The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-12-21 00:00:00

;.)
GREAT FIRE IN MANCHESTER. /7
DESTRUCTION OF PROPEILTI"To THE AMOUNT OF £30,000.

(From our own correspondent.)

MANCHESTER, MONDAY.—One of the most destructive
fires broke out this morning that has been known in Man-
chester for many years, the flames spreading with such
rapidity that within a few hours after thg fire was discovered
damage estimated at more than £30,000 was done.

The building destroyed is a warehouse situated in Piccadilly,
near the heart of Manchester, and was occupied by Messrs.
Patchett and Jones, who have for some years carried on
business under the style of "The Union Carrying Company."
Messrs. Patchett and Jones w'ire canal carriers, and the
warehouse. which was originally built by them, but had been
recently sold to Lord Francis Egerton for £ll,OOO, was
erected, for the convenience of their business, over the Roch-
dale canal. It had a frontage of nearly forty yards to I'icca-

dilly, and extended backwards about twenty yards,—two
rooms in front only, occupied as shops, being let off, the one
to a commission agent, named Holmes, the other to a saddler.
The building, including the basement, was eight stories
high, and adjoined, on the west, the silk warehouse of Mr.
J. H. Cockburn, the eastern gable abutting upon Auburn-
street, opposite the warehouse of Mr. John Gibbon, nail-
manufacturer.

The premises were discovered to be on fire about twenty
minutes past twelve o'clock this morning, by some persons
casually passing, who observed smoke issuing from that part
of the warehouse situate immediately over the Rochdale
canal, and the alarm being given, information was transmitted
by the police, and through several other different channels at
the same time, to Mr. Rose, superintendent of the tire-police
establishment, at the town's yard. 'That gentleman displayed
his usual activity, and was on the spot with his first engine
in about twenty minutes after the alarm was given, and four
other engines followed in quick succession. The supply of
water both from plugs in the street and the canal was good,
and the engines were brought into play in an incredibly short
space of time. Short as the time lust had been, however,
it was too great to leave a chance of saving the property.
The goods in the warehouse, which were of immense quantity,
supposed to exceed £20,000 in value, were of an extremely
combustible nature, consisting principally of cotton, corn,
and groceries, and the flames having, it is supposed, got well
hold of the cotton, which was in the lower part of the build-
ing, when the fire was first discovered, spread with a rapidity
almost unprecedented. The whole building was wrapped
in flames by the time the engines got into play, and under
these circumstances the exertions of the firemen were pru-
dently directed to saving the surrounding property. In a few
hours from the first discovery of the fire the whole of this
large pile of warehousing was a heap of ruins. The eastern
gable, in falling, carried away some portion of the roof of Mr.
Gibbon's warehouse, on the opposite side of Auburn-street,
and otherwise damaged that property to the amount of nearly
£3OO. The shop of Mr. Brown, and the warehouse of Mr.
Ouleston, on the opposite side of Piccadilly, were several
tunes on fire and received considerable damage also. The
stock of Mr. Holmes, commission agent, and that of Mr.
Hawksworth, saddler, were totally destroyed; the latter not
being insured. The amount of loss has not been ascertained.

The value of property destroyed in the warehouses of
Messrs. Patchett and Jones we have already stated as estima-
ted at over £20,000; whether it was insured we have not
heard, but there is reason to believe not, as the property con-
sisted of goods consigned to them merely for carriage on the
understanding that all risk was on the part of the consignees.
The origin of the fire is not known with certainty, but we
have already stated that the warehouse is built over the Roch-
dale-canal, and in this tunnel was lying a boat load of cotton,
there it is most probable the fire commenced, as the boat was
discovered to be on fire at the time the alarm was first given.
The captain of the boat, his wife, and son, were all sleeping
on board, and were aroused by the clamour in the streets ad-
joining. All three, on being made sensible of their danger,
jumped, almost in a state of nudity, into the canal, and were
got ashore. The captain was severely burnt while in the
water by a quantity of floating wool, which was on fire, and
now lays in a dangerous state at the Infirmary. The ruins
of the warehouses have choked up the canal, and its naviga-
tion will consequently be impeded by it, probably for several
days.

THE NEW ROYAL EXCHANGE.—The Lord Mayor has
issued cards of invitation to all the Cabinet Ministers to a
grand dinner at the Mansion-house on Monday, the lith of
January, to meet Prince Albert, in order to celebrate the
laying of the foundation stone of the New Royal Exchange.
KINMEL PARK.—The splendid mansion of Lard Dinor-
ben, at Kinmel Park, in North Wales, lately destroyed by
fire, will not be rebuilt. In consequence of the great expense
(estimated at about £50,000), and his lordship having no
heir to inherit the property, the undertaking has been relin-
quished.

UNEXPECTED GOOD FORTUNE.—A singular instance of
good fortune has, within the last few days, happened to a
poor man named George Peters, with a numerous family,
who followed the occupation of a journeyman baker, and re-
sides in an obscure street at Camberwell. It appears that a
distant relative, residing at Bath, and from whom no expec-
tations were ever entertained, has recently died, bequeathing
to the wife of Peters large funded property amounting to near
£50,000. Peters has for some time been working at his trade
in the city.

DEATH OF A PASSENGER ON BOARD THE ORIENTAL
STEAMER.—On Wednesday night, between the hours of
eleven and twelve o'clock, Mr. Malcolm, one of the passen-
gers on board the Oriental, went out through the quarter-
gallery window, and, as there was no possibility of his reach-
ing the shore, there is no doubt he must have been drowned.
It is a singular fact that he had first taken off all his clothes,
and left them in the part of the vessel in which the window
was situated. One of the-passengers had certificates from
medical men to show that Mr. Malcolm laboured under mo-
namania, fancying that his fellow-passengers had entered
into a conspiracy against him. He was at first narrowly
watched, but, gradually improving in spirits, be disarmed
the vigilance of the others and succeeded in making away
with himself.

CURIOUS FACT.—On Saturday last, a Newfoundland dog,
whilst running along Prince's-street, had his attention at-
tracted by the stuffed animals in the window of Mr. Carfrae,
taxydermist. In particular, his eye was arrested by a large
and rather ferocious-looking boar hound, and so enraged did
he get by the steady gaze of the stuffed animal, that he actually
sprang through the shop-window for the purpose of wreaking
his vengeance on it. Thebroken glass, however, cut his face
so much, that his courage immediately cooled, and he ran off
apparently in great terror.—Caledonian Mercury.
A CLINCHER.—The corn-laws must be repealed. That's
certain. Mr. Piffles speech did the needful. What do our
readers think the corn-laws have done now ? They all know
that the epidemic which has for many months been raging
amongst cattle, has reduced the supply at market, and con-
sequently has considerably raised the price of beef. The
doctors have tried in vain to discover the cause or the re-
medy for this visitation. Mr. Plint has beat them. He's
found it out. It's all owing to the corn-laws. The infer-
ence, therefore, is plain. Repeal that obnoxious measure,
and the epidemic will cease—cattle multiply and wax fat—
beef fall down to twopence or threepence a pound—and wages
to two shillings and sixpence a week.

FASHIONS FOR THE MONTH.—Coats are very much worn,
particularly at the elbows, and are trimmed with a shining
substance, which gives them a very glossy appearence. A.
rim of white runs down the seams, and the covering of the
buttons is slightly opened so as to show the wooden material
under it. Hats are now slightly indented at the top, and we
have seen several in which part of the brim is sloped off with-
out any particular regard to the quantity abstracted. Walk-
ing-dresses, are very much dotted just now with brown spots
of a mud colour, thrown on quite irregularly, and the heels
of the stockings may sometimes be seen trimmed with the
same material. A sort of basket work is now a great deal
seen as a head-dress, and in these cases it is strewed over with
little silver fish, something like a common sprat, which gives
it a light and graceful character.—Punch.
THE. EXCHEQUER BILLS.—That any of these bills are
forged is clearly up to the present time an assumption of the
Treasury, since they have not yet brought a single one out of
the whole to the test of legal proof. But, conceding that
some of them are so, it does not follow that the whole now
detained from the owners are in the same predicament. At
the Treasury it is more than probable that the same opinion
is entertained, since there is no other imaginable reason for
keeping them in their own custody, instead of stamping them
forged, and returning them to the owners, than that they fear
some bill thus stigmatized being proved to be genuine, and
thus stullifying their judgment upon the whole batch of them.
That they distrust their own judgment hitherto is evident
from the evasions of all proper opportunities for putting it to
the test, and this applies equally to the plea accepted from
Smith, and to the abandonment of the prosecution of Rapallo.
Many persons here even believe, not only that the bills pro-
nounced at the Treasury to be forged are some of them at
least genuine, but that it is quite possible a portion of those
accepted as genuine may have formed originally a part of the
fraudulent issue.

A SINECURE.—The following advertisement, which ap-
peared in the Clare Journal of Monday, the 7th instant, will
show the high estimate set by the New Poor Law on educa-
tion :—" Wanted, by the board of guardians of the Ennis
Union, a schoolmaster and mistress. Both will he required
(besides their immediate duties) to assist the master and
matron in the routine of the establishment. Salary fur the
master, £l5 ; security, £2O. Salary for the mistress, £IU
security, £15." The advertisement, after enumerating that
the parties are to live in the workhouse premises, and to be
provided with other advantages, goes on to state that " can-
didates for the above situations must send in written applica-
tions to the clerk of the union, with testimonials as to cha-
racter and competency ; and attend the meeting of guardians
to be held at the workhouse of the union." Here is encou-
ragement under the New Poor Law Bill to parties to incur
the expense of educating their children-435 hard cash to a
master, and £lO to a mistress per annum, as a remuneration
for spending on an average eight hours a day in "teaching
the young idea how to shout," and for assisting, on the Caleb
Quotem system, in the discharge of the other " routine busi-
ness of the establishment !" What scrupulously just and
enlarged consciences the commissioners possess ! lint they
take small salaries themselves (!)
DEPARTURE OF THE AMISTAD AFRICANS.—These inter-
esting personages, 35 in number, being all that survive, em-
barked on Wednesday for Sierra Leone, on board the bark
Gentleman, Captain Niorris, accompanied by the Rev. Mr.
Steele, the Rev. Mr. Raymond, and Mrs. Raymond, mis-
sionaries, and Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, teachers. From Sierra
Leone they anticipate no difficulty in reaching their own
country, which is believed to be at no great distance. The
farewell of the missionaries and Africans was taken at the
Tabernacle on Sunday evening, the exercises being generally
similar to those at the exhibitions. held in this city and else-
where, for the purpose of increasing the Mendian fund. In
addition, the Rev. Mr. Jocelyn, in behalf of the committee,
addressed the missionaries and teachers, and some other ad-
dresses were delivered. The ceremonies were repeated on
Tuesday evening, at the Methodist church for coloured peo-
ple in Church-street.
EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCE.—The following ex-
traordinary account of a murder, and the arrest of the mur-
derers, is from a French provincial paper :—A travelling
dealer in procelain and glass was some days ago driving his
cart towards a small town near Lorient, when a little boy,
going the same way, asked him for a ride. Nogues, the
dealer, put the boy into the basket swung under the cart, as
being warmer than the cart itself. They had not gone far
before two footpads stopped the cart, murdered and robbed
its owner, and then, to disguise the act, drove the cart over
the body, in order to induce the belief that the death was
accidental. During the terrible scene, the boy lay concealed
in the basket ; but, as soon as be conceived the robbers were
at a sufficient distance, he contrived to set the horse off at
full speed, remaining in his hiding-place, till the horse stop-
ped at the door of a country
and
telling
gd
hisby
its
tale,when, master.
The boy went into the house, n was
among his auditors, he perceived and denounced the two
robbers, who had disguised themselves in the uniform of
gend'armes, but were afterwards recognised as convicts who
had effected their escape. They were immediately arrested.

DISSENTERS' DISSATISFACTION AT THEIR MARRIAGE
ACT.—There has been no little grumbling by parties who
have lately married in the Wesleyan chapel, on account of
the expense incurred in visiting Hymen's altar at that place.
uestion started has invariably been—" How is it that,
we are relieved by law from being compelled to pay dear
Tnohwe
at the church for marrying, as much or more is now d,
mended by one or another at the chapel for a wedding--
to the steward, I s. for registering, Is. for the chapel-l:
and 2s. 6d. for the preacher, seems a good deal of money in
these times for so little trouble ; can they legally demand it ?"
One happy bridegroom stopped short in his payment with
the parson, leaving him minus his half-crown (which his
reverence thought " rather hard") concluding he might more
appropriately expend it on the festivities of the occasion at
his own fireside.—Lincoln Mercury (Radical paper.)