were badly injured, and much glass was destroyed in the neighbourhood. Clithero appears to have had his works separate from the dwelling-house, an arrangement which appears to be the exception rather than the rule. Mortram's premises were again destroyed in 1818, fortunately without loss of life.
A serious accident took place in 1815, in which five people lost their lives, the premises, and those on either side, being demolished, and nearly all windows destroyed within two hundred yards. The proprietor of the premises, which were situated at Wilkes Street, Spitalfields, was Lushalan.
In 1821 a third accident occurred at Mortram's works, the newspaper account of which gives an illuminating glimpse of the extraordinary methods of the period:
"Tuesday morning an accident, which occasioned considerable
alarm, and might have been attended with
dangerous consequences, took place in the house of M.
Mortram, firework-maker, in Westminster Road. It appears
that one of the boys employed in making composition stars
for rockets had placed a number of them on the fender
before the fire to dry, and had set fire to one on the hob,
which falling in amongst the others, the whole exploded,
by which a little girl was much hurt in the back, and so
frightened that she ran to the window of the first floor, but
was prevented jumping out. The boy escaped up the area
with his jacket on fire. The neighbours were now much
alarmed, fearing that the fire might spread to more combustible
matter in the house, and so on to the extensive
workshops of Madame Hengler, the celebrated pyrotechnic
to his Majesty; but, through the activity of the
workmen, who ran into the adjoining house with buckets
of water, further damage was happily prevented, or the
