The Sun.
London, England, 1823-10-17 00:00:00

FIRE AT HAMMERSMITH.

Yesterday morning,, about one o'clock, the'
main street or road of Hatritnersmith was thrown
into considerable confusion by the discovery of it
fire at the Windsor Cnstle inn, Hammersmith; and
the consternation and alarm were greatly heighten-
ed by the fact of those within being wholly-un-
acquainted with their peril. The occupants were a
young married couple, and related to Mr. Haylett,
the collector at Hammersmith. They had taken
the house only two months ago of Mr. Smith ;
and the proprietors, as well as their establish-
ment, had retired to bed about an hour, and
all were soundly asleep. The premises appear-
ed to be on fire in all directions, so that even
if the parties could be aroused from their
sleep, it appeared to be almost *possible that
all should escape. Such -was the danger
when persons accidentally passing along the road.
discovered the fire; ' the alarm was instantly
given, the doors brokeurand efforts made to save
the lives of the inhabitants. Some were got out.
by such means.; but the elder relative of the
landlady, a Mr. Haylett, who had gone there the,
preceding evening, and who is bordering on a'
state of silliness, as well as being infirm, was
with difficulty saved by literally throwing him'
from one of the tipper windows. Two females,
relatives of the landlady, as well as the landlady
herself, were obliged to make their escape
from windows ; aed so threatening were the flames,
that they had only time to rise from their beds
to get out of the house thus unceremoniously.—
They gained shelter with some neighbours oppo-
site ; but they are in a state of serious indispo-
sition. By extraordinary exertions, the lives of
all persons who had been in the inn were pre.
served ; but not a particle of property could
be rescued from the flames. The fire had,
by some means, got so a.head, that there was
no chance of preserving any portion of the
extensive range of buildings, stabling, &c.
constituting the Windsor Castle inn. All were
destroyed, as well as an adjoining schoolhouse,;
and several neighbouring houses and eats.,
blishments,were much injured. Mr. Holmes, the,
painter,. ,who lives close by, sustained great,
injury by the breaking of glass and the spoil-
ing of colours, owing to the heat. So desperately
and alarmingly did the fire threaten, that several
neighbouring houses were hastily but completely
,emptied, it being thought that' nothing could
save them from the flames. The open street and'
the contiguous yards, on the appearance of day-
light, presented a curious appearance, as the
,goods of so many families had been removed:
partly into the open air. Owing to the dis-
. tance from London, the engines were some time
before they arrived ; and when they did arrive,
they were fora long time useless, in consequence
of the defectiVe supply of water. T here was'
some imperfection in the main pipe, so that they,
were obliged to break it to get at the ,water ef.
fectually. As may he imagined, the confusion
and alarm were immense. Nothing has trans-
Aired to account for the 'fire. The infirm old
man (Mr. Haylett) was,. for a long time, missing.

ALTAGED Discovearcs.—Among the interest-
ing acquisitions made by Mr. Mooacnorr, in his
progress through those elevated and imperfectly
known regions bordering on India, the following,
are, perhaps; worthy of enumeration The'
discovery of vast resources of timber suited to'
ship building, and sufficient in quantity to supply
all the demands of ship builders in India for years'
to came. d. The discovery of a vrhiter and more
productive kind of wheat than any variety yet
known in Britain. 3d. The discovery of several
sorts of hal ley, all more productive, and several.
containing more valuable properties for malting
than those hitherto cultivated in England, 4thly.
The discovery of a plant that cures the rot in
sheep, of which disease the late 1)r. Bakewell
asserted, that hundreds of thousands died every
year in Britain. sth. The discovery of a hardy
variety of hay, with which even the waster moors
and heath covered commons of England may he
cultivated, so as to afford winter food for at least
an additional million of sheep, while the quality
of this food is such as to fatten them in half the
time they would require to fatten on any known
forage at present in use. Gth. The discovery of
a breed of mountain sheep, of which every cot-
tager in England, not receiving parochial relief,
may keep three with more ease than he can main-
tain a cur dog ; so that every little farmer may
keep a small flock of them on the present waste
produce of his farm. The breed is secured, and
arrangements made for keeping a stock of them
for the next three years. If the remainder of
Mr. Moorcroft's journey be as productive of ad-
vantage to his country as the former portion of it
is likely to he, there are few travellers who will
he able to enumerate greater public benefits re.
suiting from their labours than this enterprising
individual.---{Calcutta Gosseitth)

EXTRAORDINAR'Y PoTATo.—Yestertlay 2 sin-
gular specimen of this highly useful vegetable,
was dug up in a garden adjoining the workhouse
of St. Alary.le-Strand, situated in the Kent-
read. its circumference, one way, is nearly
thirty inches, and another twenty-seven inches;
its length, ten inches: it contains OPittly ,testa'
hundred imuchevf eytts, is of very curious shape,
remarkably cleat in the skin, and weighs four
Pouilds elPveu ounces. It is bonhidered by the
oldest gardeners to be a great curiobity. It was
taken to Mr. Thresher,, hosier, of the Strand,
head chnrch-warden, in whose possession it now
ernaists.