The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-12-11 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

Qom( SAILING.—The Ghana, commanded by Captain
George Black, has made the voyage from Newcastle-upon-
Tyne to Bombay and back to Liverpool in seven and a half
months; and the_ commander has been presented by the
owners, Messrs. Joseph Heald and Co., of Newcastle, with a
handsome gold chronometer, manufactured by Messrs. Gow-
land and Son, South Castle-street, Liverpool.
THE FREE LENDING LIBRARIES.—During the month of
November, 33,195 volumes have been lent and returned, being
an average of 1276 per day on the 26 days in which the libra-
ries were open, and an increase on :the previous mouth of
those lent and returned of 4823 volumes as compared with
the corresponding month of last year; the receipts and issues
have increased more than threefold, and the borrowers more
than doubled. It is computed that between 14,000 and 15,000
persons passed in and out of the libraries during this period,
being about 560 per day.
BUSINESS Or THE COUNTY COURT.— The first December
court opened on Tuesday last, there being no fewer than 1,009
cases entered for trial. For hearing the remainder of them,
Joseph Pollock, Esq., the judge, made the following arrange-
ments :—Monday, 10th, adjourned cases ; Tuesday, 11th, 70
at ten, and 50 at twelve o'clock ; Wednesday, 12th, 70 at ten,
and 50 at twelve o'clock ; Thursday, 13th, 20 large cases of
£lO and upwards, and 100 other cases, at eleven o'clock ;
Friday, 14th, adjourned cases, and 100 others, at eleven
o'clock.

OPPOSITION TO TEE BOUNDARY EXTENSION.—At a meet-
ing of the parishioners of Wavertree, held on Thursday, at the
Lamb Inn, the Rev. Mr. Badnall in the chair, Mr. Brancker
moved, " That this mceting pledges itself to use all legal
endeavours to prevent the union of the out-townships with the
borough of Liverpool." Mr. Charles Howell seconded the
motion. Mr. Bardswell moved the appointment of a com-
mittee 'of five or seven of the inhabitants of Wavertree to
investigate the question pro and con, and report to a further
meeting if there were any cogent grounds whereby an opposi-
tion could be supported with effect. Mr. Thomas seconded
the motion, but, on a division, the original motion was carried
by a large majority.

-58,4,11 e
STRANGE DEATH OF A SCHOOLBOY. - John
,11--; ,*th,
about seven years of age, son of Mr. John Smith, fie :Spring-
street, a scholar in the Mechanics' Institution, was sent hom
by one of his teachers, in the care of an elder boy, as he com-
plained very much of a severe pain in his head. On reaching
home, Mr. Cooper, surgeon, of St. Anne-street, attended him ;
but he died on Thursday night. Before his death, he said that
one of his schoolfellows had sat upon his head. Mr. Cooper
ascribes the death of the deceased to an affection of the brain,
caused by external injury.

LIVERPOOL CHEMISTS' ASSOCIATION.—The fortnightly
meeting of this society was held on Thursday, in the Royal
Institution—Mr. H. S. Arpass in the chair. The secretary,
Mr. Mercer, read a letter from G. Wilson, Esq., managing
director of Price's Patent Candle Company, stating that he
should be happy to present the society with a series of speci-
mens of- the products of their manufactures ; and also read
a letter from Mr. Elliott, of Blisworth, on the subject of iron
slag for building purposes, stating that the common clays con-
tain all the elements of slag, and may be applied to every pur-
pose for which the patent vitreous slag is applicable.—Mr. W.
Dantec read a paper " On a New Process of Purifying Water,
in order tolprevent Incrustation in Steam Boilers and for other
purposes." He first alluded to the evils arising from the use
of hard or sea water in steam boilers, and to the various plans
which had hitherto been adopted for their removal, all of
which had been found more or less injurious or inefficient.
He then proceeded to describe the method he proposed for
purifying water, which has now been for a long time in use
on a large scale. The agent he employs is the hydrate of
baryta, which has a great affinity for both sulphuric and car-
bonic acids, and when added to water containing sulphate and
carbonate of lime, carbonate or sulphate of baryta is N./fled,
while the lime cannot remain any longer in solution, because
the acids by which it was held in solution have been with-
drawn. The baryta is mixed with the water in a separate
tank, and the clear-water only allowed to flow into the boiler.
After the reading of the paper some discussion took place, in
which the chairman, Mr. T. Edwards, and Mr. Mackinlay
joined.—Mr. Mercer then brought before the meeting the
subject of the "Theory of Positive Photographic Printing."
He decribed the details of the two modes by which positives
are obtained, viz., by the action of light alone or by the action
of light in the first instance, and the subsequent employment
of a developing agent, and explained, as far as they were un-
derstood, the chemical decompositions and reactions which
take place in the different stages of both processes. After-a
discussion, and sonic remarks from Mr. Rowland, a vote of
thanks was passed to Mr. Dantec and Mr. Mercer for their
commu❑ications, and the meeting separated. •

LIVERPOOL GAS INQUIRY.

~a--

TEM Directors of the Liverpool Gas Company have pub-
lished a reply to the report of the Special Committee of the
Town Council on the state of the gas supply in the Borough,
which was presented on the 30th of October last. It is diffi-
cult 'to +lo justice to the company by any attempt at abbrevi-
ation, and our space will not admit the re-publication of a.
pamphlet of thirty pages. We, however, subjoin some extracts
relating to the more important points.
With reference to the evidence before the committee, the

directors say :
•On the appointment of the special committee of the Council,
in June last, an official communication was made, on the part
,of the committee, to the directors, that they might, if they
`thought fit, send some person to represent the company at the
meetings, accompanied by a request, that the officers of the
company might be examined by the committee: The directors,
having every reason to believe that the proceedings of the
committee would be conducted in like manner to those of the
committee in 1847, gave instructions to their officers to attend.
At the first meeting, which was attended by Mr. Carson and
Mr. King, on behalf of the company, it was observed that, in-
stead of the inquiry being conducted in the usual manner by
the committee, or any officer of the Corporation, Mr. Reay,
the secretary of the Guardian Society, who had been invited
by the committee to attend, was constituted to all intents the
;prosecutor ,of the company, and opened his case in a speech of
considerable length. In consequence of this, and of certain
allusions made in the course of the proceedings to the possible
'establishment of a new gas company, Mr. Carson stated, that
:although the directors would gladly meet any charges of not
having managed the affairs of the company according to their
act of parliament, it could not be expected that they would
allow evidence to be given by-their officers which might be
used for purposes.prejudicial to the company ; and that before
any evidence was given he --should wish to consult the
directors.
On the subject of the gas supply in the borough of
Liverpool, the directors -say :—Under this head the first
charge in the report of the committee is, that notwith-
standing the reduction made in the price .of gas on the
Ist • January last (1655), from 4s. 6d. to 4s. per 1,000
cubic feet, rather more than 11 per cent., the bills
:delivered by the Gas Company were larger in amount than the
bills for the corresponding period of previous years:; and, as
connected with this charge, another, namely, that in some
cases the company have 'charged by " computation."
In reply to these, charges the directors do not wish to eon.'
ceial the fact that, in many instances, the quantity of, gas con-
sumed duringthe quarter ending March 31, 1865, was.greater
than that consumed during the corresponding period of
1654 ; but they submit that any of the following causes may
have contributed to-this result :-
Ist. It is the practice of the company to commence the
quarterly examination of the meters, for the purpose of ascer-
tainiez the quantity -of gas consumed, about a fortnight before
the expiration of each-quarter, and the examination generally
occupies about three weeks. As a reduction of the price was
to take effect on theist of January last, 1855, the company,
in •order to avoid, as far as possible, the complaint ths., gas
consumed during the first part of January was included in the
' last quarter of rthe previous -year, and was charged at the
higher price, commenced the examination rather earlier than
usual, and employed an additional number of persons, so as to
hare the meters examined by the end of the year 1854. This
caused the first quarter of 1835 to include 12 or .14 of -the
shortest.days of the year—a difference equal to at least .12
per cent. As an example, it may bestated that in Lord-street
the fleet :quarter of 1854 included the consumption between
the 9th of ..i.anuary and the 4th of April; ‘while, in 1855, the
corresponding, quarter included the consumption between the
26th December, 1854, and 3.i April, 1855
- With reference to the meters, they say :
It is net-true that, in the majority of eases, the meters in
use hare been manufactured by the company : the greater
number were manufactured by the patentee ; but, since the
expiration of the patent, the.company have -manufactured a
number of meters, and have purchased others.
On the question of the illuminating power of the gas, the
-directors, after referring to some experiments, say :
The directors -are convinced, by other evidence than the ex-
periments just referred to, that the average quality of the gas
supplied to the inhabitants of Liverpool is not lower than it
was prior to the ;amalgamation of the two companies • and
that the statement that the publie:has sustained a loss, 'from
deterioration of quality, equal in money value to Z 92,000, is
untrue, and should not have been made without some
evidence to support it.
AS TO THE BUMPY TO THE SUER:REAR DISTRICTS.
it has always been the desire of the directors to meetevery
reasonable demand for .a supply of gas within the limits of
their act ; but they deny that, in supplying the suburban
districts, they have been regardless of the interests of the in-
habitants. of the borough.
The qusation of leakage is one that has been well considered
by the directors, and they eau state with confidence that the
leakage of their company is below the average of other large
-eorepaniesin the kingdom.