The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-22 00:00:00

Great Fire in Rotherhithe.

At a few minutes before 3 o'clock yesterday morning a
destructive fire occurred at Rotherhithe. It appears that as
Police-constable M 40 was passing the immense granary
belonging to Mr. Landoll, in Rotherhithe-street, he noticed
smoke proceeding from the second-floor window. In the
course of a few minutes two of the Royal Society's escapes
attended, followed by numerous engines, including those
of the London Brigade, the Surrey Volunteers, Hodges's
Brigade, the large floating engines, and four land steamers.
Before, however, the force came up, nearly every window
in the building and the roof were in flames. The fire
soon extended to the premises of Messrs. Shattell Brothers,
boat-builders, in Church-passage, Rotherhithe, which,
owing to the inflammable nature of the stock-in-trade, were
in flames in a few minutes. The land, steam, and floating
engines were brought to bear upon the fire, but the flames
appeared to defy the great streams of water that were
thrown upon them, and they burnt with increased fury till
at length the roofs and floors began to fall, which for a
minute or two appeared to stop their progress ; but that
lasted for only a brief period, and then they burst out again,
throwing out large of pieces of burning materials high into
the air, whence they were driven by the high wind upon
the housetops a considerable distance off, and the brigades
had to keep a good look-out in case some more distant
houses should become ignited. After five or six hours of
hard work the firemen had the satisfaction of checking the
progress of the fire. The officers of the different brigades
have made a searching inquiry to ascertain in whose pre-
mises the fire began, and to learn its origin and the extent
of the property destroyed. Mr: S. Stephens, an oil and
colourman, living at the corner of Elephant-buildings,
immediately facing the premises destroyed, states that
upon being aroused by the 'police he got out of bed, and
on looking out of the window saw that the whole of the
eastern side of the boat and barge factory was' on fire.
The flames had reached the opposite side of the street.
At the same time 15 of the side windows of Mr. Landell's
granary on the west side were on fire. From the direction
in which the flames spread he had not the least doubt
that the fire commenced in Messrs. Shattell's factory.
The inmates of Mr. Arnold's premises were, in less than
five minutes after the alarm was given, enclosed by the
flames extending across the street. Some of the residents
rushed downstairs from theirbedrooms, hoping to reach the
streets, but they found the carriage-road rendered impassable
by the flames, and as a last resource they made their way to
the back of the premises, and by climbing a wall were en-
abled to pass through one of the adjoining warehouses, and
thereby escape in safety. By that time the flames had begun
to attack the front of the oil and colour stores belonging to
Mr. S. Stephens. This house, which was of great anti-
quity, contained 13 rooms, and was built principally of tim-
ber. The occupier, having to supply a great many ships
and coasting vessels with stores, had upon his premises a
great quantity of pitch, tar, petroleum, varnish, &c. In
the upper part of the building were a couple of barrels of
gunpowder. Mr. Stephens, thinking that his premises
would be destroyed, had the presence of mind to rush to the
top of his house, and, having with assistance seized the
barrels of powder, ran with them to a neighbour's house,
where they were safely deposited. In order, however, to
reach that house he was obliged to cover the casks over lest
the sparks and burning pieces of wood wafted along by the
high wind should fall upon them and cause an explo-
sion. The wind was blowing from Mr. Stephens's ware-
houses, and that aided the firemen materially in saving
his property. The main body of flame continued in
the boat and barge factory and also in the granary. In
the latter building it is stated that there were 26,000
quarters of one description of grain stored away, which,
taking the average price of £1 per quarter, will make that
loss alone £26,000, unless a greater salvage is obtained from
the ruins than can at present be expected. Immense quan-
tities of oats are falling from the side windows and loop-
holes of the granary, but the wallsare in such a dangerous
state that the firemen are unable to get near enough to re-
move any of the grain at present, and the probability is that
the whole must be destroyed. Of the boat and barge factory
not a wall remains, and all that can now be seen aro a few
partially consumed girders of the building and the stems
and keels of a few boats and barges. The whole of the
windows, doors, and shutters of Mr. Arnold's premises are
burnt away, so that the house is left entirely unsheltered.
Such is the dangerous condition of the walls that the police
have been ordered to barricade the streets leading to them.

The Davenport Brothers—Another Scene.

♦-

Last night the Davenport Brothers were announced to
give a séance at Huddersfield. The tickets of admission
were eagerly bought up, and long before the doors were
opened, there was a crowd waiting outside. A posse of
policemen were observed to be on duty in the vicinity of
the building—the Philosophical Hall ; and it was under-
stood that measures had been taken to prevent a repetition
of the
.disturbances by which the performances of the
brothers were brought to a close at Liverpool. The hall
soon became filled with an audience comprising some of
the most respectable inhabitants of the town. Dr. Fergu-
son having gone through his usual introductory speech,
in which he specially impressed upon the audience
the necessity of scrupulously observing the con-
ditions laid down, two gentlemen were nomi-
nated by the audience to conduct the ropetying
operations and the examinations of the cabinet.
The gentlemen seiected were Mr. now, surgeon; of Lock-
wood, and president of the Huddersfield Athletic Society ;
and Mr. Alexander Walker, manufacturer, of Mirfield.
Messrs. Hulley and Cummins, of Liverpool, who had com-
plied with an invitation from some gentlemen in Hudders-
field to be present, had privately initiated the two gentle-
men into the mysteries of the " tom-fool" knot to which the
brothers had objected at Liverpool. Having carefully exa-
mined the cabinet, which they pronounced to be in their
opinion free from any mystery, the committee proceeded to
test the rope and to tie the hands of the Davenport Brothers.
The one operated upon by Mr. Dow soon began to mani-
fest signs of uneasiness, and he was observed to be talking
to Mr. Dow with great animation. The next moment Dr.
Ferguson was called to the cabinet, and Mr. Dow announced
that Mr. Davenport objected to his proceeding with the
tying, on the ground that he was hurting his wrists. This
caused a loud burst of dissatisfaction from the spectators,
who were watching every movement with the keenest in-
terest. At the request of the audience, Mr. Bottomley,
surgeon, ascended the platform to ascertain if there was•
any foundation for the complaint. Before he had com-
pleted his examination the other brother, who was being
tied by Mr. Walker, cried out, and a great clamour ensued.
The one who had been the first to complain called Dr.
Ferguson, and requested him to cut the rope, which re-
quest the doctor promptly complied with. Some persons
in the front seats rushed forward to the foot of the plat-
form. Mr. Davenport held down his wrists in order that
they might examine them; but beyond a slight indication
of pressure, nothing was apparent, and Mr. Bottomley
confirmed Mr. Dow's statement that there was no impe-
diment to circulation. The other brother instantly fol-
lowed the example of Mr. Dow's subject and protested
against the tying being proceeded with. The rope was
cut instantaneously, and the brothers and Dr. ,Ferguson
disappeared after Messrs. Hulley and Cummins were in-
troduced and loudly cheered by the audience. In a
brief address to the meeting those gentlemen ex-
plained . the reason of their presence, and counselled
the audience to be content with the deserved exposure of
what they called the Davenport humbug, without proceed-
ing to violent measures. They suggested that they should
demand the return of their money. Superintendent Han-
nan here stepped forward, and, amid ringing cheers, in-
formed the audience that he had sent a deteetive after the
brothers for the purpose of securing the return of the
money. Mr: John Wood, through whose agency the Da-
venports had visited Huddersfield, promised that all who
paid for entrance should receive back their money, the
whole of which was in his possession. This called forth
loud expressions of satisfaction. Three cheers were then
given for the Liverpool gentlemen and for Messrs. Dow
and Walker. Mr. Palmer, the agent for the brothers, was
received with hootings, but he continued his stand on the
platform, and declared that he knew nothing of a letter
which had appeared in some of the papers containing a
challenge relating to the Liverpool affair. He assured
them that not one sixpence of the money taken had gone
into his pociet.

COURSE OF EXCHANGE--Last Evening.

Amsterdam Short. 11 16
_ _

11 161

---Ditto~ 3 Months. 11 18} 11 19-
Rotterdam
Antwerp . 25 42 25 •47
Brussels
Hamburg
Paris Short 25 10 25 20
Ditto 3 Months. 25 40 25 45
Marseilles
Frankfort on the Maine 120 120}.
Vienna ll 55 11 65
Trieste • 11 55 11 65
.....

Petersburgh
Berlin

Madrid —46 i
47

Cadiz - fil
Leghorn
341ilan
Genoa — 25 57* '25 60
-.. .._.

Naples — 25 57 25 60
Palermo
Messina
Lisbon 5ll 511

Her Majesty's screw corvette Niger, 13, Captain
Byng, commissioned at Woolwich for the Australian
station, will go down to the T-pier at the Royal
Arsenal this morning and ship her guns and war
stores in preparation for sea. She will thence pro-
ceed to Greenhithe to adjust her compasses.
The Urgent, screw troopship, Capt. S. 11. Hen-
derson, sailed from Portsmouth yesterday evening
for Plymouth, with four batteries of Royal Artillery
on board, withdrawn from the forts at Hurst Castle,
Victoria, and Sandown, Isle of Wight, and at 6ros-
port. The Urgent goes onto Ireland from Plymouth,
and will return thence to the Channel ports.