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

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danger yourself at an me 7—None wbat4K4
_ wise I would not have ent up on the trusses as
did generally a dozen times a day ; nor would I have
sent a man where I dared not go myself.
Foreman—Had you received any intimation from any
person, or had any remark been made to you, indicating
an apprehension of danger on the part of the workmen
—No, sir.
Foreman—l should tell you this has been an outdoor
remark, and therefore I put it to you. Has any man
employed upon the works withdrawn within the last
week or ten days, in consequence of any fear expressed
of the safety of the scaffolding 7—Not from the part of
the building where the accident occurred. We dis-
charged one employed on this part one day last week.
Foreman—But none have withdrawn voluntarily

None.
Coroner—l have heard it remarked that some men
have left their work in consequence of having found
themselves giddy when employed at a great height. Is
that so ?—Yes. In other parts of the buildinc, many
men have been afraid to work at the necessary height.
There are plenty of men who have not got nerve enough
to go off the ground.
Coroner—That is only a personal feeling, and has no
reference to the stability of the building. None what-
ever.

Foreman—Then you mean to say that none of the
men have left their work from fear of being employed at
so great a height at the part of the building where the
accident occurred ?—lf they have they have not made it
known to myself.
Coroner—Looking to the circumstances, do you con-
sider this to have been an unforeseen accident, and one
which ordinary forethought could not have accounted
for ?—lt was quite unforeseen, and I can't account for it.
Foreman--Did not a similar accident occur at the
same part of the building about a month ago ?—Yes, a
portion of the scaffolding then put up was not strong
enough as we considered afterwards. It gave way, and
carried down with it three of the trusses.
Foreman—Everything fell then I believe ?—Yes, all
that was then up came down.
Coroner—There was some imperfection then in the
scaffolding ?—Yes ; we have since made the trusses of
double strength to prevent future accident.
Foreman—How does it occur that on that occasion
when there were 70 men at work on the scaffolding they
had 20 minutes' warning, and were all able to make
their escape, whilst in this case, the whole came down
together ?—That is just what I can't answer. If I could
tell you that, I could tell you where the accident began,
and perhaps how it arose.
~.
Foreman—Have any of the iron pillars, upon which
the trusses rest, given way ?—No, they are all perfect,
and the building is as secure as ever.
Coroner—l will ask you again, and pray speak your
mind freely, whether your experience enables you to tell
which portion of the structure gave way first—Can you
define that ?—I can't. It is quite a mystery to me. I
can't " dissolve " which part gave way first.
Coroner—Are those trusses which fell the same weight
as those which remain standing ?—Yes, they were the
same weight, and the same material, and rested upon
the same description of bearings.
Sir Charles Fox—They were all executed from the
same drawings.
Coroner—Then, if those stood with the additional
weight of the circular iron rib resting upon them, how
is it that these others should have given way, when there
was no weight upon them ?
Witness—That is the point I can't explain.
In answer to other questions from the coroner and
jury, the witness said the trusses are intended as centres
for carrying over the iron ribs forming the arch, and they
would be removed upon the completion of the roof. These
trusses are constructed by piecework, and any work
which is not properly executed has to be done again at
the expense of the party who undertakes to make them.
I sublet the work to others. The materials are
found by the contractors. We employ labourers
in fixing. I prefer labourers to regular carpenters
or mechanics, because they are more active, and
more used to this kind of work. Besides, you
would not find one man in fifty or experienced
mechanics and joiners who would go so high off the
ground. We construct the work, as far as possible,
below, and all the fixing required is to put the bolts in
and screw them up, which any labourer is competent to
do. The bolts are all inspected before use. They are
i-inch bolts ; half an inch would be quite enough, but
we put in extra strength. The bolts are tied with nuts.
No portion of the weight would fall upon any particular
screw or screws, but upon the extreme ends, which are,
in fact, the columns. It is impossible the labourers
could have forgotten to put in the necessary bolts, be-
cause if so the whole strut would not have maintained
its position, nor should we have been able to move it.
I have made an examination since, and I find the bolts
are there still. They have doubled up, and bent in a
remarkable manner, but they are not snapped. The
trusses which gave way fell over and inwards towards
the centre of the building. They did not collapse and
drop perpendicularly.
Foreman—Then I presume the first strut fell in con-
sequence of its not having been properly connected with
the others ?
Witness—No, it was not so.
Foreman—Then did it arise from any careless move-
ment of the strut ?
Sir Charles Fox—No, this could not be. This seventh
strut was not quite completed, and was not to have been
moved until the next day.
Foreman—How long had this seventh strut been in
the same position ? .
Witness—For some days during its formation.
Foreman—That makes it all the more unaccountable
that it should have fallen when it did ? —lt is perfectly
unaccountable. Everything was in its proper place, and
all the fixing was finished except one bolt, which a man
had just gone up to screw in. I saw him come along
the scaffold in the direction of the seventh strut the mo-
ment before it fell, and he came down with it.
Coroner—ls he alive f—No, he is among the sufferers.
Mr. Ballantine said he understood some of the jury had
expressed a desire to have the evidence of one of the
wounded men who was lying at Guy's Hospital. As,
however, that man could not be called at present, he
stated that Sir Charles Fox had seen him and had had
some conversation with him, but he was quite unable to
account for the accident. Sir Charles was quite ready
to give his evidence to that effect.
Sir Charles Fox said—l saw the man in question last
night at Guy's Hospital, whither I went, accompanied
by Mr. Cobb. I asked him if he could give me any
idea of the cause of the accident. He replied, "No ; I
can't say at all what part gave way. I think it must
have arisen from the great weight of iron resting on the
Platform." I said, "Then you consider it is all down."
~ oh !" he said, " it's all down—every bit. " There,"
I said, "you are mistaken." He added that when he
got about half wav down he became insensible. He was
taken out of the place and never recovered his senses
until he got into the stores.
Coroner—Then you think he can throw no light upon
the affair at all.
Sir Charles Fox—Not the slightest, lam sure. He
said in conversation to me, " Well, if it is not all down,
I don't understand it at all." I said, "There are three
trusses down, and those are the three that you last
fixed." He said, " Then I cannot understand it at all."
That is all that passed between us.
Coroner—lf the man recovers, and the jury think it
desirable, we will of course take his evidence.
Foreman—After what Sir Charles Fox has told us, I
cannot conceive that his evidence would be important.
The Coroner at this stage of the proceedings suggested
an adjournment. Sir Joseph Paxton had kindly con-
sented to go over the building, and on their next as-
sembling he would be ready to offer his evidence to the
jury. He was himself anxious to facilitate the inquiry
as much as possible, but he regretted that another im-
portant engagement that afternoon necessitated his pre-
sence elsewhere.
A juror said lie thought it would be desirable that
upon their next assembling some independent surveyor
should be called before them.
The Coroner said that observation placed him rather
in a difficulty. He did not know that he was entitled
to call upon any person to make an examination of the
building, or to give evidence. The Legislature had given
him no powers of paying such a gentleman. Theju
had better hear first the evidence that would be adduced,
and then, if necessary, he would address a special appli-
cation to the Secretary of State on the subject.
Y would
Mr. Ballantine said if the jur wo ldnow name any
gentleman—Mr. Brunel or any one else they pleased—
the contractors and the company would afford
works,everyrdhimand
.
opportunity of going over the whole
ofath
of making the most minute investigation.
A. juror said one circumstance pressed
itself most un-
comfortably on his mind, and that was that two similar
scaffoldings had fallen in the same place.
Mr. Ballantine said he might mention,. as no doubt it
would be satisfactory to the public and to the court, that
although Messrs. Fox and Henderson had no reason to
doubt the propriety of the steps which had been takento
form the scaffolding to which the accident occurred, they
would not allow any, the slightest, risk to be run in future;
and the firm had given orders that the scaffolding for the
completion of' the roof should proceed directly from the
ground, so as to provide a support from the basement,
in addition to the support which it already bad. Tlii,.s..
had been determined upon in consequence of the (nu'
culty of accounting for the accident.
r of
Coroner—l understand from Sir Charles Fox than tiot the
most unaccountable circumstance is, that this Po
the scaffolding should have given way without the whole
falling in.
Sir Charles Fox—When I heard of it first,
1 am sure it must be
I said a'n'elCowmaes
told that only three trusses were down, .
tell me all—out with it at once—
ethtreussesall down." I thought that
re-
could have fallen without bringingrtiondoofwth
mainder. any architect or scientific
Coroner—Do you think if
self person were to see the builourding he could account for the
accident any better than yir,
I think it quite impossible,
Sir Charles Fox—N ! --s
the trusses that be fallen are so completely broken up.
In fact, there is the same difficulty here as in the case
of railway, accidents. At the same time, we should be
to have the cause ascertained, because
extremely
tis happy
of the greatest importance to us to know how the
accident originated.
The proceedings were here terminated by the coroner
giving his warrant for the interment of the sufferers, in
reference to the disposal of whose remains Mr. Ballan-
tine stated that it was the desire of the contractors that
the wishes of the relatives should be consulted.
In reply to the summoning officer, the Coroner said
lie did not consider medical testimony would be neces-
sary in either of the cases. Lord Denman had, some
time since, decided that medical evidence was unneces-
sary where the cause of death was palpable. It was
not requisite in such cases to go into the minutiae of
details.
The jury were then bound over to meet at the same
place on Friday (to-morrow), for the further prosecution
of the inquiry.