The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-11-16 00:00:00

GREAT FIRE IN LONDON.

On Sunday, one of the largest firm that have occurred
In London for many year. past broke out at the City
Flour Mills, in Upper Thames-street, and caused an
immense destruction of property, respecting the emue
of which almost fabulone statements are afloat. The
building was of itself, perhaps, as conspicuous as any
that could be seen on either bank of the Thames,
end its loss will for the time obliterato a laud.
mark of the metropolis. It was—and its shell, which
is all that is now left of it, still ix—eituated • few
yatds cast of blackhinrs-bridge. From its extra-
ordinary height it towered above all the other
wharves and buildings in the neighbourhood, and it
had no lees than some 400 windows in and around
It. There were seven stories to it, each of them being
divided into warehouses rod machine rooms, and the
quantity of grain that was continually kept in it was
extremely large. It had a river frontage of 651 t. let
length, and one of like size in Upper Thamem.street,
and between the latter strvet and the river frontline*
wee a distance of 250! t., all occupied by the mill.
There was also a long creek at the western side of it,
from which barges might be laden. The building was
erected in 1852, and belonged to Messrs. J. and J.
Hadley, an eminent firm of millers.
• • • • ' • • • • • "

The fire, which doubtlese had been smouldering many
hours previmutly, was discovered by a City policeman
shortly before seven o'clock in the morning. He ran
immediately to the chief station of the Metropolitan
Fire Brigade in Watling-street and raised an alarm.
This was at four minutee to seven o'clock. In the
meantime information of the fire had been given, and
30 to gine' in all, sod upwards of 200 firemen, under
the direatiou of the four superintendents, were soon in
attar auce ready for work. The floats also appeared
in due tine, and got as near to the burning premises as
the condition of the tide at the time would allow. A
capital supply of water was obtained, but the fire, in
spite of every effort that the skill of the firemen
enabled them to make, spread graduallly throughout
the entire upper part of the building. The floors, one
li, one, gave way with • tremendous crash, throwing
the entire weight of the contents on those beneath.
Although, being daylight, no reflection of the flame' ,
was visible, yet aa the fire became known the bridges
and all the streets in the neighbourhood were densely
crowded. On the river also the floating engines were
surrounded by skiffs, and other email craft, all filled
with spectators. The land engines played from every
conceivable point round the building. Firemen stood
on the roofs of high premises abutting upon the mills,
and thence managed to pour into the windows and
apertures of the building tons upon tons of water, but
still it was • long time before any impression could be
made in the burning UMW. The root fell early in the
day. The damage to adjacent premise. was consider-
able, arising mootly from water. When darkness
set in the reflection of the fire was visible for some dis-
tance, and the immense shell of the building with its
numerous windows was lit up by the flames raging
within It. A large body of firemen were told off to
play upon the ruins all night long. The building is
said to have been "fireproof."
About three o'clock in the afternoon' some firemen
had obtained secret by means of the escapes to the
third floor of the building, and were plying their hose,
when aportion of the floor above them suddenly gave I
way. t was thought that all the men so situated
managed to escape, but on mustering them later in the
day and calling the roll, it was found that one of them,
named Guernsey, who was known to be in that part of
the buildbig, was missing. It was therefore suppoted
that he was buried in the ruins. In adoition to the
supposed death of the fireman Guernsey, two other
members of the brigade were severely injured by the
falling floors, and were taken to St. Bartholomew's
Hospital, and many others were cut and bruised.

During the whole of Menday the operations of the
Fire Brigade were continued with the greatest Activity,
and the remarkable eight which the fire presented drew
together an enormous crowd upon Blackfriariebridge
and in the immediate neighbourhood all through the
day, but in the evening especially, when the flames
within the huge structure were visible. The traffic in
that part of tipper Thames-street was entirely stopped
for fear of a disaster, in consequence of the dangerous
state of the walls which hail cracked most alarmingly
during the progress of the fire.
---• • • •

About noon on Monday a part of one of the upper
floors fell with a loud crash, causing the sparks to fly
In every direction, and sending up a volume of suffo-
cating smoke, which nearly overpowered the firemen.
The state of the walls was examined during the day
by one of the City district surveyors, and if found
practicable they will be shored up, though in case of
unpendieg danger, they will probably be at once de-
stroyed.
In the course of the night some men working on one
of the tl.ating engines were thrown into the river by
the slipping of • plank, but they were fortunately res-
cued, and, beyond the sudden immersion, sustained
no injury from the accident. There is, unhappily,
the strongest reason to believe that the missing
fireman, Guernsey, has perished among the ruins.
Ile and another man were working side by side on
one of the floors when the floor above thew sud-
denly gave way. Ilia companion, as it happened,
got out of danger, but he saw nothing of Guernsey
after the crash, and although several gangs of firemen
went about in every direction shouting his name they
got no answer. The fire was spreading so rapidly that
there was no time for them to clear away the ruins in
which they suppose be was buried. It was said that
he may possibly have flushed to some other part of the
building, and was unable, by reason of the tire all
round him, to make his escape, but this is evidently
Impossible, for no one could have lived in the midst of
the flames which raged all through Sunday and Mon-
day. Everything that has transpired leads to the belief
that he has been killed. The firemen who were injured
by the falling girders and beams are going on favour-
ably.
The building is said to have been built in accordance
with • plan brought forward in the year of the Cleat
Exhibition, by which it was thought that a fire if it
broke out might be strictly confined to that part in
which it originated. The floors sprang chiefly from
massive pillars of stone resting on foundations of the
utmost solidity, and each story was supported by iron
girders of great strength. The lofty chimney-shaft
which remains uninjured has a foundation of its own
Independent of the building itself. The machinery in
the mina was extremely valuable, and the stores con-
tained some thousand quarters of grain. Everything
In the five upper floors has perished in the fire.

Wednesday Morning.
Though three entire days have elapsed since the
outbreak of the destructive tire at the City Flour Mills,
in Upper Thames street, it was still burning last night,
and it is not likely to be extinguished for a day or two
more. During almost the whole of this time two-thirds
of the London Fire Brigade have been at work inces-
santly in trying to quench it, and engines are posted
on every side of the immense building. Through-
out Monday night four floating engines and four
land steamers were in full play, and the result of
the night's labour was a perceptible diminution
of the exteLt of the fire. The flames, however,
continue to flit about parts of the building, but
the principal seat of the fire is the enormous mound
of fallen grain and flooring in its very centre,
that part being, as a matter of comae, the most in-
accessible from the different positions of the firemen.
The windovrs of the mill are latticed so strongly with
iron that much of the water aimed at them is repelled,
and finds its way into the street rather than Into the
building. During Tuesday afternoon Captain Shaw
and some of the firemen entered the premises from the
taitern side by means of planks stretched from the
windows of the mills to adjoining warehouses, and
Were able to pour the water into the midst of the
fames, thus doing more real good in the few hours
In which they worked than might have been other-
wise accomplished in a whole day from the exterior.
Ihe !scene inside the building is described as being
very remarkable. Some of the floors are not wholly
destroyed, and it was in the sheltered places that the
firemen were able yesterday to work. In a few in-
stances great heaps of grain, either in Backe or loose,
remain to all appearance untouched by fire, and most
of the iron girders upon which the flooring rested are
still attached to the walls. Varions pieces of machinery
are dangling from the girders midway between the sides.
In one part of the building a great hole seems to have
been male by the fire from the seventh floor down
to the street, and the roof is entirely destroyed. The
eite from one of the upper stories is said to be a most
singular one. Beneath is a seething and burning 1T13.1,
resting on the second floor, and extending the whole
length of the building, and above and around are the
ruins of five floors, which have been damaged so
severely by the fire, and which in some places are still
burning.
Nothing can yet be seen, even from the inside, of
the body of the fireman Guernsey, though part of the
hose at which he was at work is observable among the
debris It is impossible as yet to touch the burning
material with 3 view to a search being made, though
that task will be commenced at the very earliest op-
portunity. The woundol 'nen are gding on favourably,
and it is hoped that they have not sustained any
severe internal injuries.
The cracked walls are still very threatening; but,
es may be imagined, it is a most difficult matter to
suggest any means by which they can be rendered
safe, for to shore them up securely would take a long
time and be a work which very few people would
feel inclined to undertake. Another serious problem
is how the ruins of the upper floors are to be got at for
the purpose of removal. The salvage will, as was
thought, be large, and, to a certain extent, of value ;
but a great deal of the grain has been unavoidably
washed away into the river with the immense quantity
of water used to extinguish the fire.
It is fortunate that the tire ham been absolutely con-
fined to the mills, seeing that some of the adjoining
wharves ass stored with most inflammable and danger.
one goods, and if they had once become alight there
is no knowing where the disaster would have stopped.