, 1865-01-06

Soih- HoJ lhS III pOSolbItltI Alub lLC
commenced where the material was the
most eombustibIe. In regard to the con-
fagration on Friday evening we have the
same official memorandum = cause of
fire unknown" coupled with the same
tact, namely that the premises contained
alarge quantity of iute. Beyond this we
have the current information that the fire
commenced on the third floor Of he G
warehouses, where some Of this unlucky
article was deposited. Accidental iSni-
ton seems TO have been impossible under
the circumstances which then prevailed.
The premises had been locked up for the
night, with the exception of an ad%iacent
countlng-houSe. At 20 minutes past six
the building where the fire originated
was passed by a person in the empluy of
the firm, and no signs OF fire were then
visible. Nevertheless IS, in a few minutes
afterwards an alarm was given by a po-
llcemau, and it was found that the
stock was undergoing rapid ignition. AS
we have already remarked, iute is an ar
ticle which, if lit from .he exterior, flames
up IN a moment, and soou tells its tale.
We cannot, therefore, very we'll bring
ourselves TO believe that a hand lamp had
igpiIed this material before The place was
locked up, otherwise the FIRE would have
shown itself much sooner. Nor were
Messrs. Barry at all wanting in care as to
the management of lights, their ptccau-
lions being such a. TO render an accident
from that source practically impossible.
We seem almost shut up 70 the c%onciu-
sion that the jute jgnlted without human
agency, and that, therefore, the fire had q
rcc0udlte origin, UncOnnected with acct
dent or inccndiariSm. 1t may be true
that lutte fires" are unprefaced by any
smell or smoke as of snlouIdering mate
rails. 1t is unquestlouab)y a strange fact
as we have heard narrated-that q
Whartiuger should see his stock of iute
apparently as safe as so much granite,
and yet in twenty minutes afterwards he
shall iud it on fire in four or five places.
But, on the other hand, there may be an
imprisoned fire within the compressed
bale, which can give no sign until it ig-
mites the shaggy ibres of the exterior,
when the fire at once flashes like the
fame Of gunpowder over all the adjacent
piles, and so spread with inconceivable
rapidity.
The public AVE an interest in this
question: rom the ldct that Jute nres are
generally on a grand scale, and are very
dangerous to surrounding property. The
catastrophe of Cotton's Wharf was very
nearly repeated on Friday night last, so
far As regards pecnniary loss. We fear
lest on some future occasion one of these
colossal fires, fed with piles of combusti-
BILE merchandise, should break loose and
devour a whole parish, or even something
more. When two millions of property
were destroyed in TooIty-street there
was scarcely any wind TO spread the
flames, Had it been otherwise, and had
the breeze come from any northerly point,
there is little doubt that South London
would have been overrun with the fiery
deluge from London Bridge to the Old
Kent-road. The scales were NIGEL, bal
anced between fire and water, and it only
needed a little puff from Boreas to throw
the balance the wrong way. The danger
is fearfully aggravated by the defective
character of our water supply. At the
great Tooley-street fire many of the land
engines stood idle for an hour through
want of water, and in the condagration
which took p1nca Iae+ woaI, 4bo doGo;onoy