The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-26 00:00:00

THE GREAT FIRE.

The huge pile of ruins caused by this fearful dis-
aster continues as unapproachable as ever. Even
with all the assistance afforded by the late heavy
rains, and the continuous streams of water which
are poured on them on all parts from the mains by
night and day, the heat they give off is so intense
that it is impossible to penetrate beyond a few yards

inside the blackened walls from the land Eide. No•

thing dare approach them from the river. In the
centre several large cellars of oil and tallow are
blazing as furiously as ever. The glare of these
flames, which are unseen during the day, shines out
as brightly as before with nightfall, when, of course,
the alarm is spread that the fire has again started
on a fresh career of destruction. There is, however,
we are happy to say, not the least danger now of
such additional loss. All the ruins on the outskirts

(except, as we have said, those next the river) are
not only cold, but well saturated with water. The
burning cellars in the centre, which cannot be
reached, must burn themselves out; and, from what
is known of their contents, a long time must elapse
before this takes place if they are left to themselves.
The chiefs of the Fire Brigade, however, are of opi-
nion that in a day or two more they will be able to get

the hose sufficiently forward to reach even these
centres of fire; and, if so, we may soon hope to see
the last embers of this tremendous conflagration ex-
tinguished. The cellar full of tallow,ben eat h the ware-
house which leans so fearfully over the spot where
Mr. Braidwood's body was discovered, has almost
burnt itself away. Since Monday evening the hose
of three engines has been pouring in streams at one
end, and driving the great mass of fire it contains
out at the other, in the centre of the ruins, where it
is impotent for further mischief. So great has been
the quantity of water poured in here that the
vaults have been almost flooded, and an immense
quantity of the melted tallow floated completely
out. The body of flame at this spot is now so much
reduced that the firemen have been enabled to ad-
vance far enough to reach with water the walls at
the end of the vault, through the apertures of which
the mass of flame has been pouring since Saturday
afternoon, and which are therefore almost white
with heat. Tremendous clouds of steam are thrown
off here as the jets of the hose fall upon the brick-
work. Unfortunately, however, this side of the
warehouse is as much out of the perpendicular as
the front, and is certain to become still more so
as the mass of brickwork contracts in cooling, so
that even when the fire is entirely extinguished the
imminent danger will prevent the spot being used
as a base of operations for penetrating further to-
wards the centre, where the great vaults still boil
and flame unchecked. Adjoining the cellar which
has thus been partially extinguished is another,
stored entirely with lard and bacon. This ha
never been on fire, though, to judge from the hot
jets of steam that have been issuing from the loop-
holes since Sunday, the contents must have been as
effectually overdone as if the flames had actually
found their way in.

During all yesterday, and up to yesterday even-
ing, some ten or fifteen labourers were busily em-
ployed near here removing the masses of fallen
brickwork in their search for the missing body of Mr.
Scott. Some of our contemporaries not only stated
yesterday that the remains had been discovered, but
gave the exact amount of money found in the
pockets of the unfortunate deceased. The state-
ment, however, is quite inaccurate. Up to dusk last
night no trace had been found of the body. Only a
comparatively small portion of the ruins then re-
mained to be removed, but, darkness coming on,
the search was very properly discontinued, as in
the doubtful light it was difficult to discern with
accuracy the signs which would most probably pre-
cede the downfall of the large pile of ruins leaning
over the spot. At dawn the search will be resumed,
though it seems to us dangerous to allow any men,
however willing, to venture into such a danger,
unless safety of life, which in this case is out of the
question, is concerned. The deep mass of half-
smouldering rubbish over the oil vaults beneath
Hay's vaults is rapidly becoming cool, so that all
danger of ignition of the oil beneath may now be
considered quite at an end. But here, too, a por-
tion of the lofty walls is in such a dangerous con-
dition that nothing can be done towards removing
the ruins till they fall, for they are in such a state
that any attempt to erect a scaffold to take them
down would be madness. In fact, the ranks of
toppling walls yet standing seem to cause a most
serious embarrassment. There are such a number,
they all stand so close together, and are of such
enormous height, weight, and thickness, that the
fall of one would bring down half the others, almost
from the mere concussion. We have been informed
that the Ordnance authorities have been applied to
for the use of cannon to fire on and level the most
dangerous with the ground. If this is true,
we think the Ordnance authorities have by
their answer acted most wisely in refusing to
have anything to do with the matter.' The
discharge of cannon in the midst of such toppling
masses would very likely have the effect of bringing
down walls where least desired or expected--very
possibly on the guns themselves, and the use of
shotted ordnance with small charges would be
equally out of the question. It is most likely that,
long before the ruins are cool enough to enter, the
walls themselves will have settled all these dif-
ficulties.

Mr. Scovell, while bearing testimony to the gene-
ral and almost literal accuracy of the narrative of
the disaster which appeared in our columns of Mon-
day, wishes us to correct an erroneous impression
which has gone abroad in consequence of the state-
ment that the iron fireproof doors between the
warehouses were left open by an inadvertence.
They were only open because the men were actually
at work in the floors when the fire was discovered.
The bonded warehouses were all shut up and locked
by the Customs officers as usual at 4 o'clock, but in
the other buildings the men worked till 6 or 7.
Before leaving work of course all these doors would
have been closed, and had the fire then broken out
it would most probably have been stifled by its own
smoke—certainly confined to the floor in which it
originated. As it was, however, all the doors were
open, and the block was so filled with suffocating
clouds that none could approach the fire, and a short
time sufficed amid such combustibles for it to gain