The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-27 00:00:00

occasion. It appeared that on Sunday, the 25tn
August last, three trains started from the Brighton
station for London, ono the Ptn'tsrr,outh train which
was due at Brighton about 8 C2eiG2ic:,a S:C6,ld.
excursion train which was to start about a quarter
past 8, and the regular third class train which
usually started about half-past 8. The Portsmouth
train on this morning was very late, and this no
doubt delayed the others, and eventually they all
started from Brighton for their place of destination
within a very short period of each other, and they
all arrived in safety at the Clayton Tunnel, which
was the second tunnel on the road to London. It
was a regulation of the company that two trains
should not be in a tunnel at the same time, and the
signal-men at each end of this tunnel were required
to signal when a train had passed through before
another train was allowed to enter, and the acci-
dent no doubt arose from some unfortunate mis-
underetanding with regard to thy signals, or from
the machinery being imperfect. As he had stated,
the Portsmouth train passed into the tu;anel) and
while it was there the excursion train came up, and
from some cause or other it was not stopped, but
proceeded into the tunnel. The signal-men, how-
ever, had succeeded in giving a signal of danger,
the effect of which was that the driver of the ex-
cursion train stopped it, and was proceeding slowly
to back out of the tunnel. While he was doing
so the third train cathe up at full speed, and
the consequence was one of the most dreadful
collisions that, he believed, had ever oceurred upon
this or any other railway, the result being a most
disastrous loss of life, and the infliction of the most
dreadful injuries upon a large Lumber of the pas-
sengers. The plaintiff and his wife, who were pas-
sengers in a 3d-class carriage by the excursion train,
wer e thrown backwards and forwards in the carriage
until they became insensible, and although no bones
were broken the injuries they received were of the
most serious character, and he believed that the
plaintiff would never ontirely recover from those in-
juries. The defendants had thought fit to pay a sum
of £7OO into court as a compensation to the plaintiff
and his wife for the injuries which they admitted
they had sustained through the negligence of their
own servants; but he said he must confess that he
was utterly at a loss to understand upon what prin-
ciple this amount of componaation was arrived at,
and he believed that when the jury had heard the
case they would be of opinion that this sum was
utterly inadequate compensation for the damage
and iujury the plaintiff's had sustained.
The case for the plaintiff was then gone into. It
appeared that he had for 27 years carried on the
business of a naturalist, and stuffer of birds and ani-
mals, at Brighton, and was considered very skilful
in his occupation, and had been employed by seve-
ral of the nobility, and his name had been very fa-
vourably mentioned in works having reference to
the subject. It was represented that ever since the
accident the plaintiff had been prevented from per-
forming his business, which it was stated brought
him in a net revenue of £4OO per annum, and that
there were symptoms of his brain having sustained
a shock, and also that his whole nervous system
was affected, and it was very doubtful whether he
would ever again be able to follow his occupation
as he did before. Dr, Burrows, a medical gen-
tleman of Brighton, Dr, Adams, one of the sur-
geons of the London Hospital, Dr. Travers, and
Dr. Ormerod gave evidence as to the condition
of the plaintiff in conformity with the above
statement, and one of these gentlemen said
that at times there was so much heat at the
back of the plaintiff's head that it was plainly
perceptible to the hand when held at some distance,
as though it was near a fire, and according to the
evidence of the plaintiff, this heat was accompanied
by intense pain. The wife of the plaintiff did not
appear to have received injuries of so material a
character, but it was proved that she sustained a
very severe blow on the knee pan, which prevented
her from putting her foot to the ground for several
weeks, and that she also sustained a greal deal of
pain and inconvenience in consequence of this un-
fortunate accident.
Mr. Bovill, in the course of a most able speech to
the jury on behalf of the company, said this was the
first time the gentlemen of the county had been
troubled with an inquiry arising out of this unfor-
tunate accident ; and they had observed that the
directors had not put any of the parties to unneces-
sary expense and inconvenience by denying their
liability, but had admitted that they were liable for
the negligence of their servants, and had expressed
their readiness to give fair and reasonable compen-
sation to every person who had really been injured
by this unfortunate affair, as they already had done
in a great number of cases. He then said it was al-
most unnecessary for him to remind the jury that,
in every case where injury was sustained by a rail-
way accident, when a claim was made for compen-
sation, the amount of the injury was always very
much exaggerated, and it became the duty of the
directors to take care that exorbitant sums were not
paid when the parties had not received injuries to
anything like the extent that were represented, and
he contended that in the present case the sum of
£7OO was ample for the damage that had been done,
as in all probability in the course of a few months
plaintiff and his wife would be perfectly recovered.
Three medical gentlemen were examined as wit-
nesses for the company,and theystated their opinion
to be that neither the plaintiff or his wife had sus-
tained permanent injury, and that they would ulti-
mately entirely recover.
Mr. Justice Wightman having summed up, the
jury retired to deliberate upon their verdict.
In about an hour they returned into court and
gave a verdict for £l,OOO, being £3OO in addition
to the sum paid into court.
Another case of the same description was then
proceeded with.
Serjeant Shee and Mr. B. Rigby appeared for
the plaintiff. The defendants paid £4OO into court.
It appeareddn this case that the plaintiff was a
young man, a pianoforte tuner, and he stated his
earnings to be £2 10s. per week in winter, and £2
ss. in summer, besides which he earned money
privately by tuning instruments. He alleged that
by the collision he received injuries to the head,
which affected his sight, and he also at times
suffered severe pain in the back. In addition to
this he stated that upon some occasions he was
seized with giddiness, and would almost fall down
insensible while walking in the street.
The defence in this case was pretty much the
same as in the last, and the cause was not brought
to a conclusion until a late hour. It was under-
stood that several of the other actions had been
settled.

CROWN COURT.
(Before Lord Chief Justice Erle.)
ChTahrlees gLraegngde,jutrhye ißgnriogruedtonthestabtiiloina.mgaaTtsetr,Br.
for
manslaughter, arising out of the Clayton Tuunel
accident.
In the course of the morning the defendant sur-
rendered, in order that the different inquisitions
taken by the coroner, charging him with the same
offence, might be disposed of.
The Hon. G. Denman, Q.C., who was specially
retained for the defence, addressed his lordship, and
said he understood that in this case his learned
friend Mr. Hake was instructed to prosecute, and
he was desirous to know what course he intended
to take with reference to the matter.

Mr. Hake said that as the grand jury had ignered
the bill of indictment after a full consideration of
all the facts, he felt that he ought not to proceed
with the case upon the inquisitions taken by the
coroner, and he should, therefore, with his lord-
ship's sanction, withdraw from offering any evidence
in support of those inquisitions.
The learned Judge intimated that it was his
opinion that this was the proper course to be taken.
Verdicts of not guilty were then' formally taken
in all the cases, twenty-two in number, and the
defendant was ordered to be discharged.
Richard Gates, 58, a post-office letter carrier, was
charged with stealing a letter containing five £lO
Bank of England notes, and Sarah Gates, alias
Gander, 54, was charged with receiving the pro-
perty, knowing it to have been stolen.
Mr. Hurrell and Mr. 0. Pollock conducted the
prosecution on behalf of the Post-office authorities;
the prisoners were defended by Mr. Merrifield.
It appeared that in the month of October last, a
letter, containing five £lO Bank of .England notes,
was posted in London by the morning mail to be
delivered to a lady, name.d Hobden, t Brighton.
It was proved that this letter arraived safe at
13rightcn, and in du i
e course cameinto the hands of
the male prisoner, who was one of the letter carriers
there, to be delivered; but it never came to hand,
and nothing was heard of the letter or its contents
some time afterwards, when it was discovered
that ale female prisoner, who passed as the wife of
her companion, but who, it appeared, merely co-
habited with him, had changed four of the missing
notes at the shops of different tradesmen in
Brighton.
Both prisoners were convicted, and the man was
sentenced to four years penal servitude, and the
woman to 18 months' Imprisonment and hard
labour.

MIDI AND CIRCUIT.—WARwicK, March 26.

CIVIL SIDE.

(Before the Right Ron, Lord Chief Justice Cock-
burn.)

KENNEDY V. BROWN AND WIFE.-TIIE SWINFEN

CASE,

Mr: Kennedy opened—ids own case, and stated
that he sought to recover from defendants the sum
of £20,000 as remuneration due to him for prosecut-
ing the defendants' claim to the Swinfen estates.
The defendant had since married, and she and her
husband now put four pleas on record, one of which
stated that no such settlement was agreed upon,
that: they had paid for boryices, and that ho had