British Miner and General Newsman : — 1862-11-08 (London, England)

THE BRITISH MINER AND GENERAL NEWSMAN.  as an eight-strand rope was one of extraordinary thickness; but had he seen the defect, be certainly would have ordered Bartlam to mend it. The first intimation he had of a defect in the rope was from first witness, and he then told him to go to Bartlam, and tell him to mend it. —Adam Hale, engineer at the "New Pit," deposed that he had worked the rope at that pit for the last four months, and had never seen any defect in it. Heard Griffiths tell Bartlam to go and do something at the rope the day , before it broke.—James Alcock, engineer at the Stone Jack Pit, stated that he was present when the rope was put up by Bartlam, on the 16th inst., but did not see him examine it,. but he reported it to him (witness) as safe. After that report he tried the rope with an empty "bonk" in the presence of deceased, and !Heath called his attention to the defect before mentioned. Cope was present at the time, and as Cope was his superior, he did not feel it his duty to mention the matter to Bartlam. Deceased and several persons were let up and down at the time. After the examination of several other witnesses, the Coroner summed up, and the jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death." Mr. Baker, the Government Inspector of Mines, was present during the proceedings.  Now, taking the foregoing report to be a faithful one—and the evidence having been given on oath before one of her Majesty's learned coroners, we cannot doubt its correctness—we would only ask any sensible man or woman in the British dominions what benefit the community derives from, or what reliance can be placed upon, such a tribunal'? Henry Griffiths, the master sinker, said, "On the day before the rope broke I went down the pit with the deceased. On going down I noticed there was a defect in the rope, one of the outer strands being broken through. When I came up I directed the attention of the underground bailiff; Mr. Cope, to the defect, and Mr. Cope told me to mention it to the blacksmith, Prancis Bartlam, whose duty it was to look after the ropes, repair and condemn them when unfit for use. I went to Bartlam and informed him that Mr. Cope had said he was to examine and repair the rope. Bartlam replied that he had examined it twice, and laughed at me when I expressed my fears. I returned to the pit and remained till about nine o'clock at night, but Bartlam never came to it all the time."  Now, is this startling statement, made by the master sinker on oath, true or false? If true, we repeat the question, What is the use of coroners' inquests? There can be no doubt that both the underground bailiff and the blacksmith most shamefully neglected their duties, and thereby occasioned the deaths of two poor men.  One of the most 'eminent criminal lawyers of any age laid it down so clearly that, "he who runs may read," "any person causing the death of another through neglect in the performance of a duty, or through ignorance as to the performance of the duty he had undertaken, was guilty of manslaughter," and the late Lord Campbell went further still. In a memorable case, his Lordship held that, where the death of an individual was occasioned through neglect of duty or ignorance as to the performance of a duty, the person so offending was clearly guilty of manslaughter, and might even be indicted for murder.  We shall, in the discharge of a duty to the Miners of the United Kingdom, transmit a copy of this case for the consideration of the Chief Coroner of England.