The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-20 00:00:00

FURTHER PARTICULARS.

Mr Braidwood had frequentlymade representations to the
Government respecting the manner in which many of the
City warehouses were constructed, showing that they were
carried out in direct opposition to the Building Act. In
spite, however, of these representations several buildings
have been allowed to be carried up, and amongst the num-
ber was the one in which the outbreak of yesterday morn-
ing commenced.
In a very short space of time the whole of the warehouses
be!onging to Messrs. Hellaby and Co., were wrapped in one
broad sheet of flame, and from that part the fearful element
rolled like a cataract into the Haberdashers' Hall, and also
into the premises belonging to Mr Hugh Jones, a Manches-
ter warehouseman. Everyone now looked upon the fire with
dismay, it being feared that every building near, containing
over a million's worth of property, would have been con-
sumed, more especially as Nos. 104 to 107 belonging to the
same firm, had also taken fire. The next seat that tke
flames reached was a lofty stack of atone warehouses under-
going rebuilding and partially occupied. Thence the flames
drifted into the two houses numbered 107 to 109 in the same
street, and in the course of a few seconds the three upper
fliers were in a blaze. There being every probability that
the premises of Messrs Rateliff and Hutches, ribbon anu-
facturers, would also be destroyed, most of the stock in
trade was removed. At this conjuncture the flames were
attacking five houses numbered 14 to 19 on the opposite side
of Gresham-street. Nothing short of the entire annihilation
of the warehouses, covering over seven acres of land, could
be expected, when to some extent the fears of the inhabi-
tants wore allayed by the arrival in rapid succession of five
land steamers by Shand and Mason, with another termed
the Princess Royal, from Tooley.street, several manual
power engines, the Princess of Wales land steamer, from
Tooley.street, and the Peckham, Holloway, and Hodges's
engines.

The whole of the foremen of the different districts of the
London establishment were present, owing to the absence of
Capt. Shaw, who was on his tour in the country. Messrs.
Bridges, Fogo, Henderson, J. Gerrard, and Swantota had
each engine so stationed that the hose from it was stretched
round the blazing piles, which had the effect of attacking
the fire at four points, To accomplish this work the fire-
men had to mount, the burning staircases with the hose of
the land steamers in hand ; but, in spite of the torrents of
water throws into the midst of the flames, hour after hour
passed away before the fire began to succumb, and it was
not until six o'clock that the fire was got under. Tho origin
of the catastrophe is at present enveloped in obscurity.
To give anything like a correct amount of the loss occa-
sioned by the conflAgrat;on would be impossible. Some of
the surveyors belonging to the insurance companies inte-
rested are of opinion that the loss will not exceed a quarter
of a million sterling, whilst others are of the opinion that
it will approximate to half a million, Unquestionably the

present is the largest fire that has occurred since the
memorable one at London-bridge.
We had it from the lips of one of the assessors of losses
by fire, that one of the sufferers was insured for £20,000,
but his loss will amount to £2oo,ooo—and the salvage,
judging from the appearance of the ruins, will not amount
to more than one or two thousand pounds.
The arrangements of the police during the whole day
were moat admirable. So great was the crowd that the
entrances to the scene of the fire had to be barricaded
against the public.