The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-30 00:00:00

.s..sassrvs
street sr,
, and the fire-escape was passed tlaro
it was found not to be high enottgh to r r-41715—..7".'
third floor. If the fire-escape man had
ficient forethought he might have known s ttstslass7:'/
ladder was too short, and might have raise fikla
additional ladder before passing the bar, or I€ 4: +aG IL
might have done so after passing the bar if he had
turned the ladder on one side. Witness did not see
any person at any of the windows after the arrival
of the escape ladder, nor did he think that anybody -
else did. The man having charge of the ladder did •
not appear to possess sufficient judgment to work it
properly.
Sarah Ann Clabh and Mr. C. IVVe were recalled,
hut they gave no additional evidt-nce of importance.
Mr. Nye said it was a mistake to state that he had •
been out, late on the Thursday night. lie retired
a little after 12, and was aroused by his sister on
hearing a noise in the street.
Mr. Braidwood. said three engines were I“ Is at
the Chandos Brigade Station—two large °Les nod
a small .One. The first two were horse engines.
He had seen the conduct of the police at fires very
frequently, and he certainly thought that the sys-
tem they pursued could hardly be improved.
Although there.wa.s an order from the commisaionera
that the police should not work the fire engines,'-
yet, generally speaking, the inspector did work them
by his own men. The police commissioner had told.
him tkat in cases of emergency his officers were
empowered to go beyond their instructions, and
cases had occurred in which it would have been im-
possible to have gone on without their assistance.
Had he had the command of the police himself he
could not have done better. With regard to the
Fire-Escape Society, he was of opinion they did all
the good that could be done with the money that
Was confided to them by the public. As to the fire-
escapes being placed under the control of the police,
that was a point on which he had formed no opinion.
He had seen the escape that had been used on the
present occasion, and he believed it to be well con-
structed for the pm-poses It was a most ingenious
piece of machinery. It was necessarily light; other-
wise it could not be worked. Amid the smoke and
confusion that must prevail at a fire like the one in
question, a man might easily make a mistake in
attempting to raise such a ladder without being in
any way to blame. He had since yesterday exas
mined the parishinginek; they were good ones of
the sort, but both of them were oldsfashioned things ;
as a proof of it, they had both undergone repair up-
wards of 35 years ae 60. An engine of such a de-
scription could not have been of any use at a fire
like the one in question, unless it had been on the
spot almost at its very breaking out. The quantity
of water delivered by the Brigade engine at 40
strokes per minute was 82 gallons and a fraction ;
whereas, the quantity thrown by the large engine
of St. Margaret's, at 40 strokes per minute,
was only 38 gallons ; and by the small engine
29 gallons. The engine he saw had only
one length of hose, which would have been
totally useless. (Mr. Crow—There are four
lengths.) The Brigade engines had 14 or 15 lengths,
Seven lengths were the usual alloWance which,
at 40 feet each, would make the hose 280 feet long.
Wm. Crow, the constable, said that the parish
engine had four lengths, which could have been put
together in half a minute ; and he believed he could
have brought the engine up to the fire and ready
for work in 10 minutes.
Mr. Young, a leatherseller in the Broadway, had
often seen the parish engine worked at fires very
satisfactorily.
Mr. 'Rogers asked Inspector Butt whether he
ever sent for a parish engine, and the inspector re-
plied that ho never did.
Coroner—But he does not say he never would:
Inspector Butt said lie had not seen the parish
engine, and he should have considered it a lack of
judgment on an occasion like the present to have
sent for such an engine.
Robert Bray, inspector of nolice at the Ilona° of
Commons, said he knew nothing of the fire in ques-
tion; buChaving heard every word of the evidence
given by the police at this inquiry, he was prepared
to say that he perfectly agreed in the course adopted
by Inspector Butt. He had had 23 years' experi-
ence, and if he had been in charge of a fire under
the same circumstances as the present case he should
have sent for the Brigade engine in Chandos-streets
firmly believing that it would have arrived sooner,
and would have been more effective than the parish
engine. At the same time he begged the jury and
all others to dismiss from their minds the idea that
there existed aey unfriendly feeling between Mr.
Crow and himself. That Mr. Crow had been called
upon oftener by the B division than the A division
was explained by the fact that more fires occurred
in the district of the former than in that of the lat-
ter. An engine might be fetched from Chandos sta-
tion in 11 or 12 minutes.
A Juryman—lf so, how was it that the engine in
this instance did not arrive within 25 minutes?
Inspector Bray—l cannot tell.
Mr. Sampson Lowe said his son was secretary to
the Fire Escape Society, which was an institution
supported by voluntary contributions, and the men-
bers of it were anxious to obtain every information
that might lead to improvement in their operations.
They lcoked, therefore, with great interest to an
investigation like the present, in the hope of acquir-
ing additional practical knowledge, by which they
might be enabled to become further instrumental
in the saving of human life.
Joseph Sell, the fire-escape conductor, was then
examined. After stating the circumstances under
which he reached the fire with the escape machine,
he said there was net room in the street to throw
the ladder on the third floor. The ladder, in being
raised, caught against the house on the opposite
side of the street, which caused the irons to bend
—the irons formed the lever which, on pulling a
rope, threw up the ladder. The irons having been
bent the ladder was of no further use. There were
several policemen pulling at the rope to raise the
ladder. Finding that he could not raise the ladder
to the third floor he attempted to get into the
house at the second-floor window, but the flames
were too intense for him to do so, and he then shifted
the ladder and succeeded in getting to the back of
the premises by mounting the roof of the adjoining
house. Witness was of opinion, even if he had
succeeded in raising the additional length of ladder,
that lie would still have been unable to lodge it on
the third floor, owing to the narrowness of the street,
which would not admit of the angle that would
have been required.
The Coroner here suggested that the fire-escape
should be brought and an experiment made, in
order to ascertain whether it would be possible to
render assistance by means of the ladder to the
persons in the house which was on fire.
The escape machine was accordingly fetched, and
an placing it sideways in front of the house it was
found to be perfectly practicable to effect a com-
munication with any person inside the building by
one end of a short ladder being'tied to the fire-
escape and the other end lodged on the window sill.
The Coroner said he was not aware that further
evidence could be brought forward to assist the jury
in coming to a conclusion on this unhappy case.
He believed it was the fact that poor Mrs. Billson
really could remember nothing in the matter that
could throw any light upon the inquiry., The learned
gentleman then summed up the evidence, accom-
panying it with such remarks as the nature of it sug-
gested. He adverted to the two collateral questions
which had arisen out of the inquiry--namely, as to
the conduct of the police, who had a duty to perform
to the public in cases of fire, and next, as to the
conduct of the fire-escape man who had a duty to
perform to his employers; but the great question to
whiCh the attention of the jury had to be directed
was, as to how the fire took place. The evidence OR
that point was not very satisfactory. Although it
was little comfort to the surviving relatives, yet it
was of great public importance to ascertain, if pos-
sible, the cause of the fire. They ought not hastily
to come to the conclusion that it was accidental, be-
cause by so doing they would release everybody
from blame. If there was not evidence to satisfy
them as to the way in which the fire occurred, it
would be best perhaps for the jury to say so.
The jury then retired,and after being absent about
three-quarters of an hour they, by their foreman, re-
turned the following as the verdict of 12 of their
number, a few of the jury withholding their assent
to the latter portion of it :

"That the deceased Henry John Ralson, Sarah
B 'son, Eliza Chapman, and Clarissa Chapman,
died from the effect of burns by the house, No. 13a,
Great George•strect, taking fire, but how it took
fire there is no evidence to show.
" The jury cannot part without expressing how
greatly they feel obliged to all parties who have
assisted in this inquiry, but still they do extremely
regret that the parish engines were not sent for at
the time."
The Coroner could not help saying that consider-
able energy and intelligence were used, more espe-
cially by the police.
The Foreman—No doubt of t hat ; but the parish
engine being so very near, it might have been sent
for.

The Coroner—True, if the parish engine had ar-
rived there, even though it had done nothing, it
might have been mote satisfactory ; for thatreason
he regretted it was not there, though it might not
have been of any use.

A MISCHIEVOUs PARROT.—One day a party of
ladies paid us a visit aboard, and several had been hoisted
on deck by the usual means of a " whip" on the mainyard.
The chair had descended for another " whip," but scarcely
had its fair freight been lifted out of the boat alongside,
than the' unlucky parrot piped, " Let go !" The order
being instantly obeyed, the unfortunate lady, instead of
being comfortably seated on deck, as had been those who
preceded her, .was soused over head in the sea I—The
Autobiography of a Seaman. By Me Ears of .Dundonald.