The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-08-14 00:00:00

TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF MESSRS
BROADWOOD'S PIANOFORTE MANUFAC

A fire of extraordinary magnitude, involving immense
destruction of valuable property, illuminated the western

district of the metropolis for -siveral hours on Tuesday
evening. Upon a plot of ground exceeding a couple of
acres in extent, and running from the Horseferry-road to

Holywell-street, Westminster, have stood for

thirty years the principal manufacturing workshops c
Messrs. Broadwood, the world-famous constructors o
every description of first-class pianofortes. At six o'clock
on Tuesday evening 420 men left the various shops
in the establishment, and, as was invariably the case
one of the foremen inspected the whole premi
after their departure, for the purpose of asce.
lug that every thing was safe, and the stove fi.
properly extinguished. In little more than half an hot,
after the workmen had left smoke was observed issuin
from the upper floor of the central range of buildings
immediately beneath the clock tower. An alarm win
instantly given at the residence of Mr. Russell, one of the
principal managers, who lives adjoining the premises in
Holywell-street. He immediately hastened to the build-
iug in question, and at once saw that the fire had made
considerable progress, and was rapidly increasing its
Stich assistants as could hastily be got together'
were assembled, and an engine, which has always been
kept upon the premises was soon at work. The Brigade
engine from the Horseferry-road station, only a hundred
yards from the factory, followed very quickly, and then
came the parish engines of St. John's and St. Margaret's.
As is too frevently the case, there was at first a scarcit y
of water, and the most strenuous exertions of all present
failed to make the slightest impression upon the flames,
which spread rapidly from floor to floor, and before seven
o'clock had wrapped in one burning mass the whole range
in which the fire had originated. The peculiar construe..
tion of the workshops—built to obtain the best possible
light, and consisting of distinct floors several hundred feet
long without a break of any kind—rendered them an eas:,
prey to the flames, and in less than an hour the fire ha
obtained so terrible a mastery that very little he,
existed from that time of saving any portion of t
establishment. The intense heat of the central build'
very soon ignited the adjoining ranges on each side, the
from twenty to thirty feet of space separated the one
the other, and before eight o'clock a body of flank
almost unexampled extent rose high into the air, settit.,
out in bold relief the fine architectural outlines of the New
Palace and the venerable Abbey, and attracting to the
bridges and other elevated points of view thousands of
spectators. Early after the outbreak, Mr. Walker, the
chief superintendent of the metropolitan police, arrived
on the spot with,a strong body of officers of the A and B
divisions, whom he stationed at the various outlets of the
neighbourhood, for the purpose of keeping off an idle
crowd, taking care to allow the entry of a sufficient num-
ber of able-bodied men to work the engines. Mr. Walker,
in the absence of Mr. Braidwood, who was out of town,
endeavoured to carry out a plan for the salvage of some of
the valuable property, but the fire was too swift to allow
of the extricatiOnof anything more than a few!thousand feet
of mahogany, which were thrown down off the roofs of
the workshops and dragged into the Horseferry.road.
Out of the five ranges of shops four had ignited
when Mr. Staples, foreman of the Brigade, in Mr. •
Braid-
wood's absence, determined by a desperate effort to cut
off the communication with the fifth range,
.by the
employment of a large number of men with pickaxes and
other implements. The wind favouring the operation,
the flames were prevented extending to the northern-
most shops, which, beyond injury from severe
scorching and water, have not suffered. The rest of the
vast manufactory is a total wreck, and the loss
thus occasioned to Messrs. Broadwood is, understood
to be enormous. Nearly one thousand pl;Z:lo.fortes,
in various stages. of manufacture, have been I;:terlY
lost, and the value of the woods and other materiaLci
destroyed, amounts to an immense sum. Five shillings
per square foot for veneers used by Messrs Broadwood,
is not at all an extravagant price, and from this some
notion may be formed of the loss that will be occasioned
by the fire. The tools of a single first-class workman also
may be estimated at .W7O. The total is fixed variously at
£lOO,OOO to £150,000. The precautions taken against fire
by Messrs Broadwood, were such as to render it almost
impossible that an outbreak could take place. The
specially hazardous character of the business is
such that at this season of the year, it is not sup-
posed that any person has a light on the premises, and
the stoves for warming glue pots, &c., are cased is
iron, and under the special control of the officials of the
offices with which Messrs. Broadwood have insured for
27 years without having had a chimney on fire. The
premises are exactly opposite the gasometers of the
Chartered Gas Company, and so alarming was the appear
ance of the fire at one period that the authorities felt it
prudent to discharge their gas by a main in connection
with their gasometer at Spitalfields. The fire was got
under about ten o'clock, but the engines continued to pour
immense volumes of water upon the ruins throughout the
whole night. _ _

ravages,

LATEST PARTICULARS,

Yesterday the premises were visited by the'autherities
connected with the County, Royal Exchange, the West-
Minster (which office is said to be the largest sufferers),
the Law, and other offices in which the various premises
were insured, to ascertain the extent of their loss. At
halt-past eleven the wall surrounding the key shop fell
with a tremendous crash ; but fortunately, owing to the
vigilance of Messrs. Russell and Rose, the managers, as
also Mr. Murray, the overseer of Messrs. Broadwoods,
all the workmen were kept at a distant,., and no accident
happencid. The three upright shafts of the, drying house/
Still remain in a dangerous position, but steps were being
taken to pull them down. We may add th.at the report of
a loss of life is without foundation.

EXTRAORDINARY APPREHENSION
BANK OF ENGLAND NOTE FORGERS

On Tuesday night, some information having been
received by the City police, four detective officers, named
Hugget, Funnell, Knight, and Spittle, proceeded to Nn-
-42, Upper Berner-street, Commercial-road East,._ ,St.
George's, for the purpose of making a capture of several
respectably dressed foreigners, who it is supposed lately
belonged to the German Legion, but who have for some
time past been employed in passing forged Bank
of England notes in and around the metropolis.
These officers were engaged by the authorities of the

Bank of England ta trace the person's who had been issuing
the forged notes, which were executed in a manner that
had really surprised even the principal officials of the
Bank. The constables were dressed in private clothes,
and last evening two of them repaired to the house in
question, where they soon obtained an entrance 9 and
were speedily followed by two other officers. Then
proceeded to a room on the first floor, where the!
found three men at work with a small portable printing
machine niade by Waterlow and. Comp eny. Thera
was a copper-plate engraved with an excellent imitatioit
of the .e 5 Bank of England note; and there was a small
machine used for printing, or embossing, the water
mark. Three men, who attempted to make their escapes
were immediately secured by the officers, and removefl to
the Leman-street, police-station, Goodman's-fields, White-
chapel, where they gave their names, Charles Thompson,
Auguste Frieting, and Lewis Boher. The police conveyed
the whole of the printing apparatus, plates, paper, ink, &Co
found in the 'room, to the station, and yesterday morning
at eleven o'clock they were taken before the magistrate at
the Thames police court, by whom the case was,remanded-

SCOTLAND.—It appears from a return issued on Monday;-'
that the total valuation of counties and burghs In Scotland
is £11,700,935 63 0 5-12 d; being £8,155,972 6s 2 2 10.,
for counties, and £3,544,962 193 10 3-121 for burghs.. The
cost of the rural police in Scotland, in 1855, amounted te.
£24,123 6. 61, as against £22,969 4s 10d in 1854,. and
£21,609 19s 8d in 1853.
GERMAN NEWS —The Fremden Blatt reports that the
objection which the Russian Boundary Commissioner
makes to the surrender of Bolgard to the Turks is founded
on the fact that that town is a place of pilgrimage for the
people of the Greek religion. The Mormons' are making
considerable way in Germany. The Gazette of Dresden,
states—Mormonism exists in this kingdom, but naturallf
it does not show ieself very openly. Although polygara
is an established doctrine, it has not come into practice,
here. The " Latter-day Saints" (Heiligen vom jansten
Tage) preach incessant industry. They have plenty of
money amonst them, which appears to come from England',
Some Saxon Mormons have already gone by wav 01
Liverpool to America, to join the new state which -thei
are there forming. There are about sixty more in Dreg"
den who have listened to the call, and are waiting to make
the necessary preparations previous to starting for
America.

RETURN OF JOHN FROST TO NEWPORT.-011 Monday
considerable excitement was caused at Newport by the
expected arrival of John Frost, the chartist.
..Ahmit
three o'clock in the afternoon, some thousands had col-
lected on the bridge and on the banks of the Uslc;
awaiting the arrival of the packet from Bristol. As soon
as the vessel arrived sufficiently near to afford a glimps,
of the chartist leader, a general cheer was raised, ana
was responded to by Frost and his friends on board tbo
steamer. An open carriage dressed with evergreens had
been prepared, but as soon as Frost was seated, the
crowd insisted upon doing the duty of the quadrupeds;
and the carriage was soon put in motion by a number
of " navvies," who conducted him through the principal
streets, stopping at different points, where he 104
greeted with loud cheers. On arriving at the opeli
space of ground opposite the Westgate Hotel, the sce)le
of the desperate conflict between the mob and the
mil,tary, be was greeted with a fresh cheer from the
immense multitude. The coach halted at a temperance_

hotel, from the windowor;hich was stisiended.
banner bearing a likeness of Frost, Williams, and Joneg!,
with an inscription to the effect that these persons ha'
been treated with cruelty. Soon after alighting foil
the coach, Frost made his appearance at the window, ato;

addressediheciowd outside. He denounced the goleriv,;
ment in no measured terms, alleged that cruelties WI
been inflicted upon him during his penal servitude,
declared his belief that the charter was the only cut':,
for all the evils to which the working classes Ircer'
exposed. He had returned to his native town aft
fourteen years' banishment, unimpaired in health e
body and vigour of mind, and he was resolved to II!
those faculties for the good of the people. The trade);
men and more respectable part of the inhabitants to°,„

no part in the proceedings of the day. Frost looks re,;
markably well, and seems to possess a consider
amount of vigour for a man now seventy-two years °