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44
then scrambling over the body, and further on, coming upon
Garrod, and finally he remembers reaching the side entrance
to the manhole at Stamford Street, and after some delay
being assisted to the surface. Ryder's watch had stopped
whilst he was in the Sewer and the hands on the dial pointed
to twenty minutes past three. Other circumstances indicate
that as about the hour at which the accident took place, and
that time was more than three and a half hours after the men
had entered the Sewer.
THE CAUSE OF DEATH.
The bodies of the men, Baker and Garrod, were found
lying several feet apart in the channel of the Sewer, near the
place described as the Offset, with their faces submerged in
sewage. The post-mortem examination revealed the fact
that death had resulted from poisoning by sulphuretted
hydrogen gas. The cause of death was certified by Dr. Merry
of St. Thomas's Hospital, and his opinion was confirmed by
Dr. Stevenson, Scientific Analyst to the Home Office, and by
the Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Verdon. This opinion
was further supported by the results of analysis of Sewage
made by the Public Analyst. The Sewage had been taken
the morning after the accident from the place where the men
fell. The sample, when examined, was certified as containing
sulphuretted hydrogen in sufficient quantity to occupy a tenth
part of the volume.† Moreover the fluid when agitated by
stirring gave off the deadly sulphuretted hydrogen gas with a
commotion roughly to be compared with the effervescence of
a highly charged mineral water.
Even within two hours after the accident when McVeigh
and Field of the search party came upon the scene, they
experienced and afterwards described an atmosphere charged
† Vide Appendix No. 1.