The Sun.
London, England, 1853-06-23 00:00:00

ROYAL NAVAL SCHOOL.

Yesterday morning the new chapel lately built in con-
nection with this school was consecrated by the Lord
Bishop of London. A numerous company was present
on the occasion, and amongst them we observed Vice-
Admiral Bowles, Sir C. Ogle, the Revs. Messrs. Legge,
Finch, Granville, North, Hughes, Brown, Downes, and
Ingledon, &c.
At the ceremony of consecration the usual petition
was presented by Vice-Admiral Bowles, the president of
the school. The sermon was preached by the Lord
Bishop, who took his text from Hebrews x. 19. The
chapel is capable of accommodating 400 pupils, and the
requisite number of officers and servants of the establish-
ment. The design is in keeping with the character of
the main building, and is of the plainest and most sub-
stantial kind, being of red brick with stone dressings.
The chapel (which partakes of the simple character
given by Sir Christopher Wren to some of the small
churches which he built in connection with similar insti-
tutions) is erected on land belonging to the corporation
on the south-west side of the infirmary, and is approached
by a covered way from the main building, forming an
ornamental and appropriate feature as seen from the
plaiyng field. The cost of the building is about 3,0001.,
1,0001. of which has been liberally presented by the pre-
sident of the institution, Vice-Admiral Bowles, C.B.
The cost of warming, lighting, and furnishing, with the
architects' commission, salary of the clerk of the works,
&c., has yet to be defrayed, the various expenses of
which may probably amount to about 7501., and the
council earnestly hope that the subscriptions eventually
received will enable them to defray the whole cost of the
chapel, without entrenching on the general funds of the
institution.

At the conclusion of the service his lordship and the
company proceeded to the school room, where the prizes
were awarded.

FIRE IN FlNSBURY.—Yesterday afternoon, at 1 o'clock,
a fire, attended with a considerable destruction of pro-
perty, broke out in the premises belonging to Mr. F.
M'Neill and Co., known as the patent felt works, situate
in Lamb's-passage, Bunhill-row, Finsbury. The pro-
perty in question had a frontage of 90 feet, and ex-
tended backwards nearly 50 feet. The store-rooms
and pitch houses were on the western side of the
building, and the extensive machine-rooms and roll-
ing-houses were on the eastern side; while the various
houses in Sawyer's-place, and Twister's-alley were in
close proximity with the one in which the fire com-
menced. Just as the several hands employed on
the works were leaving for dinner an alarm was
given that the place was on fire. At that time the
flames were confined to what is termed the drying-room,
on the second floor, in which was stored a great quan-
tity of tow and other equally inflammable articles. Ad-
joining this portion of the factory stood the warehouses,
filled with asphalted felt for roofings, and the rooms
filled with bituminous felt forlining damp walls, and several
others containing thick hair felt for deadening sound
and for clothing steam-boilers, &c. The factory con-
tained two powerful steam-boilers and a valuable stock
of machinery, besides a number of coppers filled with
pitch, four of which contained each 4 tons, and three
others held each 25 cwt. The mere fact of a building
containing so much inflammable matter, and surrounded
by so many houses occupied by poor persons, at once
caused a most painful sensation to prevail through-
out the neighbourhood, and forthwith the poor
people commenced removing their furniture and other
effects to a more distant place for protection. An
aged man, named M`Derniott, who resided at No. 12,
Lamb's-passage, and who had been bedridden for nearly
10 years, was obliged to be carried down stairs, and his
furniture was thrown into the street. Fortunately, the
eastern portion of the factory was protected by a party
wall, which ran as high as the upper floor, but, not ris-
ing through the roof, did not prevent the flames from
travelling along the last-named part of the building.
Information of the outbreak having been dispatched to
the engine-stations with as little delay as possible, the
firemen► and engines from Whitecross-street, Farringdon-
street, Watling-street, and Holborn depots arrived, as
well as that of the West of England office, and several
others. The firemen went to work in a most admirable
manner, and, by dint of great perseverance, kept pour-
ing- water from their engines upon the file, and by seven
o'clock last evening they succeeded in getting the flames
subdued, but not until one-half of the factory was
destroyed.
NARROW ESCAPE OF THE MANCHESTER BONDED WARE-
HOUSES.—On Tuesday a man named Wm. Grisdale, was
trimming some spirit casks from an open vat containing
1,700 gallons of brandy, in the Manchester bonding
warehouses, when the light in his lamp by some accident
set on fire the spirits in one of the casks he was filling,
at the bunghole. The flames spread over the outside
of the cask, wherever the brandy had run, burning with
great fierceness, and there was danger of that in the open
vat taking fire. Grisdale, with great presence of mind
and intrepidity, rolled the barrel out of doors, and this
probably saved the buildings and property from destruc-
tion. As it was, a track of flame was left along the
floor from the brandy which escaped through the bung-
hole as he rolled out the cask, and the door through
which the cask was rolled also took fire ; but, with the
assistance of other warehousemen, the danger was
speedily overcome by extinguishing the flames on the
floor and door. Grisdale was much burned about the
face, hands, and other parts of the body, and had to be
removed for surgical aid, but is likely to recover.