Star.
London, England, 1822-03-19 00:00:00

CORONER'S INQUES4 •

•
Yesterday an Inittdsidna was taken before Mr. flutistsw, en-
rover for the district, at the General Abercmnshy, friar-street,
litackfriars-road, on the body of John Morgan, a labouring re.
'inter, who met his death Is consequence of the bursting of au
immense tank, containing 75i tons of water, at seeend,sta-
tion of the South London Gas Company, in Wellington-street.
On the Juniteheing sworn, they proceeded to vie* the precaiss,,
which bore lamentable proofs of the injury d•ne. Several walla
and sheds were washed away, and many of the low houses ad.
jseent were flooded with water. On the return of the Jury,
Thomas Men was calk•d:—He stated himself to he a snri:h,
residing in rear-tree-line, near Dudley, and in the employ of
Messrs. Glazebruok, iron-masters there, who are the corn.-actors
to the Gas Company. He was sent up to London in the begin_
sting of June, and was employed to pnt up the taeks: two of
them were put up L..fore Christmas, and that which burst sines
A month since a crack appeared in one of the plates of the tattle,
which enlarged, and broke out above, where a new patch ":s po:f.
Witness and the deceased were employed to re air it, aen
caused another plate to be made to cover the fissure. On this
being done, they found that the. first catch must be taken of.,
have holes drilled for. the screws; a piece of pasteboard and
then the new plates were placed aver the crack, and suopornal
by a piece of wood which rested on the adjoining wall and made
everything water-tight. While they were putting in the se ew-,
the iron hoop which was the main support of the tank, bent,
and dropped off. Witness then said to the deceased. "
tank is sure to burst." anti they both ran down some distarie
from it ; but as it held together, elviv agreed to entleavaur to
mend the hoop. and returned for that purpose, when the de-
ce tied proceeded to climb up the side nf the tank to throw down
some dust to stop the cracks, as the water was ruaning out fast.
Witness again called ont—" Come away. it's sure to burst,"
and stooped down to pick up the &len hoop, when the tack
gave way, and the water carried vrattass away about 18 yard...
On recovering himself Is: found the deceased in a timber-yard,
about thirty yards distant, where he had been washed over a abed
by the impetuosity of the water ; hr grained when witness picked
him up, and the blood fl nved freely front his earA ; he continued
groaning and bleeding ti l he was token to a public-lesuse,where
he died in a few minutes. The deceased came from .0 alley.
The tank was forty-three feet egitt in diameter, ei ;hteen feet
deep ;it was nearly full of water. Witness could not tell what
caused the fissure; he did not think there was any Haw in the
iron plates; he never oaserved the foundation give way. Tat
remaining tanks were fourteen inches only less than the win
which had burst.—Several of the Jory commented on the dan-
gerous situat:on of the prents:.:,, and said they ought not to be
placed so near the habitations of the sunrunnding neialtlvatrineea
Mr. Perceval (a Juror) said but few of the plate- exceeded
half an inch in thicknes in the centre, and coutendea .hay were
not sufficiently strong ;he spoke (tons his own knowledae, f he
knew the plates fat vats were generally an inch and
a half in thickness.—Another Juror said, that if it was onl y nn,de
of tin. and the hoops wete sufficiently strop;;, it would not breek.
Mr. Perceval resumed, and said, tie haop was nut stranger than
that which be had round a vat that contained only two tons of
water.—Ronert Monre, Es a. a Director of the Gas Company,
was next called.—The mid; contained 752 tons of water. 'lle
plates were three-quarters of an inch in thickness; stene were
stouter. Tie works were furnished by contract; the It unmas-
ten engaging to make them water tight. The coatra.nots had
put up eleven tanks in London, which were all standing. Tat
whole loss (the tank cost between 700 t. and Sea) would fali on
the contractors. It was one toot longer than the others, bat be
did not know whether the iron was made proportionally stt,mger.
Of course the building wateleft to the contractors, and it w_:s
their interest to make the tanks of sufficient streng.h.—Mr. Ed-
ward Evans, surgeon, deposed that the deceanal me t his d,
in consequence of a rupture on the brain caused by the atctshn..
This was the evidence adduced ; and, after several tenervaneas
from the Jury, a verdict of ile::idental Dect4 was returned.

Lady &mama was near meetirg with a serious accidtr.t on
Sunday. Her Ladyship took an airs: in her earria;e, and went
to Battetsea-House, Surrey, to pay a visit to Lady S. Cana (r,Ord
&Vila IT'S tastes.) Af,er alighting froat at r earrasse, and goina
up the steps to the hall, her Ladyship slipped, and rut har nose
mid lip, and was so much frightened that she fainted away. Great
apprehensions were.entertaiued for her safety, her Ladysaia bang
very near her aecouchemzet. We are happy to add thet Ler
Ladyship was as well as could be expected yesterday, ansi h attat
received any other injury than wh t nes been s ated. in ea -e s
was immediately sent off to his Lordship at tee Pavilion, ,
and he arrived in town yesterday morning at half-past six.
Yesterday ailertioon, a young woman engaged in cleaning the
windows of No. Bedford-square, slipped her hold, and w. s
precipitated into the area, aed killed on the spar. This is ar
ther melancholy instanee of the impropriety of permitting fen:, a.
servants to perform such hazardous duty, instead .if employiea
wee, whom habit has rendered familial to the task.
BOW-STaECT.—Saturday evening a man, who said his mete
was John alackarel, and that he was a f. llowship pater and
waterman, was bfougta to this Office in a coach, and ptearrel
a complaint against a soldier of the Guards on duty at the Britisa
Museum, for stabbing him in the thigh wish his bayonet.
The statement of the wounded man, who appeared at a very
weak state, was, that passing the British Museum, ha atapp.d
at the wall, and in a momeat afterwards htt secrived a blow en
I the back. Ile turned round, and saw it was a soldier, who Ltd
struck hint with the butt-end of his musket. He sail " Yam
I need not have struck use—why didn't you speak if I W. 15 dole:
wrong?" The soldier made no reply, but stuck his b..yon:t into
the thick part of his thigh. He bled profusely, sad was asecn :3
a surgeon, who dressed the wound.
The susaeon who dressed the wound said it was a save:: ore,
and there had been a very profuse bleeding, but it was no. in the
least degree dangeronc.
Mr. al INSIICLL ordered the wounded man to be car veyel home
in a Coach, and sent a note to the Commanding Officer to r quest
that the soldier might be given up to the Civil Power. T re-
quest was readily acceded to, and yesterday the mar was
brought up by Godfrey, a constable. Ills name is John Slater,
a private in the 2d battalion of the 3d regiment of Yost Gaaras.
Captain Drummond, the Adjutant, attended on behalf of the
regiment.
John Sutton said he was in company with alackarel, and saw
the sentinel strike him with the butt-cad of his musket, and then
turn it round, and make a thrust at him with the bayonet. lie
did not know :Mackerel was wounded, until be saw the hood
coining out of the top of his shoe, and dripping from his trow era,
and he then turned to the soldier, and said " You have used this
man in a manner you have no right to do." To this the soldier
replied, " Take yourself off, or I shall serve you the same"—
When ',Mackerel bed been taken to a Surgeon's, witness and an-
other inquired for the Serjeant of the Guard, who took the de-
fendant oil his post, and readily gave hi; name, observing t
he had been a soltiitr long enough to know Letter than to aa
such a thing.—Sutton ceded, that no abusive language was used
to the soldier by any of the party. It was not a push sides-.,; s,
but a tot eight forward thrust with the bayonet.
Two men named Dawson and Slade, who were of the Fairy,
corroborated the foregoing statements.
Sutton produced a certificate from a Surgeon who attenael
alackarel after he got home, which stated that he was unable to
leave his room.
John Stowe, a man who was passing by accident, corraaci-
rated in pert the statement of the others.
The soLJer, in his defence, said he had orders to preen: nal-
sances at the Museum; and seeing alackarel there, (.I:••tiet
him to go, and pushed him with the butt-end of his musket. Ile
refused to go, and be (defendant) then turned his piece round and
pushed hint with the fiat part of his bayonet, withuut asp hoen.
don of wounding hint. They all abused blot, lie was aura it was
a planned thing among the party, to got a soldier into trouble.
All the witness, a declared solemnly, that not a siogle mina ut
abuse was uttered by any of them.
Mr. Goude, the Surgeon of :he Regiment, said he bad been ta
see the wouuded man, and he found the skin penetrated very
slightly ; it was not a scratch, but a strait punctura; he thought
it was possible that it night have been gistn by the aide acne'
which the soldier bad described.
The sentinel who was et the other side of the gates at the time,
said he heard some one sl—n his comrade once.
Mr. altasisett. cad, no man ought to commit a nuisance in the
place described, and it was the duty cf the 4ola:, r placed nu
guard there to prevent it ; but at the same tune, be must sae.
that it was by nu means au offence which called tot, or mould
justify the use of the bayonet, nor was the saltier right in t i-k-
-ins the isilßetion of a wound by turtling his musket as lie had de-
scribed. lie called on the defendant to give bail, himseli ea.o,
and two , eeeties in a ets each, fur his appearance at the 5t,,,e,"•
TW4) talicers of the Regiment became hum sweats, and he s as
liberated.

LW; DO I':it::..l am} insbli.lted by Laub Kiar, lbizkcsc
l'Uct , Teuylc- D.tr.