The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-18 00:00:00

THE CATASTROPHE AT THE CRYSTAL

PALACE.

THE INQUEST.
An investigation into the circumstances attending the
late deplorable accident at the new Crystal Palace was
commenced yesterday before Mr. W. Carter, coroner for
Surrey, and a jury of respectable inhabitants of the ham-
let of Penge, in the parish of Norwood.
The coroner and jury met at ll o'clock at the Royal
Crystal Palace Hotel.
Among the parties present in the inquest room we
remarked Sir Joseph Paxton, director of the winter gar-
den and conservatories ; Mr. Francis Fuller, managing
director of the Crystal Palace Company ; and Mr. Geo.
Godwin, F.R.S. The contractors, Sir Charles Fox and
Mr. John Henderson, were also in attendance.
Mr. Ballantine, instructed by Mr. Humphreys, ap-
peared to watch the proceedings on behalf of the con-

tractors.
Mr. Farquhar, of the firm of J ohnson, Farquhar, and
Leech, attended as one of the solicitors to the Crystal
Palace Company.
Just as the oath had been administered to the jury, a
painful interest was excited iu the inquest room by the
passage in front of the hotel of a poor fellow upon a
stretcher, apparently insensible, on his way to one of
the London hospitals. It seems that the recent accident
has made all the men employed upon the works very
nervous : and this morning an unusual noise at one end
of the building occasioned considerable alarm. The
men near the spot made a precipitate retreat from the
locality, and this poor man, while in the act of descend-
ing a ladder, fell from a considerable height to the
ground. When picked up he was found to be quite in-
sensible, and in this state he was conveyed to the hos-
pital.
The following is a correct list of the sufferers whose
deaths the jury were sworn to investigate :
William James, carpenter, aged 36 years.
Joseph Copping, carpenter, aged 21 years.
James Warlow, foreman of labourers, aged 34 years.
William middleton, labourer, aged 34 years.
William Rolfe Smith, labourer, aged 28 years.
John Neill, labourer, aged 40 years.
George Topham, labourer, aged 32 years.
William Harding, labourer, aged 32 years.
William Forman, labourer, aged 36 years.
Henry Fielding, labourer, aged 38 years.
The Coroner, in opening the proceedings, observed
that he had received an intimation of the deaths of se-
veral persons having occurred in consequence of some
portion of the works connected with the Crystal Palace
having given way. The first duty of the jury would
be to see the bodies of these unfortunate persons with a
view to their legal identification. After that they must
endeavour to get witnesses to show if possible that
these persons were on the premises, and what their le-
gitimate object there was. It would then be necessary
to show the jury, and through the jury the public, un-
der what circumstances the deaths occurred, "when and
by what means," whether any person might, under any
circumstances, be made legally responsible for them, or
either of them, or whether it was an uncontrollable
event. He understood that some gentlemen connected
with the works were present who would give them all
the facts of the case so far as they might be presumed
to be known at present. Whether that would be con-
clusive to the minds of the jury would, of course, de-
pend on the nature of the evidence offered.
The identification of the various bodies, and the fact
of the deceased persons being engaged on the works at
the time the accident occurred having been formally
proved by two witnesses, respectively named William
Wright and Clement Breden,
George Williams, foreman carpenter, in the employ of
the contractors, was called. He said—l was engaged
on the works of the Palace on Monday afternoon, about
half-past two o'clock. I saw the deceased persons there
at that time. I was upon the ground floor of the build-
ing, within about 24 feet of one of the columns upon
which the scaffolding which fell rested. The deceased
persons were upon the scaffold engaged in completing
its construction. The scaffolding was composed of wood
and iron, properly framed together, and tied with iron
bolts. Six of the lower trusses or frames, of which the
scaffolding consisted, and three of the upper, were com-
pleted. We were about completing the seventh bottom
frame when the accident occurred.
Mr. Ballantine here handed in to the coroner a series
of elaborately drawn plans, showing the construction of
the scaffold. He said they bad been prepared expressly
for the use of the jury, and he hoped after they had an
opportunity of viewing the scene of the accident, the
drawings might prove useful to them in the prosecution
of their inquiry.
The plans having been explained to the jury by Sir
Joseph Paxton, thh examination of Williams was con-
tinued.
The scaffolding consists of a series of trusses, which
are in turn composed of a number of struts tied together
with iron plates, and secured by rivets. It is about a
month since the construction of this scaffold commenced,
and it has been in course of erection from that time. It
was put up for the purpose of raising the iron ribs in-
tended to form the roof of the central transept. The
various parts were prepared below and put together
above. They were put together by men acting under
myself ; I, in turn, receiving my orders from Mr. Coch-
rane, the general superintendent of the works. The -
workmen had put in the last strut, and were in the act
of completing the seventh truss, when the whole of the
three lower trusses, with the planks and fittings be-
longing to them, fell together. I heard a crash of some-
thing giving way, and looking up saw the scaffold fall.
It fell close to where I was standing. I have no means
of knowing what portion gave way first. When I saw
it falling, I had enough to do to get out of the way.
The three trusses fell together. Only a few pieces of
broken wood fell after the main crush. The four other
trusses remained in their places, and are still as firm
as ever. The parties who are dead were all engaged
upon the trusses when the accident occurred. They
fell a depth of 102 feet.
At this juncture, the coroner and jury proceeded to view
the bodies of the deceased persons—a formality, which,
in deference to the feelings of the workmen employed, had
at the suggestion of the foreman of the jury been de-
layed until the dinner hour, when the building was com-
paratively clear of the employees. The bodies were all
lying in a ghastly circle in one of the offices under the
roof the new palace. After a hurried survey of the sick-
ening spectacle, the coroner and jury accompanied
Sir Charles Fox and Mr. Henderson into one of the
galleries overlooking the central transept, where they
listened to a lucid explanation of the mode of construct-
ing the scaffold and throwing over the iron ribs. The
disastrous effects of the accident were still painfully visible
on every side. In the transept a large space was covered
by the debris of the fallen trusses, which in several
places had penetrated the flooring and formed a mass of
broken timbers towering far above it. In the central
nave, buried beneath an immense quantity of heavy
beams and iron work might still be seen the carcases of
two fine horses crushed by the falling materials ; while,
looking upwards, was observed the broken and jagged
ends of the timbers forming the connexion between the
fourth and fifth trusses, evidencing the violent strain
which must have been sustained by the remaining por-
tion when the three inner trusses fell.
On the return of the jury to the inquest room the ex-
amination of Williams was again proceeded with. He
said—l have been employed upon the works ever since
their commencement. My duty was to superintend the
carpenter's work. I have had experience in similar
works, and was engaged in the same capacity at the
Great Exhibition building in Hyde-park. It was my
duty to select the wood for forming the trusses. It was
all new, and the best quality of Dantzic pine. The iron
used was also of the best quality. No portion of the
materials forming the trusses came from the old building
in Hyde-park. The iron columns used in the erection of
the present palace are from the building in Hyde-park—
that is, a great many of them. None of those upon
which the trusses stood have given way. Three of
theone tprauisrs
ofe s had been c
ribs have
aveee b
earr e
ntiherd up o
wn
over
he entire
them. The height,tr andneeee
under those ribs arest,ill
inp areerfeterhe sameet.the same The
way a
They d
composedareeeat.
and
ofthose
h
Imatof crip
erinl
together
have been on the top the re-
p
re-
maining fell. sametruust ses since the accident. The fourth or inner
truss
the
seems shaken a little, but it will no doubt remain
tsafe
e
g arenough until we can make it more secure. The
other three trusses are not all displaced or shaken. I
cannot understand how it is that three of the trusses
should have fallen, while the others remain firm in
their
or places.oner—
carrying out this piece
of machinery
it—these as I may call it—th trusses, I mean,
Coroner—Now, Now, in respect of
for the purpose of allowing the iron circular roof to be
put up, in your opinion, to the best of your experience,
has there • been no want of judgment shown in its
erectiiotnnel
Witness—None
—None whatever, according to my know-
ledge. Had there been anything wrong, I should have
been the first to have altered it. I considered it per-
feccretleys
Coroner—Was eve
strength of the materials
the safety of the partiesal sear
employed,
ee ta
nga kg ee owi tn andht
hwer
ietgha regard d
buildingv to i
ew:_htee
e
d
Yes, every care, to the best of my ability.
Coroner—Have you formed any opinion,
recollecting
that some of the trusses are still standing with iron
ribs resting upon them, as to whether the mode of
operation employed was judicious, and calculated to
answer the desired end ?—I think it was judicious,
and calculated to answer the desired end.
all new.stood
used Coroner—Doin the
formation
aytoiuonkonfowthewhireothnerrinbsew?_myaetse,riiatl
wasANas
when Sir CI hmaernletsienFot
de -park bull mg was only
while the largest in the Hy
72 feet. ewgiirlldebres readilydu nfedeetr span,
nder what
to form any impression u
you been able Fox—'That
tltlhaest
three trusses gave way ?—I have taken
cuinstances the. a
I can't form any
(to the witness)—Asa a practical man, have
i
T•
he Foreman of the Jury—Had you any apprehen.
Coroner
care to investigate, an
dh
ea strictest