The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-22 00:00:00

The Calamitous Fire in Leadenhall Market

At noon, this day, Mr. W. J. Payne, deputy-coroner for
the City of London, held an inquest in the schoolrooms of
Langbourne ward, respecting the circumstances attending
the death of Elizabeth Freeman, ono of the persons who
perished by the recent fire at the Poulterers' Arms, Leaden-
hall-market, on Thursday last.
The jury having been sworn, and after viewing the re-
Mains, the following evidence was taken,
John Muner said that he was manager of the premises
belonging to Mrs. Lovegrove, and was the last person in the
bar. He put out the gas. One of the pipes ran across the bar.
There were cellars under the bar and in front and gas
laid on. It was witness's duty to attend to the gas, and the
metre was close to the entrance of the front door. On the
night of Wednesday last he turned off the gas at a quarter
to one o'clock, or, more correctly speaking, Thursday
morning. He turned off the whole of the burners, and he
went to sleep at the top of the house. Elizabeth Freeman
and the cook slept together in the floor below. When he
(witness) went to bed he did not discover the least smell
of anything burning. The night before, they had work-
men pulling down the paper and old stuff of the ceiling of
the bar, up to 12 o'clock at night, and which had been
scattered about the bar flooring. Those things were col-
lected together and thrown out into the market. The gas
pipes had been taken down, and the one that went across the
ceiling was not more than three-eighths of an inch in dia-
lmeter. After the pipes were taken down in the bar, two
burners were alight in the bar parlour. Ho tried the burners
in the bar parlour, and by stopping the piping with white
lead he found that they were all free from leakage. He
went to bed, but heard a great noise about an hour after-
wards, and he came down stairs and found the bar in
flames, and upon opening the door he saw that the fire was
just reaching the front part of the floor. The fire at that
time did not appear too great for him to enter the bar, and
he thought that by throwing the contents of a glass of
water on the flame he would have been able to extin-
guish the fire. There was a fanlight on the staircase, and
when he came down and found the place on fire he ran up
stairs again, knocked in the door, and heard the
cook and housemaid talking together. He, sup-
posiwg that they would rush down, descended, but was
met on the stairs by a great sheet of flame. The fire-escapes
of the Royal Society and the engines arrived. He told the
conductor to go up to the top of the house, as he thought
there were two persons in the building, and he returned
with the information that all were out. The engines of

the Brigade arrived in about half an hour, but Rawstride
was present in about ten minutes. That was the
engine belonging to the ward. The customers were
in the habit of lighting their pipes from a small jet
in the bar. This he turned off before he went to
bed. There was a convenience for the lodgers, but
he always kept the key, and no ono could get to the
closet without asking him for the key. He opened a spring
door at the front of the bar to let in thecat,as ho was in the
habit of giving it milk every night, but on that occasion
he did not see the cat come up. There was a dog on the
premises—a very faithful one—who followed him upstairs
to his bed-room. There were gas pipes in each cellar, but
they were not lighted. Mr. Lovegrove and the contrac-
tor went down into the cellars to make arrangements for
whitening them.
By the Coroner—He recollected that on one occasion a cat
rushed into a place where a cat had upset a quantity of
naptha, and the consequence was that the building was
entirely destroyed.
Police-constable Chambers said that he was in the habit
of calling up the barman at a quarter to five o'clock in the
morning. He was not answered as the bell was broken,
and upon his return he found that the door was not
opened, and he knocked violently at the door. He
Docked a third time, and saw Mr. Byman sitting on a
table with a short pipe in his mouth. He then saw the
light through the fan-light and detected no smell of fire.
The first person who discovered the fire he believed was
a carpenter who came to work at five o'clock. He then
went for the turncock, and water was obtained in a few
minutes, and the Royal Society's escapes and engines
arrrived as soon as possible.
The- jury, after consulting, decided to adjourn further
proceedings until Saturday next, at half-past 10 o'clock.

THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH.--AS the time for
the departure of the Great Eastern approaches, the
directors of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance
Company are celebrating their coming triumph by festivi-
ties on board. Yesterday, a large party, two or three hun-
dred strong, was taken down to Strood by special train
from Charing-cross, thence to the ship by special boat, and
there entertained at luncheon. The weather was magnifi-
cent, and the excursion was greatly enjoyed. None of the
usual accessories of a pleasure party by water were want-
ing. To-day the great ship is to be visited by another
party, including many persons of distinction. On Satur-
day the ship is to leave her present moorings for the Nore,
where she will take in coals, have her decks cleared of the
workshops which at present disfigure them, receive the
paying-out machinery, and be put in trim for the voyage.
The steering gear is being altered so that the helm may be
worked from below. In this way the after part of the ves-
sel will be left clear for the submerging apparatus. On the
bth or 6th of July the Great Eastern Moceeds to Valencia,
and the work of the voyage will at once begun.