ON COKONERS' INQUISITIONS ON BOILEK EXPLOSIONS. 53 



rcturuing a verdict of " accidental death,^' ■would state that tlicy consider 

 there had been no " mcdice aforetliought," and the following verdict is given 

 by way of illustration : — 



" The jury iind that X., X., X., &c. were kiUed by a steam-boiler explosion 



that occurred at street, in town, on day of the week, month, 



and year, on the i^remises occupied by ; and while they consider that 



these deaths were not occasioned by any ' malice aforeihou{/ht,' either on the 

 part of the owner of the boiler or others connected with it, they wish to re- 

 cord the fact that the boiler was a bad one, its plates being considerably 

 reduced by corrosion, and that it was to tliis cause that the explosion 

 was due." 



The Committee do not overlook the fact that juries have a third course 

 open to them, which lies between the announcement of " accidental death " 

 or " wilful murder," and that they have the power of committing owners 

 of boilers for " manslaughter," a power which in many cases they arc bound 

 in the discharge of their duty to exercise, and in the opinion of the Com- 

 mittee much more frequently than they do. The task, however, of com- 

 mitting a boiler-owner for manslaughter is frequently an invidious one for a 

 coroner's jury, and in practice verdicts of manslaughter are very seldom 

 brought in by them. Were the suggestion thus made carried out, coroners' 

 juries woidd be extricated from an unpleasant position, and the truth with 

 I'egard to explosions would be more fully and freely spoken. 



The following is a recapitulation of the couclusions to which the Committee 

 have arrived : — First, that a lamentable loss of hfe is annually caused by 

 steam-boiler explosions, which urgently calls for public attention. Secondly, 

 that these explosions, as a rule, are not accidental, but may be prevented by 

 the exercise of " common knowledge and common care." Thirdly, that the 

 jn-csent investigations conducted by coroners with regard to steam-boiler 

 explosions are eminently unsatisfactory, and call for immediate improve- 

 ment. Pourthly, that coroners should, when conducting inquiries on boiler 

 explosions, be instructed and empowered to avail themselves of competent 

 engineering advice, so that the cause of every boiler explosion may be fully 

 investigated, while the information acquired should be widely circulated. 

 Fifthly, the Committee entertain a sanguine hope that tliis course alone 

 would do much towards the prevention of the present recurrence of steam- 

 boiler explosions, without any further Governmental action. 



Before concluding this Eeport, the Committee feel it incumbent upon 

 them to allude to the general movement that has taken place within the last 

 year with regard to the adoption of some system of compulsory inspection. 



During the past session a Bill was introduced to Parliament, and carried 

 through an early stage, for placing all steam-boilers under Government in- 

 spection, by the agency of the Board of Trade. By others it has been pro- 

 posed that every steam-user should be compelled to have his boiler examined 

 and certified by some private association or company instituted for that ob- 

 ject, and authorized by the Government. Others propose that insurance 

 should be an essential accompaniment to this arrangement, and that, to secure 

 the integrity of the service, the boiler-inspectors should themselves be in- 

 spected by the Government. 



With regard to these propositions, the Committee would wish to express a 

 strong and, as they think, a wholesome dread of any Government inter- 

 ference with the management of private concerns ; and they cannot but con- 

 sider that tlie plan proposed of handing over aU the boilers in the country to 

 the supervision of the Board of Trade would prove harassing to the steam- 



