The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-03 00:00:00

GREAT TIRE IN THE CITY.

The reports of the fire in Bread-street, Cheapside, pub-
lished yesterday, convey but a very faint idea of the ex-
tent of ground laid in ruins, and the amount of property
reduced to ashes by this disastrous event. Owing to the
vast body of fire in the various premises destroyed, the
engines and stand pipes were kept in active operation
throughout the whole of Sunday night and yesterday.
Even as late as eight o'clock last evening there remained
a great deal of fire in the ruins, and the firemen were
then obliged to keep a watchful eye over the immense
gap caused by the flames lest they should break out again.
Early yesterday morning Mr. Toplis, the surveyor to
the principal London insurance offices ; Mr. Hodsall,
his assessor of losses ; Mr. Connorton, the foreman of
the West of England firemen ; Mr. Fogo, the principal
officer of the A district of brigade ; and Mr. Superin-
tendent Braidwood, were all actively engaged in ascer-
taining what offices were interested in the losses, and
also, if possible, to trace out the origin of the fire.
As far as the latter is concerned it remains quite as ob-
scure, as it did on Sunday morning, and up to last night
there was nothing to prove positively that the flames
originated in the Messrs. Townsend's hat factory, al-
though the fire was first seen from the street shining
through the first floor of their building. From the fact
of the roof of their ground-floor warehouse being erected
after the style of the late Crystal Palace, and covered in
with glass only it is the opinion of the firm that one of
the back premises had, in the first instance, become
ignited, and the glass of their warehouse being unable
to withstand the heat, had cracked, and almost immedi-
ately afterwards allowed the flames to rush through the
openings and seize upon the building. To some extent
the supposition is strengthened by the circumstance,
that a few minutes before the premises were closed, a
policeman bad been in there, and had detected no
smell of burning. When the premises were locked
up for the night, the policeman on the beat
held his bull's-eye lanthorn for the man, and
at that period there was not the least appear-
ance of any part of the building or the stock being on
fire. A more searching inquiry will no doubt yet
be made, with a view of finding out, if possible, on whose
premises and from what cause the fire originated, as
most of the sufferers. especially the Messrs. Townsend,
appear most anxious on that point.
The Lord Mayor attended at an early hour, and was
also very desirous of tracing out the cause of such a
serious disaster as this unquestionably is ; but his lord-
ship was unable to gain the slightest additional informa-
tion beyond what has been given above.
Yesterday morning Mr. Braidwood made out his
official report of the damages, which is as follows :

"Saturday, Dec. 31, 1853, 101 p.m.—Called to a fire
in Bread-street, Cheapside ; on arriving, found the pre-
mises of Messrs. Townsend, hatters, No. 5 in the street,
on fire. The building belongs to Mr. 0. Paynter, of
Richmond, and was insured in the Legal and Commercial
and Sun Fire-offices. The fire was extiniuised by fire-
men and nine engines of the London Brigade and that of
the West of England office. The premises are burned
down, and the stock in trade consumed.
" Ditto, ditto, Messrs. Hutchinson and Spiller, carpet
warehousemen. Premises burned down, and contents
destroyed. Insurance unknown at present.
" No. 51, in the same street, Messrs. MiKerrow and
Son, warehoUi6tnen. Bask room third floor burned
out, roof damaged by fire, and contents damaged by fire
and water. Insurance unknown.

" Ditto, ditto, Messrs. Spencer and Hodson. Similar
damage ; contents not insured. Building unknown if
insured or not.

" Ditto, ditto, Mr. P. Shannon, warehouseman.
Similar damage. Insured in the Royal Exchange Fire-
office.

" Nos. 7 and 8, ditto, Messrs. Bouch and Cooth, in
the same line of business. Contents insured in the Sun,
Royal Exchange, Legal and Commercial, and Defender
Fire•offices.
" Side windows of first floor burned out, and walls
damaged by fire. Stock considerably injured by water.
Insurances unknown at present.

" Nos. •60 and 62, opposite, Messrs. Groucock, lace-
men. Front of premises very severely scorched. In-
surance unknown.

" No. 61, in the same street, Messrs. Foster and Co.,
linen warehousemen. Front of premise's damaged by
fire. Insurance not known.

" No. 4, ditto, ditto, Mr. W. May, silk mercer and
trimming seller. Insurance unknown.

"The back warehouse burned down, and three upper
floors destroyed.
"Ditto, ditto, R. Greenless, shawl warehouseman,
insured in the Legal and Commercial and Sun Fire
Offices.

" Back warehouse burned down, and three upper floors
consumed.

"No. 3, in the same street, Mr. R. Marr, licensed vic-
tualler, damage to premises, &c., by water ; insured in
the Monarch Fire Office. The house belongs to Messrs.
Calvert, the brewers, and is unknown if insured or not.
"No. 41, Cheapside, Messrs. Fownes and Co., glove
manufacturers, insured in the Globe, Phcenix, Sun,
County, and Legal and Commercial Fire Offices. Back
front and roof damaged by 'fire, and ceilings and stock in
trade considerably injured.
it No. 64, Friday-street, Messrs. Faster and Co.,
warehousemen. Contents insured in the Sun, Legal
and Commercial, Atlas, Monarch, Union and Anchor
Offices ; stock greatly damaged by water.
No. 61, ditto, ditto, Messrs. Lidiard warehousemen.
Contents insured in the London, Royal Exchange,
Union, Royal Liverpool, and Phoenix Fire Offices ; the
back warehouse and ground floors burned out, stock
damaged by water, and skylights broken.
No. 60, ditto, J. Maii, Son, and Co„ furniture
damaged by water and removal, and two trap-doors
burned. Insurance not known.
"No. 63, ditto, Edward Willett and Co., warehouse-
men, window-glass broken. Insurances unknown at
present."

The property deposited in the various warehouses in
the immediate proximity of the fire was worth, it is
stated, two millions sterling, and it seems perfectly as-
tonishing that the damage, great as it has been, had not
been still greater. The preservation of many of the sur•
rounding warehouses may be entirely attributed to the
exertions of the firemen.

The ruins yesterday presented a singular appearance,
for the large icicles were to be seen hanging from the
windows and also from the floorings of those in which
the fire had performed its most perfect work of desola-
tion- The adjoining premises, where the fire had done
comparatively no damage, bat in which the war from the
engines had fallen,•were completely lined with ice, so as
to make it extremely difficult for business to be car-
ried on.