The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-28 00:00:00

MARK LANE.

Very little English wheat was received fresh up to our
market to-day. The trade, however, was by no means
active ; nevertheless, factors worn firm in their demands,
and refused to sell at low rates. We have, therefore, no
change to notice in prices.
We were well supplied with foreign wheat. Fine
parcels commanded full currencies, with a fair inquiry.
Otherwise the trade was heavy.
Floating cargoes of grain moved off slowly on foreign
terms.

The demand for barley ruled quiet. Fine malting par-
cels, however, wore disposed off at full prices, and grinding
and distilling sorts were sold at later rates.
Malt met a slow sale, at Monday's prices.
In oats very little business was passing, and inferior par-
cels ware rather cheaper.
Beans and peas were rather dull, at drooping prices.
Flour was firm, at formerprices:
SiIF ARRIVALS THIS WEEX. •
Wheat. Stirley. Malt. Oats. Flour.
Englisb and Scotch 220 1,310 490 260 740
Irish. _
Foreign 13,340 1,970 24,920 5,140 sacks
3,420 brls

The Fatal Accident on the Metropolitan
Railway.

ADJOURNED INQUEST.-(THIS DAY.)

The adjourned coroner's inquiry into the circum-
stances attending the deaths of the three persons
who lost their lives by the falling of a girder on the
carriage in which they were travelling on the Me-
tropolitan Railway was resumed to-day, at St.
Bartholomew's Hospital, before the deputy coroner.
Captain Tyler, from the Board of Trade, was
present.
The evidence ou the last occasion terminated at
the point relative to the means used in raising the
girder, the fall of which caused the accident, and
to-day the men employed on the work were ex-
amined.

A person named Carmen, of the Hampstead-
road, stated that after the accident he observed the
rope hanging from the shearling.
Richards, a fitter and hoister, said he assisted to
remove the injured parties after the accident. lie
was, previous to its occurring, engaged with others
in raising the girder, which was done by means of
a rope from the " shearling" pulled by a steam
engine. A check line ought to have been put on
before the engine started, but he believed it was not
done. The engine raised the girder by jumps. The
girder previous to its fall had come within a foot of
the balancing point when he told Chainey, the
ganger, that he did not think it would be safe to
move it with the engine ; he (Chainey), how-
ever, gave the signal to start. In a moment
or two the rope became tight, and the girder
moving suddenly upward it passed the balancing
point, toppled over, and fell on the carriage.
The train was away before the engine stopped. The
work is still going on and will be for some time
over the railway. He acted under Chainey, who
had the control of moving the fallen girder. Chainey,
when thegirder fell, went down, when he (witness)
said "Dick, whatever made you start the engine ?-
I told you the girder would go down ;" and replied,
" It's no use saying that now ;" to which I said, " I
told you in time." He (witness) with others got
down as speedily as possible to help in the removal
of the girder from off the broken carriage. Chainey
would take his instruction from Wilmot. At the
time of the accident, Chainey was the man in charge
and he gave the orders, which were carried out by
witness and his fellow-workmen. He didnot know
the power of the engine. When the girder moved
it went by jumps ; sometimes it would go two feet.
The rope in use was a good one and nearly new.
It had been thoroughly tested.

By Capt. Tyler—During the fortnight he had
been at work at the girders there was no person set
to signal the trains. We went on with the work
when the trains were running. We had no orders
to do them when the trains were running.
By a Juror—He never saw any person waive a
flag when a train was approaching. A boy was en-
gaged to waive a flag to signal the stationary en-
gine employed in raising the girder.
By a Juror—By the orders of Wilmot, the under
foreman, the steam engine was used to raise the
girders. When they first began they were
using ropes and a hand crab. Wilmot directed him
(witness) to go with him to get a fresh rope ;
the one which was being used with the hand
crab was then put aside. He then got the
rope from Wilmot which was attached to the shear-
ling, and which broke. He was positive he saw
Wilmot while the steam engine was at work raising
the girde. The men at work all objected to the
use of the steam engine in raising. Chainey said
he did'nt think the steam engine in raising the
girders was as safe as the way they were going
on before the order to use the engine was given by
Wilmot. The men all disapproved of the use of the
engine; but we had nothing to do but to obey orders.
Wilmot acted under the orders of Mr. Morgan. He
had no doubt whatever but that Chainey was sober,
and he heard him mention something about a check
line, but he could not now recollect to whom.
The driver of the stationary engine employed in
hauling the rope to which the girder was attached
was next examined, but his testimony was unim-
portant, as he stated he could not see the girder
from his station, and only started the engine when
he received the request to do so.
The inquiry was proceeding when we went to
press.

Dreadful Fire and Loss of Life.

GREENIIITIIE, Dec. 27.

This quiet and pretty waterside village wf.s the
scene of a most dreadful fire early yesterday morn-
ing. It took place at the premises of Mrs. Henry,
a widow, carrying on the business of a grocer, in
Greenhithe High-street, which runs parallel with
the river, and resulted in the destruction of a large
amount of property, and the loss of Mrs. Henry
and three other lives.

This evening Mr. Carttar, the coroner for Kent,
opened an inquiry at the White Hart Inn, opposite
the ruins, on view of the bodies of the four sufferers,
viz., Mrs. Elizabeth Henry, aged 32, Bertie Henry,
aged 4 years, Walter Henry, 6 months, and Mary
Poole, aged 15.

What was left of the remains of the deceased pre-
sented a very shocking appearance. They were
almost burnt to a cinder, and nearly all trace of
their being human remains, with the exception of
those of the little boy, was destroyed.
The premises in which the fire commenced com-
prised a substantial brick building two storeys in
height. It was occupied by Mrs. Henry, whose
husband died about four months ago, leaving her
with a family of three children, two of whom, with
the unfortunate mother, have now perished. A
Mrs. Frances Kempton, a widow, lived in the house
with her late sister, Mrs. Henry. These females,
with the children, slept in the top front room, and
the young girl, Mary Poole, who acted as a kind of
servant, and was the daughter of a tradesman living
next door, occupied the back room. It appears that
the grandfather and grandmother of the children
had spent Christmas-day with the family, and on
leaving at half-past 7 for London they took with.
them Mrs. Henry's eldest girl, in order that she
might spend a few days in town, and who was
therefore spared. Mrs. Henry, the children, and the
other two inmates retired to rest about eleven o'clock
on Christmas night, when the shop and other parts
of the building appeared all right, there being no
gas used in the village. About half-past three
o'clock next morning Mrs. Kempton was aroused
by a strong burning smell and a quantity of smoke
filling her apartment. She immediately called up
her sister, Mrs. Henry, who aroused the children,
and on going to the staircase it was evident that the
whole of the lower portion of the house was on fire.
Any attempt to escape by means of the stairs to the
front door was utterly impracticable. It would seem
that in the dreadful terror which the poor creatures
were in they went into the back room, iu the hope
probably of finding some means by which they
might be rescued ; and, amidst their awful but
brief suspense, Mrs. Kempton jumped out of the
window on to the roof of an outhouse, a distance
of some twenty feet. She was much burnt and
cut about her person by the fall, and notwith-
standing her
.dreadful suffering she
it in made short
work of
getting into the back yard and
knocking at the rear of the house of the next door
neighbour, Mr. Poole. She so got through to the
front street, when she was removed to the " White
Hart." By this time the fl Imes had shot out from
the lower part of the house, and the few men who
were about hastened to the spot to render what aid
they could. By; some it was thought that Mrs.
Henry and her children were seen at a front
window for a short time. The last that was heard
of the poor mother by her sister, Mrs. Kempton,
was her calling in the most heartrending and
piercing manner, " For God's sake to save her
children." However, apparently nothing could be
done towards rescuing them, and the mother and
her two children, with the young servant girl,
perished.
The Jury acquiesced in a suggestion by the
Coroner, and the proceedings were accordingly
adjourned till Mrs. Kempton is well enough to
attend.