The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-12 00:00:00

• 1.4 IA fr
T RP, st n N., LON 001 k, WEDN ESDA Y EV ENING; M-ABC-11-----12.- 1856.

A. 36).) 3 , tr,IXSI) tcKNTAL'..

DESTRUCTION OF COVENT-GARDEN

carpenters' shop. He fitted some piping from the
painting room to the six benches in that shop. A valve
at the back of the stage must he turned On• before gas
cart be supplied to the painting room or carpenters'
shop, and when it is required his 'assistants or some of
his men turn it on. The large cocks are never turned
on by any but the gasmen. He had not had the chan-
delier down since the m!ddle of the last season, and then
it was only to dust it. Ti ere are about 800 burners iu
it, but they were not all fish-tail burners, and they
were all in thorough repe;r. Tao witness here,
explained the mode in which the chandelier was
fixed. The gas for the chaiicielier was regulated
by a dial-plate in the prompt box. It. the gas was
turned full on some of the burne,74 would nht
go• higher than an inch and a half. The heat from it would
warm the ceiling,- but it would be impossible for the ceil-
ing to take fire from it. The chandelier was fleet lit at
about a quarter to 12 on Monday morning,
and was never turned off till the fire
took place. It had been turned down, but
sot put out. The burners were lit with‘a long bamboo
rod, with three feet of wire at the eed. The men satu-
rated the cotton ball at the end of the wire with spirts of
wine. They place the ball in the spirit bottle which they
carry with them. The ball was always brought hack after
it bad been used at the chandelier. At a quarter to five
he was speaking to Mr. Anderson with his back to the
green-room, and as he was giving orders which
battens were to be left burning he saw the fire
through, the cracks of the shop. Mr. Anderson
exclaimed, " Hush," and then he looked up and
said "Good God, the house is on fire, get out for your
lives." He (witness) then ran to the gas regulators and
very gently turned the whole of the gas off. It was
totally impossiblefor the lights or gas from the chandelier
to have caused she fire. The draught was too great to allow
any gas to remain. He could not form any opinion as
to the origin of the fire.
By a Jnror—He bad known the chandelier to have
been alight for a whole fortnight during the decoration
of the house.
Mr. Henry Sloman, the machinist and carpenter of
the establishment, was last on the premises about half-
past 11 on Tuesday night. He had not been in the
carpenters' shop since Friday last, whee he went to see
if it had been properly cleared up. The centre of the
floor was quite clear.• There was a large quantity of
wood and properties at the sides, but not heaped about
the shop. It did not occur to him that anything
but the escapeof gas caused the fire. The escape of gas was
very great, so great indeed that he had frequently called
the attention of the authorities, the gasthen and firemen, to
the circumstance, and he had frequently said that if the '
escape of gas was not seen to the theatre would be
burnt down. Since the gas had been supplied by
the London Gas Company the pressure had
been three times as much as it used to be.
He was certain there was not sufficient wood to fill half
a cart lying about the carpenters' shop.
By a Juror- -He thought the gas must have exploded,
and therefore caused the fire. There had not been a
light in the carpenters' shop-since Christmas.
At this point the inquiry was adjourned until Satur-
day next at three o'clock.

THEATZE.

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3wiLwiao,

C axing
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Hiisiams
this iay.

C. or2;)an

OFTICIA.L INQUIRY.

Th: following appeared in our late edition last

'Toulon 1.,
N. Vl'wt.
.W •
E. Un.
E. C....

night :

64 -- 96
94 - 18

This afternoon, at three o'clock, Mr. Bedfori, the
coroner for Westminster, and a jury, assembled at the
Piazza Hotel, Covent-garden, to inquirc., into the cir-
cumstances attending the tqtal destruction of Covent-
garden Theatre, by fire, oa the morning of Wednesday
last. .

11 - 13

Count.
;31doulan

41 ... 4i

Amongst those present we observed—Superiatendent
Braidwood, of the Fire Brigade ; Mr. White, of the
County Fire Office ; Superintendent Durkin and Inepee-
tor Dodd ; C. J. Carttar, the Coroner for West Kent ;
most of the officers of the establishment, Mr. Anderson,
the Wieird, and nearly every one connected with the
management of the Theatre.
The preliminaries having been gone through,
The Coroner said he did not think it was necessary
the jury should be troubled with viewing the premises.
The present inquiry was rather unusual, it was not
touching the death of any person ; but it was to ascer-
tain the cause of the late destruction, by fire, of Covent•
garden Theatre. The churchwardens of the parish were
extremely anxious to have an inquiry in the late con-
flagration, and from the opportunities that had been
offered to him, he had determined to make a thorough
and searching investigation. The public were entitled
to have an inquiry openly and in a public room, espe-
cially as the most intense interest existed in the minds
of every person in the land, from the highest down to
the very lowest.
The Ant witness called wee
James Castles, fireman to Covent-garden Theatre.
He was employed by Mr. Robertson, as agent to the
proprietors. His duty was to attend to the general
safety of the theatre. There were four firemen engaged
in the duty, each having an equal share of duty over the
whole of the premises. He was in the theatre a few
minutes after one on Monday until after the fire took
place. The time that he supposed the fire occurred was
between 4 and 5 o'clock on Wednesday morning, as
near as he could tell. Ile never left the theatre during
the whole time. Between 4 and 5, on the morning of
the fire, he was passing up to the flies where the ma-
chinery was, and returned to the stage, where it was
desirable that the fireman should be, in consequence
of the number of smokers, and then entered into a csn-
versation with Mr. Bryanstone and Mr. Palmer, the
foremen of the gas department, and asked him what
" battens " or border lights he would have left alight,
imagining that the people would go to work to remove
the fitting. He had just spoke one word when he clasped
his hauls, and said "Oh, my God, the theatre is on Ere."
At that time be saw a glimmering light through the
floor of the carpenters' shop. At this time no fire had
fallen. He thee met Butler, another fireman, and told
him the house was on fire, and they both rushed up to
the carpenters' shop. When they got to the door a gust
of black smoke struck them which issued from the shop.
A plan of the theatre was here put in.
Examination continued—The smoke rushed out of
the door, which was open ; it was so dense that Butler
called to hint to go on his bands and knees to endeavour
to get at the fire cock in the shop, and ho supposed that
they got about midway, but he then get so g►ddy he was
obliged to return, but not before seeing that the fire was
on the left side of the shop. As soon as he got to the
door he fell, but got up and ran to the fire cocks at the
end-of the floor which was on fire. The fire mains were
charged for that phone, but he was unable to find it. He
remained there until he heard some one call him. He
went to the flies and cut two or three rapes from the
windlasses, thinking they would stop the fire. He there
saw Mr. Lawrence acid other firemen on the stage at
work at the fire-cocks. The engines were playing ache:,
be left the building. There was a role for the firesosn :
it was to the effect that ona of the men was to go
round the boil sing every hour. Throe men were on
duty at night, aul ens during the day. It was the
duty of each to make the rounds as ordered. Ha hal
pa'se'l from the front of the theatre to the stage fre-
quently that day, and he had not smelt anything like
fire or gas in the carpenters' shop. lie had frequently
smelt gas, but not mare than (night be expected from
wear and tear. The fire le oke out by the side of the
carpenters' workshop. He did not think it could be
horning elsewhere. The "flies" were cennected
the carpenters' shop by a staircese. When he first went
to the "flies" he was about twenty felt from the car-
penters' shop. He thought the theatre was set on fire.
The smoke was not like wood smoke, and the time that
the fire broke out, when they were all engaged getting
the people out, favoured the euppesitios. It was
merely his impression that the fire had been wilfully
Made. There were some gas fittings in the carpenters'
shop, but they bad not been used since Chri.teras. The
gas was turned off from the pipes in question in the car-
penters' shop. Any person could turn the cock with a
key. If the gas escaped from these pipes it would have
gone up the shaft of the chandelier, which was sus-
pended from the roof through the carpenters' shop. The
ehandelier could not be t ►ken into the shop, as it was a
flx'ure. The shaft was an open one, and like a large
fun►el. The draught, for the escape of gas, was Ye] y
great. The chandelier was suspended by nun
girders, which rested horizontally on the timber
supports, which were made fast to the floor of the
shop, which was the roof of the theatre. The supports
could be seen by any person in the carpenters' shop. The
distance from the chandelier to the fleet- of the carpenters'
shop was between 14 and 15 feet, and about 10 or 11
from the gas when alight. He never knew the
heat from the chandelier to warm the floor of
the carpenters' shop. There were flues in the walls of
the buildings, which formed the boundaries of the car-
centers' shop, and on the night in question there wire
several of the flues in use. There were about seventy
flues in the house, and daring the whole of the time
he had been on the establishment, and that extended
over some years. he never knew more than two or three
to take fire. The smoke he bad mentioned in the
former part of his evidence smelt like fumes of charcoal,
not like burning wood.
By Mr. Clerk— There was no charcoal used in td e car-
penters' shop, and until the fire broke out be never
smelt anything burning. The reason he and his fellow-
servarte were on the stage was to prevent accidents
arising from the vi-itors smoking. The carpenters' shop
he felt so certain was quite secure that he did not think
it requisite to visit it every hour. It was the duty of the
firemen to visit every part of the theatre every hour.
During the performance their duty was to look alter the
safety of the theatre generally. There were tell-tale.
which would inform the proprietors whether they did
their duty or not, but it was not expected that they (the
firetnee) should pull them every hour until the perfor•
'nevus Were over.
. By a Juror—He was in the lobbies of the boxes (lur-
ing the night of the bat.-masque. He was within 20 or
30 feet of the place where the fire broke out, but lie
smelt nothing. He was perfectly sober during the whole
of the night.
By Mr. Solomon—There hal not bean any one at
work in the carpenters' shop to his Is nowledge during
that day.
A plan was here shown to the witness, and he marked
the place where be first saw the fire break out.
By Mr. Lawrence-s-lie hail never seen the iron of
the chandelier heated.
Wi:liam Butler, another fireman of the theatre, stated
he went on duty on the night previous to the tire, at
pine o'clock, and remained so till the fire was discovered.
He was on the stage when the alarm wise given. He sew
nothing of the fire until he entered the carpenters shop
with Castles. The smoke was so dense it was impossible
to get at the fire cocks under the cistern. He had not
been higher than the t flies on Tuesday night, and
at twelve o'clock there was no fire that he could
discover. At three o'clock on the morning of
the fire ho met Mr. Sloman's brother on the first fly
and, from him he learned the hour cf the morning.
After Mr. Slornan left him he (wittels) proceeded up
stairs and found everything in the top flies was perfectly
safe, and nothing like fire was perceptible. On re-
turning down stairs he entered the flies at the promp
side, and crossed to the 0. P. side, and then he returned
to the ball-room to prevent the gentlemen from smoking,
and remained there until the alarm. Castles came to
him, and said there was something " wrong up-stairs,"
and they immediately ran iip-stairs to the carpenters'
shop. There was a heap of wood in the shop floor on
fire, as much as would half fill a cart., The fire
had spread considerably, and the floor in one
part bad fallen through. The flooring of the
shop was very thick and strong. There was no-
thing on fire below the carpenters' shop when
the alarm was first given. He did not think the fire Was
occasioned by the gas, as if such had been the case the
flooring would have been on fire underneath, instead of
_ the top, as was the case when the fire was first disco-
♦ered. There was a considerable quantity of
loose stuff lying about the carpenters' shop.
Any person could enter the shop, as it was open. The
gas Was first fitted in the carpenters' shop to bring oat
the pantomime, but it had been shut off since, and no
gas had been used in the shop Since Christmas. On
Tuesday morning he was up ha the shop with a lantern,
but it was enclosed with glass, and was termed a safety
lamp.
By the Foreman—lf there had been fire smoldering
in the carpenters' shop ho thought he must have smelt
it. When he entered the ahop he did not imell any.
thing extraordinary about the smoke; it was just like
the ordinary smoke.
James Bryanstone, sea., fireman, stated he was in
the theatre the whole of the night of the fire, and never
d left it for
.a moment. Shortly before 5 o'clock he saw
fire fall from the roof of the theatre. He immediately
ran to the carpenters' shop to turn the water on, but the
smoke was so great that it was impossible to get to it.
He got into the shop about a yard, but he could not
proceed any further. He could see a heap of wood, as
much as would fill half a cart. He was not in the ro3in
when Castles gave his evidence. He could not form
any idea how the fire occurred.
By a Juror- The wood he saw on fire was about 1(3
feet from the door. The bits of wood were thrown
where they were in clearing the carpenters' shop. Dur-
ing the performance the firemen go over the house to
examine it. After the performance was over, it st as
their duty to go over the house every hour. He did not
think the fire was occasioned by the heat from the
chandelier ; for when M. Jullien bad the theatre there
were 12 additional ones hung around the large one,
and no accident occurred. The burners of the chande-
lier had not been enlarged. The heap of burning wood
was about 30 feet from the opening of the cbandelier.
John Drake Palmer, gas-fitter—He was employed by
the proprietors as general manager of thegas-fittings of the
, theatre. The last time he did anything to the fittings
Vie to erect thole that had been spoken Omit in the

ct. Woo
Yk. New.
Borw.
Y. & N )11.

103 - 105

Eagte.

12i1
231 - 2.44
105 - 110

'eto d; Co.

2i

91. 7- 92

P -t"
55 - 67

I:j2 - 131

- 7i
31 -

84 - SG

BAIL k

112 116
112 116
82 86

9-2

96 98
- 166

Va -
•••
95 -10)
70 - 80
I
2 -

AZKET NEW2,—(This Day.)

CORN EXCHANGE.

6r3 - 70

A very limited supply of English wheat was on sale in
to•day's market. The demand for all kinds was not to say
brisk, yet Monday's advance in the quotations was well
supported.
Foreign wheat, the supply of which was but moderate,
moved off freely at very full prices. Floating cargoes
realised fully late currencies.
The barley trade was firm, and the finest malting parcels
were held for more money. •
Malt ruled dull, at late rates. The oat trade was in-
active, but beans and peas were very firm.
We had a good demand fur flour, and fine country marks
were the turn dearer.

115 - 117

- 109
101 -- 103

9i - 10

- 6A'
93 - P 5
3 - 5
8A - 86
98 • 10.

Wheat.
660

ARRIVAL/ THIS WBBIL
Barley. I Malt. I Oats. Floor.
490 290 420
—brli
i 2'410 1 aka

Irish •• ••

roreign I ; 2,310 '1

10;
10t 17
10 104
70 73
19 20
lo
141 —14 a
I a
33 - 135

I -

Boßoyal' nor.
The demand for all kinds of hops is very inactive, at last
week's currency.

WHITECITAPEL.

Thef, from 33 01 to 4a 2J ; mutton, 3; to 43 4cl; veal,
43 Od to ris 01; pork, 3s 4d to 4381 per Sibs. Trade steady.

.. -- •••

COLONIAL.

TEA. —Tho market has been quiet. Common sound
coirr'ou is in demand at si 1 to Od, with very few sellers ;
but other sorts are (sparingly dealt in, at h.;rely previous
rates.
SUGAR.—The market having been abundantly supplied
both with colonial and foreign, importers have been anxious
to realise. The trade for home consumption has been de-
pressed, and the demand is of quite a limited character.
For West India descriptions prices have receded Gd per
cwt on last week's rates. Foreign has also declined Gd to
Is per cwt; there are large sales advertised for the present,
week. In the refined market there is less demand for
home consumption ; but prices have been firmly sup- •
ported, and crushed still in demand for exportation. •
COFFEE.-1 fair demand. has existed for clean Native
Ceylon at 51s to 528 per cwt.,. unclean 49a 0,1 to 50s Gd,
but there aro but few parcels offering. Plantation has
also realised full rates. Jamaica and Mucha are both scarce
and much wanted.
CoooA.—Much dullness has been exhibited in this arti-
cle, and prices have given way. Trinidad red brought tss
to 5 is, grey 41s Gd to 453 par cwt.
RICE.—The market has been very inactive, the imp y
far exceeding the demand. The deliveries still continue
heavy.
TALLOW.— The market is quiet, and only a few public
sales are announced. Fine P.Y C. on the spot is 57s to
57s Gd ; April, 52a 91 to 534; last tore© months, 51s 3d to
51s 0,1. Australian beef, good quality, 4Ss 6,1 to 49s ;
mutton, 528 6.1 to 533; South American, 51s to; sa; and
home-melted 51s 6d per cat.

• •• •••

'I : i.

.as ...... s`

L'3 -134
91 - 96
1 -
4 -
I • • ••

99 -101
90 - If 2
5 - 5i

•e '''. '6
1 ..... id

s~ ~. i~

221 -
f 6 - OS
-

1 - 3p

- ~#~

••

3 - 5

-- 2
2-
23 - 25

IP
- 69

33
21
20 • 22
14 —l6
1{ —2;
1 • id

-

I -I

12 - 14
-
10 - `2l
- 8
2i - 31
3 - 3i

2i - 3
4 - 4i
3i - 4
* - i
A- i

THE isIAIIYLEBONE AND FINCHLEY
TURN:I'IXE ROAD,, EX IVZSION ACT, 1350 —To the Cre-
ditor, rn the Tolle of the 31arytet,oi,e and Fin ehley Roads.— .NoTicE IS
llst;ErtiGt\sN, That, in pursuance of the a.',ov,-frientloned A,A, a
Ciduposit.on or Cmn;isitioni wit he paid by the Coininissiom,rs of
tit, ncti-op,lis Turnpike Roads North if the 1 iI'ITLICS to such Cre-
ditor or Creditors on the said Tolls as shall 1.,0 witling to accept the
smallest Composition for his, her, or their security or securities ; and
the said Creditors are hereby required each to transmit to the said
CominisAoler,, at their Cflice, N 0.22, W‘titehall•pla-te, on or before
Twelve o'clock at noon, on erid ty, the Ott Oay of April next, a pr r-
posal in writing, seated arid address,: d to the Said Comni!ssioners,
with the words Atnrytelione end Finch ey-roads —Proposal ter
Contrksiti,n," written on the ont,ide, in which proposal shut! tie
maul the lowa rate pzr centuin wt,ich sacti creditor will accept
and take for the sum, or sums, which-he or .she may have due
and owing on the said foils, or for some pan. (inputs thereof.
ily order of the Connnisaloriers of the lletropas Turnpike Roads
north of the Thames.

GEORGE LARALMOICDIERE, ChlcfClerk.
22, WhitehaV-place, 12t7 March. 1836.