The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-01 00:00:00

DESTRUCTIVB _FIRE AT SHADTVELL.

An extensive fire broke out yesterday afternoon
in the premises belonging to Messrs. Reed and Co.,
rope makers, &c., to the Government, in Love-lane,
Shadwell. The premises covered some acres, and
comprised a covered rope-walk, about a quarter of
a mile long, with a spinning factory two stories
high, and sundry other buildings.
The fire was discovered in one part of the rope-
ground, and intelligence was sent for the engines,
and in a short time the land engines from the diffe-
rent stations of the London brigade attended, as
well as one belonging to the parish and the power-
ful steam float from Rotherhithe. The flames by
that period had seized upon a portion of the rope
factory, and they attacked five or six houses on the
opposite side' of the street, occupied by numerous
poor families, who commenced removing their
humble furniture to a more distant place for pro-
tection.

From the rope factory the flames seized upon the
spinning factory, which was, with the contents,
entirely destroyed. The land engines being sup-
plied by a copious body of water, and the float
worked from the River Thames through 850 feet
of hose, some thousand tons weight of water were
discharged for hours upon the flames ; but in spite
of that the work of devastation continued, and the
flames quickly encircled the engine-house and the
rigging-lofts. It could not be said to be wholly'
extinguished at nearly midnight. The damage
done by this disastrous event is very serious.
Messrs. Reed and Co. were insured in the
Phoenix fire-office. The dwelling-houses belong-
ing to the same firm have their side windows burnt
out and the roof destroyed. Numbers 1,2, 3,4,
and 5, let out to private families have also their
windows burned out and the furniture damaged by
fire and water, and hasty removal. Number 6
(opposite), and several others have their fronts
scorched, and the windows broken.

SUICIDE BY TILE MANAGER OF THE
.ROYAL BANE. OF LIVERPOOL.

LIVERPOOL, TUESDAY:
The mercantile and banking circles here was
thrown into a state of great consternation to-day,
on learning that Mr. Chaffers, who for many years
has held the office of manager of the Royal Bank of
Liverpool, had committed suicide last night at his
residence in Breck-road, by hanging himself. Mr.
Chaffers is advanced in years, being upwards of 60,
and up to the present time has had the entire con-
fidence of the directors and shareholders in the
bank. He was very lame, and suffered from much
bodily infirmity, the result of a paralytic stroke
some years since, but regularly came down to the
bank in his carriage daily.
At the time I write the detailed particulars of the
sad occurrence are only imperfectly known, but it
appears that for some months past the deceased has
been in an unusually bad state of health, and much
depressed, in consequence of the death of a brother.
In addition to this, we learn that a short time ago
a proprietor of the bank expressed dissatisfaction
at the manner in which Mr, Chaffers performed his
duties, and gave notice of a motion for his dismissal.
This proceeding is said to have been suggested by
political motives, and was exceedingly hurtful to
the deceased, whol was heard to say that it was
more than he could bear.

It seems to be generally believed that ill health,
the death of his brother, and his threatened dis-
missal preyed heavily on his mind, and may bare
led to the melancholy act we now record.
We learn that, as far as the business of the
bank is concerned, there will be no difficulty, Mr•
Chaffers having left everything in such a state AS
would almost lead to th© conclusion that he had
prepared for his permanent absence.