The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-21 00:00:00

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, TCESDAY MORNING.
THE QUEEN'S COLLEGES.

It is stated that Government is about to issue a
commission, at the head of which Mr. Temple is
likely to be placed, for the purpose of inquiry into
the internal economy, curricula of education, and
attendance of the several professors and presidents
of the Queen's Colleges, and the several rules and
regulations which govern each, with a view to their
modification and improvement.

THE FIRE AT THE BANK OF IRELAND.
The origin of the accident which threatened the
destruction of this noble edifice still remains a mys-
tery, but it seems that it is in some measure to be
attributed to a scheme of economy which has been
recently carried into effect by the directory, who
have thought fit to abolish the night watch of two
clerks which, up to a late period, patrolled all the
corrridors at stated periods during the night. The
fire might have broken out despite the utmost
vigilance, but it could not have spread had the
watch continued. The following additional par-
ticulars are supplied by the morning papers :
" The event, although happily productive, as far
as can yet be seen, of nothing worse than consider-
able temporary inconvenience, was of the most
alarming nature, and had the flames continued but
for a brief apace longer with their original fury the
chief ornament in a city proverbial for the elegance
and architectural splendour of its public buildings
must unquestionably have been laid in ashes. The
fire originated in the very heart of the edifice, the
accountant-general's department, which is divided
at one extremity by a corridor from the board-
room, or ancient House of Lords, at the other end
from the private apartments of the housekeeper by a
corresponding passage, and runs parallel to and
adjoins on one side the cash-office, which in former
days was known as the Irish House of Commons,
and on the other the entrance to the quarter in
which the bullion is deposited. After the conclu-
sion of the business on Saturday Mr. Roberts, the
the gentleman discharging the duties of house-
keeper went his accustomed rounds, and saw that
the different gaslights had been duly extinguished,
and that nothing was to be apprehended from the
remnants of the fires. On Saturday night the
same precaution was repeated, and on Sunday, to
all appearance, everything was secure. The mis-
chief is therefore believed to have originated in one
of the lengthened flues extending from the fire-
places in the bookkeepers' or accountant-general's
offices—the department being divided into these
two separate chambers—to a stack of chimneys in
the main building, between which and the scene
of the conflagration there is the corridor already
referred to. Some difficulty is experienced in ac-
counting for the manner in which the fire, sup-
posing it to have originated in this manner,
communicated with the furniture in the apartments
which was almost wholly consumed ; and on the
other hand, adopting the idea entertained by a few,
if the fire had its commencement in the desks, how
it should have ignited the roof. Various ac-
counts are given of the manner and the
persons by whom the flames were first seen.
One version is that Miss Roberts, who had
been compelled to remain awake by indisposition,
saw the light from her window, which immediately
overlooks the roof of the accountant-general's
department. The sentry upon duty avers that he
was the first to discover it ; and the alarm was cer-
tainly communicated in the first instance to College-
street police-station by police-constable Jos. Lam-
bert, 98 B, who from his post in Fleet-street ob-
served the conflagration, which would appear to
have manifested itself in an exceedingly sudden
manner. After some delay, during which the
flames were burning fiercely, the keys of one of the
front gates in the railings at College-green were
obtained, inside of which there was a large tank of
water that afforded a capital supply to four engines,
which were at once connected with it. Eight
watering carts, filled, also arrived about half-past
5 o'clock, but could not get into the yard in rear of
the bank premises, owing to the quantity of hose
which was lying about in all directions. The mili-
tary guard having charge of the building, under
Lieutenants Johnston and Tracy, worked with
good will and considerable effect ; and the staff-
officer of the night, upon being applied to, was about
to order down a strong force of soldiers to render
assistance, when, as is stated, he was prevented
from doing so by the intervention of the officer in
charge of the police. At a subsequent period, how-
ever, their attendance was considered necessary,
and a numerous party of the 4th Regiment, under
command of Captain Peyton and Lieutenant Mar-
tin, arrived from Ship-street Barracks, and a still
larger number of the Grenadier Guards, under
Colonel Lambert, reached College-green' about 8
o'clock, by which time, however, the fire had been
almost entirely subdued, its force having begun
considerably to lessen a little before six o'clock. A
window at one end of the roof was forced out and
the heat cracked a great portion of the glass in the
main building, which narrowly escaped destruction.
At the other end the corresponding window in the
House of Lords, which is situated at a similar dis-
tance, fell out, and here also the framework be-
came molten, while the wall of the corridor be-
neath became ominously blistered. The flames,
also, darting out through the centre skylight,
communicated with the roof of the cash-
office, although the latter is very many feet
higher; but the ornamental coping, which is of wood,
was at first charred, and subsequently caught fire,
while the stone supports were chipped and black-
ened. The flame ran up the roof, and in 10 inin-
utes rqore this noble hall would have been destroyed
but for on the engine on the roof, which fortunately
stopped its progress before much damage had been
done. The mostsingular feature with regard to the
fire is, that where it was fiercest it did not extend
generally, but burnt one portion of the roof com-
pletely ; and again in another portion lower down
did the same, leaving the intervening space almost
wholly untouched. When at length water could
be brought to bear on the interior of the account-
ant-general's office, it was seen that the door of
one of the two iron Eares, which are set ill recesses
at either side of the fireplace, and in which all the
important books and documents are kept, had be-
come quite red, and it was therefore a matter of
urgent moment to cool it. The other, from its
peculiar position, could not at that time be got at,
but both, with their priceless contents, fortunately
escaped unharmed, saving merely the trifling dam-
age done by the dropping of some wooden mould-
ing from off the inside of one safe-door, which, it
is stated, slightly singed the edges of two of the
books. There was also a book-rack in this apart-
ment, which was completely charred, but its con-
tents, for the most part some ledgers of less mo-
ment, escaped with the lose of their bindings,
although from the evidences upon the floor it was
manifest that some had not merely ' with back and
aides gone bare," but that more than a few had
been wholly consumed. Contradictory statements
are made upon this bead, but of this there can be
no doubt, that a very lively bonfire of a pile of
books, which was going forward in one portion of
the apartment, was extinguished by the water from
the roof. The valuable furniture was very nearly,
if not altogether, destroyed, and the contents of
the desks, with letters, small sums of money, office
coats, &c., wholly perished ; and after the tempe-
rature had sufficiently subsided specimens of what
had been the Queen's current coin were picked up
most woefully defaced, in defiance of 'the statute
in that case made and provided.' Strange to add,
however, a diamond ring, which had been in one
of the desks, escaped without injury. At the time
the fire broke out there were four families sleep-
ing upon the premises, iis addition to the por-
ters upon duty—i.e., the secretary, deputy-
secretary, and cashier's households, all of whom
dwelt in premises detached from the main building
and tile housekeeper, whose apartments were, one
might say, next door' to the fire. In the words of
the official returi:,stixhere were sleeping in the house
26 individual
es-
caped without accident.'men Theand 17
women—all
by the bank are considerable in
insuinrances eff:cted
the National Office, 10,000/. ; amount—i. c. in
Patriotic, 10,0001. :
Royal Exchange, 5,000/. ; and Atlas, 5,000/. But
notwithstanding, those heavy insurances
fact that the numberless corridors tend in a and
the
i
sure to isolate any portion of the premisesietheaa; may be attacked by fire, there was a very general.ad
generally
l;
ad
opinion yesterday that the directors
not exercised a sound discretion in discontu
' the Bank Guard,' which formerly took
nightly
charge building, and that if !this corps' had
been still in existence, in all probability the
fire
would have been sooner discovered, and it would
not have reached the dangerous height to which it
extended. In the opinion of competent persons
day
persous the
fire had probably been smouldering for and
only burst forth when it succeeded eettineg, vent
—an opinion which is corroborated to a certain extent by the fierce body of flame which burst
forth when the roof was stripped.
" The following ' official ' report of the.es
accident
has been supplied by the Bank authorit
sc
Bank of Ireland, Dublin, Monday, lJ:an. 19.
—Early this morning a fire broke at th:B.n k of
Ireland, in the accountant-eeneral'e office, the
interior of which was destroyed] but
having but the books and
papers connected with the department,
been deposited as usual over night in the safe,'
are uninjured. The fire made no further progress
and the business of the bank proceeds, as usual.
The premises are largely insured.

CRYSTAL PALACR.—ONg SHILLINO DAY, Tuesday,
Jan. 20.—Admission en payment, 661; ditto by season
tickets, 160; total visitors, 821. i