26 
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
“November 4>th , 1868.—A fire occurred at A. Skier's, Silk Trimming 
Warehouse , ]S Dyclie Street, Rochdale Road. 
“ The basement floor was occupied by Mr. Lancashire, Chemist, and con¬ 
tained a quantity of oil, saltpetre, resin, and eight extra-large casks of loose 
gunpowder, which was only damaged by water, although the flooring—which 
was 8 ins. thick—was burned through in four places. The fire was extin¬ 
guished in about one hour.” 
“March 18 th, 1871.—A fire occurred at J. J. Salis’, Printer’s "Workshop, 
No. 1 Spring Gardens. On his arrival, the Superintendent was informed 
that a quantity of gunpowder was stored between the roof and ceiling over 
the rooms on fire. The Superintendent and Chief Engineer found about 
1 cwt. in casks and cans, which were removed into the street, and afterwards 
to the Detective Office. The fire was extinguished in about one hour.” 
Many cases could be added to these. I myself was present at 
a fire at Inverness last September, when a cry was suddenly 
raised that there was powder in the building. Fortunately, it 
was found possible to get it out of the building and convey it to 
a place of safety. 
Last October, an explosion of gunpowder from a fire occurred 
in Chichester—time having permitted only the removal of a 
portion of the store before the fire reached the magazine. 
In October, 1871, an unexpected explosion of gunpowder 
occurred at Chelsea, while the Fire Brigade were in the act of 
extinguishing a fire which had broken out on the premises of 
Mr. Monk. The explosion occasioned the greatest alarm, and a 
good deal of serious damage, frightened the horses of the fire- 
engine, and caused them to run away, knocking down and 
injuring several persons. 
These instances will serve to establish that the risk from the 
unsafe storage of gunpowder in places where it can be reached by 
fire is a real one. Indeed, it must be a subject of surprise to 
those who are acquainted with the practice of the retail trade in 
this matter, that fatal explosions from this cause do not much 
more frequently occur. 
It follows from the above, that if a fire-proof magazine^ to con¬ 
tain a small quantity of powder—up to, say, 100 lbs., or 200 lbs. 
—can be provided at a moderate cost, its adoption would be 
beneficial to the trade and conducive to the public safety. 
Moreover, such magazines would seem to possess advantages 
which would recommend their use on board yachts and vessels, 
where small quantities of powder are often required to be carried, 
and where it is not considered worth while to go to the expense 
of providing a “ drowning arrangement ” for the magazine. 
Influenced by these considerations, I obtained your authority 
to carry out experiments to test how far a fire-proof magazine 
which Messrs. Milner and Co. had submitted to my notice fulfilled 
the above conditions. 
