The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-15 00:00:00

Fires in the Metropolis.

Yesterday morning, between 12 and 1, the inhabitants
of St. Luke's, Old-street, were thrown into a state of con-
siderable excitement by the outbreak of a fire on the pre-
mises in the joint occupation of Mr. Stevens, tin and iron
manufacturer, Mr. Hollis,rod merchant, and Mr. Goldsmith,
iron safe manufacturer, Skeffington-place, Lower-street,
St. Luke's. The premises are approached by a narrow
yard, surrounded by a number of small houses, the inhabi-
tants of which are poor people, and at one time fire threat-
ened to the entired destruction of the surrounding build-
ings. The land steam fire engines of Messrs. Shand,
Mason, and Co., were shortly on the spot, followed by the
manual fire engines of the brigade ; but by the time they
arrived the metropolis was illuminated for miles round. A
good supply of water being obtained, the engines set to
work in an admirable manner; but the premises were de-
stroyed. The cause is unknown. The loss will fall prin-
cipally on the General Fire Office. While this fire was
raging another broke out on the premises of Mr. Bendroff,
fish cure; Cleveland-street, Mile-end-road, which were
entirely burnt down. Cause is unknown.

The same morning afire broke out on the premises of Mr,
T. Smith, upholsterer, Archer-street, Notting-hill. The fire
was discovered by the police, who sent off for the Notting-
hill Fire Brigade, which promptly arrived, and got to work
in first rate style with a good supply of water, butthe work-
shops and contents, with the workmen's tools, which were
not insured, were destroyed. Cause unknown.
Another fire broke out in the mansion of Mr. J. Kerr,
Bryanston-street, Bryanston-square, containing 16 rooms.
Mr. Foreman Swanton, of the district, with a powerful body
of men, got their engines to work, but the three upper floors
were destroyed, and roof off. Cause is unknown.

A fire also happened in the morning in the premises of Mr
C. Hart, coach-builder, 12, London-street, Greenwich. The
discovery was made by a police-constable, who observed
flames rushing from the workshops, about 36 feet long and
25 feet wide, which contained a great quantity of goods.
The officer at once went off for assistance, and in a few
minutes Smart arrived with the parish engine, followed by
numerous local engines, and those of the London Brigade,
&c. The hose-reel of the parish was also brought into re-
quisition, and a good supply of water having been procured
the firemen tried to master the fire, but wore unable to do
so, and the whole of the workshops were burned down.
The origin of the fire is unknown ; the sufferer, it is un-
derstood, was insured in the County.
Another fire happened about the same time in the pro-
mises of Mr. Bydroff, Cleveland-street, Mile-end. Two
land steamers and others attended, and the firemen went
to work, but were unable to get the flames extinguished
until a great amount of pro erty was destroyed.

ROYAL LONDON YACIIT CLUB.—We arc 110 W
enabled to state that the sailing committee of the
above club have finally arranged that there shall be an ocean
race of the club for schooner; cutters and yawl; to take
place on Saturday, June 17. The course will be from the
Lower Hope to Harwich Harbour. Two prizes will be
offered, £5O for schooners and yawl; and £4O for cutters.
The course will be down Swin Channel, leaving the Gun-
fleet Buoys and Light, the West Rocks and Cork Light
Ship on the port hand, and finishing near Harwich Har-
bour, between the Pembroke line-of-battle guardship and
the Violet schooner. Mr. A. Arcedeckne, commodore, a
gentleman well known in yachting circles, has kindly vo
lunteered the use of his screw yacht on the occasion.
The inhabitants of Brotteaux, at Lyons, and the
neighbouring districts on the left bank of the Rhone, are
signing a petition to the Emperor praying for the demoli-
tion of the fortifications in that quarter, and the filling up
of the moat which separates the city from the suburb.

ER
The Emperor Emperor and the French
His Majesty the Emperor Napoleonelif4.
appointment in regard to the French Acad4l
14k
'>'
dbiy isf
thus commented upon- by the Paris Correspondent
of the Times :
The late elections to the French Academy have
revived a subject which was much discussed after the
death of Duke Pasquier. The former Chancellor
of Louis Philippe had for a number of yearfibeen a
member of that great literary corporation, and it
was said the Emperor had reason to believe that it
would have petitioned him to accept the vacant
armchair. The Academy made no sign, perhaps
from timidity ; and, indeed, nothing more than
vague hints that the invitation would not be con-
sidered an offence betrayed his wishes. It happened
that the Emperor was then busily engaged on the
" History of Julius ecesar," and on the presentation
of a new member, after the customary compliments
had been exchanged, he pointed to a writing-table
on which some sheets of the work were lying, and
observed that he had something there which he hoped
would not be unworthy of the Academy. The hint,
if indeed these words were meant for a hint; was
not followed up, perhaps not understood, and the
subject dropped. Since then two armchairs have
become vacant, and have just been filled up ; and
the first volume of the great work which still absorbs
his The
idea Majestyh
ofa s appeared.
succeeding
a man like M. Pasquier
must have had a peculiar pleasure for Napoleon 111.
He had held office under the old regime, the de-
struction of which he beheld. He lived under the
Republic, and was very near mounting the scaffold,
like so many others, and was only saved from it by
accident. He had witnessed the triumphs of General
Bonaparte, and applauded the restoration of order
under the Consulate. He had held an important
post under the Empire, and was one of those whom
Mallet so audaciously arrested during the Emperor's
absence in Russia. He held still higher office under
the Constitutional Monarchy of July, and held it
till-that Monarchy collapsed, and it was said he was
not unwilling to give the benefit of his experience
and his services to Louis Napoleon, the President
of the Second Republic. A man who had lived so
long, and who had witnessed and survived the
mighty events which marked the close of the 18th
and the first half of the 19th centuries, afforded a
rare subject for an inaugural discourse. It is a pity
that the essay on contemporaneous history which
it would have called forth from such a hand should
have been lost to the public.
The rumour which I have alluded to is, as I have
said, once more rife among a few of the more fer-
vent admirers of his Majesty as an author as well as
a statesman. There should be but little weight in
the allegation that there are certain formalities
which the Emperor could not, consistently with his
high position, comply with. For instance, the can-
didate for the honours of the Academy is expected
to knock, at the doors and canvass in person the 39
members of whom he aspires to be the equal, and
respectfully, though not humbly, request their
countenance and support. Assuredly it would be
strange to see the absolute ruler of a mighty Empire
go round soliciting audiences of certain Academi-
cians who are suspected of feeling no very great
enthusiasm for the Imperial rule, and meekly
answering whatever questions they might ask as to
his qualifications. It was at first suggested that
the Minister of State should perform that duty in
his master's name, but I am informed that these
preliminary visits, though customary, are not obli-
gatory, and that they would certainly be dispensed
with in favour of the Imperial postulant. It is also
customary for the Academician elect to be " received"
in presence of a crowded audience, to read his dis-
course on his predecessor, and hear in return a dis-
course delivered upon himself. As this would obvi-
ously be inconvenient and hardly decorous, it was
suggested that if the " Forty" resolved to take the
first step they should be invited to the Palace of the
Tuileries, bringing with them their armchairs if in-
dispensable, or, if not, accepting the accommodation
the Palace could afford, when the Emperor might
read his inaugural address, not before a promiscuous
audience, kit iii firesenCe society
which has its entree at the Tuileries, and hear at his
ease the complimentary discourse of his introducer.
To this plan there would be no reasonable objection.
It is in a hall of the Louvre Palace, and not, as
under former Governments, in their own Chambers,
that the French Parliament is opened by the Em-
peror, and the ceremony is not on that account less
imposing or, I presume, less constitutional. There
is no good reason why Academicians should not
attend his Majesty as well Deputies and Senators.
Their uniform is certainly not so brilliant as that of
the legislators and Councillors of State, but itft very
ugliness would be a distinction.

I mention these rumours without venturing to
vouch for their correctness. The Emperor even
now counts several admirers in the Academy, and
it is now certain that the novelty of a great Sove-
reign suing for admission or accepting it from a
literary body would not make a few converts to
Imperialism.

a:* 444.14Wit‘ „...,e..-4,..Ati,..04-444%)., 4."

LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 1865.

The intelligence brought by the Australasian is
by far the most startling and important that we have
received for some time. The great battle so long
looked for has come at last, and has resulted in the
decisive victory of the Federals, in the evacuation
of the Confederate capital and Petersburg, and, as
a natural consequence, in heavy losses on both sides.
As might have been expected, the rejoicings in the
North were enthusiastic. In New York businest
was almost suspended, while the courts adjourned,
the church bells rung, and the chief members of the
Government addressed the crowds in the streets.
As might have been anticipated, as a necessary con-
sequence of Northern success, the speakers indulged
in violent denunciations of their opponents, threats
of hanging the Southern PRESIDENT if they caught
him, and impertinence towards England, but some
allowance must be made for the excitement of the
occasion. It is certainly not in New York that we
should look for moderation or magnanimity after
success, and a success it undoubtedly is, even though
the evacuation of Richmond was said to have been
resolved upon some time since. But the friends of
the South cannot hesitate to admit that LEE would
have held his position, at least, for the present had
not the fortune of the day gone against him in this
encounter. It is necessary, however, on this occa-
sion, as on most others, to remember that the news
comes to us through New York, and that GRANT'S
estimate of his own loss at 700, instead of 7,000,
may be taken as a fair estimate of the manner
in which the intelligence is conveyed to
us. An exaggeration of the losses of their
opponents, and a depreciation of their
own has always been the favourite system of the
North, and it is not likely that they would not add
a little embroidery to the facts on this occasion.

The struggle, it appears, lasted for three days,
beginning on Friday, the 31st ult., to the south-
west of Petersburg, continuing with great fury
until Saturday afternoon, when SHERIDAN succeeded
in turning the Confederate right on the South Side
Railway, and captured many prisoners and cannon.
The next morning GRANT ordered a general ad-
vance, and the battle lasted throughout the day.
During the night the Confederates evacuated the
city without their knoledge, and on GRANT making
the discovery in the morning he despatched the

greater part of his army in pursuit. At the same
time General WErrzEL discovered that Richmond
had also been evacuated and occupied that
city. It is said, however, by non-offi-
cial accounts that the abandonment of Richmond
was commenced on the previous Sunday, the 26th,
so that LEE would have had time to remove all the
valuable property, the war material, &c. It is
worth notice, as confirmatory of this, that WEITZEL
only mentions capturing cannon and railway stock,
so that we may fairly suppose that nothing of
greater value came into his hands. A fire broke out
in Richmond which was extinguished, but how it
it was occasioned, whether by the retreating
Confederates or by the advancing Federals, is un-
certain. At any rate, it is a matter of congratula-
tion to both sides that the city has been spared. The
latest despatches received from GRANT up to noon,
April 5, report that he was still pushing forward in
the hope of overtaking LEE, who is.believed to be
north of the Appottomax retreating towards Lynch-
burg. He will continue the pursuit, he says, as long
as he thinks there is any use in it, but General Lee
must have forgotten his ability as a military tactician
if he suffers him to succeed. The greater part of the
success appears to have been owing to SHERIDAN,
who is said to have displayed great generalship.
The districts surrounding Petersburg and Richmond
are full of wounded soldiers, every house being
turned into an hospital. The loss of life, the suffer-
ing, and domestic wretchedness entailed by such a
struggle are fearful to contemplate ; and, after all
the excitement, and 'rejoicing, and mortification,
the dispassionate on-looker may well ask what is
gained? The subjugation of the Southern
people is as far off as ever, and the
prospect of holding in military subjection
an assembly of states, every one of which is as
large as a European kingdom, may well startle
even Yankee temerity. But the point is not yet
gained, and, despite this great reverse, the triumph
of the Northern arms is not yet assured. LEE will
now be able to carry out his threat of carrying the
war into the enemy's country,. although his pro-
ceedings will necessarily be delayed by the loss of
his men.

The Virginian slaveowners have been taught a
severe lesson, but one which we always foresaw
they would have to learn if they persisted in with-
holding their slaves from the national cause. The
Federal Negro Recruiting Commission has been
removed from Washington to Richmond, in order
to organise the negro recruiting in Virginia, so that
those slaveowners who refused to take the compen-
sation offered by their own Government will have
their negroes drilled for the Federal armies without
their consent being asked or their loss being paid
for. This is a trouble with which English-
men will not be very ready to sympathise,
as, independently of their persistence in maintaining
slavery, their lack of patriotism richly deserves the
punishment. DAVlS'Sylain speaking has been only
too well justified by the event, and the Senate may
perhaps own itself to, have been in the
wrong. But there has been a want of unity
in the Southern councils for some time past,
and Northern gold and influence have been
busily at work. The languid support to the
measures proposed by the Government, the opposi-
tions, the delays, the jealousies, the selfishness, have
all militated against the Southern cause ; and
FooTE, we fear, was not the only Senator whose
sympathies were in the North. The great origin of
the present reverses was undoubtedly the mistaken
line of action pursued after the fall of Atlanta.
DAVIS committed an error in superseding JoHN-
STONE by HOOD, and a still greater error if he was
the author of the scheme in despatching the army
into Tennessee instead of uniting every force and
straining every nerve to arrest the progress of SHER-
MAN. All these mistakes have been bitterlypaid for,
and the result is that after many months' triumphant
resistence to the invaders LEE has been forced to
retreat.

We must remember, however, that the
evacuation of Richmond walevidently resolved upon
many days before the battle at Petersburg, and
therefore did not depend entirely upon the result of
that struggle. Very likely the next mail may bring
us some modification of the news as at present given;
and since it appears that LEE took with him 2,000 pri-
soners, by the Northern accounts, the battle could
not have been all one way. GRANT has probably
lost many more men than we are yet told, and
it will be necessary to see what the Confederate
accounts say before putting absolute faith
in the present version. In the meanwhile, it is in-
structive to see what turn the thoughts of the
Yankees take in the moment of success. Mr.
SEWARD, in his speech, was kind enough to inform
us that if England would only be just to the United
States, Canada would remain undisturbed ! A fair
promise, truly. The words imply that Canada is
held in terrorem over us, and that, on the first ex-
cuse, they are ready to invade it. This shows what
we may expect from the North, who evidently
think that we hold them in wholesome fear, and
that the annexation of Canada is only a question
of time. Our statesmen had better take care, lest
conciliation be mistaken for weakness by a nation
which thinks braggadocio to be bravery.

Public health is a matter of so much importance
that it seems strange more attention is not paid to
it on all sides, but people are too apt to let it drop
out of mind, and wait until affairs reach a climax
before much heed is paid to them. The practice of
admitting fever-patients into the wards of work-
houses is a very bad one, and cannot be too much
reprehended. Dr. JEAFFRESON has addressed a
letter on the subject to the 7 imes in connection with
an inquiry•made into the condition of a patient at
St. Giles's workhouse. The purport of this letter
is so far satisfactory that we learn that there is
ample accommodation for the fever-stricken in the
hospital designed for them. It seems then that
there is [no valid reason existing why the
unfortunate victims to fever should remain
in workhouses, where they cannot be
properly treated, and where the infection may
spread to a great extent. In a subsequent letter
Dr. JEAFFRESON has entered more fully into the sub-
, ject of London Fevers, and all that proceeds from
so experienced a judge is well worthy of attentive
consideration. We learn from this communication
that typhus is certainly on the increase in the me-
tropolis, and this is in truth a startling announce-
ment. The number of patients, chiefly sufferers
from typhus, who were admitted into the Fever
Hospital last year exceeded those of any previous
year by a thousand ; yet the first quarter of this year
has already exceeded the corresponding one of last
year by two thousand. All must agree with the
writer of this letter when he affirms that " it
is just time that some official investigation
were instituted in relation to the history
and continued prevalence of so severe an epidemic
at our own doors ! It will be difficult to determine
the extent of the evils with which we are threatened
by the sad revelations here made, and those who are
terrifying themselves by the supposed arrival of
the Russian epidemic had better look at home, and
boldly face real dangers instead of brooding over
imaginary ones. Dr. JEAFFRESON states that some
localities soon became as familiar to him as house-
hold words after his installation at the hospital. In
searching the back pages of an hospital register he

found that the "same courts and identical houses fur-
nished" sent fever cases when the present epidemic
prevailed. An instance is here recorded which proves
to what a state things have come. A small row of
houses in St. Pancras was assailed by typhus in
1862, and the disease still holds sway there. Thirty
cases of typhus have been sent from there, half of
which came from one house. Surely these facts
attest the importance of an inquiry into the matter,
and prove that want of care and attention are the
chief causes of this scourge of humanity. Ashby-
street, in the same parish, is a place which has sent
forth scores of patients to the Fever Hospital.
Well may Dr. JEAFFRESON inquire, " What is
being done to render these spots wholesome ?" The
hospital records are sufficiently accurate to furnish
information to the medical officers of health, and
Dr. JEAFFRESON truly states that they could all
get what knowledge they require. In this letter it
is said that the best thing to be done is a " firm ad-
ministration of all sanitary regulations, such as com-
pelling landlords to adopt suitable measures. If they
were obliged to afford abundant supplies of water to
the infected houses, and also to clean and lime-
white them, it would diminish three-fourths of the
cases of typhus now existing in London." It does,
indeed, seem too bad that, at the present day, when
so much knowledge has been gained concerning
sanitary affairs, that so much negligence should
prevail, and so little account be made of the facts
ascertained by observation and experience. It will
be well to examine closely into the difficulties that
impede the progress of would-be reformers, and
militate so greatly against their well-devised efforts
to improve the sad state of infected localities. Dr.
JEAFFRESON mentions one primary obstacle in the
way of the officers of health, and that is the
obstructions that they meet with from the vestries
which appoint them, and which sometimes
go so far as to cut down their salaries
in proportion as they make themselves
too busy. One case is here mentioned which speaks
for itself as to the enormity of the evils that exist,
and the difficulties that lie in the way of removing
it. One vestrymen owns what is here emphatically
styled a " typhus nest," and this is named after
him. Thus the " lives of the poor" are in the
balance with the " vestried interests" of landlords.
The deplorable and disastrous consequences of all
this must be obvious to all, and the suggestion of
Dr. JEAFFRESON is an admirable one,. which
says that it will be a great improvement
in sanitary matters when a Bill is passed
to give greater facilities to officers of health ; if they
possessed more freedom, and were less dependent
upon local interests, it would most certainty be a
great point gained. The "main hot-beds of
typhus " are enumerated in this letter, and it is to
be hoped that due attention will be paid to the facts
here set forth. It is not likely that anything can be
done that will prove effectual in the long-run until
some legislative enactments are made, and it is to
be hoped that something will be done even before
the close of the present session to improve matters.
The health of the metropolis is too much at stake,
and the vital interests of the community too much
involved in this subject to permit of it being any
longer ignored in the way it has been so unac-
countably hitherto. Now, that Dr. JEAFEERSON has
come forward with such promptitude and energy,
set down the most notable features of the case
for our consideration, it will be a most disgraceful
thing if the same supineness continues, and the
same lethargic course is pursued, which has already
slain its thousauds and tens of thousands. As for
those who make money by the wretchedness and
misery of their fellow creatures there can be but
one opinion as to their culpability, but
why should the law sanction their conduct, instead
of interposing its veto against them ? The condition
of many of our crowded courts and alleys is suffi-
cient to breed pestilence at any time, and it is in-
cumbent on the authorities to see that those who
are willing to make a profit out of such places
should be compelled to put them into such a state
of repair and such a wholesome condition that
their occupants may not inhale poison with the air
they breathe, and their habitations may not virtually
turn into lazarettos, shunned by all who have any
regard for their well-being. This subject is one
which must be taken up without further delay, and
nothing can excuse any wavering or hesitation
when it is certain that the health of the community
is involved in the matter.

THE BURNING MOUNTAINS IN ERUPTION. --
VESUVIUS, according to the Avvenir of the 2d inst.,
is now emitting strong columns of flame with greater
fierceness than was observed in the first ebullition. The
subterranean rambling sound is also louder than before,
and everything combines to induce the belief that an erup-
tion of more or less violence is imminent. However, from
conjecture to certainty there is a wide gulf, and so we
must hope that this prophecy will have no further
fulfilment than that made a month since. Meanwhile, in
regard to ETNA, M. Fouque writes, the eruption is most
active in the four lowest craters; these throw liquid lava
into the air, and emit a nearly colourless smoke ; the three
superior craters eject solidified lava and black stones, at
the same time pouring out a dense smoke charged with
aqueous vapour and brown-coloured ashes. The three
higher craters produce every two or three minutes a very
loud report, resembling the rolling of thunder ; the four
lower craters, on the contrary, send forth a rapid succes-
sion of ringing sounds, which it is impossible to count.
These sounds follow each other without any cessation, and
are only to be compared to the noise produced by a series
of blows from a hammer falling on an anvil. If the an-
cients heard these noises in former eruptions, it is easily
conceivable how they imagined a forge to exist in the centre
of the volcano, with Cyclops for the master-workman.
The lava is black,-rich in pyroxene, and strongly attracted
by a magnet. Since the commencement of the eruption,
the central crater of Etna has emitted white vapours, which
continually cover its summit. Several good photographs
of the eruption have been taken by M. Berthier, who ac-
companied. M. Fouque in his explorations, which were by
no moans unattended with danger.
THE STATE OF EGYPT.—The following is an ex-
tract from a private letter, dated Cairo,lApril 2 :
" Every one knows Egypt is in an exceptional state just
now. In consequence of the emergencies of the great
American war it has become a vast cotton field, instead of
beihg, as in all former times, the granary of the East. This
sudden transformation is not unlikely to bring vast political
changes with it. Multitudes of the fellahs andsmall holders
of land :have been deprived by the present and previous
Viceroys of their land on account of its increased value as
a cotton producing soil. They are, of course, discontented
with the Government, and not well-disposed towards the
Franks, for whose sake they known the cotton is grown.
In addition to this the murrain among the cattle has dur-
ing the last two years swept so many away that distant
parts required to be scoured in order to provide meat for the
Cairo market. When the supplies fail for several days, as
has been occasionally the case, meat is only to be had at
famine prices, and the scramble before the butchers' shops
is a sight not to be forgotten. In one of these scrambles
several children were crushed to death in the crowd. In
addition, it is a well-known fact that over the whole
Mahomedan world just now there are floating rumours
and predictions of a coming ascendancy, during which the
Crescent is to stand above the Cross, and the faith of the
East is to revive again. As the ignorant populace cannot
reason or look to the future, they think the shortest way
to accomplish these desirable results is, as in Syria and
Hindostan, to massacre the Christian populations of the
land. The late insurrection in Upper Egypt was partly
political, for the reasons assigned above. and also partly
religious. The fellah joined with the bedaure. Minieh
was the head-quarters of it. An English clergyman, a
friend of the writer, who was at Sioot, saw the steamers
with soldiers come in only just in time to save the bulk of
the Christian population of the place. At the same time
that this was going on in Upper Egypt, the population of
Cairo were in a most excited state ; 8,000 soldiers were
suddenly but quietly introduced into the city, and as soon
as the intelligence came that the insurrection at Minieh was
put do wn the mind of the people seemed to flow back into
its usual sullen, apathetic course again. But who can say
how long this is to last, and would it not be advisable that
England should, as well as France, increase a little the
number of her ships of war at Alexandria and Suez, and
let the ruling Powers here know that they would be called
strictly to an account for any fatal consequences that might
be the result of want of due precaution on their part with
regard to the security of the European populatioh of the
city ?"