The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-10 00:00:00

sowing the red wheat. He was a very poweiful

man.

William Red examined.—l work for Mr. Horn,
and am foreman. On Thursday, the 29th of Octo-
ber, I was at work sowing wheat. Catpenter was
employed on that morning to assist in sowing, and
in the afternoon, at 3 o'clock, we sent him to the
farm to fetch some wheat, as we thought we should
not have enough. He brought the wheat and re-
mained in the field till 4 o'clock, when we finished
the field. I then went to the farm with Sheppard,
and Carpenter went to the farm a different way.
When I got to the farm I found Carpenter there.
He remained until half-past 5, and then went away
with some other men named Sheppard, Flint, and
Spicer. They went down the lane together. On the
following day, the day of the murder, Sheppard and
Carpenter were employed in Chalkdale field, but I
called Sheppard away, leaving Carpenter to finish
some work in a field called the railwayfield. If when
Carpenter left work at half-past 5, he was in the mid-
dle of that field, he went to his cottage. The way
through Cooper's Braches would be the most direct.
In all probability I should take that course. On the
following Saturday when Carpenter came to work,
I observed that he was lame. I told bun to go into
the barn, but he was unable to work from his lame-
ness, and I saw him going home on that morning
about half-past 7 ' • he was then walking very lame.
On the following day I called at Carpenter's house
to inquire how he was, and he told me that the
police bad been to see which way he had come home
the previous night, and he said, " I came across
the wood, and by the cottages." I understood the
front of the cottages on Wilmer-common. I did
not notice what dress Carpenter had on when he
came home on Saturday morning.
Wm. Sheppard, a little boy 9 years of age, was
then called, and having been tested as to his know-
ledge of right and wrong, and the obligation of an
oath, he was examined, and stated that on Friday
week night he saw Carpenter come home from his
work about 6 o'clock ; he walked lame. About half-
an-hour after Carpenter came home Mrs. Carpenter
came to his house and asked witness's father to go
and get off a block of wood which had fallen down
on his (Carpenter's) boot ; that he was going to pull
a bit out of the middle and that it fell down toge-
ther. Witness and his father went to Carpenterand
found him lying down, with the root of a tree which
had been grubbed up ying on his foot. His fat her
lifted off the root easily—it was rather heavy, more
than he (witness)could have lifted. His father took
Carpenter's gaiter and boot off, and the foot was
very much swelled. Witness was looking on, when
his father told him to go home to his plait—that he
wasn't wanted there. When Carpenter was lying on
the ground with the root on his foot hehad his best
smock and "willie" on, and witness heard him say
to his father, "I've put my best smock and willie on
to go to Stevenage to get some pigs' victuals, but
now I can't go." He left school at half-past 5, and
when he got home his father was home before him.
W. Sheppard, a labourer in the employment of
Mr. Horn, stated that he left the farm on the
Friday in question rather later than Carpenter.
He did not notice his smock frock that day.
After be got home Carpenter's wife came to him
and told him that he had thrown down some
blocks of wood upon bis foot. Did not notice whe-
ther Carpenter walked lame when he came home.
He usually wore bis smock frock tied round his
shoulders by the sleeves, but he could not tell
whether it was tied in that manner on that parti-
cular day. It was about 20 minutes after be came
up the garden before Carr enter sent for bis assist-
ance. When he went there and took off the block
he fell round on his back. Witness on taking him
into the house and taking off his boots said the
.leg
was very much swollen, and advised him to send
for a doctor. The next morning he went to in-
quire after Carpenter at five in the morning. when
he found him up with his smock frock on, but he
did not know whether he had his best wide awake
on. He still complained of his lameness, but had
his boots on. He asked witness to carry his spade.
He could not tell whether the spade he saw was the
same spade with which he was at work the previous
day. He had many times seen Carpenter's nose
bleed ; as many as three times a-day. Could not
say how long since.
Mr. George Monies, a corn-dealer, was then
called, and deposed that to the best of his judgment
the wheat found on the spot at which the struggle
took place, and that taken from Mr. Horn's gra-
nary, were from the same bulk.
At this stage of the proceedings the inquiry was
adjourned.

THE FATAL ACCIDENT AT MILL WALL.

INQUEST ON JOHN DONOVAN.

Yesterday afternoon an inquest was held at the
Poplar Hospital, on the body of John Donovan,
aged 70. who, with Anthony Mayer, John Brown,
Henry Stacey (still remainino, in this hospital), and
Henry Wise, received such extensive injuries at
the attempted launch of the Leviathan steamship
from Mr. Scott Russell's yard, at Millwall, on
Tuesday last. Mr. Baker, coroner for the eastern
division of the county of Middlesex, presided, and
the inquest-room was greatly crowded. Amongst
the persons present wen Mr. Brttnel, chief engineer
of the Eastern Steam Navigation Company, and
several of the directors.

I The jury having been sworn and viewed the
I body, which was lying in the dead-house of the
I hospital,
The Coroner said, before they entered into the
examination of witnesses in this case he thought it
his duty shortly to call the attention of the jury
to the state of the law in reference to such cases
as it existed at the present day. A. few years ago
there was an alteration of the law under which a
deodand was levied upon any machine moving to-
wards the death of any person, and through which
he might be deprived of life. Even a ship as large
as the Leviathan would have become the property
of the Crown, if it were to be so decided by the
jury. In later seen the Government and the Par-
liament had thought fit to alter that law, and in
lieu of the levying of a deodand, had given to the
friends or administrators of the deceased the right
of actioo against the parties for the loss the friends
of the deceased had sustained through his death.
That law, however, framed by the wisdom of their
ancestors, had worked well for centuries ' • but, as
he said, a few year: ago that law was repealed, as it
was considered that it sometimes dealt hardly to-
wards the owners °l:property who were not them-
selves to blame. He thought that such a law, might
have been modidel so as to afford some check on
improper conduct by which human life might be
sact;ficed. The learned coroner tben alluded to the
law as it existed in reference to rail way cases,
where, on its being proved that negligence oc-
curred, the friends of those killed were entitled to
compensation, and the same principle applied to
the Leviathan steamship, a principle which had
been very clear:y laid down by some of the most
eminent judges of the land. He then cited several
cases which bore upon the point, and remarked on
the fact that they had no precedent to guide them
as to the launch of a ship, as they never heard of
such a mode of launching being adopted on any
former occasion, so that there would be all new
matter before ;heel. He uederst)od that there
were persons who had charge of the launch present,
and he thought it would hardy beproper that they
should close the inquiry without hearing Mr.
Brunel's explana ions ; but he should reserve to
himself whether he would put him upon his oath,
unless he desired to make his statement upon oath ;
but if in the course of the inquiry it should assume
a criminal charge, then it would be necessary to
have a post mortem examination of the body, as
it was essential that the fullest information should
be laid before the jurytowhom might be entrusted
the trial of the person supposed to be implicated iu
the death of the deceased.

George Ross was the first witness—He said—l
live at No. 10, St. Ann's-street, Limehouse, and I
am a labourer. I knew the deceased, John Dono-
van. He was a labourer, but not of any particular
character, that I am aware of. I saw him last alive
when I carried him into a public-house. I was pre-
' sant when an attempt was male to launch the Le-
viathan, on Tuesday, the 3d of November, between
one and two o'clock in the afternoon. That was
in the parish of All Saints, Poplar. I was at work
there from the commencement, and I believe the
deceased was there also. We were stationed about
11 o'clock in the forenoon of the same day. The
men engaged on the launch were placed in their
respective positions. The attempt to move the
vessel did not take place for an hour afterwards.
John Donovan, the deceased, was about 20 feet
from me when the accident took place. It is his
body which has been viewed by the jury.
The Coroner—When the men were placed, had
you any particular instructions given to you ?
Witness—Yes.

Coroner—ln writing ?
Witness—No.

Coroner—What was the nature of your duly ?
the
chain duty was to assist in easimg the
chain when the ship was going. The chain was at-
tache, to a 5-inch rope. That was to ease the ship
on her launch. The tackle was there for the purpose.
Alt the instructions I had we e to unhook the tackle
when the ship started. I had these instructions
from Mr. Ewing, the foreurin. After that, as soot)
as I turned round from unhooking the purchme I
saw the deceased. There was a man. place I be-
tween the ship and the drum_ man
do not recol-
lect his name—who was to give me instructions, by holding up his hand. Mr. Ewing told me tha`,
a man would hold up his hand, and then I was to
unloose the tackle. That man did hold up his
hand, and I unloosened the tackle as ordered. The
chain was unhooked altogether, so that the purchase

might operate freely. Ido not know if that man
was acted upon by anybody else. Immediately
after I saw the deceased, Donovan, thrown up by
the handle of a winch connected by the drum. I
saw the winch going round with great velocity.
Donovan was thrown up about 8 feet from the
ground, and fell on his back quite insensible to all
appearance when I picked him up. I carried him
to a public-house in the neighbourhood, and from
there he was taken to the Poplar Hospital. Ido
not know if he was taken with others. He died at
the hospital on Friday morning, at three o'clock.
The Coroner—What was the cause of the winch
going round violently, as you have spoken.
Witness—The ship began to move, and caused a
strain on the check chain. I saw the ship move
about 4 feet, as near as I could judge, down the
incline. I believe the incline was 1 foot in 12.
The ship was then stopped bodily by the breaks.
When 1 let go the checks I did not give rise to the
motion of the ship. The hydraulic ram caused the
motion of the ship. I saw the hydraulic power in
action. That was at the stern launch. I did not
take particular notice whether the stern was the
lowest part. I saw the red signal given to stop the
ship, and it was stopped immediately. It was given
from a platform about 5 feet from the ground, and
about 50 feet from the ship on the land side.
The Coroner—Have you been told the purport
of the red flag ?
Witness—ft had been signified to me before that
the signal of the red flag was to put the breaks
down. That signal was obeyed momentarily, and
the effect of it was that the ship was stayed imme-
diately. I could not see the signals made to ves-
sels in the water that were to head the ship. I
could not see them from where I stood. As far as
I was observant of the transactions I ascribe blame
to no one whatever.
The Coroner—As far as you judge, were the means
and appliances efficient for the purpose ?—Yes.
The Coroner—And properly attended to ?—Yes.
A Juror—Was the deceased leaning or sitting
on the handle of the winch at the time of the acci-
dent ?—I think he was leaning upon it.
The Coroner—Could he not have stood there
without leaning upon it ?—I believe he bad to hold
it. I cannot say how many other men were hold-
ing the winch-handle at the time.
The Coroner—Mr. Brunel, do you wish to ask
the witness any question.
Mr. Brunel—l would rather not. I came here
to assist your inquiry, and I would rather not act
as an advocate.
A Juror—Mr. Ewing is foreman to the Great
Eastern Company.
Mr. Matthew Brownfield, examined—l am re-
sident surgeon of Poplar Hospital. The deceased
was brought here on the 3d instant, at about 20
minutes to 3in the afternoon. He was insensible
and was suffering from a comminuted fracture of the
left leg, contused left arm, and contused head, on
the upper part and left side. lam clearly of opinion
that those injuries caused his death. They are quite
sufficient to cause death. I think he was upwards
of 65, but I have been told that he is 75 years of
age. He died on Friday morning at half-past 3.
He was seen by Mr. Webb, another medical gentle-
man. He had every attention. No operation
was performed.
Mr. I. K. Brunel was the next witness—He said
—I reside in Duke-street, Westminster. I am a
civil engineer, and was employed on the construc-
tion of the Leviathan. I directed these works of
the Great Eastern steam ship. At the time of
the attempted launch it was christened the Levia-
than. I have been an engineer for about 30 years.
I was employed by the Eastern Steam Navigation
Company. Her tonnage measurement by the go-
vernment measurers is 33,000 tons. She is 690 feet
in length, 83 feet in width, and 56 feet in depth.
She is the largest ship known in the universe.
Her weight is 10,300 tons. She is an iron built
ship witti wooden deck. It would not have been
possible to have launched a ship of her length in
the ordinary way, and the operation is not new, as
all large American ships are launched broads.de on.
The long iron floating stages at Liverpool are all
launched broadside on. The one at St. George's
pier was launched so. It is a common thing to
launch ships in this way, and there is nothing new
in it. The machinery that was used principally on
that occasion consisted of two hydraulic presses,
one at each launching way ; by them I mean the
cradles. One was a 10-inch press, and the other
was a 12-inch. The pressure could not have ex-
ceeded 100 tons at one and 150 at the other, but I
do not think so great a pressure was put on. At
each lauching way was a powerful chain tackle,
with a doubl sheet purchase block. The chains
weighed about 500 cwt. to the fathom. They
were made for the purpose. These chains were
wound round large drums, 1.8 feet long, and
about 8 feet diameter. They were powerful breaks
besides this. There were chains from the ship,
fore and aft, from barges moored in the river.
These chains were brought to the shore and
worked by steam engines. The chain was brought
back to the shore to an ordinary windlass,
worked by machinery. There were four barges,
with powerful chains and pure lases worked by
band. These were to assist, if required, but were
not used for the purpose of easing the launch. At-
tached to the great drums were checking chains,
with some ordinary wheel- work and handles, which
had been used for winding chain on to the drums,
and were kept on for the purpose of unwinding the
drum, so that the ship should move easily. To
each drum there was, at some distance behind it,
an ordinary " crab," with rope tackle, to assist in
overhauling the great chain in the event of the ship
not moving on our wish to slacken. That was the
tackle to which the witness Ross referred, but it had
nothing to do with the starting of the ship or the
machinery, and his busineis was merely to unhook
it, if not wanted. The rope ho alluded to was not
a thick rope, but a small one, as thick as a man's
thumb. The ship was not affected by it, nor was
the signal alluded to by him of any importance ;
but he was in a very good place to see the accident.
The principal engineer on the works, Mr. Dixon,
stood in the centre near the stage the witness re-
ferred to, and which was placed half-way between
the two drums, in order that any signals from it
might be clearly seen from both. The operations
which I directed to take place, and which led to the
accident, were as follows directed a certain
length of each chain to be eased out from each drum,
and the breaks to be put gently on. A light strain
was then put on the two presses, and a small strain
on the tackle at the stern. As soon as the pressure
came the ship moved more freely than I had an-
ticipated, and the pressure on the breaks was
barely sufficient-. That on the foremost drum was
just sufficient to check the ship, and but for the
accident at the other end we should probably have
gone on slowly ; but the afterniost drum had rather
the heaviest end of the ship. The pressure on the
breaks was not sufficient, and a sudden strain on
the chains moved the big drum a little beyond the
slack given out, and by the jerk made the handles-
revolve rapidly. That caused four men who had
hold of the handles at the time to be struck.
About ten men belonged to these handle', of whom
the deceased was one, and the bulk of them had.
very properly withdrawn from the handles as di-
rected. The instant it occurred the breaks were
put on tighter, and the operation of the launch was
altogether suspended for the time.
The Coroner—And you ascribe the accident to
the motion of the ship ?

Mr. Brunel—The ship moved morn freely than I
expected, and the breaks were not so hard on as at
the time when the launch was again attempted. In
the meantime the ship was prevented from sliding
down by means of chains. There are now two pre-
ventive chains on her. I believe that the deceased
had been put where he was by the men out of cha-
rity, and had really no business there. He would
not have been engaged, for he was an old man.
By a Juror—l believe the other three men who
were injured had a right to be there, but they were
told to stand aside. If I had been there I should
have had no hesitation in laying hold of the handles,
awl therefore I cannot say the men were to blame.
At the time they had nothing to do.
The Coroner—Do you believe that it was purely
accidental ?

Mr. Brunel—l do ; but I may say that I blame
myself, as I did not anticipate it would have gone
down so rapidly. The ship went down five feet at
one end and three at the other.

Andrew Ewing called—l live in Carlisle-street,
Millwall. lam foreman over the labourers in Mr.
Russell's yard. I wa3 so on the launching of the
ship over the men stationed at the drums. At
half-past five on Monday night I showed the men
their stations at the drumq, and told them the duty
they would have to perform. Each was told what
he would have to do. The orders at the drum
were in writing, which were to attend to the
signals at the breaks. A white flag was the signal to
slack the chain out from the drums, and the red one
was to atop the break. Thera was no disobedience
of the directions, and they were all attended to.

The Coroner—How did the accident occur 1
Witness—When the ship moved it caused a jerk
on the drums, which caused the handles to turn.

There were about 40 tons of chain on each drum.
Six mEar were appointed to each break and ten men

to the two handles, for the purpose of w!sisting
to slack the chain off the drums. While they
were slacking. the chain they were to lay hold of
the handles. When they had slackened the chain

off the drum they were to stand back. I did not
employ the deceased to attend to the drum. He
was appointed to a crab, and if he had stop p'd
there're would have been out of all danger He

had no business where he was found, He was at

the drum about a quarter of an hour, and had come
away from the place where he was stationed. The
ship was stopped by the breaks, and they are

sufficiently strong for that purpose. The ship
moved quicker than Mr. Brunel expected.
Tht Coroner—From what has occurred do you
consider this perfectly accidental I—l do. Ido
not attribute blame to any one.
The Coroner—To what do you attribute one end
of the ship going lower than the other ?—Because
there was more weight at one end than the other.
The Coroner—Do you consider all reasonable
precautions were taken to prevent accident ?—I do,
both as to strength and durability. I agree with
Mr. Brunel that sufficient pressure was not applied
to the breaks. The accident happened at a quarter
past twelve. The breaks stopped the handles from
turning round.
Richard Webb—l live at 19, Copenhagen-terrace,
Salmon's-lane. I am a labourer, and was employed
at the late launch. I was stationed at one of the
breaks. I was looking at Donovan, who was in a
sitting position on the end of one of the handles.
I knew that he was not appointed to that duty.
The other men might be struck by the handles. I
heard the order given by the engineer who had
charge of the drum to stand clear. I saw the de-
ceased about five minutes before the accident at
another station, where he was employed.
The Coroner—What do you think was the cause
of the accident I—A. sudden jerk on the slacked
chain, which made the handles go round.
The Coroner—You believe it to be accidental,
and ascribe no blame to any one !—No, sir.
The Coroner—Would not the operation of the
breaks be to get the ship to go gently I—Yes ; but
the breaks had no hold until the slacked chain had
run out, and that was the cause of the accident.
The Coroner then said they had heard the evi-
dence, and it would be for the jury to say whether
proper precaution had been used, or whether any
one was to blame. Our duty had elicited from Mr.
Brunel the fact that more strain could be put upon
the breaks on the next occasion ; but it seemed the
man had been the author of his own accident, and
therefore there was an end of the charge against
anyone as far as he was concerned. There was no
no doubt that Mr. Brunel was a man of great ex-
perience, and if they could not rest upon his judg-.
ment he did not know where they could rest. In
these days, with the mighty works in steam and
electricity before them, it would be impossible to
control measures for producing works of this mag-
nitude, and if, in coming to their verdict, they
should add any observations which would have the
effect of checking the hand of science, he did not
think they would give rise to any feeling that would
ba responded to by the public.
The jury considered their verdict, when
The foreman said the jury are unanimously
of opinion that the death of the deceased was acci-
dentally caused by his own imprudence.