The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-21 00:00:00

ARTISTS' BENEVOLENT FUND.

The anniversary festival of the Artists' Benevolent
Fund was held on Saturday at the Freemasons' Tavern,
Great Queen-street. It was announced that the chair
would be taken by the Earl of Yarborough, but his
lordship was obliged to leave town on business of im-
portance, and at the last moment Mr. Rowland G. Al-
ston, late M.P. for Hertfordshire, undertook the duties of
chairman. The Artists' Benevolent Fund was established
in 1810, and obtained a royal charter of incorporation
in 1827. It consists of two separate and distinct
branches—the Artists' Annuity Fund and the Artisis'
Benevolent Fund, the latter of which extends relief to
the widows and orphans of artists. During the past
year a sum of 7231. 15s. has been paid to forty-nine
widows of artists, and a further sum of 1471. 10s. to
thirty-one orphans. The total receipts for the past year,
arising from subscriptions, donations, and the dividend
upon 21,0001. stock, amounted to 1,4381. 17s. 3d., and
after all disbursements a balance of about 2501. remained
in the hands of the bankers. The company present
comprised Sir W. C. Ross, R.A. ; Messrs. David Ro-
berts, • Richard H. olly, F.R.S. ; George Dodd,
M.P. ; E. R.A.W. Cooke, A.R.A. ; Henry Weekes, A1t...1L;
J. F. illmore, A.R.A. ; Captain S. H. Lee • Messrs.
circumstance
W. F. Beadon, J. Henderson, J. H. Mann, John Dick-
enson, John Auldjo, H. Twining ; -Dr. Thompson, Dr.
Rowland, &c., and about 80aagnoethopefratiiaatrliienlltm.hTiesriht:e eodunntate.ririyis-d
tainment and wines appeared to give general satisfaction.
Prince Consort, Mr.o sjOrtij, .for li'or
inn
co
Hat-
ton, gave zest and variety to the festive assemblage, and
A musical party, under tormthneto
the duties of toastmaster were, as usual, efficiently dia.
charged by Mr. Harker. In proposing the usual intro-
ductorydirethectli:'
and was induced to augur well from' this
jhuadpipcii
ioyu.
judicious
toasts,iam neadii compliment
1 ipCmahirni
for the future prosperity and encouragement of
talent. The Chairman then gave the toast of th native
ing, "Prosperity to the Artists' Benevolent F e even-
believed there was no institution of the
met Fund
believed He
peculiarly deserving of the patronage metropolis more
and
lovers of art than that which he had
now support of all
th .
lai e honour of
advocating. Independently of the
their support, it was well known e MEI Of artists upon
studied the history of the worldf by all those who had
back, that the more the artsor three thousand years
the more the people were ' were promoted and fostered
P
civilized, and humanized, and
elevated, and the more the interests of society in general
the list of contributionsecretary, Mr. .Thistletou, read
which, including h
.received during the evening,
..
her Ma,, est , donation of iuu
guineas, amounted J y s annual
, to the BUM Of 3501 Some other
toasts were after -- ' • and the
wards given from the chair,
company separated about eleven o'clock.

THE cER
2 k TIFICATE DIITY.—On Saturday the bill "No.
to repeal the certificate duty of attorneys, &c., was
Printed. It is proposed to have a registry of attorneys,
and for giving a false address or acting without a certi-
filAte to fine an offender 601.

WINDSOR, SUNDAY EVENING.
Late last night a fire of the most alarming character
broke out in Windsor Castle, the residence, at this mo-
ment, of her Majesty, his Royal Highness the Prince
Consort, and the royal children, which .at one time
threatened to involve in one common ruin the whole of
that ancient and majestic edifice and its vast and varied
interior appointments and decorations, all of them of
singular interest and magnificence, and which, as it is,
has resulted in the partial destruction of a valuable por-
tion of it.
The pait of the structure destroyed forms the north-
! eastern angle of the castle, and is known as the Prince
of Wales's Tower, which commands an extensive view
for-many miles round of the richly diversified landscape,
extending beyond and including the Home Park, the
Slopes, and the terrace; gardens, and pleasure grounds
to the east, in which the Royal Family are wont to take
daily exercise and recreation during their residence here.
This tower consists of a low basement story, and im-
mediately above that the royal dining-room, an apart-
ment of elegant and lofty proportions, and decorated in
a style of unusual magnificence. This room is flanked
on the one hand by an apartment of an octagonal form
- constituting the principal part of the Brunswick Tower
—and on the other by the Red Drawing-room, all on
the same floor. Immediately over the royal dining-room
a small suite of apartments, consisting of a sitting and
two bed rooms, which have been hithervo occupied by
Mr. Norton, the clerk of the kitchen, and one of his as-
sistants, and it was in the vicinity of one of these rooms
if not in one of them, that the fire first manifested itself.'
The Queen, His Royal Highness PrinCe Albert, ac-
companied by their Royal Highnesses the Prince of
Wales, the Princess Royal, Prince Alfred, the Princesses
Alice, Helena, and Louisa, and Prince Arthur, and their
suite, left Buckingham Palace yesterday afternoon,
about half-past three o'clock, for Windsor Castle, which
they reached within an hour afterwards, travelling by
the Great Western Railway. .The Duchess of Welling-
ton, Lady Caroline Barrington, the Hon. Eleanor Stan-
ley, the Hon. Beatrice Byng, Lord Camoys, Colonel
Grey, Major-General Berkeley Drummond, Colonel
Bouverie, the Hon. Captain de Ros, and Mr. Gibbs,
composed the royal suite on the occasion.
About half-past nine o'clock, Colonel Biddulph, the
Master of the Household, and some of the ladies and
gentlemen of the Court, who had dined in the octagonal
room in the Brunswick Tower, observed smoke issuing
from the walls in the vicinity of the fire-place, accom-
panied by a peculiar crackling noise. An alarm was in-
stantly given, and Mr. Turnbull, the clerk of the works,
and several officers and servants of the household, im-
mediately summoned to the spot. On proceeding to the
floor over the dining-room they observed masses of smoke
issuingfrom the floor andskirting-boards of one of the bed-
rooms occupied by Mr. Norton, which in a few moments
more'became so intolerably dense and suffocating that
they were unable to remain. They then retired into a
large square lobby, on the same floor, and immediately
contiguous, from whence also they were soon driven
by the immense volume of smoke which now poured
out of the rooms leading into it, and circulated through
all the adjacent apartments. It ought to be here stated
that a series of fire-pipes, constantly charged with a
plentiful supply of water, are stationed at frequent
intervals, all round the various lobbies and stair-
cases throughout the interior of the Castle. The water
for this service is derived exclusively from a large tank
or reservoir, capable of holding a million gallons, which
was erected for this special purpose a few years ago on
the top of Cranburne-hill, about four miles from the
Castle, and is kept constantly supplied by means of a
large steam engine, which raises the water from the
Thames at a place called Datchet-lane.
The next step taken was to connect the hose with the
various fire pipes in and about the Prince of Wales'
Tower, which was promptly done, and a volume of
water was poured into the rooms from which the smoke
was seen to issue. On ascending to the floor immediately
over that occupied by Mr. Norton, and which consisted
of a series of small rooms, also used as dormitories by
some of the servants of the household, all access to the
several apartments was wholly impossible, so completely
were they enveloped in the thick cloud of smoke which
had found its way from below. Up to this time no
flame had been observed; but shortly afterwards a small
volume was seen issuing from a short narrow passage
leading from the smaller of the bedrooms occupied by
Mr. Norton, and which for a long time maintained a
complete mastery over all the efforts made to subdue it.
The officers and soldiers of the second Life Guards, and
of the first battalion of Scotch Fusiliers, stationed Wind-
sor, now appeared, and with the whole available force of
the Windsor police, under the direction of Mr. Superinten-
dent Eager, and the local fire brigade, lent the most valu-
able assistance in subduing the conflagration which threa-
tened destruction to all around. His Royal Highness
Prince Albert had been early apprised of the catastrophe,
and was immediately in attendance consulting with Col.
Biddulph, Col. Phipps, and other officers of the house-
hold; 'as to the best means of averting the impending de-
struction. Finding that the interior and exterior appli-
ances
for mastering the fire were wholly unequal to the
task, it was deemed advisable to dispatch a telegraphic
message to Mr. Braidwood, of the London Fire Brigade
to command his immediate attendance with a number of
engines and men proportioned to the emergency. Im-
mediately on the arrival of this communication, that
active and experienced officer started for the Waterloo
terminus of the South-Western Railway with two pow-
erful engines, one from the Watling-street, and the other
from the Farringdon-street stations, with ten men, five
to each engine, selected from the London Fire Brigade.
There they found that a serious delay would arise before
the necessary arrangements could be made for dispatch-
ing a train with them to Windsor, and they pushed on
to the Nine Elms station, whence after sonic little' time,
they were conveyed by a pilot engine at t!e greatest
possible speed to their destination, which they reached
about two o'clock. By this tune, the fir' which had
been rapidly circulating through the various floors in
each of the stories from the dining-rooms upwards, had
reached the ceiling immediately Wow the roof; and was
blazing out of some of the windows in the adjoining
rooms. It had also communicated with the splendid •
ceiling of the royal dining-room from the floor above, of
which it was making appalling havoc. By a dexterous
movement on the part of the London fire brigade, and
immediately on their arrival, the burning ceiling of the
upper story was effectually cut away, by which means
the roof was wholly preserved, and the flames kept
within the walls. The windows in many places were
now broken by stones purposely thrown from without
to admit the hose of the engines, which had been
drawn up outside, and by dint of exertions on the
part of the metropolitan and local firemen, and an
abundant supply of water, the flames were gra-
dually got under, but not before a considerable portion
of the ceiling of the dining room, and the floors,
ceiling, and furniture of the apartments above had been
destroyed. All communication with the adjacent parts
of the Castle was also effectually cut off, by tearing up
the floors and removing the furniture, a service in which
the officers and soldiers of the Life Guards and Fusiliers
engaged with the most praiseworthy_ zeal and effect, and
by this means the conflagration was strictly confined to
a comparatively narrow circle in the extreme corner of
the building in which it originated.
It has been said that shortly after the discovery of
the fire her Majesty left the Castle and proceeded to

Frogmore, her.' Majesty, however, did not leave
the Castle. On the contrary, she remained there during
the whole of the night, and, though she could not but
feel considerable alarm on such occasion, it is stated that
she evinced throughout the same remarkable presence of
mind and courage which she has more than once shown
in the presence of danger.
The origin of tile disaster is as yet wholly matter of
conjecture ; but it is most generally assigned, by those
competent to form a judgment in such a case, from their
gold,
wood
extinguishingand has fallen
i trace
soetteftaxhi nro:
foantfinhatdehm conflagrationel ieeflss:aohr:,3 a
beneath,pec oleti continued
mass
which
das
experience and professional pursuits, to the overheating
of a flue. At all events, that it had its rise in accident
raged tfthe
percolatingwcharredawithint r
is undoubted. At present it would be idle to attempt
to form anything like an accurate estimate of the damage
done. It may be sufficient to state that it will amount to
innotthihenngelwiksepbaetpewrseeonf Btoo-,doaoyo./.Tanhde statedwitloeooofl.t,htehma.ecasumdii
eliurntson looking at that
part d removedayshowers without
its he
duringo o uvtert
magnificent
furniture in the royal dining-room
injury ; but a largetaeprapiortanorrtwiceaunntssofoaftbhotevhceeelfonwrgetroh,fehtophwua
etr, apart-
ment,pveors,eroef.
which consisted of oak elaborately decorated with
extreme corner
the accident originated in an
through the
tlr remainder m
intact,aci tnudrer
from
mdt haweniytchepoi
hours during the previous night.
of the stately edifice. Had it been other
pouredtiretr
tHil
enedai agooppyhfrpe.
triintnlfhyoet°T,ce
wasgtoi
must have been melancholy and • wise, the result
extreme.diastrous in the

ELOPEMENT EXTRAORDINARY, n
the beautiful and Miss Fanny Battye, aged 22,
last an elopement of a somewhat remarkable character
accrY.
Battye, Esq., J.p ,
of
'accomplished daughter of B. N. R-
story. It appears. that Fenay Lodge, is the heroine of the
shire domesticated Miss Fanny, who is a real York-
sicliallY went to g as
well as accomplished lady, occa-
these occasions, uddersfield a shopping. On one of
happened to towards the e'ose of last summer, she
seller and visit the shop of Mr. Joseph Brook, book-
by a stationer in lik estgate, where she was served
I(evThYnoung ahopman whose name is Charles Edward
•1--"ilr• Being leap year, rumour states that she
availed herself of the traditional privilege of her sex, and
cast a " sheep's eye " at our Adonis, which was followed
by the e, accidental " squeezing of his hand as he gave
her a packet of enve_ 1
opes. Young Chai'les immediately
detected, and as promptly reciprocated these telegraphic
indications of love. Miss Fanny's visits at the shop
from thence became more frequent until at length suspi-
cions were 'entertained by the other shopmen, which
were embodied in whispers that ultimately reached the
councils at Fenay Lodge, and the result was that young
Keymour was removed to a shop in London. Time
rolled on, and it was thought that the intimacy, which
appeared'to have been riperirg into love, had been
finally broken off. On Sunday evening last, there being
no evening service in Almondbury parish church, Miss
Fanny proceeded as usual on foot to her devotions at
the workhouse, where the vicar holds an evening sa--
vice. After service was over she returned by a rather
Fen
ay
Bridge, route homewards. On arriving at
Bridge, a cab was standing, a mysterious-looking
opened the door, Miss Fanny bounded into the person
vehicle,
the door was closed, and the party drove
off to the Hu-
dersfield Railway Station, where young
awaiting her arrival. The party then proceeded Charles was
to Leeds, and from thence by the 2.30 Monday
by train
onday
morning
n
train on the Midland line to Londo
arrivingo2
the metropolis they proceeded to St. PancrasOn in
where a clergyman was in attendance Church,
-United them together for " better , who immediately
r and for worse,"