The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-06-03 00:00:00

SHE N.ORTHERN TIMES

SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF

CLIMBING BOYS

The attention of many benevolent individuals having
been recently drawn by painful circumstances to the •
fact that, notwithstanding the provisions of the Chimney
Sweepers' Act, 3rd and 4th Victoria, c. 83, the practice
of sending boys up chimnies to sweep them still exists,
a society has been formed in Manchester, to take steps
for the suppression of this violation both of law and
humanity. A meeting was accordingly convened in the
Bible Society's rooms, Slater-street, last night, for the
purpose of taking measures to co-operate with the
Manchester Society, and to consider the best means to
be adopted to ensure the strict observance of the act of
Parliament. Among others, the chimney sweepers of
the town were invited to attend, and a large number of
that body were present. The chair was taken by Mr.
John Cropper, who read a letter from Mr. Wiliam
Rathbone, expressing regret that lie was unable
to attend a meeting upon a subject which had
interested him for more than thirty years. The
chairman then briefly introduced the subject of
the meeting, and expressed the gratification he felt at
seeing so many of the body of master sweeps present.
He declared that he did not blame that body generally,
for the great and degrading evils which sprang from
the practice that meeting desired to abolish, so much as
he blamed the owners of houses. He did not know how
far the practice existed in Liverpool, of employing
climbing boys, but he had no doubt that it prevailed to
some extent. The Chairman called upon those present,
who belonged to the trade, to co-operate with the
originators of the meeting, in getting rid of the practice,
a practice which he felt certain the former were as
anxious to have abolished as any other class of the com-

munity

Mr, D. Rowlands proposed a series of resolutions,
expressive of the opinion of the meeting, that the busi-
ness of chimney, sweeping was unnecessarily degraded
by persevering in the practice of employing climbing
boys instead of the machines, and condemning that prac-
tice as attended in every way with evil effects.
Mr. Adam Hodgson seconded the resolution.

Mr. William Wood, secretary to the Manchester
association, supported the resolution, and expressed his
conviction that in nine cases out of ten, where masters
had given up the practice of employing climbing boys,
the found themselves benefitted by it:
Several of
.the . master sweeps present made some
remarks on the subject, and the general opinion seemed
to be, that only an agreement among all the members of
the body would be likely to prodnce the desired result.
The declaratory resolutions were put and carried
unanimously.
Mr. Dillon, master sweep, then proposed a resolution
to the effect that, the members of that body present,
approving of the resolutions passed, pledge themselves
not to use any climbing boys, and to co-operate with the
public in obtaining an abolition of the practice : and in
order to protect themselves against others who might
use climbing boys, form themselves into an association,
for the purposes mentioned.
Mr. John Walsh seconded the motion.

Mr. Samuel Smith expressed his opinion that itinerant
hawkers, who cried about the streets, were the parties who
employed the climbing boys, and that until the system
of crying through the streets was put a stop to, the
system would prevail. The speaker strongly denounced
the inhumanity of the practice of sending boys up the
chimnies, and drew a painful picture of his own early
experienee as a climbing boy. He showed that the
practice was ineffective as well as barbarous, because
he declared from his own knowledge that the hands of
the poor boys were too much weakened and scarred by
climbing to use their brush and scraper. He exhibited
a specimen of the soot-covered rags worn by these chil-
dren, and indignantly demanded if American slaves were
treated as cruelly as English climbing boys. The speaker
exhorted his hearers to use only the machine) and
resumed his seat amid loud applause.
Several speakers expressed a similar opinion regarding
the system of crying an,' hawking through the streets.
The resolution was carried unanimously.
A committee was appointed to draw up rules for the
formation and conduct of the association.

The proceedings closed with a vote of thanks to the
chairman.

A resolution was also passed, on the motion of Mr

Whitehead, calling on the public of Liverpool to dis-
courage by every means in their power the employment
of climbing boys.

BIRKENHEAD PARK CRICKET CLUB
v. ST. HELENS CRICKET CLUB.

A match was played between thesa clubs on Thursday
last, on the ground of the termer, but was not played out.
Birkenhead, however, had a decided advantage at the close
of the play. The St. Helens were got out with tha small
score of fifty, Mr. Langton's bowling being too good for
them. In the second innings of Birkenhead, Messrs.
Hornby, Pears, and Horner, played well for their respective

BIRKENHEAD, ist inu. 2d inn.
C. E. Hornby, Esq c Wil on b Callou 1 bH. Tickle ..... 49
C. Owen, Esq., 1 b W. H Tickle
W. Horner, Esq., b Callon
W. T. Pears, Esq., bW. Tickle l7 c Webster, b Wilson 45
W, P. Lockhart, Esq., run out
G. Buxton, c J. Caliou, b W. Tickle.. 11
IL Vyvyan, cJ. Callon, bW. Tickle.. 16 c Wilson, 'u H. Tickle 7
P. Poole, jun., b H Tickle
St. C J. Byrne, not out 13 c Fidler, b J Callou.. 0
A. Rowe, c Fidler, b H. Tickle
W. Langton, b. J. Callou 6
W 4, 1,1 b 4

Total 156
Innings

ST. H LENTS.
W. Callon, b Langton .. • ...
It• Mather, it w b Langton ..
H. Tic'le, run out..
E. Fidler, b Langton
W. Webster, c Lockhart, b Langton
J. Callou, c Vyvyan, b Langton
W. Tickle, c Rowe, b Langton
it. Penis, run out..
J. M. Wilson, run out
11. Johnson, run out
Burrow', not out
W 4,1 b