The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-03 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 3, LAO.

GREAT FIRE AT THE EU

STON .H-0 TEL.

Last evening, about five o'clock, a fire broke out
in the Euston Hotel, in Euston-square. The build-
ing was one of two which formed a half•circle—the
south front being left open for carriages, and the
north for travellers to enter the hotel from the rail-
way. The building on the one side was termed the
Royal Victoria Hotel, and that on the other, in
which the fire commenced, was called the Euston.
Both structures were six floors high, and had an
underground communication between them. Each
building had 93 sleeping apartments, and the coffee-
room of the Euston was splendidly appointed. It
should here be stated that all the 93 beds had been
engaged for the night, and if the outbreak had
taken place at an advanced hour it is impossible to
form an idea as to what might have been the con-
sequences, not only to property, but also to human
life.

At the time above stated some of the inmates ex-
perienced a strong smell of burning wood, and
having informed Mr. Wheeler, one of the managers,
a search was instituted, but no one could discover
the fire, and after a diligent search it was presumed
that some wood had been burning in one of the
kitchens. Shortly afterwards, however, a sergeant
of the S division of police, in passing along the
square, noticed a small flickering light at the side
of a stack of chimneys on the north-west angle of
the roof, but not such as to excite any apprehen-
sion. He, however, very judiciously apprised the
inmates of what he had seen, and upon examining
the spot it was found that that part of the
premises was on fire. In the course of a few minutes
the engines belonging to the railway company were
brought out, but the fire was then found to be ex-
tending right and left along the roof of the upper
floor. The officer in charge of the engines could at
once see that they would be of little use in extin-
guishing so great a body of fire as was likely to fol-
low, and he sent telegraphic messages to Mr. Braid-
wood, the superintendent of the Fire Brigade at
Watling-street, as well as to the stations in Crown-
street, Wells-street, Chandos street, Farringdon-
street, Holborn, and Waterloo-road. The engines
at each of these stations were turned out, including,
for the first time, the powerful land steam engine
(equal to three of the others) built by Shand and
Mason, of Blackfriars-road. This force was under
the command of Mr. Braidwood, Acting-foreman
Perryer, and Engineers Flemming, Wilkinson,
Giraud, Flynn, &c.
Fortunately, a good supply of water was quickly
obtained, from which the parish, the railway, and
brigade hand engines were set into full operation,
and a vast quantity of water was discharged into
the blazing floor, which ran down at boiling heat
into the various rooms, including the coffee-room,
partially destroying those fittings which had not
been removed, as well as the costly furniture on
three other floors.

The fire, notwithstanding the water that was
being thrown upon it, having fairly got into the
roof, -worked its way along and into each room in
Euston-square at the top, and also to those forming
three or four houses in Drummond-street, the flames
rising so high as to lead every one to believe that
they would consume every portion of the extensive
property. Each floor, it is stated, was of fireproof
construction, but one thing was quite clear,—that
they were not waterproof; and it is extremely
questionable whether the damage done by the scald-
ing water is not even greater than that done by fire.
Mr. Superintendent Loxton and Inspector Mac-
donald, with a powerful body of the S division of
police, were early in arriving, and they succeeded
in clearing the square and Drummond-street, so as
to allow the firemen to pursue their dangerous call-
ing without interruption.
By 8 o'clock the fire was extinguished, but not
until 62 rooms were partially destroyed, and the
roof right round the building burnt off. The origin
of the catastrophe is not precisely known, nor the
offices in which the property was insured.

THE LATE ACCIDENT ON THE GREAT
NORTHERN RAIL WAY.

HATFIELD, WEDNESDAY.
The inquiry respecting the deaths of Mr.
. Francis Leslie Pym, gentleman, and Geo. Venables,
platelayer, who were killed by the recent accident
to a Manchester express train on the Great
' Northern Railway, was resumed this morning, at
• 10 o'clock, before Mr. Sworder, the county coro-
ner, and the jury previously empanelled.
Colonel Yolland, R.E., of the Railway Depart-
ment of the Board of Trade, again attended to
watch the proc2edings. The company were re-
presented by Mr. Hall, barrister; Mr. Seymour
Clarke, general manager; Mr. Oakley, secretary;
and Mr. Brydon, engineer. Mr. Bartholomew
and Mr. Pole appeared for the relatives of the
deceased gentleman, Mr. Pym. The Hon. and
Rev. T. Talbot, rector of Hitchin, was present.
Mr. Hall said the company were anxious to
assist the inquiry in the fullest possible manner,
and they had secured the attendance of the gen-
tleman who was a passenger in the same carriage,
but in another compartment, as the deceased.
The coroner said it appeared to him that their
inquiry should be more immediately directed to
the state of the crossing (the rails connecting
the up and down lines) before the express passed
over it. That was the gist of the whole case.
Ward, the foreman of the platelayers who were
at work at the crossing, was recalled, and he
pointed out in a model of the crossing the posi-
tion of the rail which had been removed, the
west wing rail which had been fractured, and
the broken check rail on the east side. He added
that the 15 feet where he had removed the ballast
was on an equal side of the crossing, and the
spot where the 6 feet were taken out was at the
centre. It was reduced 41 or 5 inches in depth.
The centre of the ballast was most go out.
Coroner—Have you any printed instructions as
to your duties on occasions of this kind ?
Witness—l have. I was under the direction
of Mr. Norton, who was on the spot at 10 mi-
nutes past 8, and it was under his instructions that
I commenced to remove the crossing. The Midland
express passed over about half an hour before
the Manchester express came up.
Coroner—Then how much work had you done
between the time when the Midland passed and
the Manchester came up ?
Witness—Only a few minutes. We had been to
get the new rail. The crossing was quite safe,
although we were going to take it out. The end
was a little worn, and we were obliged to remove
the rail altogether, because nothing will work in
with it,. Nothing was done in violation of our
rules.

The four broken chairs of the check were pro-
duced, and the witness described how they were
placed on the line. The through line was not
touched. The rail on the west side was broke seven
or eight inches to the north of the centre of the
crossing, and it was this rail that I saw work up
•nd down when the train passed.
By Colonel Yolland—l do not know how long
the rail had been down, or when it was turned.
Neither do I know how long since any change was
made in the crossing. After the accident I.looked
to the fracture of the west wing rail, and saw there
was a little flaw in it on the under side. I don't
think that that flaw extended to the outer surface
below. (The rail was brought into the room.)
Colonel Yolland—There are appearances of other
flaws in the rail. Do you think if you had exa-
mined the rail previously you would have detected
any indication of a flaw or fracture on the outer
surface ?
Witness—l don't think I should. lam certain
no portion of the ballast had been picked out from
the bottom of the five sleepers.
By Mr. Bartholomew—ln no place had we re-
moved more than two inches below the sleepers. I
never saw a flaw transversely in the manufacture of
a rail. lam sure I saw it broke after the leading
and driving wheel of the engine passed over it.
George Norton, inspector of the permanent way,
said his attention was drawn to the crossing at the
Hatfield station about three weeks since. The
points were worn, and he ordered an obtuse cross-
ing. They, however, were quite safe for express
or slow trains to pass over. He saw the crossing
at eight o'clock on the morning of the accident.
A little of the ballast was thrown out, and he
thought a part of the north-west rail of the
siding. His instructions to Ward were to take
the crossing out. The points were worn. There
was no other defect. He came back to the spot at
one o'clock, and saw the west wing fractured rail.
He did not know at the time that it was a turned
rail. He saw there was a flaw; it was internal,
and did not appear till the rail was broken. There
seemed an old flaw from about the centre of the
web of the rail downwards to about an eighth of
an inch of the bottom. A piece of the flange of the
rail bad been torn off when the rail was turned.
By the Coroner—l am responsible for putting
whole rails down and seeing they are not cracked ;
but I cannot answer for the metal;
Colonel Yolland—l f you had seen this rail with
a part of the flange torn off; would you have thought
it a proper rail to be down on the main line for ex-
press trains to pass over ?
Witness—No, I do not think I should.
Coroner—Looking at the rail now, to the hest of
your judgment, could you have seen the flaw when
the rail was put down ?
Witness—No, Ido not think I should. If the
flaw existed at the time the rail was turned it
ought to have been seen, but I do not think it did
exist, because the man would not have relaid it.
I cannot saw how long the old flaw has existed.
George Morris, foreman of platelayers, spoke of
the south-east rail at the crossing having worn flat.
The chairs were safe. Between two and three

months ago I turned the wing rail on the west side
at the crossing. I cannot tell how it had been down.
When I took it up I examined it, and thought it
fit to go down again. It was worn out on the top
side, which was my reason for turning it. I was
the only person who examined it, and decided whe-
ther it was fit to be turned or not. I did not see
any flaw in it. The witness looked at the flaw,
and said that he did not observe it when he turned
the rail. What was at the top of the rail hal been
worn flat, and the side (flange) bulged out, and he
had to break it off to get the rail into the chair.
Knocked the piece off with a hammer and chisel.
There was no flaw in the rail when it was relaid,
but there was a crack along the top of it, but, as it
was turned, it would not be on the main line.
Mr. W. Marr Brydon, chief engineer of the
Great Northern Railway, was next examined. He
said he was inclined to assume, from the circum-
stance of the rail on the west side being broke four
feet nearer London than that on the other side, and
that it was good, clear, bright metal, that the mis-
chief must have first occurred on the west side.
The result showed that there must have been some
extensive violence on that side. He did not think
that the rail which was turned two or three months
since on the east side was an improper rail, or unfit
for the position in which it was placed.
Mr. James Dean, the London agent for a Brad-
ford firm, and Mr. Samuel Oldfield, of 12, Portland-
place, London, both passengers in the train to which
the accident occurred, having been examined,
The Coroner summed up, and left the jury to say
whether the officers had been guilty of any negli-
gence which might have contributed to the acci-
dent.

The jury retired, and after being away nearly
two hours, returned at half-past nine o'clock, and
found a verdict of "Accidental death," but adding,
" They think the rail, in consequence of its being,
cracked, and the flange of the rail having been par-
tially knocked off, was unsafe, but that the crack
was not visible, and was not known to the com-
pany or their servants, and that the ballast had not
been removed sufficiently to affect the safety of the
line. They, nevertheless, think the platelayers
should have had instructions to signal to every
train, especially express trains, when crossing-
points are under repair, and they also wish to state
that in their opinion a more careful examination
should be made by a superior officer before a rail is
turned at the crossing."
The proceedings then terminated.