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

[PRICE 4D. STAMPED SD•

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

Last night, at a few minutes before 8 o'clock, a fire,
attended with the destruction of several thousand pounds'
worth of property, and which eras not extinguished at
nearly two o'clock this morning, happened in the pre-
mises belonging to Messrs. Matthews and Co., Isms'.
manufacturers, situate at No. 106', Upper Thames-street.
The premises were of vast extent, stretching in on,
direction nearly 300 feet, of proportionable width, and
several floors high, abutting into Old Swan•lane, conti
guous to Messrs. Harker's warehouses. The tire was
' discovered by one of the workmen employed on the pre-
anises, but in spite of the most strenuous exertions of all
present the flames in the course of a few minutes a,sume.d
such an ascendancy that it became clearly manifest tlia,'
the fearful element would make terrible havoc.
Something, but what it was could not be ascertained,
exploded, amid made a great noise, cawing terrible con-
fusion throughout the densely packed neigh') ,urlp,od
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 Swan Tavern.

The inmates of the warehouse, as far as can be ascer
tained, enc:eeded in effecting their escape, some by
gAting over the roof, others by running down stairs,
and some by getting out of the wind )w.
With a; little delay as po.sible the engines of the
London Brigade, the powerful floating engine, under the
command of Evinetr Gerrard, and numerous other
land engines under the euperin'endence of Mr. Braid-
wood and Mr. Fogo, attended, and also those of the
West of England office and different parishes.
A plentiful supply of the New River Company's water
was obtained on the land sire, from which the engine
were set to work in Thames sine, and Swan-lane, whilst

the powtrful floating engine threw about six tons from
the river Thames per minute ; but notwithstanding the
work of destruction continued, the fl ttnes crossed Swan-
lane, and were attacking the premises of Messrs. Har
ker and Co., and from thence eas,:ward to the premises
known as the Old Shades Tavern.
The scene then became one of fearful grandeur, for
every part of the metropolis became brilliantly illurni•
Dated, the City churches and the shipping in the river
were brought out to such perfection as to resemble a
Monster panorama ; at the same time the neighbours
were tunniaw about in a state bordering elope frenzy,
carrying in their arms their children and any article of
furniture they could lay their h7tnds upon.
The fire, however, in spite of everything done to arrest
it, continued to spread, and at one period it was feared
Viat the flames would extend as, far as Fishmongers'
Hall.

By dint of great exertion on the part of the fireman,
by half past one o'clock, the lames began per. eptibly to
diminish, but they were far from being entirely extin-
guished, and even so late as two o'clock this morning, the
fire had not been entirely subdued.
Among the numerous sufferers by this disastrous event
is Mr. C. Dow, machine-ruler, who has had all his goods
removed and greatly injured by breakage and water,
and, unfortunately, he is uninsured. The factory of
Messrs. Matthews is nearly destroyed, and the damage
dose to surrounding premises, especially those oflqessrs.
Berwick and Co., Scotch ale merchants, and others,
must amount to several thousand pounds.
The 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 effect
of saving the Old Shades Tavern, and cutting oft- the fire
in the direction of the Fishmongers' Hall.

The greatest praise is due to the firemen, and also to
Superintendent Connorton, of the We•.t of E }gland
Offiee, as well as to the police under Superintendent
Hodgson and Inspectors Newnham and Shepherd, who
kept the tremendous crowd out of danger. As to whe-
ther or not the sufferers were insured, nothing definite
could be ascertained during the excitement and confusion
which prevailed.

THE IMPERIAL COURT IN THE
• PYRENEES.

BIARRITZ, SEPT. 16.

The Emperor and Empress, with a few attendants, left
thi- place at 1 o'clock yesterday, with the intention,of pro-
ceedieg to Iliclactie, and visiting the ruins of the ancient
castle of the Dukes of Grammont. Eidache is situate on
the Bidonge, a small tributary of the Nive, which is itself
the capricious tributary of the Adour. The party went ix
two chars ct-bunc ; hut as they reeohcd Camp de x'rats the
Empress was seized with cramps in the stomach, which
bad the effect of interrupting the excursion. At Camp de
Prats there is an asylum fora certain number of destitute
old men and women, and which is managed by women.
On arriving at this point the Empress, whose sufferings
did not permit her fro continue her journey, demanded
hospitality. The superioress, who was ignorant of the
rank of the persons who claimed her kind office-t, has-
tened to afford e% sry assistance in her power. Her Maj-3sty
was conducted by tier to the inner apartments, and eta 17
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 a t " Your Ma-
jesty," that she was aware of the presence under her hos-
pitable roof of such exalted personages. The poor lady was
quite bewil lerel ; she made a thousand apologies for hay.
Mg addressed ti•eiu as" Monsieur," and " Madam'," but
the Emperor good-natinediy ,et her at rev, and b geed
that she would consider them as simple wayfarers, and
nothing more. The Empress was soon relieved from her
sufferings, and the excursion persevered in. The Ernpertx
asked permission to inspect the place, which was of course
accorded. Be expressed his admiration of the magnificent
situation.. Camp de Prats stands on the beautiful emi-
nence situated bet ween the Adour and the Nice. Nothing
can be more beautiful than the prospect. On on side
the Nive, dividing Bayonne into two unequal parts.
fresh from its mountain home, pashas 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 hich receives tuem
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 Pyrenees in the distance from a paw:mina which can
hardly be surpassed anywhere.
The Empress's indisposition soon passed off, but it
was thought advisable not to continue the journey, and
the order was given to return to Biarritz. The Emperor
warmly thanked the superior,ts for her attention, and
left 400 fraees, 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 ac.:.ideut like that
which occurred yesterday.

THE GENOA TRANSATLANTIC STEAM 0031-

PANY'S FLEET.

A trial trip of one of the ships composing this company's
fleet was had on Thursday. The company is established to
form a communication between Genoa and South America,
and between Genoa and the United States, and it,is in
tended to have four ships for each eereioe. ['he ship which
had her trial, trip is called the " Geneva," .conia
mended 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 hold
28 feet, drawing when loaded 20 feet. Her burden is
1852 tons, builders' measurement, and she can parry
from 800 t) 909 tons of cargo and from 700 to 800 tens
of coal in the bunkers, besides which she has capacity
for 60 first-class, 100 second, and 200 third-class pa,
stingers. Her engines are of 300-horse power, nominal :
the engines are of the direct-Acting principle with two
piston-rods '2 feet 6 inches 4roke, and making 60 strokes
par minute. The diameter of the cylinder is 55 inches ;
the screw-propeller is 15 feet diameter and 19 feet
pitch. There ere four boilers 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. Ash, and built by Mes=rs. Mare and
Co., under the direction of Captain Ford, formerly in the
service of the General Screw Steam Company, and lately
employed by the Turkish Government. She has a poop
deck and raised forecastle. The saloon is of the full widta
of the ship, and is lighted from the port-holes and a com-
panion leathern on deck ; it has 6 ft. 10 in. headway,
and is superbly fitted, the decorations being in mat.' '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 Wen),
besides a separate apparatus for the cooking room, which
will supply 150 gallons. Altogether, whether in respect
of comfort, convenience, or elegance, the Genova is one
of the best 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. Maudslay, Mr. Joshua Field, Mr. G. B. Rennie,
Capt. Mackinnon, R.N., Mr. Petroni, and other scientific
gentlemen. The trial was not one of speed, but in 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, but she made about 12 knots afi
hour. The engines at first worked a little stiffly, 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 the trip and with the per-
formance of the vessel. This is the third ship of the
fleet which has been completed. The two first,
which are named the Victor Emmanuel and the Gaunt
de Cavour, were built by the same firm (the engines by
Messrs. Rennie), have been engaged in the Crimea in the
French transport service, from which they are now die.
engaged, and are being made ready to take their 841_
tions on the line ; a fourth ship is being bUilt also at the
ship-yard of Messrs. Mare, whose business, we under-
stand, is now condtio;ed by an association of engineers,

and she is expected to be launched on the 15th proximo.