The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-02-13 00:00:00

DEATH OF LORD YARBOROU'GH.

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We have to announce the death-iifihe Earl of Yar-
borough, which occurred somewhat suddenly on
Saturday, from epilepsy, at his residence in Arlington.
street, London. His lordship was taken ill on Monday
in last week, and was under the care of Sir William
Gull and Sir William Jenner. The late Right Hon.
Charles Anderson Pelham, Earl of Yarborough, Baron
of Yarborough, county Lincoln, and Baron Worsley
of Appuldur-combe, Isle of Wight, in the Peerage of
the United Kingdom, was the eldest son of Charles
Anderson Worsley, second earl, by his wife the Hon.
Maria, second daughter of Cornwallis, third Viscount
Hawarden. He was born in January, 1835, and mar-
ried, to August, 1858, Lady Victoria Alexandrina
Hare, fourth daughter of William, second Earl of Lis.
towel, by whom he leaves a youthful family, his eldest
son Charles, Lord Worsley, born in June, 1859, sue-
ceding to the family honours. He succeeded to the
Earldom in January, 1862, and previously to his ele-
vation in the House of Peers represented Great
Grimsby in the House of Commons from April, 1857.1
He was captain of the Royal North Lincoln Militia
from 1853 to 1858; was appointed captain of the Deli=
bighshire Yeomanry in 1859; a deputy lieutenant of '
Lincolnshire in 1856; and lieutenant-colonel of the let
battalion of Lincolnshire Rifle Volunteers in 1860.
His lordship was patron of 17 livings. The late earl
was recently presented, by the gentlemen and yeomen
of the county hunting with his hounds, with a hand-
some testimonial of their regard, being a portrait of
himself, the Countess of Yarborough, and their son,
W Lord orsley. The family is descended from Sir
William Pelham, an eminent general of the reign of
Elizabeth.
THE SURVIVORS OF THE LA PLATA.
The Times has published the following letter:—
Sir,—You have already called public attention to
the truly humane conduct and skilful seamanship of
I. van Dorp, the captain of the Dutch lugger Willem
Benkelzoon, who rescued Lamont and Hooper, the
boatswain and one of the quartermasters of the La
Plata, after they had floated lor more than three days
upon a broken raft. To enlisttublic admiration in his
favour it is, therefore, only necessary to remind your
readers of the circumstances under which the lives of
these two men were saved—that their faint cry was heard-
on board the Willem Benkelzoon at about four o'clock
in the morning, that the ship was immediately hove-to
until daylight enabled the captain to search for and
find them, and that, not content with saving their
lives, he altered his course and put into Gibraltar, so
that they might receive medical assistance. We think,
however, that the recognition of such noble deeds
should take a more substantial form than words can
give, and we have, therefore, formed ourselves into a
committee to collect subscriptions and to present
Captain van Dorp with a testimonial consisting, it is
proposed, of a chronometer properly , inscribed and
accompanied by a sum of money.
N. IT a
4youry obedientc.wlv..WlLLlAM
AL, servants,::i.AMT„THLoEsmyi -
Em.s.ol
CARL SIEMENS.

12, Queen Anne's-gate, London, Feb. 9.
P.S.—The following subscriptions have already been re-
ceived :—Sir William Thomson, £10; Dr. C. W. Siemens, £10:
Mr. Carl Siemens, £10; Mr. W. T. Henley, £lO. Further
sums will be received by Messrs. Siemens Brothers, 12, Qaeen
Anne's-gate, Westminster.
FATAL FIRE- IN LONDON.

On Friday morning in last week a fatal fire happened
under somewhat singular circumstances, in the metro-
polis. On the previous evening, about six o'clock, the
fireman at St. Luke's station received a call for a fire
in the City-road, and on proceeding there with a
manual engine, they found dense smoke issuing from
the basement of a glass and china warehouse occupied
by a Mr. Altman. There was a very bad and late
supply of water, but the fire was quickly extinguished
by means of hand-pumps, and the engine returned
borne in a short time. But little damage, conipara-
tively speaking, was done. Three firemen were left
upon the premises, and they remained there until mid-
night, when they gave up possession to.a member of the
salvage corps. No appearance of fire was then visible, and
all danger was supposed to be over. The salvage corps
man went soon afterwards to a room on the first floor,
to lie down, and all the inmates were then in bed.
About three o'clock next morning Frederick Sewell,
the firemen in charge of the fire-escape in Old-street,
was called by the police to the same house, in which
the fire had broken out again. He went there with
his escape with all speed and found the premises in
flames. Being told that there were people sleeping on
the third floor, he at once pitched his escape, and by
means of the fly ladder just succeeded in reaching the
upper window. The smoke was very dense and
suffocating, but he managed to bring down in safety,
first a little child of eight, and afterwards a man, both
of whom were crying for help. He was next told
that the man's wife was still in the room, and that,
being overcome by the hot air, she had fallen down.
Notwithstanding the flames and smoke, the fireman
again ascended the ladder, but found himself unable
to enter the room. The lower part of the window
had three iron bars stretched across, which prevented
him from getting in there, and on raising the upper
sash he found that the temperature was so high that
it was perfectly impossible for him to make the
attempt. He was obliged reluctantly to descend, and
the poor woman, Ellen Harding, perished in the fire.
Her remains, on being subsequently recovered, were
fearfully burnt and quite unrecognisable. The house
itself was nearly destroyed. The salvage corps man
was rescued from the first floor by sliding down a sdaf-
folding pole, which the bystanders had poised against
the house.