The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1839-10-22 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

THE INQUEST. (From the Morning Herald of Yesterday) It being known that the inquest would be held on Saturday afternoon on the body of the deceased, long before the hour appointed the room at the Swan Tavern, in Fish-street-hill, in which the inquiry took place, was most densely and inconveniently crowded. At four o'clock Mr. Payne, the city coroner, entered the room, when 19 of the principal inhabitants of the ward having been empanelled and sworn, the coroner and jury proceeded to the dead house to take a view of the remains of the unfortunate deceased, and on their return the following evidence was adduced.— Thomas Jenkins was the first witness examined. lie deposed as follows :—I am keeper of the Monument. On the afternoon of Friday last, about ten minutes after five o'clock, the deceased came in at the Monument at the same time as a respectably-dressed man and woman, whom he accompanied up to the top. A few minutes afterwards two young females, apparently from the country, came in and went up, and almost directly after them two other females, who also went up. The two latter soon came down, and when the man and woman did so I asked them how many persons were still up stairs, wishing to ascertain, it being near locking up time. They answered there were only two females and a young lad. About ten minutes afterwards I heard a noise as of something falling, and on going out I saw it was the deceased, who had fallen from the top. At that moment the two females came down, and without my asking said, " We have left only a lad up stairs ;" to which I replied, " Poor fellow, he is already down." The body was subsequently removed in a shell to the dead house, where the jury have this day viewed it. The Coroner—Has any steps been taken by the authorities relative to the better security of the railings, with a view to the prevention of such cases, since the last melancholy occasion ?  Witness—No, there has not been anything done as yet. Is that iron bar at the base of the monument on which Miss Moyes fell, and which was bent by the force of her fall, still in the same state as when the last inquest was held ?—Yes, it is. . . .  And it has not yet been straightened ?—No, it has not. And itis not now shown as the iron on which that unfortunate female fell, for the purpose of exciting curiosity ?—No, sir, decidedly not by me. The Coroner—l think something ought to have been done before this by the proper authorities, to prevent the recurrence of such cases as the present. Had the iron bar being immediately straightened, it would in .my opinion, have tended considerably to have allayed the curiosity which prevails on the subject. Other evidence was then entered into. which went to prove that the deceased was of a very melancholy turn of mind— that he was very fond of reading accounts olk murders and suicides—and that he had on a previous occasion attempted to destroy himself by throwing himself through a window. It further appeared that his father had committed suicide in a fit of insanity. The Coroner, in addressing the jury strongly urged the necessity of taking effectual precautions against the recurrence of such accidents. The Jury eventually returned a verdict of "Temporary Insanity." It is to be hoped that the Corporate authorities of London will instantly act upon the recommendation of the Coroner, and guard the monument in such a manner as to preclude the possibility of such catastrophes in future. G' I  -