The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-17 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, 1,411R,c1-1 17. 1856.

THE DESTRUCTION OF COVENT-GARDEN.

THEATRE.

[The following appeared in part of our impression of
Saturday.]
MEETING OF PROPRIETORS. \

This afternoon a meetinz of the proprietors of this
nrifoitunate buildinz was held at Mr. Robins' rooms,
Piazza, Covent-garden, to answer any inquiry relating
to the property.
The chair was taken by Dr: Sthethwick. . •
Mr. Surman, in addressing tb.e meeting, said—l at-
tend, gentlemea,- on the part of the proprietors of the
late Covent garden Theatre, to •giVe you a short state-
ment of the position of that theaitre, in order that; by a
knowledge of rteposition, you tray have some guidance
for your future conduct. The proprietors- are anxious
that you should know exactly w.Liiat are your charges on
the property, and to what liability that property is sub-
ject. The theatre is held upon six_leases from the Duke
of Bedford. `nen: are 38 years Etnexpire.l of the term,
and thereat payable to the dukfi is 2,0851. per annum..
In the year 1803 the theatre was burnt .down, and was
rebuilt in 1809. Upon that'occaa;.on-150.sharea of 5001.

each were issued, ieh. realised sum of 75,0001. Of
these 150 ,1)ar.2,, •'! the uenlemen who now attend
represent the ot.•:: who were entitled to an
amenity of 25/. on c:,,,e!.) share for the Whole term of the
lease, which hns 3S years to ran;- ar also to a free trans.

ferable a,drnissien. In the 'year/832 the theatre was in
difficulties. The shareholders had received no annuity
for the last seven yeae, and the aironrietors had incurred
a loss of from 70,0001. to 80,0.00/. ; the rent was in
arrear, executions were in the teense, and the property
appeared to be ruled. Var;ous :meetings took place in
that year, ea...ce,:.iy amoog the 'ehareholdere, who had
SO large ah iee-e in the erOperty. Utteinintely, in the
month of Meaeh, nee. shAe-A'noldesrs 'came to a reso-
lution—and hob! art ioy heed their eriginel doctiment
—to give up eetireiyethe areearetof tete ithiiirtity fin the -•
last three yeere, and e.anceept 10r . i' the round for the
four yeare prior to these ; end t trey also agreed that, in-'
stead of having 251. a year in the.future, they would teke
half that sum, or 121. 10e. until tk e theatre was free from
debt. That areangement,as-hoia.gtmtletnen present know,
has been carried out euccesefullyft om 1832 to the present
time: I believe there has only been one year in which
gentlemen have not received their annuity with almost
as great regularity as bank dividends. In that year, 1843
—though I am not quite clear about it—the theatre had
ao tenant. For 22 out of the 23 years the annuity was paid.
with extreme regularity. I believe, too, that all the ar-
rears which were due in 1832, upon which 10s. in the
pound were payable, have teen paid off. At the time
when the sharehelders agreed to assist the proprietors by
the reduction of their annuities, a saving was effected of
1,8751., the total amount of .elie full annuity of 251.
upon 150 shares being equal to 3,750/., and the half of
that, or 10e. in the pound, was 1,875/. , The charge of
1,815!. formed a second charge upon the . property, the
first charge being the Duke of Bedford's rent, amount.
ing to 2,085/. The Duke of Bedford, in 1832, with equal
liberality, consented to redace his rent by 5001. a-year.
By that means the rent became reduced to 1,5851.
There is also let with the theatre the PiazzeCoffee-house,
which produces a rental of 3151., and a small house in
Princes-place, which is let at 401. If, therefore, from
the 1,5851. of rent we deduct the sums of 315/. and 401.,
derived from the other property, it will leave the total
rent chargeable upon the theatre 1,230/. -In addition to
this, in all our dealings with the property, we have
found it necessary to pay the rates and taxes ourselves,
and to Jet the theatre for an annual sum, we paying these
rates and taxes. Last year these items of expense
amounted to 1,020/.; it has been as high as 1,2001., and
as low as 8001. These constitute a third charge on the
property. The next items of erpenves are salaries. We
have been hound to pay the four firemen whom we have
kept upon the property, ao the theatre was not insured ;
in fact, the premiums ot insurance amounting to a sum
which it would be immissible to pay. The salaries of the
firemen were 375/.. The next, charge is for the salary of
Mr. Robertson, a gentleman who has been-connected
with tee theatre for, I think, not lees than 36 years, and
who has given satielaction in the discharge of his duties,
not only to the prophetore, but to every gentleman with
whom he lees been cennected. The salary of Mr. Robert-
son was 250/. a-year, void for that sum. he has been a con-
stant resident on the property, and ham been constantly
in and out of the theatre during the time of the different
tenants, and throughout all the difficulties which the.
theatre has had to peat through. Theist; are further
items of expense. We are bound by our covenants to
keep the outer walls in repair; and to paint it outside.
There is a charge for stationery, and for insurances of
the Piazza Coffee-house and the small house in Prince's-
place. Tease, which may be clashed under the head of
" miscellaneous," comprise altogether &beat 250/.
a-year. These are six items ot the charge upon the pro-
perty, and, if added together, they will be found to
amount to a total of about 5,000/. a-year. Gentlemen
present will remember that for three years we were
unable to get arty tenant at all except the A..nti-Cure-law
League, hut etW we managed to pay our debts. Tken
we got .M. Persian/ as a tenant, who converted the
theatre into an opera house. Our agreement with him
was at a rent of 6,000/. per annum. After him we made
an arrangement, wit,n. Mr. Gye for a term. cif ten years,
the rent for the first three years to be 6,51101., and, for
the remainder of the term, 7,0001. ay year. Assuming
these figures of liaht te be correctly stated at 5,000/.
a-year, there would be an annual profit of 1,0001. a-year
on a rental of 6,000/., and of 1,500/. on that of 6,500/.
But if wo take the working of the theatre from the years
1832 to 1856, the average profit daring the whole of that
term would not be more than 600/. a-year, and this upon
a property whit':', I am tuid, in 1809 cost 300,000/.
With respect to the property, it is held in twelfth-shares,
and they are divided in the following manner :—.the exe-
cutors of the late C. Kemble hold two-twelfths. At the
death of Charles Kemble those shares were left to his
children, two daughters and son ; and at the present time
all his affairs are in the Court of Chancery. lam int-tinned
that it was necessary a short time since to come to some •
calculation of the value of his interest in the property, for
the purpose of probate, or some other cause, and the valua-
tion which, after most careful inquiry, was put upon the
two-twelfths shares of Chas. Kemble, was 500/. (Laugh-
ter.) Capt. Forbes and Mr. Willett represent three-
twelfths between them. Capt. Forbes is I ant sorry to say
confined to his room by illness, but his son represents hiss
on this occasion, and Ca,pt. Willett is also present. Tee
remaining seven-twelfths of the property belong to the
Harris family, and that is represented by myself as the
executor and trustee of the family. My friend Mr.
Harris died in 1839, and I am sorry to say that he owed
at that time 50,000/. of private debts, which were se-
cured by mortgages on his shares in this theatre, not
one shilling of which has yet been paid, or is likely ever
to be paid. You see, therefore, the position in which
she proprietors are placed—the repreeentatives of the
largeet one of them owing debts to the amount of
50,000/., and the two shares' of Charlet; Kemble in
Chancery, and valued at 500/. Bu looking to the work-
ing of the theatre ~i,‘ce 1832, at which period there was
a general debt on the property of 70,000/., besides the
arrears of the annuities, for which 103. in the, pound
were agreed to be taken, which came to something like
4,000/., money VOA borrowed, the creditors behaved
with extreme liberality, and eventually the whole debt,
by the invaluable exertions of Mr. Moore and Captain
Forbes, was reduced to about 24,000/. What we have
been working for ever since 1832, ha's been this average
profit of 6001. a year, Which has gone to liquidate the
general debt of 24,000/., which now stands at about
9,000/. ' The proprietors., looking at the property, having
these facts before them. and seeing that the profit is so
small a one, plait-AO-1 the present figures appear to offer
a much larger prAit—yet, taking them upon the wleue,
the proprietors feel that it is periectly out of their power
to do any thieg with the property whatever. Were the
theatre stazeiing at this moment it would be encem-
bored wit; 5,000/. a year, and were you to rebuild it
to-morrow you would put another 5,0001. a year upon
it,. and the property is not worth 10,000/., nor 8,000/.,

nor even 7,000/. a year. I have often said to Captain
Forbes, and co,hers who have spoken to me on the sub-
jeet—and who hare said that Cevem-earien must he
very valurthle—" I can only say this, that if you would
give me that - theatre ta-morrow I would not take it as
a gift." Thu Duke of Bedford's allowance of 5001.
a year is not likely to he deviated from, and the
rowers' deduction of 1,825/. is also, perhaps, not
likely to be departed from. But as sown as we have
paid off the remano:er of the debt of 24,000/. now amon ntt•
ing to 9.000/.—the renters will be entTed to their full
motility., and when that takes place the theatre will be
unproductive f..r atty purpose at all. I am bcre on behalf
of the proprietors to answer any questions which may
be put, and to inform the sharehokters that they feel per-
fectly incompetent, and have fully made up their minds
that they will not be parties in any way to reinstating
that property. They have not the means of doing so, and
they rennet see their way to obtaining the money requi-
site for the purpose. I may, however, state to you, as
parties representing a mai of 75,0001. charged upon this
property, that if you can in any way convince yourselves
of the advantages of dealing with the Duke of Bedford
for a renewal of the lease—for with the premsnt unex-
pired term of the lease you could do nothing —and can
see your way to raising 70,0001. or 100,0001. for the re-
building of the theatre, the proprietors will be happy to
render you any assistance iu their power. I may also
add, before concluding my explanations, that in our
agreement whh Persiani we had to allow 1,0001. one
year for repairs, 2,0001. in another, and 1,0001. in a third
year. This wilt tend to explain why the annual profit
has not been so large as it would otherwise appear. In
the year 1855 our profit was 1,5001., but Mr. Gye is in
oir debt 1,7001., which is 2001. more than our profit for
that year.
An Annuitant said they were not shareholders, but
annuitants. Under the deed they were to be paid 251
per annum, anti have a free admission.
Mr. M. SHARP said that the proprietors in letting the
theatre had been very remiss in not calling the renters
together before it was let to Mr. Anderson, especially tv
two theatres bad been burnt down whilst in the hands
of that gc ntletnan.
Mr. SURHAN said that the theatre was let to Mr.
Anderson by Mr. Gye. It was impossible to let a thea-
tre as they would a private house, binding persons down
to certain things. Mr. Gye had been a good tenant.
Mr. Gye was at Madrid when be heard of the Bal
Masque being announced, and he telegraphed immedi-

diately to say he disapproved of it, and-: wag retuning
home ti prevent it -when the fire occurred.
Mr. M. SHARP said he was prepared to show tht.the.
fire might have ocourre:l from- the use. of a grvanic
battery; by Which he understood Professor An.erson
did many of his tricks. He mbved a normoittee of in-
quiry to be appointe,l.
. The CHAIIIIIAN tqt,i4l tbe question to be can:siderd was
what had better he sloae, with the land ? thoght it
would' be valuable for' tlib enlargement of Ctivent9irdeti
market.

Mr. SIIMINN pall the Dike of Bedford h&rt ben in-
formed that the proprietr:rs could, not. p,.. v the rot nor
dischaige the covenants in the lease. i'll'eT,Akein ar
rears a ye.ir's rent, and it hail bean tin:;.Me'd is the
noble duke to take possession of the land. Nollilig was
said in the lea e about rehniktini; or in. airing aga4t fire.
Dr. Rows swift the annuitatit3 ought to taket share
in what the property was wort,h3 •
-1 i . .
Mr. SCIMIAN said t%e proprietors could not tato upon
themselves aoy liability without the an:mitall'e gaii tliPin
a release. ' Tiiiry-eilbt years' 1ea,,,, -- ~ a b.td oil. The,
anonit.aiota had bet i..ir olkii.l a ne-w le: ,3 • froni tilt Duke
of Bedford, and rebuild the ' r,rtli,e.. The I,rorietors
were'ready to give up the:r ' it,e to : -..-i, a,!,:1. aunder-
stociii the noble duke would ruder the 13,21 ?win. addsd
to Covent-garden Market than the th.saire li! bnilt.
The question of what must be done with .:d.r. G :tiaust
stun=t ov,r fir em.sideration.

Mr. THourzati. reminded' the meeting that i'dr. Gye
had recmtl received 4,0001. far concorts, 2,00t4 from
Mr. Ander.on, and would rec.:et-up 8,0001. from ltu. in-
surance offices. • t
CHAISIIAN said no, doubt ill land would Le For%
6,0001. a year fu- market purposes. The ptopretors
had only paid 1,5001. -or 2,000!. a year fur it..
Mr. SuumAN said that the direct charge on theland,
after cleduytioes, was 1,2351. • Ile did not consichr the
proprietor's were ry:rsonally reAponsible• to tae lia.re-
holders.or annuitants. It tvonid he t.l.cnrr that
rrc. -1C,A3Zr1111,6".$ interest: wAtj.4.Cher,-
c,rY, ant.riatarris:s. aff,Or2.,_ far! which he (ittifsnrreart)
was trustee,, were in a hopeless state. The patents of
the theatre were now nsele-'s.

Ultimately a committee of 12 renters was appointed
to inquire into the renters' position and repot thereon.
The meeting shortly after separated.
The following distinguished individuals )told shares in
the theatre :—The Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of
Devoashire, the Earl of Dartm:mtb, Lady Henrich, Sir
John Dodsan, Lady Beauchamp, the Duchess of St.
Albans (executor), the Marquis of Salisbury, and Sir R.
Smirke.

Mr, Gye's lease was for ten years' eannsenoing in
1853, at a rent of 6,0001. per annum for the first three
years, and 7,0001. per annum for the last seven.

what he wanted, seeing he knew the place so
well. He had no•lucifers about him ; he merely went
in for his clothes and returned to his son, who was wait
ing for him. The only -thing he did was to shut the
dormer window, which had been left open. The place
was dreadfnlly hot, and that was the reason no person-
cared about stopping there. Mr. Anderson had had the
key to the-shop, but he had lost it ; the door was always
(mere and anybody from the boxes could get to the shop.
The carpenters,of the theatre are se a,cceetonsed to the,
smell of gas that they don't notice it Be could sonli
ancount for the fire by the batten lights being turned
ull on that day by order of Mr. Audeisoia, and
that the "borders" took fire in cansequence. He did
not think that People when they were enjoying them-
selves would' think of looking vp to stidif -all teas right
above.
By the VeetryClerk--The bas from the battens might
have ignited one of the ropes by which they were worked,
and be that mean; the flames might have bees core-
nienicated to the . •
The witness here described the battens used in then-
tree. They • consisted of a gas, pipe, guarded by wire
work, and suspended across the stage by ropes, the gas
conveyed to the •b leathern hose. Ropes
were need to lrigher or lower we might be deeired.
BY the Coroner—He heard Mr. .kederson say to Mr.
Palmer,' the gasman, " Let me have the gas on full to-
night."
By the Coroner—Mr. Anderson raised his hands,
and- petnting to the batten lights, said, " Let ins have
the lights turned on foil. He could mean no other than
the battens. The gas was turned on full. The borders
and battens hang very thick and close together under
the floor of the carpenters' shop.
By a Juror—Was not aware the barrels of the battens
were hot on the night of the ball, but from the force of
gas turned on they soon •would be. If the gas escaped
from the battens and got near the front of the house and
under that part of the carpenters' shop it might explode.
At the time he was last in the carpehtees" shop there
was no appearauae,,r smell of fire. . .
"WilliernJones, carpenter, employed at Covent Gar-
den Theatre by Mr. Sloman. He was at work from 6
in the morning till 5 in the evening on the day of the
fires He was engaged in the flies underneath the car-
penters' shop, hanging borders, and doing other
things for the evening's performance. He was
in the flied at a quarter before four on the
morning of the fire. The top flies, in which he was
engaged in the early part of the day were about
ten feet below the carpenters' shop, and the distance of
the garelight in that place .from the floor of the carpen-
ters' shop was more than six feet. If the burners were
turned full on the flame would not rise more than two
inches and a-half. He saw several persons go to the
carpenters' shop during the day. He was on the stage
when- the fire broke out, having left the flies about 20
minutes. He was standing on the stage when he saw a
spark fall, but it was about twenty feet from the spot
at which he had been working. If the fire had broken
out in the flies it would soon have spread, as the things
were very closely packed about. -
At the request of the Coroner, the witness here
pointed out on the plan_ where he was standing on the
stage at the time he saw the spark fall.
By a Juror—At a quarter-past four, although he was
only ten feet from the spot at which the fire broke out,
he smelt nothing like fire, neither was there any unusual
smell of gas at that time. He was not aware that-there
was any dispute between the workmen, Mr. Sloman,
and Mr. Anderson ; if there had been, he thought he
must have beard of it. -

James Cooper had been employed in Covent-garden
Theatre ever since it had been an opera-house. He was
employed by Mr. Palmer on the evening previous to the
fire. He lit part of the great chandelier. He lit the
lower part. The upper part had been lit during the day,
bat it was not all lit till he finished it. He lit the chan-
delier as usual with spirit supplied by Mr. Palther ; he
took it up to the chandelier in a ginger-beer bottle.
The witness here produced a portion of a "liehting rod,"
and explained how it was used. It was a piece of wire
:theta four feet long, with a cotton ball attached. After
he had lit the chandelier be took the spirit bottle back
toethe prompt box. Mr. Castles was with him when he
was at the chandelier. •
Be a Juror—Was cure it was spirits of wine. No
naphtha was need. •
By the Coroner—He vas not in the theatre when
the fire first occurred. After he, had received the
newts that the theatre was on fire he rushed to the stage
doer and met Mr. Palmer .vith the valve key, and they
both mu to the valve nearly opposite the station-house.
He then lifted the li l while Mr. Palmer turned the gas
off. 'The gaS was off five minutes after the as,arm was
raise,l. He had no idea how the fire had occurred.
11r. J. H. Anderson, 16, Ceciktreet, Strand, an
artist in natural Magic, stated that he rented the theatre
from Mr. Gye for a period of ten weeks from the 26th
of December, 1855, and had the appointment of every
person connected with the theatre except the firemen,
who were employed by the proprietors of the theatre.
The duties of the theatre are conducted by heads, such
'as the painting-room, the wardrobe,, the gas, and the
carpenters. Mr. Sloman was his master carpenter, and
was responsible for the whole of the men. He had been
in the carpenters' shop on Tuesday morning at one p.m.
for the purpose of inspecting the portable stage be
was having constructed for the purpose of exhibiting
his pantomime in Glasgow and other places. He had
not the slightest idea how the fire occurred. He hal
had no notice of any dispute between himself and the
teen. Mr. Palmer and Mr. Sloman certainly had a di..
pute, but he arranged the matter between them. There
was a summons from the police for one of them, and he
told them it was unseemly that men Belding their situa-
tions in the theatre should have such disputes. His loss
by the fire was considerable; he could not say how much,
as be had not yet had an opportunity of making
up his loss. He was insured in the Sun Fire office
for 2,0001.. He had been called often 1)y gentlemen in
the private boxes, who complained of the stench arising
from gas. He felt perfectly convinced, as far as expe-
rience went, that the fire could not have been
occasioned by the gas. He had been connected for
years with theatres, and had bad a theatre of his own
burnt down. He could not account fur the accident.
He felt perfectly satisfied with the servants he had em-
ployed ; they were all of the most orderly and best de-
scription. He was standing near the orchestra with Mr.
Palmer, asking him what was the usual termination of
Sal masques, when Palmer seemed as if he had a fit, and
he said the house was on fire, and immediately rushed
to turn the gas off. It was not a beam that fell and was
the occasion of the_ discovery of the fire; it was a por-
tion of the scenery used in the opera of the " Favourite,"
and when be looked up the whole of the upper part of
the theatre was one mass of flame. There was a great
quantity of light on the stage which accounted for the fire
not being seen before the piece of scenery fell. At dif-
ferent parts of the evening, almost every hour, he had
been frequently through the house to see that no ac-
cident occurred, and to prevent smoking. He had saved
a portion of his property in consequence of its standing
near a window of the theatre looking into Princes-place,
other a ice he should have lost everything. He had changed
the gas company in consequence of its being represented
to him that the London Gas Company could give a
better supply. The gas metres were outside the theatre.
He did not think cigars were sold in the_theatre, lout
was not. positive. Mr. Payne had no arrangement for
selling cigars.
By a Juror—His insurance expired a week after the
fire.

By the Coroner—His insurance was regulated by his
term of the theatre. The property insurt.,l consisted of
the scenery, propertieg, and dresses of the pantomime,
and other things.
By a Juror—There was a stringent order that no
person was on any preteoc.4 whatever to, go about the
theatre with a candle. A tieeman's lamp was always
ordered to be used.

Richard Jones, engineer of the London Gas Works
and a civil engineer by profession, said be bad heard the
description of the carpenters' shop, and he thought
it would be highly improbable that gas could
accumulate there .in any large quantity. If
it had done so it would have exploded, and have blown
the roof off. A. loud report must have accompanied the
explosion. It would have been impossible fur the gai
In ignite without the application of white heat.
He was quite convinced from all he had heard that the
gas had nothing to de with the fire.
The inquiry was then adjourned till Wednesday next,
at three o'clock.

WORKS Or MODERN PAINTERS IN THE CRYSTAL
PALACE.-Mr. Mogford has been engaged by the Crys-
tal Palace Company to collect and superintend a gallery
of Modern pictures of all the schools of Europe, to open
iu the month of May next, in the north wing of the
palace, which will be constructed properly for the dis-
play of the works. Five per cent, will be charged on all
'gales. Pictures previously exhibited are eligible, and
every picture (from the space disposable) may be well
placed for viewing. Mr. Mogford will leave London
next week for the Continent, to collect the foreign pic-
turts.—The Builder.

ROBBERY Or ROYAL PLATE.—On Saturday afternoon
a waggon belonging to Mr. Thumwood, who for many
years has been employed to convey plate to and frora
London and Windsor Castle, left Buckingham Palace
with about 12 chests of plate and other articles for the
Paddington station under the charge of five risen. On
their way to the station they stopped at a publichouse
in the South-wharf-road, and all went in to drink, and
by their own statement had not left the waggon more
than five minutes. On their return they observed that
the rope wee cut which had confined the waggon cloth
placed over the goods. This caused theca to suspect that
something was wrong, and, on looking over the waggon,
they discovered that a chest of plate, which had been
packed in the middle of it, and fastened by a new rope I
to the nil, had been stolen. The waggon was after-
wards driven to the Paddington station and sent on the
trueks to Windsor, and arrived at the Castle at 7 o'clock,
when Mr. Thutnwood, on being informed of the robbery,
returned to town with his man who bad had charge of
the gooda to institute an inquiry into the affair. The
two helpers a.:(1 t'le driver were subsequently taken into
custody, but admitted to bail. The chest which was
stolen was considerably lighter than the others, and
conszquently more easily removed. It contained a
quantity of the Royal nursery plate used by the Princes
and Princesses. The vilue of the plate stolen is under
EOM