The Sun.
London, England, 1847-06-22 00:00:00

DISASTROUS FIRE AND PRO

BABLE LOSS OF LIFE.
Between two and three o'clock yesterday morning a
very destructive fire broke out in the King's Head Ta-
vern, Brook-street, Hatcliff, the property of Mr. John
Waller, which, besides consuming a considerableamount
of stock and furniture, has been attended with serious,
and, it is to be feared, fatal consequences to one of the
inmates. From inquiries made it appears that the fire
was first discovered by the policeman on the beat, at
which time it had obtained a strong hold of the lower
portion of the premises. The constable raised an alarm
in the usual way, and after some trouble the inmates
were aroused from their slumbers, but with such vio-
lence was the fire progressing, that very few of the resi-
dents were able to descend the staircase. One person,
named John Camberton, a lodger in the house, finding
that the flames had cut off all escape by the stairs,
jumped from the top window, and, falling on the stone
flags beneath, fractured his thigh, and was otherwise so
seriously injured that he was obliged to be taken to the
hospital, where he at present remains in a very pre-
carious state. Another lodger jumped from the same
window, but, with the exception of a severe shaking, was
not much injured. A third party got out of
one of the windows, and hung by the hands
until a ladder could be procured, by the
means of which the individual was saved. Owing
to the timely notice which was sent to the engine-
stations, very few minutes elapsed before the brigade
engines reached the scene • those were followed by ano-
ther, belonging
the Waterloo- r
otaod the. By Westtia oft
time, England
however,Company,hea
r e fromter
portion of Mr. Waller's
premises was wrapped in an
immense sheet of flame, and the adjoining houses at
first appeared doomed to destruction. Under the direc-
tion of their chief officers, the firemen worked most
vigorously, but they were unable to get the mastery
over the conflagration until the building was nearly
destroyed, the furniture, fixtures, and stock in trade
partially consumed. The total damage will amount to
several hundred pounds, but fortunately Mr. Waller was
insured in the Sun Fire-office for the stock, &c.; the
building belongs to Messrs. Strong and Lurchin, the
brewers, and it is not known whether or not it was in-
sured. The origin of the disaster is wrapped in
mystery.

THE LATE FATAL ACCIDENT IN

THE BOROUGH.

The names of the sufferers by the fall of the railway
bridge over Great Russell-street, on Friday, have been
ascertained to be—

Frederick Messenger, age about 60, leather dresser,
living at 60, Parish-street, liorselydown ; and
Mrs. Thisleton, wife of a supervisor of Excise (Bris-
tol), residing temporarily at 31, Bridgehouse-place, New-
ington-causeway.
The former, it appears, has three sisters, who were
dependent upon his labour for their support, and the lat-
ter has left a family of daughters.
Upon inspecting the ruins, notice could not but be
taken of the very loose manner in which the work of
this viaduct appears to have been constructed. The
whole of the crown of the arch, which is thirty-two feet
wide, oblique measurement, and twenty-five feet wide,
direct span, had fallen in. The arch gives evidence, in
its broken state, of having been built substantially for
four bricks in thickness, and the side spaudrils imme-
diately above the abutments appear solid ; but the re-
maining part of the level of the intended permanent way
exhibits one mass of confused brick work, into the inter-
stices of which nothing more than a quantity of " con-
crete," seems to have been poured, but little regard
having been paid to the solidity of the masonry, which,
of course, was intended for the wear, tear, and constant
vibration of railway transit. The arch has been built
but a very short time, the mortar being still wet, nor was
it in any way braced to the main line to strengthen it, or
add to its permanent stability. Almost as soon as the
bricks were thrown over the curve, and before the as-
phalte way on the crown was laid, preparation for the
removal of the " centres" was made, and the consequence
of this ill-advised haste appears to be the fall of the arch,
and the loss of life we have now to place upon record.
An insecurity of this very portion of the works, we are
told, was spoken of by a professional gentleman but a
few minutes before the accident, he having noticed the
bulging of the walls.

The two lads supposed to have been lost have been
discovered by their parents.

KING'S COLLEGE HOSPITAL.—Sunday, two ser-
mons in aid of King's College Hospital were preached
at St. Clement Danes Church, Strand; in the morning
by the Rev. W. Harrison, M.A., chaplain to the Duke of
Cambridge, and in the evening by the Rev. Michael
Biggs, M.A. On each occasion, the interests of the
charity were very ably and forcibly advocated by the
rev. preachers, resulting in the aggregate by a collection
oi upwards of 454

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, June 21.
(Trial at bar, before the LORD CHIEF JUSTICE, Mr,
Justice PATTESON, Mr. Justice COLERIDGE, and Mr,
Justice WIGEIT3IAN.)
HILTON V. LORD GRANVILLE.—INJURY TO HOUSE PRO-

PERTY BY THE WORKING OF MINES. -
This case has been before the Court since 1841, and
both the original litigants are dead, but their successors
have continued the suit with unabated vigour up to the
present time, and this morning it came on again for
trial before the above-named Learned Judges and a
special jury, the ordeal being termed " a trial at bar."
Mr. Sergeant Talfourd, Mr. Godson, and Mr.
Browne appeared for the plaintiff ; and the Attorney-
General, Sir Frederick Thesiger, and Mr. Peacock for
the defendant.

The action was simply brought to recover compensa-
tion in damages for various injuries sustained by two
houses by the mode in which the defendant had worked
a mine below them, which he leased from the Crown,
and which had caused their foundations to give way, and
the houses themselves to crack, and to be rendered, in
consequence, valueless. The defendant had placed no
less than six pleas on the record : first, not guilty ;
second, denying the right of the plaintiff to the founda-
tions of the houses ; third, that the Queen, as. Duchess
of Lancaster, was entitled to all the mines and minerals
within it, and that the Crown had from time imme-
morial been in the habit of leasing them, making to
the occupiers of the houses compensation for the use of
the surface, and for any damage done in consequence of
that use, but without making any compensation on any
other account ; the other pleas recited the immemorial
custom, and claimed on the assent of the defendant a
right of use of 40 years' duration. Some of the pleas
had been traversed.

Mr. Sergeant TALPOURD stated the case to the jury.
After stating that the case had been brought out of the
county of Stafford, from the difficulty of obtaining an
impartial jury, as the inhabitants were generally inter-
ested in mine property, he went on to say, that the issue
of the case was not only interesting to the plaintiff; but
to all who resided on the surface of the earth, below
which mines had been excavated, who, if the extraordi-
nary and monstrous right claimed by the Crown was
tenable, might be hurled into the bowels of the earth
without a moment's warning ; or if no injury to life was
done, but only to property, would have no right to
claim compensation for the injury done. The duchy
embraced amongst other towns Hanley and Shelton,
which contained 20,000 souls, and, of course, an im-
mense quantity of valuable house property, and churches,
chapels, and other valuable public buildings, showing
what great and valuable interests would be affected
either one way or the other by the decision to which
they might arrive. The Crown, of course, possessed
the minerals, the working of which it leased, so that on
the one hand they had to look at the rights of the
Crown, and on the other those of an immense mass of
people. It was monstrous to set up on the part of the
Crown that it would make compensation for injuries
done on the surface, but not the slightest compensation
to the proprietors of houses to which damage might be
done by the works going on beneath ; such an argu-
ment was tantamount to this, that the Crown at its
pleasure might cause the houses to crack and to fall.
He was confident, therefore, that the jury would agree
with him that this plea was wholly untenable in justice
as it was in law. The plaintiff was the proprietor
of two copyhold houses, which were built by a club up-
wards of forty years ago. The ground was granted to
him by George 111., at a fine of one penny ; the plain-
tiff in fact became possessed of the house before the de-
fendant became the lessee of the mine. The town of
Hanley, in which the houses were situated, shelved
downwards, and at the bottom of the declivity, and under
the houses of the plaintiff; the mines of the defendant
were worked. In the year 1841, injury to the houses,
from the working of the mines, which were
connected with each other, began to manifest
itself, and an injunction was moved for in the
Court of Chancery, calling upon the defendant to refrain
from working the mines to the injury of the plaintiff ;
an action, however, was commenced in 1845, which
came on for trial at Stafford, but it unfortunately led to
no result of a satisfactory nature to the parties. It ap-
peared to him that the questions they would have to try
would be these: first, had damage occurred to the pro-
perty of the plaintiff from the working of the mines of
the defendant; and, second, had that damage arisen
by reason of the exercise of a right which the de-
fendant possessed by common law or by custom?
Had there, in fact, been injury done, and if there had,
had the plaintiff a right to claim compensation ? Un-
dctubtedly he had. No convulsion of the air or of the
earth—no volcanic eruption, like those which occurred
in the northern mountains of Italy, had caused the sub.
sidence of the foundations and the fissures i❑ the walls
of the houses, because they were in a perfect state of se-
curity until the defendant adopted a new mode cf work-
ing the mines. Soon after it was commenced the houses
built over the mines began to crack and to subside. In
1841 thirty houses suffered ; in 1842, sixty; and at the
time the action was brought, in 1845, 115 houses were
in a state of devastation. There were three strata of
minerals in the mine or near the surface: "pennystone,"
or ironstone of an extremely solid nature, betwixt a deep
stratum of ccal, and below that another stratum of in-
ferior ironstone, as it was looser. The old mode of
working the mine did not prove injurious to the surface,
as pillars were used; but when the extension of rail-
ways caused a demand for iron, many of the pillars were
cleared away, in order to get it, and hence the
subsidence of the want of proper supports. The Learned
Counsel then contended that the plaintiff had an un-
doubted right to retain his property unmolested, it was
granted him by the defendant's lord, and if it were to
be destroyed at the will of the lessee of the minerals
below, there would be no security for life or property ;
and proceeded to call witnesses in support of his case.
The case will no doubt occupy the attention of the
Court for three days.

BALL COURT, June 21.
(Before Mr. Justice ERLE and a Special Jury.)
ROOSEY U. DAVIDSON.

This was an action brought by Mr. Boosey, a music
publisher, in holies-street, against the defendant for pub-
lishing a cheap edition of certain airs from Bellini's opera
of La Sonnanibula, of which the defendant claimed the
copyright. The opera, it appeared, was produced at
Milan, in March, 1831, and it was proved by the plaintiff
that the copyright of the airs in question were registered
in his name in June, 1831, at Stationers' Hall. On the
part of the defendant it was contended that the airs
having been published at Milan before June, 1831, the
plaintiff could not be the
.proprietor of the copyright,
and that in order to show his right to it he ought to
have proved that the airs were first published in England.
The jury, however, found a verdict for the plaintiff,
damages Is.

COURT OF BANKRUPTCY, June 21.
(Before Mr. Commissioner SHEPHERD.)
IN RE DUBBINS.
This bankrupt, described as of the Somerset Hotel, in
the Strand, and of Colchester, Essex, came up to pass
his last examination.

Mr. Graham, the official assignee, expressed himself
satisfied with the accounts; the solicitor to the assignees,
however, proceeded to examine the bankrupt as to his
interest in the hotel, as it was contended that there had
been a partnership between him and a person of the
name of Klaiber. The bankrupt's version, however, was
that he was to conduct the business, and have one-third
of the profits above the first 5001.
Some difficulty had been experienced by the messen-
gers in getting possession of the books on account of the
transactions between Kimbt r and the bankrupt.
His Ilosoua allowed the bankrupt to pass his exami-
nation, and appointed a private meeting for the examina-
tion of witnesses.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.
OLD COURT.
(Before Lord Chief Justice WILDE and Mr. Baron RoLFE.)
I.NrANTIcIDE.—Ann Cleveland, aged 26, described as
a spinster, and Hill, alias Dolly, aged 35, described as a
labourer, were indicted for the wilful murder of a male
child.

Mr. Ballantine and Mr. Huddlestone conducted the
prosecution ; and the prisoners were defended by Mr.
Sergeant Allan and Messrs. Clarkson and Parry.
Mr. BALLANTINE stated the case to the jury, and
called the following witnesses:—
Mr. Benjamin Brooking, surgeon, No. 7, Bow-street,
Covent-garden, stated that he had been called in to
attend the female prisoner in her confinement, at No. 7,
Wellington-street. The child was born before he ar-
rived, and was in a perfectly healthy condition. He
was called in on the Friday, and the child was dead.
The countenance was " suffused;" there was a pro-
trusion of the eyes, and the hands were clenched.
The extremities of the fingers were livid, and the
legs were drawn up towards the body. From these ap-
pearances he suspected that the child had not died from
natural causes. On Saturday he made a post mortem
examination. He found that, though the body had a
natural appearance, there was congestion on the lungs,
particularly on the left lung, which had three spots of
blood on it. The heart was completely empty, and the
liver did not present a natural appearance. The left
side of the brain also exhibited the same appearance c
congestion as the left lung. From these appearances he
was decidedly of opinion that the child died of suffoca-
tion.
Mr. James Brooking, brother to the last witness,
stated that he delivered the child; that there was not
more than ordinary difficulty in the parturition, and
that the child was quite healthy.
Mr. Guthrie, surgeon, stated that he was present at
the post mortem examination, and concurred with the
first witness as to the cause of the death.
Jane Johnson, 32, Stanhope-street, Clare-market,
stated that she knew the female prisoner about three
weeks before her confinement. She lived in the house
with her, and knew her to be in the family way. The
female prisoner often said to her that she knew the child
would not live, and that she hoped it would not. She
also said to her that she would have destroyed the child
before it was born, but that it bad gone too far.
Mr. PARRY cross-examined this witness. There were
two or three persons living in the house besides herself.
She would rather decline answering where she lived be-
fore she went to Mrs. Cleveland's, as Mrs. Cleveland's
was not a respectable place. Had never seen the male
prisoner until the day on which the child died.
Harriet Burgess Swan stated that she had lived with
the female prisoner. This was before the confinement.
The female prisoner stated to her that she would not
provide any baby linen, as she knew the child would
not live. She saw a great change in the appearance of
the child after its death. There was a discharge from
the nose which induced her to make some observations.
On the night of the death of the child she heard Mrs.
Cleveland's bell ring, and she went up to her apartment.
She found several persons there, and was told that the
child was dead She then went for Mr. Brooking, the sur.
geon. Mrs. Cleveland said she expected him.
.Believed she
meant the male prisoner. She said to the witness that
there WAS a bother about the child, and she would

- -
give her a sovereign if she would carry him a note. Saw
the prisoner at Mrs. Cleveland's early and late. Saw
him in Mrs. Cleveland's bed-room on Friday morning
about nine o'clock, and served him with breakfast
This witness was cross-examined by Mr. Clarkson,
but nothing material was elicited.

. - --
Sarah Cecilia Barber said that she was a laundress,
and attended at Mrs. Cleveland :s in that capacity. She
heard Mrs. Cleveland say that she would not get baby-
linen, as she did not think the child would live. She
dry-nursed the child, which she took to her
own place. At the request of the prisoner's
mother she brought the child to her. When she brought
back the infant she tied a napkin round its head, in
consequence of its having a cold, and placed it in the bed
with the mother. After leaving the baby with Mrs.
Cleveland, she remained away for about an hour and a
half. She returned then, and took up the child, when
she saw that it had a running at the nose, that it could
not draw its breath freely, and was crying very much.
She took away the child, but after receiving two mes-
sages from the mother, she brought it back ; it was
about half-past three o'clock on Friday. The running
at the nose had ceased on the Friday, when she brought
the child to the mother. While she was below she
heard a bell rung. Ellen, one of the servants, answered
the bell, and she went up about ten minutes afterwards.
She had some conversation with Mrs. Cleveland. Mrs.
Cleveland told her to take away the baby, which she
took up, and found to be dead. She told Mrs. Cleveland
that the infant was dead, when Mrs. Cleveland fainted
away. The surgeon was then sent for.
Cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant ALLEN—The child
was half born an hour and a half before Mr. Brocking
came. The child lived entirely upon arrowroot. The
running at the nose continued till Friday morning.
Ellen Driscoll, servant to Mrs. Cleveland, stated that
she was in the room at the time that Mrs. Barber took
up the baby and found it dead. There was on the baby
a light shawl. Mrs. Cleveland said that she had not
let the baby out of the bed. The hands of the child
were clenched.

Charles Foster said that he was a tobacconist, at 46,
Chandos-street. Was at the house No. 9, Wellington•
street, on the Friday in question, and saw the prisoner
coming down the stairs. Gave his name as Smith at
the coroner's inquest, because he did not wish to be
known. Had not seen the male prisoner before.
Mary Davis, a lodger in the house of Mrs. Cleveland,
whose real name was Turner, was at Mrs. Cleveland's on
the 21st of May. Heard a footstep, went out, and
saw the male prisoner coming down the stairs. Saw the
prisoner there the day before. That was about five or
six o'clock in the evening. The male prisoner, during
the month that she was lodging at Mrs. Cleveland's,
occupied a room there.

Mi. CLARKSON, who appeared for Dolly, said that as
there was no evidence against the male prisoner he
would not trouble the court with any observations.
Lord Chief Justice WILDE said that he did not think
the evidence was of a nature to deliberate upon the
charge against the male prisoner. In this opinion his
Learned Brother concurred.
The male prisoner wa, then discharged.
Mr. Serge:int ALLEN then addressed the jury for the
female prison, r. This was a case depending entirely
upon circumstantial evidenve. They were to consider
whether those eircumstant:s could so concur as to bring
home guilt to the prisoner. Circumstances must be
vague when unaccompanied by some direct evidence
where there was na su^h testimony. This was a charge
of the gravest eharlcter, offending against all the natural
feelings of humanity, and so opposed to a knowledge of
the female instincts--

The Foreman here interposed, and stated that the
jury were of opinion that the prisoner was not guilty.
A verdict of Not Guilty was then returned, and the
prisoner was discharged.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
BOW-STREET,
Three brothers, named James, William, and Edward
M'Evoy, were placed at the bar before Mr. Hall, charged
with assaulting policeman E 125, and several other con-
stables of the same division.
It appeared that two of the prisoners were quarrpiling
in the streets on Saturday night, and the third was
endeavouring to pacify them, when the constable E 125
went up and desired them to go away quietly. They
then united to attack the constable, whom they beat
most unmercifully. He called to the bystanders for
assistance, but James M'Evoy kept off those who were
inclined to interfere. The constable was knocked
down by William, and when down was kicked
by Edward in a most brutal manner. A gentle-
man, who was looking on from a window, brought
a rattle and sprung it, and two other constables,
E 95 and E 109, came up. They were both ill-treated
by the prisoners. They at length succeeded in captur-
ing them.
The prisoners denied that they used any violence.
Mr. HALL dwelt at some length on the peculiar atro-
city of the case, which he said was the worst of the kind
he had heard for some time, and inflicted the highest
punishment the law gave him power to order, one
month's imprisonment each, without the option of paying
a fine.