The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-09-18 00:00:00

ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.

"The Pet of the Petticoats," containing some very
racy allusions, " Where's Piccolomini," a sparkling
Tittle interlude; and ttie latighter-provoking farce of
"Pawhins the Persecutecl,"! are the pieces for to-night.
Miss ito*aici, *lst; Goodall, and Mr. G. fluky are the
great and worthy objects of the

MUNICIPAL EXCURSION, YESTERDAY.

EXTENSION OF THE ,RIYINGTON WATER

The first sod of the fit* gillbrig, in
001111ecli911 with the Rivington Water-works, cis`oitt
yesterday, by Mr. Coundlior Hodson, as chairman of
the Water Committee ; and with the view of exhibiting
to the whole Council the nature and extent of the mag-
nificent works froth which Liverpool at preseut draws
its 1111'110Pa! strpply of water, the interesting ceremony
was nude theuockisidir of a geaerel invitation to the
ninnicibal body to' fife #felidifSig of 66 Mersey Dock
and Earbotir Board; and to. other geittienieti &Sling
high official pOsitionV in the town. The 'etctirsia,
of, course, took place under the auspices of ths
Water Continfttee; aid fi response to' about 150
invitations issued, bet Ween seventy and eighty gentle-
men, notwithstanding the wetness 0V the morning
, .

and the lowering aspect of the sky, presented themsell'es
abotit 1;alf-iait eight in, the morning at the Tithebarn-
street station. Most of these.were very sensibly equipped

for possible bad weather, alihotigh tl;ezevias sonnibMg
Comical in the free-and-easy costuniei*hich some of the
more grave and reverend of our municipal liglitih.aa for

the no assumed.

A special train, consisting entirely of first-class car-
riages; had been engaged ; and, according to the pro=
gramme, the party were conveyed to Bolton in the first
instance, where some eight or nine carriages were in
waiting to convey them to the site of the new reservoir,
the village of which is situate near Withnell, ten miles from
Bolton and close to the entrance of the upper works. The
Weather, partially clearing for the tinie, the journey; which
lies through a rugged and niminfairimis country, was
much enjoyed, rind accomplished *Hired the smallest
mishap. The carriages being left an the Main road; the
company alighted and proceeded, guided by flags which
had been posted to mark the route, to the scene of the
cereniony. Here; when all had assembled, Mr. Hodson
expressed the pleastire which he felt in the tisk which
he was about to Undertake, and pairti'm out the nature
and extent of the proposed new reservoir. The latter,
he said, was from a pole or flagstaff on the opposite hill,
to another pole immediately above where they were
then standing. On this, Alderman Bennett wittily
remarked that it would extend, in fact, " from pole to
pole ;" and Mr. Hodson then, without further preface,
dug a sod, clipped it into something like shape, threw
it into a barrow, amid a battery of
.6,;ti wad, arid safely
deposited it at the further end of a plank. This; of
course, elicited applause; and Mr. Hodson again ad-
dressed a few brief words to the company assembled. He
was delighted, he said, to find that they had got so far
with the work, and it was intended to proceed with it
at once. He' belived it would be twelve months, or
perhaps fifteen, before they got it completed ; it should
however, be pushed on with energy ; and we should
then have a large extra supply of water in case of
necessity:
This new reservoii, at *e learned front enquiries made
,
on the ground, will really prove a veryimportant addi-
tion to the Rivington scheme. It is situated imme-
diately above the Roddlesworth reservoir, its level being
about sixty feet above that sheet of water ;. and it will
-contain as much water as the Roddlesworth and Rake
reservoirs together—say 170 million gallons. The ad-
ditional supply which may thus be secured, cannot, per-
hags, be said to be at present urgently required ; and it
will be kept partly for storage, and partly for compensa- .ii
tion. The ground is very favoriltable fdr the tonetruction
of such a work, consisting as it does of a natural bAsin,
but the nature of the subsoil, we believe, has not yet
been ascertained. The Roddlesworth reservoir covers
an area of 161 acres, and is of capacity to hold 99 mil-
lion gallons f water. The Rake reservoir covers 13i-
acres, and w 11 contain 80 million of gallons. These two
ciN.„
reservoirs m be said to be the principal collecting
reservoirs—the arger reservoirs, the Anglezark and the
Rivington, which lie -f-a, below, but in convection with
thbm by a goit or canal about 31 miles in length; being
Used principally far Storage. The ReddlesWertli and
Rake reservoirs throw ten feet of their top water o'er the
summit of the country; the remainder goes in the valley
towards Blackburn as compensation. The Anglezark
reservoir covers upwards of 190 acres, and will contain
1,020 millions of gallons; the Rivington reservoir, larger
still, covers 275 acres, and has capacity to hold no less
than 1,840 millions of gallons of water,—these two
reservoits.batending in length for a distance of about
four miles. The Alter beds, Ave in nuttiher; lie immedi-
ately below, and the water passes through them into two
clear water tanks, and thence through a line of pipeage,
28 miles in length, to Liverpool. Such is a short resume
of the leading features of these important works. We
may mention, however, that in consequence of the late
rains, the water was running four inches deep over the
Roddlesworth bye-Wash, liiiiiiii we may state, is the
largest work of its kind in Europe. It has rf tall Of
100 feet. Its mouth is 100 feet wide, but being
trumpet-shaped, the width throughout is reduced to
50 feet. There are nine falls together, each 6 feet
high, and to see the foam dashing over these terraces
formed one of the finest sights of the day.
But *e are leaving our Company whilst making this
necessary digression. They ate, haiefer, eiisiring for
themselves, for Mr. Lynn has been down there, the day
before, and close to the first sod a beautifully spread
table has risen, as it were by magic, from the ground.
Here luncheon, after the ten miles ride, was heartily
partaken of; and the company then partially scattered
to survey the features of the neighbourhood, but pulled
up where the carriages were in waiting, at the "Hare
and Hounds." EVery*Hefe; it iVotild he stated, that
the cortege had passed, the country peeiroi had trirned
out to stare and admire, and an evident sensation was
created by this visit of the unknown millionaires con-
stituting the Liverpool Corporate. body, who have cer-
tainly enriched the whole district where the works
which they so very wisely opposed are 'now established.
The party resuming their carriages, the envious rain,
which had threatened so long, began at length to iall iR
earnest, and the rest of the journey, it must he con-
fessed, was something of a drag., A. few enthusiasts,
*lid had not been hi the district before, got out at the
Heapey embankment, an& taking oast, sailed &tin the
Anglezark reservoir as far as the Knowsley embank-
-went, getting.: not much wiser, but certainly much
wetter, for their pains. The "Black Boy" at Riving-
ton was not to be the rendezvous on this occasion, and
that pieturesthie village was dashed through almost
without a thought, not a rein being pulled till the end
of the filter beds aid of the Whole works had been
reached, where, in close Cdfitigiiity lb the stipeilift6n,
dent's heilei, i telit had.beeti tented, and Where dinner,
in first-Class style, was served.
And here,, in fact, the reporter's work ends. ft was
understood that the meeting was to be more of a social
than of a public character, and that hence any report of
the speeches Or proceeding Would be totally out of
place. Without an breath of that understanding we
may, however, say that Mr. Hodson presided, supported
by the Mayor, and that the vice-chaise were filled by
Mr. Crellin and Alderman Bennett.: The usual loyal
toasts were given and responded to. The Volunteer
Movement was duly recognised, the toast being admirably
responded to by Mr: S. R. Graves. " The Water Com_
mittee," "the Mersey flocks and Harbour Board,"
"the Town aria trade of Liverpool," "the Press," and
other toasts were given. and duly honoured ; and the
'company then broke up. Coffee was served; and the
carriages being brought round, the party proceeded to
the railway station at Horwich, where the special train
was iii waiting, dip which all arrived safely in Liverpool
about nine o'clock in the evening. The " out " was as
instructive as interesting; and it is to be hoped that a
visit to these magnificent works will be deemed an
annual duty on the part of our public men.

ROMAN CATHOLIC MEETING.—A very well attended
-
meeting of the Irish Roman Catholics of this town was
held last night in the Concert Hall, Lord Nelson-street.
The Rev. Dr. Itoskell occupied the chair ; and among
the other reverend gentlemen on the platform were--
Revs. Bernard O'Reilly, It. Seed, M. Donnelly, J.
O'Brien, and J. Davies. The chairman, after some
introductory remarks, in the course of which he referred
to the great evil of proselytism which threatened so
much to the children of the present generation, intro-
duced to the meeting the Rev. Patrick Lavelle. This
gentleman delivered an address on " Part*, Proselytism
and Persecution." He was received in a most hearty
and enthusiastic manner. He said he was there to
advocate two things most dear to every Irishman; their
principles, and their country. They were engaged in a
struggle against the persecution to which they had
been subjected. It was a struggle which, though
of three centuries' duration, still bore upon it,
on the part of the Catholics, the mark of victory.
Referring to the present social state of Ireland, he said
it was entirely Catholic. The great bulk of the people
were Catholics; but, though this was the case, the
mastery of the country was in the hands of Protestants.
In spite of the many persecutions which the Catholics
had suffered, the lamp of faith burned as brightly as
it did 1,000 years ago. He referred to the persecutions
of the Irish Catholics by Lord Plunkett, and after
detailing many instances in which the tenantry had
been threatened with eviction, called upon the audience
to aid in obtaining fair play. He would ask whether
there was such tyranny in all Christendom as that bind-
ing of conscience which Lord Plunkett had exercised
towards his tenantry. They might depend upon it that
if Lord Plunkett attempted •to strike the threatened
blow in November next, it would be an evil day for
landlords in Ireland. He had expeneed about £1,200
in the last two years in defending the poor people, and
more would be needed to contend against Lord Plunkett.
After further remarks to the same effect,
the rev.
gentleman sat down amid the deafening cheers of
his numerous auditory. After a few remarks from
the chairman and 60
me other gentlemen, the meeting
terminated.