The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-05 00:00:00

ALARMING FIRES.

This morninee between teee..‘ve and one o'clafelte a fire,
nearly attended with fatal conset; uences, broke os t at 42,
kn
Chapel street, Islington, in the occupancy of Mr. J.
.
Crosswell, general dealer. The flames originate el from
some unknown cause, in the back arlour, and were
first discovered by the proprietor, who, hearing a sudden
noise in the lower part of the house at the mom ent he
was going to bed, went to ascertain the cant,', R. hen, to
his astonishment, he found the flames aseeafri.ng the
staircase with such violence that the inmates, in 0 rder to
effect a retreat, were obliged to get out of the windows.
The engines of the various stations quickly a tended,
and there being an abundant sopply of water, tl le fire-
men worked incessantly until a little after one- Celeel4,
when they got the flames extinguished. By that;
,Period
thh fire had either burned or damaged the whae of the
stock in trade, furniture, &c., in the lower portion of
the house. The loss, as far as Mr. Cresswell is con-
cerned, will fall upon the Sun Fire-office, lent the
lodgers, unfortunately, were uninsured.
Yesterday morning, between five and six, consiiderable
alarm was created in Wellington-street North, ,Strand,
by the sudden outbreak of a fire on the premis es be-
longing to Mr. J. Pitt, hatter and tobacconist. The dis-
covery was made by a police-constable of the F division,
through seeing smoke issuing from-the shop front:. An
instant alarm was raised, and in the course of a few n iinutes
an escape of the Society for the Protection of Life from
Fire arrived, followed by numerous engines of thy' Lon-
don Brigade, West of England, and County toffices.
Plenty of water beirg procured, the flames were eextin-
guished, but not until the whole of the stock of hats was
damaged by fire and smoke, and the partition, the
flooring, and fixtures on one side of the shop partially
burned. The origin of this, as well as the two previous
fires, is wrapped in mystery. Mr. Pitt was insured for
stock in trade in the Phceuix, and the building teas in-
sured in the County office.
About half-past one o'clock the same morning a fire,
which had it not been so opportunely discovered, would
have been attended with very disastrous consequences,
broke out upon the premises known as the Temperance
Hall, in Milton-street, Cripplegate. It was caused from
the overheating of the copper flue, which set the bond
timber in the back kitchen in flames, The engines and
firemen from Whitecross-street station quickly a ttended,
and they succeeded in getting the fire extinguis,ied be-
fore any considerable damage was done.
About half an hour later a fire was discovere d burn-
• ing on the premises situate at 52, Rosamondestreet,
Clerkenwell, in the occupation of Mr. J. D. Cole,
butcher. The engines attended very early, but owing
• to the exertions of the inmates and police the flames
were soon subdued, but not before considerable damage
was done. Mr. Cole was not insured. The origin of the
fire could not be ascertained.
• Last night, shortly before eight o'clock, an alaxming
fire broke out upon the extensive premises occupied by
. Mr. Simpson, a fancy bread 'and biscuit baker, siwaxte at
the western corner of Bond-street, and abutting Picca-

dilly. The fire was first discovered by a person passing,
who, seeing a light in the lower part of the pr e miees,
alarmed the inmates, amongst whom were Mr. Simpson
and his family and servants, when it was discovered that
the lower part of the premises was on fire; the y had
scarcely time to escape before the whole broke ot tt into
a blase. Messengers were dispatched to the variousengine stations, and several engines speedily arrive d. A
plentiful supply of water being at hand, the ei igines
were put in action, and in the space of an hover suc-
ceeded in so far mustering the fire as to allay all sippre-
hension of further danger, but not until the wb.ole of
the premises, which are very extensive, were gutto,d, and
the stock in trade, together with the furniture,, com-
pletely destroyed. The premises adjoining N. 45,
Bond-street, occupied by Messrs. Judd and Son., boot
and shoemakers, and No. 58, Piccadilly, occupied by
Mr. Alabaster, straw bonnet maker, as also their stock
in trade and furniture, w,-re seriously injured by water
and hasty removal, it being found necessary to carry the
hose through each of the houses to get at the rear of
the fire. It is understood that Mr. Simpson is not in-
sured, but it is believed that the premises are.

.?,) NO '''!.•_7•i_ttion

NEWMARKET RACES.
(THIS DAY-BY EXPRESS.)

The Craven Stakes of 10 aovs. each, for three yrs old,

&c. A.F.

King of Morven
Weatherbit
Cardinal's Niece

THE POTATO.
The Royal Dublin Society have published a letter
torn Mr. James Swan, of the Cottage,
the Potato
the purport of which is to show that
Disease may be stopped by DrFoster's electrical
apparatus. Mr. Swan says that he enclosed within
the contrivance twelve ridges without manure ; that
he at the same time planted twelve other ridges
with
the usual quantity of mixed manure
November he found the potatoes withinthe
the enclo-
sure " sound, mealy, large, without the least ap-
pearance of rot," while of the twelve ridges beyond
the electrified space nine were totally destroyed, and
three had only a few small round tubers. This he
thinks a demonstration that the electrical apparatus
aforesaid prevented the rot ! On this side of the
Irish Channel men would have interpreted the expe-
riment differently, and would hate referred the
preservation of the crop on the one hand to the
absence of manure, and its destruction on the
other to the action of manure.
that the conclusive experiments of
and others would have dispelled the
had hoped
fesEioor.But
delusionS°llY
which the electro-cultivators had indulged
it seems just as hard to remove error as establisht
a
truth, and therefore we mey perhae. pes return to
turnt to that
subject when we have a little sp
a
be In the mean-
while, Mr. James Swan musthung up by the.side
of Alfred Smee. Another paper, also circulated by
the Royal Dublin Society, relates to the condition of
some seedling
potatoes raised in 1845, by Mr.
Goringer of Rippoldsav%. This writer says that the
greater part of
seedling potatoes had ac-
quired the size ohfisa
own
egg, that others raised by
Mr. Ottmann, of Strasburg, weighed from 5 to 7
ounces each, and that they were all sound, although
from one-third Baden, to one-half the potatoes planted in the
usual way in Wirtemburg, Bavaria, Switzer-
land, and destroyed
by the prevailing
disease. the Tyrol were
We hope that further experience may show
that means really exist of insuring seedling potatoes
from disease, although no one in this country has yet
discovered it. The exact circumstances under which
the potato seedlings of Messrs. Goringer and Ottman
were preserved, would therefore be an interesting,
and perhaps a valuable piece of information. For,
while we would employ every means within
our reach to deter poor persons from continuing
the cultivation of a crop the loss of which neither
they nor the country can afford, we would as strenu-
ously advise those who can bear the loss, to try on a
moderate scale all rational experiments which seem to
premise its restoration. This is a sufficient answer
to those who imagine that we have a personal anti-
pathy to the potato. On the contrary, we have always
acknowledged its great value, when it is not cultivated
to a greater extent than in England ; we admit that
its eceaivalent cannot at- present be found ; and we
will even add, that we regard the processes employed
by chemists for determining its nutritive value (see
" Journal of Agriculture" for March, 1847, p. 639)
as being, in some respects, unsatisfactory. We sub-
mit that the course we have taken in this matter has
been exactly that which prudence dictated ; that Re
were bound to the public, which we serve, to tell
them the exact truth, as far as we knew it; that we
were bound to expose the dangerous follies of those
who would have misled the public and that, above all
things, it has been necessary to dispel the fatal delu-
sion of those writers who, ignorant of facts, or unable
to interpret thee, have endeavoured to make the world
believe that they each possess a knowledge of the
cause of this disease, and, therefore, can cure it. We
cannot too often repeat that the cause is unknown;
that at the beat we have only plausible conjecture;
and that, gran-ting the most plausible of all conjec-
tures to offer a solution of the mystery, it only leaves
us exactly as much in the dark as before, when we
look to the application of a remedy. The most plau-
sible conjecture is that of atmospheric miasm, which
we find that Mr. Milne, a great authority upon all
that relates to subterranean disturbances and earth-
quakes, has ably advocated, as will be seen in another
column. But granting that some unknown dele-
terious matter has found its way into our atmosphere,
what can be reasonably inferred, except that such an
unknown force cannot be dealt with by any known
agency, and that if we are wholly in the dark as to
any of its attributes except it is impracticable to
any opinion as to the extent to which it may here-
after desolate our fields, or the length of its duration.
It may become more concentrated, or more diffused,
it may last for years, or it may suddenly disappear.
Who can tell ? And in this state of things are we to
be told that the poor man shall be fed with hope?
that he shall be again persuaded by enthusiasts to
risk the little comfort which his land may bring him
in the dreary months of winter, when fuel is dear and
wages scarce, upon their idle hopes and expectations?
Such a course would be monstrous. It would be
joining the Nil desperandum of the stout-hearted with
the Nil evitandurn of the fatalist. We never have
been, and never shall become parties to so suicidal
a course. We conceive that our time has been better
occupied with pointing out how the difficulty of re
cropping the lost potato land can now be met. Fur
this purpose we may invite attention to some of the
recommendations of a committee of the Royal and
Central Agricultural Society of France, specially ap-
pointed to consider this point. The committee con-
sisted of Messrs. Payen, Boussingault, Moll, Royer,
and Vilmorin, the latter acting as reporter. They ad-
mit that nothing is known of the nature and first cause
of the potato disease • they, therefore, conceive that
there is always a chance that it may disappear of
itself, either gradually or instantaneously ; and con-
sequently they recommend the cultivation to be perse
vered in. The main point, however, of their report is
to suggest other esculents in the meanwhile. It is
needless to advert to the corn crops, which they advo
cate, or to such other plants as are in common culti-
vation among ourselves, or to those which can only be
grown profitably in the warm districts of France. It
will be sufficient to extract such as are comparatively
little known here, and will suit our climate. Fore-
most among these is buckwheat, which, although
inferior to corn crops, has, nevertheless, great value,
and the good quality of thriving upon inferior land of
various kinds. It may also be sown very late, and
its seed bears but a low price. The small early
turnips thrive beneath its shade, so that if a small
quantity of their seed is scattered over the land some
days after the buckwheat is up, and in wet weather,
there is the chance of a supplemental crop as useful
for man as for animals. Millets are spoken of under
the names of true millet (Panicum miliaceum),Panick
(Setaria italic), and Moha (Setaria germanica). The
committee observe, as to these grains, that although
of very inferior value in ordinary times, they may,
nevertheless, be advantageously employed' in the pre-
sent difficulty of recropping potato land. Their grain,
-whether boiled or prepared as cakes, is wholesome
and nourishing ; it is in constant use in the Landes
as well as in many of the southern countries of
Europe, and in Germany. They are more advan-
tageous than buckwheat, considering the low price of
their seed, a few pints being enough for an acre, it
sown in drills, which is the proper way. They
should be sown in the climate of Paris, from the
beginning to the end of May ; the true millet may be
even put off till the middle of June, it being much
earlier than ' the others. They require a deep
strongish soil in good tilth. The Moha, however,
although it brings the heaviest return on such land,
has an advantage over others in succeeding very well
on inferior land, whether sandy or chalky, and of re-
sisting dryness in an extraordinary manner. Its
grain is smaller than that of the true millet, but the
straw is much better than that of the other sorts.
As a green crop the Moha is spoken of as one of the
best plants for the agriculture of the north. Peas
and Haricots are of coarse much recommended,
and the committee advise that they, especially
the former, should be sown in drills much
wider apart than usual, not only on account of the
high price of the seed, but because a better plant is
so obtained. Cabbages of various kinds are strongly
recommended, especially because it is possible, by
sowing varieties of different degrees of earliness, to
cover the land from June or July to the end of win-
ter. The, early York and bullock's heart should be
sown immediately, to be followed by the great cattle
cabbages. The small size of the former should not
be regarded as an objection to their use. because they
can be set so much the closer, and besides, they do
not want such good land as the great winter cabbages.
The preservation of the latter, for winter use, in the
manner of sonrkrout, is recommended. Gourds of
various kinds follow ; especially those called by
the French Gieaurnount a d
fear that they are not so wellsuitednhto English as to Fre Courges. But we
or
Irish cottagers
girinnge
have the advantage of They, however,
corner; and to judge from the
maarlieetsof
in any waste
quantity exposed
for sale in mid-winter in the
to the
the north of
France, they must be found a useful cro
Jerusalem artichoke, which in the oeTeleAs
committee " is not valued anything like so T'ofthe
it deserves," they cannot too often repeat "much
that itaiss
without an equal for hardihood and vigour, that the
hardest frosts never touch its roots, that it is literally
the mother of manure (Greater (I' engrazs), seeing that
in any ordinary soil, whether sandy or calcareous, it
gives nearly as great a weight without manure as can
be had from the potato when best manured, and
finally that it is of as great value both for its roots, its
leaves, and its stems." The committee are convinced
that it is an excellent plant, and " essentially one of
progress." Our readers will judge for themselves
how far these recommendations of the French com-
mittee are likely to suit their wants.--Gardeners'
Chronicle.

THE HERRING SEASON. -A good many coopers are
now busily engaged in making preparation for the coming
season, and as a large nuinber have gone south, and
others are employed at other work, we should not be
surprised although there were found a scarcity of hands
at the forthcomffig fishing. A large number of Nor_
wegian vessels hart already arrived, with cargoes of
billet-wood, at the various stations. Prices are consi-
, derably under those generally paid at this early period
of the season.—John o'Groat Journal.