The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-19 00:00:00

AWFUL FIRE.

LIVERPOOL, SATURDAY NIGHT, TWELVE P.11.--At a little
before six o'clock this evening a fire broke out in a shed, the
property of W. P. Freme, Esq., situate between Hoyle-street
and Vendre-street, east of the Victoria Dock. The first in-
timation of this occurrence was given by a watchman, who
observed the south end of the building in flames ; and in less
than half an hour afterwards the roof had fallen in, and the
interior was a mass of flame. In the shed vas stowed about
2,000 bales of cotton, and, strange mixture, from 100 to 150
tons of sulphur, which two commodities made a blaze which
threw up a lurid glare into the sky which must have been
seen for miles around.

On the alarm being given, the doors of the shed in Hoyle-
street, the southern end of the building, were broken open, and
a stream of blazing sulphur ran down the street towards the
docks, which was not extinguished until it was drenched
with water from the first main opened. The attention of
the firemen was then directed to the mass of burning mate-
rials inside, of which scarcely anything can be said to have
been saved, with the exception of that portion of the sul-
phur which may be left beneath the charred surface of the
mass. Of the building itself nothing remains beyond the
outer walls ; and these, especially on the west side, must be
taken down, the wind, blowing from the east, having driven
the whole force of the fire against them.
Of the origin of the fire nothing is known. The last oc-
currence at the shed previous to the breaking out of the fire
was the loading from it of a cart with sulphur, and before the
carter had reached the bottom of Oldhall-street, a distance of
a little above arquarter of a mile, his attention was called to
the fire at the place which he had just left. That it must
have been connected with this delivery of sulphur is apparent
from the fact that the fire was first observed at the end of
the shed where the sulphur was stowed. No suspicion is ex-
pressed of anything like incendiarism. It may be re-
marked as a fortunate circumstance that the building was
perfectly isolated. The shed itself, which is about sixty
yards in length, is understood to be insured ; but it is pos-
sible that, even if insured, which is most likely, a
The
may arise with respect to the property destroyed. The da-
mage (exclusive of the building) cannot be fixed at less than
20,000/.

DEATH OP MAJOR-GENERAL SIR OCTAVIUS
CAREY, K.C.H.—We have to announce the death of the above
gallant officer, commanding the Cork district, on Wednesday
last, in his 59th year. He was of Norman descent, the family
having come to England with William the Conqueror. Mar-
ried, 1818, daughter of R. P. Le Merchant, Esq., of Guernsey ;
entered the army in 1801, as Cornet in the 19th Dragoons,
and attained the rank of Major-General, 10th January,
1837 ; created a Knight Commander of the Guelphic Order,
1835, and Knight Bachelor, 1830. A vacancy occurs on the
staff in Ireland by his demise.
Parties in London, who are thoroughly acquainted
with all that concerns the Spanish Treasury "Bonds, appear
to doubt the correctness of the opinion expressed in the
Madrid letters, that a new creation of Three per Cent. Stock
will be necessary to satisfy the claims of the holders, or at
any rate to think that if such creation does take place, it
will be to such a small amount as to be of no practical im-
portance. The reasons on which they found this view of the
case appear sound enough. In the first place the holders of
Treasury Bonds were always entitled to ehange the bonds
into Three per Cent Stock at par before the present arrange-
ment, and therefore the additional creation could only refer
to 1111. of the 2111. they are now to receive. In the second
place, it is said that in Paris there is a quantity of active
coupons which never have been converted, and hence the
stock intended to meet them is probably still in existence
unappropriated. As for any notion that the Treastuy bond-
holders, have received an unfair advantage by the late ar-
rangement, that is entirely fallacious. They held a Five per
Cent. Bond, with a redemption clause, and arrears of interest
due upon it from the year 1836. Without any consideration
whatever, they have agreed to give up their redemption
clause, to which they attached great importance, and also
the arrears of interest from 1836 to 1 For the other
arrears of interest they receive stock to the nominal amount
of 45/., and for the principal of 1001. they receive 166/. 138.
4d., which is only such an increase of capital as to yield
three per' cent. as much as 100/. would at five per cent.
They have thus, far from gaining any new advantage, given
up advantages they clearly possessed ; and as for the increase
of capital, that can scarcely be taken into consideration, as
the stock is irredeemable.— Times.
FRESH AIR AN EXPENSIVE LUXURY.----In Dr. Reid's
recently published work on ventilation, he adduces some very
curious facts, to prove the effects and advantages of the ftee
circulation of fresh air. •Some of the, advantages are, indeed,
of a questionaLle character, since he asserts that improved
vemtilation sharpens the appetite, and makes a man much
more hungry than he is in a vitiated atmosphere. Nay, he
goes so far es to state that many Of the popular discon-
tents end- " strikes" of workmen Toi higher wages may be
attributed -to the increase of their appetites by additional
fresh air. This; indeed, offers but little inducement in
these times for. improving the ventilation of the dwellings
of the poor, who will not thank the GoVaramant for
making thein more hungry unless also prepared to staisfy
their craving appetites. Air scams to be, by Dr, Reid 's
account, a very expensive luxury, for it produces thirst as
well as hunger, and enables a man to drink ?our times his
usual quantity of wine without knowing it. In proof of this,
the, Doctor mentions a trick, or as he calls it, "an experi-
ment,' that he performed on a conclave of fifty philosophers
at Edinburgh. He got them to assemble in a room fitted
with his ventilating apparatus, and after dinner he plied thew
so bountifully with fresh air, which was sometimes perfumed
with orange flowers, and sometimes with lavender, that the
philosophers drank fbur times more wine than their host had
provided for them, and it became necessary to send convey-
ances to and fro to supply the extra demand. The Doctor
says that this excess was not followed by any headache, nor
were the men of science aware they had drank more think
usual ttritil the tavern-keeper presented hii