of the London Fire-Engine Establishment made a happy selection of a captain for their numerous brigade when they invited Mr. Braidwood to fix his abode at their principal station in Watling Street, and direct their new and hazardous undertaking......Under his sagacious and energetic management the brigade, originally established to protect the interests of a few companies, acquired the magnitude, influence and dignity of a public institution......Men who are young now will recall, forty years hence, the tempestuous acclamations with which the multitude used to greet Braidwood when he drove up to take personal command at a fire of unusual magnitude, and how the mere arrival of the commander used to fill the crowds with an His presence at great fires. assurance that the flames would be 'got under.' ......He commanded at the fire which reduced the Houses of Parliament to ashes and black ruin; at the conflagration which consumed the Royal Exchange; and at the still more disastrous fire at the Tower. Amongst London theatres burnt to the ground in his presence, and almost as speedily restored, were Astley's, the Olympic, the Pavilion, and the Covent Garden Opera-house. But of all his fires the most appalling, obstinate and destructive was the Tooley Street conflagration, which raged for an entire night, smouldered for fourteen days, and was not extinguished until it had destroyed two millions' worth of property. "It was during the first night of this terrific His death on outbreak that Braidwood met his end, whilst June 22nd, encouraging his firemen with his customary 1861. kindliness, and directing their operations with characteristic firmness and placidity. He was facing some flames that hissed and roared near a warehouse, which was known to contain a large store of saltpetre, when a high wall in his rear fell with a fearful crash, and buried him at the same instant in which it killed him. His death was not less enviable than instantaneous. He died in action,-as such a man would wish to die......when he was still no more than sixty-one years of age......By dying amidst the havoc of a fire, the extraordinary dimensions and destructiveness of which had roused the imaginations and sympathies of his fellowcountrymen in every class of society, he expired under circumstances which secured him the sweetest reward of heroes-a grave sanctified by the regretful admiration of an entire people." Anxiety of the Queen. The Queen's anxiety was so great that Her Majesty sent messengers during Sunday to ascertain whether the body had been found. It was not until 5 o'clock on Monday morning that his remains were discovered. Long after midnight on the Monday the sky was still red The Weekly with the reflection of the fire. "This gentleman has drawn from actual survey accurate ground plans of all the wharfs and warehouses on both banks of the river between London Bridge and Rotherhithe on the southern side and the Tower on the northern......It will be seen from the plan that the entire length of the river frontage of the premises destroyed was little less than 560 feet. The length on the western side was nearly 200 feet, and on the eastern, from the river to the corner of Counter Street, more than 360 feet. The entire area thus enclosed was one mass of fire, and is now a heap of ruins. When it is remembered that this enormous block of warehouses was stored with the most combustible materials, the body of flame may be faintly realized by those who did not witness it. Only a fortnight before his death Mr. Braidwood had visited Hay's Wharf in company with Mr. Loveday and a gentleman connected with the Sun Fire Office for the purpose of inspecting the building." Capt. Shaw in his Fires and Fire Brigades,' one of the series of handbooks issued in 1884 by the Executive Council of the International Health Exhibition, in reference to this destructive fire states that it "not only proved a great pecuniary loss to the insurance companies, but it showed them the utter inadequacy of the Force to cope Mr. Loveday's plan of the buildings destroyed. with fires of such magnitude"; and after a series of suggestions and prolonged negotiations the London Fire-Engine Establishment was transEstablish- ferred to the Metropolitan Board of Works on Metropolitan the 1st of January, 1866, under the title of the Fire Brigade. Metropolitan Fire Brigade. ment of the statistics of from 1840 to 1866. Capt. Shaw's Capt. Shaw in 1867, as chief officer, drew up fires in some interesting particulars respecting fires in London London, of which the Athenæum of the 2nd of November, 1867, gives the following summary: "In 1840, the number was 681,-one to every 379 houses; in 1850, 868,-one to every 347 houses; in 1860, 1,056,—one to every 335 houses; in 1865, 1,502, one to every 250 houses. This great increase led to an improved system of telegraphic communication, and to more efficient apparatus, by which the number of destructive fires fell in 1866 to 1,338. The 'heavy fires' are about 25 per cent. of the total number, and the average sum spent on a fire is 187. Of 29,069 fires which occurred in the metropolis during the past thirty-three years, candles caused 11 per cent.; gas, 8 per cent.; flues, nearly 8 per cent.; sparks from pipes, 4 per cent.; lucifer matches, 1 per cent.; smoking, 1 per cent.; children playing, 1 per cent.; stoves, 1 per cent.; other known causes, 19 per cent.; unknown causes, 33 per cent. Capt. Shaw is not able to give a return of the actual number of wilful fires, but he states that one-third, or more, of all the fires in London are regarded by insurance offices and the fire brigade as involved in suspicion." The following additional facts and statistics are taken from Capt. Shaw's report issued on the 1st of January, 1886:-The total number of fires in 1867 was 1,397; 1868, 1,668; 1869, 1,572; 1870, 1,946; 1871, 1,842; 1872, 1,494; 1873, 1,548; 1874, 1,573; 1875, 1,529; 1876, 1,632; 1877, 1,533; 1878, 1,659; 1879, 1,718; 1880, 1,871; 1881, 1,991; 1882, 1,926; 1883, 2,144; 1884, 2,289; 1885, 2,270. As showing the efficiency of the Brigade, the number of serious fires decreased from 18 per cent. in 1867 to 7 per cent. in 1885. The quantity of water used for extinguishing fires in the metropolis during 1885 was about 87,000 tons. Number of fires in London, 1867 to 1885. The strength of the Brigade is as follows:- Strength of 55 land fire engine stations; 4 floating or river the Brigade. stations; 26 hose cart stations; 127 fire escape stations; 4 steam fire engines on barges; 42 land steam fire engines; 87 six-inch manual fire engines; 37 under six-inch manual fire engines; 64 hose carts; 3 self-propelling fire floats; 4 steam tugs; 7 barges; 144 fire escapes; 5 long fire ladders; 4 ladder vans; 2 ladder trucks; I trolly for ladders; I trolly for engines; 12 hose and coal vans; II waggons for street duties; 4 street stations for ditto; 107 watch boxes; 589 |