The Sun.
London, England, 1850-12-24 00:00:00

LATE FATAL SE WER ACCIDENT.
The adjourned inquest upon the bodies of the two
unfortunate men, William Gardner and Edward Gor-
man, who perished in the new sewer in Scotland-
yard, by the sudden influx of the tide, took place
yesterday afternoon, before Mr. Bedford, in the
Board-room of St. Martin's Workhouse. Mr. Parry,
instructed by Mr. Wontner, appeared for the con-
tractors, Messrs. Humphreys and Thirst_; and the
Commissioners of Sewers were represented by Mr.
IVoolrych, secretary, and Mr. Frank Forster, chief
engineer. Mr. Gotto, the district surveyor, was also
in attendanco.
Mr. Parry, before the commencement of the pro-
ceedings, after announcing that he appeared to watch
the case on the part of the contractors, added that
they deeply lamented the melancholy accident which
had caused the jury to be assembled. They bad al.
ready done 211 that could be expected from them in
relation to it, and they were resolved to do every-
thing in their power to provide for the widows and or-
phans of the unfortunate deceased.
Mr. Frank Forster produced plans of the sewer,
showing the state of the works previously to the ac-
cident. He also produced his report thereon to the
Commissioners, and placed it in the bands of the Co-
roner, but it was not read. In reply to questions
ff om the Coroner, Mr. Forster stated that he hsd in-
spected the work several times, before the sewer was
driven up to the blind duck near Scotland-yard, in
order to satisfy himself that the dam was sufficient.
The portion of the sewer between the blind dock and
Parlian:ent• square being blocked out ham Percy-
e was drained by two small steam-engines and
a hand pomp ; and, in order to hasten the opening of
Parliament street to the public, the old sewer in that
street was destroyed, and the house-drainage ad-
mitttd into the new sewer, thus increasing the flow of
water in the portion of the sewer between the dock
and Parliament-square. In the beginning of the
week previous to the 16th inst., one c f the er glass,
being worked out, feet-% and the flow of water over-
powered the other. The work was consequently re-
tarded on that side. One of the contractors had in-
! formed bin, that, anxious to forward the work, he hr.d
agreed with their foreman to drive a small " headinh"
between the two blocked-up ends of the sewer, sepa-
rated b, the bottom of the dock, for the purpose of
connectii g the water-logged part of the sewer be-
tween the dock and Parliament square with the en-
gine at Percy - wharf ; and accordingly, on the even-
ing of Saturday, the 14th, the " heading" was com-
menced by Perrott, the foreman, and a man named
Gorman, brother to one of the deceased. The work
went on without interruption from six or seven o'clock
en the Saturday night to six or seven o'clock on the
Sunday night—the same men being engaged upon it
all the time. He ought to state that this operation
was carried on without his knowledge, or the know-
ledge of any other officer of the Commissioners. At
the time of high water on Monday morning the
water broke through the face of the "heading,'
and the unfortunate deceased perished. It was
clear to him that the earth between the "heading'
and the bottom of the dock had broken in with the
weight of the tidal waters. The earth (some of which
was produced) was a mixture of tough clay and
sand, about four feet thick, which was not calculated
to bear the weight of ten feet of water upon it.
He should not have ventured to drive a drift through
such earth, wi:h such a weight of water over it; but
he believed tha drift was closely timbered, and that
great precautions had been taken to ensure safety.
The earth was of a sort which might fall without the
weight of water above ; and he should not have yen-
tured upon such a work with three feet of water over
it. Had there been some great object to be accom-
plished by it he might have been inclined to risk the
making of a tunnel in it with a small quantity of
water over it, but he should not like to say what quan •
tity. . Properly speaking, the operation was no part of
the contract—it was au expedient to join the two ends
oF the sewer, in order to get tid of the water. He did
Lot consider it indispensable to make the drift, but it
certainly war calculated to expedite the completion of
the other parts of the work. He arrived at the opinion
that such a tunnel would be unsafe from the nature of
the earth, and from general knowledge of the effect of
the weight of water. Ten feet of water above the crust
of earth, over the drift would be 51b. per square inch,
or 7241b5. per square foot. If he had seen the earth
he should have paused before driving a drift through
it with ten feet water above. He should not have
driven a drift under the dock, except he had found
the earth had been exceedingly strong marl, or some
other such strong earth. •

Cross-examine'd by Mr. Parry—The engine at
Percy-wharf was a very powerful one, competent to
do the who?e work. The drift wculd have greatly
facilitated the works, and, setting aside risk, it was the
readiest way of getting rid of the water. Two tides
had flowed over it. Supposing there had been 25 feet
executed, and only 5 feet remained to be done, the
fact of two tides having passed over the dock might
have encouraged him to proceed with those 5 feet, only
he should not have begun the work.
Mr. Perrett, cl.erk of the works to the contractors,
was here recalled, at the request of Mr. Parry, and he
stated that in making the drift great care was taken
to plank up the sides as they went on, at distances of
2 feet 6 inches. He examined the drift three or fuur
times on Saturday evening, and fire or six times on
Sunday at higli water, to see if any came through,
but could detect none.

By a Juryman—Witne.s had never before 'driven
a drift wider water ; and he had done no more than
usual in such cases to mike it safe, except that
there was more timber used to support it. It was La-
tenthd to pass a 2 inch pipe through it, as a tem-
porary measure, to draw the water Al frcm Parlia-
ment street.

This being All the evidence,
Tt C?Rlisan briefly addressed the jury upon it.
lie it to them to say whether the unfortunate
m. n Lid ti'.ct the ;7 do.ith by a casualty, or whether
tht ro had been culpable negligence on the part of any
pe r
The ilry, after forty minutes consideration, re.
turnol u verdict of "Accidental death by drowning,"
but they added, "the jury cannot separate without
expressing :ht it (pinion that great negligence is at-
t,ibwable to Messrs. Humphreys and Thirst, and
their foremen, Mescrs. Wheeler and Perrott, in not
e,nsulting th© engineers connected with the works of
Victoria sewer."

LORD KINNAIRD'S SPIRIT-DEALERS' LICENSING
BILL. —We understand that this Bill will not be introduced
into the House of Commons by Sir George Clerk, as the
Bight llcn. Baronet has repeatedly intimated hia dis-
approval of the Bill, and said that if any measure affecting
licences was introduced, it should emanate from the GO..
yermuent.