The Shocking Accident At ...
The Times, 1824-04-01T00:00:00

On Tuesday niight an inquest was held at the Lion and Lamb, LTwisbam, before" T. CAItTTAs, Esq., Coroner for Kent, on the bodies of Henry and Thomas Laige, two brothers, who were burnt whileconfinedn mthe cage atLewisham, on Tuesday morning. The J.-ary proceeded to view- the bodies, which we=c laid in the $tables oftheLionand Lambj and presented the most horrid spec. taclest hatcan possibly be imagined: scarcely an inch of flesh on the bones butwas scorehed to a cinder. A shillng, sixpence, halfpenny, and farihin , which'had been found in the cage, were also exhi. .bztedv whicn, whil,. in the pocket of one of the deceased, were burnt quitebMack. ..The Jury-room. was crowded with persons of ienpeetability.- -r-GAsTTR obser to-he 'ury, tliat.one ofthe deceased had been conirjitted by lr. Constable, tbe magistrate, for throwing ,vritriol on two goywns, the property of his fellow.serviat,Sarah Long- Burst, but not on the person. .James-Qple conductoro otlih l3ow.-sreetuittolin the.Syderbam district, deposed, tat by virtue ofa ,arait,'sgned by tIi. Con- atstleidsC aPprchended Jienry c-F rge. 6-Midacveiing: he wid c4jUged*ith throwing vitriol over_ two o iioiog to Saxab *L,onghuxst, r*ho, -aswpU.a s . . b7 .him6elf .'were in thervice9F' lis. Brookus,irh. okeeps aacidey~ .t$denham. . - Witnes gavelilm, into the ctssto4 oE Lund, ..a patrel, .W 'be', 1odged-inthe cageait Lewlriaha. This urtneas went to view the bodies, but they were in s7ch adreadr^ul state bccould not indentify Henry Large. William Lwnd, a p>trl, stated *b4t Henry Large was eves, tine ,his castody by the last wtittess on gaturdty, and he'tooi bA an t1ia. I day before Mr. Constable, by whom he was remanded'back to the cage. until Tuesdyity, when he wax to be taken before the Wench 't Greenwich,and it was expected he-would have been d1scharzed. 'T'Nmnis-B3qcKe p, 'bstker'dt the Lion and amrb; deposedc, that from the contigujty of the inn to the cage, the keys were kept tber' for convenience; he locited the deceased Henrv up when thc last w,tnessbroue'ht hm-in custody o01 :atltdav; anddince tlen witnegs supplied fiim with the county aUeaw.ncf, anda trussOf si97 tolicen.. On sti!oadaythedeceased complainedDfbeizg eBystai*dwitlheold, andhegged itneasto ken dhim some iionteytXui. chise oAl H.e-jra' consequence,Buopplied him'withsom'ne; T,' iitght biroder Thomas was admitted to him to l;eep i4-cormpany aL nighf. About t*o o'clock in the'nmorning. witne -heard cries of.iurder proceeding1from-the age; and; Iiaving tresaed-bhmrelf1 ani ob-. tained the assistance oF a watch tan,-theydfourd tc'idoped in ffames: the cage door was tben openy-od Thomas -was lyinj at the door burned to death. 'He and&somc other& went i and brought oat Henry; also-derd, and lying under.Ihe_s^at. . lWittfejs did not take any pipes, tobacco, or candle into the cage Be 'adid not en- ceive there was any foundation for the rumour that-theyhad inten- tionally set fire to the st-aw. John Abbott, a watchman, stated, that about two oeelock en Tuesday morning he heard the cry of " fire," and on going to the cage he saw it in flames. Thom.as Large was at the window, cry- ing most pidfullv "Oh Lord, savemet Sa-seme.! SavemeI" Witness requested him to keep hishead to the wiindow until be could obtainthekeys; having got themrt,heattempted to enter,butLhe flames prevented him; but in a short time Thomas was got out; he then ran for adoctor, not knowmng that 3ny other prsoDr was in the cage, snd when he got back Henry had been brought out; they were both dead. James Fowle deposed, that when the door was openied the watcb- man went in first and he followed, laying hold of his coat. I this way they groped about until they reached Thomas's hatid, which was in in extended position; it was 2(1 minutes before Henry wawt got out, not knowing two persons were there, The Jury returned a verdict, " That the deceased persons died by suffocation, produced by the ignition of the strw, - The Jury expressed their decided opinion that the Iifes of the two unhrmunatepersonshsd been sacrificed for tbe was of a niecessary buildhigin which prisoners mnight be kept. If a building Wa5 efettd, in which the conductor of police, or somne otherpersori, might teslde; the lives of prisoners in casc of accident might perhaps be saved *TH-E SHOCKING ACCIDENT AT LEWISH4Af.