The Sun.
London, England, 1851-03-07 00:00:00

FIRE IN DEPTFORD.

Yesterday morning, at four o'clock, a fire broke out in
the premises belonging to Mr. Huggett, a licensed vic-
tualler, situate in Church-street, and known as the
King's Head Tavern. The flames were first perceived
by a policeman in the lower part of the building. Not
an instant was therefore lost in arousing the inmates,
who, by great exertion, were enabled to effect a sate re-
treat. By that period the greater portion of the pre-
mises was one blazing mass. Intelligence of the out-
break having been sent to her Majesty's dockyard, in a
very brief period the engines of that establishment, with
a strong muster of police, came down, and an abundant
supply of water having been obtained from the Kent
Company's mains, the engines were put into operation,
but the flames continued to extend, and at length as-
sumed such a threatening aspect, that it was deemed
prudent to send an express to London for addi-
tional aid. Two engines of the London brigade, under
the direction of Mr. Henderson, the principal officer
of the D district, started for the scene of conflagration,
and were followed by Mr. Connorton, with the West of
England engine; but before they had time to reach the
spot, the destructive element had extended to two other
houses, one belonging to Mr. E. Huggett, another unoc-
cupied. Vast bodies of water were thrown upon the
f. mouldering ruins. and at last the fire was safely extin-
guished, but not until the whole of Mr. J. Huggett's
stock in trade, furniture, and %eating apparel were to-
tally destroyed, and the tavern burned down. The fol-
lowing is the official report of the damage done :—" Mr.
J. Huggett, licensed victualler and proprietor of the
King's Head Tavern, Church-street, Deptford: building
burned down, with the exception of the club-room behind.
Cause of fire unknown. The contents were insured in
the Globe Fire-office. An empty house in Church-
street, also burned down. Mr. E. Huggett, Church-
street: contents and building nearly destroyed; insurance
unknown. Mr. B. Paine, oil and colourman, in Church-
street: furniture clamored by hasty removal; insured in
the Royal Exchange office." The,present is the second
fire that has occurred in Deptford during the week.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
Cubits, Esq., President, in the Chair.)
In the renewed discussion (on Tuesday) upon Mr. Bruce's
paper descriptive of the Royal Border Bridge,at Berwick,
the question was raised, as to the propriety of using ashlar
and rubble, in combination, for winks of this nature.
Some of the speakers considered, that it was preferable
to use either the one, or the other alone, to prevent utp.
equal settlement, from the different character of the two
kinds of work; and instances were cited of the piers of
large viaducts having been entirely constructed of rubble,
with the most perfect success. On the other band, it
was urged, that if in quarrying stone, those blocks only •
were used which were suitable for ashlar work, much
waste would arise and great extra expense be incurred;
also that in the piers of the Royal Border Bridge, tho
back of the casing of ashlar was vertical, so that although
externally the piers had offsets, the internal ism of the
ashlar did not follow that line, and therefore none of the
weight which the ashlar ought to bear was brought upon
the rubble. It was thought that good rubble, formed
of large flat•bedded stones, well bonded, and set in good
mortar, was preferable for deck walle, or in other situa-
tions where a head of water bed to be supported, or
lateral pressure sustained, but that ashlar was butter
adapted for bearing vertical pressure, or weight, as in
the piers of a viaduct. An important question was
raised, as to what weight various kinds of stone were
capable of sustaining without crushing, and also what
weight could be placed with safety on different kinds of
artificial foundations; and the discussion was adjourned
for further information on these points.
The paper read was "A Description of a Turn-table,
42 feet in diameter, in use on the Bristol and Exeter
Railway," by Mr. I. J. Macdounell, M. Inst. C. E.
It was stated that this table worked on a bail pivot,
and consisted of two central cast-iron arms, or brackets,
which carried at their extremities hollow, wrought iron
transverse girders for supporting the longitudinal tim-
ber beams, forming a framing on which were placed the
rails—the outer ends being supported by other girders
attached to the traversing wheels, which were 3 feet in
diameter. It afforded a perfect and equal bearing
throughout its entire length, not being depressed more
than half-an-inch when the leading wheels of the engine
struck the table, Lied an ergice and tiedef, together
weighing 40 tons, were turned by the driver and stoker
in three minutes. Tables on this principle had been
erected both at Bristol and Ev3ter, and the cost, with
the foundation, did not exceed 4001. each,

After the meeting Mr. Penrose exhibited the spiral
instruments recently invented and registered by him,
called Penrose's Screw " Helicograph, or Logarithmic
Spiral Compass," and Penrose and Bennett's "Sliding
Lielicograph."
In the, latter instrument, with which volutes, and
other forms of the logarithmic spiral were drawn, a
frame sliding upon a smooth bar, was supported by a
wheel, the axis of which being set at any given angle to
the bar, produced by its obliquity the converging mo-
tion in a spiral arc.
Tho "Screw 13Ielicograph" used for drawing a more

limited series of these curves, received its spiral action
from a nut fixed in the centre of a revolving disc, which
communicated motion to a screw; carbonic paper being
used for obtaining an impression of the path of the disc.
At thp monthly ballot the following candidates were
balloted for, and duly elected, as Associates:—Messrs.
W. Bird, C. H. Corlett, L. E. Fletcher, J. E. Gill, W.
F. Hobbs, T. Howsrd, H. A. Hunt, R. W. Jackson,
P. Kennedy, J. Paxton, and Capt. H. M. Denham, R.N.
The following paper was announced to be read, at the
meeting of Tuesday,;March I lth:—"
Description of the
Mode of working an Inclined Plane of I in 27k, on the
Oldham Branch of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Rail-
way," by Capt. Laws, R.N., Assoc. Inst. C. E.

Tw Quakers, resident in
A CLEVER QUAKER.-- ° as they do not go to
Philadelphia, applied to their
law, to decide in the I society,Eg difficulty :—A is uneasy
f°)sia7; arrived ; meets B, an insurer,
and states his wish to y
about a ship that ought
and receives a letter inform-
ing the vessel insured; the matter is
What shall he do? He is
the loss of his
policy is not filled up, and thonld B hear of
afraid that the
it, is all over with him, he therefore writes to
ainggreheidmupofon. A retufnh_sa.shesoripey.
the matter„so n
iriend B, if thee hasn't filled up the policy thee
B thus:
" Oh, oh !" thinks B
fort,lf,ne fellow,
heard. of the ship."
he wants to do me out of the
So he
m. to A :—" Friend A, thee
writes thus
be'esttoo late by half an hour, the policy is filled." A rubs
ihands with delight—yet B refuses to '
pay. NN ell, what
ihs.sthe decision? The loss is divided between them. Per-
haps this is even-handed justice, though unquestionably an
ptoreehmallimn"'
odd decision.
Moat men work for the present, a few for the
future; the wise work for both, for the future in the present,
and for the present in the future. —Eliza Cook's Journal.
Mr. Miller, a retired London merchant, has just
founded four scholarships of 4W. annual value each, tenable
for four years, to the New College of the Free Church.
The Rev. Thomas Sier, M.A., Queen's College,
Oxford, has been presented to the living of Ravesden, in the
county of Bedford. Patron his Grace the Duke of Bedford.

-
ENORMOUS PIECES OF COAL.—A large block of
cual. intendei to be shown at the Exhibition, way raised
at thi B.ymbo 4,4 c,e4s. on Saturday Init. The men had
been trying tl get it up fo- the last fortnight, but the tvckle
they had Wial t weak. They. however, obtained sufficient
to kle from their neighbours, and succeeded in bringing the
coal to a e bank at six o'c'ock n Sdturday evening The
computed weght is from twelve to fifteen tons; length,
n and
a_alatceefeitt was bound
twelve feet; breadth, five feet, and about the same depth.
On the previous Tuesday evening a block of coal arrived in
Lek.Thescswte,-0,
its aOyatk:: etvh'es
Crustalcol..lerie sr
round with iron hoops in the form of a column, nine feet
I,f oomn
nine inches big', with a circumference of twenty-two and a
half feet Its weight is thirteeen tons thitte.n cwt—
Chester Courant.
An association has been formed in Manchester for
improving the condition of milliners and dressmakers. Two
main objects are—to limit the hours of labour, and to pro-
mote a half-holiday on Saturdays.
A PULPIT STOLEN.--In addition to a very miscel-
laneous list of articles found by the police in the possession
of a suspected party, who is supposed to have stolen them
or obtained them by false pretences, are four casks of tallow
and a pulpit. The pulpit is a large veep of citry°4
Afanchater &miner.