The town was startled this morning by a report that
Woolwich Dock- yard bad been set on fire. There was a fire in the dockyard, but it is not known to have been intentional. It was discovered by a Police- man, at half-past three o'clock this morning, in a wooden building near the Chariton Pier, used for preparing patent fuel. The alarm was raised, and the engines were brought. The first at hand was a small one belonging to the Dockyard, in such bad repair, that it broke down on the way to the fire I Another small engine was procured, and worked to little purpose. Two other engines were then fetched from the barracks of the Sappers and Miners; and with their help, the fire was confined to the building in which it broke out ; but that was utterly destroyed. There was a dense fog at the time, and in the bustle a collier-boy fell into the river and was drowned. Spontaneous com- bustion of materials in the building is supposed to have been the cause of the fire.
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