The Express.
London, England, 1850-04-06 00:00:00

DEVASTAILNO FIRE AT

(From the Cambridge Chronicle of this day.)

As the traveller from Cambridge enters Cottenham
he may observe oa his right-hand side a considerable num-
ber of neat brick houses, with the glom of newness upon
them. They stand upon ground formerly occupied by farms
and tenements, reduced to rains by fire, which occurred on
the 9th of September, 1847. That fire was one of the :scot
alarming and destructive which it ever fell to our lot to
record ; but but been surpassed in these respects by ene that
becks out last Thursday evening (April 4), and In a very
few hours laid was • nearly forty farms and cottages.
We in Cambridge were made aware of a fire in the neigh-
bourhood by a lurid glare in the heavens soon after right
o'clock ; and se bright was it that it wee difficult to believe
the flames were not in the very outskirts of the town. No
one 'premed to know exactly where the fire was; and
rumour placed It at Chesterton, Milton, Cottenhem, Stanton,
St. I . es, Mc.; and it was not until it had been burning for
• cunsiderable time that there was a certainty as to its
locality. It broke out soon after eight o'clock, at • pest of
the village some distance from the Cambridge entrance.
When first seen, two barns adjoining one another, belonging
to Mr. Freeman Goode and Mr. Thomas Graves, appeared
to be in flames, and it is doubtful in which of the two the
tire iodinated, although probably is the former. A very
strong breeze was blowing from the west, and the domes in
an incredibly short space of time laid hold of neighbouring
property. Such usistaaos as the village could salty was
speedily upon the spot; but the prospect of arms ; the
progress of the fire was from the very first exceedingly
small. There was sue a mem of dry and inflammable
material for the fire to disport among, such a poor supply
of available water, and such a wind to contend against,
that people worked almost against hope. We hardly know
to whet cause to attribute ft, unless it be the confusion of
mind which prevails upon these lamentable occasions, but it
was not until after eleven o'clock that an express arrived at
Cambridge for the engines. Until that time the only engine
at work was one belonging to the village ; subsequently,
the Norwich Union, the Royal Farmers, and the Ptieux
engines were on the mete. It ins not mem very probable
that it the ergiaee had been on the spot hours sooner, they
would have succeeded in putting a stop to the ravages of the
desouriag eletaeat, kr the reasons stated above.
The space traversed by the fire was enormous. It seemed
yesterda as if half the 702: had been laid in ruins ; and
yet the fire bad beta es us la its course, for hese and
then was to be sus • use standing almost uninjured, in
the very midst of black end smoking rains.
We are und to say that the labourers worked willingly
and well, so long as • chance of dolag any good remained
but their efforts, aided ea they were before long by gowns-
men from Cambridge, were so manifestly unavailing, that
people at last stood by in helpless and despairing inaction.
Farm after farm, and cottage after °ottani, fell before the
flames, and by three o'clock in the morning, when further
immediate danger might be said to he over, the awful de.
struction was completed. Happily, however, no human lives
were lost ; nor did any horses or cattle tall victims to the
flames. A vest quantity of poultry and pigeons aad • 'aid
many pigs were destroyed ; but all the hones sad teat stock
were removed out of harm's way. Of course, ambers of
poor families have been rendered homeless, aced many of
them have lost all their little store of furniture : we and
hardly ay that these have been cued for by their more for
Innate neighbours as well as circumstances would allow.
Yesterday, Cottenham was crowded with people inspect-
ing the rules. Horsemen and pedestrians, thee, gigs, phae-
tons, and donkey arts peered in continually ; and there
was almost an unbroken lane of them all the way from Cam-
brides.

We do not like to hoard a guess at the amount of damage
done, because we age sure that at pri eat nothing like an
accurate estimate 01111 be formed. We may state, hewer,
that sem. parties who have probably better means of
forming a judgment than ourselves, set it down at about
18,0001. Besides the buildings, a very large quantity of
ours 1/1.8 bees seeessett; end the reader will sattesethad
that the bump sae be veep great whom be relate this I
eighteen betas byre bees easiest Melly bestreyedr balks
as may cottages.

LOSS OF THE NEW YORK PACKET-SHIP,
JOHN R. MIDDY.

The following letter was exhi►ited in the Liverpool
udm►riter's room yesterday :

Gahm Gorey, April 8, 1860.
Yuan. Seeds sad C0.,--Gentlenten,—lt bee become my
melancholy duty to inform you of the total loss of the ship
J. B. 81addy, on Glesoarrkk beach, county Wexford, on
the night of the let of April, at • quarter pea eleven, being
any thick and rein
_y at the am*, and having mistaken the
=don Arkiow Moak for Tamar. I had seen Bards',
at sine o'clock the same macula, and steered a
mane whist I Judged would carry me t midway be-
tween the &sells and Tumor, but by MIS unaccountable
same the skip was drifted materially out of her coarse by
the tides. lan 'any to inform yea that the passengers
sad mew were Laded in safety, also the greater
part of the luggage in good order, sad Audi
probably sere the remainder in • damaged con-
dition. I have also saved the sells, rigging, and part of
stress. The ship lies within two hundred yards of the
beef* lealgai sad veep quiet, the water over the lower deck.
If she weseher hasp moderate, some part of the cargo may
be saved is • delayed condition. I have abandoned the
ship to Llotel's &gout, wko has men now esspleyed bending
the sails, &a I think the natives of this part of the country
are the most abandoned set of villains it has ever been my
'defecates to fall in with. They commenced robbing end
plundering the moment they came on board; and as • boat-
load of luggage or stores landed, they were immediately
seised on by the lawless villains, in defiance of the comet
guard and pollee. " Yours very respectfully,
" J. liatrxxx."
We have been favoured with the following letter, by a
lady who was a passenger on board

Court Town Harbour, near Gorey, county of
Wexford, Ireland, April 3.
"My dear Mn. Asbridee,—As I saw the captain of our
ill-fated vessel send a letter forward for Liverpool, I feel
Neared you are aware of our melancbcly condition. To tell
yogi our feeling Is melees, for I am certain you will easily
oesjeetune. You told as not to f rget our money ; Bliza-
be* regalleeted your caution, and secured oar little bag of
meveredgue, which we shall now find so useful. Oar loss Is
Our cabins were sadly plundered, and what little is
great Our
totally spoiled. Oar boxes in the hold, we are told,
are not to be bad. Buckley and James are at the sad scene of
destrnetfoa to-day, to learn if any packages can be taken
out. I paid the second mate Bs. to let them down
as soon ma we were in the river, or he said they
might stand in the steerare and be plundered and kicker
overboard for what he cared. Not that I mean to com-
plain of him, fer afterwards be was very civil and kind'
upon the whole, particularly in endcav eating to keep the
wretches on board honest ; hut I would defy twisty such
In being able to manage the mob in such a situation. The
yew' struck on the Button rocks (al these people call
them), sloes to the sands, so we were easily put on shore ;
but the night was a tru:y terrible one, expecting every
moment to be swallowed up by the hugs war a. Pity my
feelings, surrounded by my dear family, joined hand to
hand. Then I thanked God my deer husband and sons
were not with tie, for I thought they would be saved out of
the family. I feel very poorly to day, and scarcely, able to
judge which would be the best way to proceed ; but I now
think I must remain here until the weather becomes more
calm, which I hope wail be in a few days ' • thea we moat
go to Dublin, and get into a steamer for Liverpool. I feel
Very poorly to-day, but, thank God, my nearly and poor
Miss— are pretty well ; her box, poor girl, was broken
open and all her best clothes taken out, with her money
and desk ;my deck, too, is gone. We are better off than
many on board, for I uuderetand some have lost every
earthly thing.—Believe me to remain your 'lnc, re tri
"8. PARROTT "
The Albert Gallatin, New York packet ship, was also
rereported se being erredcal, but happily the report turns out
be Incurred.