The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-12 00:00:00

FIRES AND LOSS OF LIFE,

Yesterday about noon great alarm was caused in the
neighbourhood of Wormwood-street, Bishopsgate-street,
from the outbreak of a fire on the premises of Messrs. Fisher
and King, livery-stable keepers, No. 2, Helmet court,
Wormwood-street, Bishopsgate. The fire commenced in
the stabling, and as it was rapidly extending into the work-
shops over belonging to Mr. J. Sheppard, cabinet maker, it
was expected that the buildings around would have been
destroyed. The engines of the parish and several of the
London Brigade, including ono of the laud steamers by
Shand, Mason, and Co., quickly arrived at the spot. and a
good supply of the New River Company's water having
been procured, the firemen, under the direction of Captain
Shaw. aided by 56 hired auxiliaries, did all that was pos-
sible to prevent the flames from reaching the houses in
Wormwood-street and several others in Helmet-court. At
the same time the residents commenced removing their
goods. Captain Shaw, in order to satisfy them that no
danger existed, sent Engineer Flinn to procure a couple of
lengths of ladder from his engine, so that he could mount
the upper floor of the burning building. Whilst he was
gone Captaia Shaw procured a ladder, and just as Flinn
arrived with his ha mounted the temporary one, and whilst
in the act of swinging himself upon the flap of the front
warehouse, the sudden jerk caused the chains of the flap to
give way, and the gallant captain was precipitated head-
long to the ground, falling upon Flinn.
Captain Shaw, and also Engineer Flynn, were at once
removed to their stations, where it was found that Flinn
was not very seriously injured; but the captain was very
much hurt, and Dr. Saunders, of Queen-street, Cheapside,
was sent for, and, seeing the serious nature of the case, re-
commended, if the captain wished it, that Dr. Hewitt, of
Chesterfield-street, Mayfair, should be also called in. That
was done.

The fire was at length extinguished, but not until the
premises of Messrs. Fisher and King, and the workshops
over, were nearly destroyed, and the premises of Messrs.
Sheppard and others were severely damaged. The princi-
pal loss will fall upon the Sun Fire-office.
An alarming fire also took place on the premises of Mr.
West, a steel polisher, 94, Great Saffron-hill, Clerkenwell.
This fire commenced in the upper floor, used as the work-
shops, and which contained a valuable stock in trade. The
engines soon attended, and plenty of water having been
obtained, the firemen went to work, but the premises of
Mr. West were nearly burned out, and the two houses ad-
joining, Nos. 92 and 93, the property of Mr. Topp, were
much damaged. The lois will fall upon the Liverpool and
London Fire-office.

A fire cf a very distressing character also happened in the
premises occupied by a female, 81 years of age, who resided
in Redcross-court, Redcross-street, Southwark. The fire
was caused, it is supposed, by the unfortunate female falling
into the fire. She was so terribly burnt that, in spite of the
services rendered by Dr. Donohoo, of the Westminster-
road, who was passing at the time, the poor creature
perished. The body awaits the coroner's inquest,

Naval and Military Intelligence,

THE NAVY.

The iron-cased screw steamship Royal Oak, 35, 4,065 tons,
Capt. Frederick A. Campbell, one of the Channel Squadron,
continues in Dock No. 1 Keyhem. The state of the
lower tier of her iron plates, which have been so much
pitted and damaged by galvanic action arising from the
copper sheathing (Muni z's metal) below, continues to at-
tract attention. After due consideration the Lords of the
Admiralty have determined to adopt a course which it is
hoped will prevent the repetition of the injury. One of the
plates most pitted, No. 14, which belongs to the lowor tier
or layer, and is fixed at a point equidistant faom the main
and mizenmasts, has been removed, and is now in one ofithe
fitting shops of the yard. It is 15ft long, 2ft 10in deep, and
4lin thick, and we'ghs four tons. The inner side, it is sa-
tisfactory to know is perfect, notwithstanding the appear-
ance of the very suspicious-looking black fluid mentioned in
the report on the plating of the Royal Oak which appeared
in no Stns of the 28th ult. The bolt holes in plate No. 14,
like those in all the rest of the Royal Oak's armour plates,
are ltin in diameter. They are to be increased to a dia-
meter of 2in, which will be the standard in future, it being
considered that 2 -in bolts are requisite for the duty of re-
taining these ponderous plates securely against the ship's
sides. All the outside facing of the Royal Oak is to be
thoroughly cleansed, the red lead is to be scraped off, and
the recently made pits are to be filled with composition. The
course adopted on by the Admiralty is to use Brown's Pa-
tent Vitreous Sheathing for the purpose of protecting this
tier from the galvanic action of the copper. In order to
effect this arrangement the upper course of the metal
sheathing, to a depth of Iflin, has been entirely stripped off.
The vitreous sheathing will commence at the new upper
edge of the metal, and ascend sft, which will of course be
3ft Bin on the iron plates. It will be fastened to the wood
portion of the ship's side by mixed metal nails in addition
to the cement (a glue manufactured by Messrs. Hall
and Co.), and on the iron plates by the glue only. The
plates of vitreous sheathins going on aro 16in wide by
4in deep, and they aro so thin that 21 are required
to obtain the thickness of an inch. This extreme thinness
makes them almost flexible. The vitreous sheathing will be
moulded expressly to meet the shape of the bows. The
communication between Mutz's metal and the iron plates
is hoped to be thus completely closed, the galvanic ac-
tion thereby prevented, and the constant necessity for
scraping, painting, &c., which has been of such frequent
occurrence, will be avoided, as the vitreous sheathing is said
to be easily cleansed by scrubbing, either in dock or afloat,
The same kind of sheathing is on the Warrior, Hector, and
Royal Sovereign, and it is to be applied to the Ocean, now
receiving her armour plates at Keyham. This kind of sheath-
ing was also fixed to the Resistance, and several of the
plates came off. The patentees allege that this failure arose
from the fact that some of the materials of the composition
with which the bottom was covered were not suitable for
use with the glue (Hay's), used in fastening the vitreous
sheathing. The proprietor, Mr. Hall, in fixing his plates or
sheaths to the Royal Oak, will use glue of his own manufac-
ture. The black liquid which continues to oozo out between
the armour plates of the Royal Oak appears to come from
salts water leakage, which goes in between the butts, &c.,
gets discoloured by the tarred felt behind, and then comes
out in a blackened conditionr This state of affairs ought not
to exist. It is evident that from whatever cause the black
liquid arises its presence inside the plates must tend to relax
their hold upon the sides of the ship. It is surmised, first,
that the fitting of the plates was not very exact when they
were laid on, and next, that they expand in hot and contract
in cold weather, when the ends are sufficiently open to admit
water. If this be the result of the experience of the Roya
Oak's four months' trip in the British seas, what would be
the effect of a three years' station in a warm latitude? Tho
ends of the armour plates are fashioned other wide in 'ranee.
There the outer edges of the plates nearly touch each other,
while the inner edges retreat from each other, thus leaving
a hollow triangular space, the base being formed by the
ship's sides, This space is piked tightly with prepared
oakum, and by this means all humidity is said to be excluded
from inside the plates of French iron-cased ships, as the
caulking material expar ds sufficiently, when the plates con-
tract, to prevent the water from entering. Higher up the
Royal Oak's side, next the vitreous sheathing, there will be
a rubbing piece (of wood) to receive blows from boats or
the chafiing cs any substance floating alongside, The rub-
bing piece will be 3ft deep and 3 in. thick in the middle,
tapering off and above below to a feather edge. This rub.
biog piece will extend towards the stern about two-thirds
the length of the ship, according to the judgment of Mr.
Peke, the waster builder of Devonport Dockyard, and will
be fastened to the armour-plates by Sin. scaews tapped
three-quarters of an inch into the plates. The heads of the
screws will bo counter-sunk three-quarters of an inch into
the rubbing-piece, and plunged over all, In relation to the
line of flotation, it may be stated that all the vitreous sheath-
ing will be under water ; indeed the lower edge or the rub-
bing piece will b 3 lft below, and the upper edge 21t. above
the water or load line.

Her Majesty's ship Ranger, paid out of commission on
Tuesday at Woolwich, was yesterday docked in preparation
for a thorough overhaul and speedy recommission.
The screw steam ship Sea King, having embarked mili•
tart' stu.7s and artillery, troupe for New Zealand, yesterday
departed from Wou:wicli for her destination.
The whole of tiie supernumerary seamen now on board
the flagship Fisgard, at Woolwich, will be transferred this
morning to the iron-cased ship Caledonia in order to navi-
gate that ship from the Victoria Docks to Sheerness. Tho
men will be berthed on board the Formidable for distribu-
tion.

The four heavy guns brought to Woolwich from Low-
moor, weighing 20 tons each, were yesterday landed with
safety. The guns were manufactured by Capt. Blakely's
order, and have been brought to Woolwich for proof. It
appears that the chain which gave way a few days ago, in
the attempt to land one of the guns by means of the ordi,
nary hand crane, had undergone a tensile strain, under
proof, up to 21 tons. The accident is accounted for by one
of the links which had lapped over, and fallen again into its
place ; the link had snapped asunder under the extraordi-
nary weight.
Capt. Wm. 11. Stewart, was yesterday appointed
Captain-Superintendent of Chatham Dockyard, vice Capt.
Edward G. Fawshawe, promoted to the rank of Rear-
Admiral.