The sun., 1882-02-26
THE mIyrIKE o.. A.cHIxEsE tCROBAN r
blowing . Royss Hcad or with . rspes
Wnd Net AahsiaseuAseS. 81.

From the London 7ioes.
At Lowcs. in England, on jan. ~, bcfora
9ok & Chnsse acrobat TD aged s s. and Grons Can i
his wife. were plaeod on their trial. the n
27th of Dncol9bcr last. Air. Gates q. G.. and
Mr.. MnrriclI d. eondneied the cas- for, ,hs
Gill wcrc counsel for tho prisoners; Tho pris-
onssrs one & who wcrc ont IT. on bail b, h2th arpcarrd.
oncr a powerful, athletic man. had his head
shgy"d 4, but wills his physJIognomy was no, at al
nothInE. on which his wifc. II little woman. said
he dill not hear and she mad" motions with
which hc said. in ioud voice. not guilty"
MS wiz also I'm; n very distinct tone of voice.
Mr.. Gates. in opening the case to the Jury.
said the circumstances had been recent and
notorious that il was hardly necessary t, enter
engaged by Mrs. Dotham to perform for twcvo
nights at hcr place Of ,scntcrtainmcnt beginning
CURED on the next night the 27tI T The Is cEarso D
against . 1 the prisoners was. in SUBSTANCE. this
70 human life. Without taking due and 'iTd proper
car, caro- The performance consisted in the mans
and the woman then firing it on. The concus.
sion .a caused by thu explosion on the FIRST night
the man was spoken to about it. On the first
ss' pssss ts:'" on s rSl Shcs tss Esa$ sAns. al
but on the SECOND night the man put
~ i,a mo IA ntecc oi newspaper and rnado 1t up
loaded The man before the cannon was fired.
warn thom r. bow their hsd- (which Would would in!
diciite. 0n his part. consciousness Of danger).
but 1,t II did not appear that he waited TO see that
However that was; tho woman having fired the
sannSn ssrnns boy in the gallery was III With ihs
his head wa, blown of and he was Killed ON ths
Spot d The fat iaIt1 Ierc not in dispute and the
cautions f?r tho safety Of the audience. Was was
such cuIpable negligence.
lord Justicc Cotton here interpo.ed to say
That That II must be more than cuipablc careless
MIR. Gates quit, asscnted in this. and quoted
from a recent Judgment of Lord Colcridge
%s%%' 'saas s n . A.
does criminal Which e IN law Ss psso ,s h:
OF mansausht@r. III constitutes ''e ''''"'
L2rd 2 a. Jus,iee Cotton observed that this was
so II tho party knew or must be taken to have
known that it was dangerous.
Dir. Gates acluiesced in that. and said ho
present instance" brought 1t within that rule or
definition. in ton Evidence was then given OF the
A witness proved that the male prisoner. be-
fore tho cannon was fired. came forward and
wSSs and paG Gr apusH to Of fka saa ths
ana ana most persons put their heads down. but
fired the top Of his hoad was blown OIL 1t Sis ap
pnnred PHI In cross.eNamination that there were
bills OF the enterta ainment circulated containing
Of the cannon. The surgeon who was sent Tor
aatid a as 1hns ne S found close & = The the boys by
most Of wood. i weighed almost Ave drachms.
ho ana vas 80 solid and hard That il seemed as
ting il through no found it was @ only paper H"
rolled up 1t was covered with blood and would
his, his skull. Another witness proved that hat the
up pellet, which he rammed down OWN into mt 'tS the
pointed in the direction in which the man had
SsnsraI waved his hand The cannon being produced
' GsF' hs was waa aaa'sss wss sd s{ ~SSa SrS
have been about two inches 90 u IN ana nsr anperef bs ~
son 9th Of the prorretrcss stated that he pres
in consequence Of what then oo"nrred. % he gave gave
no. ut the cannon in eortan ' drecIi5uw. qS with Ths
referred i was explained to the blowing out
panic; but tn. witness stated that he had no
apprehension Of danger from the performance.
the Jury said thoy had to decide ~ whSthsr the
6rSnn'rs 6nIh, Gr sl,hGr 1 81 them 'anh their cases he
and reckless nssseneo @ ' TIey TfI% mss sr SennidsI
.fe natnr" Of the instrument winch was not
iikr k riiic IN itself deadly weapon, out some.
..ntort..lnment and 1t cou.d hardly be said that
i I hnh mere use OF II was crimin negligence as
sb, nau ,hs Deem mn used before without injury ana
Nilal uie Jury had 10 consider was the way In
wh,rn ~ ~ H2:d on this occasion that il wis
h"sad Win IT.. ,,, hard VA. or rsiHt to which
proved prov !tl2Nsh it had been statell that there
sn wln ass M, alsIsaee ssa in tb the Tay in which IN.
nights. Was there then criminal 'e necncs i.c1na
IN !, ban sns n i"ndng % .p The night in uncstioni
Wat"I I the o1n ma, nrsW AVA, sha1 ths male prisoner
SENSE 9f danger; but perhaps that was
,Ht Safainef I'M ,nterrnse AMI even il it were he
beeh attendedto, Certainly il he knew there
wa, danger and waved his hands for that rea-
: attended TO- there was evidence of crimi.
M na negligence. But We're the jury satisfied Of
there WAS such neg gigence on the part of the
man hh WlIs There such negligence on the part Of
party To- the loading even e suppsisG @ s' il TSs Was
erimina!ly neggent, and she might naturally
ssupposss that what had been done the night be-
again; ON the whole ease it WAS fHi the jnrytS
lay lay Whether the prisoners or either Of them
fs,., ih@ hoy BOY II was nintd was about twrnty-one
taken place before On other occasions and in
,.h,,i o,nrr places, II vas Iroyei that when tho
lsi raiielng the death Of the bny''-he protest
cal, nn sii,n,t H. and hs wife said it was all her
for ,hr deion.m, aud in effect the facts were not
IN dispute. The Lord Justice observed that
cannon had been loaded ON the first night and and
M Tor h,uslt that Appeared il had been loaded as
ne 'oul""! Tor the Prisoners addressed the
Jury on their behalf. urging that there MAS
not such Reckless or even cupablc ncEii-
s"hc" ~ would sustain the charge and
mat the performance was not in itself so dan
S"rons that il was reckless. or even euipabic
Ihrrn was nothing tn show any reason 10 an
prrhnhd danger To- the audience and if the pro-
lrlet"r apprchended no danger from il, there
MAS no reason why the prisoners should itppro-
h"hu H. There MAS everything t. make tho
performer careful for he iiskrd his lif.--or at
Least his livsiihood-and had lost that by this
unhappy accident: for of course the rntsI.,,.-
ment was cancelled and would not be likSiy to
be renewed. and he WIS probably ruined by the
result The performance could only h., known
u b" dangerous by tn" result and previous 10
actual experience il could not b. known asit
was me trIrIblo warning the prisoners had Ic-
e"ir"d would probably prevent any such per
inrnanc''S for the future. The Performance. was
discr dtcd AMI no doubt would moi be- r.urpt-
ed again; Yet II not in lis own nature
dangerous. ANA there was no crimi-
hil negligence IN prasnting it,
The Jury after short consideration found
Dnth PRISONERS not guilty. When the result
i'usl,nG H.. .,,s ~ ~ uut' lI4s'hnr I" heI