The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-15 00:00:00

THE SUN, LON'DON, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1841.

• . • , DESTRUCTIVE TIRE. .
About two o'cock yesterday morning :a firebroke out on
the premises of Mr..Kindon, floorcloth manufacturer, at
the corner of Wellington-street, Blackfriars-road. On the
first alarm being given, the police were fully occupied in
calling uptinethe. surrounding neighbourhood to quit
their beds. ' :The,epgines from the Waterloo-road station
and Farringdon-street were soon on the road, promptly
followed, .by the , various other metropolitan stations.
Owing to the unremitting exertions and undaunted per-
severance of the firemen,, to whom the greatest praise is
due, the conflagration was happily confined to the factory
in which it-first broke out, and which was totally de-
stroyed. At the first outbreak the inmates of the house,
known as the" _Notorious No. 27," were seen escaping
in a state of nudity.. -The conflagration raged for some
time with uncontrollable fury, and at one time threatened
the surrounding: neighbourhood with destruction. It
had, in fact, caught the back part of the contiguous dwell-
ing-house, but, owing to the plentiful supply of water,,
the devouring element was confined to the premises on
which it first broke out, and which were completely re-
duced to ashes. At half-past three all danger of the
flames extending was at an end.
FURTHER PARTICULARS. TWO FIREMEN
FILLED.
We regret to state the loss of two lives, irethe'pers.otiS
of William Webb, aged 24, - and No. 78 of the brigade,
and Joseph Henry Packs, N0.,61 of the same ferceoend,
which has thrown a gloom over the whole neighboffs)
hood. From the statement of Barrow, the `deputy fore-
man of the West of England Fire-otlice,. find who 'Wit-
nessed the distressing catastrophe, it appears that during
the whole of the morning the bond timbers in the:
upper part of building were still burning, - and .presented
what are termed bull's-eyes ; . and although no further
extension of the fire could take place, the two deceased,
anxious to show their efficiency, got the branch and hose
screwedson, and entered the ruins,- from .the entrance in
the ..I3lackfriars-road, about :half-past seven o'clock,
and eentinued there until the . accident occurred which
deprived,theln both of Wei, although the danger was
pointed,out.• At a quarter ::to, eight o'clock the upper
part of the north wall, andelliat which formed the back
of Mr. Truscott's premises, , suddenly gave way, and fell
with a' tremendous crash uport•the -two deceased persons.
As soon as pit was observed that all danger was passed,
the men who were left began to clear away, and about
nine o'clock the. remains of Packs were discovered, and
. about ten o'clock those of Webb were dug out. Shells
were procured, and the bodies were conveyed to the
workhouse of St. George the Martyr, in Mint-street,
where the bodies were examined. That of Webb pre-
sented a most,shocking appearance; his arm's, legs, and
thighs were broken, as well as his neck, and death must
have been instantaneous. Packs, on the contrary, pre-
sented not the slightest external injury, and death was
no doubt occasioned by suffocation. "We regret to state
that both the deceased were married men, Webb having
a wife , and. two children to' lament his loss, and
Packs a wife. - When . the - accident came to be
known the gloom which pervaded the faces of the fire-
men was visible to the most casual observer. This is the
fifth death, of. firemen within eleven months,-and are as '
follow:--Loader;- who belonged to the Watling-street
station, was killed: at the fire of Messrs. Goodhere's
sugar bakers, Ratcliffe-highway, on the 26th of Decem-
ber last; West, of the County, was killed at the fire at
Salmon and Moss, Piccadilly, about three months ago;
Wevell, of the B or Chandos-street, was killed on yester-
day fortnight at the fire at the Tower; and now Packer,
of the A or Wellclose-square, and "Webb, of the C or
2dorgan's-lane. By a singular coincidence, four out of five
of the deaths took place on the Sunday. So reckless
are some men of their lives, that although the front wall
hadl f
temerity
in Wellington-street was cracked, and shook at each
England,
tn s at
at n
da
beneath the place kept for the purpose of attempting to
subsequent of
wind'
period Howell,o
extinguish a small body of fire burning under the parapet,
fthoafdtalyie West
s tth e o
and was only recalled by the men at the engine being
desired to stop working.
The following is the official returns of the property
destroyed and damaged :
Messrs. Kindon and Bathe's premises and stock entirely
destroyed ; insured in the Hand-in-Hand and West of
England.
Mr. George Craffer, solicitor, Blackfriars-road; back
front wall and roof dangerously damaged ; furniture in-
jured by fire and water. Furniture insured in the Royal
Exchange ; building unknown.
Mr. Roberts; gentleman, ditto, similarly damaged ;
furniture damaged by water and removal. ' Building and
contents, Royal Exchange.
Mr. Truacott, printer ; the whole of the back premises
destroyed by the falling of the wall. Furniture and stock
in the Sun ; insured for 4,0301. : building in the Royal
Exchange. The damage done here is very great.
N 0.27, Wellington-place ; Mrs. Sarah Hichinbotham's
lodging-house, roof and back part of the premises de-
stroyed. Furniture damaged by fire, removal, and water.
Building and contents insured in the Phoenix.
Wellington-street and Blackfriars'-road ; William
Gould, greengrocer, seriously scorched by fire, not insured.
George- Shut-pet:at, the back of No. 171,-Blackfriars'-
road, hairdresSer, seriously scorched, not insured.
No. 1, Wellington-street ; William Richards, private
front nearly burnt out, and furniture injured by water .
and removal, not insured.

And, in Wellington-place, the backs of Nos. 25 and
26 damaged, and Mrs. Snoxwell ; none of them insured;
the loss about 3,0001.

ANOTHER ACCOUNT.

On Sunday morning, about two, the inhabitants of
Blackfriars-road, and those residing in the immediate
vicinity, were aroused from their slumber .by a piercing
cry of fire, which was uttered by a boy, who happened
to be passine• the extensive floor-cloth manufactory of
Messrs. Rindon and Bathe, situate within one door of
the corner of Wellington-street, and about a hundred
yards distance from the Magdalen. The policeman on
duty immediately sprung his rattle, and, in a short
time, a good sprinkling of the brigade were present ;
in the meantime, information having been given of the
outbreak of the fire to the Waterloo station, the power-
ful engine of that establishment was on the spot in
less than ten minutes ; the County, and several other
engines followed in rapid succession, and a plentiful sup-
ply of water having been obtained from the plugs, a
powerful jet was projected on the building. At this
time the upper part of the premises were in a complete
blaze, and such was the combustible nature of the
material, that in a short time the interior of the premises,
from the ground floor, presented the appearance of a
furnace, while the flames were issuing from every win-
dow, and nearly extending across the street ; so
great at this time was the heat, that the opposite
neighbours felt it sensibly. In a short time the roof of
the building gave way, not, however, in a body, but
piecemeal ; and nothing remained but the outer walls.
The fire now finding vent, shot upwards to an amazing
height, and illuminated the atmosphere for miles around.
There was an immense stock of floor-cloth on the pre-
mises, which burnt with terrific fury. Added to this,
the building appeared to be composed chiefly of wood,
and that of the lightest description, which materially
assisted in adding grandeur to the truly awful scene.
It was extremely fortunate that there was scarcely a
breath of wind stirring at the time, or the consequences
must have been by far more serious, for net _only must
the houses in Wellington-street have fallen a sacrifice,
but those also in Blackfriars-road have shared the
same fate. At three o'clock-the lie was so far got under
that no farther apprehension "of danger was entertained,
though the mass of burning matter below appeared in a
perlct glow, and threw out dense volumes of smoke,
which, being acted upon by the gas issuing from a broken
pipe on the premises, a pale light was thrown on it,
which imparted a notion that the fire was still actively.
raging. One individual was knocked down by an en-
gine' which, passing over his legs, exushed them both
in a frightful manner. We could not learn the name of
the unfortunate man. _
At eight o'clock a portion of the inner wall fell with
a tremendous crash, and with a noise resembling thunder,
and in less than half a minute another immense mass of
brickwork was also levelled with the ground, burying
two unfortunate firemen in the ruins.