The Sun.
London, England, 1808-09-21 00:00:00

THE DREADFUL FIRE.

We yesterday gave a correit outline of the fatal
event which has befallen Covent-Garden Theatre;
'but as the public curiosity, as well as every feeling
,'f .humanity, is interested in the melancholy affair,
resume-'the subjeti, and present to our Readers
OikGifesinew the several Alit:ling' circumstances
Whieti-have.attended this shocking calamity.
The money in the Treasury, as well-a's all the do-
cuments respe&ing the, Theatre, were, as we stated
yesterday, preserved by the alacrity of Mr, HUGHES,
:whose infirmities were wholly lost in his zeal to
save the property. Hr loaded a trusty female ser-
vant with the money in two bags, and sent her,
without any dress but,her petticoat, to Mr. BOYCE,
a tax-gatherer, in York-street. On her arrival at
Mr. BOYCE'S, however, and knocking at the door,
the servant seeing such a figure at such an hour,
refused 'admittance, supposing her a mad Woman.—
The podi'iiraman, thus excluded, and fearing to in-

-"1
-form the-passengers of the treasure, sat down upon
'the'bags'af the steps of the door, and there remained
until the return of Mr. HUGHES;-who had originally
escorted her to the door. Of all the rest of this great
property, such was the -fierceness of the flames,
scarcely any thing was preserved. The King's Arms,
a Roman Eagle; Mother Goose, a few other pantomi-
mic devices and pieces of mechanism, and some pikes,
halberts,.&c. used in processions, were all that were
preserved. They were brought out, and laid under
the Piazza, where they were huddled together, pre-
Senting in the mixture a strange and whimsical ap-
pearance. Next tt Mr. HARRIS, Mr. KEMBLE,
the other Proprietnrs'of the Theatre, the Musicians
are the greatest sufferers. Mr. WARE lost a violin
value 3001.- It was the only time in a space of two
years that he had left it behind him. The Musi-
cians are. in the habit of leaving all their instru-
ments at the Theatre; they were .all destroyed,
with all the music, and othei'appurtenances of the
Orchestra, estimated at 20,0001: value. To aggra-
vate the loss in this department, there are no copies
of many of the best pieces. All the literary pro-
duetionS Of the House are also destroyed, and of
many, of.thern also there are no copies.
Ane4jlle most distressing circumstances in this
accumtiTatiOn of disasters was that which we men-
tioned yesterday respecting the large engine belong-
ing 'to the Phoenix Fire-office, starioned in the
vaulted passage leading from the Piazzas in Covent
Garden, to the various vomitories of the Theatre.
-Eleven firemen, belonging to the Phoenix establish,
inent, three laboUring people, and a generous
hearted private of a Volunteer Corps, .were at work
upon this engine. About seven o'clock, a dreadful
crash, resembling an explosion of gunpowder, was
.-heard toiproceed from the spot where they were at.
work ; and'upon the multitude in the Garden run-
', ning to . the place, they found the engine, and the
miserable beings who surrounded it, to the number
of twenty-, buried in'a heap of ruins ! Upwards of
fifteen, who stood near them, were dreadfully man-
; gled and 'scorched, and carried off in coaches to the
nearest hospitals. The lifeless trunks of the unfurr
tunate assistants at the engine were dug up about
eight o'clock, and carried to Covent Garden Church-
yard to be owned.
Among the killed, were Joseph Holmes,
Jones, an apprentice at No. 5, Oxford-road ; Joseph
_ and iliOvrd :c7et”tn bc../105-
ing to the Piimmix Office; Crab, a butcher's
boy, whose master resides in Paternoster-row; and
an Officer in the Duke of Cumberland's Sharp-
shooters, name unknown. One of these sufferers
was recognised by his sister, by means of a nutmeg-
grater, found in his pocket, of which she had, on
the preceding day, made him a present.-01 the
mangled and contused, the following expired in the
course. of the day :—Richard Bird, coach-maker,
John Syers, engineer of the Phoenix engine, Mr.
Harris, son of au optiCian in- Bloomsbury, and a
Member of the Bloomsbury Volunteee Corps, and
-frtr--James, an attorney ;',he had only arrived in
:trnn. Wales about a week ago, and lodged at
the house of Mr. Watkins, taylor, YOrk;street, Co-
vent-garden. He was brought home to his lodging,
'but had scarcely entered the shop when he expired.
Amongst.those-in a dangerous state at the Hospitals
are, ‘Peter Fish, fireman of she Phcenik Office:- 'A

man brought into the Piazza Coffee-house, with his
arm burnt, was in such agony, that, mad with pain,
be tore the flesh down to the wrist. He was sent to

Bartholomew's HoSpital in a deplorable state. A
pillar of the balcony at the entrance to the Theatre,
froD 119w-atzeet, gave way, and two Volunteers, it
is said, o e .Bloomsbury Corps, were crushed to
iicleath.--

It may-be seen from the above account,. that the
men of th'J Phoenix Office were the principal suf-
ferers. On their arrival with their engine at the
great door-under the Piazza, they were met by Mr.
KEMBLE, who had at rived at an 'early hour, and
were humanely apprized by him,•thoug,h greatly in-
terested in the success of their exertions, of the great
danger of entering at that door. He told them that
the rooms of the Shakspeare, immediately
ing, were used as a warehouse to the Theatre, and
were filled with powder, oil, and other very inflam-
mable matter, and entreated them not to,rtin any
risk. These' brave and • bold fellows answered—
" Where danger is, there is our duty;" and rushed
forward. Mr. JOHN JOHNSTON, a',Coinedian of in-
ferior order, rushed 'in along with them, and,shared
their fate. A part of the Shakespeare is injured.
We forgot to mention, that seven other persons
were killed ¢y the fall of a wall Hart-street.. The
przcise "number cannot be yet ascertained"; but,
upon a moderate computatioti of the killed and
wouiided, supposed that they cannot be fewer
111,4 P 414Y=;;,.
Tr4am apprehensions were entertained for the safe-
ty of Drury-lane Theatre, 'as the flakes of fire were
carried on by the wind with, force and in great quan-
tities in that dire6tion. A great • number of people
mounted the roof, ready, m case of aCtual fire, to
.open the large cistern of water provided there. They
also stopped the windows. with wet cloths, to pre-
,vent the entrance of the flakes, and thus secured,
the Theatre. All the people in the neighbourhood
took a similar precaution, and were employed with
their servants in picking up the flakes of &re as they
fell upon the roofs or in the yards.
During,. the whole course of the day the engines
iC'y play upon the smoking ruins ; but,
alVnit nine 0%--ioek, the tire appeared to break out
.again- in the angle that the element had spared in
then-turning, between Hart-street and sow-street.