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

was first taken.

Dr. James Ellis, medical officer of the infirmary,
said : Deceased was admitted to 24 ward, having
chronic Erc: ch is slightly. She went on well
till the morning of the 6th, when she became

faint, and died suddenly. A post mortem examination
revealed the fact that she had died-of congestion of the

brain, which I found full of dark black blood. The im
mediate cause of the deceased's death was congestive
apoplexy. There were 29 patients in that ward, which
would give 663 cubic feet of space for each patient. Ido
not consider that to be sufficient. I have continually repre-
sented to the guardians the over-crowded state of the
wards of the iunrmary. L..-
ward lying on the floor, and one patient was lying in a
bath. I consider that this woman's death was accelerated
by the overcrowded state of the ward and the impure at-
mosphere she was compelled to breathe. I come to this
conclusion, as I have had so many cases of sudden death
of patients in this ward. The ventilation of the ward is
most defective. It is dcfleiet.t in fresh air, which only
comes into the ward from the water-closets.

Mr. Samuel Solly was then sworn. He said: lam Vice-
President of the Royal College of Surgeons. Ivi ited the
wards of St. Pancras Workhouse Infirmary one day last
week. I believ e No. 24 ward was the first ward I went
into. The atmosphere of that ward was frightfully

foul. I consider this foul state of the atmosphere to
have arisen from human exhalations—the breath and
bodies of the inmates combined with the badness of the
ventilation. The only ventilation of the ward that I ob-
served was through the water-closets. My impression is
that that was one of the worst wards I visited. It was
equally as had as No. 11. which I described on Monday.
All the wards were bad. Such an atmosphere would un-
doubtedly tend to increase illness, as it rendered the oxi-
disation of the blood very imperfect. Its effect would be
to produce congestion of the brain, such as described by
Dr. Ellis. I have no doubt but that such an atmosphere
as that I have described would have accelerated the death
of a person in the feeble state of Jane Harrison. I think
it probable that the death would not have taken place had
the patient had in the ward a supply of fresh air. There
was not one ward in the whole infirmary the atmosphere
of which was not foul, but some were worse than others.
Dr. Ellis, in reply to questions, unhesitatingly attributed
this death to the overcrowding and bad ventilation of the
ward. The Poor-law Beard's regulation was that each
patient should have 850 cubic feet space. He had
repeatedly reported to the guardians the overcrowded state
of the infirmary. He reported last Monday that ninety-
five persons had been compelled to lie on the floor of the
wards. He did not know that that report was ordered by
the guardians to lie uneer the table.
Mr. Watson (the vice-chairman of the board): It is true
that by a large majority so important a report was refused
to be read.

The jury then returned the following verdict :—" That
the deceased, Jane Harrison, died from the mortal effects
of the effusion of serum into the brain, and that her death
was accelerated by the overcrowding and want of ventila-
tion of the ward in which she was placed.
The second case was as to the death of Julia Conder,

aged 30.
Mary Cain, nurse of 24 Ward, said deceased had been
in the infirmary before, but went out well. She came
back about a fortnight ago with difficulty of breathing.
There were twenty-seven patients in the ward—two
sleeping on the floor. Had been nurse four months. The
wards were very close and ventilation very bad. She con-
sidered they were much over-crowded, and there was very
little room between the beds.

Dr. Ellis gave the history of the case. She was admitted

on October 15, in the early stage of consumption. She
gradually got worse, and died on the ith instant. A post-

mortem examination exhibited the same symptoms as in
Harrison's case. I consi'ler her death to have been accele-
rated by the vitiated atmosphere of the ward.
After some further evidence in this case, the jury re-
turned a similar verdict to that of the first.
The third case was in reference to the death of James
Plant, aged 58.
Dr. Ellis said deceased was admitted on the 2nd inst.,
suffering from bronchitis, and was placed in No. 6 "Ward.
This was a ground-floor ward. There were twenty-four
beds, and one on the floor. Deceased went on very well
till about eight o'clock on the evening of the sth, when he
was just going to bed. He was then conversing with a
man in the next bed about some fireworks which they
could see through the windows, and died suddenly.
Examined the body, found the head much congested and
serum on the brain. Death had resulted from apoplexy.
He considered it also resulted from the foul state of the
ward. _ _ _ _ _ _

The night nurse said: I have heard it said that the
patients in this ward have rats running over their beds. I
have heard it stated that a man has been known in a closet
to kill as many as thirteen rats with a stick—eleven small
and two large ones.
The Coroner: Is there any guardian who would like to
be examined—Mr. Chandler, for instance ?
Mr. Chandler was sworn : My name is Edward Henry
Chandler, and I am a guardian of the poor of St. Pancras.
I am hon. secretary of one of our public hospitals,
and as such take a deep interest in such institutions. I
have been in large numbers of hospitals, not only in
England, but all over Europe. I have over and over
again complained to our board of guardians as to the over-
crowded state of the wards of our infirmary. They are
utterly unfit for any human being to be placed in that is
sick in their present condition. I must say I have felt
great difficulty in this matter, and the guardians have felt
great difficulty in this matter, by the conduct of the Pool
Law Board, who say that every patient ought not to have
less than 850 cubic feet of space, and yet they certified
for 205 patients in this infirmary; and after the reports,
and what they have been told, the guardians, on Mon-
day, ordered 27 more bedsteads to be sent into these very
wards. I contend that Mr. Corbett and Dr. Markham, it
they consider 850 cubic feet ought to be given to every
inmate, have not done their duty.
Mr. Richardson here handed the report, signed 3 A
Corbett " to the coroner, and Mr. Chandler read it. It
stated that, in company with Mr. Courtenay, he had
visited the workhouse at night. It expressed pleasure ai
the improvement in the infirm wards, but complained
generally of the vitiated atmosphere of several of the
infirmary wards, and expressed a belief that the drainage
was still defective. Mr. Richardson said that twelve nurser
would be removed from No. 4 ward to-morrow into the
house.

After some considerable discussion as to the propriety
of adjourning the proceedings,
The Coroner said it was quite certain that the infirmary
in its present state was quite unfit for sick people, and
steps ought to be taken without delay for removing them
as there was plenty of evidence to show that the infirmary
was, in fact, killing them. There was a great wrong some-
where.

The investigation into this and other cases was ul

mately adjourned, to enable the jury to view the wards.

The Diocesan Synol for Down, Connor, and
Dromore met on Wednesday at Belfast, under the presi
dency of the Lord Bishop of the diocese, and elected twc
lay and two clerical representatives to act on the Dublir
Committee, also twenty-one clerical and seventy-one lay
representatives for the general Conference of the Church.

SUBSTITUTION OF NEWSPAPERS.—A Curious case
was tried in the Court of Queen's Bench, July 17th, 1810
Lovell v. Waller, in which the plaintiff, the proprietor 0,
the Statesman, brought an action against the defendant, I
newsvendor at Canterbury, for supplying to a customer
who had ordered the Statesman regularly, a rival papo
called the Alfred in lieu thereof. The Attorney-Genera
appeared for the plaintiff, and the case was tried before
Lord Ellenborough, resulting in a verdict for the plaintiff
with one shilling damages and forty shillings costs.—/rew
paper Pros.