The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-20 00:00:00

I THE LONDON AND NORTH
WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY.
WARWICK, ()CT. 19.—Yesterday a writ of inquiry
was executed before the Sheriff of this county, at the
Shire-hall, to assess the damages on judgment by default,
in an action brought by Mr. Haywood, attorney of Bir-
mingham, and Mrs. Haywood, his wife, against the
directors of the London and Birmingham Railway Com..
pany, for injuries sustained by the wife, in consequence
of the alleged gross negligence, want of skill, and default
of the defendants, through their servants. The damages
were laid at 5001.
Mr. Sergeant Allen was retained by the plaintiffs, and
Mr. Macaulay for the defence.
Mr. Sergeant ALLEN having opened the case to the,
jury,
Sylvanus Partridge was sworn—l am a wholesale
dealer in London. On the 2d of June, 1845, I happened
to be a passenger from Leamington to Birmingham, by
the railway, in a first-class carriage. I there met with
Mrs. Haywood. We proceeded in safety to the station
at Coventry, and while there, after stopping a short
time, preparatory to being moved on to the London
and Birmingham line, a tremendous concussion took
place; a blow came as from behind us. That was oc-
casioned, as I was informed, by one of the servants, by
some carriages being forced against the points. Our
carriage bounded into the air. There was a second blow
in a few seconds, from the same cause, I presumed,
aagsaoiccsctasmioenwediththgereaby
the first Haywood wasconcussion.
After violencerstMrs. forcea
After that she recovered her seat ; she had time to do
that before the second shock, and then her head took an
oblique direction, and fell in the direction of one of the
wooden arms which separate the seats. In the course of
a minute I assisted her. She was in a state of con-
siderable excitement at first, and in a fainting condition.
She was fearfully stunned. When helped out of the
carriage I gave her my arm into the waiting-room, and
she quite tottered. Her face and forehead appeared to
be cut, and the side of her head was covered with blood.
The eye on the left side was much injured, and covered
with blood. She was bordering on insensibility. She
was in a very distressing condition. As we were going
over the platform at Coventry there was a considerable
number of persons, some of whom exclaimed, " Shame!"
" Carelesssness 1"
Mr. MACAULAY objected to this line of examination,
and the Under-Sheriff ruled that it was irregular.
Witness resumed—On the occasion of the collision I
saw one of the superintendents of the London and Bir-
mingham Company. He was on the platform, and as-
sisted Mrs. Haywood into the room. I don't know his
name. He expressed strongly his regret at what had
taken place, and said it was sad carelessness or blunder-
ing, and should be looked to immediately.
Mrs. Lord examined—l am the mother of Mrs. Hay.
wood. She was married in the year 1840. She is now
31 or 32 years of age. Up to the 2d of June, 1845, my
daughter had enjoyed good health ; she was a strong
robust young person. I have been constantly with her
since, with the exception of a short absence. lam sorry
to say there are effects of the collision to be seen now.
She has not the proper sense of seeing from that eye
which was injured; she has lost her sense of smell. I
perceive—and that is the great grief—that there is a de-
terioration of the mind; she can't write without feeling
exceedingly ill afterwards for the whole day. It is quite
out of the question, also, for her to superintend her
domestic affairs. It has been necessary to engage another
person to take charge of them. She sustained an aliena-
tion of mental power which exists up to this time. She
complains at times of a peculiar pressure on the nose,
and then voids blood from the nostrils; that is accompa-
nied by fainting. Independently of this, she has com-
plained of general incapacity, arising from pains in the
hands and arms, and a pressure on the brain. Since
that time I have been obliged to accompany her from
place to place, it being advised that she should be carried
about.
Cross-examined—Mrs. Haywood has been confined
since the accident, and suffered very much. She was
confined in July last. When I say that her mind is
affected, I do not mean to state that she is incapacitated
from attending to her household affairs—l mean that
she is suffering from both mental and bodily infirmity.
She cannot sit down now to write a letter. When she
sits down to read or write, it occasions great pain in
her head, and she cannot do either.—ls there any ten-
dency to mental imbecility?—She cannot concentrate
her thoughts to write a letter. I do not know that I
can give you a better answer than that. After reading
a page or two of a book she is obliged to put the volume
' down.

Mr. Dickenson Crompton sworn—l am one of the
surgeons of the Hospital at Birmingham. [Witness de-
scribed the injuries sustained by Mrs. Haywood.] She
has since been in a very excited state. Is easily
alarmed. Complains of great pains and noise in the
head, and has difficulty in doing the slightest thing. Is
better than she was, but still complains of many of the
same symptoms.
Mr. Richard Jones sworn—l am a medical practi-
tioner, residing at Leamington, of many years' standing.
I knew Mrs. Haywood before she was married; during
her girlhood, in fact. She was a strong and healthy
person. I saw her the day before she left Leamington
—that would be on the Ist of June; she was then in a
good state of health. I consider she is in a nervous
excited state now. She yesterday complained to me
that her memory was affected; so much so, that in
writing a common letter she experienced the greatest
difficulty. Her whole nervous system is much dis-
arranged. It is impossible to say that these symptoms
will be permanent; they will wear off in time; some
modifications have taken place, and, in all likelihood,
still greater modifications may occur. I think this may
be done by amusing her mind, under proper treatment,
especially as she is unequal to the usual recreations of
reading and writing. I believe something in her con-
stitution has been radically injured, and I think that it
is very probable all the symptoms have come on since
that period.
Mr. MACAULAY, for the company, put in a mass of
correspondence, with a view to show that the plaintiff
had never made a specific demand upon the directors, or
they would have been willing from the outset to make
any fair and reasonable compensation.
The basis of the defence was the following letter, ad-
dressed by Mr. Creed to the plaintiff:—

" July 28, 1845.
" Sir,—Having laid before the directors your letter to
me, of the 9th inst., on the subject of the injuries sus-
tained by your family by the collision which occurred at
the Coventry station on the 2d inst., I am directed to
confirm officially all that I had stated to you in conver-
sation, as to the sincere regret of the directors for the
sufferings of the passengers who were hurt, and their
desire to do all fairly expected from them in their cha-
racter of trustees for the proprietors.
" As respects the servant who had care of the -points,
there was much to induce the directors not to visit his
offence too heavily. He had served the company from
the year 1838, without having once been reported for a
failure of his duty, and has always borne a uniformly
good character. His conduct on the 2d, although very
blameable, was rather the result of an error in judgment
than one of negligence, since it was from the belief that
be had time to do two things instead of one, which
required his whole attention. Weighing all the circum-
stances of the case, they thought that, to a man in bin
station of life, a suspension of ten days, and a further
fine of a week's pay, being seventeen days in Ole whole,
with a severe censure, was, though a comparatively
lenient punishment, as much as the service and cha-
racter of the individual called upon them to inflict; and
'I am much mistaken in my opinion of your feelings, if
you would, under similar eircumstamees, have done more
than was necessary for the sake of example, and that
you, like the directors, would have felt that it was im-
portant, for the sake of example, that weight should be
attached to previous good conduct as that negligence
should be uniformly punished.--;t am, dear Sir, your
obedient servant, " RICHARD CREED, Sec.
"J. Haywood, Esq., 1, Spencer-litreet, Leamington."
L The jury retired, and afterwards came into court with
their verdict for the plaintiff, 3001.
In a second case, in which Mr. Haywood alone was
plaintiff, to recoverexpenosfeshtiso
wi ftwle which
suhheehfr u ads
mnecediescsalaraily
been put by the illness
tendance, travelling, &c., a verdict was taken for the
plaintiff, by consent, for 701.

MANNING THE FLEET.

TO THE EDITOR 07 TER TIMES.
Sir,—The vital question of providir ig men for the fleet
in the event of war deserves the most anxious considera-
tion of every Englishman, padre'a larly of those who
exercise a powerful influence over t!kie public mind. No
Government can propose efficient easures until the pub-
lic is awakened to the perilous deficiency. Hitherto
there has been an astonishing apfsthy on the subject, and
in the House of Commons any naval question is the
signal for a holiday, and great. difficulty is experienced
in getting together enough Members to form a House.
Yet it is a question that eioes not require any know-
ledge of seamanship, and Mr. Ward was just as fit to
grapple with it while in opposition as s
-ingeeSho easar
be-
come Secretary to the Admiralty. g they
peace no single step has been
which all who have aboli-
tionpo-
of impressment—a systen2l
thefit pro-
fited d b y
meansi t condemn,e f
defence
the
whicheh u
rw
eofnneverin e ebcda.n again supply
y supplied by a
The alarming deficiency can
iepholiceyurpreersseeurevereeds zoinayforb:
course o
steady anfd
yceosnrssistednutrilninge
wohf
aradually organized, and the safety of the count ry esta-
blished.
The evil is too deeply rooted to be remedied iz t a few
weeks
or by any single measure; and that leads me to
what is at present almost a fatal obstacle—the cot latitu..
tion of the Admiralty, which is entirely changed l with
every Administration; and no new Admiralty t ;an be
expected to see with the same eyes as their prede c •essors.
Hence is the right arm of the country paralyse r d; and
there is scarcely a possibility of a remedy for , e vils so
deep-seated as to require, not a single Admire t lty cir-
cular, but a firm and steady adherence to a vi raise and
far-seeing course of policy.
I believe the present Admiralty to be compose 61. of ex-
cellent men, well disposed to give attention to tl els sub-
ject; but how long will they hold office? and :if they
commence a system of the character I tdescri' ee, they
full well know that it will be thrown overboard 1 by them
successors. Thus is the navy a political shut of ?,cock,
bandied backwards and forwards by party; and ' a fatal
inconsistency marks the whole conduct of naval a Haim
Until the country realises the dangers to which z the is
thus exposed, there is little hope of remedy; and it is
earnestly to be hoped that the Times will not cet Ise to
urge it on the mind of the public.—Yours,
Nov. 18, A CAPTAIN, R .N.

DISPATCH OF THE AMERICAN MAILS.—LIVERS 'OOl,
THURSDAY EVENING.—The rozal mail steam-ship Cale-
donia, Captain Lott, which arrived here on Sunds e has
again departed for Halifax and Boston. She sail ei I this
morning, being only four days in port, and can rb ont
fifty passengers, and the semi-monthly mails for mad*
and the Vatted States.