The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-28 00:00:00

SERIOUS FIRES.

Yesterday afternoon, between the hours of two and
three o'clock, a fire, that caused considerable alarm,
broke out in the premises belonging to Messrs. Sa dding-
ton and Co., rug manufacturers, carrying on business in
the Grove, Guildford-street, Southwark. It originated
in the carding-room, on the ground floor, from th e fric-
tion of the machinery. The engines of the Li mdon
Brigade promptly attended, and, the fire was h:tppily
confined to the destruction of 3001 b. of jute and some
baskets. It could not be learned whether the pro,perty
VMS insured. _ .

About five o'clock last evening some confusion was
caused in Greek-street, Soho-square, owing to a tre-
mendous explosion of gas taking place in the premises of
Mr. J. Bowles, licensed victualler and proprietor of
the Coach and Horses Tavern, situate at No , 39, in
the before-named street. Such was the force of the
explosion that the whole of the facia over the door
was blown down, but fortunately no one was injured.
Yesterday morning, shortly before 4 o'clock, a fire
broke out in the extensive premises of Mr. W. Samuels,
coachmaster,:2B, City-terrace, City-road. It originated
from some unknown cause in the ground floor, am ongst
a quantity of paint, turpentine, &c., and speedily ex-
tended to two rooms above. The engines of the Lon-
don-brigade, and West of England Office, as well as the
Royal Society's escapes were soon on the spot, but the
flames could not be extinguished until considerable
damage was done to the premises and their corrtents.
Unfortunately the sufferer was not insured.

__----
A fire, attended with a great loss of property, hap-
pened on Wednesday night in the private residue ce of
Thomas Baring, Esq,, M.P., No. 41, Upper Growyenor-
street, Grosvenor-square. It commenced in the dralsing-
room amongst a collection of pictures, valued at al early
20,000/. A spark, which fell from a lighted candle., set
fire to the covering of the pictures, and then the ames
travelled round the room with amazing rapidity.. The
engines of the Brigade and parish and the fire-oscapes
quickly attended, but the inmates had succeeded in ex-
tinguishing the fire before their arrival. The damage
done, although confined to so small a space, it is feared
will amount to some thousand pounds. The pictures
were insured in the Royal Exchange Fire Office,

THUNDER STORM.—Last evening the metropol is was
visited by one of the most terrific thunder storms th at has
occurred during the year, and was accompanied wit h rain
and hail, which descended in torrents. The afte moon
had been particularly close and cloudy, although heavy
and refreshing showers fell at intervals, and it W:4B evi-
dent that the atmosphere was heavily charged with elec.
tricity. About 5 o'clock a heavy shower of rain fell; and
shortly after the sky was illumined with frequei it and
vivid flashes of sheet lightning, each being followe.i. by a
peal of distant thunder, which approached nearer on
every successive flash. Shortly before six o'clock the
storm was at its height, the flashes of lightnim r like
those frequently seen in tropical climates, and on e very
vivid flash was succeeded immediately by a terrifi( 'crash
of thunder, which denoted its proximity. At thi s time
the rain fell in sheets, overflowing the foot pay( =tents
and inundating the carriage roads to some dept] I. In
consequence of the drains and sewers being surch.arged,
the surplus water made its way into some cellars Ito the
depth of some inches. In Fore-street, Crippl egate,
where an excavation has been made for the purpc me of
laying down new gas mains, the opening was hal f-filled
with water. Shortly after seven o'clock another istorm
followed, but not of such a violent character ;us that
which preceded it. There can be very little doubt from
the terrific nature of the first-mentioned, that s serious
damage has been sustained within a very short di stance
of the metropolis.

Precautionary measures have been taken to pre-
vent the entrance of Polish travellers into the
Danubian Principalities.
We learn from Constantinople, dated the 15th,
that the Prussian officers employed there as direc-
tors in the School of Engineers were about to leave
for the army. The director, Capt. Schmedt. pro-
ceeds, with Lieut. Blubme, assistant to Major
Kourozowski, and who has displayed much talent,
to direct the works of fortifications on the Danube.
They proceed by Salonica to Sophia and Nissa, and
are accompanied by a number of Turkish officers.
The only officer that has remained in the school is
Capt. Grunewald, formerly a staff-officer of the
Holstein army. All the pupils of the school who
could be disposed of have been sent to the army to
learn war by practice.
The following is from Constantinople, Oct. 13 :
—The Greek Patriarch has been invited to attend
the sittings of the Privy Council. The Minister of
Finance, Mouktar Bey, has resigned his post.
Moussa Safetti Pasha has been appointed in his
place. A corps of 25,000 Russians has been landed
at Redout Kale, with a view, it is supposed, of
attacking Batoum.

The Siecle says :—" A letter, from London,
written by a person in a position to be well !in-
formed, tells us that the Governments of France
and England have charged their ambassadors to
declare to the Sultan that the demands of Russia
being, really inadmissible, they approved, after
examination, of the resistance which Turkey op-
posed to the Note of Vienna, interpreted as it has
been by the letters of Count Nesselrode. The
ambassadors have been, moreover, charged to say,
that their Governments had seen with satisfaction
that the security of the ChristianS had not been
threatened. Lastly, that Lord Redcliffe and M.
de Lacour have received orders to declare that the
fleets go to Constantinople with the intention of
lending to Turkey material and moral co-opera-
tion' and that in certain foreseen eventualities the
fleets will pass into the Black Sea. These explana-
tions have appeared completely satisfactory to the
Porte, which replied that it accepted with gratitude
the co-operation generously offered by its allies. On
the morning of the 18th, the date of the last tele-
graphic dispatch, the fleets had not, however, ar-
rived at Constantinople, but it was thought that
they would arrive there on the 19th or 20th.
The Turkish government has appointed three
moustechars or councilors to the three generals in
command of the armies of the Danube, of Asia, and
of the frontier of Georgia. These functionaries are
to correspond directly with the Grand-Visir and
the Minister of War, and are to devote their
attention to the administrative affairs of the
army.

A-letter from Bucharest states that the best un-
derstanding exists between Prince Stirbey and the
Russian government. His son, who commands a
Wallachian regiment, is about to enter the Russian
service.

A Frankfort journal says :—" According to the
latest accounts received from the Danubian prin-
cipalities a collision has taken place between the
Turks and Russians. The former have occupied a
small island between Widden and Kalafat. In the
night of the 15th, the Turks pushed forward a re-
connaissance, when an exchange of shots took place
between the advanced posts, but without any in-
jury being sustained. The Turks have also occu-
pied the large island above the fortress, and have
manifested an intention to throw a bridge over the
second arm of the Danube. Letters from Turnul
state -that the -Ottoman troops have not yet ap-
peared in the neighbourhood of that place, but it is
expected that it will shortly become the theatre of
war. The merchants and the greater part of the
rich inhabitants have left for the interior. The
public treasury of Wallachia has been seized in con-
quence of these circumstances by the Russians, par-
ticularly the military reserve funds. All the Rus-
sian army had been ready for some days to com-
mence its march, but it was not known whether to
advance or retire.. Now, however, the matter is
cleared up, and important events may be expected.
The majority of the Boyard families are preparing
to quit the country."