The Express.
London, England, 1846-09-23 00:00:00

operutlon..

rTibble Seer, in lat. 15 deg, $2 min. N.. and long. 41 deg.
53 min. E., was observed to be smoking when visited by
the officers of the Benares during the Fancy of the lied
Sea, bat never since. There i 4 a tradition among tho Arab
paws of its having been on fire some fifty years ago, and it
bears, among ninny of them, the name of dibble Bookhan,
or " Hill of Smoke," and has the appearance of haring been
in active operation at a much later period than the Zcbaycr
Islands.

SWITZERL O:D.—DREADFUL FIRE AM) Loss OF
Lirs:.—On the night of the 15th Sept. a conflagration
burst out in the hotel of the Crown, at Tarannes, in Switzer-
land, not far from lkrne. There wer. thirty-three strangers
staying at the hotel. Six of them perished in the flames.
M. Immer, engineer in the chief of the Canton of Thou, was
on the point of jumping from a window, when the fluor fell
in with a loud erash and he perished. Two more persons
have since died from their wounds. ➢lost of the travellers
were Englishmen.

Dltfiatift'l, CONFLAGRATION AT THE CROYDON
RAILWAY Tetimitves Tuts Moms !NO.—Between the hours
of 2 and 3 this morning, a tire of a very fearful character,
attended with a serious destruction of props fly, broke out
upon the Croydon station of the London and Croydon Rail-
way. From enquiries made during the progress of the fire,
it appear* that whilst one of the constables of the P division
was passing the Fox and Hounds Tavern, he perceived a
dense body of smoke issuing from the lamp room of the ter-
minus. Phis satisfied the officer that a tire had broken out,
and withcut it moment's lose of time he raised en alarm,
but lx fire any person had time to come to his assistance, the
dames broke through the roof of the carriage depot, a spa-
eines building, upwards of lOn fret long, and which was
filled with carriages of the first and second class. Con-
tiguous to this building, stood await, r erecrion, in which
several other cariiages were deposited. Fortunately, the
tenants of the csonpany and police succeeded in saving the
contents of this place ; for on seeing the imminent danger
to which the 681110 was .xpaked, they managed to push a
train, consisting of several carriages, out of it. 'f he usual
intelligence wet, without delay, sent to the engine statism
of the town, and forthwith the tau tack and parirh engines
reached the scene of the tire. By that period the whole of
the old locomotive depot was enveloped iu flume, and up-
wards of a dozen first and second class carriages
were blazing away with the most fright:el rapidity, and
when the flames shot through the root'. they compl,tely illu-
minated, nut only the immediate district, hut the principal
portion of the metropolis. This became a far more
ii speedy
messenger of dancer than the intelligence sent, ml forthwith
several London engines stunted for the scene. The first that
arrived was the one from the Waterloo-rond station, belong-
ing to the West of England Company, under the direction of
Mr. Connorton ; the Watling-street blanch. engine, with
Mr. Braidwcod, was the next that came down; and Mr.
Garwood followed directly after with the county engine from
Rt•gmt-street. For some tint° the greatest difficulty was
experienced in obtaining n supply of water ; meanwhile the
flames progressed with such rapidity that before four o'clock
both the stations of the present ntniospherie and the old loco-
motives presented an immense body cif flame, which mares!
as it hawed from the several windows like a number of fur-
naces in full operation. By lentliog the hose of tha engines
through the windows the military and firemen were enabled
to pour a limited stream of water upcn the destructive
element; but it had obtained too firm a hold to be easily
extinguished• and earring • after cairime Sid a prey to the
fury of the tire. The conflagration was only cut off ost as it
was attacking the ticket station and booking offices.
Ilad the (tunes progressed only a few fret further before
they were stopped, the work of destruction would have been
far more serious than it really has been. By ft o'clock the
fire was so far subdued an to allay all turther apprehensions
of its extension. By that period, the old locomotive depfit
was burnt down, and immense numbers of first and second-
class carriages destroyed ; the atmospheric carriage shedding
was likewise consumed; the electric telegraph was also dis-
placed ; and a large number of th, sleepers on the lute were
bond, and the metal trnniways were Acre, il into Various
shapes, so as to prevent the regular transit of the trains. The
total loss must amount to several thousand pounds, at the
least, and, whether the property was insured or not, we
could not ascertain during the excitement which prevailed.
The whole of the carriages destroyed were phored in thu
station ready for the first passage this morning. An inquiry
into the cause of the outbreak will be iiistituted by the
directors of the company this afterueon at one o'clock. The
traffic of the fine must of necessity be suspenelml for some
time ,mouncli
,raiaccountse of the rooting
given to
of
thethu
mi mils r
the London Engine Estahliabmcet, and to the Wed of Eng-
land and County companies, for their early airival at the
peibnYtentc hitemtare
Tooof.
scene of destruction.

NEW COURT.
(nefore the Corninon rtereesut and ablern.an Wood.)
A YOUNG BEOINNEK.—ChrtrkS R,uilh, a respeetably-
ssed young man, about eighty.% years of nee, and de-
scribed as an artist, was indicted for stealing a blanket and
counterpane, the property of George Freeman. A second
count stated the property to belong to Thomas Eley.
The prisoner asked the learned judge to postpone his
trial for a few days, in order; that he might communicate
with his friends, and procure nitneisen to speak to his cha-
racter. also to enable him to engage connect to defend him.
The Common Sentenne said be had had plenty of time
since he was committed to procure counsel and communi-
cate with his friends, and that being the car, the trial could
not be pestpcned, but in ease be should be found guilty, the
sentence would be reserved until Saturday, when has wit-
nesses would be heard.
Mrs. Eley said she kept a ledging-house, mid the prisoner
slept in it for two nights and then lefr. After he was gone
the property was missed, and when she saw him again and
questioned him concerning it, instead of giving her informa-
tion which would unable her to recover it, he told her a
number of falsehoods, which ease her and the policeman a
great deal of trouble, without a hope of the blankets.
In her cross-examination by the prisoner, she admitted
that she kept a house of ill-fame, and that the prisoner both
nights was in company with a young woman. who left at
about the same time as the prisoner, and that when she saw
him again she did not suspect Lim at all, but the young
woman, who was not to be found.
The prisoner was about making his defence to the Court,
when the jury returned a verdict of Acquittal.