The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-21 00:00:00

^

A Strange Scene in the Blackfriars-road.

For many years past in the parish of Christ-
church, Blackfriars-road, a number of houses
standing on the southern side of Stamford-street,
extending from the corner house in Blackfriars-
road nearly up to Broad-wall, have remained
untenanted. This has occasioned considerable
loss to the parish in the shape of rates, and has
much deteriorated the value of•the surrounding pro-
perty. These houses, well known to the passengers
between Blackfriars-bridge and the Obelisk, I,,re-
sent a most forlorn and ruinous appearance, being
entirely destitute of a pane of glass, the window
frames and doors rotten with neglect and dirt, and
the areas choked up with rubbish of all sorts. What
is still more remarkable, most of these houses arc
filled with what was once costly and elegant furni-
ture, but now rotten and smothered in dust. It is
about 25 year since the houses were occupied, and
the last tenant was the vestry clerk, who about 18
years since occupied the house at the corner of the
street, a large and spacious one. This property,
together with several houses in the same condition
on Snow-hill, City, belonged 30 years since to a
gentleman named Atkinson, who about that time
went abroad, as it was said, and has not since been
heard of. After some years, and many mysterious
reports, the property was taken possession of by
two maiden sisters of the missing man, residing in
Stamford-street, and of eccentric habits. From some
reason, known only to themselves, they served
notices on the various tenants of the houses to quit,
and as they became empty refused to let them
again, and they have thus Men into their present
dilapipated state. The two sisters meanwhile
continued to live together in a large dirty looking
house in Stamford-street, and whenever they ap-
peared out of doors presented a most wretched
appearance, but were apparently quite heedless
of the many strange reports circulated through
the neighbourhood. A short time since one of the
sisters died, and about the same time some claimants
for the property made their appearance, stating
themselves to be sons and daughters of the
long missing brother. The surviving sister at once
repudiated the claims, and employed a man to secure
the doors of the houses to prevent any one from
gaining access to them. Things remained in a
state of suspense until yesterday morning, when,
soon after daybreak, about 20 men and women, ap-
parently of the humble classes, several of the women
having children in their arms, made their appear-
ance in front of the house at the corner of Stamford-
street and Blackfriars-road, and at once proceeded
to take possession by breaking open the door.
Having obtained ingress, they at once barricaded
the doors and windows and made every preparation
for a regular siege. An immense crowd of the neigh-
bours and others assembled to witness the proceed•.
ings, and loudly cheered the parties in possession as
they appeared at the windows. They retained pos-
session during the whole of yesterday, and up to a
late hour last night no attempt had been made to
dislodge them. Such an attempt, however, is ex-
pected to be made, and a strong body of police have
been placed on duty to prevent any breach of the
peace. The neighbours appear much pleased at
the prospect of an end being put to a circumstance
which has long been a disgrace to the pariah.

FEARFUL CALAMITY AT LOCARNO.—A corre-
spondent writing from the neighbourhood of the
Lago Maggiore gives the following account of a terrible
occurrence which has taken place at Locarno : This town
is one of those pretty little hilf Italian, half Swiss towns
which line the north-west shores of the Lago Maggiore,
but, not being minutely described in Murray, ithi
who hurries
c°ni-
ratively little known to the English tourist, .
wrote. As the
cathedral-looking
past it to the more fashionable Bayou° or. Beagl
steamer floats past the traveller will notme clean-looking
town, backed by striking point ha
pooftahat I haveato speak.
a chain of hills,
flthnee mostold c t.
the picture being the cu
church. It is of this building The
church of La Madonna del Sasso, with its dome tower-
, ing over the other buildings, its coloured marbles, and ite
quaint old frescoes by Luini, is the one sight of the little
city. On Sunday, the 9th inst., there was present in that
church a great congregation, Composed, as is usually the
case in this part of Europe, almost entirely of women.
The men lounging about the piazza pointed out to one
another thleenng
iirnmous quantity of snow
which
during the last six days and nights in an
almost hadunbroken f a fallen
column. The landscape glittered in its white covering, and
even the buildings of the city looked like a scene in some
fantastic play. Suddenly there was a dead, heavy fall .
" Evidently," they said, " another distant avalanche ;" and
then a scream and a murmur of great horror, which spread
through the quiet streets. All rushed to the spot, and found
a scene which the letters I have seen describe as horrible
past all conception. The dome which covered the body of
the church had never been cleared of the constantly-falling
snow, and the immense weight accumulated was too great
for the strength of the worn-out building. The whole dome
gave way and fell on the congregation, then kneeling in
prayer. In that position 53 female corpses were found
after the ruins had been cleared by the intrepid bravery and
the untiring labour of the inhabitant One female, a bride
of 20 years of age, named Bono, was alone extricated alive,
and carried to her home, with "some hopes of recovery,"
says my informant, but she had broken one arm and both
her legs. One old man alone perished among the 53 women
%ar cfaurlerluesinsn It sseems • to me that
carelessness somewhere, when,
wthheorefmelusl vtichtaimves
in
en th
great
after nearly a week's incessant fall, the snow was still left
boon
to accumulate on the tottering cupola of a medieval elrurch.
Fifty-three women have perished ; but imagine what would
have been the destruction catastrophehadthish d
happened
during one of the great festivals of the Church. There would
not have been 50, but 500 corpses, now recently buried fa
the Campo Santo of that little town. •