The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-23 00:00:00

THE FATAL EXPLOSION AT LEWES.

LEWES, SEPT. 22.

The inquest on the bodies of the four men killed
at the Lewes sheep fair, by the explosion of a
steam-engine, was opened this afternoon at the
Elephant and Castle Inn, before the county coro-
ner (Mr. F.I.H.PeII), and a jury chosen from the
principal tradesmen of the town.

Mr. Briggs was in attenthice to watch the pro-
ceedings on behalf of the Messrs. Cheale, the owners
of the engine ; and Mr. Hillman attended for the
family of the deceased, Hilder.
Henry Lamport examined—l have this afternoon
seen the body of a man at the Elephant and Castle,
and I recognise it as that of my son, Reuben Lam-
port, a farmer's labourer. He was at the Lewes
sheep fair. My son lived at Findon, and was 25
years of age. I did not witness the accident. De-
ceased was a single man, and had come to Lewes
for a holiday.

Jane Borrer, the wife of John Boner, sawyer, of
Lewes, deposed that she knew John Gold, one
of the deceased, and that she had that evening seen
his body. He was a workman in the emploftif
Messrs. Cheale and Son, agricultural implement
makers and engineers at Lewes. She saw him
yesterday morning going to the fair, and that was
the last that she saw of him till she saw his dead
body.

Mr. Briggs, a professional gentleman, attended
to watch the case on the part of Messrs. Cheale and
Co., and he elicited the fact that Gold was perfectly
sober when he left home, before he went to the fair.
John Borrer was examined as to the recogni-
tion of two of the bodies, John Gold and Jesse
Upton. The latter was a married man, and had
left a large family, seven or eight children.
John Hilder examined—l am a farmer at Hor-
sted Keynes, and I have seen this day the body of
my son, Albert Hilder, a single man, who was 23
years of age. He left me about seven o'clock yes-
terday morning, and I never saw him afterwards
alive.

Dr. Smythe examined—About ten minutes after
one o'clock I was s-,..nt for to the fair, and on my
arrival I saw a man whom I understood to be Jesse
Upton being taken off the ground, dead. There
were two others quite dead, Reuben Lamport and
John Gold. Albert Hilder was living, but died in
a very few seconds after I saw him. I also saw a
boy named Woodall who had been injured. The
three bodies were much mutilated. The injuries
were such as might have been produced by the fall-
ing of the engine or any ponderous body upon
them. I remained by Hilder for the few moments
that he existed. I have to-day, with Mr. Murrell,
examined the four dead bodies now lying in this
house. With respect to Gold, I find a fracture of
the right thigh, a fracture of the right knee, a
lacerated wound of the pelvis, and a fracture of the
left thigh bone, a fracture of the frontal and tem-
poral bone, exposing the brain, which caused his
death. Any one of the latter injuries would be suf-
ficient to cause death. With regard to Jesse Upton,
he had extensive fracture of ribs, on both sides, pro-
ducing injury to the lungs and heart s hich was quite
sufficient to produce immediate death. With re-
gard to Reuben Lamport the injuries are prin-
cipally to the head, lacerating the brain quite suf-
ficient to produce immediate death. As to Albert
Hilder, his left jaw-bone was much fractured, a
' severe scalp wound, compound fracture of left wrist
joint, and an extensive lacerated wound of the
wrist. His death was caused by injuries to the
head. A large piece, or several pieces, of iron,
blown away from the engine might have caused
the death of Hilder, but not of Jesse Upton, who I
believe was killed by the falling of the engine upon
him.

Mr. Murrell examined—l am a surgeon. I was
present soon after the accident occurred. I had
heard of it, and I immediately mounted my horse
and rode towards the ground. On my way I met
the body of HiHer. It was the wish of the police-
men who had charge of the body that I should re-
turn with them to the Elephant and Castle. I did
so, and I remained there till the dead bodies of two
ether persons had arrived, namely, John Gold and
Reuben Lamport. I have this afternoon, with Dr.
Smythe, examined the four bodies, and I agree
with the evidence that he has given in every par-
ticular.

At this stage of the proceedings, half-past seven
o'clock, Mr. Briggs suggested that as a portion of
the machinery of the exploded engine was in the
hands of Messrs. Cheale and Co. it should be placed
in the custody of the police, in order that every
inquiry should be made and the utmost investiga-
tion should be given to the case.
The inquest was then adjourned till Monday
next.