The Sun.
London, England, 1849-10-25 00:00:00

THE GREAT FIRE IN THE CITY.

The fire which broke out on Tuesday evening in
Lower Thames-street and King's Head-court was
attended with a far greater destruction of property
than was at first expected.
It was yesterday ascertained that the stock in trade
belonging to Mr. Bais was exceedingly heavy, and
probably as large as in any house in the same line of
business in London. The back warehouses in King's
Head court alone were several floors high, and corn-
prised two large houses. It was on the third floor of
this building that the outbreak commenced, but upon
the spirits becoming ignited they ran down the stairs
and through the cracks in the floor, having all the
appearance of immense streams of liquid fire, so that
it was at first impossible to tell where the flames
commenced. Between this range of premises and the
front establishment were two strong party walls. The
only means of passing from one warehouse to the
other was a very narrow doorway, but so great was
the body of flame that it rushed through this aper-
ture and fired every part of the front building as well
as the backs of numerous other houses in Fish-street-
hill, Thames-street, King's Head-court, and Pud-
ding-lane.
No fewer than six parish engines were present,
two from Calvert's brewery, several from the Custom-
house, nine land engines of the London establishment,
and that of the West of England Company. Although
the whole of this force was brought to bear on the
flames, not the least check could be put to their
violence, when it was deemed advisable to have the
two large floating engines at Southwark bridge and
Rotherhithe sent for. The hoses from these powerful
machines were taken through the opposite wharfs, and
by that means many tuns of water were momentarily
thrown into the blazing mass, and eventually the
firemen got the mastery over the conflagration.
Fortunately, the church of St. Magnus, although
exposed to so much danger, from the men standing
on the roof with their hoses from the engines, did
not receive the least injury.
The following is a copy of Mr. Braidwood's official
report of the extent of the damage done :
" Tuesday, October 23, 1849—Called at half-past
5 P.m., by a stranger to a fire in Lower Thames-
street. On arriving found it was in the premises of
Messrs. Bais and Co., wholesale and export druggists,
carrying on business at Nos. 125 and 126, in that
street. The premises were insured in the Hand-in-
Hand, Phoenix, and West of England Fire-offices.
The fire was extinguished by firemen with water
from the New River Company and River Thames.
Engines that attended-12 (land) of the London
Establishment, the two floats A and D, six of the
parish, the Customs, two brewhouse, the West of
England, and several wharf engines.
" The damage done is as follows :
" Messrs. Bais's back warehouses in King's Head-
court.—Burnt down. About one-half of front ditto,
in Thames-street, destroyed.

" No. 121. Lower Thames-street, Mr. C. Francis,
coffeeshop-keeper.—Contents insured in the Imperial
Fire-office. Building unknown. Two back windows
burnt out, and considerable damage by fire, water,
and hasty removal.
" No. 123, in the same street. —Mr. J. Jones,
lodginghouse-keeper. Contents insured in the Phmnix.
Roof of premises damaged by fire, furniture injured
by removal, and skylights broken.
" No. 124, in the same street.—Let out in tene-
ments. Similar damage.
"No. 30, Fish-street-hill.—Mr. J. Cullen, to-
bacconist. Contents insured in the PLceoix-office.
Considerable damage by removal.
"Ditto, ditto.—C. Jayne (private). Contenta in-
sured in the Guardian. Similar damage.
"No. 32, ditto, ditto.—Mr. C. Francis, coffee•shop
keeper. Contents insured in the Imperial, and the
building in the Guardian. Back windows burnt out,
and serious damage by water and removal.
" Ditto, ditto.—Mrs. E. Francis (lodger). Contents
insured in the Imperial office. Furniture damaged
by water and removal.
"No. 33, in the same street.—Mr. J. Knott,
booking-office. Contents not insured. Building un-
,known. 13aek windows burnt out, roof nearly

destroyed, and rest of house severely damaged by
water, &c.

" No. 34, in the same street,—Messrs. Rous and
Mills, fishmongers. Insurances unknown. Back
windows burnt out, back fronts considerably damaged
by fire, and roof of premises by breakage.
" No. 35, in the same street.—Mr. J. Connett,
butcher. Contents unknown if insured. Building
insured in the Phcenix. Back window frames severely
scorched, glass demolished, and great damage to
furniture, &c., by water.
"Ditto, ditto.—Mr. Vialon, carpenter. Contents
not insured. Backs rooms on third floor, used as
workshops, burnt out, and roof over nearly destroyed.
" No. 36, in the same street.—Mr. C. Raiford,
licensed victualler. Contents insured in the Licensed
Victualler's-office. Building unknown if insured.
The skylights in the Britannia Tavern broken, and
slight damage by water.
" No. 37, in the same street.—Mr. J. F. Boor,
eatinghouse keeper. Insured in the Licensed Vic-
tualler's office. Stair rails broken, and contents
damaged by water and removal.
" No. 1, Monument-yard.—Messrs. A. and R.
Wilcoxon, upholsterers. Contents insured in the
Mutual and other offices. Skylights broken, and
slight damage by water.
" No. 11, Pudding-lane.—Messrs. J. and G.
Adams, fruit •brokers. Contents insured in the Sun,
and the building in the Atlas. Roof of premises
damaged by fire, and contents by water.
"N o. 13, in the same thoroughfare.—Messrs.
Nicholson and Co., warehousemen. Insurance un-
known. Roof of premises damaged, lead melted, and
contents damaged by water.
"No. 8, King's Head court.—Mr. Blank, basket
maker. Insurance unknown. Front severely
scorched, and glass broken.
" No. 5, in the same court.—Mr. Vialon, plumber.
Insurances unknown. Skylights broken, and slight
damage to roof."
During the whole of the day many thousand per •
sons flocked to the scene, and it required the assist-
ance of a powerful body of police to keep them out of
danger.
LATEST PARTICULARS.—WEDNESDAY, 9 P.M.—
This evening, whilst the firemen were engaged in
extinguishing a small portion of fire burning in the
basement, another explosion occurred, which at first,
it was feared, had been attended with a loss of life. It
appears that some of the men had entered the cellar
with the branch of an engine, when all of a sudden a
terrific explosion occurred from, it is supposed, the
ignition of either a large quantity of saltpetre or some
of the carboys filled with spirits. In an instant the
flooring in the shop, which had hitherto withstood the
action of the flames, was forced upwards, but fortu-
nately none of the firemen received any personal
injury, although they had very hairbreadth escapes.