The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-07 00:00:00

I THE FRENCH EMPIRE.

VIE FATAL COLLISION ON THE LONDON AND
NORTH-WESTERN RAIL TVA Y.

,C,

THE INQUEST.
This inquiry was resumed yesterday at the Star Hotel,
Oxford. The first witness examined was
Charles Gwynn, sergeant of police at the Oxford sta-
tion, who stated that his duty was to attend to the book-
ing-office and platform. He was regularly present at
the departure of the trains. He had the power to regu-
late the starting of the trains after he had inquired at
the office whether the line was clear. He received orders
from Mr. Blott, the station-master, not from Hayes. He
was on duty on Monday when the 5.30 train should have
left. The coal train due at a few minutes past five not
having arrived, the starting of the train was delayed.
He knew it had not arrived by inquiring at the office of
the telegraph clerk, whose name was Manning. He had
no conversation with the driver, guard, or fireman of the
5.30 train. He had not told them not to go on. He did
not hear any other officer give them directions, but
he saw Mr. Blott with the guard, who was standing
by his brake on the platform. It was about halif-
n
past five. It was the duty of the guard to remain
on the platform by the brake van till the train started,
The
unless he was putting luggage on the van. He saw
porter
takes it to the guard who loads the van.
Hayes, the foreman porter, on the platform at that time.
He did not see Hayes leave the platform. He was
w
not on the platform when the train started, but at
the booking-office. The station-master was at that
time in the private office, adjoining the booking-
office. He knew the time the train started by hearing the
whistle of the engine ; not the guards. After he heard
the whistle, he came• ou.the platform, and found the train
was gone. He was-standing at the door of the office
at the time it staited;•the door of which admitted pas-
sengers, and whicli•Sliould be closed before the train
started. It was not closed when the train started. The
front door and the- ticket door were neither of them
closed. The object cf• closing the door before the train
starts is to prevent passengers going in the train after
it is in motion. The dmars..were not closed because the
coal train was not in. • The doors were kept open till he
received orders that the line was clear. The train
started before he received orders to close the doors. He
was quite surprised to find that it had started. When
he got on the platform he did not see any officers in au-
thority, unless they were at the other end. The station-
master had told him that the coal train had passed the
Oxford-road Station, and as soon as it arrived at Oxford,
and all was clear, the 5.30 train could go. That infor-
mation was the cause of his not closing the door. When
he went into the office to get this information, Hayes
and the porters were on the platform. When he saw the
train gone, he said to Mr. Blott, who was in his office,
" Has the coal train come in, for the train has gone ?"
Mr. Blott said to him, " Run up, and see if the coal
train is in." He went, and could see no porters, or
any one on the platform, they had gone after the
train, and he heard them halloing, and saw the
red signal hand-lamps waving. From the time he
went on the platform and returned, and found the
train, was not more than a minute or so. When he
saw the guard Kinch come down from the engine
towards the brake-van he believed the train was in
motion. He saw Kinch catch hold of the van. That
was when he went into the office to inquire about the
coal train. He did not call out to stop the train until
he had gone to inquire if the coal train had arrived or
not ; and then they said it was at Oxford-road, and the
train seemed in motion. That was before he heard the
whistle, and when he was in the office he heard the
whistle. He was in the office about a minute or two.
He did not then tell the station-master that the train
was in motion. He did not know but that they might
have seen the coal train at the other end, as the porters
there might have given the signal. He always got the
information as to the line being clear from the office ;
when he hears that, he gives the signal to the guards,
and they look to him for it. The guards look to him
he looks to the office. As soon as he waves his hand
that is the signal for them to start. That is his duty.
He does not give that signal till he ascertains from the
office that the line is clear. On Monday when he saw
the guard coming from the engine he had not given him
any signal at all. If the station-master was on the
platform the guard would look to him, and he would
look to witness to see if 7the doors were all closed. The
station-master would look to the telegraph clerk to cer-
tify that the line was clear. The station-master was
not on the platform when the train started, but in his
office. It was two or three minutes before that he saw
him talking to the guard, Kinch. He saw the red signal
light at the iron bridge at the time he went into the
office. He believed the red lizbt was uu when the train
started. He saw the red light after the second whistle
when the train had left, and in an instant it was changed
to the green light. The station-master was not then on
the platform. It was before he went the second time
into the office that he saw the signals changed, but he
did not tell the station-master they had been changed.
He believed that the station-master followed him out
immediately. He could have heard the guard's whistle
if he had given the signal by his whistling. The red
light is always up before the train starts. According
to the 10th rule, the red light should have been kept
up for five minutes after the train started. It was the
practice for the signal-man at the iron bridge to change
the light when he heard the second whistle, provided the
line was clear. The guard, when he gave the signal for
starting, was sometimes on the platform and sometimes
on the van. He never saw the guard give any other
start but the whistle. He might have seen
signal -lA,`-
him wave his hand. The custom of the guard as to
starting trains was by the whistle. He had known a
train started without the whistle, and by the wave of
the hand. He could not recollect any particular time
that this happened. He had seen a guard named Turner
do it. He had seen Kinch do it also ;he had seen a
train started by the words "All right," and waving the
hand. When he does that the guards are sometimes on
the platform, sometimes on the brake ; most usually on
the platform. At the time the train was first started the
only person who had authority to stop it on the platform
were the porters. When witness saw the train in mo-
tion, he was certain that as he had not given the signal
that it was started without proper authority, even if the
guard had known that the coal train was in.
It was the
duty of the station-master to write a report, up to the
last moment of the trains starting, and for which it was
necessary for him to be in his office. That was the in-
variable custom and practice. Since the single line only
Was in use it was usual to retain this train till the coal
train came in. The report or way-bill was always given
by the station-master to the guard. He could not tell
whether on Monday night the way-bill had been given
to the guard or whether he had it ; he should have gone
to Mr. Blott after he had ascertained that the coal-train
was in before he started the train.
The Coroner here asked if any officer of the company
could point out the duties of the signal-man at the
bridge. Beforo the question was answered,
John Norman, of Devises, the father of the deceased
young woman, Julia Norman, was examined, and
stated that be had seen the body and identified it as that
of his daughter. She was 23 last June. She left his
house on Monday morning, to proceed to Lady Louisa
Harrison's, at Shearswell-park, in Oxfordshire, and was
to have left the train at Bicester.
Captain Bruyeres, the superintendent of the southern
division of the traffic and the branch lines on the Lon-
don and North-Western Railway, then stated—The
whole of the servants of the line are under his direction
except those in the locomotive department. They are
_
are all subject to the printed rules at the iron
and regulations of the
company. One was given to the signal-man
bridge. It was required that he should be able to read.n
The man employed there on Monday was named Ben-
ham. There are two at the signal. He had been some
time in the company's service. That signal was put up
at that bridge as a protection of the line, as the bridge is
for boats
to swing bridge, crossing the river and is moved
to pass. When so swung, it is the duty of the signal-
man
not to take the red light off on any account ; the
red signal was kept up at all times. When a train ap-
proached, and the bridge was not swung, and the line
was clear, it was the duty of the man to lower the arm,
to allow the train to pass or change the colour of the
rugnal. This was the station signal,. but the bridge signal,
'when the train
inved• It is passed the red signal,. was to be re-
form
exce t inoperative as a danger signal to the plat-
ther it wept so far as regards the bridge, to show whe-
anything swung or not. The red light would not have
was also
anoticlio with the starting of the train. There
which could noetr Precautionary signal lamp on the bridge,
line unless the bb! seen either from the platform or the
There q, be shown. was swung when its light would
the starting the tralv;us no station signal with reference to
the platform. Then:: as the order was to be given from
the trains were stopped was by
observing rule 21, thatY
driver was to start but with care, and to look back ullsm
or
that all is safe. If that was
done, there was no
guard is responsible for thi in starting a train. The
ceiving his orders from the starting the train after
tr
re-
authorised by him. If the
eatation-master, or some one
very fast, it was in direct violation on Monday was started
of the orders. The
engine driver was not acting
against orders by starting
the train when the red signal
on the bridge ; but
if it was not changed, he would hwanvoptile been bound to stop
the train, because the bridge
swung and the train would hacvhearne into the canal.
d then have been
The bridge signal having been
right in going,on with caution. The
ged'
men at the bridge
the driver was
could only see three quarters of 'Wile along the
line. It was not required that the station-master
of each train. He
should see personally to the starting
might be in his office on the platform,d and, knowing
driver would bo

subject to punishment as for a heavy offence if he started
without authority. The guards were ordered always to
blow their whistles when they started trains. Extra pre-
cautionary measures had been taken fohrawdohrkeienngent
lye
trains from Islip to Oxford since there
rd
till a telegraph was sent to Islip ,
one line, for no train was allowedtetousetetifin
wls
d and it was tele-
graphed from
thex line Oxford
clear. The trains then left Oxford,
was clear, and the answer received stating that
110 wed to leave Islip till the train coming
Oxford is a
to Islip that they had left. No train coming
from that
trains were allowed to come
at Islip before
from Oxford had arrived. The same steps were taken
station to Oxford.
David Bonham, policeman on the London and North-
Western Railway, stated that it was his duty to attend
to the signals and points at the Oxford station, at the
bridge. On Monday last he was on duty alone. He
had charge of the bridge and two signals—the one on
the bridge and the auxiliary signal up the line. To
work that he had only to go a yard or two from the
bridge. He had the care of 14 points The nearest
was about five yards from the bridge. His duty was to
keep up the red danger signal at the bridge till the
train started from the station, and when the driver
whistled he put it down, after looking to see if the line
was clear. The danger signal remained down while the
train was passing, after which it was put up again. He
had no points to attend to on the departure of a train
from the station. Every train coming in is required
to stop at the platform station, coal trains and ballast
trains included. On Monday evening a ballast train
came down at about 25 minutes past 5, and was turned
into the engine shed. He did not alter the bridge signal
for that • ballast train. The coal train due at 20
minutes past five had not then arrived. The coal train
had to stop at the ticket platform in order to be wheeled
round into the siding. He was at his post when
the 5.30 train started from the station. He saw it
start, and it came on very fast. The steam was being
blown off, so that he could hardly see the station. He
heard the whistle once when it started; and again when
it got past the next policeman, and then he changed the
signal. It passed the bridge, going faster than ever he
saw a train come out of the station before. He had been
on the line upwards of two years. When he changed
the signal, as far as he could see the line was clear. He
did not see any confusion at the station for some time
after the train passed on account of the steam. After
that he saw lights moving about, but he did not hear
any one calling out till Hayes, the ticket collector, came
up to him and said the down coal train had left Oxford-
road. He had not seen Hayes for some little time
before. A porter, named Webb, told him at twenty
minutes past five that it had been telegraphed from Islip
that the coal train was to leave there at five o'clock. It
was merely a passing observation. He was not sent
with any message. He did not say the coal train had
started, nor had witness heard it said. Several other
persons came to the bridge after Hayes. They went up
the line as far as the engine-shed. Hayes then said the
coal train had left Oxford-road some time. Witness did
not hear the collision. He did not go on, but remained
at his post. The coal train did not come in before the
5.30 train started on the 24th, the 28th, and 29th of
last month. If he had been told that the coal train had
started from Islip he should have kept up the danger-
signal, which in that - case ought to have stopped the
passenger train. The driver of the 5.30 train might, in
his opinion, have supposed that the ballast train was the
coal train.-1 The coal train sometimes stopped at the
ticket platform to let the 5.30 train go by, and the
ballast train might have been mistaken for it. The
ballast train on Monday had no light on the tender
which could be seen from the station. The coal train, if
it had come in, ought to have had green lights. The
driver might not have known but that the coal train
was in the siding. The Fairy engine, which had been
attached to the ballast train, stood at the points. There
was a light on the chimney of the ballast engine, but
there could not have been one on the chimney of the
coal train.

At 2 o'clock the court was adjourned till 4, when the
inquiry was resumed.
Henry Collingridge, policeman at the Islip station,
stated that he attended to the telegraph there. Since
the traffic had been on one line of rails, he had special
instructions that no train should leave the station till he
knew that the line was clear to Oxford, which was ascer-
tained by telegraph. Recollected the coal train from
Bletchley coming to Islip about five on Monday last. It
was stopped there. He telegraphed to Oxford before it
arrived that it was in sight, and received a message from
Oxford to send it on directly. It stopped about five
minutes. As soon as it left he sent word to Oxford.
This would be known at Oxford-road station. The ordi-
nary time it should have taken to get to Oxford would
have been 18 or 20 minutes. The answer to the second
message to Oxford was " Good." By this he knew they
had received his intimation. He had, once or twice, in
the last month, delayed the coal train at Islip to let the
5.30 train pass. He had no intimation from Oxford on
Monday night that the 5.30 train had started. He had
never known it start any pther evening without his hav-
ing such intimation. The starting of every train from
Oxford was telegraphed to Islip, . except this one, since
there had been only a single line of rails. There was no
defect in the telegraph that evening.up to that time. It
was telegraphed from Oxford after the answer of "good,"
to inquire if the "line would be clear for the Ap-train
after the coal train had passed," and he answered "Yes."
Mr. Alfred Blott, the station-master at Oxford, stated
that he was at the station on Monday afternoon from
about three o'clock till thirty-seven minutes past five,
the time when he went up the line. There was a coal-
train due at Oxford at 5.20 every afternoon, except Sun-
days. tit had never been exactly punctual, because it ar-
rived at intervals from 5.20 and 5.30. A passenger train
should leave at 5.30. From the 16th of December the
traffic between Oxford and Islip had been only on one
line of rails. Precautionary measures had been taken
that every train starting from Oxford should be tele-
graphed to Islip, or vice versa. The coal train due at
5.20 on Monday had not arrived at 5.30. The 5.30
train was prepared for starting. He did not notice the
driver. It was the duty of the foreman of engines
(Smith) to notice him. He did not know that Smith was
absent from the station that afternoon. He did not ask
the driver Tarry as to his character—it was not his duty
to overlook the drivers. He saw the guard Kinch about
twenty-seven minutes past five on the platform. He went
to him to tell him the coal train had left Islip, and that
,• • •

his train must not start until the other had arrived. He
was aware that the coal train had started shortly after five.
He was satisfied that Kinch understood him. He thought
he would not tell Kinch that the coal train had left Islip
till a few minutes before the time of starting, in order
that there might be no mistake about it. He then went
back into his office to attend to some business, which it
was important he should finish at a particular time ; it
fact, some returns which were to be in London next

morning. He had no way-bill or report to make up.
There were only two letters given to Kinch. They
were not way-bills, or anything connected with the
train. There are not way-bills for every train. The
guard does not take any minute of the number of pas-
sengers. He does of parcels when there are any. If
there were any parcels, the bill would be given to him
by the parcel porter. It might be six minutes before
the train started, as there was no particular time for
giving them to the guard. He did not go out to the
guard again before he started. He gave directions to
Kinch not to start, nor did he see him again before the
train started, knowing he was the only person who could
give the signal for starting. It was his duty to do so.
Witness first heard of the train starting about two
minutes after it started from Sergeant Gwynn, who
came to the office and told him. Gwynn said, to the
best of his recollection, "Did you order the train to
start ?" He did not hear Gwynn ask anything about
the coal train. Gwynn might have said so, for the mo-
ment he heard of the train starting he ran out. He
found the coal train had not arrived and ran and endea-
voured all in his power to stop the passenger train by
running with the policemen, Hayes and others, after the
train ; but it went off at an unusual speed. He called to
the men to show their red lights. The train could not be
stopped. He followed it. He did nest hear the collision.
Several persons were at the spot before he arrived. He
first knew of the accident when he arrived at the spot.
He found the 5.30 train and the coal train had met, as
he feared they would. The engines were raised up one
over another. Two passenger carriages were completely
smashed, but the first-class carriage was scarcely dam-
aged at all. He did not see any of the dead bodies.
He saw several persons assisting, but a down train being
due at about six o'clock at Oxford, he thought it his duty
to go on to Oxford-road station to stop it. He did stop
it at Oxford-road station. It was a passenger train. In
order that the passengers might not be delayed, he sent
omnibuses to take them into Oxford. He remained at
the Oxford-road station to stop any other trains coming
down. If the coal train had come in, it was the duty of
the guard to come in to him, and inquire if he should start
the train. Hayes might have started the train without
communicating with witness. No one else. Hayes had
to go to the ticket platform to see the coal train in and
all clear, then he had instructed him to start the passen- ,
ger train. Sergeant Gwynn could start it without wit-
ness
being on the platform, but not without communicat-
ing with him. He knew of no one to look to the condi-
tion
of the drivers in the absence of Smith. Smith might
have gone away without giving witness notice. Smith
was in a different department, the locomotive. If he
had seen a defective engine, or a driver not fit to act,
he should have interfered and stopped the train • but it
was not his duty to inspect them. He never 'knew a
train to start without' his knowledge since he had been
at that station. If any train had started, the guard
was to blame in doing so without orders, either from
himself or a
person appointed by him. There was no
signal between Oxford and the place of the accident to
show the driver whether he ought to stop. He supposed
that, as usual, Hayes had left the platform to see if the
coal train had come in. It would have been the duty of
the guard, even if he saw the coal train come in, to ask
either Hayes or himself whether the train was to start.
He would swear he did not say to Kinch, " You
must not go on yet ; but soon as the coal-train
is sighted you may go
on. After the collision had
taken place, he said to Kinch, "How came the
train to start ?" That was after he got up to
the place of the collision. His answer was, " I
do not know."
Witness could not say whether Kinch
said anything, he was in such an excited state himself,
and Kinch was in such a state as not to be capable of
answering. He was of opinion that Kinch did not know
Kinch was standing up, but in
what he was saying.
been
train hurt.come
a 'trembling state, and appeared, to have
K:lch did not use the words, , I
sawthe
in," and then said, "Jack, she's in ; it's all right ; go
on." He would swear Kinch did not say any words to
that effect in his hearing. He sent a policeman, named
Elliott, to Oxford-road.
came up there in a carriage meetKtoinehw
theae there. Kinch
train to Bletch-
ley. He asked Kinch if it would not be better to go to
Oxford for advice • but he said he thought he could bear
to go on, and preferred going home. In the presence of
Elliott: witness said, did you not hoar mu say

that your train was not to start till after the coal train
came in 9" To which Kinch replied, " Yes, I did," and
I appealed to some one to bear it in mind, in case the acci-
dent proved fatal to Kinch. He believed it was Car-
rier, an engine-driver, who was with Kinch. Witness
could not repeat any more of the conversation, for
ho was not paying attention to it, but thinking of
matters relating to the accident. He did not hear any
further conversation with Kinch, but he would not swear
there was not any more. Witness stopped at Oxford-
road till Kinch went on in the train. Witness did not
wish to hear Kinch say any more, as that was all that
was important to him. Witness was in a very excited
state ; there were so many arrangements to be made
with regard to the trains. He did not hear Kinch say
anything putting the blame on any one else. He might
have said it, but witness did not hear him. Witness did
not stay long at the scene of the accident, seeing Mr.
Hood, who had much mechanical knowledge, there, be-
sides Hayes, and other experienced persons ; and he
thought he could do more effectual service by going to
the Oxford-road station, to make arrangements for the
safety of the trains which were expected. From the dis-
tance the train had got after it started, when he saw it,
he judged it must have gone off at unusual speed. The
number of persons on the platform when the train
started, would comprise Hayes, Gwynn, two porters,
and the carriage examiner. The porters would not have
had power to stop the train without coming to witness.
In the absence of Smith, the overlooker of the drivers
and engines, who left for Bicester, at 4 o'clock on that
day, there was no one to take his place.
Thomas Manning, telegraph clerk at the Oxford sta-
tion—On Monday night he received a message from
Islip, about five o'clock, to ask if the coal train could
leave there. He sent an answer back to say "Yes, if it
came directly." He sent that answer by the direction of
Mr. Blott, the station master. A message then came
from Islip, to say the coal train had left. He answered
" Good.' At 5.22 a message came from Oxford-road, to
say the coal train had then left there. At 5.27 he sent
another message, by Mr. Blott's order, to Islip to know
if the line was clear if the coal train arrived. The answer
was "Yes." That was the last message. The poles of
the telegraph were knocked down between Oxford and
Oxford-road by the collision, and he had to go to Ox-
ford-road to telegraph. He saw the 5.30 train start, but
heard no orders given about its starting. Mr. Robinson,
the booking clerk, asked him if the coal train had
arrived, but he said he could not tell. He was in the
office and had no means of knowing. He had nothing
to do with starting the trains, nor had Mr. Robinson
that he was aware of. It was the duty of the station
master to instruct him to telegraph after the starting of
the trains. He had no orders to telegraph the starting
of the 5.30 train, as it had gone before Mr. Blott could
tell him.

James Panter, engine cleaner in the company's ser-
vice, stated that he worked under Smith, the overlooker
of drivers and engines, and it was his duty to look to
the men when Smith was absent from Oxford, and see
they have, plenty of water and coke to take on their
journies. Remembered Smith's going to Bicester on
Monday afternoon at 4 o'clock. He told witness to
look after the men and engines while he was gone, and
see all was right. He did not say what time he should
come back. No train came in while Smith was away.
Witness would swear it. One went out. Having been
told that Smith had sworn that he met a train at Islip,
witness admitted that a train came in at half-past four.
He saw that train come in.

The Coroner expressed his regret that such a witness
had been introduced to explain the fact of their being no
one to supply Smith's place in his absence.

A Juryman expressed his regret that such a person
should have such responsibility in Smith's absence.
Frederick Jackson, a youth of 13, stated that he was
a second-class passenger in the 5.30 train on Monday
night, with his brother. The carriage was next to the
third class. He was in the middle compartment. There
were three or four passengers in that carriage besides
his brother and himself. He could not see who was in

the other compartments. Two of the persons with
them were two young men, about 19 or 20, and an
elderly gentleman. He had been about five minutes in
the carriage at the station before the train started. A
person came round, who said " Show your tickets ;"
and he then shut the door. All the five persons were
in the carriage at that time. No one, got in afterwards.

He thought the door was not locked. Before the
train started he did not hear any whistle, or any
one say " all right," or "go on," or any signal for
starting. He sat nearest the platform. He knew
the difference between the guard's whistle and the
engine whistle. He thought the engine whistle did
make a little noise. He told his brother they were
going off rather fast. He did not hear the whistle after
he got out of the station ; the window was shut. It was
about a minute between the shutting of the door and
the train going off. The man who asked for the tickets
began at the carriage next the engine, and went all the
way down. He did not see him pass back again. There
was no luggage van between the third-class carriage
and the engine. He knew nothing more till the col-
lision. He did not hear any hallowing. There was
a jerking, as if they were quickening speed. It was
not such a sensation, he thought, as would be pro-
duced by putting on the break. He looked at his
watch as he started, and it was 25 minutes to 6 ' • the
collision caused it to stop, and he afterwards found
it had stopped at 20 minutes and a half to 6, making
the time that elapsed four minutes and a half. The
carriage he was in was broken all to bits by the shock
of the collision, and he was thrown into the water by
the side of the line. It was when he got home that
he looked at his watch. lie was not much hurt. He
received a blow. The glass of his watch was broken
into pieces. (The watch, a double-cased one, was pro-
duced, and the case was deeply indented.) They were
all covered with mud. He was up to his middle in the
water. He could not tell whether he fell out of the win-
dow or went through the roof. His brother, who was
sitting opposite to him, was thrown on the other side of
the line. He was not much hurt. He did not go in
the water.

This witness's examination was then concluded, and
he was highly complimented by the coroner and the jury
for the clear and intelligent manner in which a boy of
such tender years had given his evidence.
Captain Bruyeres informed the coroner that the guard
of the 5.30 train (Joseph Kinch) was in too ill a state to
be able to appear before the jury to-morrow (Friday) for
examination.

The jurywere continuing their inquiry at 8 o'clock
p.m., when the last train for London left Oxford ; and it
was understood that they would adjourn for five or six
days, to afford time for Kinch so far to recover from his
injuries as to be able to appear as a witness.
Fortunately, no further deaths have occurred among
the sufferers from the fearful catastrophe.

DISTRESSING OCCURRENCE-DEATH FROM
ANGER.

On Wednesday last an inquest was held, before T. M.
Phillips, Esq., upon the body of James Francis Gribble,
at Vauxhall, in Wolverhampton, who met with his death
under the following melancholy circumstances :
James Richardson deposed that he was a bootmaker,
and lodged With the deceased, who was about fifty-four
years of age; of the same trade, and worked for Mr.
Betts, of Darlington-street. He lived at Vauxhall,
and on Christmas-day, between five and six o'clock,
he (witness) was in bed, and heard the deceased's son
come into his father's house, make a great noise, and
call him by name to come down and fight him in the
yard. He got up and went down stairs, and, upon
entering the back kitchen, he saw deceased's son,
with his coat off, and alone. He went into the yard,
and challenged witness to come out to fight ; he would
not follow him, but told him he better keep quiet, as
he was drunk ; he (witness) then went into the parlour,
for the purpose of fetching his hat, when he saw the de-
ceased lying upon the bed with his clothes on, apparently
in a dying state, and the deceased's wife and sister bathing
his head with vinegar; he then went to the police station
for an officer, and on returning with Sergeant Maddox,
the son ran away. On re-entering the parlour he found
Mr. Edwards, surgeon, applying leeches to the decased's
head. Deceased died soon afterwards ; he had sometimes
complained of giddiness in the head, but he never knew
him to have a fit.

Elizabeth Gribble, wife of the deceased, said her husband
complained of a pain in his head on Saturday evening last,
and went and lay down on his bed in the parlour. Whilst
there his son came to the front door, much the worse for
liquor ; he vomited in the passage, had some water given
him, appeared to be a little more sober, and asked his
wife for money ; she ran out at the back door to avoid
his urging his request ; he ran up the passage towards
the front door, when the deceased jumped up and took
hold of his son's hands, observing, " Come, Jimmy, you
'
shall not go out any more : I will not allow this the
deceased then struggled to bring his son back, and both
slipped down in the passage ; her son got up and went
away, and her husband then walked towards the door ;
she noticed that he dragged one of his legs after him,
and that bis face was very much drawn on one side.
She got him into the parlour, and placed' him on the
bed. Mr. Edwards, surgeon, quickly attended him,
and stayed with him until his death, which took
place shortly after eight o'clock ; in consequence, as she
believed, from a fit of apoplexy, caused by excitement.
She was quite sure that her son neither struck nor fell
upon the deceased, nor that he received any injnry when
he fell. He had complained of a pain in his head for
upwards of a month. • *** _

Mr. George Edwards, surgeon stated that he had
made a post marten examination of the body of the de-
ceased. There were no marks of violence visible upon
the body, and from the appearance of the interior of the
skull, he had no doubt that the cause of death was
apoplexy, which was probably induced by the mental
emotion of anger.
The jury recorded a verdict of "Died in a fit of
apoplexy, caused by struggiing and the mental emotion
of anger."

On Thursday James Francis Gribble was brought up
before H. Walker and W. Warner, Esqrs., at the police
court.

Sergeant Maddox stated that he took the prisoner into
custody on Christmas day on suspicion of having caused
the death of his father.

Mr. Warner said it appeared that the jury had arrived
at the conclusion that the prisoner's father's Thath was
caused by apoplexy, brought on by mental emotion and
struggling ; he would, therefore, be discharged, but a
deep regret concerning his share in the distressing event
must remain upon his mind as long as he lived. When
he considered that he to whom he (the prisoner) was
indebted for his life, owed his death to struggling with,
and the conduct of, his son, he trusted it would act as a
caution to his behavion in his future life.— Wolverhamp-
ton Herald.

CAUTION TO THEATRICAL MANAGERS.-Mr. Henry
Beverley, lessee of the Queen's Theatre at Hull, has
been fined in the mitigated penalty of 51. for performing
a ballet called "La Statue Blanche." A performer
named Bland supported the information.

The Government appears to be anxious to put an
end to the unfounded but not the less prejudicial
rumours that have been current of the existence of
ideas or projects opposed to the declaration that it
has made, of its determination to do ever thing con-
sistent with honour to maintain the peace of
Europe. Every act of the Emperor has been indi-
cative of his desire for peace ; his decrees in favour
of industrial enterprise, railroads, docks, mortgage
banks, palace of industry, all alike dependent on
peace for a successful result, are proofs that he had
no desire for war, and are practical illustrations of
the sincerity of his professions. To judge the Go-
vernment by its acts, therefore, there ought to be
no uneasiness in the minds of the advocates of
peace ; but it is certain that much has been created
by insinuations in quarters where they ought not to
have existed. An official repudiation of one of the
attempts to excite a feeling for war has appeared in
the Moniteur, and if other attempts had not been
noticed in the same way it was because they had
not assumed a form which rendered official dis-
avowal necessary. The semi-official journals, how-
ever, are doing what the Moniteur abstains from,
evidently because the Government will not attach
too much importance to the rumours in .question.
The Constitutionnel yesterday had a long article,
showing that peace is the policy of the Emperor,
and that there is nothing in the state of Europe to
render war probable. The article, though written
with great vigour, is exceedingly long, but the fol-
lowing portion of it will no doubt prove most in-
teresting to the English reader
" When France is satisfied the world is at peace.
Thus Napoleon 111. expressed himself at Bordeaux in
that magnificent harangue which was the programme of
the second Empire. Facts now confirm this national
and prophetic language, which, while promising peace
to Europe, raised the action of France so high. France
is satisfied, because she no longer fears the spectacle of
Communism, because she has morally recovered from
the disasters of 1814 and 1815, because she has crowned
the man of her choice, because she has re-established a
popular dynasty on the throne, and raised on its basis a
patriotic Government, and she is satisfied because the
world is tranquil. Let a glance be thrown over the map
of Europe, and let us be told on what point of the
horizon the slightest cloud can be seen. Across the strait
which separates them England extends a friendly hand
to France, a reciprocal esteem has replaced their mutual
feelings of enmity—their rivalry has become emulation.
Now, as formerly, France and England dream of fresh
conquests and of new struggles, but these conquests
and these struggles are not those which entail ruin on
nations, and decimate the people. All the ardour
and intelligence of the two nations is turned towards
the pacific battles which civilisation wages against
barbarism in the vast fields of science and industry.
Doubtless the vessels of England and of France may
meet on the same seas and on the same shores, but it
will be no longer to combat and destroy each other. To
explore seas, to colonise countries, to civilise people, to
work mines, to clear land, and to open markets, and
that is what the fleets which leave the ports of the
Channel will henceforth seek to effect ; they will carry
more workmen than soldiers ; they will be less laden
with arms and ammunition than with instruments of
labour, and with bales of merchandise. On this ground
the victory will belong not to the strongest, but to the
most intelligent and most active ; and what will result
from this competition will be no longer the ravages and
misfortunes of war, but the advantages of industry and
the conquests of civilisation, which always turn to the
profit of the human rade. In the south and in the north
there is nothing which threatens Europe with those corn-
' plications which are calculated to 'excite a fear that
the peace of the world may be disturbed. We every-
where see the most profound repose ; a repose which
each government employs to consolidate order and
strengthen authority, and which each nation devotes
to develope the sources of its riches, and to increase
the sum of its intelligence. Spain, Portugal, and
Italy, under different characters, and with different
means, exert all the efforts of this twofold object, to
conciliate at home the spirit of conservatism with the
spirit of progress, and to ally abroad the national honour
with European peace. Thus Prussia, Austria, and
Russia, after the example of the powers of the second
rank, bail in the Emperor the elect of a great nation
and the saviour of Christian civilisation. It is no longer
looks of terror but of benediction which Prussia, Aus-
tria, and Russia direct towards the Government of
France, for they well know that this Government has
spared them from one of those terrible struggles which
no one is ever sure of surviving. Europe is neither so
blind nor so ungrateful as not to hail with sympathy the
Government which preserves it, and the man who saves
it ; it is on the contrary as clearsighted as grateful, and
it proves it by the sincerity of the marks of esteem and
of friendship which it gives to France in the person of
her sovereign. There is therefore not the slightest germ
of war either in the present or in the future, and unless

in the case of one of those unforeseen events which dis-
concert all the provisions of human wisdom, civilised
Europe is assured of one of those durable periods of
peace which give time for great ideas to ripen, and for
great things to be accomplished ; for grand works to be
completed, and for grand enterprises to fructify."
The Pays adopts a similar tone, and nearly the
whole of its first page is filled with a letter from
M. Capefigue, in the form of s leading article, and
the object of which is also to show the importance
of a peace policy, and the little danger that exists
of its being disturbed. It is evident, therefore,
that there is a manifest disposition on the part of
the Government and people of France to remain
at peace with all the world, bat more particularly,
it would seem, with England and America.
The Moniteur states that " the Emperor '
received on Wednesday at the Tuileries, from M.
de Kisseleff, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary of his Majesty the Emperor of all
the Russias, the letters which confirm him in his
position at the Court of the Emperor of the French.
M. de Kisseleff was conveyed to the audience of
the Emperor in a carriage of the Court, and was
presented to his Majesty by the master of the
ceremonies introducer of Ambassadors. The Mi-
nisters of the United States, Wurtemberg, Bava-
ria, Tuscany, Hanover, Baden, and Saxony, have
also received their new letters of credence, and
will be immediately admitted to present them to
his Majesty."
The Germanic Diet has
not yet recognised in the
usual diplomatic form the Prench Empire with its
Emperor Napoleon 111. But the Diet has taken
all the preliminary steps which were necessary to
bring about this result. It expects that an Im-
perial Ambassador will resent letters of credence
to it, and at the same time the formal recognition
will take place. It is evident that this line of con-
duct has been prescribed to the Diet, and this is
the reason why the Diet informed M. de Tallenay
that it expected that an
Ambassador from France
would be accredited to it. We learn that the
letters of credence will soon arrive,
and that they
will be addressed to M. de Tallenay.
The same journal contains decrees of the Em-
peror, approving of modifications made in the
statutes of different insurance companies at Paris,
Melun, Bordeaux, and Toulouse • and another de-
cree authorises the Society of Mutual Assurance
against the non-success of cocoons of silk-worms
recently formed at Valence.

estthaleAsisthat :.
The Moniteur upon the same
subject remarks,
m
"that a report has been current that the Govern-
genera l system of
general
In its just solici-
tude for everything that affects the general etralin
insurance
tndeintended
to
by
inte-
rests of the country, the Government had included
this question among those which it has caused to
be examined ; but after this examination it has
decided that the present state of things would be
maintained. The interests which the report in
question had alarmed may now, therefore, be com-
pletely tranquil."
When the returns of the votes on the Plebiscite
for the Empire were declared by the Legislative
Body they were not quite complete. Those which
were wanting from Algeria and the Navy have
since arrived, and the total number (those of the
distant Colonies have still to be received) is pub-
lished by the lifoniteur as follows : —Voters,
8,157,752—Ye5, 7,839,552 ; N
—o) 251,501; Null,
63,699.
The Presse announces that M. Proudhon has
been refused permission to publish a new philoso-
phical review. Under the laws Which at present
regulate the press, no journal can be started with-
out permission from the Government.
A Rennes journal announces that a prosecution
has been commenced against Count Chatton des
Morandais, on the charge of having disturbed the
elections and prevented electors from voting.
Prince Lucien Murat in a letter to the Presse con-
tradicts the report that he has made claims upon the
King of Naples in respect to certain private pro-
perty which was alleged to belong to him in right

of succession.
Dr. Conneau has, by decree of the 31st ult., been
nChief
Medical First
Emperor and
caryic
Servicesi of to the
his Majesty's
ajesty's house-

hold.
By decree of the Emperor dated the 31st ult., it
is enacted that the mortgage notes (lettres de gage)
of the Societe of Credit Foncier, can only be issued
after having been examined and registered by the
commissary of the Government.
anmembers,
A Chamber of Commerce, consisting of nine
imperialis tdecreebe
France will not for the future receive any foreign
eesftatbhlie s3hleedt atitit. Dijon,
refugees. The authorities of Schildberg (Posen)
having expelled two refugees, and given them a
passport to France, the French Ambassador at that
court declared to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in
the name of his Government, that for the future no
foreigners of that category will be • received in
France. Formal orders have therefore been given
not to deliver any more passports for France to
Polish refugees.
-

- -- -
The Prefecture of Police has just published the
statistical returns of mortality in Paris for the
month of November. The number of deaths was

1,171 males, and 1,136 females. Of these 637 were
under three months old, 476 under 15 years, 81
under 20 years, 245 under 30, 115 under 40, and
227 under 60. The number of deaths between 50
and 60 was 228, between 60 and 701 184, between 70
and 80 154, and between 80 and 100, 63. The chief
causes of death were pulmonary disease, enteritis,
typhus fever, brain fever, and- apoplexy. The
number of deaths from apoplexy W2•S 97.
'M. Vassal, director of the Journal des Faits, was
tried by the Police Court of Paris yesterday for
having deposited a copy of his journal with the
Imperial law officers which was not, signed by the
editor, and for having " wilfully published false
news" to the following effect :—" One of our sub-
scribers informs us that the offerings consecrated
to the memory of Louis XVI. have been removed
from the expiatory chapel, and that those deposited
on Monday, All Souls' Day, w ere refused." M.
Berlez, the Chaplain of the Church, deposed that
the offerings made by the piety of the faithful were
neither removed nor refused. M. Vassal was sen-
tenced to pay a fine of I,ooof. and the costs.
Charles Cornillet and Guyot, operative carpen-
ters, were tried yesterday before the Police Court
of the Seine, for having used offensive language
towards the Chief of the State, and for having
made an insulting mark on the Emperor's effigy on
a sf. piece. Cornillet was sentenced to six and
Guyot to two months' imprisonment.
The Government has determined that the Garde

de Paris, the late Garde Republicaine, shall be in-
creased from two squadrons to four of cavalry. A
Lieutenant-Colonel has been appointed to its com-
mand. This guard can at present bring 1,200
bayonets and 300 sabres into line ; it is, moreover,
composed exclusively of picked men.
A letter from Moulins states that the ancient
Chateau of Bourbon l'Archambault, the cradle of
the house of Bourbon, and a type of feudal archi-
tecture, with its colossal towers and the ruins of
the chapel, has been sold to Viscount Des Roys.
The papers have announced that the Duke of
Hamilton is likewise Duke of Chatelherault in
France. The Duchy of Chatelherault was con-
ferred, in February, 1548, by Henry 11., on James
Hamilton, Earl of Arran, Regent of Scotland.
The Earl of Arran was appointed Regent of the
kingdom at the death of James V. He subse-
quently resigned the Government to the Queen
Mother, Marie de Lorraine, sister of the Guises ;
and the latter, in return, prevailed on the king of
France to confer the title of Duke de Chatelherault
on the Earl of Arran, with a pension of 12,000
livres. The elder branch of the family became ex-
tinct in the person of James, fourth Duke of Ha-
milton, decapitated on the 9th of March, 1649.
The receipts of the French railways in 1852 are
not yet known ; but according to the returns pub-
lished down to the 25th December by the different
companies, they may be calculated to amount to
110,000,000 f., being an increase of about3,ooo,ooof.
as compared with the receipts of 1851.

The Bourse opened firm yesterday, under the in-
fluence produced by the announcement in the
Moniteur that M. de Kisseleff had presented let-
ters of credence from the Emperor of Russia to the
Emperor of the French, but, additional defaulters
having been declared, the Three per Cents., which
opened at 81f. 20c., and rose to 81f. 25c., fell to
80f. 40c., and closed at 80f. 50c. for the end of
the month ; the Four-and-a-Half per Cents. closed
at 105 f. 30c. ; Orleans Railway Shares, 1,002 f. ;
Rouen, 985 f. ; Havre, 520 f. ; Great Northern, ex
dividend, 867 f. 50c.; Mk, 355 f. ; Paris and Stras-
burg, 802 f. 75c. ; Paris and Lyons, ex dividend,
898 f. 75c. ; Lyons and Marseilles, 752 f. 50c. ; Caen
to Cherbourg, 620 f. ; Bordeaux to Cette, 600 f. ;
Dijon to Besancon, 550 ; Shares of the Bank of
Credit Mobilier, issued at 500 f., 840 f.
The Annuaire du Bureau des ongitudes for 1853,
furnishes the following statistical details : " The
number of births in Paris in 1852 was 16,349 males,
and 15,975 females, of whom 21,689 were legiti-
mate, and 10,635 illegitimate. The deaths were
13,698 males and 13,887 females, showing an ex-
cess of births over deaths of 4,739. The number of
marriages amounted to 10,233, of which 8,062 were
between bachelors and spinsters, 645 bachelors and
widows, 1,064 widowers and spinsters, and 462
widowers and widows.