The Sun.
London, England, 1845-08-07 00:00:00

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT TOU..I•ON

(From a Supplement of the Semaphore of Marseilles.
MARSEILLES, AUGUST 2, 1845.—We have just reed ...rod,
from our correspondent at Toulon, the news of a disk iter
which will plunge the country in consternation. The Mom *U-
lm of Toulon, the rich and immense :depot of stores for o, 'lr
rm:itary and navy, has become a prey to the flames. It is wit, `1
au unspeakable feeling of grief that we lay the following ac-
count of the catastrophe before our readers :
" Tou:Lorr, AUGUST 1, 1845.-1 write these lines in pre-;
sence of an immense disaster. Our magnificent establish-
inent of the Mourillon is on fire since this morning. At
half-past eleven the alarm-gun was heard, and the alarm-
bell of the arsenal sounded the tocsin. The whole
town was inunsibately in a state of commotion, and
every one was vein hurrying to the arsenal to inquire
the occasion of the unusual summons, but it soon became evi-
dent of itself. Columns of smoke were seen to proceed from
the Mourillon, and with the least possible delay the fire en.
pines of the Arsenal were breetg.o to that spot, and the greater
portion of the labourers of the Areenull. and all the disposable
troops of the garrison were sent to sceri them. The Alarine
Prefect, the general commanding the depo.,:ment, the Mayor
of the town, and the other authorities, were also in a very
short time at the scene of the disaster. But, Alas, all their
efforts were nearly useless. The fire was hardly' discovered,
when it seized upon the principal sheds, under %-bich were
piled almost all the timber for the use of the dockyard. The
flames rose to an immense height. Up to the present nulrient
the firemen have been able to save the saw mills, an estabhsh.
ment which cost immense sums, and the ships on the stocks-4J
The loss, however, is calculated at 25 millions of francs. It is
aglaairi d
sm
gu
icvhe
nh,e a
itd beforebad
ai
ltr
ewaadsyd id.
esrceoavteerde
verb difficult to explain how the fire in the daytime could have
wa
frightful ravages.
Some attribute the fire to the convicts, many of whom contrived
rathveagfiresst.
to escape in the midst of the confusion."

The Semaphose adds that travellers who left Toulon at
eight o'clock at night, say that the fire was still raging, and that
a great number of lives had been lost. There was some alarm
for the parts of the town in the neighbourhood of the fire.
( From the Sud de Marseilles.)
TOULON, Aucusx I.—A terrible fire broke out at
half-past eleven o'clock this morning, in the marine
Aneual at the i\lourillon. The tocsin and the alarm-gun
of the admiral's guard-ship immediately announced Ibis
misfortune, and means were adopted to extinguish the fire, but
in vain. The fire broke out simultaneously in several parts of
tne great covered wood-yard. Every part soon became a prey
to the flames, which also destroyed all the neighbouring piles of
wood. The ,fllces were also burnt to the ground. Fortunately
the wind, which was from the east-south-east, and blew hard,
though it excited and extended the fire of the wood-yard. pre-
vented it from communicating with the ships on the stocks.
Nevertheless, the loss is immense.
The fire still continues at the moment I write (seven o'clock
in the evening ; but with much less intenseness, and we can now
say that it will not extend further. About fifteen wounded per-
sons have been carried to the hospital. The fire can be attri-
buted to nothing but maliciousness. It is attributed to the con-
victs, several or w horn have escaped.

THE LONDON AND YORK SELECT
COMMITTEE.
At eleven o'clock yesterday morning the Committee to which
Mr. Bruce's petition was referred by the House assembled in
Committee-room No. 2, Mr. Hawes in the chair.
The lobby and passages were crowded by the gentlemen
interested in the proceedings, many of w hom were in a state
of the highest possible excitement at being, as they termed it,
dragged before the public in such a shameful way." Indeed,
it would seem from their appearance that many of them had
been annoyed by the allegations of the petitions, and loud and
deep were the threats uttered and oaths sworn that " actions
would be brought against those rascals for defamation." As
Mr. Parkes, Mr. Croucher, Mr. Bruce, and other parties in-
terested for the petition passed to and fro, they were greeted
with sardonic " Ha ! has !" and derisive laughter, and even
less pleasant manifestations, by the gentlemen whose character
and position they had assailed. Many of those who knew each
other indulged themselves in bitter mirth,—" Pooh, Sir, don't
speak to me, you're only a man of straw !" and " You've a fic-
titious residence, according to Mr. Bruce." In fact, the out-
of-door proceedings were anything but pleasant; It was under-
stood, for only the parties were admitted inside, that
Mr. PA RKES, agent for the petitioner, at the sitting of the
Committee, requested leave to postpone the case, owing to the
sitting of the House of Lords' Committee, before which he
would be required to attend.
Mr. COATES, of the firm of Dyson, Hall, and Coates, Par-
liamentary agents, resisted this application, on the ground that
it would not be lair to yield to it when it bad been stated that
the petitioner was ready to prove the allegations reflecting on
the character of so many gentlemen.
The Committee cleared the room to deliberate, and eves-
tually decided that the case should go on.
Mr. Bruce was then called, and stated that he drew up his
petition on the information of Mr. Parkes and Mr. Humphrey,
solicitors to the Cambridge and Lincoln and Tottenham Rail-
ways, and knew nothing of the facts personally. He ex-
pressed his regret to find that his petition contained some mis-
statements, which he intended to abandon.
Mr. PA RKES then applied for leave to select some cases from
the list, 17 out of 66, to which
Mr. COATES objected with success, as
The Committee decided that the cases were to be taken
seriatim.
Mr. Ince was then called, and stated that he directed his
application from Coombs-hill, the residence of his mother, but
that he really resided in Canonbury-street.
The COMMITTEE decided that the address was good.
Major Griffiths, who expressed himself very warmly at the
reflection and misstatement in the petition, was also called,
and asked a few questions pro forma, as it at once appeared
that he was a most respectable gentleman, and had given
his address from his mother's residence.
In this case, and in those of Mr. Dart, of Mr. Clarke, and
of Mr. Elliot (to whom the Chairman expressed his regret at
the necessity for appearing before them, as he (the Chairman)
would be most ready to give him a character), the decision of
the Committee was, that the allegations in the petition were
untrue.
The case of two brothers named Guernsey, who were proved
to be the sons of a person in a very humble rank of life, was
next brought forward. It appeared that one of them was a
cle.k to a sharebroker named Mortimer, and the other in a
wine- merchant's office, and that they had been induced to
apply for and had procured shares to a large amount in the
line, the deposits on which had been paid for them.
The Committee at seven o'clock adjourned to twelve o'clock
to-morrow.

The Official Gazette of Stockholm announces that
the King .of Sweden has nominated the Duke de Glucksberg
and M. de Nion, Commanders, and Al. Mauboussin, Knight of
the Order of the Polar Star, and presented each of them with
the decoration in diamonds, as a reward for the diplomatic as-
sistance rendered by them in his negotiations with the Em-
peror of Morocco for the suppression of the tribute which he
had previously paid to that power.
The Wonder steam-packet, on the Southampton
station, since her return from the experimental squadron down
the Channel (where she eclipsed every other vessel in speed)
has become a great favourite with the public both on the Havre
and Channel islands station, and has carried, notwithstanding
the unfavourable state of the weather during the past week, in
one voyage on the Havre station, 132 passengers; and one on
the Channel islands station, 191 ; making a total of 323 pas-
hengers, among whom were several families of distinction.
The average passage of the Wunder has been seven hours and
a half, being only six hours of sea voyage.
NEW ZE ALAND.— LIVERPOOL, WEDNESDAY.—An
important petition with regard to the affairs of New Zealand
has been numerously signed in this town to-day, and it will be
immediately dispatched to the House of Commons. It refers
with expressions of dismay to the peril of our fellow-subjects in
that distant land, and prays that as the Government are taking
no measures to remove or alleviate the causes of disorder, the
House will not separate without taking steps to ensure a change
in the policy hitherto pursued towards the colony. This pe-
tition will be forwarded for presentation to Mr. C. Buller.
CHANGE RINGING EXTRAORDINARY.—The London
Society of College Youths had their annual excursion in Kent
last week, and after ringing in the most scientific methods at
several places, arrived at Hythe, near Folkst one, and succeeded
in accomplishing a true and complete peal of the Kent varia-
tion of treble-bob-major, consisting of 5,024 changes, in three
hours and ten minutes. The peal was conducted by Mr. John
Friend. And on Monday last, the smile society met at St.
James's, Bermondsey, and rang a true and complete peal of
Kent treble-bob-royal, containing 5,040 changes, in three hours
and thirty-one minutes, it being the first peal rnng in London
in that method on ten bells. The peal was conducted by Mr.
John Cox.
FlRE.—Between one and two o'clock yesterday
(Wednesday) morning, a fire broke out in the large colour-
factory of the Messrs. Berger, at Homerton, Hackney, which
at its commencement, from the inflammable nature of an ex-
tensive portion of the stock on the premises, threatened the
most disastrous consequences. The building in which the fire
was discovered was filled with colours undergoing the process or
drying by means of a furnace, which maintains a temperature
of the place not lower generally than 150 degrees. This build-
ing was speedily one mass of flame, and the whole of its valua-
ble contents totally destroyed. The parish engine was speedily
on the spot, and was soon afterwards followed by several en-
gines from London. Fortunately the burning building was de-
tached from the long range of warehouses connected with the
manufactory, which the exertions of the fire brigade, aided by
a plentiful supply of water, preserved from any serious damage.
Tne precise cause of the fire is unknown, but it is supposed to
have been occasioned by the over-heated state of the furnace.
The loss, which is considerable, will, it is understood, fall upon
the Messrs. Berger, the hazardous nature of their business
having prevented them from effecting an insurance. A large
number of police were on the spot, and rendered efficient
service. _ _ _ _ _ _

LOVE AND SUICIDE.—Mr. Gell held an inquest
yesterday, at the Prince's Head, Buckingham street, Strand,
on the body of Phoebe Lawrence, aged 26, servant to Mrs.
Ewens, of James-street, Haymarket. From the evi-
dence of the witnesses, it appeared that fcr the last two
years deceased had been attached to a young man, named
Philip Juttell, and, from his promises, expected him to
marry her. On Tuesday last, hearing that he had been mar-
ried, she went to the stables where he was employed, and
asked him whether what she had heard was true. He told her
that it was, and at the same time gave her a piece of the
wedding-cake, which she threw on the ground and trampled
ohna.d
beenJ u t t e
treated,l l' s brokender
n, Promises, s
heres, andhe
intellects,
mannernd
ther mistress said she had been in a state of frenzy. On the
ao at day
following Sunday she went to a surgeon's in the neighbour-
hood, and bought two pennyworth of arsenic, saying that it
was for her master to destroy
rats, and on the next afternoon
oinsanity.
intoxicated herself with spirits, and swallowed it. Her mistress
what she had taken, had her conveyed to Charing.
cross
the,n, hopeno"
her
overlc, and
u
ofr
Sir George Ilayter, who has been suffering from
T sodsapyi ta
she l , but
died. there
1 e re,
Verdict—a s
concussion of the brain and wounds in the head and legs, occa-
si,.,„ed by the accident on the Dover Railroad, on Monday, the
28th ult., is so far recovered that it is hoped he will shortly be
enabled to leave his bedroom, although it must be many days
kefore he will be enabled to walk, or even stand with ease.
GREAT WESTERN RAlLWAY.—Traffic for the week
ending Aug. 3, 1845 ;—Passengers, 60,187, 16,179/. Bs. 10c1.;
maih, 4041. 7s. I Id. ; parcels, 6201. 4s. 10d.; expresses,
41/. merchandise, 3,277/. 16s. t Id.—Total, 20,523/. 4s. 6d
Su ARE GAMBLING.—Such is the desperate eager-
ness for gambling in shares at Leeds, that the magistrates are
compelled to employ the police to keep the footpath clear in
I the street where the Stock Exchange is situated.—Manchester
Guardian.
THE UNDER-SECRETARYsIIIF FOR IRELAND.—Mr.
Lucas, on retiring, has been made a Member of the Privy
Council. Mr. Pennefather, son of the Baron, advances to the
Under-Secretaryship; but the place of Chief Clerk in the
Secretary's office, held by that gentleman, has not yet been
disposed of.
EXTENSIVE ROBBERY OF A PAROCHIAL-OFFICER.
—Last evening Sir. Kerslake, relieving officer of the populous
parish of St. George the Martyr, Southwark, while engaged in
parochial business, was robbed in notes to a very enormous
amout.t. It appears that Mr. Kerslake had with him a pocket-
book, containing several notes of 20/. and 51. each, and also
many papers of importance, which were safe in his pocket when
near the Victoria Theatre, but a few seconds afterwards, on
proceeding up a street towards Stamford-street, he, to his utter
astonishment, on calling to pay a bill, found that his pocket had
been picked. Notice was given at Tower-street station-house,
and, fortanately, the numbers of the notes ere knows).