The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-30 00:00:00

THE LATE BARON .BRUC.K.

VIENNA, APRIL 25.
In this country the body of every person who
dies suddenly, or within 24 hours from the time of
the outbreak of the malady, is subjected to official
examination and, in accordance with this regulation,
instructions were yesterday given to Dr. Roki-
tansky, a renewed professor of pathological ana-
tomy at the University of Vienna, and to Dr. Stuhl-
berger, the Stadt-Physikus (medical man by ap-
pointment to the city), to open the corpse of Baron
Bruck, and to make known to the Imperial autho-
rities the immediate cause of his decease. Some of
the friends of the late Minister yesterday evening
stated that his family had insisted on a post
mortem examination, "in order to prove to the
Viennese the groundlessness of their suspicions,"
but there is reason to believe that the Emperor
gave positive orders that the cause of the death of
the man who so long enjoyed his confidence should
be strictly inquired into. Drs. Rokitansky and
Stuhlberger began their inquest at ten o'clock this
morning, in order to ascertain whether Baron Bruck
died a natural death, or whether he poisoned
himself during the night of Sunday last. It is
now generally related in the city that there is a
long incised wound on the neck of the deceased,
but persons who are frequently in the company of
the widow and her family profess to know nothing
of this. Yesterday Baron von Ransonnet, the Direc-
tor of the Chancellery of the Council of Ministers,
was twice in the palace in which is the Ministry of
Finances, and he is said to have demanded and
taken away with him the letter written by the
Emperor to Baron Bruck on Sunday last. It
is thought likely that the papers of the late Mini-
ster have been seized, as the high authorities are
very desirous to find out what was the nature of
his connection with the Trieste merchants who are
now in custody. Among the absurd rumours which
are in circulation, is one to the effect that Baron
Bruck, while Minister of Finance, invested
15,000,000f1. (£1,500,000) in British Government
and Bank Stock. About four years ago Von Bruck
purchased an estate in Croatia which was valued at
220,0001, and his heirs are likely to find that he
was then able to pay down no more than two-
thirds of that sum. Information has just been
given me that the mortal remains of the unfortunate
statesman have already been removed from the
apartments which he inhabited in the palace built
by the celebrated Prince Eugene of Savoy, in
which are the bureau of the Ministry of Finance,
to the Calvinist Church in the Dorothea Gasse.
The funeral will take place at 3 o'clock to-morrow.
To tho great astonishment of the public neither the
dismissal of Baron Bruck nor his sudden death pro-
duced any great impression on the money-market.
In fact thei e was a slight improvement on 'Change
yesterday. The Emperor left Vienna on Monday,
just as Baron Bruck was breathing his last. His
Majesty, who was on his way to the Styrian frontier
to shoot capercailsie, must have received informa-
tion of what had occurred when he quitted the rail-
way carriage at the station at Payerbach. It was
yesterday evening related that one of the four
gentlemen under examination on the charge of
having defrauded the State had hanged himself,
but the report is unfounded. 'The Viennese now
talk over-much of suicide, and it would not at all
surprise me if the examples recently given by meu
of rank and note found imitators in inferior circles.
There are moral as well as physical epidemics. The
result of the post modem examination has not yet
been announced.

This magnificent building, one of the most beau-
tiful- specimens of architecture which graces out
t0,.41, has been completely desfroyed by a fire which
broke out yesterday morning, and in the course of a
few hours left little more standing than the outside
walls. Shortly before one o'clock a police officer,
on duty at the Post-office, observed flames issuing
from a window in the top-story, and immediately:
ran across to give the alarm to the superintendent.
He had, however, been anticipated by the night
porter, who had informed Mr. Williams of the fire,
and a hose within the building was at once got into
play. The alarm was promptly conveyed to the vari-
ous fire stations, and in a comparatively short space
of time the constable, Hardaere (384), arrived
with the reel from the Salthouse Dock, followed
soon afterwards by Mr. Hewitt, with the engines
and brigade from the central station, by the West
of England fire brigade, and the reels from Seel-
street and Essex street. But before even this short
time had elapsed the flames had spread so rapidly
that it was evident no human exertions could save
the building from total destruction. The principal•
efforts were then directed to the saving of life.. In
all there were in the institution when the flre broke
out upwards of 120 inmates, most of whom had re-'
tired to the dormitories, and were in imminent dan-
ger. They appeared at the windows of the upper
stories, and, so far us can at present be ascertained,
were all rescued ; but, while this is hoped to be true,
it is feared that many are buried amidst the-ruins.
By means of about 12 engines and between 20 and
30 hose, an immense volume of 'water intivoureib
upon the burning pile, but, notwithstanding this,'
the flames extended with- great rapidity, until at
length the whole of the immense building was in
flames. Constable Hardacre, the man who was first
upon the scene, had ascended a tall ladder for the
purpose of passing a hose into the building, when
the ladder upon which he rested broke, and he fell
with great violence to the ground. He was at once
conveyed to th 3 Southern Hospital, where he died
soon after his arrival. The exertions of the fire
brigade were continued without intermission, but
with very little success. About two o'clock, Mr.
Hamner, the secretary, determined to make an
attempt to save the books and money in the seamen's
bank, and employed several men for this purpose.
One of them entered the building in spite of the
warning of Mr. Superintendent Hewitt and others,
and while he was inside, the upper roof fell, and
brought with it every floor beneath, and buried
the -poor fellow beneath. A number of men
volunteered their assistance to extricate the man,
and a jack-screw, which the men of her Majesty's
ship Hastings had brought with them, was em-
ploped to raise the debris ; but this, after several
hours had elapsed, not being successful, Mr. Divi-
sional Superintendent Quick sent for four more
screw-jacks, by means of whicu the poor fellow was
extricated, after being under the ruins for four
hours. The ultimate success of the praiseworthy
exertions to rescue the sufferer from his dreadful
position, was received with a cheer so general and
spontaneous, that its effect was most thrilling.
Long before this the fire had exhausted itself,
and by about four o'clock had as it were gone
out for the want of fuel. Mr. Hewitt was heard
to say that in his experience of thirty years he
had never beheld such a scene as that which
he witnessed at this fire, and that he
had never known a conflagration to spread
so rapidly as it did on this occasion. There is one
circumstance which should not be omitted on this
occasion—the presence of Capt. Mends, with a body
of 15 men, belonging to her Majesty's ship Hastings,
whose assistance was most valuable. The Mayor,
Mr. F. Clint (chairman of the Watch Committee),
Major Greig, Divisional Superintendents Quick
and Ride, Superintendents Sibbald and Haymes,
Inspectors Kelsine, Valentine, Dodd, Moore, Mad-
docks, Southwell, and Parkins, and a large body
of police were present during the fire, and subse-
quently Mr. T. S. Raffles, stipendiary magistrate,
and Messrs. J. Aikin, Johnson, S. It. Graves, Capt.
Ain ley, and other officials of the institution, visited
the scene. During the whole of yesterday immense
crowds assembled in front of the ruins, which were
still smouldering, and upon which the firemen still
poured a large quantity of water. The origin of the
fire is, as usual, involve in mystery, but there is
no way of accounting for the rapid spread of the
flames but by:supposing that there was an explosion
of gas. It is feared that there are many buried in
the ruins, and it was said that the roll was called
over yesterday, and many found to be missing ; but
upon this, as upon all other subjects connected with
the melancholy affair, those who have the power to
afford information are evidently averse to doing so,
and this reluctance was exhibited especially by one
gentleman who holds an honorary position in con-
nection with the institution, and to whom our re-
porter applied yesterday.
4, circumstance adding much to the feeling of
regret at the destruction of this magnificent build-
ing is that it was only insured to about a third of
its value. The cost of its erection was £30,000,
and the amount for which it is insured £lO,OOO.
The interior fittings were insured for £3,000. The
foundation stone of the Sailors' Home was laid in
July, 1846, by Prince Albert, who contributed a
handsome sum towards its erection.

Hardacre, the man who lost his life in the dia.
charge of his duty, had been in the force many
years, and bore an excellent character. He has left
a wife and six children, to which another is likely
soon to be added. It is hoped that they will not.be
neglected by the public, but that they will be pro-
vided for in such a way as to encourage those who
have a task so dangerous to fulfil to persevere in the
performance of their duty. We shall be glad ,to
receive subscriptions on their behalf.—Liverpool
Albion of Monday.

EXECUTION OF GENERAL ORTEGA.

The Dkrio of Barcelona publishes the following
particulars of the execution of General Ortega,
which took place, as already stated, at Tortosa on
the 18th :

" On the previous day the general was put ' in
chapel,' according to the Spanish custom. He im-
mediately proceeded with the utmost composure to
make his will, and settled all his family affairs
even to the minutest details. Soon after a sergeant
came for the purpose of searching his person. This
proceeding affected him deeply, and he exclaimed,
This was wanting to complete my humiliation !
a sergeant search a general !—am I then capable of
committing suicide as they apprehend P Certainly
not; I shall die like a Christian !' He then took a
medal of the Holy Virgin, which he wore suspended
from his neck by a gold chain, and charged his
cousin, Don Ramon Blasser, to deliver it to his
mother. His confessor, the Canon Don Benito
Sanz, afterwards came and had a long conversation
with him. At six o'clock on the morning of the
18th, he took the sacrament, and some time after
had a cup of chocolate, and received successively a
missionary and a friend of his, a physician, both of
whom were astonished at his self-possession and
firmness. Having been informed about 10 o'clock
that his execution would take place at three in the
afternoon, he merely remarked, ''That is very late.'
Then he asked for a basin of soup and ate it with
good appetite. At a quarter to three he was in-
formed that his time had come. He immediately
rose, saying, ' I am at your orders, gentlemen,' drew
his loose coat round him, and took his place in the
centre of the guard. As he passed the postern of
the castle he took off his coat, and requested that it
might be given to his aide-de-camp Moreno. On
hearing the roll of the drums, he exclaimed, ' My
God ! you who were innocent also suffered these
humiliating preparations; it is just that I, who
am guilty, should undergo them too.' His
voice was unfaltering, and his step firm. On
entering the middle of the square formed by
the troops, he noticed the people crowding
round, and said, ' The Lord also allowed the
people to be present at his execution.' He
knelt under the flag to hear his sentence read. On
being conducted to the fat al spot, he inquired 'How
must 1 place myself?" Facing them,' was the reply;
at the same instant a handkerchief was put over his
eyes, and he knelt down. An explosion was heard,
and the general was no more."

HARBINGERS OF SPRlNG.—Numbers of swallows
were seen in this neighbourhood on Thursday last, but they
have appeared Mat home during the snow bla.sts with which
we have been visited since that time. The "wandering
voice" of the cuckoo was heard on Sunday in the vicinity
of Dinton—somewhat before the time it would appear.—
Wiltshire Mirror.
TIIE EX-ROYAL FAMILY OF FRANC E.—On
Thursday the ex-Queen of the French, their Royal High-
nesses the Duke de Nemours, the Prince:de Joinville, also
the Duke de Montpensier, now sojourning in this country,
and the other members of the royal family, assembled at
Orleans house, Twickenham, where the Duke and Duchess
d'Avrnale gave a dijcuncr in celebration of the seventy-
ninth birthday of the ex-Queen. In addition to the mem-
bers of the royal family, their Royal Highnesses the
Duchess of Cambridge and the Princess Mary, and a few
intimate friends of the family assembled. In the evening
the whole of the royal family congregated at Claremont to
le
pass the emipg Get ~anti~le~

the Forte, 51, screw steamer, Capt., E. Tur-
nour, the flag of Rear-Admiral Sir ‘H..lieppell,
K.C.13., left
.Spithead on Saturday, under all plain
sail, by the Needles passage, foe the Gape of Good
Hope, calling in Plymouth, Sound.
The screw steam frigate Melpomene, 51,
Capt. C. S. Ewart, slipped her moorings in Hamoaze

on Friday, and was towed to Keyham, and placed

in the basin, preparatory to her going into dock to
.have her bottom cleaned and overhauled ; she was
subsequently placed in No. 3 dock, and was ap-
pointed to be taken cut again tc•day.
The iron screw steam transport New Pclton,
having discharged her cargo of machinery at Key-
ham steamyard, left Hamoaze on Thursday to go
into the Sound, and in doing so ran on the bridge
of rocks between St. Nicholas and Mount Edg-
cumbe; she, however, backed off at night, and
sailed on Friday morning for her destination.
The gunboat Proeris was taken outside Plymouth
Breakwater on Friday to try her machinery, and
returned to Hamoaze.

The War Department screw steamer Lord Pan-
mure was taken alongside the Royal William Vic-
tualling-yard on Friday, to ship stores saved from
the stranded transport Havering.
The screw steamship Donegal, 101, Captain H.
Broadhead, in Plymouth Sound, took her powder
in on Friday,
The screw steamship Howe, 121, was hauled un-
der the crane in the north basin, Keyham, on Fri-
day, to receive her boilers and machinery.
The screw steamship Desperate, 8, at Plymouth,
is to be prepared for the first-class steam reserve,
vice Conflict, out of condition.
Her Majesty's screw steamships Trafalgar, 90,
Capt. Edward G. Fanshawe, and Centurion, 80,
Capt. Henry D. Rogers, C. 13,, with the screw steam
frigate Diadem, 32, Capt. James H. Cockburn, from
Lisbon, April 16, arrived at Plymouth Sound yes-
terday morning. The paddlewheel steamvessel
Pluto, 4, Lieut. and Commander Cortland H. Simp-
son, left April 12 for England. Two Dutch ships-
of-war were left at anchor in the Tagus. Light
winds from N.W. and very fine weather were ex-
perienced on the passage home.
The men and boys belonging to the guardship of
ordinary Royal Adelaide, in Hamoaze, were exer-
cised at the great guns on Friday, firing with blank
cartridges. Her crew will be paid down to-morrow.
The order for the detachment of Marines serving
on board her Majesty's ship Edgar to be relieved by
a detachment under Capt. Farrant, from the Ports-
mouth Division, has been countermanded and fresh
orders have been issued, that the Edgar's detach-
ment shall be relieved by a detachment from the
Plymouth Division, under the command of Captain
Mansell, First Lieut. Woodford, and Second Lieut.
Haseltine, of the Portsmouth Division, to join the
detachment for service on board the Edgar. First
Lieut. Carlyon, of the Portsmouth Division, is
ordered to proceed to Plymouth for embareation.
Letters received from Canton by the last mail
state that Colonel March, in command of 400 ma-
rines of the battalion, had proceeded to the north-
ward in her Majesty's troopship Assistance. The
remainder of the marines were employed in Canton
as police, &c., but would be relieved in those duties
by some of the native troops on their arrival from
India, and would then follow their comrades to the
north in her Majesty's troopship Adventure. A
naval brigade, to which her Majesty's ship Irn-
perieuse would contribute 300 men, was being
formed for service ashore. A native military train,
with European commissioned and non-commissioned
officers, was also in course of formation.
The Russian steam fript,.. Askold, Capt. Oun-
kovoski, anchored in the Solent on Friday from
Plymouth, on her way to Cronstadt, for the purpose
of enabling her officers to visit the Great Eastern
steamship, in Southampton Water. She sailed
again for Cronstadt on Saturday, saluting the au-
thorities as she passed through Spithead.
The usual weekly batch of shipwrights and arti-
ficers were on Saturday discharged from Woolwich
Dockyard, according to Admiralty instructions, for
the gradual diminution of the expenditure of that
branch of her Majesty's service. A large number
of that class of men are consequently out of employ-
ment. Some of those previously dismissed proceeded
to Cherbourg in quest of occupation, and have writ-
ten to their late comrades informing them of their
having readily succeeded in obtaining a good rate
of pay, and advising them to join without delay,
but the men generally express a great disinclina-
tion to the service of a foreign Government, not-
withstanding the slight prospects which encourage
them to hope for employment in the yards of
merchant shipbuilders and contractors at the pre-
sent season at home. One hundred and fifty labourers
were on Saturday discharged from the Royal gun
factories, in consequence of the large number
employed, considerably exceeding 3,000, being
greater than the limits of the present establishment
can profitably accommodate. A gang of about 500
smiths and hammermen have entered on alternate
night and day work, so that the steam machinery
is incessantly in operation.
The following appointments were made on Satur-
day at the Admiralty :—E. 1). Herbert, paymaster,
additional, to the impregnable ; H. W. Arlidge,
paymaster, additional, to the Wellesley ; C. L. Cart-
wright, paymaster, additional, to the Cumberland;
Jabez Barber, chief engineer, to the James Watt ;
William W. Webber, promoted and appointed act-
ing second-class assistant-engineer, in the Neptune;
George Roe, promoted and appointed second-class
assistant-engineer, in the Caradoc ; and Allan Bul-
lions, acting third-class assistant-engineer, :to the
Asia, as supernumerary.