The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-24 00:00:00

The Fatal Accident at Aston-halls

The inquest on the body of the woman calling
herself the "Female Blondin," killed by falling from
a rope at Aston-hall, on Monday evening, was
opened on Wednesday afternoon, before Mr. W. S.
Poole, one of the coroners for the county of War-
wick. The first witness was Edward Powell, the
husband of the deceased, who stated that he resided
at King-street, Borough road, St. George's, South-
wark, that he had been married 17 years, and dur-
ing that time his wife had followed the theatrical
profession ; she belonged to the original " Huntine"
family. She had been accustomed to walk upon
the tightrope ever since she was th ree years of age,
and had been in every town in England, Ireland,
and Scotland; and never had a fall till nine years
ago, when witness caught her. Mr. Charles Porter,
the surgeon, who came up after the deceased fell,
said that the fall was the primary cause of death.
He judged the deceased to have been about 6 months
advanced in pregnancy. The secretary of the Hall
and Park Company was called to prove the letting
to the "Foresters" for a fête. Nothing was said '
about the kind of entertainment to be provided, nor
did the park committee act in any way as a check,
or interfere with the kind of amusements. The
" agreement " having been produced, it set forth
that the committee of Foresters had the use of the
park and bowling-green; also that one-fourth of
the gross amount of the receipts at the entrance to
the park and grounds, and for the sale of tickets,
was to be paid to the company. The coroner called
the attention of the company's secretary to the
posting-bill, which gave a programme of the fête,
and announced that " the committee had at an tm•
trense outlay secured the services of extraordinary
artists, the Female Blondin, Madame Genieve, &c."
having done so,he asked whether, upon that bill being
published, the attention of the Aston-park committee
was called to it, and any remonstrance made against
it. To this the secretary replied that no " official
conamunication"was made to him about the bill; that
nothing was said to his committee about it, and that
they did not interfere. He admitted that the com-
pany had engaged the services of Blondin himself;
but that they had refused to have anything to do
with women. On Monday there were about 14,000
persons present in the park, while on one occasion,
without the" sensational class" of amusement, the
attendance did not exceed 4,000. The rope on which
the woman was walking belonged to her husband.
In reference to its condition, Mr. Henry White,
foreman to Messrs. John and Henry Wright, rope
makers, was examined. He said that he had
looked at the end of the rope which was broken.
Supposing it to have been sound it would have taken
e weight of four tons to have Woken it ; the rope
might have been examined before the breakage
without the flaw being detected. The outward ap-
pearance of the rope was such as might deceive any
one. To properly examine it part must have been
opened. It appeared to have the dry rot—to have
been used when wet and then put by. Each of the
threads of which it was composed was supposed to
be capable of bearing one hundredweight, but the
rope was rotten and had no strength, the strands
might be almost rubbed to pieces with the hand.
In reply to the coroner, this witness said that a man
unskilled in the examination of ropes might not
have been able to detect that this one was defec-
tive ; but it was bad in every place and bad all
through. In the state this rope was, and it having
been subject to extra strain, the weight from a
person's body would be quite sufficient to break it.
The rope had not been spliced at the ends ; es to
whether it had been in another part was a question
for the husband of the deceased. Powell having
been appealed to by the coroner, said " that the
rope had not been spliced by him," that he bought
it from a maker in London who supplied all the
profession with these ropes, and that he gave 1144.
per lb. for it. The Secretary of the Foresters' Com-
mittee was examined ; he stated that he had never
heard any complaint before the accident about the
rope not being safe; at the time it gave way the
deceased fell straight for a short space, and
then upon her back. At this stage the inquest

was adjourned. The rope was suspended
thirty feet high, not thirty yards, as acci-
dentally stated. The Foresters' cTinmittee had ad-
vertised to the public that at an "immense outlay"
they had secured the BL>rvices, &c. The following
letter to the secretary of the committee of that body
marks the truthfulness of that statement,aLd shows
for what a small amount the writer was willing to
imperil his wife's lite :—"6, King-street, Union-
street, Borough-road, London, June 17. Sir,—ln
answer to yours, just received, permit me to state
( hat the lady will appear twice in the day and night
—once in the kitten oon, and the other at night with
fireworks, if you think proper; terms, £l5. We
find all our own apparatus. You will have to find
about six scaffold poles and a crab or winch to
tighten the big rope; poles of course yon can bor-
row. This 1(40 is the principal artist now in Ell-
iman. Should this offer meet your approbation an
answer by return witl oblige.—Yours respt ctfully,
M. E. POWELL." Much blame is considered to be
attecheO to the Aston-park Company, not only for
making no remonstrance against a performance of
such a character as this, which has terminated so
fatally, but still more as the amount to be paid to
them was dependent on the receipts, of which they
were to have one-tourth of the gross.