The Sun.
London, England, 1851-01-20 00:00:00

EXTENSIVE CONFLAGRATION.

Last night (Sunday) the neighbourhood of High-
s reet, Stoke Newington, was alarmed by the sudden
outbreak of one of the most disastrous fires that have
happened in that district for a considerable time past.
The fire was first perceived by the police-constable
on the beat, who in passing along appears to have
noticed an unusual glare of light in the premises belong-
ing to Mr. Todman, a chandler, carrying on business at
No. 7, in High-street. The officer having listened at
the door, distinctly heard the snapping of burning wood.
He sounded an alarm, and commenced knocking vio-
lently at the street-door. No one, however, appeared,
and it was feared that the residents, if at home, had
perished, for whilst the constable rocs knocking at the
door flames in huge sheets shot forth from the various
windows both at the rear and in the front.

Messengers were as quickly us possible dispatched to
call the engines of the parish, and with all promptitude
they attended, and were set to work from an abundant
supply of water furnished by the East London Company,
By that time, however, the whole of the rooms in Mr.
Todman's premises presented a blazing mass, and at
length the flames broke through the roof, and threatened
destruction to every house on that side of the street. The
parish engine, police, and inhabitants laboured inces-
santly to confine the flames to the premises is which
they originated, but without success, and in a compara-
tively short period the fire communicated to the premises
numbered 6 and 5 in the same street, occupied by Mr.
G. Parrott, a linendraper. A mounted police-officer
was dispatched to Jeffrey-square brigade-station, and
thence to the more distant depiits.
When the firemen from London arrived the flames
had made tremendous progress, for besides enveloping
the premises numbered 7,6, and 5, in High-street, they
had likewise reached Nos. 4 and 8., The latter was in the
tenure of Mrs. Underwood, a dressmaker; and the for-
mer belonged to the same person as the two houses num-
bered 5 and 6. By half-past eleven o'clock, four hours
after the commencement of the fire, the engines had
succeeded in extinguishing the conflagration, but not
until the following damage was done, which is officially
reported by Mr. superintendent Braidwood:
No. 7, High-street—Mr. George Todman, chandler
and general dealer. Premises burnt down, and stock in
trade, with furniture, wearing apparel, and other effects,
consumed. Cause of fire not known.
" Nos. 5 and 6, High-street—Mr. George Parrott,
linen-draper. Premises all but destroyed. The stock
in trade and furniture severely injured by fire, water,
and hasty removal. Insured for contents in the Phenix
Fire-office. The building unknown whether insured
or not.

"No. 4, High-street—Mr. George Parrott, ditto.
The side walls severely burnt. The first and second
floors much injured by fire, water, and cutting away.
The contents also damaged by fire, water, and hasty re-
moval. Stock in trade and furniture insured in the
Phcenix-office.

"No. 8, High-street. Mrs. Underwood, dress-maker.
Side walls, floorings, and roof damaged by fire and
water, and contents by hasty removal. Insurance not
known at present."

THE SEWER ACCIDENT AT
ISLINGTON.

OniSaturday afternoon we visited the scene of the ac-
cident which occurred in the Lower-road, Islington, on
Friday last, and an account of which appeared in The
Sun of Saturday. Mr. Johnson, the contractor for the
sewer, was on the spot, and explained the method by
which the New River had been confined to its old
course, as well as the precautionary measures adopted by
him, both of which have for the present succeeded.
It must be premised that the New River tunnel crosses
the Lower-road very obliquely, and that the sewer in
course of construction runs straight down that street, so
that although it only actually crosses under it at one
point, near River-street, yet all the way down it is in
considerable proximity, though at a lower level. This
crossing, as was stated, was , passed in safety, and the
sewer had been coatinued beyond the King's Head public
house, where Mr. Cox, the landlord, employed a brick-
layer to make a cross drain from his premises, who had
carried it on about 26 feet, till it was probably under
the bed of the New River tunnel. Water oozed in and
filled it. The necessity was then suggested to him of
completing its junction with the sewer, in order to let th,:
water escape. Application was made at the contractor
office, and refused. It appears that on the morninge _ of
the accident the bricklayer, without the knowledge
and
g
either Mr. Cox or the men employed on
the sewer,
to
who were not working in that part of it. e
work inwards from the sewer to join his mence
drain. In
doing so he Lapp-d the invert (Peeembly only a brick
thick) of the bottom of the
been already described.
New River tuuuel, and
the accident occurred, as has
Mr. Johnson, as soon as pos sible, made a barrier 07...9311.
the first shaft, consisting
of uptight a - "
tend hoti-ontei
planks, driven down and filled between with play, and
also sunk a shaft in River-street, and then erscted ano-
ther_ barrier, in case the lower one should give way.
The river is, therefore, confined to its old course.
low the barrier there is of coura3 still a communication
between the sewer and the New Rivermust remain till the bed of the, andtu ntehli this
aset state
of things,
repaired.
We understand that it is the intention of the New
River Company to sink an iron cylinder, so as to stretch
across the broken part of the brick bottom. This will
prevent the water having access to the sower, and all the
damage can be then repaire44. Some men were employed
yesterday afternoon in driving additional " ehoriuga" of
plank between the sewer and the New River to prevent
further breakag3, as it will readily be understood that as
long as the communication exists the soil between will
crumble away if not propped up, although the barriers
placed across the sewer will prevent further mischief at
any point above them.
Au inquest is to be held on the body of the sufferer

ATROCIOUS MURDER.
Early on Thursday night last a dreadful murder was
committed at a farmhouse in the lone district of Rat-
tersleY, on the borders of Lancashire and North
Cheshire. The dwelling in which the murder was per-
petrated is known by the name of Rose Fold, and was
occupied by Mrs. Mary Kinder, an infirm old lady
nearly 80 years of age, her two daughters, both un-
married, and a male and female servant. The particu-
lars of this frightful deed, as far as they have already
been discovered, are as follow:—On the Thursday even-
ing the daughters of Mrs. Kinder and the man-servant
were from home on business. Soon after six o'clock
the maid-servant went into the " shippon," a short dis-
tance from the house, to milk the cows, and shortly
afterwards returned to the house for the dairy key, but
did not then see her mistress. She went back to the
" shippon," strained the milk, and, after being absent
about half an hour, returned to the house. Again not
seeing her mistress, she proceeded to lock for her, and
to her great liazror discovered Mrs. Kinder lying on the
parlour floor quite dead and bathed in a pool of blood.
The young woman instantly gave an alarm, and a
surgeon from Mottram-in-Longdendal (Mr. John Side-
bottom), was sent for. On examination he found that
a large wound had been inflicted on the temple—
the skull having been fractved, and a portion of the
same and the brains scattered about. Death must,
therefore, have been instantaneous. An inquest on the
body is to be held this (Monday) morning, when it is to
be hoped that some clue to the discovery of the mur-
derers will be discovered. The special high constable
of the district (Mr. Little), an active officer, has been
employed in investigating the circumstances of the case,
and will continue to give his earnest attention to it till
the guilty party or parties are brought to justice. Mrs.
Kinder was in a respectable condition of life; and there
is no doubt that the object of the brutal murderers
must have been the robbery and plunder of the house.
Probably the activity of the servant woman engaged in
the " shippon" and dairy, and who so quickly returned
to the house, may have alarmed and driven them from
the premises. Most of the drawers and boxes in the
rooms were forced open and ransacked, bat a small
bandbox, in which the sum of 141. IN. 'was deposited,
escaped their notice, so that their booty was very small.
Hattersley lies in the hilly district near the borough of
Stockport, and is situated on the confines of North
Cheshire, Lancashire, and Derbyshire. This dreadful
affair has caused great consternation throughout the
neighbourhood.

REPEAL OF THE WINDOW-TAX.
(From the Morning Advertiser.)
The Times of Friday comes out, wi:h all its
accustomed pomp of circumstance, with the announce-
ment, that the window-tax is doomed, and that the
Chancellor of the Exchequer has graciously con-
descended to resolve that it shall be abolished forth-
with.
The Times makes this announcement with as much
fuss and parade as if it had been communicating to
the country some important piece of intelligence
which would be quite new. The intelligence may,
indeed, be new to the readers of that journal. They
may never have before dreamt of the probability of
such a contingency; but the Times has no right to
assume that, because its readers are unenlightened on
a particular paint, it necessarily follows that the rest
of the public are equally in the dark.
What was news yesterday to the readers of our
contemporary, is no news to the readers of the
Morning Advertiser. It is now more than a month
since we apprised the public, in the most positive
terms, and in the most prominent part of our
paper, that the window-tax would be repealed in
the coming session. In a fortnight afterwards, we
repeated the announcement ; and again, in the
Morning Adrerliser of Saturday last, the 11th inst.,
we not only reiterated the assertion, that we knew,
from undoubted sources of information, that the
Chancellor of the Exchequer had made up his mind
to abolish the window duties, but that he had also
determined to substitute another impost in lieu of
the window-tax. That there may be no misconcep-
tion as to what we said eight days ago, and seven
days before the Times had a word on the subject, we
re-produce, from the Morning Advertiser of Satur-
day last, the paragraph to which we allude. It is as
follows :
" THE WINDOW-TAX.—We have every reason to be-
lieve that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, instead of
contemplating the total repeal of the window-tax—
which he did a few weeks ago—means to content himself
with what he calls a modification' of the duties on the
light of heaven. In other words, he contemplates only
reduction, not the entire remission of the obnoxious im-
post. But while this is the course he wishes to adopt,
another idea has within the last fortnight taken posses-
sion of the Right Bon. Gentleman's brain. It is, that in
the event of his being compelled, by the pressure from
without, nominally to repeal the tax, he will still be
able, in effect, to retain a portion of it, by levying some
new sort of tax on houses, which, from the description
given of it to us, is wholly incomprehensible. But though
it cannot be understood, it will, if imposed, be felt. To
be forewarned is to be forearmed. Will theenountry, ,
after being thus early apprised of Sir Charles Wood's
intentions, permit him to carry them out? Assuredly
not. There must be no fiscal legerdemain in the matter.
There must be an entire repeal, without a substitute of
any kind."
It will be observed, that we not only here inti-
mated the fact, that Sir Charles Wood had determined
on the substitution of another tax for the window
duties, but we even indicated the nature of the im-
post to be substituted. We said that it would be a
house tax, of some sort or other, though we confessed
our inability to comprehend its precise nature. Hoar,
now, what the Times says on the subject in its num-
ber of yesterday :
" The numerous difficulties in the way of a mere com-
mutation will load, we believe, to the surrender of the
window-tax, and the substitution of a very moderate
house-tax. There is reason to hope that the Chancellor
of the_Exehequer will have so considerable a surplus at
the end of the financial year, that he can easily afford
a million or twelve hundred thousand for this long-
desired object. By the substitution of a house-tax, cal-
culated to raise about 600,0001., for the window-tax,
raising about 1,800,0004, the sacrifice of revenue will
not exceed 1,200,0001."
But though the Times thus confirms to the letter
the information which we communicated exclusively,
eight days ago, our contemporary does not conde-
scend to enlighten our darkness as to how the new
house-taxis to be imposed, or how it will operate.
The Times may have a good reason for its silence.
Very likely it is in the same predicament as ourselves
—does not exactly comprehend the nature of the con-
templated new tax.
But be the nature of the intended impost, as a sub-
stitute for the window-tax, what it may—were not
we right when, eight days ago, we cautioned the
country against permitting the Chancellor of the
Exchequer to practise any fiscal legerdemain, by
substituting some other impost for that which he is
about to remove ? We must have no other tax in
lieu of the window duties. If the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman supposes that the nation will passively submit
to that he deceives himself. There must be an en-
tire riddance of the burthen. Every trace of the
most obnoxious impost which an oppressively taxed
people ever had to endure must be obliterated. We
want the remembrance of it to perish. Even
the Times, who never saw its enormities before,
now discovers that it is the most iniquitous tax
which human ingenuity ever devised. It would
have been all the better for our contemporary had
this discovery been made shomewhat sooner. The
Times prophesies after the event. It had no eye to
the 'odiousness of the window-tax until its doom was
recorded. During the long period that we have,
week after week, and day after day, been denouncing
the window duties, and calling loudly for their re-
mission, the Times never uttered a syllable. It never
whispered a word against them. The readers of the
Times would not have known—not, at least, from its
columns, that there was such a tax in existence. And
yet, so consummate is the effrontery of our c
contem-
porary, that it would not surprise us eme
were he to
coolly forward, by and by, and take all the credit of
having achieved the extinction of the tax. " Alone
we did it."
the provincial papers, that in
We perceive from
as
well a. 513 the metropofis, meetings are
the country,
day,
We
11 for the remission of
e observe, also,
being held every
the window duties'that a great
many more similar demonstrations are appointed to
take
place. is cannot be necessary that we should
point out the course which is now to be adopted.
with an altered state of circumstances, the tactics of
the 1 opponents of the tax must be altered also.
Hitherto the demonstrations have been against the
tmeost abstractedly considered. Now they must take
the form of a determined opposition to any compro-
mise. The cry, from one extremity of the land to
the other, must be for a total and unconditional
repeal. The impost must be entirely abolished. It
must be swept away. Nothing must be suffered to
he substituted for it, which would keep up the
memory or a tax, which, for more than half a century,
has been so odious and oppressive to the English
nation, that no one could speak or think of it without
the deepest indignation.
MArylebone is to meot on Monday. The demon-
stration will, we know, be one of an imposing
kind.
It will be worthy the most populous and most wealthy
parish in the world. Let Marylebone set the example
on Monday, to the metropolis, and to the provinces,
of boldly unfurliug the banner of e No compromise."
Let that great and imporatnt district proclaim, in a
tone and terms not to be mistaken, that the. tax must
be entirely abolished, and BO substitute for it pro-
posed. The voice of such a garish as Mary lebone
must be heard in Downing-street. The Chancellor
of the Exchequer cannot, it he would, shut his ears
against it. He must hear, and, what is more, he
must obey.

MIDDLE Terarm—The following members of this
society have been called to the bar, and were sworn on
Saturday evening n the hall: —William Lancaster, Esq.;
udHenryraln iithfull, Esq. ; Robert Anderson, Esq. ; and
Bower,er,
Esq. Wm.

x-;TLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.
Under the Patronage of her Majesty and his Royal Highness
Prince Albert.
Proprietor and Manager, Mr. W. Batty.
Extraordinary series of attractive novelties.
THIS EVENING

The Grand new Spectacle of KE:N.TNILSS ORTH ; or the Golden Days
of the Virgin Queen, with new and costly costumes,
Together with Batty's Splendid Scenes of the Circle.

To conclude with an entirely new and original grand historical
Equestrian Christmas Pantomime, written expressly for this Theatre,
by the author of " Bluff King Hal," to be entitled
HARLEQUIN AND O'DONOGHITE ;
or, The White Horse of Killarney.
Box-office open from Eleven till Your.
Stage Manager, Mr. T. Thompson.
A Juvenile Night on Thursday next.