The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-10-24 00:00:00

3ibson, who was working wit
gave a similar account of the accident.
Thomas Bolton, engineer at the works of Messrs. Platt

J out a quarter of an hour before the acci-
dent, it contained water to the depth of twentv.six
When filled it contained water to the depth of nearly
three feet. It was supported by five iron beams let into
the walls.

Wm. Johnson, the engineer, who made the five iron
beams, stated, that each of them was capable of bearing

fifteen tons weight, the weight being laid on the whole
length. The weight of the tank and the water it contained
would be about ninety-five tons, sixty of which would be
on the beams, and the remainder on the walls and ocher
shorter beams. The whole weight on the beams would be
fifteen tons less than they were capable of bearing. He

had found, on examination since the accident, that the
whole of the beams had been broken, and that the tank
had been completely cut through. This must have been
caused by the tank resting for a moment on one of the
beams. He considered the beams quite suffic ent to bear
the weight for which they were designed. From the ap-
pearance of the ruins he thought that some part of the
bearings of the beams had shrunk, the consequence of
which would be, that more weight would be thrown on
h tosay
tat he
thish ad
had notbeeex
one beam than on another, and this would have the effect
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been thine examined
cause the
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ROYAL WEST INDIAN
AIL STEAM COMPANY.—
of the accident.
The half-yearly meeting of this company was held last Mr. Samuel Holme deposed that he was a builder.
week. Captain Chappell, the secretary, read the report, About tae latter end of February, he saw an order in his
which attributed the loss of the Solway, near Corunna, book for some bricklayers, who were wanted by the
to an error in calculation, acquitting the Captain of all Messrs. Platt ; and, on ascertaining that they had been
blame. It stated that a further curtailtnent of the steam- sent, he called, as was his custom when new work was to
ing onerations would now be effected by a modification of
be done, and saw Mr. Benjamin Platt, who told him that
the different routes, as approved by the Admiralty, but he wanted him to build a boiler-house. A few bricks had
the advantages could not be shows at present, as the been set at the time. Mr. Platt had a plan in his hand,
modifications did not come into effect till the end of June. and, after some general observations, witness left him,
The disbursements and rece;pts account for the half-year as he was engaged with the men in setting out the work.
ending the 30th June, showed a balaoce, applicable to in
snrance and wear and tear, of £31.341 15s. 7d. Many In a few days after he called again, and round that the
foundation of the place was being built along with the ex-
reductions in expenditure, thought practicable at the last ternal walls of the building. He saw that the external
meeting, had been carried into effect, and the last call walls were being built in one solid mass with the walls of
having been paid up, the directors had reduced the debt the sower; and, on examining the plan, he found that the
to £120,000, being £140,000 less than the sum owing at walls ere two bricks in thickness. As the materials
this time last year. Every vessel belonging to the com- old, he advised Mr. Platt to have the walls two feet
pany was now in a state of thorough repair and effective-, ~.
,werethica ; but the latter said that he could not spare the
ness. The directors hoped that, from the omissions of so
room, and that he did not intend to carry the building to
many places in the routes, there would, in future, he less
any great height. Witness told him that he had better
cause for accidents, and, under the circumstances, they
proposed that on the termination of the present year, or build a square engine chimney, and turn the whole of the
; but,
to the best of his recollection, Mr.
as the policies of the respective ships expire, the company flues. into it
Platt replied that he could nut spare the room : and, in
should set aside a fund of 5 per cent to meet the contin-
gency of insuring their own vessels. A board of manage-
reply to a question as to how he intended to build the
flues, he replied, by protecting them on brackets. Some
went had been appointed, who reported weekly to the further conversation then occurred as to what would be
directors. In conclusion, the directors held to their first
the best draft, after which witness told him that the bricks
opinion, that, with the encouragement of her Majesty's
Government, the concern would, at no distant time, were not good ones, as they were made out of the old
fairly compensate the parties who had embarked their Park clay, and advised him strongly to get new ones to
mix with them. Mr. Platt found his own materials.
capital in the undertaking. The statement of accounts
witness went there afterwards and found that a vast num-
showed the total receipts of the half-year to have been
her of pieces of brick, which were very wet, were being
£158,048 14s. 7d., of which £120,000 came from Gov-
used, and he then told him that he disliked the way in which
ernment, and only £38,048 14s. 7d. from freight and
the building was going on. Mr. Platt replied, in a joking
passage money. The disbursements were £123,706 19s.
After a long discussion, the report was adopted.
sort of way, that he was his own architect, that the build-
ing was a small one, and he said, to the best of his (wit-
ness's) belief, " We'll risk it, " or words to that effect.
As he found that Mr. Platt was with the men every day,
and giving his own instructions, witness did not interfere
much in consequence; and on referring to his book, to
see if notice had been given to the Building Surveyor, he
found that it had not, and he accordingly served notice
noon that officer. This was on the 6th of March. He
thought it was upon that occasion that he asked Mr.
Platt what sort of a roof he was going to put, and that
they had some conversation about iron roofs. Mr. Platt
said, that he intended to put a cistern on the top, which
would at once form his roof. Witness beleived that he
was only once there afterwards, when the building was

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.—The active and indus-
trious habits of the Duke of Wellington, now in the 75th
year of his age, are w ell known. The following is a recent
instance of his grace's vigorous activity at so advanced a
period of life :—Upon the Duke's arrival in London on
Monday, the 2d inst., from Walmer Castle, en route to
Windsor, to attend a Privy Council held that afternoon
at the Castle, his grace unexpectedly met a messenger
from her Majesty at Apsley-house, the bearer of an invi-
tation to dine with his sovereign on the following day at
the splendid banquet given by her Majesty in honour of
the arrival of her illustrious visitor, the Grand Duke
Michael of Russia. His grace proceeded to Windsor, at-
tended the Privy Council, and immediately it broke up
returned to town by the Great Western Railway, and left
London by the Dover Railway, arriving at Walmer Castle
the same night; the duke having an engagement at
Walmer, which he kept with his habitual punctuality.
The duke left Walmer the next morning, proceeding in
his carriage to Folkestone, and thence to town by the
railway, intending to have reached the Paddington termi-
nus in time for the half-past 5 o'clock train to Slough.
Upon arriving, however, at Paddington, the train had left
some few minutes. and there was no other train to start
until half-past 7 o'clock that evening, which would not
have enabled his grace to reach 'Windsor Castle until
half-past 8, the hour at which the royal dinner party were
to assemble in the grand banquetting-room. As his grace
was in his usual travelling attire, and as there would not
have been time to have dressed for dinner after his arrival
at the castle, the duke lost no time in returning to Apsley-
house, where he made his toilette, proceeded back to Pad-
dington, left for Slough at half-past 7, arrived there at
12 minutes past 8, and entered the royal residence at half-
past 8, just in time to mingle with her Majesty's illustrious
guests (as he reached the top of the grand staircase,) who
were then proceeding to the magnificent banquet in the
Waterloo Chamber.

twelve feet high, but be spoke to Mr. Geoghan, one of his
principal men, and told him, that they were using too
many of the rubbishy bricks. Geoghan's reply was, that
Mr. Platt was a very odd man, and that he had told them
to use the old bricks up. Witness thereupon observed to
Geoghan, that, as Mr. Platt gave his own directions, his
going there was of no use; and he never went after that
period. He had not surveyed the building since the acci-
dent ; but he was of opinion, that the walls as built, were
not oo.p.ble of 611Qtryilling a weight of 115 tons. He was
not surprised that morning when he heard of the accident.
His impression was, that the cause of the accident had
been from the expansion of the walls by the heat of so
many furnaces, and in consequence of the flues being in
in the interior of the walls.
Mr. 'William Metcalfe, house-surgeon at the Southern
Hospital, stated, that the deceased had been brought
there on Friday evening, with a compound fracture of the
skull on the right side, of which injury he died in about
as hour after his admittance.
The inquest was then adjourned.

ADJOURNED INQUEST YESTERDAY

Mr. Samuel Holme being again called, said he had made
a survey of the building in company with Mr. Welsh the
architect and Mr. Benjamin Platt. They measured the
building, and found it 38 feet 3 inches long, and 24 feet
6 inches broad, inside measurement; a large cistern had
been placed on the roof of the building, supported par-
tially by the wall, and partly by 5 iron girder beams, the
depth of which was in the shape of the Roman letter T
inverted. The depth of the beams was 11 inches, the
breadth of the bottom part 7 inches, and the sectional
thickness an inch. The bearing of the beams being 21
feet 6 inches in the clear. He found also that the beams
had been laid on bond timber, which in one place appeared
to have shrunk a little where the beams rested upon it.
The bottom of the cistern did not cover the whole breadth
of the walls as appeared by the line of mortar on the bot-
tom, but appeared to have varied from 6 to 7 inches on
the two ends. This would cause an inequality of bearing
on the wall, and the pressure would be on the internal
breadth, instead of being on the centre of the wall. Wit-
ness thought from the scantling of the beams, that it was
highly probable that when the cistern was filled with wa-
ter a sinking had taken place. If a slight expansion had
taken place in the walls from the heat of the furnaces,
the natural tendency would be an inequality of bearing on
some one or more of the beams, which would cause a
rush of water to the lowest point of the cistern, and an
accident would be the result. The beams would break,
which had been the case of all of them. He was of opinion
that the beams were not calculated to support that weight
of water in such a position, and had no doubt if there had
been a row of iron pillars beneath them, the accident
would not have occurred. He was at that moment using
nearly double the quantity of metal in warehouse floors of
14 feet bearing, and he thought a combination of the
causes he had named had been the probable reason of the
accident occurring. He could not describe the original
construction of the upper part of the building, and he had
not been in it since it was about 12 feet high, until that
(yesterday) morning-. Mr. Platt was not a professional
architect. 'Witness and partner found the mortar, which
was mill mortar, and of the strongest description. It was
usual to use old bricks in buildings when they were on
the premises, and were good. He was not aware whether
improper bricks had been rejected—nor aware that they
were put in. Witness objected to so many pieces of old
bricks, and requested Mr. Platt to get new bricks and
use them with the old. He afterwards saw new bricks
on the premises. He advised Mr. Platt to turn all the
flues into one general stack, but he declined doing so, and
gave his own directions respecting them. The expansion
of the wall would be above the furnace, and riot below
it, but it was impossible to say now whether that had been
the case or not. It is not usual for a person not an ar-
chitect to erect buildings without employing an architect.
The men sent by him to Mr. Platt's were as good work-
men as any they had. It was not what is called a cheap
job. They were not restricted in cost, as it was done by
day work. On his survey this morning he found a centre
wall, which would make the building stronger. An iron
tank was heavy, and such an accident might have oc-
curred in the best of buildings where a water tank is used.
Mr. William Rishton said he was one of the surveyors
appointed by the Corporation under the building act. Mr.
James Woods was the other, and they divided the town,
witness taking the south district. Witness received a
notice to survey from Mr. Holme, and frequently visited
them. On the first occasion they were about two feet
high. The walls were built conformably to the act of
parliament, and were half a brick thicker. He was not
aware what was to be put on the top. The walls were of
the usual kind, and he thought them of sufficient strength
to bear the weight of the tank, provided the girders had
been sufficient;

A DESPERATE LEAP.—A few days since as a Twy-
ford constable was conveying a prisoner (who had been
sentenced to three months' imprisonment) from that place
to Abingdon gaol, by the Great Western Railway, the
prisoner. shortly after the train started, and while it was
proceeding at the rate of upwards of 30 miles an hour,
suddenly leaped from the carriage, tumbling over head
and heels into the road. The constable, upon the impulse
of the moment and without reflecting upon the danger he
would incur, immediately jumped out after him. Those
in the train who witnessed the foolhardy conduct of the
two men imagined that both must have been inevitably
killed. Extraordinary as it may appear, neither was in
the least injured, and the prisoner was again captured by
the courageous constable, who walked along the line to
the next station with his prisoner, and proceeded thence
to his place of destination, where they arrived at a some-
what early hour in the morning. Upon reaching Abing-
don, the constable was advised by one of the town police
whom he met to give his prisoner something to eat at a
public house hard by. This suggestion was adopted by
the constable, who knowing, from his late experience, the
slippery propensities of his charge, determined to keep a
very sharp look out upon his movements. They had just
despatched a hearty meal, when the constable left the
room fora few seconds, the prisoner assuring him that
upon his return " he would find him as right as the
knocker at Newgate." However, during the absence of
the " the trustful Dogberry," the knave quietly jumped
out of the window, unknown to any one about the house,
and got for the time clean off. The surprised and alarmed
constable started off one way, over hedge, ditch, fence,
and stile, and the landlord and hostler another; but no
tidings were obtained of the fugitive. The police of
Abingdon, however, who were rather more wide awake
than the unlucky wight from Twyford, got scent of the
worthy in the course of the afternoon, and captured him
shortly after dark the same evening. He was then safely
housed in Abingdon gaol, whence it is not likely
be will give the slip until the expiration of his sen-
tence.

FEARFUL STORM AT SEA.—Throughout Tuesday and
Wednesday a most awful storm raged along the eastern
coast, causing a tremendous sea. The loss of life and
property was truly distressing. Among the many casu-
alties that occurred was, we regret to say, the total loss
of the British built ship Berhampooter, C. G. Cowley
commander, which took place about six o'clock on 'Wed-
nesday morning, on the rocks off the southeast portion
of the town of Margate. The unfortunate ship, which
was a very fine vessel, 550 tons burden, and which stood
in the class A 1 at Lloyd's, was the property of Captain
Arthur, and was chartered by Carter and Bonus, the
emigrant agents of Leadenhall-street, for the conveyance
of emigrants on the part of government to Port Philip.
Owing to her size and construction she was well adapted
for that line of traffic, every accommodation being made
that could give comfort to the passengers during their
tedious voyage. On Monday last she sailed from the
London docks, having on board 94 emigrants besides the
crew ; they consisted of 21 women, 44 children, and the
rest men, chiefly belonging to the labouring class. The
voyage to sea was as favourable as could be desired, and
it was the intention of the captain to proceed to Cork for
the purpose of receiving the remainder of the emigrants,
but bad weather threatening, she hove to on Tuesday
night in Margate Roads and anchored, orders being given
to make her as snug as possible. The ship wore the gale
gallantly, and hopes were entertained that she would ride
it out, when a fearful blast drove her from her anchorage,
and she was instantly hurled stem on the chalk rocks,
about half a mile distant from Margate town, between
Clifton Baths and Kingston, the sea at the same time
breaking over her decks. As may be readily conceived,
all was confusion on board, and the shock being so great
as to carry away her rudder she instantly filled. The
decks were now crowded by the unfortunate emigrants,
and a scene of the most heartrending character presented
itself, every one of them expecting every moment to be
swept into the sea, and either be dashed to pieces or
drowned. Captain Cowley entreated of them to be tran-
quil, and fortunately they obeyed, and after a short lapse
of time several Margate tuggers came off, and succeeded
in taking every soul off the ill-fated ship, and landing
them safely. The poor emigrants were in a most de-
plorable state, being completely drenched. Carts having
been procured, they were, without loss of time, conveyed
on to Margate, where they were billetted at the several
public-houses.

Mr. Holme explained that cases arose in which
beams, from a knot or an air hole, might bear a great
weight for a long time, and yet might afterwards from the
swaying or bending of the beams, break with a com-
paratively small weight. _ _

Mr. Ifishton—re:examined—said that he had no doubt
but there were warehouses 60 feet in height that bore with
the same thickness of walls only, that carried a greater
weight on each floor, than the tank in question.
Monza Bolton being recalled, said that during the time
the building was erected, and since the works have been
in operation, Mr. Platt was in the habit of having been
daily in the building and about it. He was there about
four hours a day.

The Coroner summed up, and quoted many authorities
as to the law of the case—expressing his own opinion, as
derived from the evidence, that there was no incaution on
the part of Mr. Platt to render him amenable to a verdict