The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-05-01 00:00:00

DOCK COMMITTEE.

This Committee met at one o'clock yesterday. Mr.
Charles Turner in the &lair. The other members present
were Messrs. Rankin, Robinson, Hubback, Bold, Roun-
th Waite, Moniell, Gladstone, Clint, Anderson, Rathbone,
Chilton, Smith, Lockett, Hallead, and Bsrber.
The tenths:. of Messrs. W. F. Sim was accepted for 100
tons of Kentledge.
In the Marine Department the resignation of Charles
Johnson, keeper of the telegrAnh at the Holyhead station,
was reported, and it was recommended that
Mathews, assistant at Point Lynas, be remnved to fill
the vacancy, and that Wm. Roberts be aopointel in the
place of Matthews. The recommendations were con-
firmed.

. ,A. letter was read from Mr. John Watkins, stating that
the crane placed on the Trara/gar Dock, for the purpose
of landing cargoes from the Liverpool and Mostyn boats,
would be of no use until the iron posts placed in the
doorways of the wall were removed, and a level road made.
The Survey or stated that the alterations required were
at present in hands.

A letter was read from the collector and comptroller of
her Majesty's Customs, enclosing two communications
from Mr. Edward Ashley, warehouse keeper at the Stanley
dock, of the tone of which the officers of Customs com-
plained. The letters were ordered to be considered. by
the warehouse sub committee before being brought publicly
before the general committee.
A letter was read from Mr. Court, secretary of the
Liverpool Committee of the Association for the Protection
of Commercial Interests, with regard to wrecks and
damaged property, thanking the dock committee for
having carried out so promptly the sugges:ions of the com-
mittee for facilitating the communication between steam-
tugs and vessels in want of their as,istance.
A notice was read from the Town Clerk to let the great
float run dry on and after the 31st of May next, for the
purpose of carrying on the Birkenhead dock works.
Mr. Thiel begged to call the attention of the committee
to the state of the law as regarded the duties and respon-
sibilities of master porters, which had come under his
.knowledge lately, in a case whom he acted as arbirr, ttor,
in reference to damage occurring to a quantity of flour.
A ship was in the Huekisson Dock, with a cargo of flour,
wile it, and Indian corn, The shed opposite where the
ship lay Wig empty when the vessel commenced tier dis
charge ; but the flour coming out first, the master porter
rolled it across the road, and thereby damegerl it to a
certain extent, for which he had to pay a considerable
sum of money. New, it struck him very forcib y that,
inasmuch FEI the shed was empty at the time the ship
comtnemeal her discharge, ant property at all liable, like
flour, to damage, should, inasmuch as it peel dock rates
just as well as wheat or Indian corn, be placed in a position
where it would not receive any damage. So far es evidence
was bought before the arbitrators, trey found that it was
the custom for master porters to roll the flour out in that
way, and the consignees, in many instances, having wheat
in the same vessel did riot object; but in this instance the
consignees of the flour had not any wheat. He merely
mentioned this in order that the master p trters' committee
might take up the subject, for at present it was impossible
to know whether the master porter had power to stop the
discharge of the ship. What his duties were—where the
responsibility of the ship ceased, and that of the master
porter began : where the responsibility of the master porter
ceased, and that of the consignees of the goods commenced
—these points were quite undefined at present. He thought
it would be well to define them in some more practical
manner than at present. He had been informed, n how-
ever, in direct evidence, that a master porter had been
rep imaeded by the committee for net having rolled floar
out to make way for the wheat to succeed it.
Mr. Robinson denied that any master porter had ever
been reprimanded on such an account. The master
porter was bound to afford all facilities to the ship, but
he denied that any master porter had ever been
reprimanded for such a reason as Mr. Bold had stated.
All the Master Porter's Committee or the trustees had to
do was to receive from each master porter the securities
required by the act of Parliament. Beyond that he
tnought the rest was a matter for the magistrates.
'i he Chairman doubted very much whether it would be
in the power of the Master Porter's Committee to make
any regubvion by which they would take responsibility
upon themselves which the law did not impose, If he
understood the law correctly, the responsibility otthe ship
ended when the goods were delivered on the quay, and
that of the master porter began. The master porter must
take care that the goods d.d not receive any damage his
esuld possibly avoid. In the case Mr. Bold mentioned, it
appeared there was a place under cover vac int, and a place
not under cover, and the master porter chose to put the
goods in a niece exposed to damage, and he very properly
had to suffer the loss in consequence.
Mr. Ilubback said it was very customary in Liverpool to
place flour along the quays exposed to the weather. He
suggested that the question should receive the considera-
tion of the committee upon dock fines of which he was the
chairman, for he quite coincided with the views of Mr,
Mild that as the law existed at present it was totally im-
possible to know where the responsibility of the ship
ceased and that of the master porter began, and where
that of the master porter ceased and thatof the consignee
began.

Gladstone thought as the subject was a very im.
fortant one, it might be taken up by the Master .Portet,s
Committee in the first instance, and then considered by
the other committee.
Mr. Mondell hoped the committee to which Mr. Hub-
back alluded would not attempt to stop the discharging of
the ship. That would indeed be stopping the wheels of
progress. _ _

Alec some further conversation, the matter dropped,
no definite resolution having b!en adopted.
This closed the general business.

Novnh MERCHANDTSE.—A novel article of merchandise
was put to the hammer in Greenock a few days ago, con-
sisting of five thousand pairs of men's old Loots and shoes,
"contained in hurteen large sacks. Curiosity ,was excited
to learn how or where such an accumulation of " bachels"
had been made, and one feasible supposition expressed was,
that they had been brought from the Crimea. But then
they sold for a mere old song, scarcely sufficient to pay
freight and charges to Rot4esay, much less the Crimea,
and so speculation as to their origin was at sea, and is still
there, so far as we are concerned. It has since been sur-
mised that they were brought to Clyde from the Crimea as
stowage on board a
vetiosiskemelifkiTngheay
re.ie
werepe ebtaaubghtapfopearGralnacse.
be subjected to a process of
gow,par-ia par-boiling,
pthresyviownisll
in Paddy's market. Who could have supposed, when our
gallant soldiers were pressing up th, heights of Alma, or
mixing in the bloody frays of Inkerman or Balaklava, that
the boots on their feet, after dabbling through many a
gorey marsh, would find their way to the Saltmarket, in
many cases long after their original possessors had mingled
with the clods of those well-fought fields ?

COUNTY COURT.--YESTERDAY.

BEFORE JO,F.PII POLLOCK, FSQ JUDGE:,

JUDGMENT,,. His Honour delivered judgment in the
following ca,es :--
JOHNSON AND ANOTHER V. CHAPMA.N.—The plaintiffs in
this case had claimed as the salvors of an anchor dropped
three years ago into the river from the Lull of a vessel
nsed as a store for gunpowder by Messrs. Tobin and Co.
The anchor remained at the bottom of tho river for nearly
two years, during which time efforts to find it had been
made at intervals. A person, named Moses Whit, d.s-
covered where it lay, and pat a huov to mark the spot.
While he was entering into negotiations for the purpose
of raising it, the plaintiffs, who had obtained a knowledge
of its position, raised it themselves. They accordingly
claimed as salvors of the- anchor from Mr. Chapman,
their proportion of the sum paid by Messrs. Tobin as sal-
voge for the bonefit of the salvors, The soul so paid was
£2l, and Sir. Chapman was entitled by section 466 of the
17th and 18th Victoria, the Merchant Shipping Act,
cap. 104, to apportion the salvage money among the
claimants. Mr Ohtpman had accordingly paid to White
£5, and about £5 more to the crew principally engaged
in raising the trnclror. His Honour held, however, that
the obj etq)n which had been raised to the claim
of the plaintiffs, on the ground that they did, not
hand over the anchor to the receiver of droits, was fatal
to their right to receive part of the salvage. lie therefore
gave a vPrliet for the defendant.

TIM R)YAL OAK BURIAL SOCIF.TY.—MS Honour
enquired whether arty arrang, mrnt had been come to in
this else. Mr. Roby stated that he had intimated to the
plaintiffs +hat s t far as regarded the first branch of the
application for an injunction to restrain the defendants
from any further proceedin4s, he would under•ake that
the defendants should take no steps to apply to the rogis-
'trar to certify the rubs until after another meeting of the
members had been called. With regard to the other
point, the payment of the expenses, he had intimated also
mthiagthtifptohsseibetlyl ifsit ptehresier vemr
dutyreci.
rs
begged to direct attention to the position in which
the
in
no resist.
Se gar, it,
the
lar.
who de
f wean.sraiul nottls
with
been
them
incurred
hadth a been
by day.l
to the rules passed at a meeting which the trustees con-
tended had been illegally called. He hoped the court
me of the society, with respect
by
would direct the production of the treasurer's book, to
enable his Honour to see what had been paid. His Honour
t case
t left
eTmhbe question was, what cost had
the
said he did not think that would be the proper course to
take now, as no arrangement had been come to. Mr.
Roby remarked that most of the objectionable part of the
altered rules had been abandoned. Mr. Hu. I said the
trustees were glad to hear that, inasmuch as it was an
admission on the part of the defendants that they lad
been taking an improper course. His Honour said he
desired to give as little opinion as possible upon anything
which he was not called upon in the necessary diecherge
of his duty to advert to; for he still hoped
that the goad sense of the members of this large and
wealthy society would protect th-m from a state of things
which, if continued, must be ab,olufoly TULOUS to their
common interests. A number of allegations had been
made before him, and he then gave a distinct opinion,
that the meetings at which the so-called rules, sought to
be certifi3d lately, had been passed, were iilegol, and that
the proceedings of these meetings were null and void.
After having carefully considerA the facts, he saw he
reason to modify, but many reasons to strengthen that
opinion. As regarded, therefore, the first prayer of the
plaintiffs, he declared that those meatines were utterly
illegal, a,:d all the proceedings which took place there
null and void. As to,the second prayer, that the, def-n,
dants might be restrained by an injunction from procuring
the certificate of the registrar in fay.,ur of the altered
rules, he understood that Mr. Roby continued his under-
taking, that no attempt should be made forthat purpose until
another meeting had been called. Mr. Roby : Yes,
certainly. His Honour said he had accepted the under-
taking, and made therefore no order upon that, point. The
third prayer of the petition was, that the defendants be
ordered to pay over to the plaintiffs as trustees for the
use of the society, all such moneys as had been expended
by the defendants out of the funds of thesociety, incidental
to the meetings. As he was not spared the disagreeable
duty of deciding that point, it must be his determine ion
to protect the society from proceedings which, if continued,
must, as he had said, be ruinous to it ; and he only
abstained from commenting upon some of the alterations
sought to be made, and some of the so-called notices which
had been given, in the hope that his abstinence might tend
to promote good will.. He therefore directed that the
defendants should render an account within one week
of all the moneys expended by them out of the
funds of the society, in calling the meetings which
were now declared void, and subsequently in seeking to
get the rules certified as altered by these meetings. That
account must be rendered within one week, and the
defendants must pay into court to meet its further oteier
which he should be very glad indeed, and still hope ci, to be
relieved from the necessity of making—within fourteen
dvs after such account had been rendered, an amount
equal to the sum found by the registrar to have been ex-
pended for the purposes already mentioned That amount
must remain in court until a further order. The defendants
were further to pay, out of their own monies, and not out
of the funds of the society, all costs incidental to this appli-
cation and procedure. Having arrived at this conclusion,
he begged to mate distincdy, that as he belitved it was
wi Bout appeal, as the conneel on both sides had argued as
if this matter could no be made the subject of any
enquiry before any other tiibunal, in any shape wi as-
ever, and as he concurred in the unanimous opinion
of the legal gentlemen engaged, he should deem it hi. duty
to enforce this order for the payment of the money, by the
' coetmittal of any of the defendants who disobeyed it. The
effect of this would be that the costs would have to be paid
directly. namely, at the same time as the other costs incurred
in calling the meeting, and attempting to obtain th 3 certifi.
cate. The latter amount would have to be paid into
court, to obviate a further order; and he hoped to be able
to return it to the funds of the society, as he had no desire
to put the society to any, expense beyond what was
absolutely necessary.
FAULKNER V. TUE LIVERPOOL DOCK TRUSTEES.—This was
an action brought, it will be remembered, a short time
since, to decide whether the -Liverpool Dock Trustees ware
entitled to charge dues upon a quantity of railway chairs,
as manufactured iron, or merely the loWer ra'e as upon
castings. His Honour said he was of opinion that the
dock trustees were not entitled to charge these castings—
which certainly were cast iron, althousth probably not of
that kind of cast iron which the dock trustees intended to
charge at the lower rate—at the higher charge which
applied to wrought iron. He therefore gave a verdict for
the plaintiff.

LONDON BINKRUPTCY•COURT,—Arnii 28,

. (Before Mr. Commissioner Ponblanque.)
, In re W. P. HANIMOND.—EXTENSIVE SIIIPPING CASE.
—This was an application for certificate by the bankrupt,
a shipowner of Scott's-yard; Bush lane. Mr. Linklater,
on behalf of the assignee, did not oppose, but drew
attention to the eirumstances. The bankrupt commenced
an account in December, "1852, with a deficiency of
£3,566, and his debts, owing at the time of the bank-
ruptcy, amounted to 1:70.000, upon which a dividend of 2s
in the pound had already been declared.. The profits had
been £lO,OOO, against which the trade and personal
expenses were only returned at £6,000, but there had been
insses.t'23,s69; so that, in fact, there had been no profit at
all. Mr. Lawrence said the bankrupt's course of business
was to purchase vessels,and then allot certain shares to tam
A,cilart.erGl.rahTab.Z,
of mercantile reputation, they,in fret,becorning co-own-_,,.,,
created quite a panic in
and he bAtig the tnanaging one. No doubt ho t:':ould have
hooks were so numerous that
gone on successfully but for the failure of !dr. Oi iver with
liabilities to the amount of one 0,2....1i0n sterling, which
Ole shipping trade, the conse-
quence was that a la,,ge number of ships were thrown
upon the market, and tlin vale° of such property depre•
the official assignee's office, was not large
enough to hold them, and they had to be distributed in
through the neglect of the bankrupt's
different offices; -
bookkeeper they had fallen into confusion, and had not
posted up, besides which that servant had forged OIL
been
Mr. Hammond to a considerable amount. The bankrupt
had already been for two years before the court, and
bankrupt's
after paying the dividend, there was £16,000 in hand, and
further sums to be received ; a result obtained
materially by the bankrupt's assistance. The Corn,
missioner said he had had enormous difficulty in
comprehending what was meant by unavoidable loss and
misfortune, and had arrived at the conclusion that It
consisted of negatives, and one of the negatives was where
a man had not sufficient to fall back upon or capital in
proportion to the extent of his business. In this ease
there was a deficiency, and he must take that as his star',
ing point. That the hinkr-pt might have had a surplus at
some time or another he f-onld not allow to weigh with
him, The shipping speculations, to say the least, had been
carried on in an eccentric manner. He had at times found
himself in a labyrinth of ships, which had so often
changed hands that at last it was really difficult to find out who was the owner. Tun bankrupt's subsequent
lie had attained that merit;
conduct had certai-ly been very meritorious; and
would grant one of the s,-cond class, and in consideration
of the time that had elapsed,
although,
would
el
de oeunitdi
trli-, t
it, would issue inan.ediately.
hismaYto a best class certificate, he

The prospectus has been issued of the Pielmontese
!Wining Company, with a capital of £5O 000, in £1 shares.
The obknt is to work certain copper and le.d mines in the
Val d'saiella, Piedmont, and the Canton Tesin, Switzerland
which are to be obtained in perpetuity in cJnsideration of
20,000 paid up shares, £5,000 in cash, and a royalty of
one fifteenth,