The Press. — London, England, 1856-03-22 00:00:00

two able the MARCH 22, 1856. any symptom of fire or unusual smell of gas. Mr. Anderson could in no way account for the fire. It was impossible that the gas could have caused it. The fact that a lighted candle was used by Dal- liston, the carpenter's son, to light his father from the property-room to the foot of the ladder leading to the carpenter's shop, was admitted in evidence. Mr. Anderson, who, it appears, upon his own res- ponsibility permitted the Electric Light Company to exhibit the electric light upon the roof of the theatre, admitted that carboys of sulphuric acid were used, but that he never gave himself the slightest trouble about the matter; did not even know how many car- boys were used, or whether they were taken up on the roof through the theatre or hoisted up outside. He considered the company responsible. Mr. Sloman, the machinist, stated : On the morning of the fire he was aroused by his daughter, who called out to him that the theatre was on fire. His bedroom looked directly upon the theatre from Prince's-place, and as soon as he got to the window he saw aflame of from fifteen to twenty feet high rising out of the ventilator on the roof, and also a smaller flame out of two windows on either side the ventilator. Witness was able to dress himself and get round to the theatre before the people inside knew anything about the fire. Mr. Grieve, the ecene-painter, in reply to the question, whether he could account for the fire, said : The little property-shop I have always considered a very dangerous place. I have frequently drawn the attention of the firemen to the fact of rubbish being allowed to anti- niulaut there. I once came back to the theatre after au absence of three years, and found much carelessness ex- hibited. There was a heap of rubbish by the painting. room door, to which I drew the then firemeu's attention. When they moved this rubbish it began to smoulder, and you could not bear your hand to touch it. This was the sweepings of the painting-room. I am of opinion that if there was a heap of rubbish in the property room of this nature, that might have caused the fire. They use very dangerous materials, such as varnish and other things of that kind in this shop, and any accumulation of rubbish must be dangerous in such a place. Mr. Braidwood, the superintendent of the fire brigade, could come to no definite conclusion as to the origin of the fire. He thought the excessive labour imposed upon the firemen on the Monday and Tuesday had so tired them that they had neglected their duties on the night of the bal masqu. He did not believe any escape of gas had caused the fire, though the great heat generated for so many hours, by drying up everything, materially assisted the fire. On the whole, he observed— I should be very much inclined to refer it to spontaneous ignition of some kind or other. Masses of stuff get about these places. My impression above all is, that the people about were all so thoroughly worn out that they did not know what they were doing. We find, when men are very bard pressed, that buildings are much more liable to fires than they are when those employed are engaged during the ordinary periods of labour. Tin. coroner then briefly summed up, remarking that the object of the inquiry had failed, and that no definite conclusion could be arrived at as to the origin of the fire. The jury after a brief consultation returned a verdict accordingly, and the proceedings terminated. A meeting of the renters was held on Saturday, at Robins' Auction-rooms, to receive from the pro- prietors a statement of affairs. From the address of Mr. Surman, the solicitor, it appears that thirty-eight years yet remain of the lease, at a rent of 2,0851. per annum. The general debt of the theatre is about 9,0001., with 5,0001. a year incumbrance, while the average profit has not since 1832 been above 6001. a year. This sum of 9,0001. is the remainder of a debt of 70,0001. incurred previous to 1832, when the renters agreed to receive only half dividends until the debt was cleared. On the point of rebuilding the house Mr. Surman said:- 1111 beg to state again that the proprietors are not in a co idition to rebuild the theatre. After this day we shall see what is to be done—see if the duke may take his pro- perty back before the expiry of the present lease. Loss of the theatre by fire is not mentioned in any of the previous leases. If you think a new lease necessary, you have a good right to g) to the duke for it. If 110 of you, repre- senting 150 shares, are unanimous to rebuild the theatre, and go to the public to raise in the usual way 100,0001., we, as proprietors, will allow you your full fling. The 125 annuitant shares are held by 110 persons, Including the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of D Nonshire, the Earl of Dartmouth, the executors of the DuThess of St. Alban s , an d t h e M arqu i s o f Salk- bury. The agreement with Mr. Gye was for a period of ten years, from the Ist October, 1853, at a rent of 8,5001. for the first three years, and 7,000/. for the remainder of the term. The theatre was not in- sured, because the payment of the large sum that would be required for premium was deemed im- possible. A committee of twelve renters was ultimately ap- pointed to investigate the affairs of the theatre. Sr. PATRICK'S DAY was celebrated for the seventy- third time by the St. Patrick's Benevolent Society giving a dinner at the Freemasons' Tavern to up- THE PRESS. wards of one hundred supporters of this charity. The chair was tak.n by Lord Dufferin, whc was sup ported by the Earl of Eglinton, Lord Lilford, Sir ft. Howard, Sir James Emerson Tennant, Bart.., Sir Cusack Roney, &c. &c. After the customary toasts, the health of the " Imperial Heir of the Crown of France " was drunk with three times three and great enthusiasm. Lord Dufferin then proposed, " Pro sperity to the Society," and in a brief speech ex plained its functions, which consist of annually educating five hundred children of the indigent Irish in the metropolis. The noble chairman, allud ing to the condition of the indigent Irish in London, said: — By some fatality, it would appear as if the natives of Ire land, whether living in their own country or collected in great numbers in another land, created for themselves a lower standard of destitution than that to which any other people hut descended. A friend of his once remarked that it had always been a matter of astonishment to him what became of the rags of the English beggars after they were worn out, but that at last he went to Ireland, when it suddenly struck him that they must be given to the Irish. (Laughter.) And anyone who was acquainted with the haunts of the Hibernian population of this metropolis must feel that they had introduced into the highways and byways of London even a lower degree of degradation than was natural to the native population of Ireland. He had on several occasions spent his time, from midnight 61'. the dawn of day, in perambulating the back slums and by-lanes of the most disreputable quarters of London ; he had gone over the most untenantable houses in Whitechapel, Wap ping, and Spitalfields, and, he regretted to say, he had invariably found that wherever the provisions of the Model Lodging-house Act were altogether contravened, wherever five times the number of persons were congregated in an apartment that the Legislature intended to be, wherever dirt and filth most abounded, and the circumstances of the locality were especially abandoned, there, invariably, his own countrymen were the occupying tenants. To account for this, he thought that the very vit tues of the Irish character had a tendency to degenerate into vices ' • but this tendency the society was striving to check, and during the last few years with marked success. The toast was drunk with great enthu siasm. The Earl of Eglinton, after returning thanks on behalf of the Lord Lieutenant, proposed the health of the chairman, and in doing so took occasion to advert to the period of his own vicegerency, and to the cordial attachment which he then formed for the Irish nation at large. Donations to the amount of 6501., including one hundred guineas from the Queen, were then announced, and the company shortly separated. THE THEATRICAL FUND held its eleventh anni versary at the London Tavern, on Monday evening. Lord Tenterden presided. Mr. Buckstone, in return ing thanks for the toast of the evening, "Success to the Fund," stated that the fund was in a highly prosperous condition, and that its capital, after the expected donations of the evening, would he hoped amount to nearly 10,0001. In the course of his speech, alluding to the puritanical hatred of actors by certain sects, he related an anecdote in proof of the remarkably sour intolerance of the directors of Exeter-hall : At that saintly temple, when rented by some friends of mina for the purpose of giving concerts, the directors ab solutely objected to the singing of that thoroughly English ballad, " Sally in our alley," unless the verse was omitted which runs thus:— Of all the days that's in the week I dearly love but one day, And that's the day which comes between A Saturday and Monday. They wouldn't have it (continued Mr. Buckstone) ; of course not ; they would not allow the poor 'prentice on any account on that day " to be drest all in his best to walk abroad with Sally." THE ARTISTS' GENERAL BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION held its forty-first anniversary at the Freemasons' Tavern, on Saturday The chair was taken by Lord Stanley, M.P., who was supported by Earl Stanhope, Sir Charles Eastlake, Sir Charles Barry, dcc. Lord Stanley, in proposing the toast of the evening, briefly traced the progress of the society from its foundation, and pointed out the satisfactory state of its affairs, the capital of 2,600/. in 1820 in 1855 having increased to 17,3001. The affairs of the society he considered wete managed very economi cally. Since the establishment of the society upwards of 18,0001. bad been granted in reliefs, while the expenses fell short of seven per cent. on the capital. Earl Stanhope, in the course of a speech proposing the toast of " Societies Established for the Promotion of Art," announced the proximate publication of that part of the Peel papers which re late to the passing of the Catholic Relief Bill. This portion of the memoirs, Earl Stanhope stated, were written entirely by Sir Robert Peel, and would con tain a full account of his opinions and conduct in that transaction. The first profits of this approach ing publication, in accordance with Sir Robert Peel's will, Earl Stanhope, as one of the executors, then offered to the society, in the shape of a draft for one hundrid guineas. The subscriptions were announced as amounting to 6041. 135., together with the copy right of the two engravings from Turner's picture "The Vale of Macon," and "The Wreck of the Minotano," as a gift from Lord Yarborough. 273 A MOVEMENT IN THE CHURCH of some importance is said to be in active progress at this moment. The object is to promote union with the Church of Eng and on the part of those Christians who at present are not in active communion with her. A petition to Convocation will be presented in April, pointing out that the retention by the Wesleyans of their system of class meetings need not be an insuperable obstacle to their union with the Church. That the usual probationary course shall be reduced, no longer time being required than may be necessary to enable the bishop to satisfy himself as to the qualifications of the candidate. That the property and patronage of the Wesleyan body shall remain intact, and that, if possible, the Wesleyans be induced to revert to the principles of their founder by receiving the iacra ment of the Lord's Supper in the parish churoh only. The petition, after setting forth the advan tages which would result from Wesleyan ministers receiving episcopal ordination, calls upon both houses to take the matter into serious consideration. It is stated that thisdinovement has been set on foot by some well-known preachers of the Wesleyan body who desire to become minister, of the Established Church, but who are at the same time disinclined to sever their connection with their present congrega tions. On the part of the Church, Lord C. A. Har vey, Mr. T. Chambers, M.P., Rev. J. E. Kempe, rector of St. James's, Rev. Dr. Burgess, rector of Chelsea, and other clergymen and laymen, are men tioned as the principal movers. THE METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS, at their general meeting on Wednesday, decided that the Committee of Works be called upon at once " to re port on a comprehensive plan for making, widening, and improving streets, roads, and ways for facilitating traffic." The new site for the offices of the board is not yet determined upon. It is anticipated that, if possible, a site will be obtained in the neighbourhood of Whitehall. THE QUARTERLY COURT OF PROPRIETORS OF TUE EAST INDIA COMPANY took place on Wednesday, Mr. Macnaghten in the chair. Mr. Lewin, having been called on to bring forward a motion of which he had given notice, for a committee to consider the expe diency of obtaining a more suitable body for govern ing India than at present, said that, not having received some papers which he considered necessary, he should postpone the motion until the next court. Mr. Jones proceeded to call attention to the claims made by the representatives of the late General Sir J. M'Caskill for remuneration on account of the general's services in Affghanistan and Cabul, where he was appointed to a brigade by General Sir G. Pollock and a divisional command. Mr. Jones moved that the documents connected with them should be brought up and printed, but the court negatived the motion. Mr. Lewen then moved for the despatches received from the Governor of Madras relative to the suppression of torture in India. The chairman said that the moment the paper in question arrived, it would be laid before the Court. GREAT ALTERATIONS are said to be designed by the Government with respect to theiState buildings. With respect to the Ordnance-office, Pall. Mall, it is proposed to erect upon the site of Buckingham-house, and of those other houses intervening between the Carlton and the Ordnance-office, a set of buildings to be appropriated to the War Department. It is also pro posed to purchase and pull down the whole block of buildings commencing from Downing-street to Great George-street, including the north side of Parliament street, and to erect a range of public offices in a line from the Treasury-chambers to George.street, Storey's-gate. Thus the road from the Horse Guards to Great George-street would be of the same width. By this means Westminster Abbey and the New Houses of Parliament would be brought prominently forward, and the " finest site in Europe " would un doubtedly be much improved in more senses than one. It is believed that Sir Benjamin Hall will, early after Easter, bring these plans before the house THE SOCIETY FOR IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF THE LABOURING CLASSES invited a number of gentle men this week to inspect the present condition of Tyndall's - buildings, Gray's-inn-lane, a block of houses just purchased by the society. Tho Earl of Shaftesbury, Dr. Southwood Smith, Mr. Chadwick, and several other gentlemen were present. Tyndall's buildings consist of twenty - two houses, each having about four habitable rooms. Every room is occupied by a distinct family, and allowing five pas• sons to a family there would be twenty persons in each house, or 440 persons in the whole court. The underground cellar contains the general cesspool, the water-butt, and the house refuse. The stairs are steep, slimy, and shaky; the walls smoky and sordid; the roofs rotten and rain-worn. In one house, No. 10, there were twenty -one cases of typhus and eighteen of cholera during the last outbreak of that disease, all fatal. The inhabitants of these wretched houses are of course of the lowest class and in the deepest poverty, and their appearance excited much commiseration fri.m the gentlemen present. It is the intention of the society to construct suitable dwellings on the spot with all haste.