The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1839-11-12 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

DIABOLICAL PLOT AGAINST HUMAN LIFE, AT BADSTOCK.-TWELVE LIVES LOST.  (From the Bath Herald of Friday.) This morning, at four o'clock, one of the most awful calamities occurred at Badstock-wells-way pit, which it has ever been our melancholy duty to record, by which the lives of twelve unoffending fellow-creatures have been sacrificed. At about that hour the following individuals, viz., Richard Langford, aged 44 ; Farnham Langford, his son, 16 ; Alfred Langford, another son, 13; James Keevil, 41, and his two sons, Mark, aged 15, and James, 14 ; William Adams, 19 ; Leonard Dowling, 12 ; William Summers, 26 ; Amos Dando, 13 ; John Barnet, 41, and James Pearce, 18, assembled at the pit for. work. The whole number were booked at the top, prior to being.let down into the pit, when, as soon as their weight was felt fully on the rope, it broke asunder, and precipitated the whole twelve to the bottom of the pit, a depth of two hundred and fifty yards, or 756 feet, by which frightful catastrophe they were all dashed to pieces, and consigned to instantaneous death. So terrible was the shock to life and limb in falling this tremendous depth that, out of the twelve bodies, only one was sufficiently entire to be instantly recognised ; the rest were literally smashed, and dissevered limb from limb, and presented a sight so awful and ghastly that the seven men who had been doing the night duty, and were waiting to be relieved by this very party, were so horror-struck that they were found wholly speechless and stupified bp the men who went down to look after the party which had met with this awful fate. The evidence taken goes to establish, beyond all doubt, that some diabolical malice had caused this cala.; mity wilfully and premeditatedly, and that the rope was perfectly sound over night, bat had been chipped nearly in two during the night. Those who are acquainted with the strength, thickness and general construction of these ropes are aware, that it would be easy to weaken and damage them by a blunt instrument, so that they would preserve the out ward appearance of their usual strength, but would snap when the ordinary weight was suspended to them. It was quite clear, from the appearance of this rope, which was nearly a new one, that it had been so practised upon ; for where it gave way, the fibres were jagged and uneven, in the part which had not been tampered with, but in the rest, they were almost as even and level as if a knife or chisel had passed over and into them. The very night before, this same rope had borne a weight of 32 cwts. We lament to say, that there is, at present, no clue to the perpetrator of this diabolical act ; and worst of all, that some of the unfortunate sufferers have left widows and families, viz. R. Langford, a widow and two children, J. Keevil, a widow and five children, and J. Barnett, a widow and seven small children.  The inquest took place, this morning, before R. Uphill, Esq. County Coroner, and a highly respectable jury, when several witnesses were called and examined. The Jury, after a short consultation, roturned a verdict of " Wilful Murder against some person or persons unknown."