The Sun.
London, England, 1828-09-25 00:00:00

DAY.) DREAI)FUL CALAMITY.

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`ALL OF TWO HOUSES IN EXETER-STREET,
ATTENDED WITH LOSS. OF LIVES.
Yesterday an accident, most fatal in its conse-
:ences, took place in Exeter-street, Catherine-street,
rand, by the falling of two old and ruinous houses,
0 tne of which, from its dilapidated state, was uninha-
tl!,erl; and the other, which was, a few years ago, a
i?lic-house, known by the sign of the Blackmoor's
d"1, was inhabited on the first fluor, by a man
jaied Stokes, his wife, and a family of seven chil-
li!!! ; and on the attic floor, by an old woman named
th"gley, who for some years has been a pauper of
e Parish of St. Paul, Covent-garden. About half-
Piast two o'clock, Mrs. Stokes, who is between 40
,;(1 0 Years of age ; her daughter Elizabeth, a girl
0". 4 17 years of age; her son Frederick, about
0I years of age ; another daughter, Selina,
NYears of age; and an infant boy, Francis, only nine
h °tells old, were in the front room, first floor, of the
c34se, when, in an instant, the whole of them, with
th Poor old woman Mrs. Hedgley, were buried in
re ruins of the two houses, which, we believe, fell
~tthtolut the inmates having any previous intimation
the
approaching danger. A poor fellow, named
h
°lnds :eaves, a carter, in the employ of a Mr.
ir '3r
ts to
• 'r
at contractor, who was. supplying bricks and
the workmen engaged in making the new
..4e of sewers in Catherine-street, was driving a horse
qd cart by the houses at the moment of the accident,
we lament to say that he was killed on the spot,
his horse and cart were partially buried under
she tubbish. It were vain to attempt a description
the consternation that prevailed in Exeter-street
IPI the vicinity at the time, and for several hours
k (ter the dreadful occurrence. It may be necessary
,o
state that the houses adjoining the two which fell,
Iteire in so dangerous a state, and presented so fright-
t4o a" appearance, that, for some time, no one had
uragc, or, more properly speaking, hardihood
:lough to approach the ruins ; and though some few
Persons employed themselves in endeavouring to re-
;lll°4 the rubbish and bricks from the cart and
hey life
ie the street, to release a man who had saved
life by throwing himself under the body of the
,art when he saw the front wall of the houses fall-
yet no attempt was made to save the poor suf-
erets who were in the houses when they fell. Infor-
ion was given at. Bow-street office of the cala-
!'tous event, and Mr. Minshull, the presiding Ma-
strate, after expressing his sorrow on hearing of
the circumstance, gave an order for the whole of the
7•
cees on the establishment, in attendance, to pro-
Feed immediately to the spot, and use their utmost
tio
endeavouring to save the lives and pro-
; y of s
the sufferers.
A police constable, named Stevens, of Bow-street,
: ate the first who ventured t,.) the baCk of the ruins,
rd
IVith fire he discovered a poor old woman nearly covered
rubbish, but the greater part of her
over
\°,r▪ Y
Was extended a beam. One of her arms,
inch was smashed by a beani having fallen upon it,
protruded through the rubbish. Stevens exclaimed,
ti AMY
„God ! here is one of the bodies." By this
ho"' several persons had cut the harness from the
tse, and by removing some of the rubbish, extri-
(,,ted the horse. On removing more of the rubbisb,
'Y the side of the cart they found the body of a
mate Nei •
, lose skull was beaten to pieces, and whose
1,,1t "Y otherwise presented a most shocking spectacle.
i labourers carried the body-to the White Hart
public-house, corner of Exeter-street, and Mr. Stan-
ton, a surgeon, examined it. The body was warm,
out, from the nature and extent of the injuries,
death must inevitably have been instantaneous.—
The unfortunate man has left a wife and two
Children. Our attention was called from this
Shocking spectacle to the ruins, where Stevens, the
constable,. Mr. Thurston, and Ledbitter, the Inspec-
tor of Police, and others, were engaged with the
labourers in digging out the old woman, and
-by half-past three o'clock she was taken out of
the ruins, and carried to the Bell public-house
adjoining. On coming into the air, she was soon
able to exercise her tongue, and she said, " Oh, my
Otod I am smothered ; my arm is broken—Oh, my
head!" She received every possible attention; her
oYes and face were sponged, and she drank some
water. On looking at her arm, which was broken
at the wrist, she said," Oh, God, my arm is smashed
pieces." She was conveyed, as soon as she was
14 some degree recovered, to the Middlesex Hos-
-1144- While at the public-house, she said that her
'lame was Elizabeth Hedgley, and that she was 78
Years
of age; she had resided in the garret of the
house because it was almost rent free, in conse-
. !Pience of the property being so ruinous, and it han-
g been in Chancery for a great many years. We
not to forget the narrow escape Mr. Wrench,
the COMedian, had of his life. He was passing along
b.teter-street, by the back of the English Opera-
711se, which is almost opposite to the spot where
r se accident happened, and had not cleared the
-"t of the public-house above three or four
:°11(18, when he heard a cracking in the building,
•,-44c/i, induced him to run from the impend-
dariger, and to call to others to avoid it. Several
then persons had hair-breadth escapes from de-
struction.
„, At half-past four o'clock the labourers bad been
to excavate so low as to get to a cavity formed
•: Slitler two large beams, which was sufficiently wide
to admit a man by creeping on his hands and knees.
.)rie of the labourers said, that he heard voices be-
liearh the rubbish at the end of the cavity. More
labbish was carried away and voices were distinctly
heard, and a daring fellow named Burke, and two
thers equally courageous,namedWoolman andßoddy,
went down the cavity into the ruins, and made their
aay to the spot from whence the cries proceeded,
id they very soon got out a girl (Selina Stokes,
trine years of age) from the rubbish, who appeared
almost insensible from heat and suffocation. She
was able to speak as soon as she was in the air, and
she was carried to the house of Mr. Callahan in the
'acre-street, and was attended immediately by the
two above-named surgeons.
The infant boy of Mr. Stokes was taken out of
the rubbish, near the same spot, immediately after-
'''erds. He was a fine handsome little fellow, and
though the body was quite warn), yet pulsation had
"ased some time. The surgeons., after using means
kWhich proved ineffectual) to restore the infant, said
that the child had died by suffocation, there being
slot a mark of external violence perceptible. Selina
,Stokes who was taken out just before, was brought
aito the same room, where the infant was lying dead
hi the sofa. As soon as her eyes were cleaned from
1,11 lime and dirt which tilled them, and which caused
"er
great pain she was asked how she felt ? She
tephed, "Ohs! my mother and sister, and brother,
,theY am killed !" she drank some water, and after-
wards a shivering fit came on, when the medical
ratletnen attended her with great promptitude.
She soon recovered sufficiently to say, " My mother
▪ ironing, ,and I was reading a book, at the time
\neti the house fell down, and I stood at the back
f
5' my mother, wino is dead." She here caught a
• - litl'Pbe of hr dead brother, and screamed, " Oh,
God, my poor little baby's dead ! oh, my poor
Frank!" It was found that her head was cut,
did the lower partof her legs lacerated. Between five
,a
r 44 six o'clock, another voice was heard under the
e
d4"B, and from the indistinct sound, it was evi-
-1 the person was nearly exhausted. Mr.Peto, the
udder, wee, we believe, is the contractor for build-
thg the sewer hi the adjoining street, and who
readily lent the services of his workmen to assist
~,
1 the occasion, directed the rubbish to be removed
front
the top of the ruins over the part where the
Voice had been heard. In a few minutes, however,
the persons excavating below got out a young wo.
man, who. proved to be Elizabeth Stokes, aged 17
Iler clothes were torn to rags, her legs were
She
bruised, and she was nearly suffocated.
`3he was also carried to the house of Mr. Callahan,
4,11 d was placed in a chair. She was for some time
h'i.neillitning—" Oh, my God ! my poor mother, and
th",uter, and sister are killed !" • She was informed
Or. 07 were safe in bed. She said, " I'll not
• setoit4 • it' Unless • I see them." The Firl Selina
ces,Was brought froth a bed in an adjoining room

to see her sister, and the instant they met they
clasped each other, one exclaiming, " Oh, Betsy,"
and the other, " Oh, Selinit Their Inquiries after.
:their mother aild'hrititir; &eited in all present the
most painful sensations—the scene was truly heart-
rending. We saw Mr. Bartley, the comedian, pre-
sent, and his feelings did credit to his heart, though
there was nothing like acting in the display.
The young woman, Elizabeth Stokes, was not so
seriously injured as was at first supposed, and she
was able to state that the only person in the house,
at the time of the accident, were her mother, her-
self, her sister Selina, and her two brothers, the
infant Francis and the boy Frederick. And in the
garret there was only old Mrs. liedgley, she believed.
While making this- statement, the poor girl's father,
Mr. Stokes, returned from the West end of the
town, and was informed by a neighbour of the cala-
mity which had befallen his family during his absence.
The poor man's feelings may better be conceived than
described, and the interview between the unhappy
man and his surviving daughters was too affecting
for us to attempt to pourtray. His daughter Eliza-
beth said, that she was perfectly sensible from the
moment the building fell till she was taken out, and
she could hear the workmen digging the rubbish
away. The workmen continued their laborious em-
ployment till another voice was heard calling for
assistance. Burke and two others went under the
ruins to the cud of the cavity which they had pre-
viously explored, and after removing some bricks,
with the assistance of a candle they could see the
head and ;boulders of a boy distinctly. lie said
that he was able to breathe pretty well, but he com-
plained of a great pressure of rubbish against his
back, and round the lower part of the body. The
men were able to• introduce through an aperture a
glass of water to him. The boy complained of heat
and intense thirst, and had repeated supplies of
water : after a great deal of labour, the rubbish was
removed from his head and shoulders as far as his
waist, and not far front him they discovered the
body of his mother, lying between two beams, her
head crushed to pieces. After two hours had
escaped, and the excavators had given hopes, at least
twenty times, of releasing the boy in five minutes, a
number of gentlemen consulted whether it would not
be the better mode to set a number of men to work
to remove the rubbish from the top, and work their
way to the boy. One of the men who had been down
to the boy, said that if the rubbish was removed over
the boy's head, in his opinion part of it would fall
in and suffocate hint ;. and he begged for further time
to be allowed to hint and his fellow-labourers to en-
deavour to extricate the boy front below, by cutting
away the end of the cavity that led to him. Some
tea was conveyed to the unfortunate lad, and the pa-
tience which he displayed, and the expression of his
grateful feelings to the labourers, excited them to
greater exertion to save him ; and after three hours'
very dangerous employment under many tons' weight
of rubbish, which threatened every instant to fall
upon and destroy them, they had the satisfaction of
releasing the boy and bringing hint out of the ruins.
The cheering of the assembled crowds was almost
deafening. The lad was injured on the bead and
thighs ; but we believe no bone was fractured. He
was placed in a coach, and taken away by a medical
man and one of the palish officers. He had left his
mother and the other children in the front room for
about a quarter of a minute, and was going down
the kitchen stairs when the house fell. The follow-
ing is a summary of the whole of the sufferers :
Mrs. Hedgley, seriously injured, and in a doubtful
state in the Middlesex Hospital. Thomas Neaves
dead, at the White Hart public-house. Francis
Stokes, an infant, dead,. at the workhouse. Mrs.
Stokes, dead, and the body not taker► out of tile
ruins. Frederick Stokes, Elizabeth Stokes, and
Selina Stokes, at the houses of different friends, all
likely to recover.
We should add to the above, that the carpenter,
who saved his life by throwing himself under the
cart, says, that he is sure a gentleman is killed, who
' was passing along the foot-pavement at the time of
the accident, and that the body now lies under the
rubbish. It is also stated, that a tradesman, residing
in the neighbourhood, has not been heard of since
the accident, which appears to strengthen the state-
' ment of the carpenter.