Star.
London, England, 1828-03-18 00:00:00

THE LATE BRUNSWICK THEATRE.

ADJOURNED INQUEST.—ELryerny Day.
The Inquest was resumed yesterday, soon after nine
o'clnck.

Michael Sherlock., slater, was sworn.—On the 17th
of September last, I was applied to by Mr. Whitwell
respecting the covering of the roof of the late Bruns-
wick Theatre. I put tl•e slates on in single courses, to
avoid laying too much on the roof. I know of my
own knowledge, that an iron roof contracts and expands
in proportion to thei deg' ee of heat to vi hich it is subject.
In this particular instance the wall platecould not shift
by any means, because the parapets were built over it,and
in the expansion of the tie beams there was sufficient rcom
for them to buckle; the tie beams, if they did expand,
could not belly down, for they were placed edgewise,
bat they must necessarily take a lateral inclination ;
when the atmosphere became cool they would resume
their parallel fine. Before the house opened I &kite&
the roof, so as I considered it water tight, but not in the
way that I, as a tradesman, would have wished. In point
Of fact, I never got the ri of finished to my mind at all
as regards the slating.
By a Juror Can you form any opinion as to the
_
cause.of this accident?
Witcess—l did form an opinion oa the subject-about
the 25th r f January
Juror—What was that' opinion ?
Witness—l aas sent 'to• the theatre to inspect some
works then in progress:- aod seeing the preparations for
affixing the flies arid the carpenter's shop to the roof, I
inquired. of Mr. Barlow if the roof was' so strong: as to
bear one hundred tons banging to it? Be said, cer,
tainly not, nor had he ever guaranteed it for, any such
thing. I told him that he.hasi•bettet go and see whai
was doing, and he Would judge for himself. •
Juror—What is your opinion of the cause of the
accident?
Witness—ln my opinion the cause of the accident was
the wei4ht that was suspended to the'footor tie beams.
By Mr. Hsu. —Did you .understand 'from Mr. Bar-
low that he had assented to the hanging of five or ted
tons to the roof? .
Witness—l gathered ft oat what he said, that it would
do no. harm, if properly dispersed.
The CORONER here informed the Jury thit ate ha
itlitten to the Surveyor.Creneral on the subject, andlad
received a letter in reply as follows: •

• , _
. . . "Office a Works, 15th March, 1828.
.0. Ste—l have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated
yesterday,. with isiclosore; and beg in answer to. inform you, that
Mr.,Lesvis Wyatt, with a sufficient 'Lumber of workman, will pro-
creel on Monday morning next to take down such pails of the re-
ottalainz walls of the late theatre in Wells.street, as you have pointed
, .fur the,purpose of giving his opinion as to the quOity of the
materials and workmanship which has been used" in the same.
(Signed) . 11.:C. STEPHEN SON.
" Mantles Thomas, Esq. 844.." „
' The CORONER seeing is Gentleman present, who wet;
in the Theatre at the time of the accident, and who Of
course was competent to speak to that point,
Mr. George Richardson was examined—The first in.
dication I had was the clatter of the slates against the
iron work of the roof—it was gradual at first, but ra-
pidly increased to something lake a peal of thunder,
which war. the fall of the roof—the front wall gave way
at the same time, and the day-light was instantaneously
let in on the vision. •

By a Juror—Had you any fears as to the safety of.
the building ?
Witness—We, as workmen, had our fears, but *we
did not think we were autboiised to say any thing
about it. _ _ _

James Silvester—l am a smith, residing in Marth-
mont•street, Burton Crescent ; my business -at -.the
Abeam was to fix the hor stoves and the ventilating
stoves. I «as at the top of the roof about half!:past
four o'clock-on the day Wore the accident with a
person named Spencer, a bricklayer ; at that time
three of the struts of the root were drawn out of their
proper situation ; the other parts of the roof appeared'
perfect; I went aga;n on the morning of the accident,
about half.past ten. I there saw Spencer ; we
went towards the -roof ; in the entrance•room, at the,
top of the stairs, on the prompt side, we met Atkins, who
told ussomelhing very alarming. had taken place to the
roof, and desired us to go assay ; from 10 to 12 carpenters
were making from the top of the stairs ; they were all in
great agitation they appeared to me to be prevented by
Spencer, who desired them not to make an alarm in the
house. Atkins and I• ran down stairs very quickly, passing
over the stage, and out at the stage entrance. As none of
the men followed us, we thought it was a false alarm;
however, I walked up sharply to the north wall of the
theatre, and kept my attenti in to the front for a few mi-
nutes longer. Adkins let n.e and went into the yard. In a
few moments afterwards 1 heard a crack, which I
thought came from the root; very soon after there were.
three distinct claps. The front pilasters of the building
appeared to swell out, and directly the north and south
walls broke. The first alarm in the streets was the
cracking of the windows over the stage entrance. The
south wall went first, then the notch, then the front, and,
finally, it all came down in one mass, leaving a sloping
attached to the north wall.

By Mr. HILL—Did the struts•. appear to be drawn
out of their places by any weight being hung to theta ?
—Yes, by a hanging weight.

Mr. HlLL—What indication of danger did Ton look
for whew you say you ran out of the Theatre?— I c:•
peeled to see a shake in the composition.
Mr. HILL—Did you see any?—No, I did nottill the
wht le came down.

Mr. L. %V. Wyatt, Clerk of the Works to his Majesty,
deposed, that he bad with others carefully examined the
remaining wall of the Theatre, and found the whole rf
the materials to be proper and good. In making the
survey, the six top courses of the walls were pulled
down in various places, and their materials carefully
examined, as well as those which were scattered•about
the ruins. The examination was perfectly satisfactory.
The other persons named by Mr. Wyatt gave similar
testimony, having accompanied him in the survey, of
the ruins.

Edward Atkins, bricklayer, on the morning of the'
accident had a scaffold just made .on the iron ties to
inspect the roof, when (said .he) I heard a loud crash.
I jumped off the scaffold, and with the carpenters ran
to the winding staircase. A carpenter said, " I dun't
think it is safe; I answered, "I think the roof is fall.
ing, and I will not stay." I then ran down into the stilt%
and had just examined the front, which appeared Safe,
when the cracking of windows at the south end drew
my attention, and in less than a minute'the roof tell
with a tremendous crash, and the front wall. fell into
the street. Assisted in getting out the persons whir had
been buried in the ruins.

David Wales and J. West, carpenters, gave similar,
testimony; after which Mr. PULLEN was asked if he
intended to call Mr. Carruthers?

14t. PULL EN said, that gentleman was considerably
worse now than on Friday last, and could not at ptesent
*steed.
The Inquiry was then adjourned until neat Thuisday.