The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-09-03 00:00:00

FATAL FIRE IN LONDON.

At a late hour on Saturday night a fire broke out at
No. 17, Blagrove-road, Notting-hill, the ground floor
being occupied by Mr. E. Unwin and the first floor
by Mrs. Beckley; the second floor having no oc-
cupants. The first indication of the calamity was
caused by smoke issuing from the lower part of
the place, and a passer-by, named John Hughes,
acted in a praiseworthy manner in procuring a
step-ladder and preserving life thereby. Mrs.
Beckley, who is a widow, had four children who
were left in the care of their grandmother while the
mother was at work in the City. The mother hap-
pened to be absent at the time, two of the children
being in bed in the front room with the grandmother.
When the man Hughes entered the place the fire was
travelling up the staircase, and with great difficulty
he succeeded in forcing the three persons named out of
the window and effecting their escape by the ladder. In
the meantime the alarm had been conveyed to the fire
brigade station, and engines were got to work without
delay. When the fire had been extinguished the fire-
men went in search of two children, Alice M. Beckley,
aged nine years, and Florence Beckley, aged eight
years, who were missing, and their lifeless bodies were
found in the back room on the first floor, where they
were in the habit of sleeping with their mother. Both
of the poor little creatures were burnt in a shocking
manner, one of them being still on the bed—or what
remained of it—and the other being found under-
neath it, where, it is supposed, the unfortunate child
had managed to crawl for safety. The distressed
mother only reached her home to learn of the sad mis-
fortune.

In his endeavour to save life John Hughes, aged 43,
was much burned about the face and hands.

The Daily .News of Tuesday said :—" The recovery
of the bodies was attended by imminent danger to the
firemen. Had the men touched the burned timber
hanging over them it would have brought all down on
their heads, as there was scarcely any footing. Engi-
neer Penfold was the first to discover traces of the
youngest victim—Florence Beckley, aged eight years,
after more than a cartload of rubbish had been re--
moved—the right arm, minus the hand, first being
seen; and the eldest child, Alice M. Beckley, aged
nine years, was afterwards found lying with its back
projecting through the rubbish that had buried it.
The dreadful results of the fire were kept remarkably
quiet from the crowd of excited spectators, and the
bodies were not brought out till three o'clock on Sun-
day morning, when they were faken to the mortuary
on an engine. Throughout the whole of Monday the
house was surrounded by throngs of persons.

THE STEAM POWER OF THE WORLD.
Documents published in Berlin state that four.
fifths of the steam engines at present at work on the
globe have been constructed during the last 25 years.
France employs at present 49,500 fixed or movable
steam boilers, 7,000 locomotives, and 1,850 naval
engines; Germany employs 59,000 steam boilers,
40,500 locomotives, and 1,700 naval engines; Austria
has 12,600 steam boilers, and 2,800 locomotives.
The steam power at present used amounts to 7i
million horse-power in the United States; 7 millions
in England, 4 millions in Germany, 3 millions
in France, 1 millions in Austria. 1 his does not
include the locomotives, the number of which amounts
for the whole world to 105,000, running over 350 000
kilometres of rails, and representing 30 million horse-
power ; with the other machines the total power
produced by steam is 46 million horse-power.
As it is admitted that the power of a steam-horse
equals that of three living horses, and that that of a
horse equals that of seven men, the steam engines at
work on the globe represent the strength of one mil-
liard men, or twice the work produced by the working
men of the globe, its population being reckoned at
1,455,923,000 inhabitants. Steam has consequently
trebled the working power of man while enabling him to
spare his physical strength and to extend his intellec-
tual knowledge.