Zbe ATItiropolis.
e Saturday was St. Thomas's Day ; and, according to annual custom, Wardmotes were held in the City to elect Common Councilmen for the ensuing year. There was little contest anywhere, except in the five Wards of Aldgate, Billingsgate, Coleman Street, Farringdon Without, and Portsoken ; and few questions of general interest were raised. In Queenhithe Ward, very strong and general disapprobation was expressed of Alderman Gibbs's election to the Mayoralty. A resolution was also unanimously adopted, desiring that the representatives of the Ward in the Common Council would use their influence to secure the removal of restrictive duties. A contest in Aldgate Ward turned upon free trade. There were three new candidates,—Mr. Freeman, an advocate of free trade; Mr. Burnell, and Mr. Hill, who opposed free trade. The two last were rejected on the show of hands, and a poll was de- manded on their behalf. On Monday, while all the other candidates had upwards of sixty votes, Mr. Burnell and Mr. Hill had eighteen and seventeen respectively, and they resigned. The sanatory state of the City was brought under discussion in the Ward of Billingsgate, and also in Broad Street 'Ward ; where a wish was unanimously expressed that the authorities would consider the question and deal with it practi- caaj Lloyd's ,stablishment took full possession of its spacious rooms in the new Royal Exchange on Thursday.
Christmas Day was celebrated as gaily as possible in the several Workhouses of the Metropolis, with a holyday, plum-pudding and roast beef, and other humbler luxuries. In this way 40,000 persons were entertained.
A meeting of builders and master-carpenters was held at Freemasons Tavern, on Tuesday, to petition Parliament for the repeal of the Window- duties, in order to promote better ventilation. Mr. H. Biers, the Pre- sident of the Master-Carpenters' Society, was called to the chair ; and he introduced the subject of discussion— He referred to the evidence taken by the Committee of the Commons on the Health of Towns Bill, as proving the necessity of ventilation; while the Win- dow-tax is so rigorously enforced, that every aperture for light or sir in addi- tion to the eight windows is taxed with an additional eight shillings. The method of building the _smaller hoots se as to avoid the taxis seriously detn- mental to ventilation. By a local act, the 7th and 8th Victoria, chap. 51, the borough of Liverpool bad succeeded in obtaining ventilating apertures in the premises there free of duty. It was true that this act applied to warehouses; but if it was essential that warehoused goods should have a proper system of yen- lotion for their preservation, was it not of paramount importance that human life should have the same benefit extended to it ? The late meetinrat Exeter Rail, presided over by the Marquis of Normanby, had been convened specially to consider a better mode of ventilation as a preservative of health in towns; and yet, singular to state, the word ventilation was never used throughout the proceedings, the only points touched upon being more water and better sewerage. With respect to the latter point, he was fully convinced that no benefit would result until the Government placed the sewerage of the Metro- polis and large towns under one general commission, and until one general rate was collected. The expense, under present circumstances, was so great, that in many places, even in Marylebone and Paddington, the drainage was avoided, although at the risk of the health of the inhabitants. He thought the sewerage ought to be paid in the shape of rates, as a sinking-fund, going over a period of thirty years.
Several :other speakers addressed the meeting ; and ultimately the petition was adopted.
Robert Hobson, the postmaster at Walthamstow, has been committed for trial from Bow Street Police-office, for embezzling the postage of a letter and for stealing a number of newspapers which were put into his post-office.
The inquest on the bodies of the two men who were killed at Green- wich by the collision between the Orwell and Sylph steamers was re- sumed and concluded on Monday. The evidence as to the rate of speed at which the vessels were proceeding, and the precautions used by the commanders of each, was contradictory ; but it was pretty clearly esta- blished that the Orwell came up the river very slowly, while the Sylph, just before the collision, was going fast through a thick fog. The Jury returned a verdict of " Accidental Death," but desired that Sweisland, the master of the Sylph, should be reprimanded ; while they declared that the crew of the Orwell had used all necessary precautions.
There have been a great number of fires in the Metropolis recently ; and one which occurred on Saturday morning was attended with the loss of four lives. It broke out about four o'clock, at the house of Mr. Farey, in Guildford Street, Russell Square. The inmates of the house, with the exception of a lad named Robinson, a clerk to Mr. Farey, escaped by the roof : Mr. Farey's son made every effort to awaken the youth, but in vain ; for the fire burned fiercely, and soon compelled him to retreat to save his own life. While the upper part of the mansion was blazing, Jenkins, Mr. Farey's groom, entered the kitchen to endea- vour to save a favourite dog belonging to his master ; two Policemen, Wright and Birkmyer, followed, to make him desist from his attempt ; at that moment a portion of the roof and upper stories fell in, and all three were buried in the ruins. When the fire was got under, Birkmyer was found in the front kitchen, nearly covered with beams and rubbish; he was alive, but died before he could be extricated. The bodies of the other sufferers were not found till Tuesday. The cause of the fire is at present unknown. A number of firemen narrowly escaped being bu- ried in the ruins when the building fell in.
On Monday morning, a fire broke out in a dressing-room at the Earl of Harrington's mansion, Whitehall. It was got under before it did much injury ; but a number of figures and other articles of vertu were damaged by hasty removal and water.
An old pensioner has been suffocated, on board a ship in the West India Docks, by the fumes of coke. He went to take care of the ship for the night ; and in the morning shut himself up in a small cabin, lighted a coke fire, and went to bed.
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