Northern Times. — 1857-12-16 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

LIABILITY OF A RAILWAY COMPANY FOP. OVERCROWDING CARRIAGES.—An important decision has been given by Mr. Serjeant Dowling, at the County Court, York in the case of Brearey v. the North Eastern Railway Company. The plaintiff was a solicitor, in York, and the action was brought to recover damages for a breaah of contract, under the following circumstances :—On he evening of Saturday the 21st November, the plaintiff taok a second-class return ticket, at the rate of a fare and a sixth, from Yerk to Scarborough, which entitled him to return to this city by the first train on the Mon lay morning. He left Scarbo rough by that train, and travelled alone in a second-class compartment until arriving at Barton Hill, where another passenger joined him, and they proceeded, without further additions, until Flaxton Station was reached. At that place the door was unceremoniously opene f, and ten other passengers, principally farm servants and labourers, who were proceeding to York, rushed into the compartment, which was thus occupied by twelve persons. The new comers conducted themselves iu a very disgraceful manner, and caused very great annoyance to the plaintiff, who "endeavoured to lay a complaint against the men, on the way to York, bat was prevented doing so. The plaintiff contended that the company having contracted to allow him to travel in a comfortable manner, and to be free from annoyances, in allowing these men to get into the secondclass comportment with third-class tickets, they had so broken the agreement they had entered into as to entitle him to recover damages. The eecond-class seats were made to contain four passenga s each, but even supposing they were ma le for five each, the company, it was contended, had no right to cram in a dozen passengers, there being even then an excess of two in the compartment. His honour gave a verdict aglinst the company, damages Is. CHARGE or MunDER.--A. woman was committed on Tuesday evening to the City Brideweil on a charge of murder of a description which, happily, is of very !are occurrence in this country, and of which remarkably few cases have taken place in our county latterly. The prisoner's name is Mary Sullivan, a married woman, residing in Conway's-lane, one of those numerous narrow a'lsys running at right angles with Blarney-lane. Her husband, a labourer, left this country some time ago for England, leaving his wife and family behind, and during his absence they have, it is stated, been in deep distress, On Sunday her youngest child, a little boy aged about two years, died under circumstances which gave ,reason to suppose that his death was accelerated by ill treatment if not by actual violence. TLI3 neighbours state that for Some time p eviously she was in the habit of beating it, sometimes of knocking its head against the wall, and in various other ways treating it with cruelty. These circumstances, with some other matters having been reportei to Head-constable Hayes, that officer proceeded to the place between eight and nine o'clock on Tuesday night, and examined the body of the child, which wey lying doted its the house. It Presented a mass of bruises on the head, legs, and arms, apparently caused by severe blows with a stick, his legs and thighs were burned, and the entire body presented a miserable appearance. The headconstable took the mother into custody, and she was committed to the bridewell to await a coroner's is quest. It is stated that the child having died on Sunday, she sent for an undertaker about midnight on Monday to bury it. It is remarkable that another child of her's, a boy five years of age, appears to have been well cared for and kindly treated.—Cork Constitution.