The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-10-31 00:00:00

'et 31, 1841. OWN COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS 11 , 0 'ay, a spe c i a l meet i ng of the council was held at " - hail, for thepurpose of taking into considera• P P determining upon a variety of subjects mentioned r ioek l "lanses. Th e M AYOR too k t h e c h a i r at e l even ( tk , at which time there were twenty-four members '''tespective places. FINANCE COMMITTEE. ttlit L ,l4 d uTY TOW N -C LERK commence d th e b us i ness Ni tt Oa Y by reading th e procee di ngs o f th e Fi nance ,Itittee tee The committee stated that they had received ,4441,tenders for the corporation land in North Bir glippr and that they had agreed to accept, subject to 4 tios l e,"al of the couecil, offers for the following lots : lits`qr• Cole, for 37,000 square yards, at 18s. each ; 11Vessrs. J. and W. Walker, for 6,100 square yards, ; i o t r a ,ehi and one-third of the new road adjoining, at i t it t 4; 44),90 0 square yards, at 12s. 4d. each ; trom Mr. 14 1 '1 4 . for 20,000 square yards, at 10s. each ; from h r .lf t Ito, for 6,000 square yards. at 10s. each ; from ti ct 's P. Brownri gg , f or 48,800 square y ar d s , a t ‘ ret s ,',,,!iod for o t h er parce l s, amount i ng i n t h e aggre ,7,ooo square y ar d s . Th e l eases fo r th ose pur /Illtetoire to be for 75 years ; the conditions of the sale 1 4 r it!"—PaYrnent in five and ten years, with interest i ti T of 5 per cent. ; the purchasers to erect build '; ".1 "here l an d f ronte d t h e poo l , to ma k e a sea k`Ri i nsurance against fire to be effected by the td: . T 1.,1e committee further stated, that they Lad L i tt loject to the approval of the council, to pur- Itii:'. running from Beacon's Gutter northwards, kbi ttt ,Earl of Derby, for a sum not exceeding £17.500, I:likttito certain conditions. They finally stated, that t 4 ltss tb ade a communication to the Watch Committee third b eak ether the latter could conveniently give up the !toe "ock Station, for the purposes of a Sailors' %i t Those several proceedings, which were of ex -144., e ic.i.,, having been read throughout, t o • LAWRENCE rose to move their confirma hit i said that the proeeedings, though coming upon i, 4 .Y of the municipal year, were of extreme im ,ll442o!_ineteresting to the burgesses at large, inasmuch Ngn il were or recommended upon portion of their looo ° PertY, amounting in value to upwards of , 4 ; and also as they were called upon to purchase th e ., ( , ) .,tbe extent of 600,000 square yards of land Ltitheekirkclale shore. Upon these two transactions 74ti n t °say a tew words, but not for the purpose of Nilei, g the policy of the council in disposing of their P r oPerty, because the more he considered that , 1 / 1 0re he thought they were acting for he in- Itt l i '. the inhabit an t s on b o th s id es o f th e M ersey . fl 7. b birth-lre tod ight thafort t a mess of he Financ pottage,mande Comitteethat it were ` ei tir it illit e ti ` ek ? , B reason they were assailed with such warmth b?' out of d oors ; b ut st ill t h e counc il t h oug h t raeshir e property was a great we i ght and bur : that it was b a d po li cy to b e ho l ding a property , ax comparatively unproductive, and whic 'i l ti P°o the burgesses to the extent of £316,000, fetter Might have assumed a different aspect, but ki d 7 had purchased, they could hardly be said to e for it ; for the interest amounted at present to le a Year. It was, therefore, a matter of some im to red uce t hi s amount ; f or h e was o f op i n i on 1.441 i k eas theY could keep their present bonded debt P r esent limits, they must tither resort to a bo- Iti'Le, or suspend their discretio nar y e xpe n dit ure . ' it 4/e examined the corporation accounts for the thjiould appear manifest that unless they could NV' exigencies by some such steps as they viere Itt t°i liending. they must call for the assistance of k_ l4 is l 4 tb erer. (dear, hear.) Offers had been made 9 1,0 r 7, 0 1 the Bi r k en h ea d l an d , amount i ng a l toget h er ti,"'". TtitY Nua of re -ards, and at a vl of ,000. The land purchased in ue Birke £l2o nhead by the .000 c orporation, previous to 1829, amounted to ire en s quare yards, and after the present purchases , ar Pode the council would still retain 725,000 N is i e k s irytheir possession. The total cost . of the 8 1 4 4 kI tui :ee o £316,000. The interest was 1.12,600 ; k -, ng the interest saved by the present sales, lOt tn t ° £7,290, the balance of interest would only I to ''S,3lo—so that the borough fund would be Vs ' : the extent of £7,300 a-year, and they would ltstiasB‘72s,4oo square yards, which stood them in I t i‘ l .l l 7. and ss. each. (Hear, hear.) . 1 110 44 4LEY-MORE asked whether the 4s. or ss. IV Yard could be obtained for the remaining 1 / 4 at 'S 4 440 t, '‘• I AWRENCE said that every day inoreased k . f th e l an d. H e was sat i s fi e d i t was wor th more r ,ss. 4 ,,, 1411 N the thought it impossible to give any answer Lh. 2 to accuracy to such a question, because the . /1 1 situated 'part s , and varied in value. h ilt gr it in v arious N was sold by the acre, and some by the squ a re t t, be had no notion of its average value, the s4etieularly as a great deal of it bore an ideal value. 4 AMLEY-MORE thought a definite answer • st6,oln. H e did not want the value toa fraction, be satisfied if the Finance Committee could it e w aB worth any sum between 6s. and 7s. on an ‘t .t, 4 ti,* 1 : 1 - LAWRENCE assumed, for the sake of argu- Nat it ~, „,_• as worth what . it stood them in. e,P.? .4 ern expressed his belief that it was worth t 7s. 01,111 KER said, that the question as to the sal . t tn it 7 . , been already decided upon by the council, and 'l‘4 4 4. , e r s e t al object at present ought to t b i : a t t o th d e is e p o o u se n if l g av e a advantage. plaa o the He est contended ate before them, and that Us b e , s b.of it ought to be valued by competent parties. net' had been told that one gentleman had pur ltp,'NO square yards • but he should like to know ''Petition there had ' been for that , and the other 4'. I s haA,AC HOLMES would not hive taken part in the r tie t!. l 4 he Chairman of the Finance Committee not „„,the sale of the estate would operate beneficially s h ad ",,`erests of the people on both sides of the Mersey . Vtti4e,c l against the sale in the first instance. He . !),Nt h i out one opinion upon the subject, and must sorrow now, as he had done before, that th e ‘ l , l ke t*i ',.tl been amputated from the corporation. He ,:e toermed by Mr. Royden and r a othes that a dock yprceted on the other side fob out r X 6,000 ; and ,ti gi ti ° a dock might not have answered for vessels N 4 liv arl ° t the port with merchandize, yet would it have res. _ ageoll s for vessels on sale and lying up, and, 4Nf_ e c,,t, it would have greatly relieved two of the 4 c e i ve _Laks. He contended that the new corporation th " a sum of money from the old equal in amount Qh e .! latter had expended on the purchase of the h a 4 ;' estate. He also contended, that, if the A t !t ql , )r _ the right of ferry into Wallasey pool, they li u :serve the: property on the margin of the river. t ' t 'Rau, said, the council possesed the right of k it t j oh _,, asked, whether the council had made any b ° 4 water rights over the Pool? ve. " LAWRENCE said, they had no-water rights tl iE ti s Na asked, how they could possess any water ' , 4 lo qt rY had lost the margin of the laud, or if, in 1113 • they had. lost terra firma They could have t _ 6 1 , ye e ,1 1 91 , enderit• of the land adjoining ; and there lhotic co to him that they had hastily parted with S'toi ri ; al l a s . of acres, out of a desire_ to get rid of an ; Et t 9cl 1,17 !ousy upon the part of certain persons. . 4 1, t1 1 1 : - , in a great hurry to put the land out of rp o Jar fear it might be made amenable for any 4.14 Le!,er~ Mr. Isaac Holmes had very properly said, had have made the pool very useful—that they ,bi Xl B "td it as a receptacle for a certain description she It would have been a lumber room for Liver i!qor"'Y thing that Liverpool wanted. 'Had the 14thkOle docks been asked for plans, or bad the ie fully, fairly,and thoroughly discussed, as to tl ' I Y ought to sell or not, or what were the uses ;;;Vlal, hat on , estuary and the land on the margin could o at would be the benefit the one hand, or Nth', ti ll the other, that would result to Liverpool ? lava of g had been gone into ; but with a legislation, ititt; grocer, at the corner of a street, they had liq t iili a _ e .destruction of, what be called, one -of the u t prospects the Corporation possessed. \1 4. 4 • - AI AV 0 lip ° 4 f It•—I call on 'Mr. Evans to mr,...- 1 1 1 44 i .°r th e use of that language. He said this o t t ai t. 4 7 1 a i i t a Worthy of a grocer at the corner of a street ; , 1? \ 44 ,a sure that the :use of such an expression 1 1 . It 1 ° raise the council in public estimation. 4 1 rI t . 18 not right, in my opinion, to make use of ilp tte e ' c oramittee of gentlemen ; for the Finance 1/44' DAN tare gentlemen (Hear, hear.) Ii i ) 4 :: 4 ihi s - ---- 1 beg, i n the first place, to observe that , ive-ovearition whatever to utter anything that could l' l 'tti:lie ' e - , me nce• Ido not think it ought to have given t Iv ! e, it was used only as . a fair mode of 11/ta kies illustrating at the time that this legisla ; j; lettij,were acting with the . understanding of a t 1 4 4 nual in the lower ranks of life. I contend jiiitt i li t i i lair illustration ; but, if it be taken in an 41.4! Ido not adhere to it. (Hear, hear.) t o / it ; C - I am quite aware that it is open to you . i It i .h4,, e ',..ut I think it is not an expression which , h et . been t used towards gentlemen who have no r i tt b ate ll ,,,low in their proceedings but that of the ,les re I, - uoY may, it is true, make mistakes ; but i s 1 aho •elY fair to liken them to a person who keeps 11 e a ,, 111 ; At the same time, if the council are liti t „. have nothing further to say. Iriv e 'ri don't think there was anything person itaint la the observation. (Hear, hear.) tt e . t ri, e t i t Yr denied that the Finance Committee had Y„litr k f , l :to an acceptance of the o ff ers by anything ktYl_l4B-nsT narellecti the alousy on the part of per tta 0 - 4ar side of ne water. He contended that id, n , ue other side had a right to the benefit of iiN 0 4 1 1817 ; inich as there was no right but the public ) t kley tv t ueY were about to sell the Cheshire pro -1,, , 1 3 auld sell any other description of corporate ( t IlLto od e thought the Council had obtained an ex the Price, and that the effect of the sale would IN 4, 0 11 1:, additional amount of income which the ii hmlieti zl m have at their disposal. Hitherto, they it' o4 l t ati r f liegaly, by expending capital for income. 6 Nifiat.to hold the Cheshire property in the ~, ere a , e l'on, particularly when their local taxa % el, Ye are , from one cause or another, within tbe ti'll t ,„ 4 e, l „,.' bY nearly 40 per cent., and when the it:e'tiel)"' ,t.be community found it difficult to bear altlalpe t i,Pe differed with Mr. Parker with re „. tOs e b` lo ll for the land, because better terms t i t's t Dri ee ° cnade, and also, because, in some in• 1 Ned ee s offered had been refused, and higher I NN , 4 obtained. 14, that Ait t , „ ned. , 4 th aif i n , 'nought the only question for discussion ,t et rains to this :---Whether the Finance Commit a tt e tt f 0 .. 110 e1l prices as the corporation had a e I to ,' tbe property? He confessed that if lu `44itinal owner of the estate, and had only :e •8001 E made up his mind six weeks ago to dispose of it, and that in that short space of time he had, received offers for no fewer a number than 200,000 sqoare yards, he should have suspected that better prices could be obtained. (Hear.) Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE replied. He said that Mr. Evans would make the Cheshire property subservient to the interests of the people of Liverpool. But had it been subservient hitherto? 0.1 the contrary, had it not been lying waste and idle? The policy of the present corpo ration was to bring it into productiveness and usefulness, believing that it would speedily be studded with buildings, and that in the increase of trade at the other side, the prosperity of the people of Liverpool generally would be materially promoted. (Hear.) This increase of trade would be far more desirable than to erect docks as a depor for old things or tilings on sale; because he hoped that things on sale would be every day becoming fewer in number, and that the necessity for the depot would as constantly be diminishing. (Hear.) He perceived by the newspapers that the Dock Committee were constantly discussing the propriety of erecting new docks—that the north and he south ends of the town were pointed out as eligible sites, but that not a word was ever said about Cheshire. Not a word was ever said about the Dock Committee going over there; and he was satisfied that the burgesses of Liverpool, represented as they were in the council, would never be parties to an act which should transfer what they considered their commercial interests to the other side of the water. (Hear, hear.) The coun cil now offered the Cheshire property for sale to persons who might make doeks there or not as they pleased. He was not afraid of rival docks. Himself and others had been charged with smuggling this question through the Council. He denied it. Month after month had it been discussed, and duly and properly had the sales been ad vertised. (Rear, hear.) Mr. BUSHELL asked Mr. Stewart whether he thought he could find for the Finance Committee a buyer at a higher price for the lot or lots of land to which he had made special reference ? Mr. STEWART said that when he had heard of the price of 10s. offered by Mr, Laird, he considered it a very good price. He could not, in answer to Mr. Bushell's question, undertake to say that he could find a higher price for the other lots. (Hear, hear.) Any gentleman conversant with the sale of land, as an individual, must know that very desirable land often remained on hand for a year or two or more, no matter what exertion might be used to sell; and therefore very strong suspicion must be created that the land in the present instance must have been sold below its value, from the circumstance of 200,000 square yards of •t having been snapped up by 13 different purchasers in the short spac..l of six weeks. Mr. BUSHELL said that Mr. Stewart's answer was satisfactory, inasmuch as it proved that the Finance Committee had obtained the highest market value of the present day. (Oh I and laughter.) _ _ The MAYOR observed, that he Could not allow the dis cussion to proceed any farther, Mr. Lawrence having replied Mr. HENRY HOLMES intimated his willingness to move, as an amendment, that so far as regarded the whole of the sales of the land, the subject be referred back for further consideration. The MAYOR observed, that the discussion must dose, and that the amendment could not be received. Mr. BACRBURN thought that they oughE not to ad. here to the strict letter of their rules, but divide upon the amendment. The MAYOR said the only way in which the amend ment could be received, would be 'by suspending the standing orders. Mr. HORNBY was averse to the suspension of the Standing orders. Tne TOWN-CLERK said that if the original motion were registered. it would then be competent for any gentleman to move an amendment. The council divided, when there appeared— For the motion 3l Against it.. .. Majority. The sales of the Birkenhead estate were accordingly confirmed. The following members voted in the divi sion : For.—Messrs. F. Shand, T. Shaw, R. Houghton, J. C. Thompson, T. Sands,ll. Hornhy, J. Holmes, J. Aspi nail, T. Royden, J. Cooper, J. N. Wood, H. Lawrence, W. Birkett, C. Bushell, T. Brassey, J. S. Leigh-, G. H. Lawry nce, A. Lace, S. L. Trotman, J. Platt, J.Sheppard, A. Smith, jun. Alderman.—Sir T. Brancker, J. H. Turner, W. P. Freme, W. Nicol, J. Bramley-moore, E. Molyneux, J. Moon, T. Chilton, and the Mayor. Against.-1. Holmes, W. Thornhill, T. Blackburn, W. Preston, H. Copeland, J. Edwards, J. North, H. Holmes, J. Aikin, J. Stewart, J. Procter, R. Rigby, J. Kilshaw, J. Parker, J. 'Plumpton, R. Harbord, G. H. Hamby. Aldermen.—T. B. 'Barclay, R. Houghton, T. Bulley, T. Holt, J. Lawrence, and E. Evans. PURCHASE - OF LAND FROM LORD DERBY Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE said that, having now succeeded in inducing them to dispose of part 'of their Cheshire estate, he had next to call upon them to increase t hi , ex tent of their property on this side of the water. He al luded to the next subject on the paper—that of pur chasing 1,000 yards of land from the Earl of D , rby, from Beacon's-gutter, extending northwards. In March '42, a report of the Finance Committee had been agreed upon, which acknowledged the importance of such a purchase as that now submitted for consideration ; and at that time the Finance Committee were instructed to carry on negociations with the Earl of Derby. It appeared, however, upon investigation, that however good his lord ship's title might be in his own - judgment, yet that the arrangement required the approbation of the Chancellor of the Duchy; and the result was, that, after a length ened negociation with the doehy, the committee had succeeded in getting her Majesty to relinquish any claims of the crown to the locality in question. The terms on which her Majesty had agreed to the relinquishment had been embodied in the report of the committee ; and he would endeavour to state them briefly. In the first place the council were to pay to the duchy 40s. annually for their rights, until they should have proceeded to parliament and obtained a legislative sanction to the complete sale or transfer of the property to the corporation. The'Chancel lor of the Duchy agreed to surrender his rights for a sum of £BOO, to be paid by the Corporation; but one of the sti pulations which he attached to the surrender was, that the council should agree to make a river wall, or protec tion to theproperty. without which indeed it could never be made available for any useful purpose. He firther stipulated that the wall should bemade, half iu five years, and the other half in five years more—the whole to be completed in ten years. This .part of the arrangement would, of-course, be very expensive, inasmuch as to build _ a wall there must add most materially to the , cost of the purchase.. Bat this was one of the conditions to which the council were submitting. Thenthere was another stipu lation which, at first, nearly thwarted, or put. an extin guisher noon the negociations of the committee with the Duchy. The Duchy were advised by Lord Granville So merset that there was considerable detriment done to the river by the practise of the Dock Committee in discharging the mud or rubbish they extracted from the docks into the river. +Lord Granville Somerset had seen this prac tice, and when the committee first approached him on the subject of the purchase, his lordship made the cessation of the practice one of the conditions. He said. " Gentle men, you must abandon that practice, which I cousider a nuisance.;" and it was with difficulty that the committee persuaded him to forego any stipulation upon that head. No difficulty now existed on this point with respect to the Duchy • no further renaonstrancesmould be made by Lord Granville Somerset ; but his lordship had made it one of the conditions that be (Mr. Lawrence) should bring the subject before the council, and that he should explain to the members his feelings and views ; and he had further intimated that whenever the Dock Committee went before Parliament again he would require the subject to be thoroughly sifted. His lordship said that he would then inquire into the subject, and require of the committee to show cause why they continued the practice; and, there fore, he (Mr. Lawrence) mentionedsit now, as he had pro mised to do, in order that the council might be prepared to meet the subject. SANDS.—We have met it. Mr. LAWRE?WE was aware that the Dock Committee had met it by a letter from Mr. Hartley, and by saying that there would be great difficulty in remedying the prac tice; and it was upon the reading of Mr. Hartley's letter that Lord G. Somerset had said he would require further explanation. It appeared that there was deposited in the river. as extracted from the docks, about 220,000 cubic yards of mud annually. Mr. Hartley's statement was to the effect that the remedying of the practice would be at tended with immense expense—that three mud docks, with double gates, would have to be erected, and that the 220.000 cubic yards of mud would annually cover upwards of 20 acres of land. The answer to Lord Granville So merset was the enormous expense of the undertaking; and it was upon the strength of this answer that his lord ship was willing that the further consideration of the sub ject should be postponed. He did not say that his opinions were changed, but that the matter required the considera tion of the Dock Committee and that of parliament. In his lordship they had a person willing to lend them a fa vourable ear, conversant with their interests, and anxious to advance them ; and the result of the present negocia tion showed that his lordship was favourably disposed, and not desirous of extracting money from them for the pur pose of increasing the revenues of the privy purse. (Hear, hear.) Mr. SANDS expressed a hope that the council would be satisfied with. Mr. Hartley's explanation on the subject. The report on the purchase from Lord Derby was then confirmed. The following further recommendations of the Finance Committee were next confirmed :—Recotnmendation for the appointment of Francis Broadfoot as master of the River Craft Dock ; the appointment of Thomas Boothby as collector of fines on summary convictions, at a salary of £llO per annum ; the appointment of an additional racer as inspector of hackney coaches, at £65 per annum ; the sal:; of an additional piece of land to the Baptist Chapel land in Myrtle-street; the purchase of the area in front of James Owen's house, in Islington. WATCH COMMITTEE. The proceedings of the watch, lighting, cleansing, and fire police committees were confirmed. DOCK COMMITTEE. The TOWN-CLERK informed the Council that it was ntended by the Dock Committee to submit some special iroceedings and resolutions relating to purchases to the torth and south of the present line of docks, and to a bill n parliament in the next session for that object, con :luding with a resolution, of which the following was a .opy :—" Resolved,—That it be represented to the Conn tbat it is expedient that a special meeting of the Conn -11 should be called for an early day after the 9th of No ember next, to take into consideration the subject of he north and south (both or either) of the present line of locks, for further dock accommodation ; and also for power to make a communiuttion by water from the pro- THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. posed new north docks, eastwardly, to the Leeds and Li verpool Canal, and to purchase land necessary for that purpose • and that in the meantime this committee should be at liberty to give the requisite parliamentary notices, all proceedings thereon being subject to the determination of the trustees," (the Council) "at the special meeting to be called after the 9th November next." After a brief discussion as to whether this resolution should then be taken into consideration, it was eventu ally agreed to postpone it until eleven o'clock today, when a special council for that purpose will be held. IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE. The proceedings of the improvement Committee were read and confirmed. COURTS OF LAW COMMITTEE. The proceedings of the Courts of Law and St. George's Hall Committee having been read, Mr. HENRY LAWRENCE moved their confirmation, and the making of certain alterations, requiring an ad vance of £lOOO, subject to a reference to the Finance Committee. He proceeded at some length to show that the alterations had been rendered necessary, in consequence of Mr. Elmes deeming it advisable to have a range of co lumns round St. George's Hall to support the roof. The motion was adopted. MARKETS' COMMITTEE. The proceedings of the Markets' Committee—confirming the appointment of James Mainwaring as constable in St. Martin's Market, and of Edward Jones and Thomas Coulter as constables in Gill-street Market—were read and confirmed. EDUCATION COMMITTEE The proceedings of the Education Committee—com prising the appointment, on trial, of Mrs. Jane Goulding as mistress of the North Infant School, at £5O per annum, in lieu of Mrs. Lunt—were read, and, with the exception of the appointment, confirmed. The com mittee stated the numbers in the schools. from the 27th of September to the 25th of October, to be as follow : SOUTH. NORTH 243 1 Boys.. 179 1 Girls.. 175 I Infants Infants • . 167 .. 190 Total • • 597 I Total 545 The numbers on the books were North Sch&ol, 788; South, 668. OBSERVATORY COMMITTEE The proceedings of the Observatory Committee were rea..: and confirmed. HEALTH COMMITTEE The proceedings of the Health of the Town, Wash. houses' and Baths' Committee were read and confirmed. It appeared from these proceedings that pigs were gene rally fed throughout the country on the entrails of animals. Mr. Lace, Mr. G. H. Lawrence, and Mr. Birkett, se rerally expressed their regret that Mr. Cooper was re tiring from the council, as his services upon this committee bad been most valuable. Mr. COOPER returned thanks for the kindly disposition evinced towards him. FIRE COMMITTEE. The proceedings of the Fire Committee were read and confirmed. CORONER'S ACCOUNTS The accounts of the coroner since the last monthly council, amounting to £76 175., were referred to the Finance Committee. BYE LAWS The Mayor's communications comprising copies of bye-laws for amending the present bye-laws regulating the slips, stairs, and stages, and the steam and other ves sels resorting thereto, were read and confirmed. FINES ON ALDERMEN Mr. HonnsoN said he had given notice of a motion, to the effect that the fine paid by Mr. 'William Earle, on that gentleman having resigned the office of alderman, be refunded to him ; and that he regretted the notice did not appear in the summonses. He submitted it upon the ground that he considered it improper that aldermen should be subjected to so heavy a fine, when they were obliged to resign from circumstances, as in the present case, over whi(•h they had no control ; and he promised that he would bring the subject before the council on an early day. The Town-clerk said that Mr. Earle bad paid the fine, and that the bye-laws had fixed the sum conclusively , at £5O. Mr. HORNEY said the course Mr. Hodgson had pur sued was highly creditable to him, and showed that that gentleman was not influenced by personal considerations —considerations by which he never supposed Mr. Uodg son to be influenced. (1 - lear, hear.) The subject here dropped. THE DISPENSARIES. The MAYOR acknowledged the receipt of a memorial from Messrs. Morrall and Fosberry, vice-presidents of the Liverpool dispensaries, praying for an increase of the Council subscription. It was referred to the Finance Committee. MEMORTAtS A memorial from Isabella Watt, of Cases-street, pray ing for pecuniary assistance, was ordered to lie on the table ; another from the inhabitants of `Glover-street, complaining of a disorderly house, was referred to the Watch Committee; and a third, from the inhabitants of Whitechapel and Leigh-street, in reference to Holden's exhibition, was laid on the table. The council adjourned at five minutes to four o'clock No fewer than 45 vessels left the Mersey on Friday for foreign ports. THE " As FIBURTON."—This fine packet ship sailed for New York on Friday. She took out 20 Cabin passengers. Her freight was considered good. The cargo consisted of general manufactured goods. The steamer Great Western, Lieutenant Hosken, which would leave New York on the 19th instant, may be ex pected to arrive here on or about Wednesday. This is her last trip this season. INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COURTS.-Mr. Reynolds, one of the commissioners for the relief of insolvent debtors, will hold courts in this county next year, as follovis:—At Lancaster, on the 7th March neat; at Preston,'on the 21st March; and Liverpool, 22d March. The magistrates of Liverpool have granted, under the new theatre regulation act, a licente to Mr. Copeland for the Royal Amphitheatre for twelve months, and one to Mr.'Holloway for the Queen's Theatre for four months, commencing on Monday next. BIRKENHEAD AND HOYLAKE ROAD.—Sir E. Cost, Bart., at the meeting of Cheshire magistrates at Knuts ford sessions, last week, again brought forward his motion for a grant of £l6O to rebuild the bridge upon the road leading from Birkenhead to Hoylake, but, after a great deal of discussion, the motion was lost by 21 to 12. CLOTHING FOR THE POOR.—We understand that up wards of X7O was realized at the-sale of clothing for the poor, in the Caledonian Schoolroom, on Tuesday last, a most gratifying instance of the spirit by which the desire to klo good is prosecuted and sustained by the Ladies' Clothing Society in connexion with the Scotch churches of Liverpool. RAPHAEL TAPESTRY.—We feel certain that the pub lic are not sufficiently aware of the extraordinary works of art now exhibiting in our town, otherwise we should have found, on our visits to the gallery, crowds, instead of stragglers and connoisseurs inquiring the greatest treat which cati be offered to an intellectual people. The name of Raphael to those professing a love for art, should rouse the strongest feelings of delight. But the fact of having at our doors original works, the genius and skill of the great master himself—works which actually adorned the Vatican palace by the side of Angelo in the 16th century— works that defy any quibble in regard to originality ; and not binding crowds flocking to see them, must proceed from the public not being aware of the facts. We urge them to visit these works and sati s fy th emse l ves . SALE OF AMERICAN CHEESE AT LIVERPOOL.—About 2;500 boxes of American cheese were offered at public sale here this week, of which fully 1,600 sold chiefly from 40s. to 525. 6d. per cwt., with a few inferior and out of condition at rather less prices. Such of the parcels as were in good condition and possessed quality were spi. ritedly competed for. The-Cambridge, which arrived on Friday, brought upwards of 3,900 packages, and a further supply is reported to have arrived in the George Washing ton, from New York. ROBBERY OF A CHILD.---On Friday afternoon last a little boy, aged five years, who resides in Great Nelson street North, was returning along Scotland-road from school when, opposite St. Martin's Market, be was ac costed by a girl, about fifteen years old, who decoyed him down Lawrence-street and into Nash Grove, pretending that she would buy him some apples. She took him to a piece of vacant ground, and there deprived him of his cloak,, which was of blue cloth. The moment she had se cured it she ran off, leaving the poor little fellow crying bitterly for the loss of his garment, while she was utterly regardless how or when he might find his way out of that, to him, unknown locality. LONDON PICKPOCKETS.—Mrs, Highton, the wife of the governor of the Borough gaol, appeared before Mr. Rushton, and charged a respectably dressed fellow, named Daniel Newton, with having followed her, in company with two others, through Ranelagh-street and up ('op peras-hill, and with having made a tug at her shawl while endeavouring to pick her pocket. The prisoner stoutly denied the truth of the charge, and pretended that he had merely jostled against her accidentally. Mr. Dow. ling said there was no doubt he was one of the London gang, whereupon Mr. Rushton ordered hi m t o be impri sioned for three months, and expressed a hope that the sentence would be a warning to those who had come to Liverpool with him, APPROPRIATING WRECKED GOMM—Yesterday, at the Police-court, five men, John Canavan, Jeremiah Mor gan, James Kehoe, and Spencer Lugh, and a boy named William Harper, were charged with carrying off respec tively quantities of oatmeal from the North-shore, near Mr. Birch's, which had been washed up in sacks from the wreck of the brig William, Captain George Newton, which went to pieces on the Great Burbo Bank, durin g the gale on Saturday. The men had carried off many stones of it in sacks of their own, and some of it in a da maged state was found in their houses, and some in the fields ready for removal. The boy had only taken about 51b. weight. The prisoners generally said they had waded in to save the meal which would otherwise have been lost, and that they did not think they were doing wrong. Mr. Maxwell, the sitting magistrate, said they must have known that it was some person's property, and they had no business with it. Had the informations been laid under one particular act, they might have been fined £2O each ; but they were laid under the local act, which was more lenient. The act required that they should give proper information of any property they might save, but here no information was given at all, except by one man, who told a police-officer that he was taking it for his fowls, and another fora neighbour's pigs! The men were fined ss. each, or to be imprisoned seven days; the boy 3 1 9 s. 6d., or five days. [A great quantity of the meal had been thrown up by t Police-officers were s tection of the parties to pro t 11 along the North shore, t, and hence the de- DESTRUCTIVE STORM, AND LAMENTABLE LOSS OF LIFE. On Friday and Saturday last this part of the coast and country were visited by a gale of wind, (accompanied by successive heavy downfalls of rain) which though not so severe as some of the storms we have had to record of late years, has yet been destructive of many valuable vessels — the crews of which have in some instances totally, and in others partially perished on the English and Welsh shores and the outward banks ; and we fear we shall yet have to learn of similar disasters on the outer coast of Ire• land, against which the tempest, sweeping as it did from the westward, would more especially direct itself. The wind on Friday prevailed from the southward and east ward, and increased throughout the night, veering more and more to the west, at about which point it settled at at four o'clock on Saturday morning, and continued to blow more and more fiercely throughout the day, with heavy continuous showers, which together with the haze and spindrift outside prevented all communication with the more distant telegraph stations along the Welsh coast to Holyhead. The tide—as indicated in the almanac—was at the full, at 35 minutes past two o'clock ; and in calm weather would have risen to a height of 15 feet 10 inches : but, driven in by the pressure of the gale, it flowed some mi nutes beyond the hour stated ; attained a greater height, and, as might be expected, was more than usually tardy in its reflux after it had gained its maximum. The river presented an animated, and—though wiihout an immedi ate accident that we have heard of—we may add a some what painfully interesting appearance, from the presenti ment naturally entertained of the accidents that might have occurred outside—more particularly as a consider able mercantile fleet, of perhaps forty sail, had left the port on the previous day, and would be caught in the storm before they could clear the channel. The sea at high water washed over portions of the quays •, and the steamers from the opposite ferries, had some difficulty in landing their passengers, many of whom, both male and female, from farms in the neighbourhood—it being mar ket day—did not venture to return until Sunday morning when the storm had abated. Several large vessels that had put back came up in picturesque style under close reefed topsails; minor craft also appeared almost under bare poles; many of various classes rode it out at anchor, and all being in motion in the wide turbulent waters, formed a picture for the pencil of the marine artist which few ports can afford. Great numbers of the curious con gregated on the quays, or sheltered from the rain in the round-houses and other buildings, or behind the walls, to witness the elemental commotion. The river, however, was not so rough as it would have been had the wind been northerly, and consequently contrary to the down-going tide. It blew right across it, and though the waves rose pretty high on this side, and distributed a con siderable portion of spray along the tops of the sea-walls, it was comparatively smooth on the opposite side, which was, of course, a weather shore. A good deal of anxiety was felt by the appearance of two small gig boats, under easy sail, approaching from the direction of Wallasey Pool, with several men in each. A man was also seen behind them, borne up on something at first invisible. It turned out that they were towing across for salvage a large raft of balks that had broken loose from the Magazines, and been at first carried up by the tide. The boats were frequently lost to view in the trough of the sea as they neared this side of the river, but the men stood sturdily to their prize, and eventually, though at apparent eminent hazard, reached with it, in safety, the Prince's Dock Basin. In the course of the day intelligence was received of several vessels being lost, and others stranded; and the life-boats and steam tugs were put into requisition, as well as small boats manned by speculators. and proceeded out side the Rock to render assistance. Their exertions were most praiseworthy, and, it will be found, in several eases succe-sful. Several vessels that had been at anchor out side, or beating down channel, came back into the river for shelter. Amongst them was the ship St. Petersburg, which had sailed for New York some days before, and could not get clear of the land owing to the westerly winds that had generally prevailed ; she had also, it is said, sprung a leak, and before she arrived a fire burst ont in her forecastle, which caused great alarm, but was for tunately extinguished by the great exertions of those on board before it had done much injury. The Caledonia timber ship, from North America. the property of the Messrs. Chaloner and Fleming. and the Britannia, from Bahia, belonging to Messrs. T. and J. Sands and Co., both of which vessels had been at anchor off the Crosby Light-ship, parted their cables, and ran into the river. The Caledonia afterwards parted from her an chor off the Potteries, and took the ground, but was got afloat again. The Brttannia, which sailed on Thursday, after being aground near Formby, was also obliged to re tuin. The brig Nile sunk at eleven o'clock on Saturday forenoon, about ten miles from the Great Ormshead, and all the crew perished. It was stated, too, tha; the Lady Bentinck, a Whitehaven vessel, was stranded at Formby ; that the crew were lost ; and that the vessel had become a total wreck. Several other vessels went on shore near the same part of the coast—of which some details are given below from our own reporter, whom we yesterday despatched to Formby to gather information. We have seen the crew of the Magazine Life-boat, and from the captain (Evans) and his brother have obtained the following particulars:— On Saturday morning, about half-past six o'clock, the boat started, under sail, from the Magazines, and soon afterwards saw a brig on Burbo Bank, or what is better known to boatmen as " The High Bank." When they got within 400 yards of her, they saw two Liverpool "speculation boats" taking off the crew, who were five in number. The Magazine boatmen boarded het• with the intention of getting her off. She proved to be the William of Workington. but last from Limerick, and had on board 150 bags of meal, and a quantity of wheat. The boatmen ran out about 80 fathoms of chain from her with an anchor, with a view to swinging her head tc, and heaving her off; and ran out a warp to their boat, that they might board her in the event of her swinging off, provided they could not pull up to her. They re mained there about three quarters of an hour, before the Liverpool life-boat, which was towed out by the " Presi- dent," steam-tug, came up. The President stopped with the Magazine boat till the brig, which was on a steep part of the bank, capsized and sunk. The chain unfortunately snapped, otherwise she would probably have swung off, and might have been got into port. There was a fine dog left on boird, of the bull and terrier breed, which the boat's crew were anxious to save, but the poor creature could not be induced to leave the vessel, and on one of the men attempting to take hold of him he bit him, as if in protection of the ship from any interference on the part of a stranger. They then thought of removing him in his kennel, but it was too unwieldy to be handled in such a storm, and they reluctantly left the noble animal to his fate. From what they learned and observed, the brig drove from her anchor out of Formby Channel on Friday night, and was thrown about 700 yards on the bank, " the Great Burbo," close to the spot where the schooner " Ver non," and the " Baba,?' were w'ecked in former gales, when the same boat saved the lives of several of both crews. The William let go another anchor, when she drove from the first, but dragged from it. Soon after she grounded, it being on the ebbing tide, she was left dry at low water, and the crew were taken off before it returned. The vessel broke up. A portion of the wreck got foul of " Askew's Beacon Buoy." and held there until Sunday, when it was brought up to New Brighton, by the Thomas Stanley steamer, and the Kitty fishing-boat. On Sunday the same life-boat again started. The cap tain had been out in one of their smaller boats " looking out for squalls," and observed the signal flag at one of the light-ships. He reached the life-boat about seven o'clock, and proceeded down to the sloop "Adam," of Glasgow, which was dismasted, and riding close to " Taylor's Patch," but finding two steam-tugs there, they did not remain. The north, or Formby, light-ship still kept her flags up as signals of distress ; and as they could not pull out themselyes, they proceeded to the Albert steamer, which towed them out according to their own directions, until they fell in with the ship " Albion," from St. John's, N. 8., about four miles N. by W. of the Bell Buoy. There was a pilot on board of her, a young man belongiag to boat No. 5. The ship had lost all her sails, and had cut away two masts, by the pilot's orders—as " she would not look at it"—so that the foremost alone was standing. They boarded her, and gave all the assistance they could under the pilot's direction, whose conduct, as well as that of the captain and mate, they represent as being most manly and judicious. The crew and all on board had suf fered dreadfully from cold and exposure to wet, the sea having cleared e7el ything fore and aft, even washing out the men's chests, and smashing up the place where they had their berths. The life-boat men got the cables out to the two steamers that came up, and the vessel was towed up the river and docked, in the afternoon, in the Toxteth Dock About the same time, a brig, apparently a foreigner, came up the river, with the whole of her bulwarks and stuneheons washed away. In addition to the particulars we have given, it will be found by reference to our usual shipping news, that many other serious casualties have occurred. The Duke of Wellington, from Honduras, fell in with the brig Nile, (before noticed as lost,) remainded by her some time, and those on board saw her founder, with all hands, without being able to render her any assistance. We were favoured last night with a letter dated, Pwll - Sunday morning, in whicn the writer says :—" 1 have just returned from Portynllaen where the result of the late tremendous gale, which lasted 24 hours, has been most disastrous. There are nine vessels ashore on the beach, viz., the Gleaner, schooner, which left Liverpool on Fridry, bound to the West of Ireland with salt. The brig Hooton, from Fleetwood for Portmadoc, with coals, (a complete wreck) ;-The Mary Anne, of Aberystwith the Anne, schooner, of Barmonth ; the Swan, Jones, of Barmonth ; the smack Providence, of Jersey ; the Two Brothers, of Barmonth ; the Catharine, of Aberdaron ; the Rosamond and Jane, of Falmouth. Up to the mo ment of my leaving no lines have ben lost." MELANCHOLY DISASTERS DISASTERS ON THE FORMBY SHORE LOSS OE THE BRIG " MARY" OF LIVERPOOL The brig Mary, Captain James Turner, sailed from the Bay of Honduras—with a valuable cargo of mahogany, logwood, and cocoa nuts for stowage, and called at Cork for orders, proceeded towards this port. Until she reached Holyhead, she held a favourable gale, and on Thursday morning took a pilot. On the afternoon of that day, it came on to blow, and she was laid too until two o'clock on Friday afternoon—when the gale moderated they run a short distance—and let go both anchors; unfortunately, however, the best gove way—and as the larbourd anchor was only an inferior one, and could not in any probability hold—it was shipped, and the crew reefed the fore-topsail with the intention of again laying her too; but, so violent was the gale at this time all attempts to set it after it was reefed proved abortive. With the fore-topsail shaking, she, was held as•_close, to it as she could.go„.but, making, great lee way, she touched the shore about ten o'clock on Saturday night. As the tide rose, she again floated, but only to drive fnrthtr up, as she was now pei tectly un manageable—the sea making a clear breach over her— until daylight the crew suffered greatly. The agent at Lloyd's, Messrs. Tyrer and Eccles, who with a person of the name of Meadows were on the alert at daylight, suc ceeded by the assistance of a pony in conveying the crew on shore. One, however, was missing, and on the agents returning, he was found lying dead on the deck. His face was dreadfully mangled, and from all appearance he had been washed by a heavy sea beneath some loose spars on deck, which on the water leaving them had crushed him to death. An inquest will be held on the body this day. The unfortunate individual was cook and steward, and we learn belonged to Sheffield. The crew, inclusive of the captain, consisted of twelve persons, all of worn are con siderably injured, and have lost all their clothes. Atter the crew were got on shore, the principal, portion of them were taken to the receiving house, where they were most kindly treated. A number of sails and other articles have been got on shore, as also have a quantity of the co c o a nu t s . Th e vessel herself has every appearance of becoming a total wreck, her hull having parted near the bends. She is the property, we believe, of Mr. Morrison of this town. TOTAL LOSS OF THE LADY BENTINCK AND ALL HANDS Early on Sunday mor.iiog a large portion of grain and other cargo were washed on shore between Southport and Formby, but principally near the latter place. From the marks it bears it is evident that it is part of the cargo of the Lady Bentinck, which sailed on Thursday last from Waterford for Liverpool. The crew must all have perished, but none of the bodies have yet been recovered, nor has a vestige of the wreck been seen. The cargo was insured, but we could not learn whether the vessel was or not. SUPPOSED LOSS OF ANOTHER VESSEL • ---. We learned that a large qumaity of butter had been washed on shore near Southport, and as the Lady Ben tinck had little or no butter on board, it is to be feared that some other vessel has shared the same unfortunate fate. LOSS OF THE VERNON OF CASTLE-TOWN, ISLE OF The sloop Vernon, with a cargo of potatoes, the pro perty of Mr. Cain of this town, was driven on shore about two miles to the northward of Formby Point. She was much damaged, and will no doubt go to pieces. She was from the Isle of Man. Such was the force of the gale that she was driven up on the beach into three feet of water, so that the crew waded on shore. The Formby life boat was out during the gale, but was unable to render any great assistance to the distressed vessels that were seen, owing to the frightful state of the surf. CORONER'S INQUEST-MYSTERIOUS CASE On Friday last, and, by adjournment, on Saturday, an inquisition was held before M r, Statham, deputy coroner, on view of the body of Ellen Wareing, a respectable young woman, who was found early on the morning of Friday week in a stone.quarry in Toxteth-park, apparently a good deal injured, and after a lapse of some hours conveyed to the Southern Hospital, where, it since appears, she died ou the following Monday. _ . Mrs. Emma Billinge ;aid her husband kept a I),er-house in Mill-street, and deceased, who was 26 years of age, lived with her and her family as servant. On the night of Tursday the 19th instant, the deceased went out with a pint of ale in a bottle, for her brother, a youth who was working at the Mersey Iron Works, near the Potteries. Her nearest way (and by which she was frequently ac customed to go) was by a toot-road across some fields, and which is at ne part about forty yards from a quarry& in one of the fields. Witness expected her soon home, and, as she did not come, sat up for her until one o'clock, when, as she did not make her appearance, she conjectured she had gone to the house of her father, who was poorly at the time—particularly as she sometimes went there and stopped all night. On the following morning, about nine o'clock, they heard that she had been found in the dell in question; and, on going towards it, they found her seated on some balks, a short distance from it. and apparently in great pain. On askinc , her what was the matter, she said she had been abused " by two men, carpenters, one of whom she knew by sight but not by name. She also stated to Miss Billinge, witness's daughter. (who went to her,) that one of the men was in the habit of frequenting their house ; but she showed an aversion to be then ques tioned, saying she would tell her more in the afternoon. A coach was procured, and she was immediately taken to the Southern Hospital. It was there at once found that her left collar bone was fractured, that she had also two or three ribs broken, and that her left ear was slit. She was carefully attended to, but died on the following Monday afternoon. Witness said that deceased was a sober, well behaved girl. John Whalley, a quarryman, employed at the delf, said -that on going to his work there on the Friday morning, soon after six o'clock, he discovered deceased sitting on the rock below. There was blood on her face and ear, and her dress was disordered. He then asked her if she had fallen, or if somebody had pushed her down. She said, two men had abused her on the top, but did not say they had pushed her down, or that she had fallen herself. Witness did not think she knew well what she said at the time. He thought she was a woman from the town, as he had seen such thereabout before, and that she was in drink. He pressed her to go out of the delf, as he and another man were going to let off a shot, but she did not comply or speak. He raised her and helped her, and she could walk with his support. He set her down on a plank, where she sat for fifteen or twenty minutes, and he went to work. He next helped her on a few yards further, and she then walked some yards herself, and then kneeled and remained on her knees seven or eight minutes, and ap peared to be " fettling" her hair. She then got up, and went on of herself. He took her to be a woman out of the town, and in liquor, otherwise he would have called a policeman, and rendered her more assistance. There was r h u i c i s h e d h , a buthad picked ed bl ee ding. 0 p. a large patch of bl oo d on t h e stone w h ere he f i rst saw her sitting, but he did no t o b serve i t unt i l afterwards. Her Witnessright hand produced w s als h o er gaairittteire b , w Another man, who was working in the quarry with the witness, gave nearly similar evidence. _ _ Mr. Metcalfe, surgeon of the Southern Hospital, said, that when deceased was brought in she was insensible. There was a bruise on the left hip, and the legs were dis coloured from the knees downwards. On a post mortem examination he found a fracture of the skull, (correspond ing with the injury to the ear,) which extended right across the base of toe, skull to the opposite side; and on lifting the fore and back parts of the bone., a fissure was distinctly seen. Two ribs were also fractured. These injuries were the cause of death, and might have been occasioned by Ler falling down, first on her feet, and then falling side ways. Mr. Rigg, of the Sea View Inn, in the neighbourhood of the dolt, was several times out that night, but heard no struggle or cry for assistance. A - s - urveyor, employed by the coroner, described the delf as being forty yards from one footway, and seventy from another. The part of the quarry where deceased was found sitting was about two yards from the perpendicular steep side, which last was fourteen feet in depth. It appeared there was no projecting rail at that place. The jury found a verdict to the effect, that there was no evidence to show how the deceased got into the quarry. ROYAL LIVER THEATRE.—During the past week that old favourite of the Liverpool public, Mr. Baker, has appeared in several of his best parts, and, with the other attractions which Mr. Raymond has provided for the gratification of our playgoers, the house has been well and fashionably attended, notwithstanding the late inclement weather bas operated somewhat against full houses. This week we have additional force in the engagement of Mr. Phelps, and our townsman, Mr. Hime. The company improves upon acquaintance. Mrs. Raymond, in "The Young Devil," a lively little piece —with an ugly name, by the bye,—translated from the French by herself, has drawn down nightly applause during the past week ; and the graceful acting of Miss Treble has been much ad mired. Mrs. Gordon, we may mention as a great ac quisition to the company. We observe that Mr. Baker takes his benefit on Wednesday, which we need not say will be a bumper house. ELECTION OF GOVERNOR OF KIREDALE GAOL.—A meeting of the magistrates of the county was held on Fri day, at the Court-house, Preston, for the purpose of electing a Governor for Kirkdale Gaol, in the room of Mr. Amos, who had resigned. There were seventy ma gistrates present, the Rev. Jonathan Brooks in the chair. Thei e were twenty-six candidates. On the votes being taken, forty-two magistrates voted for Mr. E. G. H. H. Gibbs, Governor of the House of Correction at Preston ; nineteen for Mr. William Martin, superintendent of po lice; five for Mr. John Godwin, of the 46th Regiment; and one for Mr. C. Stewart, also a superintendent of po lice. The chairman and two others did not vote. Mr. Gibbs was consequently appointed, and a vacancy has, therefore, been occasioned in the Governorship of Preston House of Correction, which will be filled up on Monday. the sixth of November. The salary is fixed at £250, with the house and other privileges. A retiring pension of £2OO per annum was granted to Mr. Amos, and £5O to Mrs. Herd, the late Matron of Kirkdale House of Cor rection. The grant of £8,500 for extending the County Asylum was voted. THE SHIP ST. PETERSBURGH.—The passengers on board this ship, bound hence for New York, have pub lished a statement, dated 25th Oct., in which they say, that " in consequence of the violent gales, head winds, and heavy seas which we continually experienced since our departure from the port of Liverpool, the ship sprang a leak, and kept th e p um p s con ti nua lly going, without gaining on the water; and after five days and nights beingtossed about in the channel, during which time we did not make more progress than one day's sail, at length, on the fifth night, a most terrific gale arose, together with a very heavy sea, which repeatedly washed the deck, where it was dangerous to remain. The seamen on board, and others long inured to the sea, said that they never beheld a vessel in a more perilous situation, (the weather being very thick,) than was the St. Petersburgh on the whole of the day of the 24th inst. Th.. sea raged mountains high ; the winds whistled with tremendous violence, (lash ing the foaming billows, momentarily, over the bulwarks of the vessel, rendering it dangerous for any other than a seaman dlsbuoi to ertorosffiaau. tcsp venture eeTtorhrsfhfeelfpsep:truol o gets n mfehetnpc t e l tuist i rleh,tei exertions, xi eg e acef c naur k tps. thei. eto ' aad ' nni vsn T it joo h ny: e wao: c odrea a r l., p kdt: t ee : ctru i hlntnt:E,rtt?tvee seamens p h, ebp,elueota for merurst o, passengers one and all agreed to the resolution of e d t r atww a e hnoa i t ed n u srn r st a d t n ha on eo ! The passengers returned their thanks to the cap tain of Liver eturn into the port ~..,... iutsL., narrowly escaped total shipwreck, she having dragged her anchors in Bootle Bay, when no steam tug would venture to give her any assistance. EDINBURGH, LEITH, AND NEWHAVEN RAILWAY We have pleasure is directing the attention of onr readers to the Parliamentary Notice, in our columns this day, by which it will be seen that, notwithstanding the virulent and ignorant opposition of our Contemporary, the Railway Times, the Directors of the Edinburgh, Leith, and Newhaven line are enabled, by the confidence of the public, to proceed to the actual carrying into exe cution of the proposed Branch undertakings, upon the advantages of which we have previously remarked, and of which our opinion is in unison with that of every Jour nalist who has noticed them with the single exception of the Railway Times! With a sincere wish to enlighten our splenetic contem porary with respect to hit isolated position upon this sub ject and the inference:; which some people may draw from it. we beg to place before him and the public, the follow ing judicious remarks from the Caledonian Mercury of the 28th inst., the just ice of which, so tar as Liverpool is concerned, we can fully verity. Itt-ferring to the antici patOns contained in the prospectus of the Directors, the writer says :—" Our opinion of the widertaking is even in advance of theirs ; not from a consideration of what actually exists at present , hut of what may and assuredly will, happen, as soon as the Forth is connected with the Clyde by a continuous line of railway, passing in the immediate neighbourhood of the mineral districts of the west. We happen to have before us at this moment a plan of the city and docks of Liverpool in the year 1728, and a plan of the same city and docks in 1842. At the former period the whole of Liverpool occui,ied an area of not more than a mile and a half in circumference; at the latter, it extended over a space of more than nine miles, while the magnificent docks alone, second perhaps to none in the world, are nearly four miles in length. It is per haps not generally known that this unexampled increase in the size and importance of Liverpool proceeded mainly, if not entirely, in the first instance, from t:tat port's being able to furnish to traders discharging there, back cargoes of salt and coal. Leith has nothing of this kind at present to offer. Vessels discharging there must seek their return cargoes at Grangemouth or St. David's. which they receive in the shape of coals or pig iron, actually leaving the port of Leith for this purpose in bal last. It thus requires but little foresight to predict that when by means of a railway communication, with the minerals of Airdrie, &c., coal and iron can be shipped at Leith as cheap or cheaper than they presently are at Grange mouth, the trade of Leith will Increase to an extent not at this moment easy to contemplate." In some observations addressed to ourselves, our con temporary says that we have " declined a defence of the Ed'nburgh, Leith, and Newhaven scheme and its Board of Management ; " and further that we have "suggested" a prosecution for libel, as the proper course for the direct. ors to pursue in reply to his injurious aspersions. With respect to the first item of his complaint, we can only say that we never declined ar•d t‘ ill not decline, when we see it attacked by anything more worthy of notice than foul mouthed abuse, a defence of " the Edinburgh, Leith, and Newhaven scheme." We only declined to answer the insolent questions which our stilted contemporary, with such an ex-cathedra air chose to cut to us; and our re' son for so declining was our acquaintance wit's the less source from which his eaves-dropping inf nation was derived, It was quite within our contem .. the worth- y's power to satisfy himself, if truth and not the gratification ox unworthy spite had been his object, that i he Board of the Edinburgh, Leith, and Newhaven Railway is composed of men, tar above the suspicion of unworthy practices, or irregularities. With respect to our suggestion of a prose cution for libel and its apparent incompatibility with the sentiments which we have expressed upon the law of libel generally, we have only this - explanation to give. When a journalist offends only as we had offended at the time when the article quoted by our cont?----- - the law of libel as it then existed was porary was written .t once and tyrannical ; but our contemporary's sweeping con demnation of a body of respectable men as "disreputable" and dishonest is not 1 case in which we could wish the rigor of the law to be one tittle relaxed. In the perform ance of its duties we M ould gladly see t for a harmless to. , quin,ide, or a mere p _ _ into an imputation, we should not wish to see it crushed, at the call - ice of a fool or a pettifogging attor ney ; but when a Jour , alit sits down to slander a num ber of men, and erects his editorial chair into an inquisi tion, a court of Law is the only fitting place in which respectable. people are justified in replying to his impu dent queries and rebutting his designing falsehoods. st tortured SINGULAR EXPLOSION Thursday morning last, an exvlo-ion, of an unusual de scription, took place on a lorry, at the corner of Canning. p lace Salthouse Duck. It h a d t a k en up, at the Railway station, in Wapping, amongst other goods, a puncheon of porter harm, consigned to dr. Daniel Bannon, broker, to be forwarded to Newry. When the lorry reached the end of the Salthouse Dock, on its way to one of the northern docks, the pun: eon burst with a report like that of an immense pi7'ce of ordnance, and the barns flew over the lorry and the adjacent pavement. Every stave in the puncheon was separated, and the hoops which had bound them, though wade unusually strong for the pur pose, rent to pieces. About eleven o'cloc Fuatous DRIVING. —Ou Weanesil. bell, a ::ar-driver, was summoned to tl driving his car furiously down Londo :y, Duacan Camp ie police-court for officer who laid the intor-, _ d A' two cars com ing down the road at e ~ • id rate, competing with each other which should tur, •er first. The defend. ant's car knocked a lab • .r. down, and the wheel passed over his neck, so‘,. j• , red his neck and shoul ders. Defendant said the 'LAI was drunk, and ran against his car. Mr. Rushton ordered the defendant to pay 40s. and costs for the furious driving, and recommended the man to lay information for compensation for the injuries he had received. Addressing the carman, Mr. -Rushton said, that, if he heard any more of the case, if he did not go and compensate the poor man for the suffering - I caused him, and his loss of titre, he would av license, and make him pay full compensat; a ueside. The police- tion said h€ ~e away lita SINGULAR ACCIDENT.—DANGEROUS STATE OF THE PIERHEADS —On Wednesday eveting last an accident, for stro t n h g e l y p s u h b o l w i c i n on n the h the necessityriver walls, o of someccusrorred on sort of George's protection Pier, nearly opposite the landing stage. A dray, with one horse, belonging to Messrs. Smith, Mutnford, and Co., brewers, was waiting on the pier, when, from some cause unknown, the animal took fright, and hacked the dray towards the river. The dray slipped , over the edge of the pier, dragging the horse after it, and very nearly one of the men. It was low water at the time, end the horse and dray fell upon the sands. a depth of about thirty feet. The horse was killed upon the spot, and instantaneously. The horse, which was a valuable one, was remarkably quiet, and had never shown any symptoms of restiveness before. He is supposed to have been startled by a flash of lightning. The dray, which w recovered on the rising of the tide s wuch shattered, was CHARGE OF ROBBERY AT THE POSTOFFICE.—.OII Thursday Mr. Ramsey, an officer of the Postoffice, ap peared to prefer a charge against Henry O►enden Collard inspector of letter carriers, of stealing a letter cont £2O. It appeared from the evident made by Mr. Ramsey, that Mr posted a letter in that tor thttins, at on the 11th Seat e statement Shrewsbury, 40.01.1 to Mr. William Brownbill, tea dealer,4B, Pembroke-place, in this town. Such letter ought, in the course of business, to have reached this town on the 12th September. and to have been delivered the same morning by James Bostock, the letter carrier of the district. The letter contained two ten pound Bank of England notes. and on the 26th September one of them reached the Bank of England, and was traced to the possession of Joseph Gill, a cleik in the money order office, who received it from the prisoner on the 15th September, in payment of two money ordere which he got in the name of Robert Wilson. Both ders, amounting to £8 Bs. 7d., were Messrs. Clarke and Co., of Manchester, a witted to them by the _prisoner,- in a '- produced, in his hand writing. The drawn in favour of rich was ri ha he,4 not stolen the letter. tic money weekly to pay the carriers and sorters, and being treasurer of the children's burial fund, he often changed the money he had in hand for notes, in order to keep it more conveniently at home. He did not deny that he had the note, but he must have got it from the clerk to pay the wages. The prisoner was remanded till Monday week. Mr. Pedder, who appeared for the prisoner, wished Mr. Rushton to accept bail, but he refused, saying that the charge was too serious a one. Mr. Rushton also ob, jected to the money found upon the prisoner bein" --* to his family. He said if it turned out that the prisons. had taken the notes. he would leave it to the court to deal with the money. The Postoffice would nat indemnify the party who lost the £2O. it of receiving CLAIM FOR WAGES.— owners of the ship Cliffon their attorney, Mr. Payne ppeared es Doidge, Doidge Clair n whose LH led XlO 12s issued on the applicatioi. half Mr. Davenport attended. £3 ss. Bd. of which was admitted by the am.— appeared that Doidge shipped in London, on the 13th of December, 1841, for a trading voyage to New Zealand and other places. He was to be paid wages at the rate of £2 ss. per month. The vessel proceeded to Part Nichol son, and from thence to Port Nelson, in New Zealand. She went from Port Nelson in ballast to Sydney. From Sydney she sailed for Singapore, on which pa-sage the vessel was lost, at Torres Straits, on the 19th of August last. A quantity of property was saved, including two of the boats, twenty-two barrels of beef, twenty-two kegs of paint, and other goods, which sold for £2OO. The owners admitted an order for £3 ss. Bd. up to the arrival at New Zealand, to which place she had carried freight. As the vessel went from New Zealand in ballast, it was con tended that the men could not receive eompensation fr their services after her arriva. there. Mr. Rushton e cided that the men were entitled to th proceeds of the goods saved, after deducting expenses. Mr. Payne said the amount of wages was £200; the balance of proceeds was £33. Mr. Rushton said there must then be an equitable adjustment of the claims of the men, each receiving according to the proportion due to Having examined m s a ge i s d was charged as an item of the expenses, and deducted from the proceeds. This c e,x pa n s e a theaccount, Mr. Rushton found homethat the amount was £6O. This was added to the £33, making a total of £93. inquired if the captain's Mr. Davenpo salary were included in th that it was so included, he reminded tl the captain did not claim under e residue of the he mot iue to him amount to 'ounu tt Doidge was £3 16s , witted, amounted to £7 le. 8d proportiop of E 3 56. Bd. ad- Pat' tn loge, e Ar ate- 00. ids tb 6 01.