The Sun.
London, England, 1847-07-17 00:00:00

JERSEY LA W.

The following is an account of justice as administered
in the island of Jersey, and is wondrous strange if true:
—" I knew a scoundrel in Jersey, who wed a person
residing in Southampton 801. The creditor had heard
the debtor had come to Jersey; he pursued him to Jersey
to obtain the money. The debtor happened to be at the
pier head, when his eye saw there his friend, the cre-
ditor, land from the packet, come doubtless to hunt him
up. He dogged the gentleman to an hotel, fetched the
officer, and served upon him a bill for eighty pounds,
at the suit of a Mr. A. The sheriff found Mr. B. at
breakfitst, and asked him if his name was Mr. 13.,
and having replied in the affirmative, he handed
him the demand. The astonished Mr. B. looked
at him, and recovering a little from his surprise,
cried out, • Why, odzounds ! the man owes me the
money, not I him! I am come over to-day by the packet,
on purpose to get it. Ha! ha! this is a capital joke !'
You will not find it one, Sir. Are you prepared, Sir,'
demanded the Sheriff, •to pay that money?' Un-
doubtedly not.' roared Mr. B.; • I tell you the scoundrel
owes me! Pretty thing, indeed! Ha! ha! That's rich!'
• Will you find bail that the amount is paid?' pursued
the Sheriff. • I tell you, Sir, the boot's on the wrong
leg; the knave owes me the money, and I have left my
business, and put myself to great expense and inconve-
nience, to come over here and recover it; and as soon as
I have swallowed down this muffin I shall be off and find
him. I must return by the next packet. Ha! ha! that's fat!
Ile owe it? Ha! ha!" I will wait, Sir,' replied the Sheriff,
' till you have finished you meal; and then, Sir, as you will
neither pay the money nor find bail, I must fulfil my
instructions, painful as they may be. You must con-
sider yourself try prisoner.' Imagine the surprise, the
disgust, the indignation that seized upon the infuriated
creditor as he found himself actually in durance. And
there, in spite of all his ravings about his innocence
and the infernal mistake, he remained three long
weeks, till he was brought up to the Hall, and no one
appearing against him, he was discharged •, for his ras-
cally debtor had, as you perceive, eatteed him to be un-
justly arrested and confined, in order to allow himself a
clear exit to France, which he effected. And there was
no redress for the poor creditor, so he quietly went to his,
home at Southampton, after suffering his three weeks
imprisonment in Jersey, minus his eighty pounds, and ?,
rejoicing that he was at length out of that infernal pi ace.
—The Emigrant, by W. H. Leigh.

PIRACY—FOUR MEN KILLED.
The Mayo Constitution publishes the following from a
correspondent at Westport:—
On Saturday, 4th instant, the schooners Olive Branch
and Sarah were plundered off Eagle Island, on the Erris
coast, of five tons of Indian meal each; and on the sth
instant the schooner Ranger, on her way to this port,
was attacked in Blacksod, and 170 barrels of meal taken
off. The pirates, in their hurry quitting the vessel, left
one of their party after them, who has been handed over
to the police here.
On the 7th instant the Emily Maria of Skerries, a
smack laden with Indian corn, was attacked near Inniskea,
but the Captain having appli,d to the Commander of
the Emerald cutter, now stationed in Broadhaven, for the
marines which were on board, the people made so despe-
rate an attack that the marines resolutely defended the
property under their care, and shot four of the plun-
derers dead, and wounded several others. It is to be
hoped that this melancholy occurrence will put a stop to
tlunder on the Erris coast.

THE LATE FATAL ACCIDENT ON
THE ELY AND PETERBOROUGH RAILWAY.
ELY, FRIDAY EVENING.—This morning the inquiry
respecting the death of Thomas Staples, tte driver of
the engine of the express train which recently ran off
the Ely and Peterborough Railway, was resumed at the
Lamb Inn in this city, before Mr. Marshall and the jury
previously empannelled.
Captain Simmons, one of the Government inspector::
of railways, was present, as also Mr. Samuels, Mr.
Richardson, and Mr. Scott, of the Eastern Counties
Company, who work the railway.
The CORONER adverted to what had been done at the
previous meeting of the jury. He had had that part of
the line where the accident happened surveyed by a
competent disinterested engineer, who had prepared a
plan of the spot for the information of the jury.
Mr. Pratt Collier, the engineer alluded to, produced
the plan. The decline from the Hundred Foot-bridge to
to the place of accident was 1 in 173, the distance was
three chains and five lengths. There was a difference
of seven inches in the levels of the up and down rails,
the up rails being the lowest. The accident happened
on the up rail. The gradient on the down rail was lin
264 feet.

John Mayo, a fireman in the service of the company,
said he was stoker to the engine attached to the train'
and the deceased was the driver. The train consisted
of the engine and tender, a break van, and two passenger
carriages.
CORONER.—Did you feel any difference of motion at
or near the place where the accident occurred ? Wit-
ness—No, I did not. We were going at a steady rate.
CORONER—Were you going faster than usual? Wit-
ness—We were not. We never go fast down an incline.
My mate was a caret ul steady man. I was with him
five weeks, and I never saw him drink anything. We
were going at about 25 to 30 miles an hour.
CORONER—Have you experienced any peculiar jerk
in passing over the fen country? Witness—Not at this
place, but I have at Downham at a crossing.
CORONER—Have you noticed any jerk or difference of
motion in passing off a viaduct on to an embankment?
Witness—l have not. I did not feel any giving way of
the tender just before the accident.
John Gardiner, who acted as guard of the train, said
the engine left the rails about 50 or 60 feet beyond a
wooden viaduct over an occupation road, and felt no mo-
tion until the train reached that place. Observed no
jerking an crossing that viaduct. The engine gave no
warning of running of the rails.
CORONER— Have you any idea as to the rate of the
train at the time of the accident? Witness—Between
thirty and forty miles an hour. After the accident I
went back, and saw a left hand rail on the up line torn
out of its place; this is where I suppose the engine first
left the line. The ballast was cut up and the sleepers
cut through. _ _

William Stanfeild, a plate layer, employed on the
line, said he examined the line where the engine left
the metal. There were seven rails broken and dis-
turbed. There was one broken and three bent on the
left side and three bent on the other side.

CORONER—How often is the line inspected? Wit-
ness—Every other day. This part of the road does not
much settle. There were eighteen sleepers cut through.
Ido not know how many chains. There has been a
difference in the levels of both rails ever since I have
been on it. The rails were not lifted up to the level, but
merely where depression existed.
Jacob Dyke, another plate-layer, said, I assisted in re-
pairing tho road. I have observed that the road was not
in so perfect repair as I could wish. I don't recollect
ever saying that I thought an accident would take place.
I have remarked that the settlement on that part of the
road near the Hundred Foot-bridge was so great as to
require more men to be employed on it. I spoke to Mr.
Jackson, the foreman of Mr. Peto, the contractor, to
allow more men to attend to the settlement, and in a day
or two extra hands were put on. There had been a set-
tlement of six inches since the last time the gauge was
taken. I should certainly have lifted the rails more
often if more hands had been on. There was a greater
sinking where the accident took place than in any other
part of the line. When I saw the engine coming along
she seemed to be travelling at about forty miles an hour.
The engine " wriggled " about a good deal. I have seen
many trains pass that part of the line, but none of them
went so fast as that which met with the accident.

Mr. John Hunter, locomotive superintendent of the
company, deposed—l have seen the broken rail and the
axletree of the tonder, and consider them as being of
good metal. The aaletree might have been broken by a
violent jerk. The engine has recently been thoroughly
repaired. It has inside cylinders. She is a very steady
engine, of Braithwaite's manufacture, forty-horse power,
and capable of travelling with a train at fifty miles an
hour. There was nothing in her machinery that could
account for the accident. In my opinion one of the frac-
tures of the rail was caused by a lateral and not a down-
ward pressure.
After several other witnesses had been examined,
many speaking positively to the speed of the train having
been excessively great, Captain Simmons re-inspected the
line, and, on his return, stated he found the sleepers
where the accident happened from the a Hundred Foot-
bridge," to within ninety or a hundred feet on the Ely
side, to be more or less damaged. He could not give an
opinion as to the precise cause of the accident. The line
was in good order.

At one o'clock the jury returned the following ver-
dict:—" We find that Thomas Staples, the deceased,
came by his death by being crushed between the tie rod
of the aile guard of the break van, which was attached
to the tram on the Ely and Peterborough Railway; and
we further find that the accident which led to his death
was occasioned by some part of the train running off the
line by reason of its being propelled at too high a speed,
the embankment at the place of the accident being out
of order, a settlement of the permanent road having been
allowed to take place, and the rails below their proper
gauge; and we cannot separate without expressing our
decided opinion that whenever an accident occurs it
would be much better for public satisfaction that rail-
way companies should leave the line undisturbed until
inspected by the Government authorities, in order that
a more conclusive and decisive opinion might be ar-
rived at."