The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-01-20 00:00:00

FATAL FIRE 111 LONDON.

FIVE PERSONS BURNED TO DEATH.

At a late hour on Monday night afire was discovered
in a tenement in Wi risor•street, Bishopsgate Without,
London, and when the ruins were searched it was
found that five persons had been either burned to
death or suffocated. • -
The tenement in question is four storeys in height,
and was divided into eight small' rooms, inhabited by
eight families. The fire appears to have been first
seen in the back room of the grour.d floor, and when
the door was burst open, flames and smoke rolled out
in volumes that showed they had already obtained a
strong hold on the furniture and woodwork. Soon a
detachment of men from the I3ishopsgate Fire Brigade
Station arrived, and commenced operations.
In an almost incredibly short space of time the whole
of the lower part of the housi was ha flames, and the
staircaae being one of the first parts destroyed, com-
munication with the inmates of the rooms above was
rendered both difficult and dangerous. The scene was
very distre,sing. Many of the poor people who had
gone to bed appeared at the windows shrieking for
help, while others dropped into the street below,
inflicting merlons injury on themselves. The follow-
ing, all membeiri of one family, who saved their lives
in this way.;:itere taken to the Metropolitan Free
Hospital; Sarah Frogley, aged thitty -four, fractured
ribs; Lucy Frogley, aged twenty-one, severely injured
about the head; and Martha Frogley, aged nine,
severe internal injuries, caused by jumping from the
second-floor window. Another member of the Frogley
family, named Edward, a lad eleven years of age, got
one of his thighs fractured.

The top floor was occupied by two families named
Murphy and Gallaway. Gallaway states that he was
sitting talking with his parents at the time the shouts of
"Fire ! " were raised. On opening the door they
found the staircase on fire, and great wreaths of
smoke ascending and filling everywhere. He rushed
to the window, and could see people jumping
from the rooms underneath into the street. He and
his sister were about to follow their example, when
sane one prlleci them along a parapet in front of the
window to the next house. Cx'.ll..woy Lutued Lk t.)
try and save his aged parents, but they had fallen back
into the fire and smoke which was rapidly filling the
room.

When the conflagration was finally subdued, and a
search made throughout the premises, the bodies of
the f6llowing five persons who had been burned to
death or szdfocated were found in the front and back
rooms at the top of the house : Patrick Gallaway,
aged 73 years; Mary Ann Gallaway (his wife), aged
63;• Mary Ann Murphy, aged 31, and her two chil-
dren, Eugene Murphy, aged 14, and Kate Murphy,
aged six. The origin of the fire is unknown.

LORD WOLSELEY ON THE BRITISH
ARMY IN EGYPT.
On Tuesday General Lord Wolseley pasted through
Preston, en route to Blackburn, to visit Major• General
Feilden, M.P. Lord and Lady Wolseley were met
by the Mayor, Major-General Feildeu, M.P., and
several officers. Before a large assembly an address
was presented to Lord Wolseley, who, in reply said
that one of the bravest regiments which he com•
manded in Egypt was that from Lancashire, and he
hoped he might have such men if he had to cenduct
any war in the future. The regiment was one of the
first to go out, and it fought most bravely through the
whole of that very successful campaign.

After lunching with the Mayor, Lora Wolseley pro-
ceeded to Blackburn. In the evening, at Witton-
park, Major-General Feilden, M.P., C.M.G., gave a
banquet to his tenant-farmers in celebration of the
coming of age of his son and heir. Lord Wolseley,
who was among the gueats, refeired to the hearty re-
ception which had been accorded him all along the
road from Preston to Wittoti park, saying that
cordiality and warmth, for which English people and
especially Lancashire people, were celebrated, were
especially gratifying to a soldier returning home after
a campaign. It was personally gratifying, but he ap-
preciated it far more on the part of the men he had
recently had the honour of commanding, and took it
as an evidence of the appreciation of the manner in
ich Her Majesty's soldiers had lately in Egypt en.
cdeavoured to maintain the ancient renown and pres.
lige of this country. On no previous occasion had our
soldiers marched and fought better than they had
- recently, and he valued the honours be had re.
a • Efi'hee` tite 'Mien •to England is in acknowledg.
merit of the gallant conduct, dashing bravery, and dis-
cipline of the men with whom he had been asewiated
in Egypt.

A genuine Christmas treat was given to the poor
children of Konigsberg, in Prussia, on Christmas Eve,
when the town theatre admitted al many of the poor
litble ones of the city as the building would hold to a
free performance of Cinderella.

MR. W. E. FORSTER AT BRADFORD.

Mr. Forster and Mr. Alfred Illingworth, the mem-
bers for Bradford, were present on Monday evening at
the annual soiree of the Chamber of Commerce, held
in the hall of the new Technical School. There was a
large attendance of members. Mr. Henry Illingworth,
President of the Chamber, occupied the chair, Among
the other gentlemen present were Sir Jacob Behrens,
the Mayors of Bradford, Wakefield, and Keighley,
Lieutenant• Colonel Seddon, of the Home Office, and
Mr. Swire Smith, of the Technical Schools Commis-
sion. Mr. S. Darlington, secretary, read the annual
report, which gave a resume of the proceedings of the
Chamber during the past year.

The President moved the adoption of the report.
Mr. Forster, in seconding the adoption of the re.
port, after some preliminary observations, proceeded
to say that it was very hard to convince the people of
this country, and still harder to convince those out of
it (laughter), that war was the most losing occnpation
that any one could put his hand to, not to speak of
other faults of a worse character which were connected
with it. If the great Powers of the Continent gave
up their enormous armies, it would be impossible to
realize the commercial advantages that would accrue,
not merely to this country, but to them. (Cheers.) He
agreed with the President that we in England ought to
set the example as much as we could.
Mr. Forster, in alluding to Chambers of Commerce,
said they had done a great deal of good throughout
the country.

The right hon. gentlemen, in referring to forth-
coming legislation, hoped that the Bankruptcy Bill
which Mr. Chamberlain was to introduce would make
an improvement in the state of the law, which was so
bad at present. He was not sanguine with regard
to any very good results from any bankruptcy law,
but he considered he was very moderate in his
desires. He was perfectly aware that it was
impossible to make a thoroughly good bankruptcy
law, it was such a bad business to have to deal
with; but it was very easy to have a bad bank-
ruptcy law, and he was not at all clear that
they were not worse off with the present law than if
they had no bankruptcy law at all. (Cheers.) Un-
doubtedly, if it were the case that we had a law which
made it easy for a man to make money by failing,
that was a bad law. (Cheers.) They knew very well
that the time used to be when a creditor would
threaten a debtor with the bankruptcy court. Now it
was the debtor who threatened the creditor with the
bankruptcy court. (Laughter.) That ought to come
to an end.

Mr. Forster then proceeded to say that he was glad
to think that the efforts to obtain e Minister of Com-
merce and Agriculture were at last likely to be suc-
cessful. It was highly important that the offices
should not be apart, for the two joined would give
the Minister who held them much more influence than
if they were separate. If the Government appointed
a Minister of Agriculture and left eommerce to the
President of the Board of Trade it would have
nothing like the effect that was expected. (Hear,
hear.) Besides he wanted to get rid of that foolish
notion of antagonism between commerce and agricul
ture. There was no reason, no advantage, and no
good in separating the business of farming from any
other trades. (Hear, hear.) He hoped an opportunity
would be taken to recast to some extent the pre-
sent arrrangement of the Ministerial departments, and
he did not think he was stepping out of his province
when be said he hoped an opportunity would be taken
to give the people a Minister for Education at the same
time. (Hear, hear.) When he had the honour of con-
ducting educational matters in the House of Commons
he found tacked on to them all the diseases of animals—
(laughter)—in fact, no animal could be ill without his
being thought in some measure responsible for it.
Tbe question of dealing with the diseases of animals
employed in agriculture belonged rather to a Minister
of Agriculture ; but there was another and more
important question to be considered. Although the
anomaly he was about to mention had a very slightly
prejudicial effect compared with what it might have
had, owing to the way in which public men adapted
themselves to their circumstances, yet still there had
been a disadvantage in the Minister who was respon-
sible for education in the House of Commons, where
the education business of the country must be mainly
transacted, being subordinated to the Minister in the
House of Lords. He need not waste words in show-
ing that the better education of the country—especi-
ally technical education and higher middle educat4on
—was a matter in which our commercial interests were
involved. (Cheers.)

Mr. Foster concluded by saying that it was impos-
sible to come to a business meeting like that without
giving some consideration to the state of business in
the town, and, like the president, he did not think he
could speak very hopefully about it. It was just
possible, three or four years ago, that they were a
little too sanguine and confident, and he was not at
all clear that they were not falling into the con-
trary state of things, and were leading the country
to suppose that they were worse off in Bradford than
they really were. (Hear, hear.) The president had
mentioned one fact or two to make those who advo-
cated a change in the fiscal policy of the country seri-
ously consider what they were about, and that was how
much less working people suffered during periods of
depression than they used to do. He remembered very
well, 35 years ago, when there was a period of de-
pression which lasted quite as long as this. He did
not think it was worse for the empl.yers, but how
much worse was it for those who were employed?
How much greater was their suffering? He was
Chairman of the Board of Guardians at the time,.and
he remembered that the p or-rate in some of the town-
ships was 6s. Bd. in the pouud. That was no reason
why they should not attempt to make things better
and pert ape something ini;ht be done by law, but in-
finitely more could be done by individual industry,
and an individual determination to make as good and
as cheap as possible the things which were wanted.
That was the only way in which Bradford would
maintain its position. (Cheers.)

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