The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-06-05 00:00:00

A BURGESS HOUSEHOLDER

THE LATE FIRE AND FIRE POLICE.

The superintendent, Mr. Whitty, has addressed the follow-
ng letter to the Courier:—
TO THE EDITOR OF THE COURIER.
Dear Sir,—The Standard of this day, in giving an account
of the late fire, has chosen to make what my friends consider a
personal attack upon me; but as all the inferences have been
drawn from erroneous statements, I am disposed to believe that
the editor has been misled by his informant rather than influ-
enced by individual feeling.
His first charge, though second in place, is, that the arrival
of the fire-police engines was anticipated by the West of Eng-
land, and he asks—" What is the use of an establishment whose
officers and men arrivejtist in time to be too late? They saved
an outhouse, it is said; why not, bad water and engines been
brought up in time, have saved a greater part of the property ?"
In the first place, not having- Zadkie/ the Seer on the esta-
blishment, the engines cannot turn out befine the alarm arises;
and, in the second place, if they were last, they got first into
play. They saved something more than an outhouse, and had
there been fifty. engines present, with abundance of water, no="
thing more could have been saved. The alarm was brought by
a little boy, who had no connexion with Mr. Buchanan's or any
of the adjoining premises. Surely the fire-police is nut to blame
for the neglect of private persons?
The next charge is as follows : "The fire has proved, what
has repeatedly been asserted, and as often denied, viz., the to-
tal inefficiency of the tire-police. Ist. It appears that the
usual scarcity of water was felt. The fire commenced at half-
past six o'clock, and it was near nine o'clock before anything
like a full and adequate supply was obtained."
In reply permit me to state, that the fire was extingaished be-
fore nine o'clock. In proof of this I appeal to a gentleman
connected with the Standard-office, Mr. Leyland, the active re-
presentative of the principal insurance-offices. At about half-
past eight he apprised ine that my services were no longer re-
quired, as one engine would be quite sufficient to cool the ruing.
I was myself on the spot before seven o'clock, and in less than
three minutes put the engine No. 5 in full play. From that
moment there was no want of water, and it would have been
strange if there were, for the reservoir, in Prussia-street, was
within forty perches of the place; some little delay certainly
took place in getting the second engine into play, but I am
bound to admit that it was not fin want of water.
Misled by his information, or actuated by a different motive,
the editor of the Standard says " We wish to call the-attention
of the Commissioners of the Watch to the impropriety of al-
lowing any one individual to hold the respective offices of Su-
perintendent of the Nightly Watch and of the Fire-police."
The crowd, he thinks, cannot be kept back by the watch if I
venture near the fire; but, though the recent fire failed to
afford an instance, an instance he thinks may be afforued.
He might have waited for one, but I will not delay to assure
him, that when it does occur I will relieve the commissioners
from all delicacy, by resigning one or both of my situations.
Until that necessity becomes apparent, he will allow me to
attempt that which I have always done,—performed to the best
of my abilities, the duties I have undertaken. I remain, yours
truly, M. J. WHITTY,
Superintendent of the Watch and Fire-police.

June IL

We have no wish to wound the feelings, far less do any thing
to depreciate the reputation or services of Mr. Whitty. -All we
asserted at first was, that there was mismanagement somewhere,
and that a considerable portion of the property could have been
saved had the engines arrived in time, and had there been a
plentiful supply of water. The fire commenced at half-past
six : at 20 minutes to seven it had made considerable progress,
at seven o'clock it was at its height. But at seven o'clock, we
are assured by two most respectable witnesses, that neither the
superintendent, nor any men or engines belonging to the fire
police had ariiv, i.
Mr. Whitt- says, " I was myself on the spot before seven
o'clock." We cannot and therefore will not attempt to recon-
cile these conflicting statements. But admitting Mr. Whitty to
he right, still, we ask, why not on the spot much earlier ? A
boy brought the intelligence of the fire to the police-oflice. lie
stated that his " master's place was on fire." Mr. Whitty
complains that the information was not sent by a more compe-
tent and responsible messenger. .This is pure nonsense. It was
of no earthly consequence who brought the information, and it
was the duty of the persons in the office either to act upon it or
ascertain its truth. If they had acted on the first information,
they would have been at the fire at least fifteen if not twenty
minutes sooner than they were—a space of time invaluable un-
der the circumstances.

Mr. Whittv denies that there was any scarcity of water qfter
his arrival. 'We suspect he admits here too much. The West
of England engine was the first on the snot, although it had to
he brought from a greater distance than the police station.
Mr. Whitty admits this ir. a curious manner. Speaking of his
own engines, he says, " if they were the last they gotfirst into
play." Why so ?—there was no water !
There was no want of water," after seven o'clock, says
Mr. Whitty. If so, why send a large engine to pump water
from Princes Dock, which by the way it failed to do for some
considerable time, owing to the insufficiency of the hose ? And
why was it that engine No. 4 was not brought into play ?
This is not explained.
With respect to the order and clear way which Mr. Whitty
says was kept by the constables, we understand that he has
overrated it. The greatest confusion prevailed every where,
and the engineer of No. 5 was obliged to throw water on the
crowd before he could work, and before the constables had done
any thing to assist him.

THE APPROPRIATION CLAUSE.—On Monday night, the
Attorney-General presented to the House of Commons a peti-
tion from Edinburgh in favour of " Irish church appropriation."
The learned gentleman stated that the petition was signed by
13,000 persons, of whom 546 were females; he also stated that
the postage of this document cost him the inappropriate sum of
£43 15s. 4d. This is the first time we ever heard of a lawyer
paying for a brief; how the honourable and learned knight
could bring himself to countenance snch an unprofessional
practice we cannot imagine. This, perhaps, was the reason
why Sir John was so very brief in his observations—why he did
not expatiate upon the great respectability and intelligence of
the persons who had signed the document entrusted to his care,
&c. The payment of the postage appears to have operated as a
gag upon the lawyer, or the reporters. To what other cause can
we attribute the. absence of a long speech from him on this
occasion?

His Majesty's ship Despatch had arrived at Para, in April,
from Barbadoes, to protect British interests. The place le-
mained in the utmost confusion. At Maranham four frigates
and several hundred men were to form an expedition to restore
tranquillity. The irritation of the populace against the Portu-
guese continued unabated, and several cruel acts of massacre
had taken place. Commerce and confidence were utterly de-
stroyed.

Died, on Sunday, the 31st of May, at his house in Blandford-
square, William Smith, Esq., formerly one of the representa-
tives for the city of Norwich. The integrity of his conduct du-
ring forty-six years' service in parliament, and his consistency
in maintaining the principles of civil and religious liberty during
a period so trying and eventful, will entitle his name to an hon-
ourable place in the list of those who lived for the benefit of their
country and mankind.