The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-29 00:00:00

DREADFUL FIRE-FIFTEEN LIVES LOST.

i whilst obtaining a glimpse of the ruins was robbed
_i of a valuable _gold watch, which. wart dexterously
. • • •
.. . . wrenched- from •his-guard P- and with which the
thief got' Oleareoft ''
1-
.
The most fatal fire that has occurred for nrMy 1
years past in,
the 'metropolis took' pine yesterday 1 The building
_where, tlie fire took \ place and the
morning, which, we regret to sta,e, was attended . deeedfulloss of life we haVe.toChionicle occurred,
with the sacrifice of not less. than 15 human bbings. appears to have been of- a. very dilapidated clearac-
The scene of this calamity is Gilbert-street; . ter.. 'Judging-from the appearance of the party
Bloomebury, a narrow thoroughfare runnieg.out of ' walls,' the bearings of the beams -and rafters were of
Museum-stet et into Bury-street, where the houses the moat meagre character. Looking at them from
in Great Russell-street, opposite the British Mu- the street- and at a distancP, theWOnder is that,the
weight that
it not
scum, flank'the house on the northern extremity.
so long sustained the living It appears that in the middle. of Gilbert-street, ,floorsnightly accumulated upon them, and that they
on the north-east side, stood a house containiug
had not- given Sway and killed as many
not more than eight upper rooms, while the ground I more than have been deprived' of life .by this t
.. g grea
floor was occupied by a carpenter and builder, 1 e ,lamity.
named Taylor, there being no loss merit fluor to . Toe area within. which this, frightful destruction
. .
thi. place.' The second-fb- or was occupied by a man 1 of human life occurred is another exemplification
and his wife, named Eastwood, and three children; . of the manner which "kern necessity compels' the
the back part of the same fle,or being in the tenure
, Ihuddling together of knmen.beings in the metro-
of a Mr. Smith, his wife and se7en children ; and
.1 polls. In a Closeconfined spot of,about 20 feet, by
the premises of Mr, Sawbery, a mineral collector in 36 feet stood a house inhabited by about twenty-
Great Russell-sir, et, had a passage which touched one persons ;the first and second floors being
upon the burning property, the only sepatatioh be• divided into eight rooms, which must have been of
tween the two buildings being a wooded Partition, th,„ in,,, clo e and unhealthy 'characterises: ible, for
which was found inadequate to re-ist the fdry of in the !reuse abuttieg tin ti e back of Mr. Sae brey's
the flames,
bottle in Ge- at Russell-street the occupants had no
Tile discovery was mide bv-police-censf able Sul- mans of (A-Bettina air except tierough the windpws
0
liven, 34 E, by seeing smoke issuing apparently of the front, and no light fer the back rooms except
from the back psrt of the ground floor of one of frt m a Skylight, with a borrowed light ovt r rte
the the houses. After the lips° of a few minutes the 1 doors. It was to this circumstance that in a gre
constab'e found out the exact 1-icaltty of the fire, '
• measure is to be attributed the great loss of life,at and without a moment's delay he sounded an alarm, the tv, etched creatures having no means•of escape
knocked violently at the street door, and after from the fire but flora the front of the house. ,
springing his rat-.le succeeded in making some of The appearance of the ruins was cf the most
the inmates aware of their danger, bun not until heart-rending -description, even witheub the con-
the fit's had g :Wed pcesession of the whole of the usc.ion of ,he lamentable and frightful losi.of life
lower part of the house, and, rushing up ilia stair- with which it is associated. - The floors and roof
cise, soon cut off all meat is of egress liy the regular ere entitely down----not evea the vestige of arafter,
way. The affrighted occupants—or as many as w. re beam, or j ist remains to give any of strength,
awakenel—made an attempt to descend bydi thne•e (3, indeutation in the walls to show that provision
stairs, but the moment th y reached the lau
e.for such useful and necessary
had b en made '
they were met by such huge volumes of sparke and articles in ' the construction of a, house to be in-
hot smoke that they were compelled to. return h tbited by human beings. .
again to their respective ' rooms. The man Athongst -the ruins are nixed articles of . fUrni-
Eas.wood, ' and his wife and three children ture.of:the plainest Character, denoting too-clearly
shortly al erwards made tie it appease rice at the the classof the occupants. B.dateads, parr,let:les,
amond-floor window, screaming pi' eously fur help, bottles, crockery, books, wearing apparel, bedding,
Sullivan, the policeman, and another -officer, at loayss of bread; and articles Of that kind are strewed
lie risk of losing their own lives, did all that was about in the utmost confusion, whilst the walls dis-
poesible to rescue this family, and fortunately they play the rapidity of the fla.ues and the Sudden man-
were successful ; but in au adjoining twinthefla:ues, on th • ner in which they burst upon 'them. In the stoves
'same floor, were Mr. 'Staiithe hie wife, and seven are the remains. of the previous night's family fire,
children, and to get to thes.o persons was fodiad im- and on the hob of one of them stands a tea kettle.
pcoaiblee Another man 'and . his son,- named The chimney-pieces - retain their ornaments,
-. . .
Hedger, alsolived is sonic portion of. the building;' 'blackened With the devottring element, whilst over
who have likewise perished..
Almost faeiugehe-burning property was 4 newly In the further corner of the top room hangs .two
erected house, and there icing a. laclder ~,; tius tm bird cages divested of their occupants or who pro-
scaffolding it was carried to the, ' spot, .and every .bahly shared the same fate as the unhappy owners,
endeavour was made to tefthe inmates-Out_ peed= •- and on the shelves are to bet seen numerous
ing the-arrival of - the itc.yar Socieers fire escape, .culinary and' domestic articles with, in ,one
which was stationed-as Bloomsbury-Church. Un- or two cases,,
loaves of bread -intermixed and blunt
fortunately, all the police and others were unable to to a cinder. make the remainder of the occupants aware how The family„ of the Eastwoods, as soon as they
they could reach the ladder, and a young man, a were extricsted from the ruins, were kindly con-
s)n of Mr. Smith, finding the fire spreading so veved by Mr., Fowler, master of Si.•Giles's wcrk-
fearfully, as a last resource jumped out of window) house, to that est-ebli hment, where they were re-
and falling upon a police can, was so frightfully ceived and treated with every kindness. A ward
injured that he Was removed to the hoapital, where is specially devoted to them, and everything is be-
he shortly afterwards expired: His father andmo- ing done to mitigate, as much -as possible, their
ther and children being overcome by the heated ttlerings. This family consists of the following
smoke were unable to get to the window, and they per 80113—John EasitWOOd, the 'father, aged 50 ;
fel beneath the action of the flames and perished. Elizabeth, the wife, 32 ; Mary Ann, 12 ; Eleeetheth,
-Conductor Christian at last arrived with the fire es- 10 ; Maria Anne; 14 ; and Thomas, 3 Years of age.
cape, but unfortunately when he got to the end of The unfortunate persons who met their death,
the street he Was tie eI:A t ) take his machine for some and were taken out of the ruins principally, by
few minutes to the place, owing to some barriers Wainson of the fire brigade, who exerted himself
that crossed tl:e road to shore up the houses on to the utmost, both to ererent the loss of life,-and
ei,her side. After lowering his Machine be was at af•er wards to recover the bodies from the ruiva, is-r
length embl -to pass it ueder toe struts, and hay- which he is deserving of the highest praise, were
tug placed it against the Bloomsbury Dispensary, removed to the dead house 'of St. Giles's work-
next door, he got upon the roof, thinking there le -lite, where they have since been identified. They
were windows at the b ick of the burring house are Richard Smith, aged 52, Harrie: t, his wife, 51,
from which he might be able to rtseue thou who and the following children—Alfred, 14 ; Henry,
were knOwu to be iu the place. Tile flames at that 17 ; William, 12 • Harriett, 16 ; Teresa, 7 ; Geerge,
perm
• d were rushing (n.tof the first and second floor 11 ; and twins, 111. aria and Albnt, 3 years of age.
f. ont windows. Unfortunately, it proved t hat there The mother, and Harriett, her daughter, are dread-
was not one window at the back of theliouse, con- fully burnt, and the whole present a sadesickening,
smently 'lie c iiductor was uu ble to enter fr tin arid liar-owing spectacle. Most of the bodies are
i hat part, and the ' flames rushiug out furiously placed in shells, but those who are root present
trom the front windows also preve ited him from much of tl,e appearance and position they were in
rendering any as, stance in that quarter. when 'death pet an end to their existence,
Information of the . u break isevin; been a .nt to especial the three youngest children (inCluds the engine stat'ons with as little delay as pessible, bi—
g the twins) who appeared to have
numerous engines of ,he London Brigade, ui der died from suffocation, and without a struggle, eir the direction of Mr. Coif; the foremaneforemanth
re of the B aims being over their heads as it in sleep. The
e-
district, and Etiginrs Wilkinson, Fleinming, other persons at the dead-house are James
Hedger,
Giraud, -and other 4. fiLers, as well as the West of 53, Mrs. ..Liedger,. his wife, 50, William Henr
E rey,
egland firemen and engine, arrived. • An abun- their son, and a toune man, supposed to have hem dealt supply of the New River Company's weer iu the employ of a butcher in Druiy-lene, but
was procured, with which the engines wet e imme- whose remains have not yet been identified. dietely set to work, but before the matt had time to Ti e young man who jumped out of -he window
throw a drop of water upon the tire it Invi extended was Richard Smith, 19 years of age, son of Richard
across the rea-I, and waa at acking the front of the Smith,
mentioned above. Atter jumping out of the
uianufacory belonging to the M sets. Harding, window he was taken to Univertiaty Ho: vital, where
•he fringe maker s, and strong appr, het-14 els existed ,he died about tl.ree hours after his admission.. 'His
f I the safety of the Bleemathury. Dispeus try and body presents a Sh.:ektng mutilated appearance. In
the houses m Great Rusiell-Arect. Tee m iment ad& in to being much burnt, his legs are broken,
,he hose of the different engines could be cheig- d and collar, bobe acct head ft acturt d.
, with wa'er the firemen, under the direction ofthetr The in q UeSt will be held at the Fox, Duke-street,
„uperfor utticerp, exot!ed ihoint,elves in a cno,t in but the day and hour,bai not yet be -n fixed. It
tepid m ,nner, and by c nvoying the lez,- is expected it will be opened by Mr. Wakley to-
th rn piping round tit) tacl.j ining lions a and .morrew morning, to enable the bodies to be in-
into the one on fire they were enable:l to cut cir terred, end afterwto-a the proceedings will, it is
tee further extension of the flames iu the directien believed, be adjourned, in order to get up the. evi-
of the dispensaty, th .. piano-forte factory, and the dente necessary for a searching investigation both
fringe watele,uses, but it had alieedy eetzed upon as to the origin of the fire and the nature ancl.cha-
the b +ck part of. the premses blofiging to Mr. meter of the building. .
Sawbety, the mineral . dealer, in Great Russell-
street.. The whole of the firemen then tried all
they could to save this last mentioned property,
but at first there seemed not the least chance, for
the flames were rushing out of every window of tSe
huu-e in which they commented, and were rising
high into the air; the inhabitants on eith r side of

the hizing propeity were removing their goods.
Fortunately the firemen by great pecseverance,
[rm.:aged to get the fire extiminished in Mr. Saw-
bery's premis,s but nut till the owner hid sus-
tain, d serious damage, not only to his lk,use, but
to the valuab'e con cuts. The firemen having
ac! ieved this point next directed all the force of
water at thur cumuli/id upon the prewises in which
the wi foi tune commenced, and while so employed
th - roof sudLnly fe.lln, and forced the two floors
down, as well as the f out wall. By keep,ng to their
posts the firemen eventuallysucceedeil in geAing
fire entirely subdued, and as soon as the ruins wee
sufficiently cooled for any one with safety to ent,-r
they cumarenced removing the fragments to search
for the unfortunate persons missing. This task de-
volved upon 'Wilkinson and Fteauning, of the Bri-
gade, and Wing and llemarngs, a the Wet of
England office. Af er digging fur some tiwe the
firemen found in the ruins the body of a min ter-
ribly burnt ; and after proceeding further with
their search tioy touud the todies of two wum,n,
and after that the bodies of two male children.
These were at once placed in shells and removed to
St. Giles's workhouse. Two lads were next dug
out of the ruins, alsodead, who from the position
they were found in are supp )sed to have fallen from
the-upper fib ,r when the moot fell in. Thee re-
mains wet e likewise taken to the w orkhouse. Upon
further search a woman and two children we: e
found, they having to all appearance been suffo-
cated before the file to zed their bodies. Tire total
number, therefore, found burnt in the ruins is 14,
and the man who jumped out of the window auu
114 S since perished unities the number 15.

To give the namcs and ages of the deceased per-
t:X:lns would be at present impossible, but the fol-
lowing are known to have perishe,l :—Mr. Hedger
mil son, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and seven children.
Mr. Smith, it is stated, had nine children, but it is
hoped that two wet e sleeping frtim home. Out of
20 perso. s woo 1 .dged iu the house only 5 escap.,d,
namely, Mr. and Mrs. Eastwood and their three
children.

As to the origin of the calamity not the least re-
liable infotinatiou can Le obtained. It seeins, fiom
the insi ection since mitt° of the ruins. that there
was a dusibin at the further eiid of the shop, and it
is not improbable thai; some heated cinders might
have been placed there, and after smouldering fir
some hours have broken out in a flame. One thing
is quite certain, that the file commenced, if not on
that preci,e spot, veil, near it.
The building was insured in the Sun Fire office,
but mine of the occupants of the house destroyed
were insured. Mr. Sawbery, of Great Russell-street,
has also sustained great damage by file and water:,
f
but he was insured in the Sun-office ; and the ao
tory of Messrs. Harding, opposite, is much scorched
by the action of the flames.
Upon inquiring last night at thel woorkdlemaudsetbfeorrea,
I;st of the names of the persons.
y
the repo, ter was jammed that it was
n
inavossiLle to tell, as no one had yet
Ifese n atP
foundrea
tutr
identify them; but the following was
ytohnenegrdweorintleieny,
were brought in :—One man,
t child, three men,
two male children, one female
two lads, and another woman. and two children.

SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH TO AFIZI6A•

The Chamber of Deputies at Turin has lately
adopted a bill having for its obj ct to effect Some
modifications in the original convention passed
between the Submarine Railway Company and the
Sardinian Government. During the dicussion en
the bill, documents were brought forward which
proved—lst, that the submarine cables I etween
Li Spezzia and Corsica, and between Corsica and
Sardioia, are in a perfect state of repair, and have
t been in any way injured or altered since their
immersion ; 2dly, that the land-line across Sar-
dinia works without interruption, and in a most
,tisfactoi y in inter ; and 3dly, that the Sardinian
Guvernmeut has; admitted that it was only just to
cord a guarantee of interest to- the extent of 5 per
cent. on the totality of the capital, amounting to
3,000,000 fr. In the course of the debates it was
stated that the number of despatches has progres-
sively increased, having been 2,575 in 1855, pro-
ducing 15,891 fr. ; 4,882 in 1856, giving 30,953 fr. ;
and 8,920 in 1857, making a return of 49,371 fr.
The augmentation in the receipts has been infinitely
more marked since the opehing of the communication
with Algeria, the two months of November and De-
cember having alone had 2,s9odespatchFs, producir g
20,460 fr., or upwards of two-fittns of the while
receipts of the year. The reporter on the bill has
estimated the annual returns of the Sardinian line,
supposing them to remain stationary, at 160,056 f.,
and in taking as basis the receipts of December, at
196, 260 f. ; "so that," observes the report, " in a
very brief period, not only the government -.will
be relieved from all guarantee of interest, but the
sharrhotiers will have to receive a satisfactory
dividend." As to the French telegraphic, line
in Connection with that of Sardinia, .only.one
wire out of the four composing the (sable
is at present regularly at work, so that, the
guarantee promised by the French Government on
the complete termination of the line has not yet
come into operaii. n. It is believed that the inter-
ruption in the electric current must exist either at
the point of junction at Bona,, or within seventeen
miles of Cagliai i, at the point where a supplementary
cable was added in consrquilace of the line not
having b,-en at first of sufli,ient length, the rectifi-
catii,n of this imperiection can be effected, .it is
thought, without any very great clitheuity-:-and
will most pronatily be attempiel when the waters
of the Mediterranean are perfectly calm for borne
length of time, which generally occurs about the
end of May.

We understand that &marriage has been arranged
between Viscount Castlerosee, 111. P., son of the Earl of
K(ntoare, and Miss Thyone, only daughter of Lord and
Lady Cbarlv Thyone.
The second section of the East Kent Railway, be-
tween Sirood and Chatham, is to be openoo for publics
traffic on Monday, the 29th this day:
LORD Rossz.—Taz WEATHER.—Lord Resse,,,in a
letter to the Dublin Evciti»y Post, denies the current
report that he expressed an opinion that the approach-
ing summer will be an unusually but one. His lord-
ship has not exi reseed any opinion on the subject. '
THE DUBLIN COLLEGE ELECTION.—The polling at
tie college was resumed on Saturday morning, and.each
candidate polled 15 votes. At four o'clock the poll was
closed, when the numbers stood :—For Lefroy, 589 ;
Dr. Gayer, 350 ; majority for Mr. Lefroy 239. , The
Provost declared Anthony Letroy, EQq., duly elected.
Mr. Rivers Wilson (of the Treasury) continues to
fulfil the duties of Private Secretary ti the present, as
be did to the late, Financial Secretary of the Treasury.
Mr. B. Stephenson (ot the Treasury) is appointed
As-istant Private Secretary to Sir W. Solliffe.
THE STATE PROSECUTIONH.—We understand that the
trial of Bernard will take place at the Central Criminal
Court, before a special commission,
of April, being a week after the ordinary seasior!o
that court. Rudio, who has receivedbi, pardon
bight
from the English Government, is
erlr for the
to , i ,
over by the French authorities next netzbt4.:,,,,dass. - The
purpose c 4 giving„ evidence on Monday, theinth
ICie.ifyyierilittiind to eon.
prosecution, and Mr.. Ed -74.°41°'
'Who is charged
duct the
.drueral (Sir FitvoY _...w. ~,,._-,1,, Q.c., wilt
Attorney
the pamphlet et-
wish a libel in publishing at c!-!e4avg
will bar toe.
d at the ordinary set•
neeltaftiFneriand will be
Ann of d _
ide
d rhe tams learned gentle-
prosecuted and efe
.. , ,
..
eandn6ifceildec ,e'" .Mr.
la.2:rtresj°-vLe'r
'
1 t,C,
titled
0 n
,OB:
To
ytti :
trials asp •iXptC. .1 to tzite ft‘ry cutider-
the Old Bailey in or
Ole public hatteekt. : , .

f