Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-07-18
Great FIra tnLnnhnn.

The English papers are filed with an aeesunt Of
great fire which took place in London on the eve.
ming of June p, at which several lives were lost
and property valued at S. 900 900 destroyed.
The fire occurred in the bonded warehouses OF
Messrs. Scovell. in Tooley street, Southwark The
building were filed with valuable merchandise of
every description. There were some thousands OF
chests of tea and bales of silk stored in the upper
floors, while in the lower, was immense stock Of
Russian tallow and tar, oils bales Of cotton, hops
| and grain. =
About P. NJ. smoke was seen issuing from the
hemp and jute stored on the first floor. On the ar
rival of the fire brigade their attention was drawn
to smoke also coming out of the windows of the
warehouses which adjoined. This fact excited
some surprise, it was known that strong party
walls divided the buildings and it was then aseer-
tanned that the workpsople had made the fatal mis-
take of not closing the iron doors which commu-
nicated with the several floors throughout therange
Mr.. Braidwood, Superintendent of the Fire Brig
ade, at once predicted that the fire would become
enc Of great magnitude. The two powerful floating
fire engines and the whole force of the fire brigade
were on the scene of action but most of them
had to remain idle for nearly an hour. owing to a
deficient supply Of water About "a o'clock, after
posting his men in the most advantageous manner,
Mr.. Braidwood Supt, entered the gateway
leading to- the wharf near St. 0aVe's church.
where four Of his men were supporting and
directing two branches from the floating
engine. By this time the warehouse in which the
fire commenced was Quilted, but the enormous stock
Of tallew which had been slowed in the lower
floors caused the flames TO rise to a considerable
height and, if anything they ragged more furiOlsIy
when water was scattered over them That adjs-
cent buildings also contained a large quantity of
tallOw and oil which ran down through the loop
holes in stream to the vaults as the warehouses
igDited- At intervals there were loud reports az
if from the explosion of cOmbustibles. but at the
time this did not excite any particular alarm, as the
foreman Of the wharf had assured the fremen that
those warehouses contained no explosive material,
though he admitted that there was large stock of
saltpetre in another part of the wharf.
- All of sudden d terrific explosion occurred In
an instant it that the whole Of the from
tage of the second warehouse was coming down.
falling Outwards into the avenue. Mr.. Henderson,
shouted for all to run. The men dropped their
branches. Two, with Mr.. Henderson escaped by
the front gateway, and the others in the OppO-
site direction on to the wharf, where they jumped
into the river. Mr.. BraidwoOd made an effort to
follow Mr.. Henderson, but was struck down by the
upper part of the wall. and buried beneath some
tons Of brickwork His death must have been in
stantaneous. Several of his men rushed to extri-
cate him, hopeless the task was, but another ex-
plosion happening, they were compelled to fly. q
The exertions of the brigade were quite power
less to check the progress Of the flames. It is
scarcely possible to describe the CONSERVATION |
which prevailed. From the rapid explosions which
followed it was thought that there must have been
large stock of saltpetre in every one of the ware
HOUSES. lQe COuEusSlOQS SIOUX the QelguUOr0OOu, /
and scattered clouds of the burning fragments over
the panicstrieken district.
At about 10 O'Clock the fire seemed at its worst.
It not till night fell that the tremendous terrOrs
Of the spectacle could be appreciated in all their
horrjd grandeur Never since the fire Of 1866 had /
such a scene been witnessed. The whole south /
bank of the river, from London Bridge to below the
Custom House, seemed one stupendous pile of fire. |
glowing at its with an intensity that made it /
painful to look at, and casting rudy glare above
on everything far and near
The flames at midnight seemed to advance with /
cracking that was terrible with its millions of
burning flakes filing the air as if the very atmos
Dhere was on fire. and the great ranks Of red flame
tapping about their keen thin points with dull
noise, and leaping up high over the houses with |
bounds and spurts like fountains of fire. Spread
ng far and wide amid gaunt ruins of walls, cracked
md riven out Of shape, lay perfect sea of fire /
almost as white as snow, from which the red flames
spring in massive leaps, and scatter like ex-
1losions myriads Of charFed embers high int
he air. Now a puff of wind will act on the
ruins far and wide, ike blast through a furnace,
md they spring into whiteness to which the glare
If sunlight is mere darkness. While these CLEANS
ast the spectacle is tremendous. On every side
ire only great yistas of rugged walls and white
cleaning streets, the very pavemOnts of which give
If liVid glare that is binding to look at. The
walls, white with heat, seem like pillars Of fire,
Igainst which, as the breeze drops. the flames rise
gam, and, licking up their sides, to flap |
gainst them, and brings the glowing bricks down
. long streams. On every side great Eass of
lanes is struggling.
Nothing can be seen but town of falling ruins,
With great rafters swsying about in fiery taDgles
,efOre they fall headlong down-nothing heard but
he roar of flames and shouts of excited thousands,
which drown even incessant dull thumpings of the
ngines that are working in all directions. The
lanes spread TILL they advanced to Chamberlain's
wharf, where a slOop and several barge5 were
urned, the rest Of the shipping having been pre-
iOusy hauled out into the stream. A little after
he midnight, the wind fell, and few hours after,
II danger of the extension of the fire was at an
nd. Not less than IS buildings and warehouses
we're destroyed The loss of life is not yet cor
ectly ascertained, but probably not less than ten
ersOns were killed. Their remains had not been