The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-09 00:00:00

DUBLIN, MONDAY MORNIITC: isj
THE PORTOBELLO TRAGEDY.
Never in my recollection did any occurrence send
such a thrill of consternation through this city as
tl fatal omnibus accident at the Portobello-bridge
o aturday night._ The news passed in all direc- _
t vith electric rapidity that one of the omnibuses
1' n into the lock chamber of the canal, and
he passengers were drowned.. It was
first whether the omnibus was going
out of town or returning, and the anxiety was in-
tense among persons who expected their friends to
be travelling by omnibus about that hour. Multi-
tudes crowded round the scene of the disaster, and
cabs and cars lined the streets in the neighbourhood.
Some years ago Mr. Wilson, a London gentleman,
established a line of omnibuses from the General
Post-office to Roundtown, running through Rath-
mines and Rathgar—the greatest thoroughfares
about Dublin. During the day the " Favorite"
omnibuses ran every 15 minutes, and after 6 o'clock.
p.m. every half-hour. The line was very well con-
ducted, no serious accident having ever occurred
upon it before. On Saturday night the omnibus
No. 7 left Roundtown at 0 o'clock, and arrived in
the usual time at. the Canal-bridge, to which there
is a sharp ascent on both sides. The driver pulled
up to let out a passenger on the bridge. While the
conductor was taking the fare the omnibus began
to back down the incline towards Rttthmines. In
the effort to get on the horses, which were fresh
and spirited, one or both became restiff, the pole
got entangled in the harness, the driver lost con-
trol over them, the omnibus continued to back up
on the road towards Portobello Barracks, and then,
turning rather sharply round, it was pushed vio-
lently up the rising ground to the lock basin, bursting
and passing through the wooden railing ; and before
any assistance could be rendered the omnibus,
horses, and all were precipitated into the canal.
The driver, Patrick Hardy, a steady man, who is
said to have been perfectly sober, kept his seat till
the omnibus went down, and was dragged out of
the water alive by a policeman named Goffney,
who had been on duty in the neighbourhood. No-
thing is known of the way in which the e4eig4eede
acted on the occasion. There were six ineideipas-:
sengers, all of whom lost their liyeg;
diately. 'The scene wee frightful.' 'ln a aawilho.,,
must unlikely, where the possibilit of —Cr
conld scarcely be imagined, six huina Alt
up in an omnibus, were plunged into a dark chani-
ber, 16 or 20 feet deep, half full of water, shriek-
ing, and struggling for help in vain. The horses
were plunging furiously, striking their hoofs against
the smooth slimy stone walls, splashing the water
about in their convulsive efforts for life. The people
on the bridge and around the place presented a
scene of wild confusion and horror, shouting for
help, rushing to and fro, striving to let off the water
to break open the omnibus, to do something to save
the lives of the passengers. All was vain. The cries
gradually died away. When, after an interval of
20 minutes, the top of the omnibus was broken in
with a hatchet, all were dead. The following are
the names of the victims :—Mrs. Byrne, aged 26,
and her infant child ; Mr. Gunn, proprietor of a
music establishment in Westland-row; a man
named Cunningham, a night watchman in one of
the docks ; Mrs. O'Connell, the wife of a solicitor,
from the county of Clare; Miss O'Connell, her
daughter, aged 18 years, who was at St. Patrick's
ball in the Castle a few evenings before, and was
much admired for her singular beauty. The two
last-named and the child were immediately removed
to Mercer's Hospital; the rest were taken to the
Meath Hospital, were every exertion was made to
restore consciousness by Drs. Smyly, Porter, Whar-
ton, Jameson, and other medical gentlemen. Dr.
Monk, who lives near the scene of the disaster, had
previously done everything that was possible to save
some of the lives, but all skill was in vain. Six
corpses await the coroner's inquest, which is to be
held at 12 o'clock to-day.
Many rumours are afloat on the subject—as to
the blame attached to individuals. Amidst the ex-
pressions of horror at the catastrophe, a feeling of
astonishment is universally expressed as to how the
thing could have occurred, even if the driver and
conductor were endeavouring to do it of set pur-
pose—why the conductor or some one did not seize
the horses' heads—how the omnibus could have
turned round in such away, and been forced just
into the spot that seemed most inaccessible, and also
at the same time most fatal. Multitudes are travel-
ling daily by these omnibuses, and a thought of
danger like this never occurred to any one.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.-.LIVERPOOL, April 8.

OWEN V. lIOLLINS

Mr. Conway appeared for the plaintiff; and Mr.
lspinall for the defendants.

This was an action to recover damages for an ex-
cessive distress and for selling the plaintiff's goods
after tender of the rent. It appeared that the plain-
tiff, Margaret Owen, kept a beerhouse and also a
sailors' boarding house. • The rent for the latter
was two guineas a-month, and in November, 1859,
was in arrear four months, less £1 paid on account.
The bailiff, who had been instructed to distrain
seems to have called on the plaintiff and to have
obtained £2 los
_from her, on the promise that
nothing further would be done in the matter. la
spite of this promise . however, which was re-
peated to her at the defendant's office, she found,
on returning to her house, that it had been gutted
from top to bottom of all her furniture, amount.
ing in value to about £7O. She hastened to the
defendant's office, where the goods were, but they
knew nothing of what had been done by the bailiff,
and proceeded to sell the goods, notwithstanding
plaintiff's offer to pay the rent if the £2 10s paid
to the bailiff were allowed her in deduction. No
money or account was returned to her after the
sale, but the defendants offered to compromise
the case in a way which did not satisfy the plaintiff.
In the absence of any claim for special damages
arising from loss of profits by the lodging house,
the jury were confined to the value of the goods
taken, and the damage arising from refusal of the
plaintiff's tender of payment before sale, and they
returned a verdict for the plaintiff for £25.

POTTS AND OTHERS, ASSIGNEES, V. MEARES.
Mr. Monk, Q.C., Mr. Cleasby, Q.C. and Mr.
Ovens appeared for the plaintiffs; and Q.C., and
James, Q.C., and Mr. Holker for the defendants.

This was an action to recover the value of certain
goods and hook debts delivered and assigned over
to the defendants under circumstances that made
the transaction a fraudulent preference as against
the other creditors of the owner, who soon after
became bankrupt.
It appeared that Myott, the owner of the goods,
was a grocer in Manchester, having one shop in
Stratford, New-road, and another in Oxford-street,
and that about the beginning of October last, the
bankruptcy of a person for whom he had been ac-
cepting accommodation bills brought him close to
ruin. Some evidence was given that letters, about
a fortnight before this date, and again within 21
hours of it, were sent to Myott, by Meares, pressing
for payment of a debt of £1,400 due to him. The
amount of his debts to other trade creditors was at
the kerne time £BOO, and, altogether, including the
accommodation bills which he had been accepting,
he was liable for £3,860. Meares, on receipt of a
letter from the debtor Myott on October 4, the day
after the bankruptcy of the drawer of the accom-
modation bills, had an interview with Myott in his
shop in Stratford, New-road. Meares the same
day met a traveller named M'Girr, and that even-
ing this traveller agreed to buy the stock and book
debts in the place of business in Stratford, New-
road. The stock was to be valued next morning at
6 o'clock, and it was accomplished in the course of
four hours. The estimated value was £554, and.
the book debts, amounting to upwards of £600,,
were sold for £3OO. A deed of assignment, drawn.
by an attorney selected by the attorney of Mearesi.
was delivered to M'Girr on the 6th of October, to-
gether with possession of the shop and stock, and.
M'Girr gave his check for the amount, vrizi°b•
Myott, the debtor, handed over to Meares's attor-
ney to pay Meares, his creditor, or do what he74iked
with it. About the same time the sleek an'd fix-
tures, and goodwill of the shop in Oxfore.-street
were sold to a person named Girdlestone foi: £5O.
The learned Judge summed up the evide/ ice, and
stating, in answer to a
The jury at once found a verdict for the vlaintiffs,
uestio b Jadge, that
they were of opinion that there hay dthe been, a fraudu-
lent preference.
The defendant had already recovered £360 of the
book debts, for which £3OO only had been given,
a sum of £914,
and this, together with the vai ue of thjc.l3toek,•made
the amount for whit 1 the 'verdict
was taken.

Mr. Baron Channell and a Speciah Jury.)
CHESTER CIRCUIT.—CIIESTER, _l:mil 6.
IrALL V. CRAWFORD ,1...11D OTHERS,.
(Bgefro.reßaron Channell summed up with gr 'eat care
in this case, which has extended over tb ree days,
involving a disp'ited right of footpath,. s xplaining
to the jury the nature of a dedication, ar id the acts
from which it might be inferred or k 7 which it
might be rebutted. He then commer ited on the
alleged acts
and of the
of user on the one handinterruption on the other, and conclrla e-d by telling
,
the jury that a dedication by the a timer of thel landan
to the public ought to be mad' a out
unequivocally ; but that if the road
vratshe•owner
dedicated, no subsequent irhterrr iptioll by
would destroy the right f4f vor y.
f d t thus edeen An ,
The jury found a verzdict fo',-.th clearly
yce so
est4blishingithe public, right, as alleged,