ABSTRACT

On my arrival in Dewsbury, I was informed that a young man, about eighteen years of age, of the name

of W illiam W alker, had met with an accident in the machinery of Messrs. B rearley , H all, and Co., of Batley, about a mile from Dewsbury, on the preceding day, by which he lost his life. I was shown the mill in which this accident occurred; and the account I received from a person living near, and which was afterwards corroborated by the newspapers, is as follows : “ He had been cleaning the machinery, I believe a carding-engine; and to do this properly, it is necessary to take the rollers off the cylinders, or, in other words, to take the machine in pieces; the same as a clock when it wants dressing. When a carding-engine is put together, after cleaning, and again set in motion, it is requisite that the person in attendance should ascertain if all the rollers are working right. This can only be done by listening, to hear if the cards graze equally and rightly upon each other. The young man abovementioned was attending to this duty, and while in the act of listening, his neckcloth (the ends of which were hanging down) was caught by one of the rollers, and wound round it, and drawn tight, so as to produce Strangulation. He died in less than an hour. An inquest was held on the following day, before Thomas Lee, Esq., when a verdict of € Accidental Death/ was returned.”