The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-06 00:00:00

FURTHER PARTICULARS.

As to the origin of the calamity, nothing is known at
present. That the fire broke out iu the carpenter's shop
there can be little doubt, but how or by what means,
there is reason to fear will remain a mystery. The
carpenters' shop in this theatre extended, with the
single exception of a comparatively small space de-
voted to the scene-painters, from one end of the building
to the other, and lay between the ernentental ceiling and
the roof of the theatre. Through an open space in the
floor of this atelier the central chandelier was lighted,
and the place itself was generally filled with materials
of the lightest and most combustible character. It
was the duty of one of the firemen to accempany the
gasman when he ascended into theearpenter'e shop tolight
the central chandelier, and this office on Tuesday night
fell upon Castles. The latter says he went with one of
the gasmen in the service of Mr. Payne (who has the di-
rection of the lightinFe of the theatre), and that, after
completing this duty, they tested the safety of their
lighting rod by pouring over the woo! et the end of the
rod a small quantity of spirits of naptha. Toe rod was
then left suspended over the basin of the chandelier, and
Castles and the gasman returned down stairs by the
light of a glass lantern. This was shortly before seven
o'clock in the evening, at which hour both these men
decl,re all was perfectly safe. At Lur o'clock in the
morning one of the "Hymen " had occasion to ascend to
the second "flies," and even then he detected no smell
of smoke or indication of danger of any kind. When
the two men entered this place, they were nearly suffo-
satel by dense black smoke before they had proceeded
many yards. Castles t`trew himself on his hands and
knees, and endeavoured to crawl towards a smouldering
heap which he observed near the centre of the workshop.
The smoke was, however, too much for him, and he
was compelled to make a speedy retreat, without having
been able to open the fire mains on this floor. De-
scending to the next "flies," he succeeded in turn-
ing on the mains, but before he could fix the hose
the descending fire frora the workshop above overtook
him, and drove him to the next " flies." The imminent
peril was now evident to bins. He saw that the fire
had obtained a mastery which could not be controlled ;
lied his next step was to unhitch and cut away those
pasts of the scenery most likely to be affected by the
increasing fire.
The precautions alopted against fire in this theatre
were necessarily of the most stringent nature; for sub-
sequently to its re-erection after being burnt down in
1808, no insurance office would issue a policy upon ft.
To reassure the public against the alarm then created,
the architect took pains to erect a tank on the roof of
the theatre, calculated to hold 18 tons of water, which,
by means of double mains on every floor, could be thrown
upon any part of the building at a moment's notice.
Four firemen were appointed to watch and guard the
theatre against fire. It was their duty to go over every
part of the building, and to see that the fire-mains
were always accessible and always charged. This
arrangement has continued up t" the present time,
and of the four men on duty last night, one of
theta had been attached to the theatre for nearly 40
years. With all these precautions, it missy naturally be
asked why such a ealamity was permitted to take place.
The answer is plain. Instead of visiting every part of
the theatre as was their duty, the firemen on this ocea-
sion confined themselves to the more genial atmosphere
of the stage ; and it is a fact that the first discovery of
a fire in the roof was made by one of their body, James
Castles, while engaged in conversation with another
attache of the theatre upon the stage.
It seems generally admitted that for some time past
there has been an unusual escape of gas in the house.
Mr. Slimier], who held the office of machinist and car-,
penter at this theatre, has been so forcibly impressed
with the danger arising therefrom that ho had actually
waited upon two or three of the proprietors, Mr. Sur-
man and Mr. Robinson among others, and re-
presented to them that if something was not done he
feared the theatre would some day be burnt down. Mr.
Sloman has also called the attention of the fireman to
the same circumstance, but nothing seems to have been
done. Whether the fire originated from a gas leakage
or not is of course uncertain, but in the absence of satis-
factory information on the point it may be desirable to
state all the facts.
There is another remarkable circumstance in connec-
tion with the supply of gas to this theatre. It is a fact
that no less than three cempeuiee have mains laid on to
this house—the Imperial, the Equitable, and the Lon.
don. When Mr. Anderson :view/led the leseeeship he at
once changed from the Imperial to the London Com-
pany, and there were not wanting yesterday persons of
competent judgment who pronounced this to be a dan-
gerous practice in any theatre.
Had the catastrophe occurred in any other part of the
house it is probable its origin might have been attributed
to another cause, inasmuch as during the bal there were
at one period as many as a couple of hundred persons
smoking cigars in every part of the theatre.
In this particularly trying scene several persona ex-
hibited instances of great courage and coolness. Mr.
Anderson devoted himself to assisting Mr. Ponteau, the
private secretary to Mr. Gye, in saving certain valuable
documents and papers from Mr. Gve's private room, a
labour in which Mr. E. T. Smith, -lessee of Drury-lane
Theatre, was observed rendering the most energetic aid.
Mr. Francis, the printer to the theatre, and Mr. Nim-
mo, were also especially prominent in their assistance.
But the crown of merit on this occasion belongs to a
humble individual named Burgess, the bill-sticker to the
establishment, who, at the imminent risk of his life,
pushed his way into the burning building and brought
hack with him several valuable books and papers. Mr.
Ilingeton, secretary to Mr. Anderson, also exerted him-
! self manfully.
Iu Prince's-place, the court-yard by which her Ma-
esty entered the house, one attempt at salvage was suc-
cessful. The knick-knacks appertaining to the Wizard's
tricks were in an apartment very near to the stage door,
and these were in great part saved. A small quantity of
furniture, including Isis private piano, belonging to Mr.
Costa, was also rescued.
The value el the properties destroyed is something
fabulous. An approximate estimate may be formed from
the fact that in mounting the several operas contained in
the repertoire of the theatre when under the management
of Mr. Delafield no less than 60,0001. was expended, of
which the four operas of the " Prophetei the "Hugue-
note," " Lucrezia Borgia," and "La Donna del Lego "
cost 26,0002.
The valuable dramatic library belonging to the thea-
tre—unique of its kind—is gone in the general wreck.
The original MSS. of the " School for Scandal," the
" Miller and his Men," the opera of the "Slave," and
hundreds of other curious works were there preserved.
The armoury, containing more than one hundred suits,
and occupying a series of roome, is wholly destroyed.
Four original pictures by Hogartb, represerting the
Seasons, which hung upon the walls of Mr. Gye 's private
room, within only a few paces of the box-office, could
not be saved, so rapid was the progress of the fire.
It was an affecting incident to see poor Mr. Horton,
the music librarian, a well-known lover of his art, moved
even to tears at witnessing the loss of so many objects
whose precious value he was so well able to estimate.
The music library of the Royal Italian Opera contained
i the score of no less than 28 operas, many of them writ-
ten by the composers themselves.
The only insurancee known to e,,p4 is connection with

‘.. .