The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-13 00:00:00

TILE LATE FIRE AND LOSS OF LIFE IN

8LA,0,11-SBDRY.

ADJOURNED INQUEST.—.(THIS DAY.)
The adjourned inquest on the oodles of the unfortunate
persons, who perished in the fire which broke out on
the 21st of March last, in Gilbert-street, was resumed
this morning before Mr. Wakley, at the Fox lavorti,
Duke-street, Bloomsbury.
Shortly before eleven the jury having re-ass-mblerl, a
long comic' tation with closed doors tloi, place, at the
terininAtion which, the cornier and jury left the
room to make an ixamination of the premises.
After an absence all,,ut on hour the c)roucr re-
turned, but :woo considerable tittle clapted before the
jury entered the room.
Toe first witness exlanined was Mr. William 13,-ninett,
surgeon to the SL. Giles' Infirmary who earl—l have
examined at the workhou,e the bodies of the per on,i
who perished
_at th • fire. Mr. R igers, lecturer on
chemistry, at St. George's Hospital, was present, h
took away a portion of iotestioes of the suffer,rs
ex4.Kiination. o,ii:do 14 od es LA rre examine l.
,
The body of Richard Smith wasmuch burned
i a the i
wardly, and the whole of the air passage
nteri r
were quite tree. Tau hea.r., was healthy. Mr. Rogers
made an examination r f the etornach. The appearance
of the whole of the Smith fa
there was a iiia• ked diffeteni:e wcao-mvpeargy. e
ds n iwoietrh, tt)hi
et
Lte,,gerH. Toe diff-oence was in intensity more than in
ebaraeter. Tmre did not appear t, have been a shtick
rein any of tne untorturiateß.
A Juror—You cann •t t li that f,om a post In ,rt. in
examination. 1 thiLk you ought to c,ntioe yianaelf to
that part ut the cAfc.
Wituese—lu the case a Wiliam Hedger, gaged 20,

there were certain appearances that death was occa-
sioned by ag,,hx A. In ;,1, the other cases there was
au unnatural redness of the blood, which was not
observable in this.

C,roner—Csn you, by the examination you have made,
say the cause of death
Witness—With the exception of the body of William
Hedger, the cause of whose death was clearly shown, I
c4nnot satisfactorily account for the death of the other
13 persons. There was no cage in which the ordinary
ariwarances of death from suffocation presented tlAnn-
selves.

Mr. R 'gers, lecturer on chemistry at St. George's
School of Medicine, said—l was present when the first
was being proceed,i with. I took portions
of the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Mr. Hedger
and two o hers. I analysed the Wooil, portions of the
stonisch and its contents. The first thing that struck
me was the ab4eoce of h.., usual appearances cf death from
-ufl cation, and the redness of the muscles and blood.
There must have been something unusual introduced to
priei uce that effect. They bore the appearance e f bodies
haying been injected with arsenic. In the process of
the. anal esi. no traces of narcotic poison was discovered,
but there were certain traces of arsenic. I found traces
f arsenic in the bodies cf J.ihn Hedger, Smith, see.,
Mrs. Smith, and W. Hedger. I think that death was
caused through he inhalation of arsenic. I was induced
by the appearance of the bodies to go to the premises to
see it ally poiserieus subs ante was used in the trade of
the p irties re iding the-re. I found nothing satisfactory.
I afterwards learned that Mr. Calvert had had a
la. ge quantity of minerals destroyed. I made inquiries,
and found that amongst the minerals burnt there
was a large quantity of cobalt and niche'. Taeae sub-
stances, on being subjected to the action of fire, would
ter iw off immense quantities of arsenic. There had also
been destroyed arseeite of cobalt : this substance, on
being heated, would throw off large quantities of arsenic.
The poisonous vapour ascends very rapidly. It is my
decided opinion that, fumes of the poisonous vapours
rendered the deceased persons incapable of exertion,
ai.cl they consequently fell an easy prey to the action of
fire.

By a Juror—The redness of the blood first led me to
theeliet that arsenic wai in the syAetn. The vapour
its would have been sufficient to cause death, but as-
sit-ted by fire it became doubly fatal.
Mr. Bennett, recalled—l agree entirely with the
opinion of Mr. Rodgers. I candidly admit without I bad
had the benefit of Mr. RAgers's ability as an analytical
chemist I should have been unable to account for the
exact cause of death further than it had been occasioned
bysuffocation.

Mr. Gilbert Girdwood assisted Mr. Rodgers in the
examination he hae just spoken of. I agree in that
opinion. I believe the prisoner's vapour produced cola.
ma or insensibility, and that prevented the unfortunate
inmates making auy effort to save their lives.
By the Coroner—When arieum is inhaled it becomes
a narcotic poison.

Mr. W. Pryce Jones, University College Hospital
said—l saw Richard Smith soon after he was admitted
into the hospital. He was half-conscious. On being
pressed to account fur the accident, he said, " What
accident I Oh, yes—:be fire—the childr. n 1" On being
again pressed as to how he had come by his it juries, he
said, "I jumped from the first floor window." He died
about three hours after his admission. I made a post
mortem examination, and it is my opinion that death
wan caused by the injuries he received in jumping from
the window.
Mr. John Calvert, of 61, Great Russell•street, a
mineralogi-t—l had a large quantity of property de-
stroyed at the fire which happrned in Gilbert-street.
Amongst that property was a quantity of cobalt and
nickel. There were about 20 suttstances that would
easily throw off arsenic in being subjected to flame. I
was greatly affected by the vapour. I could distinguish
it from ordinary smoke
&me other important evidence having been adduced,
the inquest was arij iurned, and Mr. Nelson, a surveyor,
was directed to prepare a report on the state of the pre-
mises in Gilbert-street, and submit it to the jury at the
next meeting.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—(This Day).

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.

ATTEMPTING TO PICK POCKETS AT THE ALHAMBRA.
—AWKWARD MISTAKE.—AIbert Barrett, a respectable•
looking young man, was charged with attempting to
pick the pocket of William C. Showering, bootmaker, of
Castle-street, Bloomsbury.
The prosecutor said he was at the Alhambra, Leicester.
square on the previous night, and come confusion having
been created by the falling of some stairs or something
of that kind as they were coming out. He felt the pri-
soner's hard under his coat. He immediately put down
his hand and seised the prisoner's hand. He than led
the prisoner down stairs, and when he got to the bottom
five or six young men came round, began fighting, and
he let go of the prisoner ; but afterwards seeing him in
the crowd gave him into cu-tody. Previous to feeling
the prisoner's hand he had ss. or 6a. in his pocket. The
prisoner said, previous to his taxing him with it, " I've
picked no pocket."
Inspector Park said—Perhaps he might be allowed to
state that he knew the accused to be a •ery respectable
young man, and that he bore an irreproachable ohs•
meter. When the prosecutor gave the charge, he gave
a different descriptio❑ of the way in which the attempt
was made.

Mr. Rosenkirk, of Red Lion-square, said the prisoner
had been Lis apprentice for two years, and he would
trust him with everything he poaseased,
Mr. Bingham said there evidently had been a mis-
take, and the accused must be discharged, and he must
say, without reproach.