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

THE INQUEST ON MR. BRAIDWOOD.

The inquest into the causes which led to the
death of the late Mr. Braidwood was taken yester-
day morning, before Mr. Sergeant Payne and ajury
of the principal tradesmen of the neighbourhood, in
the board-room of St. Thomas's Hospital. After the
usual formalities of opening the proceedings had
been gone through, the coroner said the jury would
in all have to inquire into the cause of two deaths
which were attributable to the late calamitous fire,
in addition to that of the lite superintendent of the
fire brigade, viz., that of the man Sullivan, who
was killed by the chain of the floating engine, and
Thomas Masson, who was so dreadfully burnt by
blazing tallow.

Mr. W. Williams, instructed by Messrs. Jones
and Arkcoll, attended to witch the progress of the
case for Messrs. Scovell. Mr. Scovell himself was
also in attendance, as were also Mr. Birkbeck, son-
in•law to Mr. Braid wood; Mr. Hodsoll, surveyor to
various fire offices; Mr. White, of the County Fire-
office ; Mr. Cutler, of the "Westminster ditto ; Mr.
Henderson, superintendent of the D Brigade; Mr.
Fogo, chief of the B District; Mr. Superintendent
Bradford, and other officers.

Mr. Watkin Williams acid that in attending
there on behalf of his clients, it was almost entirely
with a view of affording the jury every possible
assistance in their endeavours to ascertain the cause
which has given rise to so fearful a fire, and re-
sulted in the death of a most valuable public ser-
vant. A statement had been made in some of the
public journals to the effect that great neglect was
attributable to the persons in Messrs. Scovell's em-
ploy in not having, at the outbreak of the fire,
made immediate use of the iron fireproof doors
which shut off communication between the various
floors of the warehouses. He would, however, be
able to prove to the satisfaction of the coroner and
jury that there was not the least foundation for this
statement, and ho trusted that the contradiction
would receive the same publicity as had been ac-
corded to the remarks which had called it forth.
Mr. J. G. Doyle, wharf superintendent to Messrs.
Scovell, was the first witness examined. He said
the wharfs where the fire began were known as
Cotton's and the Depot Wharfs. Formerly they
concerns, but they were now united,
the wharfs were underlet.
The ande
fire
emp
began
er
gaptalrt
iionn portions
the,l
f
parts wholly occupied by
Mr. Scovell. The first intimation he received of
its outbreak was about half-past 4, when he was on
the quay side of Cotton's Wharf. One of the boys
came and told him that there was a fire in the D
floor, and witness ran at once to see. The D floor
was the third story from the ground. He could
see no signs of fire then,
and therefore hurried
back to the Depot Quay, and looked for the
smoke, which he saw at about 120 feet distance,
going towards the street.
That was a portion of Cotton's
ting immediately upon the D
spot, and found that clouis of smoke were issuing
from a portion of the H e at oncear went to tuhe-
warehouse called "H, No. 4."
attached a hose to the main,
saw that their foreman,
- er. Antrobus, had already
elplroht yafrpdr. pWitubests
M
which was kept
charged for constant service,
in order that any be-
ginning of fire might be checked at the very outset.
The supply, however, through the main was so in-
adequate that it scarcely threw the jet beyond eight
feet. Witness went at once
to the hose-house and
got two large hose-pipes capable of throwing, if
water. supplied, large quantities ofter. Ladders were
then at once erected to the
window whence the
smoke was coming, and two men went up and sent
in a good supply of water. At that time, however,
No fire could be seen in the first story. They had
not played the hose through the window more than
two or three minutes when a large sheet of flame
burst and the fire began
t
Nevertheless the men continued pump-
o spread.out through the aperture,
pump-
ing on it for about three-quarters of an hour, until
they were completely driven away from the hose
by the fire, and the men in the cellar who worked
about
tturmeric,h fire
havingan d h e c hado -
m
the force pump by the smoke. The three chief ar-
ticles of merchandise stowed in that warehouse were
juotte,
conversations with
Mr. Braidwood when he arrived and began to su-
perintend the firemen before the wall fell. The
wall gave way at about half-past
daonuab tb ags
7 o'clock in the
evening. At that time witness was standing within
nthe bags
slightest o of rice,
menced there. He had many
150 or 180 feet of the deceased. The fire had then
gained a complete mastery, and 'wits ra • ging fiercely.
But a minute before the wall fell witness had been
on the spot, and Mr. Braidwood vas then
giving
brandy to some of his assistants. Siddenly he heard
a sound as of a floor giving way in the block known
as " G," Nos. 7 to 12. There was k series of floors
in that warehouse, from the cellars to the roof.
Witness could not say exactly which of
the floors
it was that yielded; but as he knew them all to be
well loaded, he apprehended such a casualty, and
warned about 20 persons to leave the spot, for
he feared the wall would come out. He had just
turned himself to get away when a loud cry was
raised, "The wall is coming." l't
—Efore witness
could gain much speed from the spot hewas knocked
down by another person flying like b
—briself and he
saw no more of Mr. Braidwood. When he last saw
him he was standing perhaps about thir feet from
the wall. The portion of the wall which fell was a
mass measuring about eighty-four feet brig by forty
deep. There was not the least doubt but that a
Part of this fell on the deceased. Witness had seen
the spot where the body was found, and it was close
to where he last saw the deceased. There was no
explosion of saltpetre, as had been stated in the
papers, though there was a loud, dead, peculiar
sound, as of the floor giving way. On the top floor
of that warehouse there were about 1,600 bsles of
cotton, each weighing nearly 4 cwt.—about a cwt.
3 qrs. The floor was wood, and the beams and
rafters wood, but the stanchions which supported
them were iron. The bales of cotton were packed
down by hydraulic pressure, and were about ore
foot nine inches in height or depth. If, however,
the band were loosened, the bale would at once es•
pand or spring up some twelve or fifteen inches.
Witness could very well imagine that if the fire
once got to the bands and burnt them the bales

would expand, and the walls must then either keep
them confined or else succumb to the lateral pres-
sure. In his opinion such an occurrence would
quite account for the fall of the wall. There was no
explosive material whatever in that warehouse. In
reply to the jury, the witness added that the first
engine he sent for was that. stationed (a% we under-
stood) opposite Morgan's-lane, and that arrived at
about a quarter to five. The first floating engine
arrived at about ten minutes past five, but it so
much overshot its mark in coming alongside the
wharf that it made a very sad bungle of it. The
supply of water from the street mains was always
poor and weak, and throughout they never had any-
thing like an adequate quantity of it.
By Mr. Williams—They had in the wharfs be-
longing to Messrs. Scovell a very large tank along-
side the depot building, and that was kept filled up
at every tide. They had also a fire pump close by
that, which would throw a jet of water 130 feet
high. There were, besides this, two tanks over the
depot, and one over the tea warehouse, which were
also kept filled by the pumps.
Mr. James England, a delivery foreman in the
colonial department of the wharf, said that when
the fire was first discovered he was in the warehouse
where it originated, in the floor immediately above.
He saw smoke, and ran down into the lower floor
to ascertain the cause. Here he listened and heard
a crackling noise, and, looking round, saw the smoke
issuing from a pile of jute, and at once gave the
alarm and ran for a bucket of water. He had told
the last witness where the fire was, and said it was
on the B floor, but he must have misunderstood him
as he went to the I) flat. The B flat and 114 were
on the same story. Witness at first told him the
fire was in or near the old counting-house, for he
had seen it there. He at once went for more water,
as there was a good supply in the tanks. He got
flown with another bncketof water, but then could
not approach the fire, in consequence of the dense
body of smoke. Jute was like hemp, and if it got
damaged with wet or oil it would be likely to heat.
He saw Mr. Braidwood on the premises about 10
minutes before the wall fell. He could assign no
other reason for the wall falling than the tremen-
dous weight on the top floor—the weight of the bales
of cotton. He heard no explosion whatever before
the walls gave way, but only a dead sort of sound,
as of the girders breaking. He was positive that
there was no explosive material whatever in that
warehouse. There were turmeric and jute in some
of the floors. The former was very dry, though if
the bags had been wetted with oil in coming over it
certainly might heat. There was no means of fixing
a hose from the top of the building where the tank
was. There were plenty of hands to assist, though
it was difficult to say who was present. There were
rice and gums on the floor above the fire, but no oil.
Witness never saw a light used in the buildings at
that time of the year. Whenever he had occasion
to use one in the winter he took a proper globe lan-
tern. There was gas on the premises. No smoking
was ever allowed there. Sometimes a foreigner
might come down smoking a cigar, but it was soon
out of his mouth after it was once seen.
James Sargent said he was one of the Fire
Brigade, and arrived at the scene of the conflagra-
tion soon after five o'clock. He saw the wall fall
on Mr. Braidwood, but heard no sound of an ex-
plosion before it fell. His opinion was that the
wall fell because the floorings gave way. The
deceased was serving out brandy at the time of the
accident, and witness was the last man that escaped
from the falling ruin towards the river. Brandy
was absolutely necessary for the men at a fire, from
the heat and constant exertion they had to go
through.

William Metcalf said he was one of the Fire
Brigade, and was clese to Mr. Braidwood when the
wall fell. As far as he colld judge, the falling of
the wall was only caused by the floorings giving
way.

kr. Denton, shipwright, stated that three or four
minutes before the accident he walked down the
avenue across which the ruins fell. He saw the wall
falling outwards and shouted to the people, " Run !
Run !" Witness thought ho knocked down Mr.
Doyle in his own efforts to escape. He turned and
saw the wall fall on Mr. Braidwood in such a mass
that he believed he could never have moved again.
Mr. Richard Henderson, foreman of the Fire
Brigade, said that he was at the fire early, and
became at last perfectly exhausted with his exer-
tions and the heat, and had drawn back to rest
and get a little air, when Mr. Braidwood came
up and asked him how he was getting on. Ile
replied that he was quite knocked up, and the
deceased gave him a glass of brandy, and told
him to keep aside in the fresh air for a few
minutes and he would soon be all right again.
Immediately afterwards witness saw the wall come
down and cover Mr. Braid wood. He shouted out
as he saw it going to fall, and thought he would
have escaped.
Mr. Birkbeck, son-in-law of the deceased, said it
was impossible to identify the remains from the
features. He could do so, however, from the re••
mains of the accoutrements, and from the things
found in the pockets. The deceased was 60 years
of age. Witness was brought to the fire after the
wall fell. There was at the time a very inadequate
supply of water, and, in fact, the supply had been
inadequate ever since.
Mr. E. R. Cutler, principal clerk of the town de-
partment of the Westminster Fire-office, said he
went with the deceased, out of mere curiosity, to
see the fire, and was with him when he went round
giving brandy to the men. He was standing close
to him when the explosion took place which killed
the deceased. It was a distinct explosion, like the
report of a cannon going off. It came from the
ground floor or underground floor, burst through a
door, and an immense body of smoke and flames
issued forth. The wall then bulged, lapped over,
and fell on the deceased, some pieces of brick strik-
ing witness on the shoulders and arm. The falling
of the floors would certainly not have made the
noise witness heard ; it was caused by something
explosive. The firemen had several times been di-
recting streams of water on that part of the build-
ing. He was aware that Indian cotton was packed
by hydraulic pressure, but did not know that the
bales would expand and spring up when the bands
were undone. He had seen explosions before, but
could not say that explosions always sent up a
white smoke.

Alfred Tozer, another member of the Fire Bri-
gade, said that just before the accident occurred he
was in the yard pouring water into the loopholes of
the H and G warehouses, when Mr. Braidwood sent
him up to the top of the G warehouse to throw
water over the roof of the other building. While
thus employed ho heard a loud explosion from
beneath the H warehouse, and almost instantly a
vast body of white smoke poured from it, and directly
afterwards witness saw that the warehouses
marked 11 and 15 on the plans, with another,
were in flames. By this their communication
with the ground was cut off, and they could not
get down. Witness slid down his hose, and
then " unmarried" it from the part fastened
to the roof, so that four lengths of it
were lost. He then tried to pour water down
into the cellar of the warehouse, but was obliged to
give it up. He told Mr. Braidwood the heat was so
great it was impossible to bear it, and deceased re-
plied, " Well, never mind it ; we cannot help it."
The explosion he had spoken of found vent on the
opposite side of the warehouse to that where the
wall fell. It did not fall till at least a quarter of an
hour after the explosion. He did not believe the
explosion came from the same building as that to
which the ruined wall belonged, but it must have
shaken the walls of all the warehouses. He heard
no explosion after that he had mentioned, and that
certainly could not have caused the fall of the wall
that killed deceased. He cautioned the men that
the explosion was coming before it took place, for
he felt the draught of hot air rushing out. It was
not a loud explosion—nothing at all like that of ar-
tillery. Many of his comrades cautioned him against
going near one spot. They said there was salt-
petre under it, and that it would blow up.
Mr. Henderson was here recalled, and said that
the witness Doyle had cautioned him that in one of
the buildings there was a large quantity of saltpetre
stored, and that they must look out for an explosion;
and the witness Tozer, who was also recalled, stated
that the bursting of a barrel of oil would cause an
explosion. He had seen boiling tallow on fire, and
throwing water on it when in that condition would
make it crack and jump, but not explode, nor make
any noise like an explosion. He had never seen a
large explosion of saltpetre, so could not say whether
the smoke had any particular smell or colour. All
the explosions he heard he believed were owing to
the bursting of casks of oil, which would at once
cause the black smoke and yellow flames to rise.
Saltpetre always burnt with a blue and yellow
flame, and a very white smoke. The flame after this
explosion seemed quite white.
James Hawkbridge, another fireman, also gave
evidence that ho thought the fall of the wall was
preceded by an explosion, but his testimony on this
subject was by no means clear.
At the conclusion of this witness's evidence Mr.
Williams said that, if the jury thought it would be
any satisfacticn to them, he
was prepared to call
Mr. Smoke, the district surveyor, who had Ruin-

rintended the erection of the warehouses in ques-
tion, and who could explain the principle of their
construction, and the probable cause of their fall.
The Coroner said he could only give an opinion
after all,
In reply to questions from the jury,
Mr. -Williams said that the hooks of the firm
having been all saved they were quite prepared to
prove, if a little delay were granted, an exact Re-
count of everything contained in each warehouse.
Such a course would quite set at rest the question
of whether or not there were any explosive mate-
rials in the building the wall of which fell. In com-
pliance with a request from the jury, the witness
Doyle was recalled, and tie denied having cautioned
Mr. Henderson about the saltpetre. He told Mr.
Braidwood of it, and pointed out the warehouses
where it was. He did so in reply to deceased's
questions, who when he came to the fire at once
said, " I suppose you have saltpetre somewhere
here ; whereabout does it lie ?" Witness told him
there were some 500 or 600 bags of it in the ground
floor of block P. That building did not burn till
half-past 10 o'clock, and then there was a loud ex-
plosion, but that was in an opposite direction to
where the wall fell. There was no explosion of
any kind whatever in the G warehouse. In the
cellars of that building were stored butter, lard,
and bacon. On the ground floor were bags of rice,
casks of tallow, casks of hams, boxes of American
bacon, and loose hams. On the floor above that
again were casks of tallow and a few bags of rice.
On the floor over that were chests of gums, mother-
of-pearl shells, rice, and tallow. The floor above
was entirely filled with chests of tea, andoisbove that
there were only bales of cotton. There was no tar
in the building at all.
There being no further evidence,
The Coroner proceeded to sum up, and after
pointing out that the fire had originated in a
different building from that where the wall
fell, went on to say that what he had been
most anxious to discover was the cause of
the wall falling out. If the destruction of the wall
was caused by the explosion of any substance un-
lawfully stored within it, it would lead to a most
serious charge against the owners or occupiers of
the wharfs. All the judges had ruled that if any
man kept a store of any explosive substance, the
ignition of which from any cause would be danger-
ous to life and property in his neighbourhood, the
mere keeping of such substance was an indictable
offence, even if no accident or death occurred. If
the gentlemen who were the proprietors of Scovell's
Wharf kept upon their premises such explosive
substances as were dangerous to the life and pro-
perty of those in their neighbourhood, they would
he as much liable to an indictment as any one else.
The cause of the fire in this instance was not clearly
ascertained, and would probably never would be.
The question, therefore, for their consideration was
—What was the cause of the wall falling by which
the deceased met his death P If, as he said before,
it was due to explosive substances in the warehouse,
it would at once become a most serious charge
against the occupiers. The evidence, however, cer-
tainly appeared to him quite to rebut that view of
the case. The learned col over here referred to his
notes of the various witnesses' evidence. If the jury
wished a further investigation, he would of course
adjourn the inquiry to any time they pleased. If',
on the contrary, they thought they were not likely
to gain anything by adjournment, and did not be-
lieve that the deceased was killed by the explosion
of any dangerous substance, then he thought they
should return a verdict of " Accidental death."
After some discussion in the corner of the Board-
room, the jury expressed a wish to retire, and after
a half-an-hour's absence returned into court and
informed the coroner that they would prefer an
adjournment in order that Messrs. Scovell's books
might be produced, and that they might have the
testimony of some independent architect, conversant
with the mode in which the wharfs were constructed,
to give an unbiassed opinion as to the causes which
led to the wall falling.
Mr. Williams said, of course Messrs. Scovell would
be most happy to produce their books and give
every assistance in their power, but as the jury
wished for further investigation he must ask for a
week's adjournment—for certainly not less than a
week. He had been taken by surprise by the
learned coroner ruling that storing saltpetre in
regularly-built fireproof warehouses was, in fact,
keeping explosive substances in improper places,
and that the owners or occupiers of such buildings
were liable to a criminal indictment. On their next
meeting he would be prepared with an overwhelm-
ing amount of testimony to show that these ware-
houses were not improper places, and that, in fact,
they were the only proper places for keeping such
merchandise. To hold that wharf-owners could not
have saltpetre in their vaults without being liable
to indictment would simply be to exclude that ar-
ticle altogether from commerce. It was very dif-
ferent from explosives being stored in private houses.
The Coroner said that in the case he had alluded
to of the ruling of the judges the house where the
explosives were kept was not a private house.
Mr. Williams said it was not a private house, but
it was a house in the Old Bailey in which gun-
powder was stored. That was a widely different
case from these great wharfingers storing mer-
chandise in their vaults.

After some further discussion, Mr. Snooke, the
district surveyor, who built the warehouses and saw
the wall fall, was requested by the jury to give his
evidence.

Mr. Snooke was accordingly sworn, and stated
that he was the district surveyor for Rotherhithe,
and in 1856 he superintended the construction of
the warehouse the wall of which had fallen. He
was therefore intimately acquainted with its method
of construction. Like the other wharfs around it, it
was built in the most solid and enduring manner,
fitted with all the requisites demanded by the Act of
Parliament, and even with additional precautions
and securities against fire. Witness was present
when the wall fell, and he had been previously
watching all the upper portions of the same ware-
house on fire. The roof and the upper floor had
fallen in before the wall fell. He was of opinion that
the fall of the wall was occasioned by the expansion
of the material on the floors produced by their
combustion, and the tie of the roof and the tie of
the wall by the upper floor being gone allowed the
wall to succumb to the pressure, bulge outwards,
and fall. He saw the whole thing, and could
actually see how it had happened. No explosion
had anything to do with it. It was simply the case
that the wall, being left without the inward tie,
which the beams of the roof and upper floor, of
course, gave them, yielded to the internal pressure
and fell. Afterwards walls were falling in all
directions. There was a loud explosion of the salt-
petre at 10.30, but that threw down no walls, bad
as they were. The witness, in reply to questions,
proceeded to explain the position in which the wall
had fallen, and that three party walls in the same
warehouse were left standing, though between the
wall that fell and the source of the supposed ex-
plosion. It was therefore a physical impossibility
that the accident could have been caused by the
ignition of explosive materials, else the party walls
(as we understood it) must have been thrown down
too.

After further explanations the witness Cutler
was examined again, and said in reply to the fore-
man and others of the jury that from his knowledge
of insurance matters, Scovell's, Beale's, Hay's, and
Humphery's wharves were considered the finest
and the safest wharves on the river. The insurance
companies, of course, never liked saltpetre (laugh-
ter); though they were quite aware it was stored
in those wharfs. Saltpetre was, in fact, stored in
nearly all the warehouses along the river side. It
was necessary to keep it somewhere. All the great
dock companies stored it in their warehouses.
After this evidence, the foreman of the jury with-
drew the application for adjournment, and again
retired with the rest of the panel.
After a short deliberation, they returned into
court and gave in their verdict of "Accidental
Death." In giving in this verdict, the foreman
said the jury thought it right to express through
him, their deep regret at the loss the public had
sustained in the death of such an officer as.
Mr. Braidwood. Their neighbourhood had ac-
quired an almost dangerous notoriety from the
alarming magnitude of the fires which have from
time to time taken place there. Many of the jury,
under these unfortunate circumstances, had had
opportunity of becoming personally acquainted
with the deceased, and could therefore speak from
bydeaththe
sad experience of the coolness, h.
courage, judgment,
and wonderful energy with which .s, most thing°.
wasrous
the duties
greatestwerealwayse
calamities discharged.caused
His
late great fire.
Mr. Scovell said ho could not allow such an oe.
of all tli
casion to pass without bearing his humble but most
sincere and ardent testimony to the eminent quali-
ties of the late Superintendent Braidwood. His
firm had, of course, been losers by the great fire to
the amount of very many thousands, but he was
sure those that knew him would give him credit for
sincerity when he said that he regretted nothing
so much as the awful death of the deceased,
The Coroner said ho entirely concurred in every
word of praise that had been said, Mr. Braidwood