near 'Work-
sop, the second prize. It may be remarked that the
game fowl is a favcurite breed in North Notts. The
classes of Spanish were well filled, and comprised come
remarkable specimens. The first and second prizes both
for fowls and chickens were obtained by Dr. Pierson, of
Burlington-quay. The coloured Dorkings were of fine
quality, and produced a smart contest, especially for
the chicken prizes, the first of which was carried off
by Mr. James Brown, of Rossington-hall, near Don-
caster, and the second by Mr. Edward Akroyd, Den-
ton-park, Otley. The first prize for the fowls of the
same breed was obtained by Mr. G. Hustler, Appleton,
Tadcaster ; and the second by Mr. Joseph Braddock,
York. The Shanghai or Cochin-China classes showed
a marked falling off in numbers, as compared with the
exhibition of last year, and no visible improvement its
quality. The first prise for cinnamon and buff variety
was won by Mr. Staley, North Collingham, near Newark.
The first prize for chickens of the tame breed was
awarded to Mr. G, Hustler, Appleton, Tadcaster ; and
the second to Mr. J. H. Smith, Skelton-grange, York-
shire. There was an excellent show of all the varieties
of Hamburg fowls, which appear fully to maintain their
ground in the public estimation. Poland fowls were
brought forward in diminished numbers, and, as a fancy
breed, evidently do not increase in popularity. There
was a pretty good show of pigeons and rabbits. Turkeys,
geese, and ducks( were bat scantily represented, owing,
most likely, to the lateness of the season. The same
remark also applies to the show of pigs, which, how-
ever, included some splendid specimens of the porcine
species. The prize fat pig of a small breed,
exhibited by
Mr. Godfrey, of Thorne, excited unqualified admiration.

DEATH FROM IrrnnonsoßrA.-1 private named
Charles Miller, belonging to Captain Duncan 13aini,,,,
troop of the Royal Horse Guards (Blue), died from hy.
drophobia on Wednesday evening in the hospital at
Windsor. He had been bitten by a Scotch dog about a
year ago, but the wound was speedily healed, and no•
thing more was thought of the matter until within two
months, when deceased was taken into the hospital in
a state bordering upon delirium, but exhibited no re•
markable symptoms until Thursday (lest week), whoa
on a basin of broth being ordered by the surgeon, the
poor fellow drew back from it with horror, and after.
wards rejected everything in a liquid shape. The symp-
toms of hydrophobia increased daily ; the sufferer
howled like a dog, aad soon became raving mad. The
dog bad been seen in London not long ago, and up to
that period bwi, flown to pigni cof