The Sun.
London, England, 1869-08-18 00:00:00

THE INQUEST.

The inquest on the body of Arthur South, tae guard
who lost his life by an explosion of gas on the Great
Northern Railway, on Monday, was opened on Tuesday.
The doctor called to view the remains stated that when he
saw the body on the line of railway, bef ore it had been
removed, it, was very much charred. The head was off
and the limbs all separated. The thigh-bones only were
attached to the body. He could not speak positively as
to the primary cause of death. William Cann, station-
master at Barnet, called to give evidence as to the accident
stated that there was a down train due from Ludgate
Hill at 11.30, which train stopped at Barnet. After de-
positing its passengers it was shunted to the up line, and
the engine changed its position. Thomas Agadich was the
pointsman at the station. He was on duty from nine
o'clock in the morning until after the 11.30 train had been
shunted. It was also the duty of the pointsman to un-
conVe the engine from the forepart of the train, and to
recoople it again to the end of the train, then to go to the
points in order to hold them over for the train to pass on
to the up line on its way to Southgate. Witness heard that
there was an accident soon after 11.30 on Monday night.
He went nearly half a mile up the line. Saw one of the
passenger carriages on fire. The engine of the passenger
train and two or three luggage waggons were off the line.
The engine of the luggage train was on the lice. Saw
the body of the deceased soon afterwards. It was lying on
the front of the engine, and was much charred. There
are other points about forty or fifty yards from the Barnet
station. Those points lead into the siding and not on to
the main line. The luggage train which be saw off the
line left King's Cross at 11.5. It is a fast luggage train
and is not therefore timed to pass Barnet station at any
given time. The luggage train usually passed after the
passenger train had been shunted. The gas was in the same
compartment as the guard's break. A collision would pro-
bably cause the gas to ignite. The " travelling gagoineter,"in
which the gas was kept, was, the witness believed, made
of inilia-rubber. When the train was reversed the guard's
break, in which the gasometer was fitted, was next to the
engine. The carriage to which the gasometer was
attached was the first one burnt. There is not
much of a curve where the accident happened.
The guard's box is near the engine. It is the duty of the
guard to see that the engine is all right previous to giving
the order to go on. He rides in the break-van next to the
engine, and has the direction of the train. He directs the
driver. It is his duty to see that the points are right before
he tells the eriver to move on. He is not the pointsman,
but he ought to see that the pointsman has moved the
points before he gives the word to go on. The guard gets
out and looks at the points before he gives the order to go
on.— The Coroner : That seems a very extraordinary
arrangement.—lt was a head guard who was killed.—
A s orter at the station who was called upon, spoke
to the deceased just before the accident happened, but
could not tell whether the points weie right. Francis
Martin stated that he v-as signalman at the Barnet sta-
tion, and remembered the train coming down. It arrived
at 11.20. He saw the engine taken down, and
coupled it at the other end of the train. The
tender was then in front. When the driver got in front
be asked if "right away, and witness said, " Yes,
when they aready.'' Witness had nothing to do with
the points. Then he told witness he could go light away.
lie signalled to Whetstone that the down-line was clear,
and the driver of the luggage train would come ou-.
When he signalled, the passenger train was south of his
box, and witness thought it uas on the up-line as usintl.
He also signalled that the train was going up.—Coroner:
Then when you signalled the line clear, it appears
it was not clear ? It seems it went on the wrong road.

Coroner : Could ycu not see that ?—The steam was
blowing off, so I could not see it was on the wrong line.
1 ant not the starting signal ; Ileddich, the porter, starts
the train, and the driver should not start without a

signal from him. lie should hold over the points, and
then wave his lamp as a signal to go on. I signal to the
driver " line clear." Heddich then couples the engines
on, and afterwards goes to the point, and "holding over"
eaves his lamp to go on. I never knew Heddich to miss
the points before. The inquiry was adjourned.

The Bishop of Lichfield, who held confirmation
cervices at Glossop and Hayfield on Sunday, was pre-
vented from returning to London to attend the funeral of
his brother (Lord Justice Selwyn) by a se rere attack of ill=
DOSS.

TirE PUBLIC HEALTII —Last week the rate of
mortality in • London was 26 per 1,000; in thirteen other
large towns of the United Kingdom it was 27, in Paris 23,
and in Vienna 38. Although the temperature in the past
two weeks has been considerably below the average, and
heavy rains have fallen, the mortality from diarrhoea has
but slightly decreased. In the eleven large English towns
including London, 706 deaths were last week referred to
this disease, against74linthepreviousweek, again shewing
an average annual death-rate of 7 per 1,000 persons estimated
to be living in those towns. In the metropolis 2,227
births and 1,591 deaths were registered, the latter having
exceeded by 54 the estimated number. The deaths from
zymotic diseases were 693, the corrected average number
being 593. Five persons died from smallpox, 31 from
measles, 114 from scarlet fever, 6 from diphtheria, 68 from
whooping-cough, 10 from typhus fever, 12 from enteric
fever, and 3 from simple continued fever. The deaths of
22 children and 5 adults from simple cholera were regis-
tered, and 6 persons were killed by horses or carriages in
the streets. The mean temperature during the week was
58'5, or 3'5 below the average.

NARROW ESCAPE OF THE 133 SHOP OF HONOLULU.
—The confirmation tour of his lordship the Bishop of
Honolulu, acting under commission from the Bishop of
London, among the English settlers in South America.
has been an event of great interest to members of the
Church there and at home. The Bishop has returned
to Monte Video from Buenos Ayres, Rosario, Frayle
Muerto, Cordoba, and the west of the Argentine
Confederation, to take steamer for Valparaiso.
On the return of the party to Monte Video au
accident occurrod which might have proved serious.
Just as the Bishop and his party bad entered a
small sailing boat to convey them on shore, a brig uncler
full sail bore down upon them. In a moment the boat
was, under her sides and partially immersed, Most of
the party seized the tackle of the brig and tried to get on
board her. The Bishop was unable to recover his footing
in the boat, and was carried away by the brig, still under
full sail, a considerable distance, banging by his hands to
the bowsprit and up to his middle in the water. He was
eventually rescued by a small boat, none the worse for
his wetting. Thanksgivings for his lordship's providen•
tial escape were offered the following day at a special cele
brat ion of the Holy Communion at Monte Video.
A

REPORTING MACRINE.—A " stenographic
press " has been invented by M. Gensonl. The reporter
sits at something like the keyboard of a pianoforte, and,
by rpplying his fingers to the keys, prints the words as
they drop from the lips of the speaker, syllabreby syllable,
on s strip of paper wick rulisalong underneath. When we
say this, we do not, of ceuree, mean that the words are
printed in letters.. The keyboard appears to lie divided
-into there parts of eight keys each. The lea side, worked
by the four fingers of the it hand, prints signs which
reps, sent initial consonants ; the right, worked by the
finvls of the right hare!, prints final consonants ; and
the middle, acted on by the two:Aim:o)s, prints the medium
vowels. We gather that rornetliirglle a phonetic system
of signs is employed. A few months' practice is said to
enal.le any operator to follow Lie roost flo!..nt sprakcr with
,ease. We ought to pay that Gensours system renders
it unnecessary to tr:o,seribe the copy. -just as with the

I.v tvt 1t

tor can sc

e, from I.lle printed strip Da.

to the c,anparative use

wri, ing characters with a pen, anal printing them in the
wa3- here described, we can give no opinicn. What we
should certainly miss, if the machine came into nse in th
galleries of our Houses of Parliament, would be the happy
skill with which the reporters condense the speeches from
Music notes. We have very few epeakers who could bear
to to reported by & machine.—Mechanics' Magazine.