The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-10 00:00:00

,oN D N , MONDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 10, 1856.

1?,,Y,1 anti Military luteiligvrice

We regret to state that Lieut.-General Sir J. Rolt,
K.C.8., Colonel of the Qleen's Royale, died at East
Southernhay, near Exeter, on Saturday, of disease of the
heart.

A circular, permitting the employment of soldiers as
nii!itary clerks, was iseued from the Horse Guards on
Saturday, by order of Lord Panmure, and addressed to
.the Genera! and other officers commanding in the united
kingdom,
In ,consequence of the decrease which has taken place
in the strength of the Indian regiments stationed in the
Bengal Presidency, an order bas been received from the
authorities at the War Department by Colonel H. Jervis,
Commandant of the Provisional Battalion, at Chatham,
directit g that the-whole-of the non commissioned officers
and men under 19 years'service, belonging to the depots
of regiments on the Indian establishment, at Chatham
Barracks, are to be medically inTected immediately at
the Garrisor Hospital, for the purpose of enabling the
authorities at the Horse Guards to ascertain the number
of troops fit for immediate embarkation, to join the ser
vice cernpanies of their regiments in India. The follow
ing depots of regiments on the Indian establishment
were accordingly inspected at Chatham on Saturday :
viz., Btti (the King's), 24th, 27th (Enniskillens), 32d,
35th, (It lea Sussex), 521 Light Infantry, 53d, 60th
Royal Rifles, 61st, 78th, 75th, 31st, and 87th Royal
Irish Fusileers, which, together, will furnish nearly
1,000 non-commissioned officers and men, for whom ton-
nage will be taken up by the Hon. East India Cempany
for their conveyance to the head-quarters of their respec-
tive regiments in India. The troops belonging to the
above depots have been instructed in the use of the ER-,
field rifle.
The reduction of the army is still proceeding at Chat
ham garrison, where there are about 1,000 men belong-
ing to nearly every regiment in the service, still waling
to receive their discharge, On Saturday a large draught.
of etroope, to 'the number of 115 non-commissioned
officers and men selected from the 4th Royal Irish Dra-
goon Guards, sth Dragoon Guard-, 41st (the Welsh)
Regiment, 46th, 55th, 70th, 71st Highland Light In-
fantry, and 83d Regiments, were inspected at Fort Pitt
Hospital by Dr. J. R. Taylor, C:B., Deputy-Inspector
General of Hospitals, all of whom were ordered to hold
themselves in readiness to be discharged from the ser
vice. In addition to this number 30 men belonging to
the corps of Royal Engineers received their discharge
,by a Chelsea board on Friday, and a large detachment
of 184 non-commissioned officers and men of the 33d
(Duke of Wellington's regiment, have been ordered to
Chatham to await their discharge.
The Secretary of State for War having decided that the
married non-commissioned officers and men belonging to
the regiments stationed at Chatham garrison shall be pro-
vided with separate rooms apart from the single soldiers,
the sum qf 6,0601. to be expended there in the erection
of suitable buildings for the married troops, and an
order has been given for the buildings to be at once com-
menced. , The apartments for the married men belonging
to the Royal Engineers will be situate at the back of the
naafi stable square at Brompton Barracks, where the
contractors have already commenced erecting the block
;of buildings. The sum stated will be expended at Chat-
ham before the close df the military year.
The following draughts from depots in Scotland are
under orders for the Mediterranean—namely, 3 officers
and 40 men of the 92d Highlanders from Fort George
for Gibraltar e 2 officers and 20 men of the 71st High-
landers from Malta ; and 3 officers and 80 men of the
second battalion, let Royals, from Glasgow for Malta.
Lieut.-General Sir Colin ampbell has gone to Fort
George to inspect the depot battalion there, consisting
of the depots of the 71st, 72d, and 92d Regiments. The
91st depot, from Berwick-on-Tweed, will shortly proceed
thence to make up the battalion.

The following is an abstract of the naval force in corn

mission on the Ist inst. : —•

Nnipber

Stations.. of Slitps. Guns. Men.
East Indies, China, and Australia 27 389 4,098
Cape of Good Hope 7 77 027
West Coast of Africa .
South-east Coast of America
West Coast of America lO • 266 2,537
North America and West Indies
Mediterranean 4B 947 10,723
Lisbon

Plymouth
Portsmouth
Sheerness
Woolwich__
Pembroke

TIRES AVD DESTRUCTION UP
_PROPERTY.

Yesterday morning-the metropolis was visited by the
outbreak of one of the most serious fires that have oc,
cured for a considerable period, which laid in ruins pro-
perty valued at many thousand pounds sterling, besides
jeopardising the lives of numerous persons.
The most extensive conflasration took place at 7 a.m.
in the large range of premises belonging to Messrs. Al-
mond, army and navy accoutrement manufacturers,
Swan-yard, St. Martin's-lane. The building, it should be
stated, was at the lowest computation 120 feet long, and
upwards of 100 feet wide. It comprised 9 large flats, in
which property of great value was deposited, the factory
extending on both sides of the yard or lane, while the
houses in St. Martin's-lane to the number of 13, and five
or six:in Long-acre, and many others in Angel-court,
surrounded the ill-fated property, so that at one period
nothing short of the entire destruction of every house
near could' be apprehended; and as it is, we regret to
state that the loss of property by the catastrophe has
been most see cup.
It appears ti at the fire commenced in the first floor of
the ftetory belouging to Mes.te. Almond, immediately
over the s.ablin:s belonging to Mr. Goodwin, and ad-
joined by the well-known place of public entertainment
termed the Parthmium Club and Lecture•rooms. The
latter building alo ,e was nearly 100' feet twig, and was
.fitted no most expensively, with chandeliers and sundry
large plates of looking-0 lass, which were roughly esti-
mated in value at 2,0001. or 3,0001, At the side of this
buildin was the sursery belonging to Mr. Morgan, in
St. Martin's-lane, the back of which abutted upon 'the
principal seat of the pre.
The moment the discovery was made" an alarm was
raised, when Mr. Palmer,,she pr ririetor of the Parthe-
Mum C üb, got up, and upon loeleing (int of one' of his
back windows p geeised that the first floor on the southside of isle. Almond's factory was emitting -a lurid glare
of light; which at first led him to believe that some of
the men were at work. In the course of a few minutes
after, however, be noticed a large piece of timber in a
thorough state of ignition fall past the window, which
induced him to send off in sundry directions for the aid
of the firemen, and in a very brief period the engines of
St. Ann's parish, under the direction of Mr. Spendlon,
attended, as well as a great many of those be.
longing to the London Brigade, under the superintend-
ence of Mr. Braidwood, Mr. Colf, the foreman of the
district. The West of England engine and firemen were
also quickly on the spot, but by the time this powerful
body arrived the flames had gained the entire posseision
of Messrs. Almond's factory, as well as the premises of
Mr. Morgan, and were at the same time attacking with
full vigour the premises of Mr. Palmer, known as the
Parthenium, the backs of several houses in St. Martin's-
lane, as well as the gable end of Messrs. Silk's coach
factory in Long-acre, and the coach.lace factory of
Messrs. Whittinghain, Brothers, in Swan-yard.
Therengines were forthwith set to work from a plenti-
ful supply of the New River Company's water, copious
streams of which were thrown upon and-into the blazing
premises,; but, in spite of the most strenuous exertions
of the firemen, the flames continued to progress with
fearful power, so that at length the whole of the west-
end became brilliantly illuminated, and the steeples of
the various churches were, shown out in bold relief.
The firemen, under the direction of their principal offi-
cers, kept to their posts, but in so doing were exposed to
great danger, more especially two or three of the men
who wero working in Angel.court. While they were
directing the water upon a wooden building, nearly 70
feet high, and adjoining the lofty coach.factory of Messrs.
Silk, the principal part of the wooden building fell with
a loud crash, and nearly killed the men.* The firemen
however, by mounting the walls arid roofs of the sur-
rounding houses were enabled to attack the flames on
either side, and after several hour hard labour, enables'
to subdue the fearful fire.
The damage done is very great, but from the frOnt
street nothing approximating to the exact loss can be
seen. The factory of Messrs. Almond is entrely con.
Burned, as well as the Parthenium Club-rooms in St.
Martin's-lane, and likewise the carriage lace factory be.
longing to Messrs. Whittingham, Sons, and Co. About
15 or 20 other parties have also sustained serious injury,
either by fire, water, or hasty removal of their furniture,
among whom may be enumerated Mr. Morgan, surgeon,
who was insured in the Phoenix Fire-office; Messrs. Silk,
carriage builders, whose back factory is much injured,
but the front portion has not' sustained the least damage,
which was exceedingly fortunate, for had the flames once
gazed upon the extensive number of carriages in the
place the loss of property, great as it unfortunately has
been, would have been much larger.
As to the origin of the misfortune not the least infor-
ruation could be obtained. Two of the Royal Society's
fireeescapemen, Gould and Wheatley, rendered great
assistance to the firemen, as did also a body of the I` and
E divisions of police, undet Mr. Superintendent Dargon.
" OrrscrAo REPORT OF TAR FIRE IN ST. MA.RTIN'I3-
LANE.
"Nov. 9, 1856, called to a fire in St. Martin's-lane.
On arriving," Mr. Braidwood states, "I found the pre-
mises of Messrs.. G. W. Almond, army and navy accon-
trement maker's, on fire, in Swan-yard. The fire was
extinguished by the firemen and engines of the Parish,
London Brigade, and West of England-offices, and with
the' aid of 112 hired auxiliaries. Tae premises are burnt
down and the contents consumed.
"Do., J. Goodwin, livery stablekeeper. Contents not
insured; premises burnt down.
"Do., S. Dart, coach lace maker. Burnt down ; con-
tents unknown if insured or not.
"Do., J. Roberts,- cabinetmaker. Insured in the
Atlas. Burnt down and contents destroyed.
"Do., Meisrs. Whittingbam and Wilkie, coach lace
makers. Burnt down.
"Do , J. Roberts, cheesemonger. Premises burnt
down, and contents destroyed. Insurance unknown.
"No. 67, St. Martin's-lane (unoccupied)—Mrs. S.
Grieves. Building eupt.osed to be insured iu the Atlas
and Liverpool. Part of roof burnt off.
damaged"n°" Rowley, H.
water.
lithographic
"No. 70, St. Martin's-lane—T. M‘Lean,
wiossbarrele
inn
cheesemonger. Stock and building
cured ler contents and stock-in-trade in the Itoya In-
surance-office.
of roof
r olo`fo Top
iffi floor
under
nodfe
rw oprakrsth odpa
damaged
dy ri4toeurt.,l and
part
aid"
contentsDoG. Mdaimddalgeetodnb(yprwivaateter).
andßack
the Sun.
removal;

00.; No. 71, B. Wilmot, surgeon. Damage by
water and removal. Insured in the Phoenix Fire-office.
"po"
room.urnt
down, and contents, consumed.
keeper).
No. 72
.rEfo
0.
EnPea,lmneerari(ythelollo afretehteniu
long,
m burnt
"Do., No. 73, Mr. Harm, 'eating Jude keeper. Back
of house damaged b, fire and contents by removal. In-
sured in the Atlas.
" Do., No. 74, C. Vacy, chemist. Contents insured
in the Sun ; damaged by removal.
"Do. (third floor), J. Copping (iodger). Similar da-
mage. lmured in the County Fire-office.
Nos. 3 and 4, Long-alre, J.WTill arcs, cutler. Build
ing insured in .the Sun. Back front severely burnt and
furniture injured by removal.
"No. 6, E. Davis, coachwaker. Roof of workshops
damaged by fire and contents by water. Insuredin the
Sun and Union.

" No. 5, T. Parsons, varnish awl colour maker. Build-
ing damaged by water and removal."
In conclusion, ,and in justice to the firearm, we must
add that, had they not had persevetance almost super-
human, we should have had to record one of the largest
fires the metropolis has been visited with for several
years. As it is the damage is roughly estimated at
20,0001. One of Messrs. King's men, named James
Ward, saved 50 sacks of corn, and' was instrumental in
getting out of the premises several horse.

[lt happens very singularly that this locality is
the very spot where the proposed new street is to
eater, into St. Martiils-lane from King-street,
Covent-garden 1]