A destructive fire broke out in Devonport dockyard on Sunday
morning. At about twenty minutes past four o'clock, the Talavera, 72, which was in dock for repairing, was observed by a Policeman to be on fire. He raised the alarm. Rear-Admiral Warren. the Superintendent, and Admiral Sir G' raham Moore, commanding in chief, and several navel officers, were speedily on the spot, directing the efforts to suppress the humus, which burst out with a fury that defied control. The Tala- vera, and the Imogene, 2$, which was in a neighbouring dock—the Adelaide Gallery. which contained the figure-heads of several famous vessels of past days—and sheds containing prepared titn!ier--were com- pletely destroyed ; and the Minden, 72, was much injured. The fire was not finally extinguished until Sunday night. The amount of da- mage was first estimated at halt' a million, but the estimate has f.dlen to 150,0001. The Talavera being an old eldp. is valued only at 20.I.0■00/., and the Imogene at 10,1101■1/. The roofs of1 t ,10 two doehs and Adelaide Gallery, from, the same circumstance, are consWered of comparatively small value. The timber constitutes touch of the loss: a large amount. consisting of 800 deek-deals, belonging to the contraetors, which had not been surveyed for purehase by th,' GoverifilWilt--:1 Sittail portion of' Italian timber—a considerable yule itv of the mo-t vaheible compass timber—and nearly all the timber of the Malta, 74, a ship lately broken bp--were destroyed. In Adelaide Gallery there were deposited nearly , three hundred of the workmen's tool-chests, worth, on an averaee, 71. ouch ; mit a tithe of them was saved, Nothing is known positively resp;..cting the origin of the fire. An investigatton has commenced, which it is sold confirms, te, en- as it has proceeded, a suspicion that the fire was not accidentil. The Hog 'oh Adrertiser says—"Particulars 'levet I.:inspired. not mile to sho leo the fire was wilful, but also a fl'ording some clue to the supposed perpetrators. A boy, named Gilbert Green, it is reported. had eiveu evidenee to the effect that he overheard some melt at Torpeint planning Ihe destruct it'll of dn.! dockyard and other 1)16141ines., Atonhor rumour WaS, (113t a letter hatl been ecut to a highly -respocia1,1,. eontlennin near Torpoint, a short time since, from the wife or :i labomimr man, warning him that I.. 'CI"' i'''r"-I"liic.-.3''l her hushaml ;led others, who wee,- chartiste; 11:1,1 res.olved to lire the •'"1"' and exPress—' .-.'"' ' '''' ''' '''''' doekyard, the gun- wharf, the house or the eolith:num addreseed, and he time tonehed upon tle.- ..• -int et' til,. ,.. to perpetrate other intsclitef," '1'lle Hemoute .heneed or Thursday says ••• Up to tett o'clock last night, nothing had transpired in referenee to the c:iti:e of this lititclit- able affair. We are less disposed, however. to attribute the valise of the fire to the act of an ineendiere, from the know hel ee of the following fact, and which bears upon the possibility of its being produced by
spontaneous combustion. A few years since, the sweepings of the stores, which were placed in a cart to be conveyed to some distant part of the yard, took fire spontaneously, and consumed a considerable pile of timber. The last fire in the Dockyard of any importance occurred in 1812 ; when the rope-house was entirely destroyed, and was supposed to have originated front spontaneous ignition."
Previous page
