The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-14 00:00:00

THE LATE FATAL ACCIDENT AT
NOTTINGHAM.
NOTTI;;GHAM, DEc. 13. The adjourned inquest upon
Mr. Jame 'lolestridge was resumed yesterday afternoon.
Mathew Kirtley, the superintendent of engines on the
I Midland Counties Railway, was examined, but his evi-
de.nce differed in no material particular from that which
he had given before the previous inquisition.
Mr. James %Vildey, an auctioneer, of Nottingham, and
Joseph Pettifer, the book-keeper of the Nottingham
station, were also called, but their evidence was unim-
portant.
The CORONER, in summing up, recapitulated the
whole of the circumstances, laid down the law of man-
slaughter, and dwelt particularly upon the fact, that be-
tween two and three o'clock on the day when Mr. Light-
foot went out with the train from Nottingham, no down
train was due, and it was not within the reach of proba-
bility that a train could come on the down line while he
was going up to Beeston. A great portion of the charge
was similar to that given on a former inquest.
The jury remained in deliberation five hours, and at a
quarter past eleven o'clock returned their verdict :
" That James Bolestrigde died in consequence of in-
juries received in a collision with two trains on the Mid-
land Counties Railway, on the 21st of November last ;
and that Robert Lightfoot and Jonathan Raven are
guilty of manslaughter, by causing the death of the said
James Bolestridge."
Several resolutions had been agreed upon, but
the jury declined making them public till the next
day at 2 P.m.
A warrant was immediately issued by the coroner,
and placed in the hands of Sergeant Meldrum, of the
Nottingham police, for the apprehension of Jonathan
Raven, residing now, we believe, at Leicester.
The following is a copy of the resolutions agreed upon
by the jury :
" 1. That the management upon the Midland Railway
is exceedingly defective ; and the jury cannot too
strongly express their disapprobation of the manner in
which the engineers, stokers, and guards are selected, it
not being considered a requisite qualification that they
should be able to read and write, and that a present-
ment of these facts be made to the Board of Trade, with
the signature of the foreman and jury attached.
"2. That a memorial from the jury be presented to
the Directors of the Midland Counties Railway Company,
on behalf of the widow of the late James Bolestridge.
"3. That a petition, signed by the foreman and jury,
be presented to Parliament, immediately on its assem-
bling, praying for an alteration in the law, which pre-
vents the relations of persons killed by culpable negli-
gence from obtaining compensation ; the jury also re-
commend that a petition to the same effect be forwarded
by the inhabitants of Nottingham."

THE LATE MR. TUPPER.
INQUEST AT SOUTII-HILL-PARK.
A coroner's inquest was held at South-hill-purk, the
seat of the late Earl of Limerick, on Tuesday last, on
the body of the late Mr. Martin Tupper, of New Bur-
lington-street, who had cone from London to attend
upon the late Earl, and was found dead in his bed at the
above residence on Sunday morning last, a few hours
after the demise of the Noble Lord.

Richard Long, under-butler in the late Lord's esta-
blishment, deposed to his having gone to the apartment
of the deceased at twelve o'clock on Saturday night
with some grapes and a glass of water, as he was
accustomed to do when deceased visited his Lordship.
That deceased was then walking about the room
apparently in his usual good health, and desired to be
called at eight o'cleck the following morning. That
witness went at the appointed hour to the door, and,
after knocking several times without receiving an answer,
Count De la Feld, his late Lordship's son-in-law, being
roused by the noise, came from the adjoining apartment,
and, entering the room of deceased, desired witness to
open some of the window shutters ; and the Count,
looking into the bed, discovered the deceased (although
at first sight apparently sleeping) to be in reality dead.
The Rev. Count John De la Feld, son-in-law of the
late Earl, stated that the deceased bad been for many
years the medical attendant of the family. That he
had come from town a week ago to attend the deceased
Lord, and had then complained of a pain in his chest.
That deceased returned again from London on Saturday,
and upon witness asking him if the pain which he had
complained of had left him, and if it arose from cold,
deceased replied, " That it was not cold, but that he
suffered from a heart complaint, although he was then
pretty well." The Count deposed that the late Lord
expired at seven o'clock on Saturday evening. De-
ceased was then present. lie took some refreshment
afterwards with part of the family, and retired to his room
about twelve o'clock, apparently in perfect health. About
eight o'clock on the following morni►ag witness was roused
by hearing an unusual knocking in the gallery adjoining his
bedroom, and, leaving his apartment, he found the for-
mer witness knocking at the door of deceased's room ;
and stating that he could obtain no answer, the Count
directed the former witness to open the shutters, and,
looking into the bed, discovered him, as he thought, to
be fast asleep, but not hearing him breathe, and being
struck with an unusual appearance is the features, he
found him on, a nearer inspection, to be dead.
Mr. Croft, of Bracknell, stated that he was sent for, at
about a quarter-past eight on Sunday morning, to come
with all speed to South-hill-park. On arriving there,
and being conducted to the apartment of the deceased,
he found him to be quite dead, and that life had pro-
bably been extinct three or four hours. A slight dis-
colouration in the region of the heart left no doubt of
the rupture of a small vessel having taken place, which
had suddenly terminated the existence of the deceased.
The jury immediately returned a verdict that the de-
ceased had died from natural causes.

DISTRESSED CONDITION OF THE
AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS IN MID-
DLESEX.

Yesterday a meeting of the landholders and principal
inhabitants of the parish of Ruislip, Middlesex, convened
by Ralph Dean, Esq., the Lord of the Manor, was held
in the vestry-room of the church, for the purpose of adopt-
ing means for bettering the condition of the labouring
poor of the parish.
e havingand overseers,
terminated
The meeting was held in consequence of another meet-
ingand
hwithout any satisfactory result having been come to.
Ralph Dean, Esq., having been called to the chair, the
meeting was addressed by several of the gentlemen pre-
el dc on n n vSeVneeddn ebsyd ay, the
tchhen: churchwardens
r
dn
instant,s
pre-
sent, and the following resolutions were unanimously
agreed to :
" That certain lands in the parish of Ruislip, the pro-
perty of Ralph Dean, Esq., amounting to about forty
acres, be hired for the purpose of spade cultivation.
" That a person be appointed to live in the house
situate on such lands, which person must be a good ac-
countant, and capable and accustomed to measuring land
generally. •
" That the lands so hired be held in trust by the said
Mr. Dean, the Rev. C. Packe, vicar, and Messrs.
Soames, Pearce, Houghton, &c., for such poor persons
in the parish of Ruislip, desirous of having the same,
as tenants in common, subject, nevertheless, to the fol-
lowing conditions :
" That the person appointed to superintend (as pro-
posed in the second resolution) be authorised to issue
tickets upon the treasurers, Messrs. Hall, Smith, and
Co., bankers, Uxbridge, for all works the tenants shall
perform, at the rate of twopence per pole for the digging,
and for the other works in proportion.

" That the owners and occupiers of land in the parish
of Ruislip be and are hereby requested to come forward
and make up a fund, to be advanced for the cultivation
and cropping of such land, such fund to amount to the
sum of 2001.

" That every person who advances 21. and upwards
shall be constituted a member, and shall be entitled to
vote upon any question that the trustees may bring for-
ward, as to the present or future management of the
land. That every ,person advancing 51. shall have two
votes, 101. four votes, 151. six votes, 201. eight votes ; and
that the churchwardens. overseers, and guardians of the
parish be appointed visitors during th• term they hold
such offices.

" That the farmers and others in Ruislip shall give all
the assistance in their power, by occasionally drawing
manure, &c., to the said land.

" That a sale of the whole of the produce of the said
land shall take place annually, by auction, the last week,
at the latest, of the month of October, in each year, after
which a division of the proceeds of the crop, and a state-
ment of the receipts and expenses, shall be laid before
the trustees.

" That after paying the rent and taxes on such land,
and the money advanced for carrying on the work, the
balance of the sale of the crops shall be paid over by the
trustees to such poor persons who shall have so laboured,
in equal moieties, according to their respective shares.
" That any person having a share in the division of
such profits, being convicted of felony, shall be excluded
from the benefits of such division."
Messrs. Dean, Houghton, Hill, Pearce, Pearce and
Stone, Soames, &c., immediately put down their names
for sums amounting to upwards of 1001. ; and the above,
and several other gentlemen, at the suggestion of Captain
Tite, entered into a liberal subscription for the imme-
diate relief of the poor of the parish, during the present
inclement season.—The meeting then adjourned.

LANDLORDS AND TENANTS.--NOW that the allot-
ment system is extending to the labouring class, let us
call public attention to another plan for " allotment,"
greatly needed. It is unreasonable that farmers (as
vast many have) should occupy such very extensive
farms; and these of course are men of property, other-
wise they could not undertake these "monster" farms.
These farms ought to be subdivided, and, by that means,
thousands of other families might reap a comfortable
maintenance. Thistis a subject, at the present time,
worthy of general consideration.
TuE FROST.—THE RIVER.—A remarkable change
has taken place in the appearance of the River within the
last twenty-four hours. On Thursday not a particle of
ice was to be seen in the stream above bridge, although
the shores were thickly encrusted; yesterday morning,
upon the turn ef the tide, large quantities of ice drifted
down, and before noon the River was, in some parts, al-
most unnavigable. The iron steam-boats attempted to
run between London-bridge and Chelsea, but after ope
or two trials they were forced to go to their moorings,
the pipes that supply the holler with water became
choked with ice, and being rendered useless no steam
could be obtained. The Sunbeam, Putney boat, was the
only vessel that continued running throughout the entire
day. At Richmond there was scarcely suflicient clear
water left to navigate the barges in single lines at an
early part of the day, and before night it was ccinsidered
that at this part the Thames would be no longer navi-
gable. The old and experienced lightermen and water-
men are of opinion, that three days' continuance of this
severe weather will close the River for traffic; the oldest
of them does not recollect seeing ice in the River pre-
vious to Christmas, and many anticipate a winter similar
to that of of 1814, when the Thames was frn7.:,y, over,
and a fair held upon it. The wild fowl continue to in-
crease, especially above Battersea-bridge.