The Press.
London, England, 1856-03-08 00:00:00

Lord Claud Hamilton his left town for Ireland.

SATURDAY,

Ulttrogolitan.

TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF COVENT-GARDEN
THEATRE.
THE complete destruction of this magnificent theatre
by fire, on Wednesday morning, must excite great regret
throughout the country. The associations connected
with it as a theatre—the recollection fresh in every
mind of its recent glory as the first of ftalian Opera.
houses in Europe—the scene of the triumphs of
Kemble, Kean, and Macready, on the one hand,
and of the superb successes of Mario, Grisi, and
Viardot, on the other, the beauties of the Tempest,
the glories of the Huguenots, the splendours of
the Prophite, the magnificence of L'Etoile dic
Nord, are now only remembered to leave painful
impressions as you look upon the bare, bulging,
blistered walls, or survey the vast amphitheatrical
area of smouldering dust. Of the splendid proper-
ties of the theatre, accumulated at an incredible
expense, the exquisite scenery, the noble armoury,
the costly wardrobes, the valuable dramatic and
musical library, containing many origival operatic
scores, nearly all have perished in this lamentable
fire.

As to the origin of the fire nothing yet is known.
The precautions against fire in the house were
admirable in principle: in the roof was a vast tank
of eighteen tons of water, with double mains leading
to every floor, kept always charged ; but on this
occasion the firemen, whose duty it was to watch
and guard the theatre, appear to have preferred
a visit to the stage to attending to their duty on the
roof.

Mr. Gye, with a species of presentiment of
evil, when the intelligence was conveyed to him of
Mr. Anderson's desire to give a Bal Masque, put a
decided veto on the proposal, but at length was
induced, unhappily, to reconsider his opinion, and
give permission for the entertainment to take place.
The Bal Masque had gone off with the ordinary
dulness and stupidity of such exhibitions in Lon-
don. It was nearly daylight—about a quarter to five
a.m. Most of the people had left the theatre.
About 200 of the most noisy remained : among
them, it is reported, Castles, a fireman, who woe
talking to a companion, on the stage. His com-
panion happening to look upwards, observed a
bright light shining through the chinks and crevices
of the flooring to a carpenter's shop high overhead.
He called Castles' attention to this, and the latter,
with that instinctive fear which neglect of duty
usually sharpens, instantly replied in a low voice,
" Why, good God! the house is on tire !" hi
an instant both left the stage, and hastened up
towards the point of danger. Their departure, of
course, was scarcely noticed. Mr. Anderson had
just given the order for "God save the Queen " to be
played, and the chorus was being sung with great
energy.
The two men soon reached the carpenter's shop,
which lay between the ornamental ceiling and the
roof of the building. When they entered this place
they were nearly suffocated by dense black smoke.
Castles threw himself on his hands and knees, and
endeavoured to crawl towards a smouldering heap
which he observed near the centre of the workshop
The smoke was, however, too much for him, and he
was compelled to make a speedy retreat, with.
out being able to open the fire-mains on this floor.
Descending to the lower " flies," he succeeded in
turning on the mains, but before he could fix the
hose the descending fire from the workshop above
overtook him, and drove him further down to the next
" flies." The destruction of the house was now
evident to him. He saw that the fire had obtained
a mastery which could not be controlled, but be
hoped by unhitching and cutting away those part
of the scenery likely to be first affected by the in-
creasing fire to check it at least for a time. The or-
chestra bad net ceased when the sudden fall upon the
stage of one of the beams round which these can-
vases were rolled gave the first intimation of danger
to the assemblage below. Mr. Anderson himselt saw
the beam fall; a gentleman exclaimed, "My God!
the house is burning !" Mr. Anderson was incredu-
lous, but looking up saw enough to convince him.
He shouted out, " The house is on fire !" For the
moment it was disbelieved, and looked upon as n
ruse to clear the house, but a shower of falling
sparks set all doubts at rest. Then came the
rush, the crush, and struggle for escaPe•
Men and women, masquers and musicians,
frantic with fright—each for himself—fought sr"l
strove to get out first. The police seized the doe,
ways, and kept them clear. To add to the horror
of all, the gas was suddenly turned off, and for a
moment the theatre was dark : but in a few seconds
bright flames curled out from under the proscenium
into the body of the house : the wooden bridges,
the
forest of scenery over the stage, crackled and
caught one after the other ; another second, the
flames roared out underneath—darted round the

MARCH 8, 1856.

upper tiers of boxes—in a moment the whole roof was
on fire, and the doom of the building was sealed.
No human effort could have saved it. In twenty
minutes from its first discovery the fire burst through
the roof, throwing dense columns of clear bright
flame high into the air. The whole of London was
illuminated with the red reflected light. St. Paul's
looked as if encased in burnished gold, the river
glistened with the broad glare, while in the extreme
distance the dark lines of the Surrey hills could be seen
in bold relief. The engines of the different fire
brigades arrived rapidly on the spot, but against such
a burning fiery furnace their puny efforts were of
little avail. Quickly on the spot, and with ample
supply of water, all they could do was to pre-
serve neighbouring buildings not yet ou fire.
Never did the principle of putting out fire by water
appear so thoroughly inefficacious as o i this occasion.
The streams of water which were poured into the
building were as effectual as those from sixpenny
syringes would have been against a burning hay-
stack. This vast concentrated body of flame,
sweeping round and round the building—roaring and
revelling in its destruction—was beyond present
control. '1 here was nothing left but to let it burn
out, and take every precaution to prevent it ex-
tending beyond the limits of the four walls. The
fall of the great chandelier was distinctly heard, and
at half-past five the whole roof fell in with a tremen-
dous crash, throwing up showers of sparks and burn-
ing charcoal. For four hours the fire raged with
more or less intensity, seizing upon each plank
and platform, and every combustible material
within the building, until it fairly burnt itself out,
and was left nothing to do bat to smoulder over the
ruin it had created. So great was the fervent beat
of this vast furnace of living flame that the neigh-
bouring houses crackled and steamed as if in the
" sweat of their great agony " at the sight before
them.

So rapid was the fire that little or no property
could be saved. M. Costa's piano was saved, and
Mr. Anderson was fortunate enough to get out his
conjuring apparatus. A few of Mr. Gye's pictures
and some of his personal property were saved, and
also the cash-boxes and some important documents.
All belonging to the estahlishment exerted them-
selves manfully, but there was little time left them
for much success. One man, however, a humble
bill-sti,,ker named Burgess, is said to have stuck to
the work with more than professional zeal, and to
have personally secured at great risk much of the
valuable property saved.
The cause of the fire will probably be never ex,
plainined. Many persons attribute it to the intense
heat generated by the great chandelier having been
kept lighted for nearly thirty-six consecutive hours.
It is certain that the fire first broke out in the
carpenter's shop just over the chandelier. This shop
was filled with light combustible materials, and there
appears some reason in the supposition.
Mr. Gye arrived in London early on Thursday
morning, and proceeded at once to visit the ruins
and make arrangements. The walls of the theatre
having been pronounced unsafe, are to be taken
down, and an official inquiry will be held with a view
to ascertain the cause of the fire.

The ruins of course excite great interest. Her
Majesty, Prince Albert, the Duke of Cambridge, and
many members of the nobility, have visited them.
The safest spot is through the former private en-
trance to the Queen's box in Prince's-court. Passing
through the narrow passage, you come out on a level
with the grand tier, a little to the right of where
once stood the royal box, and there around you lie all
that remains, the " disjeeta membra," of this famous
house. The destruction is complete. Heaps of
smouldering ashes mark the site of 1.1. e grand tier;
a few pilasters in the angles of the wall distinituisli
the tiers one above the other. In the centre, nothing
remains of the pit or stage but the low, solid
semicircular brick foundations, and the tall arched
passages for the side scenes. The bare brick
smoking walls, here and there broken or falling,
mount high into the air and inclose the whole.
Between the body of the theatre and the side offices
the ruin is more detailed, and the spaces less
clear. Huge broken beams, fallen walls, heaps of
charred timber, ceilings half down, masses of char-
coal and dust, are all inextricably jammed together.
The loss is immense : 800,0001. is stated as the
value of the property destroyed. The building and
property were only insured to a very trifling amount.
Add to this the deprivation to all lovers of music, the
chance that the house will never be rebuilt—for it is
reported that the Duke of Bedford will not renew the
lease, being desirous of turning the ground to more
pecuniary advantage by letting it out as a flower
market—and the loss may well be characterised as a
great national calamity.

SIR G. GREY'S NEW POLICE BIT.L Wits discussed St
a Special Court of Common Council held on Monday.
The court was unusually crowded. The report of
he consolidated committee appointed to consider the

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