Star.
London, England, 1818-03-02 00:00:00

CALAMITOIN> FIRE.

Yesterdaymorning, a few minutes before six o'clOck,
at the moment the watchmen were leaving their
an alarm of fire was given at the house of
pods,
(late Mr. Cnife), grocer, N 0.460, Strand,
corner of He court, neatly opposite Hungerford-
stmt. Shouts of " Fire" became so load tind,gene-,
ral, from one end of the Strand to the other, at in
few minutes after the first alarm, a sight of the
most heart-rending description took place—men and
women were seen rushing out of doors in their night
clothes, and children actually in a state of nudity:
At the house of Mr. Wheater a sight more dreadful
was witnessed : at the front window, second floor,

•as observed Mrs. Wheater, with a child in her arms;
le leaned out of the window, holding the child by
tis clothes for a considerable time, endeavouring to
"cite the attention of persons underneath to catch
Le child. She dropped the infant and it fell upon
le heads of the crowd ; at the moment she locoed

to child, a blaze and volume of smoke rushed
.trough the window where Mrs. Wheater stood: she
was not afterwards seen, and therefore must have
fallen a victim to the flames. The child was only a
Few months old, and was sucking at her breast. In
tbout a minute after the child dropped from the
.indow, one of the shopmen of Mr. Wheater whose
name is Tasker, was seen at the window of the third
loor, which was completely enveloped in fire and
;moke. Seeing no hopes of relief from his perilous
&nation, he threw himself out of the window : he
'4l upon his head which was cut open: his limbs
/ere broken, and he instantly e)• ired. The body
was carried to St. Martin's Workhouse. Before it
vas carried from the ground, another of Mr. When-
cer's shopmen, named Lloyd, fell upon the pavement.
to had thrown himself out of the third floor back

findow : his fall was broke by his dropping upon a
troj'ection, but he was injured so dreadfully, that no
topes arc entertained of his recovery. He was car-
.ied to the shop of Mr. Watts, chemist, in tkte neigh-
bourhood, who ordered the man to be taken to the
Westminster Infirmary, as he could render him no
service, which was accordingly done. At the back
f the house, Mr. Wheater was found, nearly insen-
ible, on the ground. He had thrown himself through
back window at the top of the stairs, on the land-
tg of the second floor. He was injured very much
py the fall, and was carried to the house of Mr.
Whitebrook, the Cannon Wine Vaults, in Hunger-
')rd-street, where he was put to bed: his inquiries
after his wife and child were truly distre,•sing. His

.11i1d was shewn to him ; his little feet were burnt,
and his head cut. A neighbour had the child to
suckle it.

A great number of firemen reside in Hungerford,
and they were very promptly on the premises, but
to water could be got for three quarters of an hour,
and the flames were communicating with thegreatest
'rapidity to the houses of Mr. Ashman, pawnbroker,
dr. Buckingham, brush-maker, and Mr: Rowley,
sver, gilder, and picture-frame maker. The fire-
Jen were running from' plug taping, and no water
:ould be got, while the thieves were busily employed
\ plundering the premises and carrying off the pro-
...rty. Very few of the parish Constables had arri-
ared, and one of them was sent to the Hors,: Guards
requesting some soldiers to keep the mob from the
'rnildings. In about a quarter of an hour afterwards
tart of a company of the 3d Regiment of Guards
sere dispatched from the Guard-room, and placed
under the authority of the Constables, and shortly
"terwards another company : they were placed at
Je disposal of the civil authority. Property to a great
amount had in the mean time been carried away by
`le thieves. The family of Mr. Ashman had just
ame to escape from the house before it was in a ge-
i.eral conflagration, from the cellar to the garret.
One of the female servants was actually dragged out
the house by a constable (Nettleton); she had only
ter night clothes on, and wished to put other clothes
ipon her ; but if she had remained a minute longer
'le must have been destroyed.
Mr. Ashman lia,l a number of guns in his house,
:veral of which were loaded, and were heard to gri
of. Two Jews were observed carrying off several
'sns from the premises; they were pursued by a con-
;table along Piccadilly, but effected their escape.
"wo other persons were stopped by an Officer of
rarlborough-street Police, with some stolen property.
Tice houses of Mr. Wlieater, Mr. Ashman, Mr.
‘uckingham, and Mr. Rowley, were entirely de-
:royed by half-past eight o'clock in the morning,
.d all the property, except a few trifling things
ilich were carried into St.Mattin's Church-yard, was
•stroyed. The flames continued their ravages chiefly
the houses in Hewit's-court, at the back of the
,os-e six houses, which were chiefly occupied by
ior persons, which were before nine o'clock entirely
=ed. The poor occupants had but very little
tme to get out of their dwellings, and therefore could
vie but very little of their property. The children
;ere carried into St. Martin's Church-yard, and wrap-
ped in blankets, their apparel having been consumed.
The extent of this awful and melancholy disaster
not yet known ; the following is already ascertain-
:—Mrs.Wheater was burnt to death. A shopman,
named Sturgeon, who resided at No. 6, Artillery-
\lace, Stretton-ground,Westminster, shared the same
tte. Another shopman, named Tasker, was killed
leaping from the third floor window. Another
lopman, named Lloyd, who is now at the house of
Ir. Barron, ironmonger, Strand, is so dreadfully in-
lured by throwing himself from a window, that he is
sot expected to live many hours. Mr.Whcater. is in
dangerous state, and the child is not expected to
:cover from the injuries it has received. No other
ierson is missing. l'he value of the property de-
Lroyed is incalculable. There is no information as
:o how the fire commenced. Mr.Wheater's statement
of the fire is as follows :—He awoke yesterday morn-
about six o'clock, and found his chamber, which
'as on the second floor, full of smoke ; he awoke his
:lie, who lay with his child in her arms by his side,
and told her to get up or she would be burnt to
death. He leaped out of bed and ran up stairs to
larm his shopman ; he called to them ; they an-
wered ; he ran down stairs again and could not see
is wife and child for the thick smoke that filled the
lace ; he supposed that she had ran down stairs; he
attempted to go after her, but was prevented by the
lames issuing up the stairs; he ran back and got to
window at the top of the lra:lfirplace of the se-
cond Hoot, when he coukl p no fusther.

forced the window out with his areas; and put his
head through to get air, as he was almost suffocated.
As soon as he had reco;ered himself a little, he found
the flames had reached his legs, and they began to
burn; he had time only to recommend himself to the
protection of his Maker, and throw himself through
the wusdew-frame.
At eleven o'clock yesterday morning the body of
Mrs. Wheater was got out of the ruins, a dreadful
spectacle. She was put in a shell and carried to St.
Martin's Workhouse. The body of the shopman was
seen a short time afterwards behind a chimney, be-
tween two half-burnt pieces of timber, where it was
suspended in the view of the spectators, a most apa!-
ling sight. The remains of the body were taken in
the course of the day (where the two other bodies
are lying for the Coroner's Inquest) to St. Martin's
Workhollse. The house of Mr. Greens'.ll is also
greatly injured ;, the fire there burst out afresh after
the others were extinguished, at half-past twelve
o'clock yesterday.
The High Constable of Westminster (Mr. Lee) at-
tended, and exerted himself with great effect, with
the assistance of the soldiery, to keep off the mob,
and to preserve a clear way for the firemen.
Mr. Ashman, the pawnbroker, was so fortunate as
to save a great deal of valuable property which was
in the front shop. The firemen carried nearly a sack
full of watches out of the shop into a neighbour's
house, besides great quantities of jewellery and silver
articles.

On inquiry after the health of the unfortunate
Mr. Wheater, at a late 1...)ur last night, we are ex-
tremely sorry to say, he lies in a most dangeroux
state, and very faint hopes are entertained of his re-
covery. He is quite sensible, but Ms cries after his
wife are truly distressing. His child has been taken
to a neighbour's house, where every care is paid to it.
Mr. Jones, of the Strand, is in constant attendance
on Mr. Wheaten

A patty of the Foot Guards were stationed to keep
off the crowd. They were placed at every avenue
leading to the spot to preserve order.
The cause of this dreadful calamity is not ascer-
tained,

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.
BRUCE AND OTHERS V. ROSS.

This was an action tried by Mr. Justice DALLAS,
at Guildhall, on Tuesday last, and was brought by
Bruce, Simson, and Co. of London, bankers, against
the defendant, who resides in the county of Dur-
ham, to recover the amount of a Promissory Note,
made by the defendant, and payable to the order ofl
Mr. Cuney, and by him endorsed to Cooke and Co.
late of Sunderland, bankers. _ _

The hand-writing of the defendant to the note, in
the absence of the subscribing witness, was proved
by its being shewn that an unsuccessful attempt had
been made to find such witness.

But the principal ground of defence was the cir-
cumstance of the Note being in the possession of Mr.
Tanner, who was the clerk of Cooke and Co. at the
time cf their failure, and who held the same on be-
:half of Bruce, Simson, and Co. the defendant con-
tending that as being a holder of the cash notes of
'Cooke and Co. he was entitled to set off the same
against the Promissory Note, if it was in the Lands
'of Cooke and Co.

Serjeants VAEGII4E and COPLEY for the defen-
dant contended, that as Mr. Tanner was the clerk and
agent of Cook and Co. he could not act as the agent
of the plaintiffs, in holding the Promissory Note in
question, on their account, and that the question
was one between the defendant and Cooke's assig-
nees' and nor between the plaintiffs and defendant ;
and Mr. Tanner underwent a long examination on
this part of the case, by which it appeared that he
acted as the agent of Bruce and Co. in holding the.
Promissory Note in question, amongst maay others,
and which Fe kept apart from Cooke and Co.'s bills,
in a box, of Mr. Tanner only kept the key and'
had the custody.
The Learned Judge in his address to the Jury
charged them to dismiss from their minds what the
Learned Serjeant (VmmtAN) had stated, as to the
fact of the plaintiffs not being bona fide holders of
the Promissory Note, as no such fact appeared on a
review of the transactions between Cooke and Co.
and the plaintiffs, and concluded by stating his opi-
nion that the plaintiffs were entitled to recover, as
the just holders of the Note ; and upon the commis-
sion of bankruptcy against Mr. Mackenzie, which
was also in issue, being sufficiently proved, the Jury
without leaving the box, returned a verdict for the
Plaintiffs.