Court Of King's Bench, We...
The Times, 1824-04-29T00:00:00

J;xrj!L 'MC Z3TG c U7 Justce ABBOTT. and a SVecd Jtru. .Ilr. AnotpLsS opned the plezdings. He stated that this was a mdiTXn:nt instituted .siirst the defendants for the purpose of t=Vret,a nuisance 'rhich thy had inflicted on the inh3bitants of Ch;r.ire,. in 'theparish ef St. Ieonard, Shoreditch, from the Is: cfApr, 1823, dornto the 13th of Novemnber, in the saTne year, by ra:iai4 naourcr6orr for the purpose of distilling vinegar. The defensdants hA plcadcd" no: guilty,- and that was the issue which tFv2B s to trr. Tt.e AhTORwIY GEenL stated the case to the jury. The deh37d3ts hA fortnerly carried on the trade of vinegar.makers. in R..atre,Uuy.trovd but in consequence of certain discoveries which ther had mide in the preparatioa of acetons add had remnoved to tew buhainzs, which ther had recently erected in the immediate cibbcriiuoed of rles.hsuarc. Amongthese new buildings was I sta rp-P7va!u%, which poured forth sucl volumes of smoke, that when thte wind was. in a certain quarter no doors or windows could be alto-ed to remain open on one side of the square. Complaints were Qsde by the inhabitants to the defendat&s, cf the inconvenience to which they ere-e thus *mbjected- and the defendants promised to remtare it, by raising a higher sbail to tbeir chimney. But though such a zhaft was raised, the inconvenience was not abated: the amcke ztinned to roll forth in volumes; and what was worse, was roaipnsred bya naise in the process, which was so great that the fiu wn of the drfezdsntshad vaid of it, that if it vere made during the night, no person in the neighbourhood could sleep for It. The ncrtnus acd, n oulht also to inforrtthem, was an acid of a very volatile ard purtent rnature extracted from wood, anid could not be mAde without considerable mixture ofsulphuric acid in its composi- t!on. Indeed it v,-ssovolatile that the air, when impregnated with it. would take firefrom the liont of a candle; and was so pungent, that it not unfrquently cacnriated the faces of those who were en. ga,cd in ma lmc:Lrzing it The finmes;or it were so insinuating, that it Metr-ted eV-o bhs cren -when the doors an4d winadw were n ad ce artd the conseuence wvs, that when the wind was sn a ertwin erarr, it penLtrateds with such force into the bOusca in Chazrcstrquar, as to render them almort uninha. bitable by tFeir occupants. He understood that several sci- cntiEc perons would be caUed to prove that the fumes of this acid wre not zisasubrious: that was not, however, the qnestion which the jury hzi to try. The uestion for them to dedde was, whether Lbey were Of that nuture which would make those uncomfortablewho wrae oblzed to endure thtn. ?Now he would undertake to prove th^s the tlation ofthe inbabitants of Charles-square had been ren- dered CexTremey adnatisfctory in consequence of the smoke, noise, and smell ef the manufactory of the defendants; and if be proved that point to the jury they would be obliged to find a verdict of guilteyagnat the defendants, since the law said that no individual should be allowed to establish a manufactory in anv neiglibourhood if by ro doinghe destroyed the coronforts ofits inhabitzntr_ He was informed that some of rhe jurr had had a viewr of the premnisesl; but he cautioned thern aainstjudging of what the nuisance had been by their recollection of what it nowaS. It did net follow becausethey .aw no mokCe, or heard no noise, or perceived nos,ueU issuing from the rnnfctory, that no smoke, noise, or smell had formerly come from is He auld produce witnesses to prove to them that, what- caer mirght har- happened when they (the jury) SaW the premises, the nuisa^.e had been intolerabie from the 1st of April, 1823, down to the iintintion of this indictment. MIr. BlsouoxtmAS vho was counsel for the defence, wished to ao-w whethrr the o;Ierside were satisfied with the state of the ma. n nEctery as it appeared upon the view of thejury; beeauseif thev were, his clients .d sign an undertaking to keep it in future in sle msce state. The ATTO tSKY-O-VEP.Ar. could not be satisfied by a mere un- detrkirinr of such a description as his learned friend olierod. If the other side would consent to give his clients a verdict, they would then bhar somne security that the nuisance should be abated. Mr. IRorouGAux had no objection to give a verdict as a security that the msnufactory should be kept in the most inoffensive state possible, and to leare le to any gentleman of the bar to determine what stAte that was. The Loan Ctss r J tSTIaCE stated that there was a viexw of the cae which MIr. Broue:ham did not seem to have taken into his conni- deratiorn; and that was--_could the manufacure of this acid be ren. dered Infensive ? Str. BsoUonAtm awrted that it could be rendered inoffensive- but staid tlat if it could not, his clienbs must act upon the verdict by rcemo the inanutertiory. A short consultation here took place * nig the prties, w"h was tenninated by the ATTOR2?EY.GE. X2VSAL declring that he Zutt poced to call his witnesses and prove his ease. The first aitnesscalled was jXir.Francis Hicks, the elder. He was examined by ir. GonuE y, znddeposed as follows :_I am a ma. ;utctuser at HIoxuin, living in Chart qua. Mtessrs. Champion and Grcn erected a steman-apratus in that neighwourhood,in April bf the b-st year. I have experienced great inconvenience from it, s nn that tiue almost to the present, in consequence of the volumes of entke which it throws into my premises, wvhen the uind is soutl or south-weasr I have acm the smoke cover the square, too, ugson particutlar occaions- A vets offensive smnell accompanies that ssioke, .wischfia-l e time, and which can besmeltatacooniderabledis. tuee. Considerrable noise comnes from the manuractory about six o'elock in the norning, and also from eight til eleven o'clock in the ercing. I ha-re also heard it about my dinner-time. I have made memoranda in my pocket-boo'e of the iricoveniences whicbrThave a1rcred from this muanufactery. I made those memorandaday bvday. The witness here rad se=1era ofthe memorandadescribing the aifier- ent degrces of nuisanc to which he had been iubjected at various pe- cd3s front the month ofAvrilto the month of Nor. 1'823. Oneof tbem lsed that the witness clled on Ar. Gecen to get the nuisaince abat. ed, wvhen Alr. Green promised him that he would have it abated, and desIred his foreman to conduct a certain part of the process durinq the night; bat the freeman rplied that it would be impossi. lt, as the noise would prerent the whole neighbourhood from sleep- ijna On another ocasion when the witness caed on Mr. Green, M.A;,Urecn d that he wished the nuisance worse, becausec in dt rc?ne the neighbourhood woutild be obliged.to buy the groutnd on whiei bhi wanu ctory Was built. LTil that was done, he could not pree.d to discontinue the nuisance. It apped, hoever, from a aub.itquns me =7oradumn, that Ir. Green promised to alter,and did Altr5theiuecS ofhischbnnics Onasubseuent occasion, itappeared that tli witneses Eservants were obliged to wash the linen over eain,-in carasequence of the sten,cwhich th- acid had cast upon it. Tbh-itess then centinueL-." 51 comforts have been materially diminhed by thismanufatory. believe that the comforts of my reigbebourg ha-ie suffered slmilar diminution. Charles-square is 'filled with epctable house I pay 55L ayear for the rent of my ou Thee Tre houses in thesquare which pay a higher rentthan mine do,-. CrsONrmxmIned by Mr. BROUGHAm-The nitghbourhoGd of 5ls_jljfStory was very recently oekn ground, as was also the T,e sXet ort which the manufactory now stands. The next house to rome is3 chriti-school. [donotknowthatith48 chimney. p Since December last the steam-apparatus has not been so bad a,it,w,sbeFore. Iam not awnre that the noise of the proeess origi. stated fronT mixing Glauber salts with acetate of lime. I do not re,cat,s? Mr-Green teling me that it didso. l enjoygaod health. Ir. SneNcr, a resident in Charles.square, corrokorated this sccoijsf, asiid atso-another resident, of thc name of farrison. This zattt gentlrrnnafideposeds that the fumes of this acid had made hitmt hnoe than once, and had afected his stomach in a very extrsordi. narry maimr. Ze thoughtthatthe noise of theprocess,ifit were long enntinued, was tSuch as wotld drive people mad. nither witness uwsaiUed into the witns -box, when - ;r.I33JtoUoS , in consequence of an observation inadeto him bvbe Lerei hisleFJeltrice, said that he would now submit to a ver_ as- ho could not hope to alter the evidene6 as it now stood. -^ terdiettof dinlZy ?was in consequence recorded against the de. lmnta imibt it tas understood that no appliDtion would be made - m~ V Uo tt for judgment, in cse thepuisance was removed by the .-tac=mon,urJrmsa;thnen he:ls but nocases were tried befote M FQs~ ed the slightetst-blic itaet. COURT OF KING'S BENCH, WESTMINSTER, APRIL 2& T:E E1N-0 V C11Akv-nw .,-, ---