The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-24 00:00:00

THE CAPTURE OF TAMPICO,

" United States steamer Spitfire, before the
Town of Tampico, Nov. 14, 1846.
" Sir,—l have the honour to inform the depart-
ment, that I entered the river of Tampico this
morning, with all the small vessels of the squadron,
and a strong detachment of seamen and marines from
the Cumberland, Mississippi, St. Mary's, Princeton,
and Porpoise.

" On my arrival at the city I was met by a depu-
tation from the citizens, offering the surrender of the
place, on condition that their laws, institutions, and
property should be respected.

"I will hold the place as long as possible. Its im-
portance requires that a garrison of 500 or 600 men
should be sent to occupy it as speedily as possible.
To obtain this object I have dispatched Commodore
Perny to Matamoros to make arrangements with
General Patterson to have a force without delay.
"As I deem it important the Mississippi should
sail without delay, I must defer a more particular
statement to another opportunity.

" I have the honour to be, very respectfully, your
obedient servant,

" D. CORN NOR, Commanding Squadron
Hon. J. Y. Mason, Secretary of the Navy,
*Washington."

TWO EXTENSIVE FIRES
(THIS DAY.)
This morning the metropolis was visited by the out-
break of two extensive fires which were not extinguished
until a vast amount of valuable property was consumed.
The first outbreak took place at four o'clock, upon the
premises in the occupation of Mr. Banfill, and Mr.
Hatch field, cabinet-makers and upholsterers, 20, Ed ward-
street, Langham-place, St. Merylebone. The discovery
was made by a police-constable passing along his beat.
He immediately aroused the inmates, but the fire had
obtained such a firm hold that it was with great diffi-
culty the residents were able to effect a safe retreat. The
engines of the parish, London brigade, County, and West
of England offices, together with an escape belonging to
the Royal Society for the Protection of Life from Fire,
were remarkably early in arriving, and there being
plenty of water at hand, the firemen under the direction
of their foreman, set to work most vigorously, but it
was nearly six o'clock, before the fire could be rubdued,
and not nntil it had passed throughout the building, de-
stroying in its progress the whole of the furniture, stock
in trade and other effects. how the fire originated could
not be learned.

The second fire broke out at seven o'clock. at 32, Old-
street-road, the property of Mr. R. Harris, also an
upholsterer and cabinet-maker. The flames originated
in the manufactory. At the time of the outbreak, one
or two of the workmen and apprentices were in the place,
and they immediately tried to subdue the fire, by throw-
ing buckets of water upon it ; in that endeavour they
were foiled. Finding that they were unable to get the
mastery over the flames, one of the parties started off to
Whitecross•street engine station, with intelligence of the
disaster. Mr. Mallett, the head engineer, immediately
started to the spot, but before sufficient time had
elapsed to set the engine to work, the whole of
the extensive back premises, and the front ware-
house and dwelling, were wrapped in -one immense
sheet of flame. The sparks and large flakes of fire
were at the same time ascending high into the air,
threatening destruction to the surrounding habitations.
As soon as possible the engine was set to work, and by
distributing the water over the tops of the adjoining
houses, they were prevented from becoming ignited.
Numerous other eugines from the parish of Shoreditch,
and the London Brigade, with Mr. Superintendent
Braidwood, followed in rapid succession, and owing to
the combined exertions of all, the further progress of the
destructive element was cut off, but not until the back
premises were levelled to the ground, their contents
destroyed, and the whole of the costly furniture in the
front building consumed. At eleven o'clock this fore-
noon the engines were still working upon the smoulder-
qg ruins.

THE ROBBERY AT MESSRS. ROGERS AND CO.'S.—
A BILL RETURNED.—An acceptance, forming part of
the property stolen from Messrs. Rogers and Co. for the
recovery of which so many efforts have been made, and
such large rewards offered, was returned yesterday to
the accepters, Messrs. Batty, Melville, and Co., whole-
sale stationers, Aldersgate-street. It was contained in a
letter, the writer of which stated the affair would never
be traced, and the bill being of no use to him, he re-
turned it to its owners. This is the second of the stolen
documents which has lately been returned, evidently by
the same party. The writing of both the letters in
which the securities were enveloped is similar, and ink
of the same colour. The orthography, also, is equally
defective. So far as we can learn, no clue to the reco •
yerz of the stolen property is afforded by these letters.
CLOSING THE EQUITY COURTS AND OFFICES.—
Yesterday the Lord Chancellor, the Vice- Chancellor of
England, the Master of the Rolls, and the Vice-Chan-
cellors Wigram and Knight Bruce, sat in their respective
courts, for the last time before Hilary Term. The Re-
gistrars, Masters, and Six Clerks' Offices, as also the
Affidavit Office, closed this day for the purposes of
general business, and will continue closed until the 7th
of January next. The office of the Accountant-General
of the High Court of Chancery will also be closed dur-
ing the same period. Notwithstanding the closing of the
offices and the rising of the respective courts, in cases of
positive emergency, where the parties are desirous of
filing a bill for the purposes of obtaining an injunction,
&c., in pressing cases, a limited attendance at the offices
will be given, to file the necessary bill and affidavits pre-
paratory to an application to either the Lord Chancellor
or one of the other judges at their respective houses for
such injunction.
BRITISH PHILANTHROPIC PENSION SOCIETY.—
Yesterday a dinner was given to the pensioners on this
admirable institution, at the house of Mr. Titchener,
the Britannia Tavern, Bishopsgate-street Without,
where an excellent meal, consisting of meat, poultry,
mince-pies, &c., was provided for the aged receipients of
the society's bounty. In addition, gratuities of half-a-
crown to each pensioner were kindly given by Mrs.
Perrin and Mr. J. Flemming. The British Philan-
thropic Pension Society, which, we are informed, was
established in the year 1838, for the purpose of affording
permanent relief to the aged and infirm of both sexes
by means of a small weekly allowance for lite, is dis-
tinguished from other associations of a similar character
by requiring no claim to its bounty beyond that of age
and distress--its charity not being restricted to the
members of any particular trade or class—it is there-
fore eminently worthy the support of the benevolent, in
order that its sphere of usefulness, at present bounded
within a somewhat scanty space by its means, may be
extended still further, and thus gladden the hearts of
many now sinking beneath the accumulated afflictions
of age, poverty, and sickness.
IMPORTATION OF POULTRY.—It is known that large
quantities of poultry are imported weekly from France,
Holland, and Belgium—the latter more particularly;
but the arrivals now taking place are much be-
yond the usual average, which the festive season of
Christmas will readily account for. The steam-ship
Harlequin, from Boulogne, brought on Monday 94 cases,
2 hampers, and 4 baskets, the production of France ;
the Belfast, from Calais, 5 baskets and 14 cases ; the
Rapid, from Harlingen, 10 baskets, of Dutch produce ;
the Sir Edward Banks, from Ostend, 4 baskets and 43
cases, of Belgian production.. These, with other arri-
vals, took place in one day, and comprised every descrip-
tion of poultry, both in a live and dead state, suitable to
this particular time. The arrival by the Harlequin is
one of the largest we remember to have taken place, and
as further large snpplies are expected during the week,
in addition to those from all parts of the country, of
home growth, it is anticipated that poultry generally
will he obtainable in the metropolis at a moderate price.
The sl.ght change Nt hieli has again taken place in the
weather will have a beneficial effect on the immense
quantities of all sorts of meat and provisions with which
the town will be stocked during the present week.