Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-01-07 00:00:00

lIISTORIC SOCIETY

This society resumed its weekly meetings last night, in
St. George's Hall, Mr. W. Brown, M.P. in the chair.
The following, - &Mations were acknowledged by the
secretary :—The proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries
of Scotland, vol. ii., part 2, from the society. An original
paper published by the Norfolk and Norwich Archeo-
logical society, vol. v., part 3. Some notices of the
family of Newton, Pownall Hall, in Cheshire, &c.,
and a roll of subsidy levied in the thirteenth year of the
reign of Henry IV., so far as relates to the county of
Sussex ; by Mr. A. Sheete, a pen and ink sketch of the
ancient cross in Mawgan church-yard, Cornwall, taken
by the donor in 1858 ; and an engraved copy of the
inscription on the cross at St. Bride's, Beckermont, Cum-
berland, by. Mr. John Dixon, presented through Mr. H.
Shimmin. Mr. Hunt, Castle-street, was admitted a member.
Mr. H. Ecroyd Smith exhibited a photographic picture
of a Roman Catholic tessalated pavement, lately found at
Dorchester, said to be • the first illustration of the kind in
this or perhaps any other country. It was the produc-
tion of Mr. John Pouncy, of Dorchester, by his new
process of carbon printing, which was said to render the
colours imperishable: Probably owing to the disadvan-
tageously fiat position of the original, a faintness in
point of colour is at first observable., but the
tessara of which the pavement is composed

excellently well delineated, and ire-this respciet
considerable advantage was said to accrue over the
lithographic process, several of the best specimens of
which Mr. Smith has published and exhibited for com-
parison. Several communications from the Governor of
Dorchester Castle were read, by which it appeared that
the larger portion of a Roman house must have been -
uncovered, as also numerous minor objects of interest,
during these excavations which were origmally commenced
for alterations within the castle ground's. Mr. Smith
also exhibited fragments of a large crock, of about the
16th century, found during the late land slip, on the
Egmont shore of the Mersey, a little to the northward
of the well-known " Guinea Gap."' The- vessel measured
16 or 18 inches in diameter and 21 feet in height, and
had been covered by a thick glaze of a grass green colour,
and was Probably used as a receptacle for water.
Mr. Joseph :Ntayer exhibited an arelarlogical walking
stick. The head of the sack was made of silver, with
parts of it gilded, and the staff was made from the
hide of the- rhinoceros. Round the head, enclosed in
a crystal cover, were figures representing six of the
great peoples, whose works had most influence on
i the.
the progress of civilisation, and. their names—Egypt,
Assyria, Etruria, Greece, .Itorne: and Albioni, were
inscribed on the pedestal, each in the written cha-
racter and language. used bythem, with scrolls, masks,
and other ornaments belonging• to mediaeval times, and
Kith
on the top was a medallion portrait,inscription
running round it, "Joseph Meyer, F.5.A.,,
was also exhibited by Mr. Mayer There
_ft vstol, which was
7 a group
flowers, made at the mannfactery
Ititr,hter of the Champion, in the Castle Greell,
~, of Richard
presented by Miss ChttmEpsclio,n,,Otsd
pot-
ter, to Joseph Mayer,:
theod eßariPsltriSeit
and by him given to thei, anlev, Staffordshire,
specimens of porcelain It
t is
made interesting,in
arsubgelianngd o. n eAo fg
tfoogrekt,her nearly eight ounces of virgin
Suffolk,gold;a weighingknife
and torque and armlet, found in
with carved amber handles, time
ofot
brass,Elizabetihian
an;virr on
early specimen of a reliquary, made
one side the name " Madoc ;"
of
(
1 an electrotype cast a placque of Chinese carving,
beautifully executed, and
showing great skill of' the
artist, both in the
'
groaping and motive of the figures.
An ivory carving of a knight richly clad in armour, with
shield bearing the griffin segrant, the work of the fif-
teenth century; a M.S. bock of maps of various part

of the world, with illustrations of gallies, ships, &c.,
circa, beginning of the sixteenth century.
The paper for the evening was on" Home Education,"
by Mr. Hug Shimmin, who then proceeded to read his
paper: A vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Shimmin
for his excellent paper.

RAILWAY SCHEMING.-TRAFFIC ARRANGE-
MENTS BETWEEN LIVERPOOL ANI) THE
NORTH-EAST DISTRICT.

The commercial community have lately had their
attention directed to a bargain struck between the North"-
Eastern and Newcastle and Carlisle Comp

to the traffic from Liverpool to this town and district.
The bargain, to which we shall hereafter more particu-
larly allude, effectually excludes all c.mpetiton, since the

companies interested in its conveyor

have fixed the

rates, and agreed it; siinre the money in certain propor-
tions duly estimated and determined. As the whole
subject is one of considerable importance, nationally and
locally, we have been at some pains to collect, from
trustworthy sources, all the facts and circumstances
bearing thereon, which we present, almost entirely in a
narrative form, before our readers.

Until the opening of railway communication, Liver-
pool, for business purposes, was shut out from this
district. Traffic between these great emporiums of com-
merce was first developed by the Carlisle line, via steamer
from Liverpool to Whitchaven, Maryport, or Port Car-
lisle. The rate of carriage then was 13s 4d per ton, or
8d per cwt., which at once placed Liverpool in a favour-
able position to compete with London, and opened out
to dealers and manufacturers an important market from
which to obtain their supplies or dispose of their own
produce. The consequence was a steadily increasing
interchange of commodities alike advantageous to New-
castle and Liverpool.

Then came Mr. Hudson upon the scene. The "Rail-
way King" looked with an envious eye to the little
undertaking which bordered upon his domain, and pro-
posed to purchase it. The _necessary parliamentary
powers, however, could not be obtained, and he therefore
entered into arrangements to lease the Carlisle line - the
western traffic being still further developed by a mode-
rate scale of fates to all the towns between Newcastle
and York. On Mr. Hudson's fall, as will be remem-
bered, this agreement was terminated, his successors in
influence and power chosing to treat this as a " private"
affair between the dethroned monarch and the Carlisle
Company.

Shortly afterwards, the Newcastle, York, and Berwick
Company, under the new management, entered into a
fresh alliance with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Com-
pany—their first object being to secure
could to themselves, a rapidly imp

s much as they
and

7siuq t

traeting from it the largest amount of mileage, by
winging it round via Normanton ; and having only to
compete to one town, viz., Newcastle, by the Carlisle
route, they raised their rates throughout—still charging
to Newcastle 15s per ton.

And now we come to the amalgamation of the
York and Berwick, the York and North Midland
and the Leeds and Thirsk Companies into one giant
monopoly called the North Eastern. No sooner was this
monopoly secured, than schemes and plots against the
trading interests were fertile in the railway board, and

we have to mark its injurious effect on this particular
traffic. Negociations were . opened between the North
Eastern and Newcastle and Carlisle Boards, and the
latter, represented by Mr. Woods, were coerced (so it is
said) by their more powerful rival. Things, how-
ever' were made pleasant by a handsome douceur, and
Mr. Wm. Woods, by learning "how not to do it,"
well paid as if he had been skilled in the art of doing it.
An agreement was come to, by which the Carlisle Com-
pany was to receive 6s ld per ton upon one-third of the
whole traffic from Liverpool to Newcastle, and to pay
the North Eastern Company 13s 4d per ton on all they
carried the full amount they were charging for its
conveyance. What did the North Eastern then.
do ? Did they content themselves with the rates
they were then receiving ? No, at once they
applied the screw, and put up the rate to 25s per
ton to Newcastle, making a corresponding advance to the
other towns on their line. This rate is still maintained
by the North Eastern Company, but on a strong repre-
sentation being made to their goods manager that such
an advance would annihilate a great part of their heavy
traffic, a special rate was allowed for certain classes of
goods only. No doubt this has to some extent mitigated
the evil, but nevertheless business has been materially
restricted by these advanced charges, and the trading
community of Newcastle proportionably injured. The
state of matters between the two companies now is, that
the Carlisle pockets a fraction above 2s Id per ton on all
goods which pass, but none of which they carry, between
Liverpool and Newcastle, and the North-Eastern obtains
2s Ild extra out of the 5s per ton excess of rate which the
public have to pay. A very snug bargain truly, the
producers and consumers being alike crucified between
the greedy, grasping, but short-sighted companies.
The amount paid by the public may be easily estimated
by Mr. Smiles' statement that the traffic from Liverpool
to Newcastle in the year ending 31st March, 1858, was
14,446 tons. The difference thus represents the large
sum of £3,814, and assuming that Newcastle receives
about one-third the ,goods sent into the district; it follows
that the North-Eastern gains £lO,OOO by its craftiness,
our good friends here and in the neighbourhood losing
just as much.

This, then, appears to us a case for interference. The
Silloth Bay and Maryport Railway Company have taken
the initiative, and surely the merchants and traders of
Newcastle will neither refuse nor hesitate to lend their
assistance to to break up this (to them) most injurious
compact. A rumour was lately afloat that an amalgama-
tion of these two companies was on the tapis. We
believe they met, and happily separated without coming
to any decisive resolution. We say happily, for surely
nothing could be more detrimental to this town than
to' place every available avenue in the hands of the
leviathan company which has already acquired
more than sufficient mastery ; and to also give them
control over the Glasgow and Greenock traffic (second
only in importance to that of Liverpool), which at pre-
sent, owing to the two lines being open, is carried at
the comparatively moderate rate of 17s 6d per ton. As
might be expected, the increased rates have driven orders
from' Liverpool to other markets, where the rates of
transit are cheaper ; and thus it is with all monopolies
they defeat their own end by annihilating trade which
would otherwise have been enjoyed, had their upholders
been content to abide by the ordinary rale of all trading,
that of fair and legitimate competition.—Newcastle
Guardian) Jan. 1, 1859.

THE LIVERPOOL AND BOSTON PACKETS.
WARREN AND THAYER'S LINE.
Being the only regular and established Line between
ittN LIVERPOOL AND BOSTON.
6 ofif Au*. /Co goods received on the advertised day of
Loading Berth, south side Waterloo Do,
Sailing from LIVERPOOL pun

nary

FIFTH AND TWENTIETH OF EACH MONTH
INTERNATIONAL M Seavy ........1300 . Janu
HAVELOCK .
SEA KING
ANNA DECATUR. ...
SEA FLOWER ...... ......W. W. Thornhill-1300 March
MARY WASHINGTON .....G. W. Chapman . 1200—March
B. CURLING .. ...... ...... .S. Curling ... —1600.. ApriIWILBUR FISK ...... ...A. A. Burwell.... 1100 April
POCAHONTAS .. B. Delano l2OO ..May

but Wines,

.IL-rez.• Cabin Passage, £2O, found everythin6
The reputation of this Line for punctuality, quick
prompt delivery of freight (in good order) is well known to impo
ters.—For freight or nassaze anDlv. in Livernool. to

WARREN & THAYER, Fenwick Chambers, Fenwick-st
and in Boston, to THAYER & WARREN, Constitution Wharf
For Steerage Passage apply at 68, Waterloo-road, Liverpool.