The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-03 00:00:00

MANSIOgHOUSE..

George Bass, the driver of omnibus 4,871, was sum-
moned to answer the complaint of an old man named
Jam( s Manby, whose life was paced in imminent dan-
ger by the racing propensities of the defendant.
The complainant stated that be came into town on
Thursday in his cart, and was in Bishopsgate-street at
a little after five o'clock, when he saw the defendant
driving an omnibus down the street. Complainant en-
deavoured to get out of the way as speedily as he could
by driving up Sun-street, and called out to the driver,
but the omnibus dashed against the cart, and turned it
over, and it was a miracle that he was not killed. He
had grasped a lamp-post in endeavouring to save him-
self, and he was picked up and examined by a surgeon,
who found that no bones had been broken. The cart
was injured to the amount of 11. 19s. 6d.
The LORD MAYOR—Are you sure that the driver
must have seen you ? Complainant—Certainly, He
saw me long before he turned me over.
Mr. Baoker, one of the parochial officers of Bishops-
gate, said that he happened to witness the transac-
tion, in which the driver was wholly to blame. It was
the practice of omnibus drivers, notwithstanding all
that had been said and done about racing, to endanger
the lives of people constantly in Bishopsgate-street, by
contests of this kind. Two omnibuses generally started
at the same moment from the Flower Pot Inn, and off
they galloped, apparently careless of the mischief they
might do. In the present case, the driver of the om-
nibus must have seen the complainant before he ap-
proached within twenty yards of him ; and the old man
would probably have been killed, if he had not seized
the lamp post. Witness held up his hand to the driver,
as the omnibus bore down upon the cart.
Another person, who witnessed the occurrence, gave
similar evidence, and said that the defendant was in fault

Henry Jordan, of Temple•street, Hackney-road, li-
censed victualler, stated that he was a passenger on the
outside of the omnibus, and plainly saw the occurrence.
The old man's cart was, as the omnibus was passing
along at the rate of no more than five miles an hour,
going into Sun-street in a very careless sort of way,
and nn effort seemed to be made to get out of the way
at all. Witness thought the man who drove the cart
was either half asleep or half drank. The driver of
the omnibus endeavoured to pull up, and was not at all
to blame.

William Wood, city policeman, No. 667, stated that
he saw what occurred from the corner of Sun-street,
and described the matter as the witnesses for the prose-
cution had described it. He was sure that if the old
man had fallen against the curb stone death would have
ensued. Witness had frequently given notice to the
drivers about the manner in which they drove, but it
was useless.

The Lord MAYOR said that the case was an exces-
sively gross one, and that he entertained not the slightest
doubt of the truth of the whole of the evidence for the
prosecution.

Defendant—My Lord, I have been driving these
18 years, and tbere never before was a complaint
against me.

- The Lord MAYOR—You must pay the whole of the
damages, and compensate this poor man, or I shall in-
fct a heavy penalty upon you.
The defendant at once adopted the suggestion of the
Lord Mayor, who directed•the p ,lice to keep a parti-
cular watch upon the racers of Bi3hopsgate-street.