The Sun.
London, England, 1845-05-24 00:00:00

THE LATE DREADFUL ACCIDENT

AT YARMOUTH.
THE ENGINEER'S REPORT.

Ylastotrrn, THUHSDAY.—The inquest on the bodies of the suf.
ferers was adjourned about a fortnight since, iii order that applica-
tion might be made to the Secretary of State for the assistance of
some eminent civil engineer who should inspect the materials of the
suspension-bridge, and report thereon, in order to guide the jury to
a proper verdict as to the cause of the accident. On Tuesday last
Mr. Walker, civil engineer, from London, arrived, and made all
due inquiries.

Yesterday the adjourned inquest was held at the Town.hall. The
mayor and nearly all the magistrates of the borough were present,
with many other gentlemen interested in the inquiry. Mr. C.
Evans appeared for the proprietors of the bridge. All the jurors
having answered to their names,
The CORONER in addressing them observed, that at the com-
mencement of this Investigation he had stated that he had selected
two cases upon which to try the merits of the whole. It appeared,
however, from a recent dictum of Baron Alderson, that there had
been some informality in the adjournment. He had, therefore,
now taken a case in respect to which there was no informality, as
the jury had been summoned upon it for this day. This was the
case of Louisa Utting, one of the sufferers.
Charles NV arnes was called; he is the writer of the extraordinary
narrative first published in the Bury Post. He came forward to
the witness box and appeared to be a good deal confused by the
awkward and unenviable position in which he had placed himself.
Being sworn, he said, in answer to questions—l am a lawyer's
clerk, residing in this town. I remember the evening of the 2d of
May last, I wrote the letter that appeared in the papers relative
to the late accident. I wrote it in a very excited state, having
been drinking brandy.

The CORONZR—Are the statements you made in that letter true
Witness—Certainly not.

Mr. James Walker was then sworn—He stated. in answer to
questions by the Coroner, I am a civil engineer, and member of the
Society of Civil Engineers in London. I have been president of
that institution for the last ten years. I resigned that office at the
commencement of the present season. At the request of the Se-
cretary of State I came to Yarmouth far the purpose of making
inquiries as to the causes of the fall of the suspension-bridge that
was erected over the river Bure, at the north end of this town. I
was able to do so, and to come here immediately.
The CORONER said, " You, Sir, have examined the bridge, and
you are, no doubt, prepared to give your own statement in your
own way without being interrupted ; after that the jury may have
some questions to put to you."
Mr. Walker then described the materials of which the bridge
had been made, the nature of the contracts under which it had
been constructed, and the alteration by widening it which 11.. d
been effected. He then referred to the mode in which the acci-
dent had occurred, and said, I have ono! a few words to add in
conclusion. First, that I consider the immediate cause of the
accident to have been a defect in the joint or welding of the bar

enistsmonstsenseamenraimamwisw -
that first gave way. Scrondiy, that the quality et' e 110 n and a
the workmanship, so tar as I have been able to examine them,
the
have been defective, and would not have been permitted had
work been properly tested. Thirdly, the widening of the platOT
appears to have been made without sufficient reference to the
and
on:
ginal strength of the bridge and the weight it had to support,
therefore acted as an aggravation of the oil, the strength being
barely sufficient as the bridge was at first constructed, even S
the
ul':
posing the quality of the iron CO have been good. Fourthly,in
original construction of the bridge the contingency
being all on one side does not appear to have been contemplated
If it had I think the link on that side would have
consisted of more than two bars, either ownswhich wa:
unequal to the load that the bridge likely
carry. I have only to add, that in this investigation I ha°,
proprietors of
received every assistance from Mr. Cory, one of the
the bridge, in reference to all the documents in his possession, Oat
that has enabled me to come to the conclusions I have arrived a.
with less loss of time, and with a greater approximation to aeca,
racy than might otherwise have been the case. Perhaps I a 1.541
add, that the whole weight of this bridge has been ascertained
.IVl`..
great accuracy by Mr. Scholes, and the weight of the addit.o7,
made to the width, the latter being comparatively small and
of great low!.
portant. The whole weight of the bridge, including the suspel.
ing chains, before the addition to the platform, was 17 tons 14ceload,
3 qrs. '26 lbs. With the addition, the whole gross weightingja ,41
on
ing the rai!way, was 20 tons 8 cwt. 9 lbs., the additi be
2 tons . The great evil that additional iveight b. 7,
ei
outsidel3 of thcwt e suspending chains,was, and, therefore, placing the W1‘,.1,,
'
weight of the people at the time of the accident outside offl tfb;
chain, without any part of the weight being on the chainr °Jo
north side. I may say, acting under the directions of .
urY, hats Graham, if you, the Coroner, or any gentleman of the j
any questions to put to me, I shall be glad to answer thero.
to purr
The CORONER asked the jury if they had any quoti°"
but no gentleman answered. • bed t.
Mr. Evans, on behalf of the proprietors of the bridge, wis,o the
pteurtmssoomfethqeuceastnitornasc,t,anwdithcaallvediewhtloneWliciatikfreorm's
haitinte,ntlon the
not
contract had been strictly fulfilled the accident would
occurred, d been
Mr. Walker, in answer to questions, said ifs person ba e
bad
placed to watch the welding of every link of the chain, thyoking
quality of part of the iron would have been discovered. atiaa
to the contract generally, he did not think that everi Prec.nsecu toe
had been taken. He would have given the engineer or
310 be
the power of having the ron properly tested, la such 3 w the c.n‘
might think fit. He dindi ot find that this was dells och
tracts. A certain power was given to the surveyor, h ttesti tog the
way that the contractor would resist the expense °f -
iron, without a clause in the contract to that effect. t the
r
ctcbtowhuafroemrei
uAldtndhrerge
dftiiteenvewtgeirwtorrahoo:ei
ihafnocefutimorahaerl
attributable
:o:dr:s:questions put by the jury, not very in „s :rout, re,
gotttaahhrnbvbkei
mter2ttdfiadhhii
immediately
ssotthmfj:fui_gapeiad,l:yvi
,ianabehyTgteaewi
lhvnloaayai
gsfnytt
to having consultedhhaateennhddes udeceased'
interiordstopeo fewe
it
thin
t:ihur:,tiet
dthnoytsilreolti. lodoi
03;;titliptei
for
the
Ir. ll'
be
of the original contract, which had provided that the
111°°
the best quality." -
it
D

. _
MARKET NEWS. (YESIC-bll.
our
CORN EXCHAGATZ whpit for
Since Monday the arrivals of English " nig oheWde-
snal
amnpdl samples
ahse here
steady,was very
a t
In fine i ploo v
market have been on a very limited scale, hene' - 5 the Ai- g
;0 di
more business was doing at Is per quarter wore 13011
while bonded parcels were held for more rtioneisti' pport 0
was in steady inquiry, and prices were we' giods WI 5
Superfine Malt was quite as dear; all otber were
but Os
heavy. The Oats trade was firm, and the re
fsumilalpl.rieFes.or all descriptieon wii_
turn higher. No Beans or Peas at market.

Put.;
oats: s,
1,090
4,290
4,080

Wheat.
3,260 qm

English • .....
Irish . .
Foreign ......