The Sun.
London, England, 1856-09-20 00:00:00

TERRIFIC FIRE IN THE CITY.-GREAT
DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY.

Last night, at a few minntes
.before 8 o'clock, a fire,
attended with the destructkn f eraitbc:usand pounds'
It?, of property; and whic) sas not extimo...tleo at
nearly two o'oldlok moroing. happened in the pit-
miles belonging •to Messr.. Nfafthe 48 and C) , bro.'
tnanufacturere, situate at No. 106, 'Upper Thames-street
The premises were of vast etlent, stretching it, on.
direction nearly 300 feet, of pr.oo )rtionahle width, an,
aeverAl fire rs high, abutting into Old S.van.lane, c .nti
guous to Me,,srs:. warehouses. Trle fire wat,
discovered by one of
,the..workmen employed on, the pre-
mise?, but in spite of the most strenuous exertions of all
present the flames in the coune of a few minutes assumed
such au they
ascendancy that it beeline clearly manifest Ci
the fearful element would make terrible havoc.

Something, but what it was could not be ascertained,
exploded, at ,c 1 'made a great noise, can-lug terrible con-
tusion throughout the densely packed neighb :urh god:
The ward schools of Candlewick and -Dowgate being
next door,' the roof soon took fire, when the mistress of
the schools, who had been confined only a few days, was
carried out by the neighbours', and taken to Mr. Eve-
rest's, the Old Sayan Tavern.
TLe inmates of the warehouse, as far as can be ascer
tallied, st:c.ieedal in effecting their escape, some by
g-tting over the roof,' other.' b J running down stairs,
and .some by getting out of tl e wind )w.
With a 4 little delay as po-sibtw the engines of the
Londcn Brigadei,the powerful flowing engine, under the
command of Eoginen
.Gerri,rd, witf numerous other
laud engines under the supeiin cadence of Mr. Braid-
wood an .1 -Mr. Fogo, attend' d, and also those of tte
West of Eogland office and d ffsrent parishes.
A plentiful supply of the New River Company's wat.r
was cbtained.on the land si, e. from which the'rengine
were set to work in Thames strut', and Swan-lane,
the powerful floating engine tbre-v about six tons froin
the river Thames per Minute ; but notwithstanding the
work of destruction continued, the fl trues crossed Swan-
lane, and Were attacking the premises of Messrs. liar
ker and Co., and from thence eaEuvo.rd to the premises
known as the Old Shades Tavern.-

The scene then b-came one of fearful grandeur, for
every part of the metropolis became brilliantly illumi•
tinted, the City churches and the shipping in the river
wer,. brought out to sue. perfection as tl resemble a
monster panorama ; at the 6aru e time the neighbours
were tunnia, about in a state bordering upon frenzy,
carrying in their arms their chil.lreo and any article of
furniture they could lay their h,nds upon.
The fire, however, in spite of everything done to arrest
it, c )ntinued to spread, and at one period ,t was feared
tmt the fl:tmes wou:d extend as far as Fishmongers'

Br dint of great exertion on the part of the .fireman,
by half-past one o'clock, tee flames began per eptibly t.,
diminish, but they were far from beinc, entirely extin-
guished, and even so late as two o'clock this morning, the
fire had not been entirely sublued.
Among t he.nunot rails suff,Ters by this disastrous event
is Mr. 0. Dow, machine-ruler; who has bad all his goods
removed and greatly injured by breakage and water,
and, unfortunately, he is ueinsured. The factory of
Messrs. Matthews i 4 nearly destroyed, and the damage
'lone to surrounding premises, especially those of Messrs.
Berwick and Co., Scotch ale merchants, and others,
must amount to several thousand p minds.
Tae Royal Society's fire-escapes, with conductor Law,
were early in attendance, and rendered great assistance
to the firemen in enabling them to carry the hose of the
engines to the top of the building, which had the eff-ct
of saving the Old Shades Tavern, and cutting off the fire
in the direction of the Fishmongers' Hall. •

The greatest praise is due to the firemen, and also to
Superintendent Connorton, of the WeSt of E 'gland
Office, as well as to the police under Superintondent
liodgeoll and Inspectors Newnham and Shepherd, who
kept the tremendous crowd out of danger. As to whe-
ther or not the sufferers were iu.ired, nothing definite
could be ascertained during the excitement and confusion
which prevailed.

THIS ItaPERIAL COURT IN THE

PYRENEES.

BIARRITZ, SEPT. 16.
The Emperor and Empress, with a few attendants, left
Uri- place at 1 o'clock yesterday, with the intention of pro-
ceeding to Bidacete, and visiting the ruins of the ancient
castle of the Dukes of Graturnont. Bidache is situate on
the Bidonge, a small tributary of the Nive, which is itself
the capricious tributary of the Adour. The party went in
two chars a•bunc ; but as they reached Camp de i'rats the
Empress was seized with cramps in the stomach, which
had the effect of interrupting the excursion. At Camp de
Prats there is an asytuai fora certain number destitute
ehd wen and wouirm, and which is managed by women.
On arrivinu at this irs,mit the Buil,. e• 24, whalne nuff...ring6
did not permit her So continue her journey, demanded
hospitality. The superioress, aho was ignorant of the
rank uf the persons who claimed her kind office, has-
tened to afferde‘ery tssistauce in her power. Her Majesty
was conducted. by tier to the inner apartments, and ev, ry
appliance was made use of to alleviate her pains. It was
only when she heard the Emperor addressed by one of his
attendants as " Sire," and the Empress as " Your Ma-
jesty," that she was aware of the presence under her hos-
pitable roof of such exalted personages. The poor lady was
quite bewildered ; she made a thousand apologies for hav-
ing addressed tt'e:n as " Monsieur," and " Madame," but
the Emperor good-Latin ediy set her at rest, arid begged
that she would consider them as simple wayfarers, and
nothing more. The Empress was soon relieved from her
sufferiugs, and the excursion persevered in. The Emperor
asked permission to inspect the place, which was of course
accorded. Ne expressed his admiration of the magnificent
situation. Camp de Prats stands on the beautiful emi-
nence situated between the Adour and the Nice. Nothing
can he more beautiful than the prospect. On on side
the Nice, dividing Bayonne into two unequal parts.
fresh from its mountain home, passes along, at one
moment leaping over the rocks that impede its course,
and falling in mimic cascades ; at another spreading
its waters in a large pool, hiding under the shadows of
the wooded hills, and stealing along without noise or
murmur as if ashamed of being seen, and then rolling its:
volume of waters into the Adour, a bich receives tnem
below the redoubts of the citadel of Bayonne. Slopes,
covered with delicious verdure, handsome villas rising;
from amid the thickest foliage, and the glorious chain of,
the Pyreuees in the distance from a pan,rama which can,
hardly be surpassed anywhere.
The Empress's indisposition soon passed off, but iti
was thought advisable not to continue the journey, and
the order was given to return to Biarritz. The Emperor.
warmly thanked the superioress for her attention, and!
lett 400 francs, all the money he had about him, for the
poor. The excursion, however, was resumed to-day,,
and was not, I believe, impeded by any accident like.thati
which occurred'yesterciay.

THE GENOA TRA NS TLANTIC STEAM COM-
PANY'S PLEET.

A trial trip of one of the ships composing this company's
fleet was bad on ureday. company is established to
term a communication bet weep Genoa and South America,
and between Genoa and the United States, and it is in-
tended to have four shipsfor each eervice. Übe ship which
had her trial trip is called the " Genova," com-
manded by Captain Napoli. She is a screw steamer,
three masted, and barque rigged with wire ropes; her
length is 265 feet, breadth 38 feet, and depth of held
28 feet, drawing when loaded 20 feet. Her burden le
1852 ton., holders' measurement, and she can carry
Iron) SOO t ) 904 tons of cargo and from 700 to 800 tons
~f coat in the bunkers, besides which she has capacity
for 60 first-class, 100 second, and 200 third-ela-s .pa
sengerie Tier engines are of 300-horse power, nominal,:
the engines are of the direct-Acting principle with two
piston-rode 2 feet 6 inches stroke, and making 60 strokes
per minute. The diameter of the cylinder is 55 inches ;
the screw-propeller is 15 feet diameter and 19 feet
pitch. There ere four boiler.; and one extra boiler on
deck to work a donkey-engine, which may be used
' for raising the anchor or other heavy work. She was
designed by Mr. A.,h, and huilt by Messrs. Mare and
Co., under the direction of Contain Ford, formerly in the
service of the General Screw Steam Company, and lately
employed by the Turkish Government. She has a p ,op
d, ck and raised forecastle. The saloon is of the full widt,i
of the ship, and is lighted from the port-boles and a com-
panion !anthem on deck ; it has 6 ft. 10 in. headeray,
and is superbly fitted, the decorations being io mai:le and
oak. There is also a second cabin, the fittings of which
are elegant. The ventilation is by means of perforated
panels ; it appears to be effectually accomplished, and
the ornamentation is made subservient to it. The vessel
is fitted with a distilling apparatus, which is capable of
supplying about 350 gallons of fresh water per oiem,
besides a separate apparatus fer the cooking room, whice
will supply 150 gallons. Altogether, whether in respect
of comfort, convenience, or elegance, the Genova is one
of the beat specimens of naval architecture that has been
built on the banks of the Thames, She started from
Gravesend at 20 minutes past 12, having on board a
number of gentlemen connected with the company and
their friends, amongst whom were Mr. P. Rolt, M.P.,
Mr. Maudalay, Mr. Joshua Field, Mr. G. B. Rennie,
Capt. Mackinnon, RN., Mr. Petroni, and other scientific
gentlemen. The trial was not one of !Teed, but iu order
to ascertain that her engines acted properly and that the
vessel was in working trim. Her engines, therefore,
were not kept at full speed, bet she made about 12 knots an
hour. The engines at first worked a little stay, which
is inseparable from newness., but this wore off, and
before long they worked freely enough, and there was
a remarkable absence of vibration. The vessel steamed
round the Nore Light, and then returned, arriving
at Gravesend about five o'clock, every one on board
tieing well pleased with ebe trip and with the per-
f•irmance of the vessel. This is the third ship of the
&et which has been completed. The two first,
which are named the Vic' oer Emmanuel and the Count
de Cavour, were built by :;he came firm (the engines by
Messrs. Rennie), have beers engaged in. the Crimea in the
French transport service, from which they are now dis-
engaged, and are being made ready e,o take their sta•
tions on the line ; a foureli ship is being built also at the
ship-yard of Messrs. Mare, whose business, we under-
stand, is now conducted by au ass eciation of engineers,
and she is expected to be laianched.on the 15th proximo.