The Sun.
London, England, 1850-09-23 00:00:00

THE FIRE IN MARK-LANE,

Nothwithstanding the precautions taken by the
surveyors of the various fire insurance offices to pre-
vent, if possible, the remaining portions of the large
warehouses from falling, we regret to state that du-
ring Saturday one of the immense walls, probably
120 feet high, nearly 100 feet long, and 2 feet thick,
fell with a crash similar to a violent clap of thunder.
Fortunately it took place when no one was in the
Corn Exchange, or it is probable that a fearful sacri-
fice of life would have followed. It appears that this
immense building -gave symptoms •of bulging during
Friday, and forthwith large scaffold poles were placed
in such positions as to bear the weight off from the
Exchange. This was exceedingly fortunatet; for had
it not, been for such arrangements, notwithstanding
that there was a clear space of eightor tenfeet between
the two buildings, the whole of the Exchange might
have been buried amidst some thousand tons weight
of bricks and rubbsh. As it was, the roof at the
further end of the Exchange has been carried down,
and immense beams of timber, nearly as thick as a
man's body, have been broken by the weight that fell
upon them as easily as if they had been no thicker
than common matches. A great number of men were
immediately set to work in clearing the Exchange of
the mass of brickwork which had fallen into it, and in
erecting a wooden hoarding across, so as to be able to
carry on the business as before. Large printed
posters have been stuck up over the walls and stone
pillars, as far as the centre of the Exchange, with the
word " Dangerous" upon them. At eight o'clock
on Saturday night the fire was distinctly perceptible
in many portions of the ruins and also in the walls.
The firemen were at that hour obliged to work hard
to prevent any further outbreak. A notice was posted
on Saturday in the Exchange, of which the following.
is a copy :

" Corn Exchange, Sept. 21, 1850.
Notice is hereby given, that during. the repairs
.he gates will be closed ou market days at - half-past
one o'clock precisely, and the standholders and fre-
quenters of the Corn Exchange are requested to re-
tire at that time.
(Signed) " Tuolaas LEVICIE, Secretary." .
It has been stated that the fire would not have
extended so greatly if a proper supply of water could
have been obtained. It appears that- the pipes laid.
down in Mark-lane and Seething-lane are so exceed-
ingly small that, even when fully charged, the supply
from them was insufficient for three fire-engines;
while in the adjacent streets the recent laying down
of the new gas company's pipes was reported to have
disarranged the mains of the New River Company;,
and but half the usual quantity of water could be ob-
tained from them. Be this as it may, this is a subject
which demands the fullest inquiry. The annexed
statement of the losses sustained by the various in-
surance offices, says the Observer, has been obtained
from the firms whose property is destroyed, and from
other authentic sources 7—Phutaix Fire-office, 23,0001.;
Alliance-office, 20,000/. ; Sun -office, 18,0001.; Nor-
wich Union, 10,0001.; Guardian, 7,0001.; Royal
Exchange; 8,0001 ; Imperial, 12,000/.; Atlas, 8,000/. ;
Church of England, 5,9001.; Monarch, 2,0001.; other
offices, 2,0001. Total, 115,900/.

LATEST PARTIC CLAUS.

SUNDAY NIGUT.—The fire, at nine o'clock, was
still burning, and at frequent intervals large bodies of
flame shot up, but :owing to the continual discharge
of water upon the walls and ruins no apprehension is
entertained that any other buildings will become
ignited. During the whole of this day a large body
of men were employed in' pulling down the upper
portion of one of the immense walls *Of. Messrs..
Hayter and Howell's premises, on the south side of
the Corn Exchange. This portion of the warehouse
was considered so insecure that it was thought the
Corn merchants would be afraid to transact business
in the Exchange this day " (Monday). Up to the
above hour some thousand tons•weight.of bricks had
been removed, and there is now no fear of any further
mischief-to-the Exchange. A wooden hoarding has
been placed across the farther end of the building;
and canvas sheets have been laid over those portions
of the.roof which have been destroyed, so that is the
part of the Exchange not injured the market will be
able to be carried on as usual. The directors of the
New Corn Exchange have shown the greatest
rality to their less fortunate brethren, and yeiterday
the following notice was issued :
"London Corn ExChange, Sept. 20, 1850.

"At a meeting of the directors of the company, it
was unanimously resolved that, in consequence of
the late fire, the restriction upon the standholders of
this market, against permitting the samples of others
being placed in their stands, tables, or pillars, be
relaxed for the present, in order that they may afford
accommodation to standholders in the old market,
until their premises are again fit for occupation ; and
the company's large subscription room on the second
floor be placed at the service of the standholders of the
old market, if they shall find it convenient to make
use of it.
(Signed) "WILLIAM WELD WEEN, Clerk."
It is greatly feared that the loss will prove much
greater than was at first believed, for, owing 'to such
an intense heat as exists at the present time in the
ruins, much of the property contained therein must
bidestroyed. Some idea of the heat may be formed
when it is stated that yesterday afternoon the water
from the ruins ran into the wine cellars' of Mr. Jones
quite boiling hot. Thi., it is feared, will materially
injure the valuable stock. The principal portion of
,the fire still rages amongst,,an immense quantity of
soldier's clothing, and it is feared that some days must
elapse before it is entirely extinguished.

•
ELEC6TIO* OF LORD MATOR.—MiChiIeIMRS-day
falling on a Sunday this year, the election of Lord Mayor for
the year ensuing will take place on Saturday next. The
Sheriffs elect, Alderman Carden and Mr. liodgkinson, will
be sworn in previous to the election, and afterwards com-
mence their duties as sheriffs in the election of Lord Mayor,
and their inauguration will take place on the following
Monday. Mr. Alderman Hunter. and Mr. Alderman Mus-
grove, who stand next in rotation, it is expected will be re-
turned to the Court of Aldermen, when their election will fall
upon Aldermait ranter.

" BOMBAY, AUG. 5.
•" India continues tranquil throughout. The-civil
war in the. Nizam's territory has bees terminated by
the result of a battle fought at Akote on the 20th of
July, in which the Nizam's troops utterly defeated
and dispersed those of the refractory Nawab of El-
lichpore. This success will enable the Nizam either
to enforce better terms from the defeated Nawab or
to give his districts to a richer competitor, and will
at the same time relieve the Resident from the di-
lquunlainrrl.
a
eof employing the contingent in a doubtful
" Another explosion of an ordnance flotilla occurred
on the Ganges, near Chuprah, on the 10th of July.
The fleet consisted of about 30 boats, of which up-
wards of half were loafed with gunpowder ; 12 boats
are lost, seven with 4800 barrels of powder on board
exploded, and five sunk. The crews discovered the
fire in time, and escaped. Suspicion attaches to the
native boatmen, from the circumstances of their
having received their ply in advance at Dina-
pore, and having all escaped injury. A committee
of inquiry has been instituted to investigate the
matter.

" An outrage most disgraceful to the civilized cha-
racter of the district has occurred at Alipore, in the
immediate neighbourhood of Calcutta ; it originated
in some Sepoys of the Alipore Militia (off duty)
having got a well-deserved thrashing from the inha-
bitants of that locality for insulting respectable
women of the place. The Sepoys fled to their lines
for assistance, whereon their comrades turned out,
and proceeded to treat Alipore and its inhabitants as
if it had been an enemy's town taken by storm. The
court of inquiry appointed to report on the conduct
of the Sell: state prisoners at Allabahad have come
to the conclusion that a plot exi:,ted for the rescue
of the Attarree Sirdars. Several letters were pro-
duced, which showed that there had been a cor-
respondence
kept up between the Ranee Chunda at'
Nepaul and the prisoners ever since their arrival at
Allahabad.

" A considerable sensation has been occasioned in
India by a duel which has lately taken place at
Banditti, between Lieutenants Huxham and Lich-
ford, of the 48th Native Infantry, in which the
former was wounded severely (it was at first sup-
posed mortally). Lieutenant fluxham is out of
danger, but the affair is likely to lead to more than
one court-martial.

" The Bengal papers are filled with disgraceful
exposes of the extent to which gambling is carried on
amongst the young officers of the Queen's and Com-
pany's services on leave at Siinla and other hill sta-
tions. Some of these have been openly charged with
cheating at play. This affords a further proof of the
propriety of Sir C. Napier's very unpopular general
order restricting the leave of officers to the hills dur-
ing the hot season.
" There has been another lull in the monsoon, and
complaints of want of rain are general throughout
Upper, Central, and Western India. Lord Falkland
is still at Poona. He has been suffering from a
severe attack of fever, but is now much better. Sir
Charles Napier and Lord Dalhousie are at the hills,
and Colonel Lawrence still in Cashmere, where,
amongst other things, he is said to have been pre-
scribing for Gholab Singh, who has been seriously
indisposed. •
" The discussion on Mr. Bright's motion has ex-
cited much interest in India. The local press gene-
rally advocate the appoinment of a cotton commission.
The real difficulty, however, of increasing the pro-
duction of cotton in India is, that even in districts
(such as Broach) which enjoy the facilities of complete
water carriage, a crop of cotton affords to the culti-
vator a smaller return, in proportion to his outlay,
than is generally afforded by other crops which the
soil is equally capable of producing."