The Sun.
London, England, 1829-11-27 00:00:00

premises consisted of five stories, had a front of
nearly 60 feet to Mitchell-street, and extended about
800 feet east, where they terminated with a strong
gable, behind a large tenement in Buch3nan-street.
Part of the building was only finished about 18
months since, but the principal portion was erected
13 years ago. The flames had gained such strength
by the time the alarm was given, that soon after the
whole range was in one blaze—and, perhaps, never
was such a magnificent scene before witnessed in
Glasgow.
About the commencement of the fire, it was ob-
served that the flames were bursting forth from the
first story of the west front and the roof, at the
same moment, while the flats in the centre were
perfectly dark. The buildings were principally
stocked with cotton; but in the tipper flats of ,the
east end a considerable quantity of grain had been
stored.. About eleven o'clock the roof of the whole
range fell in, and the sublimity of the scene at' that
moment is indescribable. It was followed soon after
by a large portion of the front wall in Mitchell-street.

A wright's shop in the immediate neighbourhood
of the fire, was repeatedly on fire, but by the assi-
duous exertions of the firemen, whose sole attention
was directed to these properties, any thing like se-
rious damage was fortunately prevented. At half-
past twelve o'clock, a large part of the south wall
to the eastward yielded, and fell outwards with a
hideous crash. It laid in instant ruin a two-story
house, occupied by a renovator of old clothes, and
as the madder store of H. Monteith and Co.; and
although 111 r. Davidson, and several other persons,
were in the act of descending from its roof, they
all miraculously escaped.
A part of the north wall soon after this yielded;
and next morning only the east and west gables were
standing. Measures were soon taken to pull the
east one down ; and this was effected by the passing
of ropes around portions of it, and pulling it inwards
by a windlass. Bales of burning cotton heaped upon
bales, and rafters upon rafters, continued even to this
evening to sustain the flames; and, at the west front,
for hours after it was subdued in other places, the
fire continued burning with the greatest fury, as if
in mockery of the firemen's exertions, notwithstand-
ing that water continued to be poured copiously upon
it. The damage, it is estimated (though of course
a mere estimate), will amount to nearly 50,000/. ;
for, with the exception of Messrs. Monteith's pro-
perty, not a bale of cotton (of which there were
about 4,200 bales in the store), or anything else,
has been saved.

The following insurances are effected on the
property, besides 3,0001. on Messrs. Monteith's
. _

Scottish Union, 10,000/. ; Alliance, 10,0004 ;
Manchester, 10,000/. ; West of England, 5,0004 ;
Palladium, 5,0001.; Phoenix, 2,5001.; total, 42,5004
—This is considered to be the most destructive fire
that has occurred in this city for a number of years
past ; and the appearance of the flames in the
country was so vivid that many of the inhabitants
were roused from their beds, imagining that the
nearest farmhouse was in a blaze. This was par-
ticularly the case in Paisley, where the watchmen
became so alarmed that they sprung their rattles,
thinking, from the lurid glare that overspread the
sky, that some part of the town was burning.
It is not exactly known how the fire originated ;
but it is supposed to have been occasioned by a
spark from the pipe of one of the carters, who were,
it is said, in the habit of smoking about the premises.

WAVERLEY.—ERASNIUS pledged the ma-
nuscript of his celebrated Latin Bible with a Jew for three
ducats; and MARTIN LUTHER, on his return home from
the University of Frankfort, was compelled to part with
the books in his satchel at every cabaret where he stopped
for refreshment. There is an on dit that the MS. of
" Waverley" lay for three weeks in the desk of a City book-
seller, without its even having been looked into. A
young gentleman, an agent of the then Mr. SCOTT, entered
the shop of a bibliopOle not far from St. Paul's Church-
yard, and offered the manuscript for publication, saying,
he lived at Highgate, and would call in a few days ; the
bookseller bowed, and promised a perusal ; but whether
from carelessness, or from want of success in a similar line
of publication, when the gentleman called at the end of
the time stipulated, the manuscript was returned untouch-
ed, with the usual thanks for the preference given, ac-
companied with a remark to the following effect :—" That
he (the bookseller) had perused it carefully, and must say
it was very ably written, but he must decline publishing
it." The young man felt disappointed, and has since
stated that he would have sold Waverley for fifty pounds.

. .
A young girl, of a smiling countenance, and
with an air of confidence, called upon M. FRANCOIS, and
demanded some oil of vitriol (sulphuric acid), to prepare
some wax-work. M. FRANCOIS, without any distrust,
served her with what she demanded. This young female
set immediately about the execution of a sinister project.
Her lover was about being married to another girl ; she
wrote to him, and appointed an interview for the next
day. The young man hastened to the meeting to protest
the state of despair he had been himself thrown into;
but the unfortunate girl does not give him time to explain
himself; she goes into an adjoining closet, and returns,
saying, with the greatest sang froid imag.nable, that she
has poisoned herself; for such, in fact, was the use she
had put the sulphuric acid to, which she bought of M.
FRANCOIS. She died before the face of her lover, who
in ♦ain endeavoured to procure assistance for her. M.
FRANCOIS appeared this morning before the 7th Chaos.
ber of the Correctional Police, for contravening the laws
and regulations respecting the sale of poisonous sub-
stances, and for having, by his imprudence, occasioned
the death of this young girl. He was acquitted of the lat-
ter charge; but on the pleading of M. HARDY, N.
FRANCOIS was condemned in a penalty of 1,000 francs
for having► sold poison without registering the same.
Journal des Debats.

MANNER OF PRODUCING A QUEEN BEE.--
One of the most astonishing facts connected with the eco-
nomy of bees is the manner in which, when deprived of
their queen, they proceed to repair their loss. For this
purpose they construct several of these royal cells, and,
taking a common worker-worm out of the ordinary cells,
they put it into a royal cell, feed the insect with royal
food, which is more pungent than that destined for
worker-grubs, and, in a few days, instead of a worker

- -
they have a queen. This extraordinary discovery, made
by SHIRACII, has been confirmed by HUBER, and is now
admitted by all naturalists. In many parts of Qerotany
the peasants, availing themselves of this discovery, are
enabled to multiply their swarm of bees at pleasure.
They shut up a few hundred working bees with a piece of
honey-comb containing common grubs three or four days
old. The worker-bees immediately set about destroying
some of the common cells ; construct royal cells in their
stead, deposit the grubs in then a cells, and administer to
them food proper for grubs destined to become queens.
This experiment is constantly repeated, and never found
to fail. In the proper time a number of young wens
is produced, the supernumeraries are destroyed, and at
length only one survives to govern the Wve. Thus won-
derfully does nature provide for the preservation of the
spec:lee—the lives of
,thousands of those insects depending
on that of a queen. In order to guard against the possi,
bility of extermination she has taught the bee the miracle
of converting the whole of the instincts and organisation
of one kind into those of another, by the simple means
of providing a different and more pungent kind of food
for the subject of its marvellous experiment. There
seem•, however, to be a natural provision fur this change,
for it is found that all the workers are imperfect females,
whose organs are not developed. The food simply furthers
this development. But whether we look to the design or
the means used, or the circumstances under which it is
effected, it is one of the most striking facts in the whole
range of wand bistory,--Family Librar.