The Sun.
London, England, 1869-11-12 00:00:00

AN EXTRAORDINARY WILL CASE.

Lord Penzance has had before him the cause
of "Wilton and another v. Jamieson." The plaintiffs,
as executors of the late Dr. Stevens, of Great
Malvern, a medical gentleman, who died at the advanced
age of 82 years, propounds the will, which gives the major
portion of the property to a great nephew of the decezed,
named Garrick. The defendant, who stands in precisely
the same relationship to the testator, seeks to set aside
the will on the ground of the incapacity of the deceased,
and also alleged that certain provisions in it were obtained
by influence and fraud. The testator was well known, not
only in this country but abroad, as having been eminently
successful in his treatment of cholera and choleraic diseases.
In 1832,when the epidemic was very rife in this country,Dr.
Stevens attended Coldbath-fields Prison, and was compli-
mented by the magistrates on the able manner in which
he had performed his duties, and he also received a testi-
monial from the Danish Government.ln early lif e the testator
was on the most intimate 1 erms with a Mrs. Curzon, who
kept a boarding house, and at that person's death he pro-
mised to see that her daughters never wanted. Just before
its death the Garricks visited Dr. Stevens, and he soon

after executed the last of the general wills, and it was alleged
:.hat there had been un due influence used. For the plaintiff
it was contended that the deceased was quite sane
though on one occasion he had a paralytic fit, which took
away his reasoning faculties for a very short time, and he
also held peculiar notions as to the seat of the soul. A
whole mass of evidence is being called. The lawyer
who executed the will proved that his client was perfectly
sane, and denied having spoken to the Garricks or
Curzons on the subject. Miss Curzon believed that prior
to 1867 the deceased in all his wills left money to the de-
fendant; but he was annoyed at a marriage that had taken
place. This witness believed that after the paralytic stroke
the deceased was better in mind, as before that period
the doctors had disagreed as to some of his theories on
the blood. Never refused to let the friends of the deceased
see the deceased, except at his request.—Mr. Albert Brown,
manager of the Worcester Old Bank at Malvern,
said the deceased transacted his business with
him, and witness believed him to be competent
to transact his pecuniary affairs. Did not think that after
August 1864, the testator did not seem as clear as
before. After hearing further evidence of a like
character, Mr. Huddlestone, Q.C. for the defendants,
intimated that he considered it useless to fight the case
further, and Lord Penzance pronounced for the will.

THE ACCIDENT ON BOARD THE THISTLE,

The inquiry into the causes of the recent boiler explo-
sion at Sheerness, by which eleven persons lost their lives,
was concluded on Thursday. Tho Chief Inspector of
➢lachinery in the Royal Navy (Mr. Williamson) stated his
belief that the explosion was caused by the boiler being
short of water, "whether from the feed cock not being
sufficiently open or from excessive priming I am unable to
say." He had examined, the feed-cock and found it was
one degree open. This was sufficient, because the other two
boilers which were not at all injured were the same.
These boilers, no doubt, were well supplied with water.
The following conversation took place as to who was
responsible :

The Coroner—Have you heard either before or since
this accident that there was a deficiency of water in the
boilers ?

Mr. Williamson : No; I have heard nothing of the kind.
The boilers are supplied with gauges to show how much
water there is in them. The engineer can generally tell
whether the boilers are priming by a rapid movement up
and down, or a disturbance of water in the gauge water-
glass, which is seen from the stokehole. Should this be
observed, the engineer ought to further open the feed-
cock, and put more water in, with a view to reducing the
pressure of steam.
The Coroner : Has the engineer in charge of the engines
below the power of increasing or diminishing the pressure
at his pleasure ?
Witness : He can decrease the pressure by lifting the
valve, but he has no power of increasing the pressure in
the engine room.
The Coroner : Supposing a shortness of water or priming
to arise, is it not indicated to those in the stokehole ? Is
it possible to occur without the engineer having an inti-
mation of it?

Witness: I should say it is quite impossible for him not

:0 know it,

The Coroner : Do you think that the feed-pipe being
only a quarter open was sufficient under the circum-
stances ?

Witness : No, I do not think it was ; but I am not pre-
pared to say so definitely.

The next evidence taken was as to the make of the
boilers. On that point Mr. l3offey, foreman of boiler
makers at the steam engine factory, Portsmouth, said : In
1867 he had an order for seven sets of boilers, and those of
the Thistle were amongst them. They were high
pressure, made under his own superintendence. The
plates for the shell were supplied by contract by Messrs.
Moser and Son, those for the furnaces by Messrs
Cooper, of the best Yorkshire iron; the tubes were supplied
by Russell and Son. The boilers were 16ft. and #an in.
long, the tubes Eft. and zan in. On the completion of the
boilers they were subjected to hydraulic pressure to
the extent of 1801bs. to the square inch. He had examined
the ruptured boiler—the midship boiler—since the acci-
dent. One of the furnaces had bulged downward 14 inches,
and there was a fracture. The consequence of this would
be an escape of steam and water, passing through the stoke-
hole into the engine-room. The furnace gave way in con-
sequence of the undue pressure from the boiler. The
other boilers of the same set had been long in actual use.
The boilers were made of the best materials, and every-
thing was in its place. Shortness of water caused the frac-
ture, and nothing else.
Mr. Aveling, of Rochester, an engine manufacturer, said
he had never seen better iron or better workmanship than

in the ruptured boiler of the Thistle. Indeed it was in
;ill respects better than boilers ordinarily produced by
commercial firms "at present prices." The boiler was
2qual to a pressure of even 2001bs. His opinion was that
the accident was caused by what was known as " racing,"
that was to say, getting everything possible out of the
ship. .

Mr. Murray, surveyor of factories and consulting engi-
neer to the Admiralty, concurred in the evidence which
ascribed the accident to shortness of water.
Mr. Fletcher, civil engineer, connected with the Steam
Users Association for the Prevention of Boiler Explosions,
said he came to the conclusion that the explosion did not
result from improper or excessive pressure of steam, nor
from any defect in the original construction of the
boiler, nor from any defect in its condition at the moment
of fracture. It arose solely from the overheating of the
furnace crowns, in ~.nsequence of which the plates com-
posing them lost their strength, and being unable to resist
the pressure of steam, bulged down at the ordinary work-
ing pressure, the left hand one rending transversely for a
length of about 18 inches, and 21 inches at the widest
part, thus forming an opening through which the steam
and hot water rushed out of the boiler, and playing into
the engine-room, scalded to death the men engaged
tb crein.

The jury returned the following verdict, after con-
sulting an hour and a half :—" The jury are of opinion
that William Roberts, and the other deceased persons
named in the inquest, met their deaths on the 3rd and
4th November instant, by an accident on board her
Majesty's gunboat Thistle, caused by the escape of steam
from the fracture of the crown of the furnace of a steam

boiler resulting from overheating occasioned by a defi-
ciency of water; but that there is no evidence to chew
the cause of such deficiency. The jury are also of
opinion that the boiler in question was " well constructed
and of proper materials." The foreman said that the jury
also begged to recommend the Admiralty to provide hos-
pital accommodation at Sheerness in case of accident, so
that it should not be nect:ssary to send men to Chatham.
They also hoped that the Admiralty would be as liberal to
the widows and children of the sufferers as if they had lost
their relatives in war.

the tickets, a notice was posted over the door, "No gentle-
At a negro ball, in lieu of " Not transferrable " on
man admitted unless he comes hisself."
CAUTION TO LETTER-WRlTEns.—The following
reasonable reminder has been addressed to the letter-
writing public in the form of a notice from the General
Post-office : "Letters Addressed " London " only.
Notico.—"lanY Persons are in the habit of addressing
letters for well-known firms and individuals to " London"
only, but this practice not unfroquontly occasions delay in
such letters reaching their rightful owners. In all cases,
however well the firm or individual for whom a letter is
intended may bo known, it is most essential, to ensure its
correct delivery, that the street or locality in which they
rasider.and the number of the house, ehould_fortu mart
of the addrcoN. -_—,Jacnsnl Polillllo, 100 V,