The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-06 00:00:00

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,
accomplish the feat. Ile will ob ve'plat 46•61 E
.ier
r
should be unprovided with the . - i
ing the law of the case when suc .cbtlisions arise. Ho ,(
will sincerely declare (as he as: often done), bis =:I j
strong regard for England and eEnglisb,.antl his el
brotherly feeling towards the o 'rs of our -navy. :,
He will finally avow that he finds 4... mad-eta W.
mistake, and will beg to be allowed to bear all the
blame. If this is, as we believe, a true sketch of
the man, we may hope much from mutual explana-
tion between the two Governments and the peoples.
Whatever the result may be, the American Govern-
ment must be subject to censure for assigning so
arduous a post as Commodore Wilkes has been
holding to an officer so unfortunate in former pro-
fessional transactions, however loyal and however
gallant he may be.—Daily Newt?.

GREAT FIRE AT ANTWERP.

A letter from Antwerp, dated Dec. 3, says :

"There was a fearful conflagration at the Napoleon
Docks last night, causing a large loss of life and pro-
perty. The fire commenced at about half-past five
o'clock at the large Belgian Sugar Refinery, and in
about half ,an hour the whole buildings were one
mass of flames, causing the greatest consternation,
and so great a heat that two vessrds lying in the
docks in front of the buildings commenced burning.
The fire extended with great rapidity to the En tre-
pot St. Felix, which became also one mass of flames
at about 8 o'clock in the evening. After great exer-

tions on the part of the fire brigade the fire was ar-
rested, but it is still burning, and the adjoining
warehouses are not yet out of danger.
We regret
to say that about 20 firemen, one architect, and the
superintendent of the Entrepot St. Felix have been
lost, and several more persons are missing. The
total estimated loss of property is about 10,000,000 f.;
there were about 50,000 qrs. of wheat, rye, barley,
and seed at St. Felix, besides large quantities of
wool, sugar, and other articles. The lass to the in-
surance companies will be principally in this coun-
try and Holland, and also in a London office."
The Belgian papers publish details of this sad
catastrophe.
The Precurseur of Antwerp says :—" A terrible
conflagration, surpassing in intensity any one that
has occurred in Antwerp since the destruction of the
Entrepot in 1830, threw the whole city of Antwerp
into consternation last night. The fire broke out at
half-past 5 in the Belgian Sugar Refinery. The
fire brigade and the troops of the garrison were on
the spot almost immediately, and every step was
taken likely to stop the flames. The Belgian Re-
finery is contiguous on one side to the Entrepot St.
Felix, and on the other to wooden buildings belong-
ing to the firm of Box and Verbert. The chief
facade fronts the great basin, and the other the rail-
way station. The amount of combustible materials
collected here was sufficient, if it took fire, to de-
stroy a great portion of our commercial establish.
ments, not to speak of the shipping in the basins.
It was found impossible to save the refinery; in less
than half an hour it was one fiery furnace, throwing
high columns of flames into the air, which lit up the
whole city. From the ramparts the whole country
as far as Dam was as light as day ; the flames were
perfectly visible three leagues off; the passengers in
the Gand train saw them from Neukerke. All the
efforts of the pompiers (fire brigade) and the garri-
son were directed to save the adjoining buildings,
especially the Entrepot St. Felix and the woodyard.
The 11 fire engines on the spot, especially that of
M. Wood, of Deurne, did good service in stopping
the spreading of the flames. The storehouses of the
refinery were partially cleared of their contents.
The soldiers of the Military Train and Artillery and
of the forts dragged away the carts as fast as they
were filled. The woodyard of MM. Bea and Verbert
has been saved. This fortunate circumstance is duo
to the solidity of the wall on the left of the refinery.
The Entrepot St. Felix was still intact. A number
of workmen had entered the building, including M.
Stoop, inspector of works, and M. Hirsch, sub-diree•
for of the entrepot. There were at least 50 men in-
side the building. Tongues of livid flame were seen
shortly to issue from the windows of the first story
about 35 minutes past 7. A cry of horror and fear
arose from the crowd respecting the fate of the men
who were in the upper (seventh) story of the build-
ing. At ten minutes to 8 the building fell in with
a-fearful crash burying the unfortunate men in the
ruins. Among the killed are MM. Stoop and Hirsch,
the corporal of the Fire Brigade, Willemsen, Bri-
gadier Naulerts, a sergeant, and four soldiers. The
number of killed has not, however, as yet been ac-
curately ascertained. In one quarter of an hour this
building, supposed to be fire-proof, fell a prey to
the flames. The owners of the ships in the basin
were in the greatest state of alarm. Flakes of fire
were falling all around the vessels, and the crews
were actively employed in getting the craft away.
The sails of one ship took fire, and the paint
of many of them was scorched and crackled.
The inhabitants of the houses in the vicinity of
the conflagration were busily employed removing
their goods and chattels. A lady who had been
only confined the day before was carried out of her
house. The scene of desolation will be remembered
by all who witnessed it to their dying day. At
half-past 8 the conflagration was concentrated in
the two buildings of the entrepot and refinery, and
hopes were entertained of saving the stores of guano
close to the Entrepot St. Michael. The Malines
Fire Brigade arrived about 10 o'clock with their
engines by special train. The fire was so intense
that the water poured into the flames seemed to
feed instead of extinguishing them. The conduct
of all present was most admirable."
The Avenir gives additional details, It calculates
the merchandise stored at the Entrepot St. Felix as
follows :-100,000 hectolitres of grain, 1,500 to
1,700 bales of wool, 940 bales of tobacco, 400 bar-
rels of raisins, 1,000 blocks of mahogany, 200 bar-
rels of potash, 300,000 kilogrammes of bar iron,
1,000 parcels of merchandise of various description,
500 bales of flax and tow, 1,500 casks of sugar, 5,000
bales of rice, 4,000 dried hides, 500 bales of coffee.
The cellars of the same establishment contained
200,000 kilogrammes of graine de coton, 100 bales
of tobacco, a store of mahogany, 100 barrels of
pumice stone, 500 hides, 150 bales of flax, 150,000
kilogrammes of bois de teinture, 500 barrels of oil
and turpentine, 250 bales of resin, 2,500 sacks of
purified guano, 200,000 kilogrammes of copper ore.
The Belgian Refinery was insured for about
1,700,000 E, chiefly in Belgian and French Com-
panies. The value of the merchandise in the Entre-
pot St. Felix is calculated at ten millions of francs.
All the insurance offices will be considerable suf-
ferers.
The Precurseur says :—" We have received a few
additional details of the conflagration. The fire
appears to have broken out in the offices of the
refinery on the side near the basin. All the
buildings of the entrepot and of the refinery
are destroyed except the building alluded
to above and the house of the director. The walls
of the entrepot have fallen in ; the back facade
threatens to fall ; it would fall into the railway sta-
tion. The walls of the refinery, which were more
solidly constructed, as also the chimney, remain
standing. It is to the thickness of these walls that
MM. Box and Verbert are indebted for the preser-
vation of their premises. Nevertheless the timber
in their yards was on fire more than once, and in
many places is carbonised. The timber yard was
smoking this morning, but no fears are entertained
of fire. The cellars of the entrepot containing the
flax, turpentine, and resin have not been touched.
The energies of the Fire Brigade and troops are di-
rected to this quarter. The Antwerp Refinery was
insured to the amount of nearly 2,000,000 (£80,000),
in various French, Belgian, and German companies.
The entrepot was insured for 7,000,000 f. to 8,000,000 f.
(i 320,000), chiefly in Dutch companies, which will
suffer considerably."

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