A fire broke out on Thursday morning in the rear
of the premises occupied by Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkinson, which threatened at one time to burn down the offices of this journal, of the Globe, of the Examiner, and of the United Service Gazette. The two latter were injured seriously, bat some low party-walls arrested the progress of the flames, and four steam fire-engines were speedily on the spot. These machines throw a volume of water which quenches a really great flame as if a wave had fallen upon it, and from the moment they began to play the fire perceptibly declined. Had it spread, one side of the Strand would 'have gone, and the Savoy Chapel, only just rebuilt after a similar catastrophe. After the fire the most prominent objects were the corpses of burnt books, some of them unfortunately very valuable, Mr. George Offor's collection of rare Biblical books and manuscripts being stored on the premises for sale. The poor books looked quite melancholy, and crinkled their covers as if aware that the insurance would not compensate for their injuries.
Previous page
