The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-08-22 00:00:00

YESTERDAY,

THE RAILWAY ACCIDENT AT NEWTON HEATH.
MICHAELS v. LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RAILWAY
COMPANY.—In this case Maurice Michaels, an itinerant
jeweller, was the plaintiff, and the Lancashire and York-
shire Railway Company were the defendants, and the
declaration claimed damages in respect of injuries sus-
tained by the plaintiff by reason of the negligent conduct
of the defendants on their railway, on which the plaintiff
was a passenger. £750 had been paid into court ; and
the action was brought to recover damages which the
plaintiff considered more commensurate with the injuries
which he had sustained. Mr. Attorney-General Knowles,
Mr. Atherton, Q.C., and Mr. Jones, for the plaintiff; Mr.
Serjeant Wilkins and Mr. Tomlinson, for the defendants.
According to the statement of Mr. Knowles, the plaintiff
is, or rather was, for he will never probably follow his
trade again, a jeweller and watchmaker, carrying on
business at Manchester, and trading very extensively in
different towns in Lancashire, buying and selling and
making considerable profit; and he had brought the
action to recover damages against the railway company
for injuries of a very grave and serious description, and
which, in all probability, would disable him for the rest
of his life. The accident was occasioned by negligence of
the grossest kind—a negligence acknowledged by the
plea on the record, for by paying money into court, they
had ackowledged it. The plaintiff is a foreigner by birth,
but had resided at Manchester about ten years. On the
29th of December in last year, he was a passenger from
Manchester to Rochdale by the Lancashire and York-
shire Parliamentary train ; booked to leave the Victoria
station at twenty minutes past ten a.m. from Rochdale and
Yorkshire. There are two stations in the first three miles
of the route, the one called Miles Platting, and the other
Newton Heath. The train got as far as the latter place
without accident. It was a frosty morning, and there was
a good deal of fog which obscured the atmosphere. When
they reached Newton Heath, and while the train was being
slowed, the express from Oldham came up at full speed,
and dashed into the parliamentary train, knocking to
pieces one or two carriages, and doing considerable injury
to the one in which the plaintiff was, that being the third
from the end of the train. The jury would be surprised
to hear that the arrangement on this line was such that in
five minutes after the slow parliamentary left Manchester,
it was followed by the Oldham express train.—Mr. Sergeant
Wilkins submitted that the only question was the amount
of damages.—His Lordship agreed with the learned
sergeant that the only question for the jury was, what
would be a reasonable compensation for his injuries.—The
defendant, continued Mr. Knowles, was found to have sus-
tained serious injury. _He was removed to his own house

_
at Manchester, and although attended by the principal
practitioners in that city, he was even now unable to leave
his bed, in which he would probably remain until his in-
juries would permit him to leave. The amount of damages
should be measured by the income which the plaintiff
was obtaining before the accident ; and he therefore pro-
ceeded to state that the profits of his business amounted
to £4OO a year.—Abraham Michaels, brother of the
plaintiff, was examined as to the present condition of the
plaintiff, and the profits of his business before the accident
occurred. On gold watches, be said, the average selling
price of which was £l2, he obtained a profit of 25 per
cent., or £3 on each watch, and on silver watches 15 per
cent., the selling price being about £4. At this stage of
the case, Mr. Sergeant Wilkins agreed to a verdict of
£750, in addition to the £750 paid into court, making the
entire damages £1,500.
THE RAILWAY ACCIDENT AT DIXON-FOLD.

GIBSON V. THE LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE AIL.
WAY COMPANY.—The plaintiff was Mr. John Gibson,
engineer, of Leke, and the defendants were the Lancashire
and Yorkshire Railway Company ; and the declaration
charged the defendants with negligence in the manage-
ment of a railway train, whereby the plaintiff had sus-
tained injury. The defendants had paid £5OO in satisfac-
tion of the claim, but the plaintiff thought it was not
enough. Mr. Attorney-General Knowles and Mr . Unthank
for the plaintiff ; Mr, Sergeant API aug W 912444921
f9r tli cicfuulauty,