The Press.
London, England, 1854-10-07 00:00:00

EDUCATION IN LIVERPOOL.

THE " Education of the Poor in Liverpool " was the
subject of a paper read at the British Association meeting
last week by the Rev. I /r. Hume. In 183, he stated,
exclusive of children iu connection with public institu•
Lions, such as the Blue Coat Hospital, the Industrial
Schools, the Orphan Asylum, and the workhouse, there
was accommodation in the Church District Schools fur
17,011 children and an actual attendance of 13,929; in
Protestant Dissenters' and other schools there was accom-
modation for 9.320, while the attendance wag 0,4511; and
in Roman Catholic schools 8.193 couid he accommodated
and 0,55/5 attended. This gave a total accommodation for
34,924 children and a total attendance of 27,1440. In the
Church schools the education of the children cost 10,903/.
per annum, or 15s. 10d. per head, of wbieh 33 per cent.
was received in the form of payments from the children
themselves. This calculation has reference merely to local
funds, no notice being taken of the Privy Council grants
for education. The rev. doctor estimated the expense of
Protestant Dissenters' schools in Liverpool at 5,903/., and
that of Roman Catholic schools at 3,9381., which, with the
cost of the Church schools, gives a total of 19,7991. This
estimate only referred to education as it was, but education
as it ought to be was another question. Last year it was
calculated that they still required accommodation for 28,0117
pupils, or say 25,000, which represented an actual atten-
dance of 20,000. Adding the cost of these at the same
rate, the whole ought to be 34,1081. a year. In other
words (supposing the poor still to pay the same propor-
tion—namely, one-third) a sum of 11 1,0001. should be raised
from the community either by voluntary subscription or
local taxation. Now, is the borough of Liverpool there
were more than 30,000 persona rated at 121. and upwards,
of whom it was calculated not more than 2,4100 esaitributed
anything for educational purposes. 1/r. Hume stated that
a rate of 4d. or 61. in the pound would be required to aid
education in the town as it ought to be aided, and expressed
a decided opinion in favour of a school rate for educational
purposes.

THERE are in the Bank upwards of gilt) clerks, at
salaries ranging from 651. per annum to 800/. ; the
patronage is in the hands of the directors, of whom
there are twenty-four, each having a nomination to
admit one clerk, provided he be found qualified on
examination. The vacancies are not, as in most
public offices, filled up as they occur by deaths,
resignations, &c., but by electing from twenty•five to
thirty junior clerks every four or five months; it is
also usual to admit one-fifth of this number f. om the
sons of clerks already in the service. The scale of
pensions for length of service is the earns as in the
Government. The late governor, with much kind-
ness and consideration for the comfort of the clerks,
instituted a library and reading-room, which bids
fair, from the handsome donations from time to time
made by the directors, to rival the best of our secon-
dary metropolitan libraries. The Bank Annuity
Society, for the benefit of widows of clerks, is also
being remodelled, in order to combine the principle
of life assurance with the granting of annuities. This
society is under the management of the clerks them-
selves. The subscription of unmarried clerks is
compulsory.
THE CRYSTAL PALACE was visited laet week by
37,273 persons, and the amount received for adinis,
sion was 1,637/. Iris. On Thursday an elegant and
appropriate testimonial was presented to the director
of the Crystal Palace band, Mr. H. Schallenn, by the
members of hi-, company. This testimonial con-
sisted of a bAton of silver, richly chased and gilt.,
and enclosed in a case 'lined and cowered with rich
I Genoa velvet, bearing an appropriate ieseription.

945

WRECKS IN 1853.
A " WRECK•REoiSTER" is now regularly compiled at
the Admiralty, containing an official abstract of all
the casualties occurring to the British mercantile
marine. Like most other official documents, this
register is not made public until long after the period
to which it refers, and the register of wrecks during
1853 has accordingly only just seen the light in this
authentic form. Late as it is, however, this Admi-
ralty return possesses much value, and the following
abstract of its contents, as compiled in the Life-boat
Journal for the current month, will be found of much
interest :---

It is, as usual, a fearful list, numbering 832 disasters,
but it is gratifying to observe, so fat as the loss of property
is concerned, that the register for 1853 shows a very con-
siderable decrease in the number of wrecks and casualties,
as compared with the preceding year, when 1,115 oc-
curred.
In the gales of February, March, April, and July, 1853,
the numbers exceeded there of the same months in 1852,
and the month of May iu each year produced the same
amount; hut in all the other months of 1853 the numbers
fell much short of those in the corresponding months of
the previous3ear. This may be accounted for by the tact
that the gales of the winter months of 1853 were leas fre-
quent and of shorter duration, although they blew with
occasional violence.
On the other band, however, the year 11453 records a loss
of 989 lives, being (hi more than were lost in 1852, when
the number, so far as is known, was 920. This increased
number, in proportion to the number of wrecks, was
caused by the great sacrifice of life which occurred in two
or three individual instances. Thus the loos of the Annie
Jane shows 360 alone ; that of the Qom. Victoria, 83; and
of the Dalhousie, 59. There can be no doubt that these
total numbers for each tear I-how considerably less than
the actual amount of loss of life which has occurred on and
around our coasts, as there are no means at command for
ascertaining the number of those whose vessels sail out of
port and are never again heard of. The lives of fishermen
and other boatmen are undoubtedly also often lost without
any official returns being made of the some.
The Admiralty Register of Wrecks is compiled princi-
pally front the coastguard returns, from Lloyd's published
list, from the •Shipping and Mercantile Casette, and from the
official reports of Lloyd's agents around the coast to the
Admiralty. It is prepared by l'onimander J. V. Read,
R.N., and although imperfect, se any such register must
be, there is no doubt that it is the most complete account
of wrecks published.
Annexed to the return is a wreck chart, on which a black
spot marks the site of each wreck, tire, or collision, as far
as can be ascertained.
_

The following is a summary of the register :
The wrecks on the coasts and iu the seas of the United
Kingdom in the year 1H53 were 632, which may be thus .
classed :
Totally wrecked
Totally lost in collision 42
Damaged seriously, and had to discharge ;NS
Damaged seriously in collision
The number of casualties in each month were :
January .... 106 August .... 33
February .. 91 September.. 70
March .... October .... 96
April
May
June
J uiy
Of these 2b3 occurred on the east coast of Great Britain;
76 on the south coast, and 18 on the west coast ; 81
wrecks took place on the coast of Ireland ; 6 were cast on
shore at Frilly ; 11 at the Channel Islands ; 3 at Orkney
and Shetland; and 1•L at the Isle of Man ; the remaining
266 wrecks occurred in the surrounding seas.

A CATALootm 4W THE CHUUCHES each parish
of the city of London has been published in a par-
liamentary return, containing also the names, resi-
dences, and income of the clergy, and showing the
number of sittings in each church. There are sixty
churches in the list, and only few of the incumbents
reside within the City. The largest income is 2,0fi1/.
Os. 541., for St. Botolph, Bishopsgate; and the smal-
lest is but 401., for St. Helen, Bishopsgate. The
average attendance, including children, for last year
is remarkable, compared with the church accommo-
dation. In one church (St. Laurence Jewry and St.
Mary Magdalen, Milk-street), with fittings for 1,00(►
persons, the average attendance is only thirty. The
incumbent resides at Hampstead. The income is
3101. a year. The cervices in January, on Sundays,
were two, and on week-days three. At another
church, with 700 sittings, the average attendance is
thirty. The fees received in January last were very
small. The largest amount was 551. and thesmallest
2s. The communicants are very limited, compared
with the attendances, and the baptisms by no means
numerous. The return was procured at the instance
of Dr. Phillimore, with reference to the proposed re-
moval of some of the City churches.
IT is stated that the coluneley of the 50th Font,
vacant by the death of Sir George Arthur, will he
given to Major-General W. H. Scott, for many years
of the Scout Fusilier Guards, a regiment with which
he served during many of the trying scenes of the
Pei.insulAr war.
MR. IYt►.t.tsst EI'INO, insurance-broker, Glasgow,
has contributed the in tni iticent sum of 2,000/. towards
the completion of a " Sailors' Howe " there, besid.ea
undertaking to make up another 5001. by hi; own

exertions.

946

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS.
AMONG the papers read in the " statistical section "
at the meeting of the British Association was one
by Mr. J. T. Danson, on the " cost and current
prices of wheat in England during the last ten
years." The chief design of the paper was to show
how much the fanners themselves are interested in
promoting the collection of agricultural statistics:—
The lecturer argued that the agriculturists were really
the greatest sufferers from the want of some system which
would enable them to prevent the fluctuation iu the price
of corn and better to adjust the supply to the demand. It
was of great importance to time better the supply of corn
to our markets ; and Mr. Danson suggested whether it
would not be advisable for small farmers, whose limited
capital compelled them to send their produce to market
immediately after thrashing, to place it in the hands of
some capitalist who could wait until the most advantageous
time for sale. The materials of the paper were obtained
almost entirely from the Gazette returns of the prices of
corn and the tables published by the Board of Trade.
They were so arranged as to lead the writer step by step
to the following conclusions:-1. That the average price
actually paid to the English producer for his wheat during
the ten harvest years extending from September, 1843, to
September, 1853, was about 48s. Bd. per quarter. 2. That
during the first five of these years the price exceeded this
average so much as to give to the producer an aggregate
sum of about 37,000,0001. sterling, more than he would
have received had the price been steady at the decennial
average during those five years. 3. That during the se-
cond rive years the price fell short of the average to a pre-
cisely equal amount 4. That, consequently, if the
average price of the ten years gave, as it may reasonably
be supposed to have given, to the farmers no more than
a reasonable amount of profit, the prices of the last five
years must have been quite inadequate to defray the cost
of cultivation. 5. That though the uncertainty of the
seasons must, in the present state of agriculture, be deemed
the chief cause of these fluctuations, there are several
others which a complete system of agricultural statistics,
by acquainting us, early in each season, with the stock in
hand, and the breadth of land prepared for or sown with
corn, would enable the community to grapple with and
gradually to remove.
In the discussion which followed the reading of this
paper,
- -

- -
Sir J. BOILEAU, as a resident in an agricultural county,
expressed his belief that the collection of agricultural
statistics which had been practised in Norfolk and Hamp-
a lire last year would, if generally carried out, be a great
boon to farmers. With regard to the capital employed in
agriculture, Sir John remarked that, if three times the
present amount of capital were employed upon one-third
of the land at present under cultivation, it would be better
for the country and for the farmer himself.

THE Corrox HARVEST having now closed in Americ
some estimates have been formed of the result on which
the prosperity of so many important branches of British
manufacturing industry is certainly dependent. The total
yield of cotton during the season 1853.54 appears to have
been about 2,930,00 U bales, being a decrease over those of
the two preceding years of about 33'2,882 bales less than
it was in 1852.3, and 85,029 bales less than in 1831-2. The
average price for the same period is given as 8f cents per
lb. against 9 cents in 1852.3, and 8 cents in 1831.2, a
return which, considering the partial interruption given to
the manufacturing trade of England and Europe generally,
by reason of the war, in conjunction with the generally
inferior quality of the crop, arising from the combined
effects of bad seasons (unseasonable rains and subsequent
frosts), will possibly be considered satisfactory by the
cotton•planters of the United States. The damage sus-
tained by frosts appears to have been more severe than
usual, and for the injured portions of the crop the sale
proved extremely difficult. The general character of the
mop, when brought to market, proved also to have been
carelessly and hastily picked, for complaints were made of
the greater preponderance than usual of the lower grades.
The almost entire suspension of the trade with Russia,
however, tended to check the demand for the finer sorts.
EVERY man who lives in a house, especially if the house
be his own, should oil various parts of it once in two or
three months. The house will last much longer, and will
be much more quiet to live in. Oil the locks, bolts, and
hinges of the street•door, and it will shut gently, with
luxurious ease, and with the use of a small amount of force.
A neglected lock requires great violence to cause it to
shut, and with so much violence that the whole house, its
doors, its windows, its very floors and joists, are
much shaken, and in time they get out of repair in
all sorts of ways, to say nothing of the dust that is
dislodged every time the place is so shaken. The
incessant banging of doors, scrooping of locks, creak-
ing and screaming of hinges, is a great discomfort. Even
the bell•wire cranks should sometimes be oiled, and they
will act more certainly and with such gentle force that
there will be little danger of breaking any part of them.
The castors of tables and chairs should be sometimes oiled,
and they will move with such gentle impulse, and so quietly,
that a sleeping child or old man is not awakened. A well-
oiled door•lock opens and shuts with hardly a whisper.
Three pennyworth of oil used in a large house once a year
will save many shillings in locks and other materials, and
in the end will save many pounds in even the substantial
repairs of a house ; and an old wife living and sleeping in
quiet repose will enjoy many more years of even temper and
active usenilness. Housekeepers, pray do not forget the oil.
A stitch in time saves nine, and a drop in time saves
pounds.—The Builder.

THE PRESS.

Volitual nub' Otrarat.

TEE inauguration dinner of the newly-elected
ieriffs for London and Middlesex, Mr. Alderman

.....--. _ ,
Muggeridge and Mr. C. D. Crossley, took place on
Saturday evening last, at the London Tavern. This
entertainment, which in ordinary times is merely a
convivial reunion, at which the civic officers receive
their friends and their friends' friends, was rendered

memorable on this occasion by the announcement to
the assembled guests of the glorious victory obtained
by the allied armies in the Crimea. This joyful in-
telligence elicited demonstrations of enthusiasm, in-
dicated by loud, general, and repeated cheering on
the part of the company. More than 250 gentlemen
were present at this banquet.
THE SUSPENSION OF MR. JAMES MITCHELL, an ex-
tensive woollen-manufacturer, of Bradford, Yorkshire,
has been announced. The amount of liabilities is
not known, but they are supposed to reach 100,0001.
SALES OF CORN BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH are DOW
not unusual. During the present year, when Mark-
lane was feverish and excited, a message has been
flashed from London to East Lothian—nearly 400
miles distant—on receipt of which the steam-engines
of certain farmers have been put in motion ; ricks of
wheat, yielding twenty to thirty quarters each, have
been thrashed, dressed, measured, and bagged (the
one machine performing all the operations simulta-
neously), the grain conveyed to the railway, carried
to London, delivered at King's cross, and sold within
thirty-six hours of the time when the message to
" thrash immediately" left this metropolis.
AN EXTRAORDINARY CROP OF WHEAT has been
grown this year in the partsh of Sessay, near Thirsk,
North Riding of York. The field in question has
been the admiration of every beholder, rich and poor,
from distant villages, who have heard of this splen-
did crop, having, through curiosity, gone miles to see
it. Some of the straws, when standing, exceeded
six feet in length, and the average length of the
straws in the field would far exceed the average
height of a man. Many of the ears were upwards of
half a foot in length, and well filled, yielding betwixt
five and six score full-grown corns. This field of
wheat belongs to Mr. Smithson, of the Church Farm,
Sessay, and is upon the estate of the Right Hon. the
Lord Viscount Downe. The seed of this prolific
wheat was first introduced a couple of years ago by
the agent of Lady Frankland Russell, of Thirkleby-
park, near Thirsk.
PARLIAMENTARY RETURNS Show that in the month
ended the sth ultimo there were 786,487 gallons of
wine imported, and in the eight months ending on
that day no less than 7,243,590 gallons. From
France the quantity was 632,058 gallons. In the
same eight months the declared value of beer ex-
ported was 939,4951. Large shipments of the article
have been made to Australia.
THE BOARD OF TRADE RETURNS for the month and
eight months ended the sth of September last have
been issued. With regard to the value of the shipments
of British manufactures and produce, they show a
decrease during the month of August last, as com-
pared with July, of 655,9291.; but, when contrasted
with the exports for the corresponding period of the
past two years, an increase of about 500,0001. over
1853, and of about 1,900,0001. over 1852. Our ex-
port trade during the first eight months ci the present
year shows a return of 67,396,3501., being the value
of shipments, against 58,158,7291. for the same period
of 1853, and 47,009,1461. in 1852.
RESPECTING the potato disease, Mr. Grantley
Berkeley gives the following results of his recent

experience :
In a letter to Lord Derby, and published in pamphlet
shape, I last year set forth my successful treatment and
cure of the disease by lowering, for a time, the productive
qualities of the land. Last spring, on replanting the same
acres, I manured highly, in an endeavour to restore the
strength of the soil, but with a doubt in my own minds if
by so doing I should not also increase the " feverish vege-
table epidemic." The result, however, has been far other-
wise : I have doubled my crop, and, at the same time, even
lessened the already faint appearance left of the epidemic.
The crops of last year and this, on the same four acres,
stand thus :-1853, 55 sacks, not a bushel of diseased ones ;
1854, 110 sacks, not a bushel of diseased ones.
The crop, now housed, is open to public inspection, and
the potatoes of quality sufficient to compete for a rrize.
The sorts consist of the " second earlies," the " Irish cup,"
the " Jersey blue," the " *shied kidney," and the " black

potato."
THE FREEDOM OF ABERDEEN was presented to Mr.
Hume, M.P., on Saturday last by the magistrates and
council of that city. The Town-hall, in which the
ceremony took place, was crowded on the occasion,
and Mr. Hume returned thanks for the compliment
in a long speech.
THE WIGAN ELECTION terminated on Tuesday,
when Mr. Acton, the Liberal candidate, succeeded in
obtaining a narrow majority of 5 over Mr. Powell. The
numbers at the close were—Acton 239, Powell 234.
FOR FROME, Mr. Donald Nicoll, the London tailor,
and late sheriff, has declared himself a candidate, and
has issued an address soliciting the suffrages f the
elector' on the Liberal interest.

SATURDAY,

Obituarl

The Countess of HOPETOUN died at Edinburgh on
Sunday last, in her 52d year. The deceased was
daughter of the late and sister of the present Lord
Macdonald, and by her marriage with the late
Earl of Hopetoun, in June, 1820, had issue the
present earl.
DR. ROUPELL died from cholera on the 29th nit.,
at his residence in Welbeck-street. The deceased
was summoned a week ago to Boulogne to visit a re-
lative who had been seized with cholera, with whom
he remained until Sunday week. He felt unwell be-
fore he left Boulogne, and, on his return to town, his
indisposition increased until decided symptoms of
cholera became evident on Thursday evening, and,
notwithstanding the exertions of several professional
friends, he expired within twenty-six hours after the
first symptoms of developed cholera had appeared.
The awfully-sudden death of ROBERT POTTER, one
of the members for the city of Limerick and a soli-
citor, is announced in the Dublin journals. The
honourable gentleman had been staying at a board-
ing-house near Kingstown, and up to Saturday night
was in the enjoyment of good health. On Sunday
morning he was attacked with apoplexy, and died
within an hour and a half after he first complained
of being unwell. The deceased gentleman was one
of the ci-devant Irish party in the House of Com-
mons, of which Mr. Lucas, the editor of the Tablet,
is the acknowledged chief.
M. PAGNEIRE, the well-known publisher of Paris,
died on the 29th ult. at his country seat near Pon-
thoise. After the revolution of 1848 the deceased
took a very active part in public affairs, and was se-
cretary of the Provisional Government.
The Courrier de In Gironde announces the death
of ISAAK TOUSSAINT-LOUVERTURE, the youngest SOU
and last descendant of the celebrated General Tous-
saint-Louverture, who accomplished the revolution of
St. Domingo. M. Isaak Toussaint-Louverture has
been residing in great retirement at Bordeaux for
many years. He was in the enjoyment of a consi-
derable pension from the French Government.