The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-09-23 00:00:00

OF THE

GREAT FIRE THIS MORNING.

(FROM OUR OWN REPORTER.)
We have the painful duty to:record:a calamity which, whe-
ther as regards the loss'of life or of property, is calculated
to excite the most painful feelings at the present moment,
and will form a sorrowful page hereafter in the annals of the
town. As-the fire is still raging over many acres of ground,
it is impossible to give, as yet, a correct account of the de-
struction en masse, much less in detail ; but we shall supply
throughout:the day, in succeeding editions, such particulars
as we may be:enabled to gather.
The fire originated in Crompton-street,- formerly7Wood-
street, at the north end of the town near the docks. The
three principal streets affected—namely, Crompton-street,
Formby-street, and Neptune-street, all nearly opposite the
Borough Gaol, 'run east and west, between Great Howard-
street (in which the prison stands,) and Waterloo-road, close
to the docks. The three streets and their boundaries, east
and west,' occupy an area of from six to seven acres, and the
whole of that space is even now in, with few exceptions, a
mass of tire. It appears that at three o'clock precisely, a
watchman named Barnard Coyle, who was employed to
guard the premises of Mr. Pennington, bone grinder and
drysalter during the night. He found that fire had broken
out in the engiue-house, precisely at three o'clock—the fire
having been kept in all night to keep up the steam. He im-
mediately gave the alarm to police-officer No. 24, who ex-
erted himself to the utmost, but before the engines could be
brought up an immense quantity of warehouses, and three
yards were on fire in Crompton-street. The combustible
nature of the premises was such, together with a strong
breeze from the north-west, that Mrs. Isaac's oil and colour
store soon took fire, as well as many small crowded worke
shops of mill-wrights, smiths, &c., in that immediate
locality. The fire next got to " Poole's" bonded cotton
sheds, in Great Howard-street, and finally swept to Formby-
street. The whole of the warehouses in that street were
successively ignited, and are burnt to the ground, with a vast
destruction of property, and, we lament to say, several lives.
The fire-police officer, Samuel Hodgson, of No. 1 Engine,
was killed and crushed in the ruins of one of the walls, which
fell upon him while he was holding the pipe 2of the engines
were also smashed, and we fear a considerable number of the
firemen and others were killed. Several men were carried
to the hospital badly burnt or hurt—some of them mortally.
From eight to half-past nine o'clock the fire in Formby-
street, and in the adjoining cotton sheds (Poole's) in Great
Howard-street, raged with an intensity that heated the at-
mosphere to a great distance round. Great exertions were
made to save the top houses in Formby-street, but those on
the north side, dwelling-houses, caught fire chiefly by the
intensity of the fire just below of the burning warehouses,
the ruins, and burniug',materials of which, were piled to the
height of 80 to 90 feet—throwing up immense volumes of
flame and smoke. From time to time the high
walls of the warehouses fell with a thundering
crash, and shortly after nine [o'clock one man
was killed outright by the falling materials. The wall of a
large warehouse in Formby-street, which had been on fire
some time, and had reached, with the cotton within, almost
a white heat, at length fell upon some of the sheds on the
south in Neptune-street; and the consequence in a short
time was, that the whole range of sheds at the top part of
that street, used for bonding cotton and as cooperages, were
ignited. A. great quantity of staves, poles, hoops, &c., were
carried out, before and after the ignition, to the neighbour-
ing vacant;'groned.
The flames during the whole of the fire were throughout
most intense, and at intervals terrific. They rose, on some
occasions, apparently to the height of 150 feet, or even
higher. The heat and sparks were such that the eyes of the
parties near were so much' affected that they were obliged
frequently to turn away and procure water to :wash before
they could distinctly see. The whole of the police, including
Mr. Whitty, head constable, :and Mr. Hewitt, of the fire-
police, were so covered with dust, mud, water, flour, and
other materials, and their faces so begrimmed that they could
scarcely be recognised by their most intimate acquaintances.
At ten o'clock the sheds and cooperages in Neptune-street,
some of them new buildings and full of goods, were in a state
of rapid combustion,- and little of the property would be
saved from them. There was a report that about 30 indi-
viduals connected with the engines had perished ; but this
will, we hope, be found to be greatly exaggerated. At pre-
sent no correct account of the loss of life can be obtained ;
and even in the end, the probability is, that some of the
bodies, if found at all, will be so burnt and calcined that
they may not be recognised. One of the fire-police, John
Rogers, (No. 215,) was close to poor Hodgson, of Engine
No. 1, when he was struck down by the ruins and killed on
the spot. The hose was cut off, as if by alhatchet, by the
materials ;" and the piece near the pipe (which Hodgson held,
and which is buried with him), was scorched to the,,hardness
of bone.
Amongst the warehouses, sheds, &c., burned down, were
Poole's two sheds (before noticed) in Great Howard-street,
both filled with cotton,' the:naasses of which, in a burning
state, and closely compacted, resembled immense broken
rocks in a state of red heat at every interstice. In Formby-
street there 'were five warehouses belonging to Mr. Maw,
two to Mr. J. H. Rayner, and others belonging to Mr. H.
Horseley and Messrs. Waterhouse and Son. In one of the
warehouses there waresaid to be a quantity of saltpetre, and
a kind of explosion in the falling of one of the walls favoured
btheesisduesppthoesition.
cotton
sAh
emdisd, s the
wt
eret
he c destructionooper a
g e ins Ne
ptune-street,of Messrs. Chapman and Dean, and Mr. Lythgoe. The
vacant ground between the prison and the canal bridge, on
the east side of the street, was covered with staves, hoops,
fillies, &c., saved from the yards and sheds ; but the greater
part of the property, as well as the buildings, were com-
pletely destroyed. It is stated, but we know not as yet with
what accuracy, chat the cotton destroyed amounted to about
35,000 bales. Cotton, we may state, formed the great bulk
of the property destroyed.

Notwithstanding the tine weather experienced during tehe
harvest, which raised the hopes of the farmer from deep
pair, it has continued equally favourable for the preparing the
ground for next seasons culture. Seldom has such weather
been known. The harp owing operations are forwardly ad-
vanced, and everythim: at present hears the brightest pros-
pects.—Kentish Gazet,!.

FOTRTH EDITION•

Standard-office, Twelve o'clock.

F RTFIER PARTICULARS.

The following—is, as near as we can ascertain, a statemen
of the buildings destroyed, and the goods supposed to he de,

stroyed:-

Rayner's A 309, B 315; ditto, C 309, D 315; Maw's 4
warehouses, no numbers ; Grey's E 228 ; Grey's C 229 ;
Taylor's 233 ; Rodgers's 256, two ; Rayner's shed, 252 ;
Gregson's 319, two; H orsley's two sheds ; WlCnight's 1 do. ;
Poole's two sheds; Taylor's cooperages and other timber
yards. The whole is assessed at an annual value of £3,500.
The value of the buildings, exclusive of the land, probably
from £35,000 to £-10,000. The property which they con-
tain may be estimated at the value of £300,000 to £400,000.
The principal contents are cotton, turpentine, flour, &c.
The brokers can add up to 20,000 bales ; but there must
be more. The following is an estimate :

0250,000 in cotton.
150,000 in other goods.
35,000 in buildings.

£435,000

The following is a correct statement of the buildings burnt
for which we are indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Samue.
Holme, who was for a long period on the spot :-
4 warehouses (Gray's) North. Burnt
1 ditto (Taylor's) do. do.
2 ditto (Rayner's) do. do.
2 ditto (Poole's) do. do.
4 ditto (Maw's) South do.
1 ditto (Roger's) " tire proof," now on fire.
2 ditto (Rayner's) Burnt
1 shed (Rayner's) do.
2 sheds (Horsley's) Neptune-street, now al-
most burnt.
1 shed (.11`Knight's) west of the above, on fire.

Taylor's cooperage ll
Nlolyneux's timber-yard I Burnt.
Cart-houses, stables, a row of about 16 houses, And a large
mass of property of various descriptions.
Seventeen men have been carried to the hospital, one of
whom is dead, and three more supposed to be dying, and,
probably, 18 to 20 more are buried under the burning piles,
together with one of the engines.
Mr. Holme states it as his opinion that the value of the
buildings alone which are burnt will exceed £30,000; and
we have been informed by several brokers on 'Change that
the quantity of cotton alone which has been destroyed ex-
ceeds 40,000 bales, together with an immense quantity of
other foreign and colonial produce.

FIFTH EDITION.

THE LATEST INFORMATION FROM THE FIRE,

Standard-office, Half-past Two o'clock.

We have again visited the scene of the conflagration, and
are happy to state that the flames are so far subdued by the
falling materials, and the exertions of the firemen in the
outskirts, that the destruction will in all probability bn.con-
fined to the buildings already noticed; the goods in which (a
comparatively trifling quantity being got out) are doomed to
entire destruction.

We have just taken a tour of the whole area. In Formby-
street the row of dwelling-houses at the top on the north
side, which had before ignited, were in a blaze all through,
reaching the floors and roof of the lodging-house at the cor-
ner of that street and Great Howard-street. The house
just opposite (also at the corner) will probably be saved.
The furniture had been removed. The yard and brick
field opposite to Poole's cotton sheds, on the other
side of the street were strewed with bags and heaps
of loose cotton, bags of flour, furniture, &c. The lodg-
ing-house became in flames at about a quarter-past 12
o'clock. The interior of Poole's sheds was still when we
left a mass of burning cotton, like red-hot rocks; and the
outer wall was in so precarious a state from the floor, &c.
being burnt, that the police were active in keeping parties off,
lest some further fatal accident might take place. The scene
in passing down Crompton-street, (the northern boundary
of the fire,) was painfully interesting. The site of the yards,
mithies, and other workshops, where the fire had originated,
still enclosed by a wall on the north, presented a large area
of burning materials and ruins, not, however, rising to any
great height in that quarter. The remains of the bone grinding
steam engine with its small chimney ; the chininey of another
small engine to the eastward of it ; heaps of paint that had
been in barrels burnt out, and leaving only a few of the iron
hoops, formed the foreground of the picture from this point,
and other materials. More behind were two " burning moun-
tains" of cotton, one on the site of Dennistown's (called
Rayner's) large warehouse, and the other in " Taylor's."
That on the west side was about 60 to 70 feet in height.
burning and flaming all over, and resembling a perfect
volcano previous to or after the subsiding of an eruption.
The mill where the fire originated was Mr. Peniston's. The
adjoining paintworks whic was ignited belonged to Mrs.
Isaac. From the door of a shed a little lower down, and the
whole of which had interiorly fallen, a most imposing view
of the general conflagration was obtained. Even here,
though to windward, the heat was very great.
Indeed the whiffs or gusts of hot air that passed along all
he neighbouring streets were at times almost stifling, being
as hot as the breath of a furnace, and surcharged withal with
motes, dust, and sparks, exceedingly injurious to the eyes.
Some high portions of the ruins rose in majestic isolation be-
hind, and had a truly romantic appearance. Sudlow's free
cotton-shed, in the same line a little below, was saved, as
were the buildings (boat-builders, &c.) facing Waterloo-
road on the west. We passed up Neptune-street—the
southern boundary of the fire : the sheds at the top, on the
north side—with the exception of the corner one just oppo-
site the Borough Gaol—were all burnt out. Some staves,
hoops, &c., were saved from the cooperages and yards above,
but a great deal of cotton in other sheds was consumed, many
of the bags retaining their shape though red hot ; and reduced
to tinder. The back or north wall of a warehouse lower
down had fallen down from the effects of the fire, so that it
could be seen through to " the burning mountains" of cot-
' ton on the north. Out of this warehouse a great quantity
of rice, in bags, was lowered and taken away in carts, and
great part of this property will doubtless be saved.
A fireproof warehouse near the, bottom of Formby-street,
stood the effects of the flames surprisingly. It closely ad-
joined one of those warehouses to the east, the contents of
which formed the larger " Vesuvius." Men were em-
ployed in hoisting buckets of water into it to cool the walls,
which, however, were by no means so hot as might be ex-
pected. The wall, of the adjoining warehouse burned down,
against the gable end of this fireproof building, still stands,and
forms a sort of protection from ignition by the immense
pile of red-hot cotton still blazing against it. Much damage
is done to the premises of Messrs. Grayson and Bannister,
shipwrights and smiths, and to those of other smiths, &c.,
a little lower down. Men are employed carrying the timber
and other combustibles out of Messrs. G. acid B.'s. One
shed, between two other sheds which have ignited, has not
taken fire, and is, we learn, filled with " guano" manure.
In Formby-street there were also warehouses known as
" Gray's," in which, it is stated, there were 24,000 bales of
cotton.
In taking the rice out of " Sudlow's" a bag fell upon the
head of a man in one of the carts, and considerably stunned
and injured him. He, however, walked away to obtain rest
at a neighbouring house. It was at first thought that he was
killed, but he happily escaped without any bones being
broken. Several other and more sericus accidents took place
in various parts within the site of the fire, besides the
fatalities before referred to. It is, therefore, quite im-
possible to give the precise number of unfortunate men
killed or injured. This cannot, indeed, he ascertained for
some days ; for, though the missing police may be reckoned,
there were some few others who were strangers who were
hurt or killed, of whom no account can yet Le.: supplied. The
rumours abroad on this point are, we feel assured, as before
stated, much exaggerated.
We have not yet been enabled to ascertain the relative
amounts of insurance effected, but we fear the loss to indi-
viduals will be very great and disastrous.

The fire, we should think, when at its height, which was
from five to six o'clock in the morning, must have been
discernible for miles round.. IFrom the Cheshire shores
of the Mersey the appearande was terrific. Seen through
the rigging of the shipping in Prince's and Waterloo Docks,
it appeared, upon a first view, that these docks were them-
selves on fire ; and on looking closer, the inhabitants of
Seacombe, Egremont, and New Brighton—many of them
our leading merchants—imagined, from the extent of ground
covered,, that the destruction extended over a great
portion of the north part of the town, the extensive ware-
houses of which contain a mass of property whose value is
incalculable.
The early boats, it will readily be believed, were crowded
with parties anxious for the safety of merchandize and build-
ings belonging to themselves and their connexions ; and the
vague rumours brought at a very early hour of the destruc-
tion of life which had unfortunately occurred rendered many,
we have no doubt, anxious for the personal safety of parties
far removed from danger.
The scene in the neighbourhood of the fire, and particu-
larly in that of the hospital to which many of the unfortunate
sufferers were carried, was distressing in the extreme. The
police and firemen on duty were distracted by the applica-
tions of parties anxious for intelligence of fathers, brothers,
or sons, missing and supposed to be buried in the burning
ruins. Of course, as yet no satisfactory answer can in many
cases be returned. Many parties missing are no doubt ac-
tively engaged at the fire, and well. Many no doubt will
never again be heard of, unless the calcined bones which
will be found on clearing away the ruins may be ima-
gined to belong to them. At the Northern Hospital,
crowds of distracted persons were gathered round the gate
anxiously enquiring after the condition of friends known to
have been admitted, or seeking intelligence of persons for
whose safety they were under apprehension. The scene, as
a whole, may be imagined, but cannot possibly be described. ,
Of the men admitted here, as described in former editions, '
we find, up to this hour, two o'clock, that two, John Mar-
tin and Luke Smith, are dead, besides one man, name un- ,
known. Robert Black is dangerously ill (skull fractured).
The remainder, more or less severely injured, are doing
well. Two snore have been admitted within the last two
hours, and discharged, after having their wounds dressed.

We have just heard, as the latest estimate on 'Change,
that the quantity of cotton consumed is 37,000 bags. This
will make the total loss half a million sterling. •

THE NEW FRENCIi PROTESTANT Cu URCH.—This church
which has lately been built as a substitute for the one that for-
merly stood in Threadneedle-street, is now nearly completed,
and will be opened for public service in the course of next
month. It is built under the powers of the Charter granted
by King Edward VI., in the 15th century, to the French
protestant Consistoire, and which, amongst other things,
commends the order to the care and protection of the Arch-
bishops and Bishops of this realm. The cost incurred in its
erection, including site, i estimated as between £7,000 and
£B,OOO. Two French divines, M. Martin and another, have
been appointed to officiate by the Consistoire, in whom the
patronage is invested.—London paper.

THE NEW STREET PILLAR GUIDE.—Tills is a plan for
the purpose of furnishing, by means of a column with six
sides, upon which the various names arc inscribed, informa-
tion
as to the residences of the different tradesmen, public
institutious„post-offices, cab-stands, police and fire stations
i;.iriOnc iati o
thoroughtares from point, when placed
in the particular district in which the pillar is placed. It is
ianl
central provided
powsiittliiofinr: g
toe thems
r - ts
that spot. The top is to be surmounted with the Bade light,
and at the base is to be a place set apart for returned letters
in that district, and for property lost or found. The interior
which is hollow, contains a tire-alarm, the keys of which
are confided to the care of the police. There is also a repo-
sitory for tire-escapes, and an aparatus for using rocket
shmals, so as to telegraph information, in the event of a fire,
to the various engine-houses. The titles of the different
streets are placed at the top of a column, while the names of
the tradesmen, with the numbers of the shops, occupy the
sides of the shaft. Several of them are about to be erected in
Holborn and elsewhere.—,-Morning Herald.

c,txi `s•of

SEVENTII EDITION.

Standard Qifice, Half-past Six o'clock, p.m.

LATEST PARTICULARS.

We again visited the scene Of the tire at five o'clock, and
found, as we had anticipated, the fire would be confined to
the site before described. _

The police force connected with the engines were during
the whole morning, and throughout the day, most active in
their exertions. Mr. Whitty and Mr. Hewitt were every-
where; and the superintendents and inspectors, and we may
add the whole of their men, used every endeavour, and braved
every hazard. The commissioner of police, Mr. Dowling,
was also present at an early hour, and through his directions
the houses at the top of Formby-street were eventually saved,
though with great and unavoidable damage interiorly. Mrs.
Bark's house was also saved. If these buildings bad caught
fire, the Borough Gaol would have been in great danger, as
there are some light buildings attached to it at the north-
west corner, which would probably have become ignited.
Commander Bevan, R.N., sent a corps of marines from
her M.M.S. Etna, to the assistance of the magistrates and
police force, in the event of the Gaol taking fire, in which
case they would have been employed to escort the prisoners
to another place. Happily their services were not wanted,
the danger to the Gaol having been overcome.
The supply of water was very scanty, there being no
main in Great Howard-street. A sewer was, however,
opened in that street, through which runs the overflow of
the canal. From this source, and the fire-police water-
carts, as well as from hose leading from the Waterloo Dock
to Waterloo-road, a plentiful supply was at length obtained.
There were fourteen engines employed.
So far as is yet known, only ONE police-officer (Hodgson)
has lost his life. Several others were injured. Mr. Super-
intendent Riding had his ankle-hone broken. Another
officer had his wrist dislocated.
1 IBy the exertions of the police and others, 20 hhds. of tal-
low were got out of a shed near the top of Formby-street ;
otherwise the combustion and " explosion " would probably
have ip.nited the Borough Gaol.
We have to record an honourable instance of the activity
and foresight of Mr. Parker, member for St. Anne's Ward,
in the Common Council. That gentleman, during the
height of the fire, observed the gable, or front wall, of a
warehouse, in Crompton- street, in a tottering and dangerous
condition—while between 30 and 40 People were close under
it. He gave notice to the police, and strongly cautioned the
parties. Luckily his advice was taken, and the crowd was
induced to withdraw. In a moment afterwards the wall fell
down with a tremendous crash, and the whole street where
the parties bad stood was filled with ruins !