The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-08-18 00:00:00

from the Chronicle, con.
; and we append to it the

iy whic

following

ar, a fire was f

evidence given at the coroner's inqu'est on Saiiirday
terday morning (Friday), at an earl'
to have broken out in the house of Miss Sank
office, at New Ferry. The house is the firs

)f a mile from the N

Imere_to Chester, and as yet knolcn as

or Lower Bebbington, tfloughnStadjoining the lan
place The house is detached, of two stories in height

within a railed enclosure, or small garden, on its east and
south fronts. About half-past two o'clock in the morning
an alarm was given in the neighbourhood, and Ijr. Hayes,
of the Liverpool Custom-house, who resides opposite to, and
close by, the premises, was one of the first at the spot.
There were in the house at the time Miss Sankey. an elderly
person, a little girl of from thirteen to fourteen years of age,
and a young gentlewoman, stated to be Miss Mary Anne
Cowper, who had been a lodger for about two months, and
occupied the best bedroom and sitting-room, both on the se-
cond floor. A lady who resides in the neighbourhood, but
name we could not leSrn, immediately on learning

that a tire was going on
most praiseworthy anx
doors. Amongst the fir
were Mr. Ostle, joiner,
Storey, Robert Heckle.

prentice
the uppi

from house to house, with the
nd knocked loudly at all the
after Mr. Hayes,
Thoinas

ad three of his young mei.
nd Robert Dixon—the last two al
iers who had run to the spot found
, _

w of the young lady, facing
s the heat and smoke in every room,
tion was required to approach the

rapid state of combustion
e bedroom I
d such N

IoW, that preca

immediat scene of destruction. Everything that courage
hu ity could effect was done to save the life of the
1 ; but the aid, though prompt, was unavailing.
eoom in which she slept was entirely burnt out, and the
floor fell to the apartment below. The landlady states that
her lodger (the deceased) had gone to Liverpool on the pre-
vious evening, at about five o'clock, and returned at eight.
he then took supper, and shortly afterwards went to bed,
with her. Miss Sankey and her girl soon
ent to bed. Between one and two o'clock Miss
aeard a crackling noise ; and hearing it a second time
became somewhat alarmed. The clock struck two and she
rose. On approaching the room of the young lady, she saw
the flames bursting out from under the door. In a state of
alarm, she and the girl ran out of the house, and roused the

and hum.
voung lady

afterwards v
Sankey '

neighbourhood. Every one present exerted tl
to subdue the flames, but the bed-room of the d
floor, ceiling, windows, doors, cupboard, bed, and fm

ost energy
:eased, the

ittt a view to

Ir. Hayes first burst o

the voc

ty of the flame

If rescuing the poor creature were at an end. The
remains of the deceased fell through the floor when the
boards, bed, &c., were consumed, and were afterwards found,
with the face down, reduced to a black and carbonized mass.
Part of the skull was entirely gone. Only three herons of

the floor are left, from wall to wall, and these, .with a few
stumps of the others, are reduced to charcoal. What re.
mained of the body was placed in a back parlour, after being
removed from the rubbish. The deceased passed for a Miss
Mary Anne Cooper, and stated that she was in the exneeta-

tion of being shortly married ; and that she would, in January
next, come into possession of £6OO a-year. We have since
heard (though not from her own relatives)*that she was mar-
ried, and on terms of the greatest affection with her husband;
but that from some cause of a private nature, a temporary
separation had taken place. She had lodged with two re-
spectable persons, at Woodside and Birkenhead, for some
months before going to New Ferry, and both there, at her
last residence, and at the Ferry-houses, where she was known,
she is spoken of as a pretty, most interesting, kind, and lady-
like young woman. She dressed in a handsome but not gaudy
style, and, it appears, had an extensive wardrobe. In the
sitting-room adjoining her bed-room, and of which she had
the use, was found the fancy basket she usually carried, and
in it was 44 sovereigns and some silver, her watch, &c. It
appears that she had changed, in this town, a £5O note on
the afternoon of Thursday, and had gone from Woodside to
her residence in a car a few hours before her death in all the
bloom of youth and health. The deceased was fond of read-
ing, and the probability is (as before stated) that she had
fallen asleep, leaving the candle burning. She is said to be
from Nottingham.

It may be.a-dded that Mr. Newton, the chief constable of
the township, was on the spot immediately after the alarm
was given, and to his exertions and his encouragement of
others is mainly to be attributed the preservation of the pre-
mises from entire destruction.

On Saturday, an inquest was hell atthe house of Mr. Wm.
Oxton, of -Lower Bebbington, before Faithful! Thomas, Esq.,
coroner for the county, on view of the body of the deceased,
whose name, it appears, was Mary Ann Cutts, and who was
married. She was the daughter of Mr. Steel, of Park-hall,
Littlewood, near Mansfield, in Nottinghamshire, a highly-
respectable gentleman farmer.
After viewing the body, which was dreadfully burnt, the
following evidence was taken : '
A respectable gentleman, of Lower Bebbington, said :—" I
became acquainted with Mary Ann Cutts, now deceased, in
consequence of my wife having known her at school, and her
accidentally meeting with her at the house of Miss Mary
Sankey, of the Post-office, in Lower Bebbington, with whom
she lodged. She has been repeatedly at my house, and I
have seen her at her lodgings."

Miss Mary Sankey, of Lower Bebbington, postmistress,
said : Mary Ann Cutts, now deceased, came to lodge with me
in May last, under the name of Mary Ann Cooper. Her let-
ters were always directed to her in that name. She frequently
went over to Liverpool. When she returned, I never saw her
bringing liquors with her. She first occupied a parlour and
bed-room on the ground floor,—and on the drawing-room
and bed-room opposite becoming vacant, she took and occu-
pied them instead. She 'was at Liverpool the day previous to
her death. She went at five in the evening, and returned
about half-past eight. She brought some articles of new
wearing apparel with her. I thought she was a little disguised
in liquor. She' had her supper in the parlour about nine
o'clock, and complained of being sleepy afterwards, and asked
fora candle to go to bed. A candle was provided for her,

al, whi

turnpike-road. I afterwards, with the girl, went to bed about
ten o'clock. The candle she took to bed was rather more
than half a one. I think it would burn about two hours.
The candle-stick used to stand either on the chimney-piece
or on the table in a morning after she got up. The table was
about two -yards from the .hed-, aud -the chimney -.piece about
a yard. The curtainsof the bed were of chintz, and she used
to draw them on both sides. About half-past one o'clock
yesterday morning, the 14th August, I happened to awake,
and listened to hear the clock strike, to know what time it
was; and as soon as it had struck two o'clock I thought I
heard somebody had got into the house. I kept listening for
some time, and it continued ; on which I went to her room.
door, and saw the fire coming from under it, and heard the
furniture and wood crackling within side. I tried the door.
It was locked in the inside. I tried to open it but could not.
I immediately called the girl up to go to alarm the neighbour-
hood. We both went out, and called out fire, and very soon
many of the neighbours came, and they began to use their
exertions to get the fire nut. I went to a neighbour's house.
Mr. John Newton, of Lower Bebbington, being sworn,
said :—I was returning by the Post-office in Lower Bebbing-
ton about eleven o'clock at night, on Thursday last, when I
discovered a light in the front bedroom up stairs, as if from
a candle. I went home. About or near half-past two o'clock
the following morning (Friday) I was alarmed by a persdn
rapping very loud at the door, and calling out, " The Post-
office is on fire !" I went there immediately, and found a
deal of smoke coming out of the lower part of the houSe ;
and directly afterwards the flames burst out of the bedroom
window in which I had seen the light. I called up the
neighbours, and sent for the fire-engine from Birkenhead.
The neighbours came and did all they could to extinguish
the flames, by carrying water and throwing it into the room.
A Mr. Burland had a small engine for forcing water there,
which was of great service. The fire was got under before
the fire-engine arrived from Birkenhead, about four in the
morning. It was generally known that the bedroom floor
had fallen down into the parlour below. About five o'clock
the fire was extinguished, and I went into the parlour,
where, on looking about, I saw the remains of some person
amongst the rubbish, burnt as black as a coal, and having
the same appearance as it has now. I ran across the road
and fetched a door, partly burnt, and got some men to re-
move the rubbish, and got out the body, 4liich we placed
upon the door and carried into the other room, where it now
lies. The upper part of the head was completely burnt
away, and one of the legs—the right. The muscles were
burnt away.

This being all the evidence, the jury returned a verdict to
the effect that the deceased was accidentally burnt to death.
It appears that the unfortunate deceased, who was 21 years
of age, was married at the early age of 16. She is said
to have an uncle, who as well as her father, is a highly re-
spectable and wealthy individual. It appears, too, that the
deceased had received a good education, and was clever and
accomplished, as a drawer and scholar. The following verses,
written by herself, in a neat hand, were found amongst many
other pieces of manuscript in her room :

STANZAS

Oh !never another dream_can be,

Like that early dream of ours,
When the fairy Hope lay down like a child,
And slept amid opening flowers.
Little we reeked of our coming years;
We fancied them just what we chose,
For whatever life's after lights may be,
It colours its first from the rose.
M. A. C.

There is in life no blessing like affection ;
It sooths, it hallows, elevates subdues,
And bringeth down to earth its native heaven.
It sits beside the cradle patient hours,
Whose sole contentment is to watch and love ;
It bendeth o'er the death-bed and conceals
Its own despair with words of faith and hope :
Life has nought else that may supply its place ;
Void is ambition ; cold is vanity,
And wealth an empty glitter without love.

M. A. (

•
Too much praise cannot be given to those who exerted
themselves at the fire, and who saved the house from falling
a prey to the flames,—though their endeavours to rescue the
deceased were in vain. The probability is that she was suffo-
cated, and her sufferings at an end at an early period of the
fire. Several females were exceedingly active, and one lady
stood in a pit close by, and continued to hand water in buckets
to the neighbours. The furniture in the house was nearly
all got out, with the exception of that in the bed-room of the
deceased, and in the parlour below. All the wook-work of
the door, and window in• the upper room, also a cupboard-
door and a partition were consumed. The premises were
insured, but not to their value; and Miss Sankey's loss will
be considerable, as she cannot let her apartments after they
are repaired, for some time, the season being so near a close.
A quantity of wearing apparel, &c. belonging to the deceased
was burnt. All the windows of the house were taken out
on the south side, with a view to save them, and the breakage
is consequently considerable. No loss was sustained in the
post-office department, the letters, &c. being secured by
Miss Sankey when she got up.

PERKINS'S CELEBRATED STEAM GlJN.—This extraordi-
nary warlike engine (which we noticed on Friday) is now be-
ing exhibited at the Shooting (~rallery, in Tarleton-street, and
has already been visited by many scientific gentlemen, engi-
neers, mechanics, &c. The mode of generating the ,steam,
and of applying it to gunnery, is exceedingly interesting, and
we strongly recommend an early visit, in the assurance that
those who visit the machine, and witness its terrific powers,
cannot fail to be gratified and astonished.
THE WEATHER.—We regret to say that during the night
of Sunday, and nearly the whole of yesterday, heavy down-
falls of rain were experienced in this town and neighbour-
hood, accompanied by strong winds from the north-west.
The streets and roads are in many places flooded; and we
fear that damage has been done to some extent to the grow-
ing crops, and particularly to the wheat, which is generally
heavy both in straw
,and grain. Should it, however, soon
become dry and fine, the corn;'which
ma-
turity, will again rise, or at least be but little injueg.r d
,is approaching to
Yes-
terday morning, and, we may add, yesterday evening, it blew
very fresh from the N.W.,—amounting indeed to a gale,—so
that, it is to be feared, we shall hear of some disasters on the
coast or outward banks. At noon yesterday, the barometer
min.,
stood at Holyhead' at 28 deg. 611 wind here last night
and at Liverpool at
the same time at 28 deg. 94 min. r
varied between N.W. and W.N.W --blowing in occasional
squalls, accompanied by torrents of rain.