The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-13 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 13,-1856.

THE LATE ACCIDENT AT THE BRYN MALLY
COLLIBRY.

WREXHAM, Oct. 11.--The inquest on the body of
Robert Kenrick, who lost his life while attending to one
of the pumps by which the water is being raised from
this mine, was held to-day before Mr. Thelwall, the
coroner for the Wrexham division of the county, at a
small public-house in the neighbourhood of the works.
The first witness called was
John Kenrick, the brother of the deceased. He said
—At 7 o'clock on Wednesday night I was standing
within half a yard of the engine pit. My brother was
standing on a stage about 50 yards down the pit, which
is about 160 yards deep. He had gone down to change
one of the buckets. He was shaking the rod when the
capstan chain attached to it broke, and he fell six or
seven yards down upon his head. When we found him
he was dead, but the cb?in was not touching him. When
the rod dropped, in consequence of the breaking of the
chain, he must have gone down with it. He had been
working at the engine for the last five or six years. I
have worked there for four or five years.
Frederick Hutchinson, a clerk in the employment of
Messrs. Clayton and Darlington, said the deceased was
engineer and pitman of the engine pit, and it was his
duty to attend to everything connected with it. He was
a very zealous man, and had been particularly anxious
that all the gearing belonging to the pit of which he had
charge should be in order since the inundation, as there
were relatives and friends of his among the Missing men.
He bad sometimes been dragged from his work in order
that he might get a little sleep, but he had always re-
turned to the pit in a few hours. He was a very bold
man. Fresh buckets are usually required at intervals of
a week or a fortnight, but since the inundation they have
been changed much more frequently, as the water wears
them very rapidly. The men are very eager to change
the buckets quickly in order to prevent-the engine from
standing still. The deceased has changed the buckets
in 15 minutes, the usual time being half an hour. There
were three or four men under him. This witness pro-
duced the broken link of the capstan chain, which it
was stated bad been in use for the last 18 or 19 years.
The link had evidently given way or opened at the weld-
ing. He added that the same chain was still being used.
The weight it usually had to bear was certainly under a
ton.

Samuel Warburton—l have worked at the engine pit
under the deceased for about four years. On Wednes-
day night I was down in the pit with him. We were
standing aide by aide on our scaffold at the first lift. We
had gone down to change one of the buckets. The rod
was fast in the barrel, and we shook it in order to loosen
it. The deceased held in his left hand the wire by which
the signal for raising or lowering is given to the engineer
above. He said to me, " Stop a bit, I will lower ;" and
he then gave four knocks by means of the wire. That
was the signal for lowering, and the men above lowered
the chain until the deceased, seeing it began to double,
as the rod continued fast, stopped them in order to pre-
vent it from jerking when it was again raied. He then
knocked five times—the signal for raising. I did not
feel the chain jerk, but when it was pulled tight I heard
the link break. I jumped directly to the other side of
the stage to save my life, and saw no more of the de-
ceased. I think I heard him groan once or twice. Since
the inundation one of the buckets has required changing
every three or four hours. The chain seemed a very
good one ; but I would rather trust to a rope than to a
chain.

The Coroner called attention to the rules for the regu-
lation of the Bryn Mally Works, copies of which, under
the 18th and 19th Yic., chap. 10S, are given to all the
workmen. The 20th rule was to the effect that the head
banksman of every pit should examine daily the ropes,
chains, and gearing of the pit under his charge. He
wished to know who was the head banksman of this
engine pit ?

Mr. Hutchinson explained that there was ao head
banksman at the engine pit, so that the rule could apply
only to winding pits. It was the duty of the deceased
to see that the chains and ropes of the engine pit were
in proper order. _ _ _

In reply to further questions Mr. Hutchinson said
that the men were furnished with copies of the rules in
the English language only ; but, on the suggestion of
the coroner, be promised that Welsh copies should im•
mediately be given them.
_ _

John Kenrick was recalled, and stated that eight men
were pulling at the capstan when his brother gave the
signal for raising, and that he and four or five more went
and assisted them. The cbain was not jerked at all ; it
was broken by fair pulling. He had always thought
the chain a safe one, but he preferred a rope to a chain,
because any defect in a rope could easily be seen.
Mr. Kirk stated that his father, who was formerly
manager of the mine, ordered the chain 18 or 19 years
ago. It was made without regard to expense, and the
best iron was put into it. It had been proved to bear
10 tons. It had never broken before, but it bad pro-
bably done more work during the last week than it
would do, under ordinary circumstances, in a year or
two. It was only used for the purpose of raising the
rods when it was necessary to change the buckets.
The Coroner sa.d there could. be no doubt that the
man's death was caused by the breaking of the chain.
It was for the jury to say whether the chain broke in
consequence of some defect, or in consequence of some
fault in the managdment of the machinery.
The jury, after a short deliberation, returned a ver-
dict of " Accidental death," but expressed an opinion
that the chain was unsafe, and that it was the duty of
the deceased to have examined it. They recommended
that a rope should be substituted for the chain.
The Government inspector was not present at the in-
quiry...

Within the last 12 hours the depth of water in the
mine has decreased 2 feet 4 inches, but the men have ;act
been able to reach the upper workings. The fate of
their 13 missing comrades is still, therefore, a matter of
doubt, although, even if they escaped drowning at the
time of the inundation, it is hardly possible that they
can have sustained life for the 10 days during which
they have been buried in the mine.

RAILWAYS IN BRAZIL -THE PERNA2I.

BUCO LINE.

By the Tyne, which arrived at Southampton on Satur-
day, with the usnal files, we learn, from the Diario de
Pernambuco of Monday, Sept. 1, that this undertaking,
so significant of Brazilian progress, and of such impor-
tance to the interests of the'province which it intersects,
is advancing in a most satisfactory manner. On Satur-
day, August 30, the works were inspected by the Presi-
dent of the province, the Chevalier de Macedo, recently
ambassador from the Court of Rio in London, accom-
panied by Senor Francisco R. de Mello Rego, director of
the public works ; Mr. H. A. Cowper, British Consul ;
Messrs. C. and F. de Mornay, brothers of the concessio•
naires ; Mr. J. S. Tucker, acting as chief engineer to
the company until the arrival of Mr. W. Peniston, who
has been appointed to succeed Mr. Borthwick, deceased;
Mr. J. Bayliss, engineer to the contractor, Mr. G. Fur-
ness, and several other gentlemen, interested in various
ways in the success of the undertaking. Leaving the
village of Alfogadas on horseback, his Excellency and
party proceeded to Imberittbira, from which place they
rode along the line foe thirteen miles, diverging from it
only when they came to rivers not yet bridged over.
About 1300 labourers were at work in an orderly and
systematic manner, and the portions which were com-
pleted gave unqualified satisfaction. The earthworks of
the length inspeoted were nearly finished, the curves
being well traced and the embankments
,slo2ed and
dressed in the most approved manner. Mr. Bayliss at-
tributed the advanced state in which the works were
found in a great measure to the order and sobriety which
have prevailed among the workmen from the s )mmence-
meat. The supply of labour has been ample, and the
regularity with which wages have been paid has contri-
buted to the satisfactory relations which happily exist.
Nine miles of the line are ballasted, and ready for the
permanent way ; and the first section, as far
as Villa de Cabo, is expected to be completed
in March, 1857 • the second, terminating at the
Escada, in the following December ; and the third in
March, 1858. Should these anticipations be realised,
the first two sections will be completed within the period
allowed for the first alone, which would be an incontest-
able proof of the activity with which the works have
been pushed forward. After the inspection the company
took luncheon under a tent erected and decorated for
the occasion, and the toasts drunk and the speeches
made were strongly indicative of the amicable and mut-
ually beneficial relations existing between Brazil and
Great Britain. The party returned to Pernambuco in
the evening, much pleased with the evidence they had
had of the rapid progress of this important undertaking,
the accomplishment of which must contribute so much
to the prosperity of the province of Pernambuco, and
the increase of the already large and advantageous trade
carried on between this country and the thriving empire
of Brazil. The staff of the railway has been completed
by the appointment of Mr. E. de Mornay,
one of the
concessionaires, and a life director, as resident manager.
Tne health of all employed on the line continued good,
affording the best proof that can be desired of the salu-
brity of the climate. Though native unskilled labour is
abundant, almost any number of skilled European me-
chanics could be absorbed with facility, and to this class
of immigrants the Brezila.n government offers great en
ilih which
hitcbhe
easy
industry acquisition
ut
ihse attains couragetnent. Those who have gone from this country
have sent home most glowing accounts of the unexam-
pledarid the fertility
there na
oafi nls it
s
due land,
dt
due reward.ty certaintyol thewit soil,

While the Tyne, which has just arrived home with
the Brazil mail, was at Rio Janeiro, the purser, doctor,
and chief steward (Mr. Cotterell) of her went ashore. Cn
their return to the ship, accompanied by two passengers
in a shore boat, the latter was struck by a sea and upset,
and the whole party were immersed in the sea. They
were soon picked up again, with scarcely any damage
done with the exception of Mr. Cotterell, who was found
to be dead. When the boat uoset he was seen to seiza
hold of it ; when picked up he hal an oar under his arm,
and did not appsar to have received a blow. It appeay s
that some years ago he bad a fall on board ship which
injured his neck, and he carried head on one side in
consequence, and this, it is imagined, predisposed him
to apoplexy. It is supposed the sudden immersion and
fright caused the blood to flow to the head, and pr'a-
duced death by an apoplotic fit. Mr. Cotterell was
formerly a Southampton tradesman.

AMERICAN STEAM SHIP MERRIAL4C.

The United States screw steam-fiigate Merrimac will,
it is expected, take her departure from Southampton
Water in about a fortnight's time. Amongst the visitors
of the frigate during the last week were several captains
and commanders in the royal navy and military capers ;
Sir John Rennie, the engineer.; Major General Dickson,
who fought in the last American war, and was taken
prisoner ; and the Portuguese minister to Brazil. On
Saturday the frigate was visited by Coact Pontiatine, a
vice-admiral in the Russian_ service, and aide-decamp to
the Emperor of Russia. The count commanded the
Russian frigate Dana during the Russian war, when
she was chased by the English and French fleets through-
out the South and North Pacific (moans, making her re-
markable escape in a dense fog from the Amoor river.
Tt will be remembered that after basing the combined
fleets pf the Western Powers for nearly two years she
was finally engulphed owing to an earthquake on the
Japanese coast, her officers and crew being saved by an
American man-of-war. Admiral Pontiatine, a slender
gentlemanly man, speaks very good English, and is a
highly educated scientific officer. He spoke modestly
on board the Merrimac of his adventures in the Diana.
He was accompanied on board the American frigate by
a young Muscovite gentleman whose' name and rank
were riot known. They both came Worn Southampton
to the frigate. The Russian admiral was saluted with
13 guns on his leaving the Merrimac. The remarkable
nhape of some of the frigate's' guns excited .great
curiosity, the pivot guns having the appearance.
of m: *moth black bottles, from thio liiiorittotts size of
the hinder part. of the gun as compared with the cir-
cumference of the gun towards the mouth. The brass
howitzers, or boat guns, or, board the frigate have also
attracted attention. Their carriages appear something
like children's perambulators. The guns can be lim-
bered and unlimbered with remarkably facility, and the
apparatus for running them ashore, and guiding and
moving them about on land, is very complete and in-
genious. These howitzers throw shrapnel shells of about
12Ib each.

In consequence of the disputes in England about the
treatment of naval medical men, it may be as well to
mention that assistant-surgeons in the American navy
do not go through the steerage now, but step at once
into the ward room where they have precisely the same
accommodation as the lieutenants and other officers.
The assistant-surgeon on board the Merrimac has really
superb accommodation.
The whole of the officers of the Merrimac have been
invited by the Mayor of Southampton to the banquet to
be given by him to the directors of the European and
Australian Mail Packet Company and the heads of the
S mthampton governmental departments, at the Dolphin
Hotel, in that town, on Friday next, the day previous
to the sailing of the first mail packet for Australia under
the new contract. An ore-.r has been issued by the
Government to allow the officers of the Merrimac to
view all the dockyards and naval establishments in the
kingdom that they may choose to visit. The Merrimac
was designed by Mr. Lenthall, the chief naval con
structor of the American navy. The royal yacht was
proceeding up Southampton Water one day, when shy
was stopped, and permission was asked for one of the
maids of honour and a gentleman belonging to the royal
household to view the frigate, which permission was im-
mediately politely accorded.

WILLIAM JAMES ROBSOY.

(From the Observer.)

The reports which have been in circulation for some
days past respecting the amount of loss which the com-
pany will sustain by the frauds lately practised in the
transfer-office of the Crystal Palace, are, we understand,
greatly exaggerated. The investigation by Messrs.
Quilter and Ball is not yet concluded, but it appears cer-
tain that the whole loss of the company, by rocognieing
the validity of shares improperly issued, will not exceed
the nominal sum of 20,0001., and considerably less if the
shares were purchased at the present market prices. The
largest proportion of shares improperly issued were pre-
ference shares, with a guaranteed rate of interest, similar
to those of Mr. Robertson, of Leith, which form the

subject of the present charge against Rob- on. The
difficulties which Robson had to crlitend with in carry-
ing on his practices for the two or three last years
must have been very great, and it is scarcaly possible to
csaceive how he could have provided for the payment of
the dividends on the irregular shares without the circum•

stance coming earlier to the knowledge of the directors.
The first discovery of the frauds was owing to the discre-
pancy which existed in the amoitnt paid by the corn-
paaly's bankers on the dividend warrants, and the actual
sum. which ought to have been paid as dividend on
the preference stock. In every department connected
with the shares of the company, Robson appears to
have had seine irregular transactions. Having sold shares
deposited with the company it became necessary to pro-
yicies dividend-warrants for the ,payment of. dividends
vghen due, not only for the original owner, but for tha
subsequent purchaser. In many cases these warrants
•were supplied by Robson, and having access to the seal
of the company, they were all duly and regularly stamped.
In. the case of transfers the signatures of the secretary
and one of the directors of the company were required,
and they were supplied by Robson. In other cases
duplicate shares have been issued, printed, signed, and
sealed in the same mann, r as the regular shares of the
eoinpany. 'The shares, transfers, and dividend warrants,
have, it is said, been all more or less tampered with.
The style in which Robson lived, and the appearance
which he kept up, ought to have suggested something
like inquiry on the part of the directors as to his means.
His salary was but 1501. a-year, and yet every morning
he drove xp to the palace with a curricle and a pair of
horses, which for beauty and symmetry could probably
not be matched in London, or rode on one of the pret-
tiest "nags about town," attended by his servant in
livery. He had also the famous trotting mare Elizs,
which was accustomed to trot easily from the Crystal
Palace to London-bridge in 20 minutes, being at a rate
of 20 miles an hour ; or, as her owner frequently boasted,
of beating the railway trains by several minutes. The
pair of horses which he was in the habit of driving were
sold under the hammer for 6201. Never, perhaps, was
there such an instance of self-sacrificing exertion for a
great public undertaking as that of a gentleman living
in this style consenting to do the daily drudgery of the
duties of a transfer clerk for the small consideration of
1501. a-year. Questions were sometimes asked as to the
means which he possessed, and satisfactory one veers were
always given. Among other things he said that his wife
had just succeeded to some property of 5001. a.year,
and that he was making large sums of money from
the theatres from the performance of his plays ;
for it is not generally known that Robson is the
author of several plays. Among the dramatic works
which he has written are "Love and Loyalty," a
piece which had a run of over a hundred nights, if we
remember rightly, at the Marylebone Theatre. Another
of his plays is "The Selfish Man." His most ambitious
roil:, however, is "Bianca," a play in five acts, which
was under rehearsal at Drury-lane up to the time of
Robson's fight. The play has been in print for the last
two or three months, and it bears the following dedi-
cation :—"To those who, believing in the realisation of
the highest aspirations of the human mind, claim for the
drama the proud position of being one of the chief means
by which that realisation is to be attained, this play is
respectfully dedicated by their very humble and obedient
servant, Win. Js. Robson." It would have been well
bad the writer pondered more deeply over one passage
in his play, in which he makes the haughty Venetian
lady say—

--- What briar next to twine around
The goodly flowers of my better self ?
What demon urges me ? What fiend directs ?
Why is it so? Why, so riveted
Unto thy fearful throne, Iniquity ?
Captive led—captive bound—unwilling slave,
I must work on, and fill my destiny ?
Oh, posr excuse ! Oh, paltry argument !
Mine inward conscience recoiling shrinks
From such false reasoning. To feel Pin wrong,
Aud still persist in wrong, marks me as accurs'd.
With any gossamer I can conceal my face,
But where's the veil will hide lay conscience from myself ?
I have no tears, or I would drown my guilt.
If drown'd 'twould rise a pallid cone and damn
My trembling soul with its more fea;ful ghost.
Judging from the rate of remuneration given by mana-
gers of theatres, it is not probable that any very large
gains were made by Robson from this sourc-, and his
play of " Bianca" is not ca'culated to raise a very high
opinion of his dramatic genius. It appears, however,
very certain that he had several other sources of revenue
than either those from his dramatic writings or his at-
tendance at the transfer office at the Crystal Palace.
He had made a considerable sum by some very success-
ful speculations on the Stock Exchange ; seine chemical
works, in consasction with the preparation of antimony,
are said to have yielded him considerable profit ; he was
proprietor, also, of a large share in the timber bending
patents ; he held some paying shares in a Welsh nine,
and he was a director in three or four joint stock com-
panies. With all these sources of revenue openly avowed
by himself, he was still found sedulously attentive to the
duties of his small office, and if the charges against him
are well founded, his object in continuing in the transfer
office is easily understood.
As soon as Robson had taken flight the directors
offered' a reward of 2501. for his apprehension. Now
that he has been captured, a Question arises, who is en-
titled to the reward t We understand that the rightful
claimant is a lady. For some days no clear traces of
Robson could be obtained, though there are good grounds
for supposing that for several days after the discovery of
the fraud he was concealed in London. Aided by some
friends he succeeded, however, in getting out of the
country, and when .on the continent he addressed a letter
Ito a lady, who, in happier timed, had been the subject
of his attentions, and the reciplent.of no small share of
his wealth. This letter, it is stated, was delivered to a
milliner, who was at work in the house, and who, having
some suspicion as to the writer, detained and opened the
letter, and tempted by the reward gave information to
the police authorities. The fair disciple of the Grahamite
policy has, we are informed, put in her claim for the
reward.

The circumstances connected with the sale of the pre-
perty of Robson at Kilburn Priory have excited consi•
derable surprise. It is said that the lessee of one of the
theatres took possession, nod, r a bill of sale, of all the
property and effects, early on the morning of the fol-
lowing day after the absconding of their owner, and
the effects were immediately sold by auction, the
holder of the bill of sale being, of course, ignorant
of the real state of affairs. Mr. Robson, on his ap-
prehension, stated that large sums of money were due to
him by several persons, and among the names mentioned
was that of the gentleman who had taken rossession of
his property under the bill of sale. A fiat in bankrut.tly
has been issued against Robson, so that the whole of the
transactions connected with the disposal of the property
will be thoroughly investigated. As mn4t naturally be
expected, the position of the prisoner has ha 1 a nio-t
serious effect on the health of his wife. Without the
slightest notice or warning Mrs. Robson was expelled
from .er splendid residence at Kilburn, and driven from
a sick bed, on which she bad languished for some time
past, under a most painful disease, and arrived almost
penniless at Brighton, where she now remains in a most
precarious state of health.

MAINTENANCE OF FENCES ON RAILWAYS.—At the
last sitting of the County Cours at Halifax an action
was brought by an innkeeper named Pickup against the
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company to recover
10/., the amount of damage sustained by the plaintiff in
the loss of a foal, which had strayed out of a field adjoin-
ing the defendant's line and been killed by one of their
trains. It appeared that early in March last the plain.
tiff's agent agreed with the owner of the meadow for
the agistment of a foal. This meadow adjoined the
main line of railway between Manchester arid Leeds at a
place called Ludden Foot. The owner of the land bad
shortly before agreed to sell part of the same meadow to
the defendant for an extension of their station at Ludden
Foot, but. the company undertook to provide a new ap-
proach and entrance to the field before removing the
existing gateway. They railed off the plot of land they
had purchased preparatory to making a stone fence,
and in the meantime the plaintiff, by direction of the
company's foreman or contractor, obtained access to the
meadow by removing a bar of the rails, which he tied
up at both ends when the foal was in the field. Early
on the morning of the 31st of March the pony got rut
of the meadow, strayed on to the railway, and was kifle I
,as already stated. On examining the temporary fence the
loose bar was found broken in two, apparently by the
pony jumping upon it or bursting through it. It was
contended by the plaintiff's advocate, who quoted the sth
and 6th Vic., c. 55, sec. 10, and the Railway Clauses
Consolidation 'Act. and also cited the case of " Fawcett
v. ne York and North Midland Railway Cimpaey" (20
Law J. Rep. (N. S ), Q. 8., 222, as well as the case of
"Barnes v. Ward," that the defendants were liable for
the ortmages claimed, as they had not provided a,geed
and sufficient fence to the plot of land staked t,ff. Mr.
Higher'', ter the defendants, argued that the" plaintiff
was answerable for his agent's wrongful act in taking
insufficient
say the rails, and for the negligent and
way in which they were replaced ; that he had been
warned that the foal would be killed ; that he had
:taken the pasturage after the fence had bean put down,
-and when notice that no gateway bad been provOed ;
and ought not to have used the pasture until May.
clay, and that the fence was good and sufficient before
it was interfered with. His Honour (Mr. J. Stansfield),
without requiring a reply, held that the plaintiff was
cle trly entitled to a verdict for the amount olainrA.