Star.
London, England, 1809-02-28 00:00:00

•
•
ME AT DRURr-LANE TiI.EATR.E.
drommo.
The Proprietors of the Theatre held a meetirfi
yesterday, at the house of Mr. Geteaela, in Greet
Queen-street, in order tollear the testiniotty of such
persons as could 'give any information respee.in
• situation in which the fire broke out., .and *hat li2S
the probable cause of it.. Several persons were e 42-
mined, and from their depositions it appeared to-
lerably conclusive, that the flames originated in the
coffee-room on 'the ':first tier, in-nue-LL... ty over
rand coffee-room, anci_tMder the two-shilling gallery.
chis is the !'lief of' the Proprietors and other. imme-
diately interested.
It also appeared that a person of the name of Phil-
lips, who resides in Cross-court, Russell•court, ea-e
the first alarm.at the stage-door, he after that left tioy
Theatre to alarm his own family, and again returned ;
in the intermediate time, three other persons an
With respect to the cause of the fire it is still all sur-
mise. The woman who has been spoken of as running
about the stage in a frantic manner, turns out to be
Mrs. SCOTT, the actress, who resides within a door or
two of the Theatre, and whose distress of mind ra..7
be easily accounted for. •
A meeting of the Performers was also held at tie.
house of Mr. SPRING, but nothing decisive took place
—nor was it known, whether they would be required
torrforrn at any other: place. The meeting was ad-
journed till to-morrow.
The ruins remain in nearly the same state as on
Sunday. An attempt was made yesterday afternoon
to get down the high wall left standing at the Western
angle, by fastening a rope to one of the joists; but the
joist was pulled out with a few bricks, without ac-
complishing the object. It is understood that Mr.
FA.LisToN has taken the Royal Circus on his own ac-
count.
Among the valualle losses which Mr. SHUMAN
has sustained, and which he most dearly-held, were
two piano fortes, formerly belonging to the late Mrs,
SIIERIDAN, and for one of which Mr. anatuDAN had'
been offered 10001. which he 'refitsedto ti*e.. A 'very
valuable clock, which stood between the green-room
and the private boxes, formerly the property of Mr.
IG:unfelt, which was worth 7001. and which required
winding up but once a year. An organ, which stood
on the stage, of HANDEL's, worth 8001. ; and the
whole of Mr. SHERIDAN's furnittire, which was con-
, veyed there when Mr. SHERIDAN left Somerset-house.
-Drury-lane House was a magnificent pile of build-
' ing, though a bad Theatre. In attempting to do too
much, the architect egregiously erred. He thought
chiefly of capacity--and he not only adopted the lyre
form (the very worst that can be imagined), but he
carried it to a height that made it a well, and dissi-
pated the sound. If it were not, therefore, for the
serious, and we fear,.irretrievable ruin that it brings
on many most interesting persons, the public would
have the probability of an improved theatre from the
accident. But how the loss is to be recovered we
know not.

TO THE EDITOR, &e.
Sia —The many accounts I have seen of the dread-
ful catastrophe of the destruction of Drury-lane The-
atre, impel me to state to you what came under my
view, by way of narrative, pledging my integrity for
the truth of the assertions. On Friday evening last,
about ten o'clock, I had business with one of the Ma-
chinists of the Theatre, and called at the stat,cre door
of the same, having desired him to meet me there.—
I found the four watchmen there—Brown, Sheen,Tier,
Donnelly, and a boy. Brown was in the act of put-
ting out a candle in a lantern. I asked the watchmen
if they had been round the Theatre ? and was-answer-
ed in the affirmative, and that all was safe. I return-
ed to my house, and on retiring to bed, heard persons
passing my door swiftly ; a short time after I was in-
formed by a boy that a fire had broken out near us.
I immediately went out into the street, and repaired
to the Theatre, and perceived the flames issuing out
of the windows of the two-shilling gallery. I went
into the Theatre, by the stage door, and on the stairs
found Carter, the carpenter, attempting to make fast
the hose to the water engine. I could then see the
flames through the small glasses in the front-box doors
to be in the coffee-room. I went to it by the way to
the pit from the stage, passed the doors leading to the
new Chinese Hall, which was not then on fire, and got
to the boxes, to the Prince's room, where I met the
fire forcing its way from the coffee-room and boxes.
I returned to the stage and found Mr. Powell, the
prompter, attempting to save his books, but in vain.
I wished.to go to the wardrobe, but the stairs were
all on fire. I returned to the stage, and forced Car-
ter from the attempt to remove the clock. Mr.
Thompson's apartment being then on fire, I found
Mr. Johnson, the machinist, there, who persisted in
going to his apartment, which was enveloped in
flames. The fire was then forcing its way through
the ventilators, and all the cordage that, supports the
borders, &c. was on fire ; the counter-weights falling
down, and the whole of the boxes and gallery in a
complete b!aze. , The pit was then on fire ; and
shortly after, the figure of Apollo fell down with a
most tremendous crash, the smoke coming up the
grooves, from the magazine floors. I then insisted
that Carter, Sheffield, Appleby, and young Brown,
should retire. I met Mr. Underwood, the Mas-
ter Carpenter, going to hig room. I solicited
him not to venture for his books; he persisted, and the
flames which had then got possession of the flies, 'lost
him to me in a smoke ; but I afterwards found he
had made his escape through the scene-room to the
end of Russell-street.. (Signed)
ROBERT FAL RBROTHER..

The death of Dr. LAWRENCE, M. P. for Peterbo-
rough, Northamptonshire, is mentioned in one of this
morning's Papers.
Sir JAMES EARLE, one of his Majesty's surgeons,
met with a dreadful accident, at one o'clock yesterday,
at his house in .Hanover-square, by falling from a
s:affolding, which was erected in the front of his house.
Sir JAMES. fell from the top of the scaffolding into the
aria, dislocated his neck, and broke his arm and a leg:
Hs is under the care of Surgeon CLINE and Doctor
VAUGHAN, who last night gave no hopes of recovery.
Captain BEI•TINCK fell from his Worse in' a fit,
about four o'clock, on Sunday afternoon, at the foot
of Westminster-bridge. His clothes were caught by
the spikes of the hotel, and a, Lady passing by seized
the bridle of his horse. He was immediately extri-
cated, and conveyed into the hotel, where medical as-
sistance was instantly procured. Captain BENTISCK is
a near relative of the Duke of PORTLAND.