The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-18 00:00:00

The Late Fatal Omnibus Accident.

Mr. Payne resumed the inquiry, at
St. Bartholomew's
Hospital, respecting the death of Chas.
Fo.eastgeerdd3y,marn omnibus conductor, who was run over on
Thursday last by another omnibus on Holborn-hill, and
killed on the spot. It being alleged thst the accident was
caused by racing, the driver of the second omnibus had
been apprehended, but was admitted to bail on Friday last.
WillimWraylivihna-as
glfapt7t, Furnival's Inn, said— On
hursday last, about three, I was standing at the
corner of Furnival's Inn, when my attention was called to
two omnibuses racing towards the City, one being slightly
before the other. That part of Holborn is very broad. I be-
lieve they were going at the rate of eight or nine miles an
hour. The horses of the second omnibus were about level
with the body of the first, but it pas: ed the other on the
near side at a rapid pace, and the deceased having alighted
and attempted to pass in front of the horses of the second
omnibus, was knocked down by the horses, and the hind
off wheel passed over him. The second omnibus, after
stopping a short time, proceeded on its journey.
In cross-examination this witness said—l saw the deceased
immediately he alighted. There was a very short distance
indeed between the tail of the first omnibus and the horses'
heads
between two and three yards,
When
were near Gray's-inn-lane, but
I cannot say which was the first. The deceased's omnibus
‘h en eI f
first the second
saw t h ;
me perhaps
the
pulled up as he was getting off the monkey-board. I did
not see him get off, but he was knocked down by the off-side
horse just as his omnibus stopped. Ido not consider there
was sufficient room for the second omnibus to pass the first
on the near side, as the second was obliged to squeeze past.
I should think there was a space of about 12 or 15 feet be-
tween the deceased's omnibus and the kerb. There is a
cab•rank just there, and there were cabs on it, but I cannot
tell the distance between the first omnibus and the cabs on
the off side,

Dr. Jones, who resides at 1, Montague-place, Kentish
Town, said—l was in the omnibus of which the deceased
was conductor. There appeared to be a great hurry to get
forward, as there was another omnibus about 40 or 50 yards
behind it. The one I was in went on the Leather-lane side
of the cab-stand, At this time the second omnibus was
coming up fast, and I heard the deceased continually urge
his own driver to greater speed. This was when the light
green omnibus was about 20 yards behind. When they
came opp ,site Furnival's Inn both omnibuses were racing.
A female passenger was standing by the side of the kerb,
and one omnibus was drawn up about a foot from the public
convenience in the centre of the road. The conductor got
down, and went in front of his omnibus, telling the coach-
man to pull across, saying, " Pull them across, and stop
them "—pointing to the omnibus then advancing. 'Witness
seeing, from the speed of the advancing omnibus, that there
might be a dangerous collision, took measures for making
his escape. The conductor at this time continued to exhort
his driver to pull across, at the same time walking back-
wards in a way that he was unable to perceive the approach-
ing omnibus. At this time a female (the wife of the de-
ceased), who was in his omnibus screamed violently. I
looked at the conauctor, and saw the pole of the second
omnibus strike him in the back. Ho was by this whirled
round the horse- collar, and fell on his head. He was then
struck by the hors,-'s fore off leg, and on the ear by his hind
off-leg. The deceased seemed to struggle to free himself,
when the wheel passed over the chest by the side of the head
from the shoulder, and down the centre of the body. He
was at once removed on t o the path, when there was a per-
ceptible tremor in the body, the blood .pouring in great
quantities from his mouth. I saw there was no hope for
him, and at once gave directions for having the driver of the
second omnibus taken into custody. I consider that the
driver of the second omnibus must have seen the deceased
before he was knocked down, as there was nothing else in
the way. There was not space for the two omnibuses to
pass without running over the deceased, and the second
omnibus could not have passed round the other without
danger of upsetting his own vehicle. The deceased had his
back to the second omnibus, and was evidently not aware
of its approach, for he backed on to the chains of it. The
driver of the second omnibus had time to stop before the

accident happened after the deceased placed himself in the
position in which he was struck.
Mr. H. J. Dalrymple, 34, Great St. Helen's, gave corro-
borative evidence.

Edward Gilbert, a cabdriver, said he bad measured the
ground where the accident had taken place, and found that
the urinal near which the first omnibus steppe 1 was 29 feet
from the kerb, and the near wheels of the same about 12
feet from the kerb. He considered the second omnibus was
going at the rate of seven miles an hour. At the time the
deceased was struck there was three or four feet distance
between the two omnibuses. Langley, the driver, tried to
pull up directly after the deceased was knocked down, and
did so about 20 yards from where the accident happened.
He did not try to pall up before the accident. He was driv-
ing about seven miles an hour, and he considered it would
take 20 yards to pull up horses going at that speed. The
road was down-hill, and there would always be a difficulty
in stopping an omnibus under such circumstances, as the
strain was all upon the collar, although it might have been
stopped in a less space.
Benjamin Watkins said he was drivel of the omnibus to
which the deceased was conductor. The other omnibus runs
from Notting-hill to Mile-end Gate, the time of starting
being about the same; he generally started first. He
started on that occasion from St. John's Church at ten
minutes to three. About Furnival's Inn witness heard his
conductor say "Wo I wo I" and he pulled up. The con-
ductor 'sever said a word else to him—in fact the direction
to stop were the last words he heard him utter. Hearing
something coming his near side he turned to see what it was,
and then saw the deceased knocked down by the defendant's
omnibus, In answer to questions he said he never heard
the conductor give him directions to pull in and stop the
other omnibus ; he might have said so, but witness did not
hear him. The omnibus works in with the London General
Omnibus Company's omnibuses. There was neither oppo-
sition nor racing on that day. There was plenty of room
for the Whitechapel omnibus to pass him on the near side.
The distance Langley went after the accident was not more
than would be required to pull up in, although it might be
done in a yard or two less. The speed was about 8 miles
an hour.

Geo. Cook, of 2, Holford-mews, Holford-square, said he
was a cab-driver, and at the tithe of the accident was first
cab on the rank. Saw the omnibus of which the deceased
was conductor stop. It belonged to the General Omnibus
Company. Hearing a scream, he looked round, and st:•w
the conduetor in front of the pole of another omnibus. (He
then described the accident), and added that the driver,
Langley, did not stop when first spoken to,although he gave
two checks to his horses. He slackened the pace and looked
behind, and then pulled up about 10 or 12 yards from where
he knocked the deceased down.
By a Juryman—Langley stopped before the police came
up.

Walter Woo!fe, a general dealer, said he was on the de-
ceased's omnibus at the time in question. He then described
the occurrence, and said the omnibuses were going at the
ordinary speed, and there was no racing,
Harriett B:iggs, wife of James Briggs, said she was in the
dark-green omnibus, and observed the horses of another om-
nibus dodging very close behind them. She said the dark
green omnibus did not stop utitil the conductor was on the
ground ; in fact, it was partly in motion then.
Chas. Waters, a barman, said he was a passenger by the
light-green omnibus, and saw the dark one hailed by a pas-
senger. The deceased jumped down while the omnibus was
in motion, and told the driver to drive over to the near side,
He was then standing by the side of the omnibus, and wit-
ness heard him say, " Pull to the near side." The driver of
the omnibus I was in called out to the deceased, and the off
side horse trod on his heels six or seven times, the pole at
the time pushing him along. The driver of the light om-
nibus pulled up and tried to stop as soon as he called out to
the deceased, and stopped 15 or 20 yards from the spot where
the deceased fell. The deceased jumped down from his own
omnibus right in front of Langley's horses. He was going
about eight miles an hour, and called out, but within two
or three seconds the pole struck and knocked him down.
Witness also called out to him, but there was no time to
stop the omnibus and avoid running over him. There was
no room for 0 vehicle to pass on the off side,
Mr. Christopher Williams said he was one of the house
surgeons of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and deposed to
the deceased being brought there dead. The death he con-
sidered arose from a fracture on the base of the skull.
Sarah Hetworth said she was waiting on the pavement at
Furnival's Inn when the deceased's omnibus drew up, as if
to take her up. She did not require it, and shook her head.
She then corroborated the other witnesses as to the occur-
rence. She addea that the accident would not have occurred
if the deceased had remained between the omnibuses, but ho
persisted in running. The driver of the light. green omni-
bus could not have avoided a collision.
After some further evidence, the coroner summed up,
and the jury deliberated for a lengthened period.
The learned Coroner (finding that there was no chance of
their agreeir g, the numbers being nine to eight) discharged
the jury at five o'clock, without giving a verdict.
It is understood that the majority (nine) were in favour
of a verdict of manslaughter; and the minority (eight) for
accidental death.