The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-18 00:00:00

SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY.

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT THE NINE ELMS
STATION, VAUXHALL.
(FCRTIIER FARTICULARS.)

The account of the loss sustained by the Company, it
apjeirs, has ben greatly exaggerated, According to a
rough estimate made 3esterday n.iag, it does not ex-
ceed 12,0001., of which nearly 8,0001. is insured. The
workshops of the engineers and engine-men have been
completely pt:ed, every particle of timber beirg reduced
to ashes, and nearly the whole of the caluah!e machinery
used in the repair of the engines rendered useleva.
hive gt t abroad that nine engines have been de-
stroyed, hut such is not the fact ; the whole number a'. the
station, excepting, two without wheels, having been rr-
move4 at tJle commencement of the Cre, and as the build.
ing in which they arty usually deposited has escaped the
flames, they are replaced in the same manner as bcfcrc
the fire, and remain uninjured.
The preservation cf this part cf the building, as it is only
separated from those consumed by a party wall, is quite
miraculous. Indeed, the preservation of the carriage dc-
partrnent at the other end, which is only distant about 15
fee', and of the brewery on the Battersea sL'e, is equally
astonishing. Had there been tl_e slightest wind, they
could not possibly have escarel destruction, and, in all
probability, the whole statisn would have been reduced to
ashes.

The loss, unfortunately, is not confined to the Railway
and In7ura%ce Companies, but the poor workmen will
also Lel it severely, Upwards of 160 men, chi:fly em-
ployed by t';e Company in the engineering department,
will be thrown out of employment for a time.

The Provost and Fellows of Eton have just
corcluckd an arrangement with the Commiiidncrs of
Woods and Forests for the excharge cf son e land belong-
ing to the College at Primrose Hill, fur a large plot of
ground, now cover:A with buildings, at Eton, directly op-
poEiLe the College. It is the intention of the College
authorities to purcha,:7o the remainder of ihe I:aie (about
thirty years cf wl are unexpired), they to pull down
the old tenementF, and erect on their sate some first-rate
hou,e,, which will be occupied by the scvoral masters and
others connected with the College.

On Wednesday afternoon, the attention of a
nurcher of persons walking on the North Picr at Leith,
was attrac,e:l towards a boat a litfe way ou', by two
fa:harrnen, the only crew on board, rising up and fighting-.
In the COLMC of the contest, which was of Omit ducat ian,
one of them was driven by the other into ti e water,
where, after fisundering for a time, he got hold of the gun-
wale af the boat, and his companion now lent all his aid
to pull him en board. la to was, however, unsex-
about falling irate the water
eessful, and was flequently
himself. The men appeared to be bath ictoxicated, and a
boat pushing eff from the snare, arrived in time to relieve
the half-droWnesl man. This tragicomical adventure
scercel to have the effect of cooling the rage cf th» pugi-
lists, as they then sat down to their oars, and pulled away
quietly ti Newham-.—Edinburgh Advertiser.
A SINGULAR DIFFICULTY.—The Empress
has a fire foci but is enormously fat and unwieldy. A
f;.av days aga her Chamberlain, Sinzendorff, -waited on I ec
with a petvian from some part of her territories, Isaiah
was very interesting to her. They were alone in the
apartment, both standing whilst he read to her the docu-
ment. Siazendorff is a thin old man, stiff and erect, and
troubled with a rheumatic complaint, which in some
measure paralysed his frame. It happened that the paper
fell to the ground. The Empress bade him pick it up.
" Helas I madame," said he. "iiy a vingt annees queje ne
me suis eimrbe t" She would li)ve stooped for it lierrlf,
but was too unwieldy ; lie svtas accordingly oNized to nog
the Le'l for the puyose, G:clin a the Chambers,
on catering, found her Imperial Majesty in a vielent fit cf
laughter.—Swinburne's Courts of Europe.