The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-07-22 00:00:00

SERIOUS AND FATAL ACCIDENT.

On Saturday considerable alarm was created in Warring-
ton, by a report that a great portion of the locks in progress
of erection at Howley, to connect the Mersey and Irwell na-
vigation with the river Mersey, bad given way, and that a
number of the workmen employed in their construction had
been seriously injured. A few years ago the locks now under
repair had given way, and for some months past a number of
workmen have been employed, under the superintendence of
Mr. Illman, the engineer to the proprietors of the navigation,
in their reconstruction. To effect this object it has been
deemed necessary to excavate the locks to a considerable
depth below the old foundations, and, in consequence, a
number of the upright piles on either side of the locks, sup-
porting a railway extending from end to end, had to he un-
derpinned, the excavation having been carried on below their
original base. On Saturday morning, several of the work-
men were engaged in this work, and, finding it necessary to
draw a pile on the bank of the lock, a " crab," or large
windlass on a cross railway or cradle was placed over the
pile, and a strong chain attached to it for the purpose of
drawing out the pile from the earth in which it was firmly
imbedded. Thomas Collier, a joiner, Joseph Nutt, a la-
bourer, and William Wheelhouse, a joiner, had charge of the
windlass, which was worked at something like the distance
of 40 feet above the bottom of the excavation. James Booth,
a joiner, and John Valentine, a labourer, were employed in
adjusting the chain to the pile, while Charles Molyneux and
other labourers were at work in excavating the surrounding
soil at the bottom of the hole. All the arrangements being
complete, the windlass was set in motion, and but a few
turns had been taken, when to the horror of the workmen,
the principal cross piece of timber on which the railway runs
gave way, and the cross railway or cradle, the windlass, and
the men on it, were precipitated to the bottom of the cutting,
upon the workmen below. Nutt and Wheelhouse appeared
to have been aware of their perilous situation, and with great
presence of mind, by jumping, endeavoured to throw them-
selves upon the soil, instead of the planking and piles at the
bottom of the dock, but their intentions were frustrated, and
after their flying leap they were both picked up from amongst
the timber they had been so anxious to avoid. Collier stuck
fast to the windlass. John Valentine, one of the men at
work at the lower end of the pile, was struck on the back
between the shoulders by the windlass with such force as to
crush several bones of the spine. He also received a com-
pound fracture of the left thigh ; his left foot was dreadfnlly
crushed, and in addition to several cuts on the back of his
head, he was internally injured. Joseph Nutt had his lower
jaw fractured, his upper lip cut severely in two places, and a
serious punctured wound on the chest. Another man had
several of his ribs on the right side severely fractured.
' William Wheelhouse received a serious concussion of the
brain, and was much injured about the middle of the spinal
canal. Thomas Collier received considerable injuries in the
back and chest ; three others were bruised severely, but not
to so great an extent as to prevent their walking to their
homes. Wheelhouse, Collier, Valentine, and Nutt were
carried to some neighbouring cottages. Everything that
humanity or medical skill could suggest was done for the
sufferers. Valentine, who is an old man, sank rapidly. and
his case presented such serious symptoms as not to warrant
the medical gentleman to resort to immediate amputation.
He was perfectly sensible and resigned, and for a time ex-
pressed a great wish to be taken home to die in the presence
of his wife and family, who reside in the neighbourhood of
Manchester ; of course, his wish could not be complied
with ; he died about four hours after the accident. Collier
and Nutt were, at their own request, placed on board a flat,
and removed to Barton. All the sufferers, with the excep-
tion of Nutt, are married men. On Monday an inquest was
held on the body of John Valentine, when the jury, after
some consideration returned a verdict to the effect that the
deceased met his death accidentally, owing to the defective
state of a part of the framework. They also laid a deodand
of £5 on the crab and other machinery. The coroner, at
the request of the jury, informed Mr. Illman that they had
moderated the amount of the deodand, in the hope that the
company would make some provision for the family of the
deceased, and that in their future operations they would have
their works more properly secured, as after the view they
(the jury) had had of them, they could come to no other con-
clusion than that they were extremely weak.