Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-09-22 00:00:00

'TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN TIMES.

Sir,—Knowing ycur impartial conduct on all
occasions, I ventuze to solicit the insertion of these
observations in your valuable paper, in reply to a
letter which appeared in your impression oi.
Friday las signed A Victim to Smcke Persecu-
tion.' _ . .

-.
In the firs: place, I cannot help pointing out to
you how significant is the signature attschtd to his
letter *" A Victim to Smoke Nuisance." This is
just the phraseeelogy adopted by all transgressors
of our just and salutary laws. The burglar, when
caught in his depredations, considers, or rather
styles himself a 1 Y.ctim" to the hard swearing of
la policeman, orteme other cause. The pickpocket
considers himself a " Victim" to the ingenuity of
the detective. The midnight assassin, if secured
in his pumice-outs acts, will endeavour to convince
you that he e.lso is a " Victim," and I venture to
assert, that thee tenths of the inhabitants of our
model 'price!) would freely assert that they are
"Victims '-ef the same class. Forgeting at the
same time that it is not to the hard swearing•of a
policeman, nor to the ingenious contrivances of
the detective, nor frameany other supposed cause
other titan the wilful, obstinate, careless, and Awe
rant violation of the law that they ere made
amenetble to consequences. As it is with the class
;alluded to, so is it with our friendly " Victim" of
ainoite, he forgets that it is not owing to too hard
swearing of this -or that individual, nor to the
waive vigilance of the Smoke Committee, or any
of their officers, that he is victimised, but because
he•wilfully. obstinately, designedly, and flagrantly
dorce.ks a good, *wise, and humane law, and, as a
-consequence, he is mulcted in pains and penalties.
wish to itn.press thislittle fact upon his atteation,
eas it seems so -convenient for him to overlcok it.
The design of his letter is perfectly apparent,
!and suflieiently visible to the most short sighted
human being. Mark how insiduously he intro-
duces to ,irotice the lato Smoke Inspector, Mr.
M'Donald,,and quotes one of his -sage end' valentine
sayings. Dees he not perceive in the quotation
teludel to that Mr. M'Donald is preaching up his
own Vietu; s (and pray who -cries stinking 'fish)
and endeavouring to convince a Town'Council—
who had'ltnowu him for a quarter of a century or
more, aeol had been privy to all his sayings and
doings during that period—that -he was a•naan of
such sterling honour, smell irresistible•integrlty,
and such inflexible, inexorable, and unbending
piety, that he had been able to 'withstand all the
overtures and temptations of 'the Smoke Ooctors.
You will, recallect, sir, how the united Council
treated this self-adulation—this 4ontlictAt and pom-
posity They treated it as it richly deserved—
with silent contempt; and I hope and =trust this
would-be " Victim," before he issues another letter,
will weigh well the designs of his authors, and
meke his quotations from a less -questionable
• source.
'Tu let us look a little closer into the matter,.
and lift the- flimsy veil under which trys to;
enshroud himself, and we shall soon see that the
-.object of his epistle is not so much te enlighten'
the public as it is most malignantly to injure a
411 os t active, industrious, efficient, and, I believe,
impartial officer, for having done—Watt? I would
ask. Why, jest simply his duty, in preventing this
" Victim" from smothering half the town with
smoke. Wnat an offence to excite the ire of this
malignant " VictiM !" Bat I have every confidence
in the Smoke Committee and their officers, that
they will continue to do their duty. Thank God
they have both the will and the power to prevent
the Door man from being half smothered with
smoke in the town, whilst a `• Victim " goes to
enjoy the sweet and invigorating air at his rural
villa. I trust they will continue their active
operations to keep down, at all hazards, this
abominable nuisance which this "Victim" and his
clique would so unmercifully again inflict -upon us,
and thousands of our townsmen will be grateful to
them foe their exertions, and are long a discerning
and appreciating public will give a spontaneous
sanction to their conduct.
.In reference to the present Smoke Inspectoi's
• knowledge of engines, Ste., of which the writer
referred to complains, whether the Smoke Inspec-
tor is a good or bad engineer, I know not, nor can
I see wilat this has to do with the question. I
submit that it is no province of his to be able to
erect an engine, or to make a boiler, and test the
capabilities of its pressure, Ssr., were ho the best
engineer in the world, or the most profound mathe
matician in existence. I cannot see that these are

requisites for. a Smoke Inspector. What should
we think if, .when a p)lice officer detects a man
• committing a felony, and on going to apprehend
him, be turns round upon the effiier, and says—
'"Before you have a right to take me into custody,
you must first convince me that you are acqutinted
with all• the manoeuvres, the sang phrases, the low
cunning, ard the artful dodges necessary to con-
stitate a thief." " No," says the officer, " thA forms
no part of my duty. The law says Thowshalt
not steal.' .It is sufficient for me to detect you
. breaking that lam to enable me to take you before
the proper tribunal to answer for your conduct:" So
is it with the officers of smoke and other
.waisances. The daw says you shall consume your
smoke, and with equal firmness it says—" If you
do not, you shall pay for your temerity." In other
words, it says—"Tiou shall not smoth,,r your neigh
hour with black seroke to suit your own purposes
and convenience." There is not much mathe
nautical knowledge or scientific sk.ll required -to
understand this plain, common-sense law ; in fact,
I. -think it is rather too plain for this " Victim" of
smoke. Dou'otless he would prefer dealing with
one of those my ster:ous statutes of which the great
Irish ,Liberator used to-boast that he could drive a
coach. and horses through and remein scathless.
It appears to me that an acute optical vision, a
refined nasal organ, with a tolerable amount of
common sense, combined with a wise discretion,
are . most essential requisites for a detector of
nuisances. Be this as it may, I think we have
equal right to our opinion.; but of. this I feel con-
fident, that it is entirely a matter of pounds, shil-
' Hogs, and pence with this ''Victim,' irregardless
of public convenience or sanitary exigencies
I, for one, feel thankful for the efficient manner
in which the Smoke Act is applied to Liverpool.
The atmosphere of our donse4-populated towa !s
Almost as clear and as free from smoke as ils a
.country village. I fervently hope the Smoke Corn-
mistee will net band us over again to the tender
~/nereies of this " Victim" and his associates, who,
.sooner than lay cut a few pounds to remedy the
.evrt, would aglin inundate the town with their
..detestable.smoke.—Yours respectfully,
-Sept. 21st, 10.7. ANTI-SNAKE.

THE NEW LANDING STAGE.

1J TII ZDITOR..OF TM: NATHERN

Sir,One of your correspondents lately, very
properly, complained of the practice of emolling
being permitted on the .Great Landing Stage; but I
perceive that a rnueli greater nuisance than this
is tolerated there, even on a Sunday, namely, the
presence of .a certain class of females—some of
them of a very low class indeed. Surely the
authorities have the power to instruct the pace
in charge of the bridges to refuse such characters
access to this delightful and otherwise respectable
promenade. If not, let the police see to it that the
individuals in question tic) net misbehave themselves
while there assembled.—Yours, tic,
Sept. 21., 1957. A VISITOR.

CALORIC TNOINES.—Mr. E•icsson does not despair of
success in applying the'' now motor." lie ii said to have
built eight salad engines on the hot-air principle since the
experiwent with the trimon storm-ship, and to be still
engaged in the. pursuit of his favt urite study. The
Ecientlfic Arnerican aa3s ho has now floating on the
Hudson a small steamer, or wirer, about seventy feet long,
which he has succeeded in drivirg at a good rare by the
e•-nabus!ion of an incredible small quantity of pine kindling
wood. There are two engines, horizontal, single acting,
at 4 „par, ntly abcut thirty inches diameter by thirt.7,i z
irachig stroke. The Ic.rs is en open boat, or mammoth
,yawl, and the paddle wLetla are about ten or twelve feet
in diameter. We beieve air alone is the fluid cmployEd
a medium ;o generate the placer.