Court Of King's Bench, We...
The Times, 1824-02-20T00:00:00

-.IVa ..,74 oir iL. r. 1u11'Mr, to recover a large heume ofmneyfior articles of grocery supplied from time to time ftor lt was proved that Luady Turner inspected the plaintifff's weekl bills, and aprroved them. The demand tamounted to 3101. 18s. Id Thte jury found a ver<lict for that sum. COLE V. DEVEREAUX This action was brought by Mr. Coe, a sturgeop and apothe- cary, in Russell.street, Covent-.garden, to recover th:e .umn of 1501. 17s. for medickies furnished from August, 1818, down to l822. ?65 had been paid iqtto Court. It appeared that the defendant had been for several years alfected with very painful disorders, requiring constant :ttention. The at- tendances of Air. Cole were proved by several of his medical assist- ants; and Mr. Pearson, of (Golden-squarc_,and ihar. Bampftield, of Covent-garden, spoke to the fairness of the charges. Mr. Pearson saw the defendant before he was attended by the plaintiff, and founr.d him in a miserable condition; when he saw bhin afterwards the dis- ease was removed, though other appearances had been induced by the use of mercury. Several of the inedical witnesses were cToss-examined by Ilr. CoorEn, who appeared for the defendant, as to the cest price of the medicines, and the necessity of such large quantities. They readily admitted that the ingredients from wbich the medicines were coni pounded.bore no proportion to the Iarg; buit asserted that all the inedicines were necessarr, under thic"ireumstmnce of thedisease. Mr. COOPER addreased the jtirv for tht defendcani. . Heattarked the cllarge of apothecaries,ny ?f wahn bomhad no regular education, and whio claimed to receive more than l$QO oter cent, profit on their drugs, with which thev drencled their unfortunate patients. Cotld the jury believe that the defendant had taken all this medicine, and was yet alive? The account occupied }1 brief sheets iirtduble co- I lumns: he trusted the jury would take it into their box, and if Hea- ven gave them life to go through it, examine aU the items; they would find among them sometimes two boxes of pills a day, which the unhappypatient could never have taken ; and he was asured, in the result, would be of opinion that the-65L whicls txh plaintiff naI already received was an ample recompense for his services. The LoBD CRIEF JUSTiCE, in bis 'charge; observed.tbat the speechofthelearnedcounselcontained QBe&Ofitimos oii a clas sdf m en highly useful to society. It was obviots that if they were to be con- fQned in their charges to an ordinary Profit on drugs; thev must be altogether annihilated, to the great injury of a large porfion of the people.. hhe juryretired, taking the biU with tliem, and after aslsoit tim returned with a verlict for the plai tit;-Dainageso5l. above the 65L paid into Court. HoPKrYS V. cseu'pr. Mr. MAwNNIwG sta'ed that this action' Iwa brnught to tecover a compens.tbniin adamag~eaor theinjuiy susttipop by the plaintiffi in consegnceee oftthe ove4raing n f the l 3fgb gc, of-.which the defen tmtsweliteowiner~ .IaTsttale4 atbseghs elalfofthe pljUDt i. Sh^ wash young wolin who,havnbeei giaTsti to + Biighton. \~ir:its,? vewE t 5)e deicidant's coac r ttnotthet raringeusedfortsheroadh butanoldNrwi0chtoaeh irwefo eonucaon,andqusteir-adegiiatet'othewdRihltplacedon it. 'On teb otits'de *as-the ful complenient if not more, of saei gers; the luggage was pled on the ro and 5wangfromsfdetodde and thus equipped, the coach was driten at a rap, pace oa the road. When it rcached the A3Yhum in the W'estmmsteraoad; the poli which wasrottn broke, the coach upset, anm iss loliisre- ceived ashocking inury. Her cheek bone and ankle boac were brokcn; she bad surtered, ind was yet sufilering, great agony * she was made s cripple for life; all her proipects wtre blasted, and- she was-incapacitaed to earn subsistence by her itidustry. She nsw tought compentation in damtges_which,;' under the circumstances, the jur*r wotuld not deal out wi ng hand. Tae aefendants were admitted toIbe the proprietors of the woach. Joseph Calin said thaton the 2lh of August, 1822 he took three plta es t,o go tO grightn by the defendant's coach, w'hich ustu- ally passed his residence in Pall-mall. At 20 minutes before two it arrived, when he saw one on the box besides the coachman, three on the front besides a child, and foar behind. He expostqlated with the coachnan on the difficulty of three more getting ap behind, to which he replied, that one was a man goin5 to the Elsuant and Csatle, to arrange the luggage, which was ntledL:hi5h that he held it by the hands. It appeared as high as his sheeldees; hestood Up and itwasanrefrorttoholdit. The coach wa. aNbawich coach ,ith "Brighton SafetytCoach, in six hours," jxsted overiL The coach proceeded by Lambeth* Marsh-gate, over Wesminsrerbridg, at a verv rapid pace, swaying rnuch from the luggage, and attracted the attention of passengers, who ttrned to look at it. Opposite the Asylum, the man wlho was holding the luggage caled out, "Take care what you are about," and the conch went nver with a tremen douc crash. The witness afterwards saw Mr. Cripps, one of the detfendantt, in consequence of receiving a demand for the surgeon's bill; he expressed great sorrow for the accident, and said it wa not his fault, the proprietors having contracted for a safety coach, which was not finished int time. He was indig- nant at the demand, and said the whole was an accident; the witness put the matter into his attorney's hands and was paid. Alr. Cripps said the accident arose from the bad state of the coach, and the contractors niust pay the damage. He said the accident arose from the breaking of the poll; the witnees thought it arose from the swaying of the luggage. Wl;hen Dlr. Cripps called, he said the coachman was his own son. John ILeach, clerk to the defendants, said he had repaired crutches for Aliss Hopkins, and made a wooden leg for her use. I Thomas Brscoe, who was near the Asylum when the accident happened, -aid he saw the coach coming and anticipatcd danger. At the rise of the hill, the coachman v.hipped thi horses, and they came furiously towards him, the poll weighing backwards and for- wards and at last the coach went over. The poIl was broken; liss Hopkins was on the ground; he was about to pick her up, but he stopped and icked up a gentleman whose leg was broken. The poll was decayed and broken in two. James Warren, who resided near the spot when the accident hap- pened, heard the crash and went to the spot. He examined the pole for a moment, and found it in a decared condition. Jane Reddwbg, who lived near the Asylum, heard some one call to the coachman to stop, tor the coach'was breaking, she heard a crash, and went out. A large box was on Mliss Hopkins's feet. The witness took up the body in a lifeless state, and placed her agaunst a door. She afterwards saw Mlr. Cripps, whio said lie would pay all expenses. Mlr. John Foster, a surgeon.who had attended Miss Hopkins, said that ber cheek bone was fractured; her ancle-bone was broken, and tle leg had wasteg away. He attended her still. Her general health and constitution weeaffected,though it was 18 months fron the ac- cident He was afr id she voubl never recover. She was fit for no active employment. The witness had heard Mr. Cripps say,, that the coach was a very old one, and should not have gone out. Mr. Cri,ps had paid money for her. Sir Astley Cooper said, he had attended Mliss Hopkins at differ- ent tilmes. He saw her first in November, 1822, many weeks after the accildent; she then had an affection in the check from a fracure of the bone. She could not bear on her leg, in consequence of the crash fronm the fall of the coach. On examination of the loot, he found it swollen, very painful, and the joints grating on each other, not ftron fracture, but fromn disease, the res,l;t of the acci- dent. IHe had seen her several times; her situation was still very much the sante. The limb was wasted, her general health was breken ; she did not sleep, orif she did, it was broken by pain. One linmb was considerably less than the other. He could not say slie would ever recover; and certainly there was no ivnmediate prospect of such a result. Cross.examined by Air. SCAULETT.-There was a diminution from rest and from diseasc; but this was a wasting fronm disease. Dirs. Tolson said, Mliss H opkins had been her assistant in the dress-making lin1e, and, she understood, was about to establish her- self at Bighton. iwrs. Sarah Penson said, she called on Mr. Cripps respecting Miss Hopkins: he expressed his sorrow for the accident, and said he had adrancedI 201. en his own account; but thouglit they should cdo sometlhing. M1r. Hall, another defendant, afterwards said, " Thev had only thei' coach-maker to thank for it." She was in good health and high spirits before the accident. Cross-exanined.-Miss liopkns had not been at Brighton before; she was about twenty-five years of age whet, the accident happened. Aliss Hoplins mnentioned a proposad of the defeitdant's to send an exminent surgearn. She wished for Sir Astley Cooper, if she had any otne but her owen medical adviser. This was the case for the plaintiff. Mlr. SCAtLETT addressed the jury for the defendant, in mitiFa- tion ot darages. He urged the cotiduct of his clients in paying 261., in satisfying the experise ibr lodging and board, atid in o'- fering to send an emineat surgeon to the lady's relief. WVhilc lie lamented the accident, he trusted the jury would recollect that the defendants were ;ersonally f'ree fronblaue; tbat no establishments il the country were morc useful than those bh which travelling was rendered expeditious and cheap; and that stage-coaches must cease to exist, if the proprietors uwere comnpelled to insure an equivalent to al possible success in lfc to any omne who took a place on the out- side of their vehicles. The Lo1rD CHTEF JUSTICE sunimed up the evidence, andleft it to the jury to say what sum the plaintiff was entitled to recover as a reasonable compensation for tlhe serious injury she had received. Thejury retired for nearly two hears, and then found a verdict for the plaintiff-Darnages 41001. I COURT OF KING'S BENCEI, WE?sTMxSTEn. FEn. 19 JEFFEnY V. SIR G._P. TURNER.