A young lady, from Bristol, has been killed by a fall from a cliff near Dover.
She hired a donkey at St. Margaret's, and rode along the top of the cliffs towards Dover: alighting at the Cornhill Coast Guard station, she asked one of the guard if she might safely descend to the beach, and the man told her she might by a zigzag path which he pointed out. Near this zigzag was an almost perpendicular slip used for drawing up manure. Some time after, another Coast Guard man found the young lady's corpse on the beach, immediately under the slip: it is supposed that she had mistaken the slip for the path mentioned by the guard, and had attempted to descend by it. The cliff at this spot is two hundred feet high.
Wednesday, 2 October 2019
An Explosion of a remarkeable kind
An explosion of a remarkable kind, attended by serious and fatal consequences, occurred in Albany Street, Regent's Park, about 10 o'clock at night. Soon after the shop of Mr. Loten, a dealer in Berlin wool, had been closed, a violent concussion tore the house to pieces; the ruins dashing in the windows of the shops opposite, and damaging the buildings in other directions: the remains of the house then burst into flames, and the fire raged for three hours. A servant girl was blown to the opposite side of the street; where she was found mangled and burnt, and quite dead. The only other persons in the house - Captain Loten, the brother of Mr. Loten, and Miss Burgh, the sister of Mrs. Loten - were dashed through the back part of the building; and it was found necessary to convey them to the hospital of University College. Mr. Loten's house was completely cleared away by the explosion; the houses on each side were shattered to their foundation; about a hundred more on all sides, but chiefly on the opposite side of the street, were more or less damaged, and some two thousand panes of glass broken.
The parties conveyed to the hospital having sufficiently recovered, an inquest was held on the body of the servant girl. Little could be ascertained from their evidence as to the cause of the explosion, further than that a strong smell of gas having been experienced, Captain Loten took a candle to ascertain whether there was any escape, and that upon entering the shop the explosion took place.
Dr. Arnott, having been requested by the Coroner to attend and state his opinion as to the cause of the explosion, was then sworn and said - “I am a doctor of medicine, and am author of the work entitled "The Elements of Physics", which treats upon subjects connected with the explosion of gases, to which I have directed my attention. I inspected the premises and neighbourhood of Albany Street a few hours after the occurrence, and having heard the evidence, I say that I believe an admixture of coal gas and common air capable of producing such an explosion. One measure of ordinary coal gas requires 10 measures of atmospheric air to render it in the highest degree explosive. The greatest explosion that can be attained will be effected from one part coal gas and 10 of common air. The result of such a mixture would in my opinion be to increase the volume about 15 times; that is to say, that one room containing one part of coal gas and 10 of common air would expand sufficiently to fill 15 rooms with the same mixture, and the explosion of the whole would be instantaneous. I see no reason to doubt that this catastrophe has been occasioned by an explosion of gas. Gas being much lighter than air, it ascends rapidly to the highest part of the room, and remains usually at the top of the air as oil does upon water, and the more it is mixed with atmospheric air the more explosive it becomes; and the probability is, in this instance, had Captain Loten held the candle lower there would have been no explosion. The surest remedy is to have a ventilator at the top of each room, in the chimney.”
The Coroner believed, that if the explosion had been caused by gunpowder it could not have been more terrific than in this case. Dr. Arnott said, gunpowder was nothing more than gas very much condensed; a cubic foot of the united gases, coal gas and atmospheric air, was equal to half an ounce of gunpowder. The doctor said he would not pledge himself as to the amount of expansion, as he had understood other scientific gentlemen differed with him, one declaring that it would only increase six times. The result, however, would be the same as regards explosive power.
Further evidence was then given, which showed it to be probable that, after the gas had been carefully turned off, the cock had been accidentally struck by the corner of a shutter and thus again turned on.
The jury returned a verdict amounting to “Accidental Death.”
The parties conveyed to the hospital having sufficiently recovered, an inquest was held on the body of the servant girl. Little could be ascertained from their evidence as to the cause of the explosion, further than that a strong smell of gas having been experienced, Captain Loten took a candle to ascertain whether there was any escape, and that upon entering the shop the explosion took place.
Dr. Arnott, having been requested by the Coroner to attend and state his opinion as to the cause of the explosion, was then sworn and said - “I am a doctor of medicine, and am author of the work entitled "The Elements of Physics", which treats upon subjects connected with the explosion of gases, to which I have directed my attention. I inspected the premises and neighbourhood of Albany Street a few hours after the occurrence, and having heard the evidence, I say that I believe an admixture of coal gas and common air capable of producing such an explosion. One measure of ordinary coal gas requires 10 measures of atmospheric air to render it in the highest degree explosive. The greatest explosion that can be attained will be effected from one part coal gas and 10 of common air. The result of such a mixture would in my opinion be to increase the volume about 15 times; that is to say, that one room containing one part of coal gas and 10 of common air would expand sufficiently to fill 15 rooms with the same mixture, and the explosion of the whole would be instantaneous. I see no reason to doubt that this catastrophe has been occasioned by an explosion of gas. Gas being much lighter than air, it ascends rapidly to the highest part of the room, and remains usually at the top of the air as oil does upon water, and the more it is mixed with atmospheric air the more explosive it becomes; and the probability is, in this instance, had Captain Loten held the candle lower there would have been no explosion. The surest remedy is to have a ventilator at the top of each room, in the chimney.”
The Coroner believed, that if the explosion had been caused by gunpowder it could not have been more terrific than in this case. Dr. Arnott said, gunpowder was nothing more than gas very much condensed; a cubic foot of the united gases, coal gas and atmospheric air, was equal to half an ounce of gunpowder. The doctor said he would not pledge himself as to the amount of expansion, as he had understood other scientific gentlemen differed with him, one declaring that it would only increase six times. The result, however, would be the same as regards explosive power.
Further evidence was then given, which showed it to be probable that, after the gas had been carefully turned off, the cock had been accidentally struck by the corner of a shutter and thus again turned on.
The jury returned a verdict amounting to “Accidental Death.”
Friday, 27 September 2019
Poisoning of a Grandfather
William Newton Allnutt, a boy 12 years of age, was charged, at the Worship Street Police Office, with having stolen a gold watch and appendages, a gold eye-glass, and other articles of jewellery, of the value of 70 guineas, the property of his grandmother, Mrs. Sarah Nelme, widow of the late Mr. Nelme, of Grove-place, Hackney. This, however, was the least charge against the prisoner; for an inquiry before a coroner's jury into the mysterious circumstances attending the death of Mr. Nelme resulted in the committal of this depraved youth for the murder of his unfortunate grandfather.
Mr. Nelme was a retired City merchant, in his seventy-fourth year; with him and his wife resided Mrs. Allnutt, who was a daughter by a former wife, and the boy, Mrs. Allnutt's other children being at school or in the country. This lady is a widow. Some time since, ten sovereigns were missed; inquiry was made, and eventually William Allnutt confessed that he had taken them, to buy a watch; but he said that they had been stolen from him. This offence was overlooked. More recently, while the old gentleman and his grandson were walking in the gardon, a pistol was fired close to Mr. Nelme's head. The boy called out that he saw a man, who had fired it, escaping over the wall; but for some days the affair was a mystery. A pistol was found, however, in the next garden; and this weapon has been traced to the grandson, who had bought it in the Minories. Shortly after this, Mr. Nelme was taken ill, and soon died in great agony. Mrs. Nelme and Mrs. Allnutt were also attacked by sickness. Suspicion was excited; and it was found that a large quantity of arsenic had been mixed with some pounded sugar that was kept in a vase. It was surmised that William Allnutt had placed the poison there; having obtained it from a bureau in which his grandfather kept it for the purpose of poisoning rats. In consequence of these suspicious circumstances, a coroner's inquest was held on the body. A post mortem examination showed the organs in a state denoting the presence of poison; and Dr. Letheby found by chemical analysis that the poison was arsenic: there were traces of the poison in the brain, which led the doctor to believe that the victim had been swallowing it for a week or longer; while its presence in the intestines showed that a dose had been taken recently. A key of the bureau was found in a hiding-place, and the boy confessed that he had hidden it. It appears that Mr. Nelme used to eat the pounded sugar with baked apples. Mrs. Nelme stated that William was hardly twelve years old; he is a clever boy, but mischievously inclined. On the last occasion, he pounded the sugar and placed it in the vase; but the old lady stood by. He had ample opportunities of being alone in the dining-room, where the vase was kept. Mrs. Nelme's suspicion rested entirely on the boy.
Mrs. Allnutt said that when her son was very young he had fallen on a ploughshare and cut his nose severely, so that his recovery was deemed hopeless, and his health had been delicate since. She thought the boy was aware of the deadly properties of arsenic: he had asked her about it. The day before her father died, she had sweetened his gruel with sugar from the vase. She herself had some of the gruel, and was very sick in consequence. Mrs. Nelme was ill after taking arrowroot sweetened with the sugar. Her son was subject to walking and talking in his sleep; and he had complained of “hearing voices in his head.” Her husband was decidedly insane when he died, two years since. Superintendent Waller stated, that when the boy was taken into custody for theft, he said that he had been tempted to do it - a voice had said to him, “Do it, do it! you will never be found out." The Jury returned a verdict of “Wilful murder" against William Newton Allmutt, and he was committed for trial.
While in prison, the boy confessed his guilt, and was found guilty on his trial. The learned Judge said he would make a representation which would have the effect of sparing the prisoner's life; but it would only be that he might pass the rest of his days in ignominy.
Old Bailey Online.
Mr. Nelme was a retired City merchant, in his seventy-fourth year; with him and his wife resided Mrs. Allnutt, who was a daughter by a former wife, and the boy, Mrs. Allnutt's other children being at school or in the country. This lady is a widow. Some time since, ten sovereigns were missed; inquiry was made, and eventually William Allnutt confessed that he had taken them, to buy a watch; but he said that they had been stolen from him. This offence was overlooked. More recently, while the old gentleman and his grandson were walking in the gardon, a pistol was fired close to Mr. Nelme's head. The boy called out that he saw a man, who had fired it, escaping over the wall; but for some days the affair was a mystery. A pistol was found, however, in the next garden; and this weapon has been traced to the grandson, who had bought it in the Minories. Shortly after this, Mr. Nelme was taken ill, and soon died in great agony. Mrs. Nelme and Mrs. Allnutt were also attacked by sickness. Suspicion was excited; and it was found that a large quantity of arsenic had been mixed with some pounded sugar that was kept in a vase. It was surmised that William Allnutt had placed the poison there; having obtained it from a bureau in which his grandfather kept it for the purpose of poisoning rats. In consequence of these suspicious circumstances, a coroner's inquest was held on the body. A post mortem examination showed the organs in a state denoting the presence of poison; and Dr. Letheby found by chemical analysis that the poison was arsenic: there were traces of the poison in the brain, which led the doctor to believe that the victim had been swallowing it for a week or longer; while its presence in the intestines showed that a dose had been taken recently. A key of the bureau was found in a hiding-place, and the boy confessed that he had hidden it. It appears that Mr. Nelme used to eat the pounded sugar with baked apples. Mrs. Nelme stated that William was hardly twelve years old; he is a clever boy, but mischievously inclined. On the last occasion, he pounded the sugar and placed it in the vase; but the old lady stood by. He had ample opportunities of being alone in the dining-room, where the vase was kept. Mrs. Nelme's suspicion rested entirely on the boy.
Mrs. Allnutt said that when her son was very young he had fallen on a ploughshare and cut his nose severely, so that his recovery was deemed hopeless, and his health had been delicate since. She thought the boy was aware of the deadly properties of arsenic: he had asked her about it. The day before her father died, she had sweetened his gruel with sugar from the vase. She herself had some of the gruel, and was very sick in consequence. Mrs. Nelme was ill after taking arrowroot sweetened with the sugar. Her son was subject to walking and talking in his sleep; and he had complained of “hearing voices in his head.” Her husband was decidedly insane when he died, two years since. Superintendent Waller stated, that when the boy was taken into custody for theft, he said that he had been tempted to do it - a voice had said to him, “Do it, do it! you will never be found out." The Jury returned a verdict of “Wilful murder" against William Newton Allmutt, and he was committed for trial.
While in prison, the boy confessed his guilt, and was found guilty on his trial. The learned Judge said he would make a representation which would have the effect of sparing the prisoner's life; but it would only be that he might pass the rest of his days in ignominy.
Old Bailey Online.
Thursday, 26 September 2019
A cautionary tale about gunpowder
An awful and almost unprecedented occurrence took place at Lissanoure Castle, near Ballymoney, county of Antrim. Mr. George Macartney, the proprietor of Lissanoure, previous to the reduction of the yeomanry force, was captain in that body, and was in the habit of storing large quantities of gunpowder in the castle, for the use of the small staff when called out to practice. Several barrels of gunpowder had been lying in the manse being most out of the way of danger, in a dark and narrow passage, leading from one wing of the castle to the other. In this passage (very little traversed at any time) some of the gunpowder had become damp, and was ordered by Mr. Macartney to be laid out to dry. Mr. Macartney, his child, and servant had quitted the room, leaving Mrs. Macartney alone therein. They had been absent but a few minutes, when they heard a dreadful explosion, -the powder had ignited, and had thrown down that portion of the building exposed to its destructive effects, burying Mrs. Macartney in the ruins. When she was extricated, life was found to be extinct. It is impossible to say how the accident originated; but it is supposed that the unfortunate lady had been sweeping about the fire, and that a spark from it had communicated with the powder. The ceilings of the rooms above, and the corresponding part of the roof, were up raised by the explosion, and the fragments scattered to a considerable distance. The walls of the old building have also been shaken, and the glass of almost every window was shattered to pieces by the violence of the concussion. Even the windows of the stables and offices, which are some perches distant from the castle, suffered equally from the effects of the explosion.
Accident at Cliffton
A dreadful accident happened at Clifton, a young lady having fallen over St. Vincent's Rocks, at the highest part. The consequence was instant death, and her body was dreadfully mangled. The young lady, Miss Martha Welsh, was, it appears, on a visit to a lady who resides at Cotham Hill Villa, West Park, and was in the habit of resorting to the Downs for air and exercise. Yesterday morning she strolled to Clifton Down, and was observed by several persons who were walking in the same direction sitting on a dangerous projection of the rocks at a short distance from the cavern known as the Giant's Cave.
An officer, named Black, was so struck with the danger of her position, that he approached her, and remonstrated with her on the subject. She thanked him, but seemed not to participate in his apprehensions, and contented her self by sitting back a little without moving from the spot. After this she was seen standing at a greater distance from the edge of the precipice, to which, however, she must have speedily returned. The mode in which the accident occurred must remain matter of conjecture, but it is probable, the grass being short, and in dry weather very slippery, that in walking she missed her footing, and slipped over from an altitude of more than 300 feet. Some men who were at work at the bottom of the rocks saw her in the act of falling, and a youth, who was playing in the Zigzag, a serpentine walk, leading from the Hotwells to the Down, states, that as she fell she stretched out her hands, and tried to grasp some ivy bushes which grow from the cliff. The effort was, however, a futile one; in another moment she struck against the rock, and in a few more she lay at the bottom of the precipice a shapeless and inanimate mass. Her remains presented a truly fearful spectacle, her skull being driven in from the front to the base, and there was scarcely a bone in her body that was not fractured. An inquest was held on the body, and an inquiry instituted as to whether there was any reason for believing that she had purposely destroyed herself. The evidence, however, negatived such a supposition, and a verdict of "Accidental Death" was returned.
An officer, named Black, was so struck with the danger of her position, that he approached her, and remonstrated with her on the subject. She thanked him, but seemed not to participate in his apprehensions, and contented her self by sitting back a little without moving from the spot. After this she was seen standing at a greater distance from the edge of the precipice, to which, however, she must have speedily returned. The mode in which the accident occurred must remain matter of conjecture, but it is probable, the grass being short, and in dry weather very slippery, that in walking she missed her footing, and slipped over from an altitude of more than 300 feet. Some men who were at work at the bottom of the rocks saw her in the act of falling, and a youth, who was playing in the Zigzag, a serpentine walk, leading from the Hotwells to the Down, states, that as she fell she stretched out her hands, and tried to grasp some ivy bushes which grow from the cliff. The effort was, however, a futile one; in another moment she struck against the rock, and in a few more she lay at the bottom of the precipice a shapeless and inanimate mass. Her remains presented a truly fearful spectacle, her skull being driven in from the front to the base, and there was scarcely a bone in her body that was not fractured. An inquest was held on the body, and an inquiry instituted as to whether there was any reason for believing that she had purposely destroyed herself. The evidence, however, negatived such a supposition, and a verdict of "Accidental Death" was returned.
Railway accidents
A return of the number and nature of the accidents, and of the injuries to life and limb, which occurred on the various railways in the United Kingdom from the first of January to the 30th of June, 1847, has been presented to the new Parliament by Her Majesty's command. It shows, in brief, that of a grand total number of 23,119,412 passengers conveyed during the said half-year on railroads in England, Scotland, and Ireland, 101 were killed and 100 more or less injured, . . Moreover, it appears, from a careful analysis of the returns, that of the 101 persons killed and 100 injured, there were 14 passengers killed and 48 wounded from causes beyond their own control; 8 killed and 3 injured owing to their own folly or incautiousness; 8 servants of companies killed and 17 injured from causes beyond their own control; 51 servants killed and 24 injured owing to want of caution or recklessness (such as leaping from engines or carriages in rapid motion, and other similar acts of temerity); 19 trespassers killed and 7 injured; and 1 person killed and another injured while crossing the railways at level crossings.
Poisionings in the Isle of Ely
Ann Barnes, an elderly woman, recently residing with her married son at Purl's Bridge, a village near Ely, has been arrested on suspicion of a wholesale poisoning of children. Barnes had been in the habit of nursing infants while their parents were engaged in field-labour. A number of these children were taken ill while in the woman's charge, and four died after great suffering.
The parents of the children exhibited the most brutal indifference, and attended the inquest in a state of intoxication.
The bodies were disinterred, and, upon examination, the fact of their deaths having been caused by arsenic was placed beyond doubt.
The parents of the children exhibited the most brutal indifference, and attended the inquest in a state of intoxication.
The bodies were disinterred, and, upon examination, the fact of their deaths having been caused by arsenic was placed beyond doubt.
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