The evidence for the defendants was more negative than positive, continued His Lordship, inasmuch as it merely told of what usually happened, and not what particularly happened on the day in question One of the witnesses for the defence, Mrs, Elser, however, had a little more positive information to give. She remembered the day because there was a party of cabaret girls on board, for whom extra accommodation was required. She was standing on the second deck when she saw a lady, who was standing immediately below her and quite close to the ship, sit down suddenly; she was helped up and witness saw nothing more of her. She saw no coolies moving the chains at the time, and thought that the lady must have caught her foot against the chain.
The Judge, continuing, stated that after consideration of the whole of the evidence, and after a personal inspection of the pontoon, he had come to the conclusion that witnesses for the plaintiff were giving truthful accounts of the accident as they saw it within the limited scope of their observation, and that the usual precautions for protecting the public from injury were actually taken, but too late to prevent this accident. "But I am satisfied," he said, "that by Some agency or other, as to which conjecture would be futile, the chain was in fact moved, and wi Ihe effective cause of this accident."
The full judgment will be given in the "North-China Herald" of May 22
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.