The Sun.
London, England, 1868-08-04 00:00:00

THE GREAT FIRE AT NEWCASTLE.

The local papers give full details of the great fire which
took place on Sunday, at the Friar's Goose Chemical Works,
on the Tyne. The premises where the fire took place
belong to the Jarrow Chemical Company, Messrs. J. C.
Stevenson, Mr. Alderman Williamson, and others being
partners, and are situated at the Felling, a few hundred
yards to the east of Messrs. Allhusen's chemical works.
The buildings cover an area of about twenty acres, and
the articles made there are alkali, carbonate of soda,
bleaching powder, &c. The fire was discovered shortly
before U o'clock. Only a very few minutes before the
watchman had gone over the works, and had not noticed
the slightest indication of burning. Two men who were
at work on the fremises were totally ignorant until the
ringing of the fire-bell. The fire had its origin in the acid
chambers. The wooden portion of the structure had within
two or three weeks been newly tarred ; and this would seem
to render not improbable the supposition that the confla-
gration bad arisen through combustion from the sun's rays.
The works were fitted with an extensive system of fire-
plugs and other apparatus, but long before these could
have been brought into operation the flames had extended ;
and the engine was out of work. In an extraordinary
short space of time after its discovery the fire had run
along the whole of the roofs of the range of buildings
facing south to the great refuse bank and pit-heap
of the Friar's Goose Colliery. The rafters having
been newly pitched aided the progress of the flames,
and exposed to the full action of the intense
heat the leaden cisterns filled with sulphuric acid stored
below. One by one the leaden cisterns melted and let
out their corrosive contents, bubbling and boiling on to
the ground below. The whole of the site having an
inclination towards the river, the boiling sulphuric acid
streamed down in green stifling rivulets through all the
open ways affording an outlet. In sunken places and flats
it formed pools inches in depth, and overflowing these ran
into the river at several points. This crippled the exertions
of those engaged within the factory, for wherever the foul
smelling streams had run the ground was rendered
impassable for the firemen and workmen, the corrosive
acid burning the boots and clothing and flesh wherever
it found a lodgment. To overcome this difficulty a large
number of planks were procured, and the dangerous places
were bridged over as well as the haste of the moment
would permit. As the fire leapt from one dry range of
sheds to another, streams of molten lead followed in its
track, and great tongues of flame leapt up, accom-
panied by a dense volume of brown smoke, varied now
and then by a heavy gush of inky blackness. In the
meantime measures of the most complete and energetic
kind had been taken to curb the progress of the flames.
The two Messrs. France, Mr. Superintendent Elliott,
Serjeant Bryson, and several of the Gateshead police and
the men employed upon the works, made a gallant stand
against the flames at the north-west end of the site.
Under the direction of the three first-named gentlemen a
hose and discharge pipe were got to play upon the burning
mass with some effect, the utmost energy being displayed
by all concerned. Sergeant Bryson, in the most gallant
manner, took the discharge pipe on to the roof of No. 5
" burner " house, and with the assistance of Police-
constable Thompson and two or or three workmen directed
a powerful jet of water upon the flames. Immediately
above the roof ott which they were standing a heavy pipe,
called the " burner" pipe, traversed from one house to
another on either side. The sergeant, with his aides, had
not been long in their position when Mr. H. France observed
that the pipe was in an unsafe condition, in consequence
of the gradual destruction of one of its supports ; he
therefore called to Bryson and his men to come clown.
Other persons also saw the danger, and called to them to
descend ; but it would seem that they did not comprehend
the shouts. The support of one end of the pipe gave way,
and it immediately parted in the middle and came crash-
ing down on the roof near where the men were standing
with the discharge pipe. None of the men appear to have
been struck by the pipe in its descent, but Bryson, Thomp-
son, and a young man fell through the roof into the
midst of the wreck below. Not a moment was lost in res-
cuing them from the dibris. Sergeant Bly.ion had fallen
upon one of the places drenched with sulphuric acid, and
besides injuries to the face and head from the falling
timber, he was dreadfully burnt by the corrosive liquid.
Almost immediately after the medical gentlemen were
called on to examine Police-constable Thompson, who had
been lifted from the spot where he had fallen, and carried
to the public-house. It was found that one of his legs
was fractured, and his foot and ankle dreadfully cut. A
cab was therefore procured, and he was put into it and
despatched to Newcastle Infirmary. The young man who
fell at the same time as Bryson and Thompson was also
brought to the public-house for examination. Three of
his ribs were broken. At half-pact one o'clock the fire
was at its height, raging over an area of ground so
large that it mocked the exertions of the means taken
to extinguish it. The entire labour of the seventeen or
eighteen jets playing upon the flames bad to be directed
towards the confining of the conflagration within the
limits of its present devastation, and even in this they
were only partially successful, for upon the great front of
fire advancing towards the riverside part of the property
they made little impression. The damage done to the
property and stock can only be roughly calculated. We
believe, however, that it will not be less than about
£70,000. The loss will be only partially covered by
insurance in the Royal, the North British, and the York-
shire Fire Offices.

LAW AND POLICE.

A..-.--

TEE ANGLO-AMERICAN TELEGRAPH.—In the case of
Pigott v. the Anglo-American Telegraph Company, Vice-
Chancellor Stuart dismissed the petition praying for leave
to examine the defendants' cable, &c. His Honour ob-
served that inspection, though granted more frequently
in equity than at common law, was, nevertheless, a matter
of discretion. The plaintiff's provisional specification
was for a cable, and nothing more. Portions of the plain-
tiff's and of the defendants' cable had been exhibited, and
the difference between them was complete. No one could
pretend to say that the construction of the defendants'
cable was an infringement of the plaintiff's cable.

WESTON'S Music HALL—In the Court of Bankruptcy,
Mr. Weston, the late proprietor of the Music Hall in
Holborn, came up for his examination. His preliminary
list of creditors returr.2 unsecured debts of £5,033, and
security for the further sum of about £5,000 is held in the
shape of mortgages upon the Bedford Arms. The failure
was ascribed by the bankrupt to pressure by creditors and
falling off of business. The examination was adjourned
till the 9th of November.

STRANGE ACTION FOR SLANDER.—An action for slander
was brought at the Guildford Assizes by Mr. Francis
George Hare against his brother Augustus Hare, under most
singular circumstances. The plaintiff and the defendant
were both sons of the late Mr. Hare, barrister, who died
in 1841, leaving a large fortune to be divided amongst his
family. The plaintiff was formerly in the Guards, and
lived a life of gaiety, during which he wasted a good
deal of his money. Mrs. Hare and her daughter
during an absence on the Continent became Roman
Catholics, and the plaintiff subsequently embraced the
same faith. The sister died in May 1866, and it then
appeared that some speculations 'into 'which she bad
entered were unsuccessful, and consequently she was not
worth so much as was anticipated. Before her death this
lady made a will under which the plaintiff became
entitled t' some property, and soon after the
demise of the sister the defendant wrote a letter to
Mrs. Montgomery, a lady holding a high position, and
related to Lord Leconfield, stating that there were rumours
about as to what had occurred at the death-bed of his
sister, and to the disposition of her property, and that for
some time before her death his sister would not see plain-
tiff, and that she shrieked when his name was mentioned.
It was also represented that the sudden death of his sister
ought to be cleared up. It was ultimately settled that all
imputations against the plaintiff should be withdrawn,
and a verdict for 201, and costs given by the jury.
DAMAGES ron ASSAULT. —At the same assizes the
cause of Walker v. the South• Eastern Railway Company
was disposed of. The plaintiff, an assistant to a surgeon;
was with a friend at Gravesend, and on returning it was
attempted to place some drunken persons in the same
carriage ; but this the plaintiff objected to, and an alterca-
tion took place between him and some of the officials.
Upon arriving at London Bridge a dispute took place
between the same officials and some other passengers, and
on the plaintiff's coming up he was knocked down and
kicked. On rising ho struck one of the officials in the
face, and for that offence was committed to the Surrey
Sessions, where the jury acquitted him. The jury now
gave £l7O damages for the assault, but refused to award
anything for the false imprisonment.
CHARGE OF KILLING A BOY.—At the Hammersmith
Police-court, Charles Lovejoy and Edward Allen,
boys about 14 years of age, were placed in the dock on a
charge of causing the death of another boy, name un-
known, by shooting him in the head. It seems that the
prisoners were at Wormwood Scrubs, and a sergeant in a
rifle corps gave the prisoner Allen his rifle, which was
loaded, to take care of. Soon afterwards Allen put a-cap
on the nipple, and the other prisoner said, " You dare not
fire it." Allen, tc shew that he dare do so, fired the gun,
and shot another boy who was close at hand in the ear,
killing him instantaneously. It transpired that tho pri-
Boners had been informed that the gun was loaded. They
were both remanded.

We have authority for announcing that Mr.
R. W. Rawson, C. 8., now Governor of the Bahamas,
West Indies, has been appointed to be Governor-in• Chief
of the Windward Islands ; aid that Mr. John Scott,
formerly Llen'enant-Governor of Naal„ tp tmcce4 Mr.
Rawson at the Bal amass