The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-11 00:00:00

DEPLORABLE ACCIDENT.

Yesterday, about 1 o'clock, a lamentable accident,
causing injuries more or less severe to nearly 30
people, occurred in the Waterloo-road. For some
days past it appears that a sheriftla officer has been
posted in ten of the little houses and shops on the
left side of the short street called Wellington-
terrace, running from the south side of Waterloo-
bridgeto Stamford-street. The occupiers are tenants
of a kind of middle-man, named Jeffs, a builder in
the Corn wall-road ; one Jones, living in the vicinity,
being the superior landlord. They have, it is said,
in every instance paid their rents, due up to last
quarter day, to Jeffs, and hold his receipts ; but, in
spite of that, on Friday or Saturday last a distress
for rent, alleged to_be due from him, was put into
every house at the instance of Jones, to the great
inconvenience and annoyance of all of them. The
houses there follow the incline of the roadway lead-
ing up from Stamford-street to the bridge, and in
front of them there is a space, about 6ft. wide, and
in places some 30 or 40ft. deep, covered over with
flagstones mostly, with here and there an iron grat-
ing to ventilate and light the abyss below. It appears
that yesterday morning " the man in possession"
of the house and shop there of a widow named
Clayton, a blind-maker, presuming on her forbear-
ance, left the place to go to a neighbouring public-
house for some refreshment. Her nephew, a young
man, occupying apartments with his wife in the
upper part of the house, taking advantage of the
absence of their unwelcome guest, locked the door
upon him, and on the man's return amused himself
by laughing and jeering at him from one of the
windows. The neighbours around and people pass-
ing treated this as a practical joke, and the fun
continued all the forenoon. At length the dis-
comfited bailiff, procuring advice and assistance,
attempted to break in the door, using for that
purpose and with much violence a piece
of short, stout planking. With this he stove
in two of the panels and effected an en-
trance. The nephew of the widow Clayton,
rather than allow his and her furniture to be
retaken for rent which they conceived they did
not owe, began pitching chairs and tables out of
the windows into the street. Of course, a scene
like that in a great public thoroughfare attracted
the notice of every one passing, and. a crowd col-
lected in front of the house. Most of them unhap-
pily—men, women, and children—stood upon an
iron grating, about six or eight feet square, near
the adjoining shop. In an instant this grating gave
way, and some 25 or 30 of the unfortunate people
fell pell-mell into the area beneath, a depth of about
35 or 40ft., shrieking terribly. Several others were
caught by bystanders as they were falling with the
rest, and so rescued. The greatest consternation
prevailed above and below. The people in the
street rushed down to the Belvidere-road, which is
on a level with the bottom of the area, to render
what assistance they could in the emergency. A
yawning gulph appeared in the street above. By
degrees the people who had fallen were got out
through an adjoining house an the lower level.
They were in many cases shockingly injured. Some
had both their legs broken; others their skulls
fractured ; .all were more or less wounded. It was
distressing, in particular, to see the bruises and
broken bones which boys of 12 and 14 had received,
and the grief to which their parents gave way. The
sufferers were conveyed as speedily as possible in
cabs to the nearest hospitals; the greater part of
them being taken to that of St. Thomas's, and the
rest to Guy's and Charing cross, except a few who
lived near and were removed to their own homes.
One was a policeman who had been engaged in
keeping order; another a shoeblack boy, who had
his skull fractured.

Subjoined is a list of them, with the nature cf the
injuries they have sustained:-Francis Raymond,
aged 41, 4, South Lambeth-road, injuries in the
back and left leg ; Thomas Baker, 18, 6, Cornwall-
place, Cornwall-road, right thigh fractured and
injuries to the face; Edwin James Robbins, 27,
living in the Waterloo-road, injuries in the abdo-
men ; George Clement Ridley, 14, 188, Waterloo-
road, compound fracture of the right leg and scalp
wound; Thomas Grange, 15, 2, Commercial-road,
scalp wound and injuries to the left leg ; Edwin
Woods, 14, 20, John-street, Waterloo-road, fracture
of the pelvis and contusions; Frederick Harriman,
28, 2, Roupell-place, fracture of both legs ; Wm.
Hember, 11, 42, Princes-street, Stamford-street,
injuries in the right knee; John Wheelhouse, 32,
Hammond-place, Cornwall-road, both thighs frac-
tured and foot injured ; Robert Larkin, 43, 15,
Felix-street, Blackfriars-road, injuries to thigh and
chest; Francis Cunningham (a shoeblack), 7,Woot-
ton-street,Cornwall-road, fractured skull; William
Venus, 30, police constable 142 L division, 52, Bird-
street, West-square, injuries in the spine; John
Head, 23, 47, Wentworth-road, Bow-road, scalp
wound and injuries to both thighs; Daniel Mur-
phy, 35, 10, Waterloo-road, injuries to back and
chest; Sarah Harding, 41, 27, Old Nichol-street,
Shoreditch, injuries to right knee and abdomen;
Mary Goldsmith, 18, 11, York-road, injuries to
right shoulder and face t Fanny Robinson, 28, 1,
Cox'h-buildings, Belvidere-road, injuries to back
and right leg ; Rose Metlock, 14, 191, Wellington-
terrace, Waterloo-road, injuries to the left knee and
chest ; Elizabeth Goldsmith, 14, 10, Princes-court,
York-road, injuries to both knees and thighs. (All
the above are in St. Thomas's Hospital, and the
next two in Guy's.) Joseph Reader, 16, 181, Wa-
terloo-road, bruises and internal injuries; and
Thomas James, 16, 56, York-road, fractured thigh.
The next two are in Charing-cross Hospital-John
Mitchell, 22, 4, Strand-lane, Strand, scalp wound ;
and Alfred Absolam, 24, 1, Exeter 'Change, Wel-
lington-street, internal injuries, not severe. The fol-
lowing were taken to their homes :-Thos. Dalton,

12, 31, Southampton-terrace, internal injuries, and
Henry Beard, portcr,York Hotel, scalp wound. The
injuries in some cases are so serious that death is
apprehended ; but up to a late hour last evening
none of the sufferers had died. There are pecu-
liarly painful circumstances connected with the case
of George Clement Ridley, a fine boy of 14. Not
long ago his father and several of his little brothers
and sisters died of a fever, and sines then his poor
mother has been struggling to maintain the rest; of
the family and herself. She was well-nigh distrac-
ted yesterday as she accompanied her unfortunate
boy to the hospital.

It appears that after the iron grating had given
way it hung by the edge for a moment or two and
then fell with a fearful crash, carrying some of the
flagstones with it, upon the people who had just
been precipitated into the area below, and also
upon two children who were playing there.