The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-10-09 00:00:00

THE ADDRESS TO THE FAMILY OF THE LATE RECTOR,
from the clergy, lies for signature sit the Savings' Bank.

MR. T. D. TOASE, professor of chemistry, at the Mechanics'
Institution, delivered the first of a course of lectures on Wed-
nesday, on the value of chemistry to commerce.
ADDRESSES TO YOUNG MEN.-011 Thursday, Professor
Griffiths delivered the first of a series of addresses to young
men on general subjects, in connection with the Young Men's
Christian Association, at the Bible Repository, Slater-street.
The lectures are free, and will be continued at stated periods,
to be publicly announced.
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THE WELSH ScrrooLs.—A prominent and interesting
feature in the funeral of the late lamented Archdeacon was
the appearance of the children of the Welsh School drawn up
in line on one of the terraces of the cemetery. More than 50
years ago the object of this solemn demonstration of respect
laid the foundation-stone of the schools.
STRANGE CIEC UMSTANCE.—The ship Paramatta, Captain
Chaplin, which arrived in the Mersey on Wednesday morn-
ing, landed five sailors whom she picked up in an open boat
on the Equator, in lon. 2 deg. 7 min. E., on the 2nd of August.
The boat had a signal of distress flying, and, with her five
occupants, had drifted for 43 days. She was bound from
Prince's Island to St. Thomas, both on the African coast.
When they came alongside the Paramatta they requested to
be taken on board, as they could not find their port.

ABERCROMBY WARD.—Mr. Peter Vine, secretary, in a
circular to the Tories of Abercromby ward, informs them that
at a meeting recently held, " The Abercromby Ward Conserva-
tive Association has been reorganised. Mr. James Holme is
appointed chairman, Mr. C. Whitley and Mr. R. Holmes vice-
chairmen, and Mr. William Nicholson, treasurer. The circu-
lar declares that the committee has been materially strength-
ened by the addition of new members, and they earnestly
invite co-operation " in forwarding the objects of the associa-
tion at the next municipal election."
SMOKE Is following are the results of
informations laid by the corporation officials on Friday, in
connection with the smoke nuisance. The Lancashire and
Yorkshire Railway Company, as owners of the steam-tug
Mary Agnes, were fined 20s. and costs ; Birkenhead Com-
missioners, for steamer Wirral, 10s. and costs ; Thomas Croft,
soapboiler, Comus-street, adjourned ; John Irven, soapboiler,
Henry-street, £5 and costs ; Lawford, Lace, and Co., oil mills,
Kent-street, 10s.; London and North-western Railway Com-
pany, for the Edge-hill chimney, £5 and costs.

THE FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT AT SITAIMERSEIT.—The
adjourned inquest on Stott, one of the guards of the East
Lancashire luggage train, killed on Thursday last, at Brooks-
bottom Siding, nehT Summerseat Station, by a passenger
train coming suddenly out of the tunnel while the luggage
train was at a stand, and running into it, was held on Wed-
nesday, at the Derby Hotel, Bury. After several additional
witnesses had been examined, the coroner expressed an opi-
nion that the accident had occurred throagh the signal not
working properly. The jury returned a verdict of "Acci-
dental death." Several of the passengers are still confined
from the injtries sustained, but it is believed that they are
all recovering.—Manchester Guardiaß.
THE SIXVLENTH OF OCTOBER.—On the sixteenth of this
month it will be exactly three hundred,rears since the Protest-
ant Bishops Ridley and Latimer were burnt at the stake in
Oxford, under the auspices of " Bloot- Mary." Without any
desire to make a display of our Protestant zeal, we think it
only right to suggest that so important and interesting ass
anniversary ought not to be passed ever without some sign cif
our consciousness of its having come round to us in the circle
of time. To the cruel martyrdom of those pious and loyal
men we in a great measure owe oar present condition as a
Protestant people blessed with religious freedom ; and it were
well to keep alive the memory of -those great events, which
shed an unquenchable lustre upon those old times, in which
mea'were staunch and true to the principles of that pure and
apostolic faith, which, happily fer the people of England, is
still the established religion of the country.—Mancheter
Courier.

IMPUDENT FRAUD.-A meimrial circumstantiallydrawn'up,
and purporting to be signed by several respectable gentlemen,
certifying to the truth of its contents, was on Friday presented
to the Mayor. It recommended to the consideration ,of the
public the case of Mr. Thomas North, a fisherman, "whose
beat (the Mary) came in contact with the schooner Jupiter,
'on the 20th September, whereby the bearer's father perished,
leaving a widow and large family to lament his loss." The
tale was sufficiently doleful to excite the charity of the bene-
!volent. The loss was represented as exceeding £l2O, ,and " a
•mother and three sisters " were stated to be " entirely,depend-
•ent on his exertions for support." Such facts, sustained by
'such singnatures as the domement presented, could :not have
failed to operate on a heart less alive to charitable !influence
than his worship's ; but unfortunately for the memorialist,
Mr. Horsfall, M.P., whose name appeared among the eertifi-
cants as a subscriber of £Q, was with the Mayor at the time
of presentation, and he was ignorant of Mr. North's existence
—oblivious as to having attached a signature to theipaper—
and unaware of having exhibited the charity for which he re-
ceived credit. This discovery led to enquiry, and, 'in the
hands of the police, it was ascertained that nine outer thirty-
six signatures were forgeries. The forgeries are cleverly exe-
cuted, and evidently by an experienced hand ; the are
different, and the style of handwriting various ; and, but for
the accidental discovery referred to, a rich harvest might have
been reaped from the credulity of the public.

ARCHITECTURAL AND ARCHJEOLOGICAL SOCIBM-.—The
first meeting of the eighth session of this society was held on
Wednesday, at the Royal Institution, Mr. Hay, the president,
in the chair. The secretary read a letter from Mr..-Salt, sec-
retary of the Polytechnic Society, inviting the membe's of the
Architectural Society to attend the meeting of the Polytech-
nic Society, on Monday next, the Bth instant, when an inte-
resting paper on gas-metes, it was expected, would ibe read.
Mr. Hay then read the opening address. He said, before
commencing, it was impossible not to allude to the .greatest
event of modern times—tile capture of Sebastopol. :Put the
mind of the nation had not been perceptibly diverted .by the
war from the pursuits that elevate and ennoble the :human
mind ; and it would be difficult to find a town or village in
the empire where the architect or engineer was not engaged
in constructing great works. After alluding to the recent
visit of the Council to the,works at Rivington, and speaking
with approbation of St. Aidan's College, Birkenhead, of a new
church at West Derby, and the new Palatine Club in Bold-
street, Mr. Hay alluded to the recent visit of the society:to
Crewe-hall and Nantwich, and concluded by describing the
prospects of the present session. Thanks were conveyed to
the president by Mr. Piston, Mr. Verelst, and Mr. :Frank
Howard, who expressed themselves in terms of warm eulogy
of the address.—Mr. Piston then read an interesting "account
of Crewe and Nantwich, with reference to the society's excur-
sion there in June last." A short but interesting discussion
on this subject followed, and the meeting then terminated.
ALARMING GAS EXPLOSIONS AT PRESTON.—On Sunday
week, about half-past ten ,o'clock, three extraordinary 'ex-
plosions of gas occurred in Preston, by which a considerable
.amount of damage was done. The origin of the casoillty
-seems to have been the sinking of the earth contiguous to the
'excavations for new sewerage,works now in progress between
-the ends of Water-street and Pole-street, in Church-street,
,which it appears had occasioned the old sewers and the gas-
pipes to give way, and the latter to leak at the joints. Oue,of
:these joints was directly over a fracture in a branch sewer ex-
-tending from the brewhouse of the York Hotel, kept by Mr.
Bibby, at the corner of Derbyestreet, to the old sewerage main
lin Church-street. This branch and a considerable portion cf
the old main had become filled -with gas, a strong smell of the
vapour having been observed for two or three days. At the time
aleave-mentioned, Mr. Bibby's brewer took a lighted candle into
the brewhouse, for the purpose of -examining the gas-pipes, as
the. effluvium was very strong there, and he was passing the
grating of the branch sewer, in thehrewhouse, when an explo-
sion occurred, and he was thrown down with violence. Imme- ,
diately after this event, two tremendous reports were almost si-
multaneously heard in Church-street, explosions having taken
place—one at the bottom of Derby-street, the other opposite the
end of Pole-street—the candle eartied by the brewer having
set foe to the gas in the sewer, anchtlience to that in the main.
By the first of these explosions in -the street nearly all the
windows were broken in the upper rooms of several houses on
each side. of the street. The front andtack doors of one house
were burst open by the concussion of the air, and all the houses
in the immediate neighbourhood were shaken to their founda-
tions ; the effect of the explosion, as deseribed by the occu-
pants, being similar to the violent shock of an earthquake.
By the last,explosion, a square iron plate„covering the man-
hole of the-old main sewer, and weighing about two cwts., was
blown three,or four yards into the air; enclitis fortunate that
no life was host by this occurrence, as the -street was thronged
at the time iby persons passing to their respective places of
worship. As soon as information of the disaster reached the
gasworks the ges was turned oft and men were-set to work to
discover and step the leakage, which could,ortly be done by
taking up the -pavement. In this search, after labouring,
nearly the whole ,of the remainder of the day,:they were suc-
cessful.
THE Loss or MECE LOCHMABEN CASTLE. —An utScial in-
quiry, ordered by the Board of Trade, has beengoingoa before
Mr. Mansfield, the stipendiary magistrate, Captain Sehom-
berg, R.N., the chief ,emigrant officer of the port, and the
collector of customs. It was to ascertain and report upon the
circumstances attending the loss ri of the new ship Loehmabe
Castle, 1360, Captain Warner, which struck on the Bird Rocks,
near Cape Ray, in the ,Gulf of St. Lawrence, on the moaning
of the 4th of June last, in foggy weather, while on her ,way
from this port to Quebec, anith 516 passengers and a valutfole
cargo of salt, rice, railway Ti!ant, and other articles. No lives
were lost; but the allegation is, that the captain did notexent
himself properly to recover the ship and cargo, both of which
were almost totally lost, though she remained on the rocks
eintil the end of August. On Friday, evidence was given to
,exculpate the captain from blame, and to show that it was
impossible, from the natureof the locality, to do more than was
doue in removing the property. According to the evidence of Mr.
Jardine, one of the owners (all of whom belong to this town),
the ship cost £lO,OOO, but was early insured for £10,500.
—Oa Saturday the inquiry was again resumed, when Captain
Lawson and Captain Moran were examined as to the naviga-
tion of the St. Lawrence, and they stated that it was not cus-
tomary at present, by captains of passenger vessels, to use the
deep sea lead, and take soundings.—Mr. Johnston Berry, for-
merly a printer in Dublin, who had £6,000 worth of printing
type and machinery on board, also gave evidence touching the
conduct of Mr. Monsey, Lloyd's agent.—Mr. Aspinall ad-
dressed the court on behalf of the captain, and produced cer-
tificates of character from Mr. Cunard and Captain Groshart,
concluding with an application to the court for Captain Tur-
ner's costs in the inquiry.—Mr. Mansfield said if the costa
were granted it must be by an order, but he should make a
pro forma adjournment until that day week, for the purpose
of considering the question.—Mr. Aspinall asked the bench to
decide whether the captain was entitled to his certificate, so
that he might go to sea.—Mr. Mansfield said he should require
a private interview with Captain Schomberg on the matter,
and the room was cleared for the purpose. After a consult°,
tion, Mr. Mansfield said, at the close of these proceedings the
question had been put by Mr. Aspinall whether the court,
after hearing the case, and before their report had been given
to the Board of Trade, would withhold or give to the captain
his certificate of qualification for the service. In the loss of
the vessel the conduct of the captain had been very satisfac-
tory, so far as the safety of the passengers was concerned.
With respect to the cargo they did not consider he was in any
way responsible, but that it devolved upon Mr. Monsey ; and
that if any blame attached, it was to Mr. Monsey, Lloyd's agent ;
the court, however, did not wish to place any blame upon him.
Having said this much on behalf of the captain, and receiving
testimonials as to his character from Mr. Cunard and Mr. Jer-
dein—which testimonials seemed fully to have been borne out
by his conduct on the voyage—at the same time they could
not shut their eyes to the fact that the loss of the ship was
owing to negligence on bis part, in not taking soundings.
They could not, however, but express with reluctance their
resolution to withhold his certificate until they had a commu-
nication with the Board of Trade. The report would be sent
to the Board of Trade, and if Mr. Tindall would communicate
with the board as to whether the certificate ought to be re-
turned to the captain, he (Mr. Mansfield) would agree to give
A him,