The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-12 00:00:00

ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.

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The premises which covered several acres of ground,
comprised saw mills, iron planing mills, joiners' shops,
and carpenters' shops ; and at the extremity on the
south side there were immense piles of mahogany and
other timber worth several thousand pounds. Flanking
the property on the same aide were upwards of a dozen
lofty houses in Paris-street, and, as will be seen below,
eight of these were set on fire, and narrowly escaped
being destroyed. It appears that Police-constable New-
man, No. 79, of the L division, in passing along his
beat, had his attention directed to the premises by seeing
a large body of flames mounting over the works, appa-
rently from the workshops adjoining the drying-house.
He nnmediately gave the alarm in the usual way, and
sent off for the engines. With as little delay as
possible several engines belonging to Messrs. Hodges,
the distillers, the West of England Insurance office,
and the London Brigade, reached the spot, and a
plentiful supply of the Lambeth Company's water
hay ng been procured, the engines were set to work, but
the flames by that period had extended to sundry piles
of mahogany and other timber, as well as to a great
many workshops, planing houses, and other buildings.
By three o'clock the scene that presented itself was
grand in the extreme. The flames, which had even com-
municated themselves to the trees is the grounds of the
Archbishop of Canterbury, not only brought out in fine
relief the Houses of Parliament on the other side of the
river, but imparted a lurid glare to the clouds over a
great portion of the metropolis. The firemen finding that
it was entirely impracticable to subdue so great a body of
flame by the aid of the land engines, sent off for the
powerful steam-floating engine at Southwark-bridge,
This ponderous machine was immediately brought up
the river by Mr. George Gerrard, and was set to work
with upwards of 500 feet of hose ; but in spite of the
ntmost exertions of the firemen, who were admirably
directed by Messr4. Braidwood, Henderson, Hambleton,
and Connorton, the work of devastation continued, and
it was late yesterday before the conflagration was
extinguished. The alarm and consternation which the
fire occasioned while at its height have happily been very
seldom exceeded. The occupants of many of the sur-
rounding houses rushed hastily to the street in the lightest
possible clothing, carrying with them any articles of
furniture they could lay their hands upon. To protect the
property thus hastily removed required the services of a
large body of police, who were under the command of
Mr. Superintendent Evans and Inspectors Harmsworth,
Ciwlen, White, and Rogers. The Royal Society's escapes
from the 'Female Orphan Asylum and Kennington,
promptly attended, but fortunately their services were
not required.

To give anything like an approximation to the exact
amount of damage would be at present impossible, but
it must at a moderate calculation reach to nearly, if not
exceed 50,0001. We regret to add that the workmen
employed on the premises have lost upwards of 2,000/.
worth of tools ; and it is understood that none of the
men were insured.

No less than 120 workmen have been temporarily
thrown out of work by this calamity, they for the most
part being employ e 3 on works for the new reading-room
at the British Museum.
The whole of the iron planing mills are burned do ivn,
the saw mills are also destroyed, the joiners' shops are
levelled with the ground, the masons' shops are also
consumed, and a valuable stock of marble completely
Splintered; several stacks of Spanish and Honduras
mahogany, as well as Dantzic wainscoting, are reduced
to ashes. The greater portion of the valuable trees in
the park adjoining the Archbishop of Canterbury's
Palace were set on fire, and at 11 o'clock there seemed
little chance of saving any on the eastern side. Fortu-
nately the palace did not receive the least injury, but
the alarm amongst the domestics, especially when the
eastern wall of the park fell, was exceedingly great.
A rigid and searching inquiry has taken place with
regard to th© origin of the calamity, but nothing satis-
factory has been ascertained.
The men usually left off work at half-past 5, but
owing to a pressure of business they did not leave off on
Monday till half-past 8 o'clock ; and at that time the
gas was turned off and everything appeared safe and
free from fire.

Mr. Baker, the principal sufferer, is a director of the
Kent Insurance Company, and the following list is re-
turned to the fire-offices of the loss :—Kent Fire-office,
5,000/. ; West of England, 3,0001. for stock ; and about
2,0001. in the Atlas Office, for machinery and buildings.
The eight houses in Paris-street, which are also con-
siderably damaged, were insured in the County Fire-
office, and the majority of the inmates were insured. A
Mr. Wormwell, surgical instrument maker, in his anxiety
to save the tools of the workmen, unfortunately broke
his leg, and assistance having been obtained, he was con-
veyed to Westminster Hospital.