§ MR. RYLANDSsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether the statement published in some of the newspapers that the British Embassy House at Constantinople was totally destroyed by the disastrous fire that had recently occurred there, was actually the case? He hoped that the Under Secretary would be able to state the precise extent of the damage done by the calamity.
MR. OTWAYregretted to say that very great damage had been done to the British Embassy House at Constantinople, although it had not been totally destroyed. There had also been great loss of life; but the life of no one connected with the British Embassy had been sacrificed. Every precaution had been taken to prevent the destruction of the Embassy House. The fire engines were in order, and everyone was stationed at his post; the iron shutters were closed, the seamen of the Antelope were landed to assist, and every means was taken to extinguish the fire, but without any good result. A telegram from Sir Henry Elliot stated that the ground floor of the Embassy House was comparatively little injured, but above that the walls only remained. It was not possible to save anything from the bed-room floor, all personal effects and clothing having been abandoned. The loss of life was greater than on any previous occasion, and numbers of victims were hourly discovered. The archives and plate belonging to the Embassy had been saved.