Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-01-07 00:00:00

MORGAN'S GUN AND CARRIAGE.

NEW MODEL FOR LARGE GUNS.
We bave been shown a model of a gini and carriage on
'greatly improved principles, by the inventor' and maker,
Mr. J. Morgan, commissioned officer coast-guard at St.'
Andrews. 'he construction is breech-loading, which can
be taken out, loaded, and put in again, ready for firing,
in a few seconds, and can be fired with either cap, tube,
or Match. The gun can be elevated by means of a
lever and side tangent. Four men can do all the duty
required ; it can be used on board of ship, or field,
or in one of the ship'S boats ; requires no sponging ; her
charge of powder about, one-sixth of the usual charge;
and one great advantage is, that, in the. event of being
overpowered -by the' enemy, the breech can he instantly
taken away, and leave the useless piece of ordnance in
the- field. The model is excellently-fitted en a carriage,
the weight of which is 51b. loz., the length of
it is 11 inches, and the weight of ball three-quarters of
an ounce. She has been repeatedly tried, and carries
200 yards, point blank. Upon the whole, we think the
model well worthy the consideration and inspection of
practical engineers or other professional parties compe-
tent to judge of its merits ; for our own part we will
say` that, independent altogether of its. evident improve-
ment and superiority; in a practical point of view, great
credit is due to Mr. -Morgan for the invention and
construction of such an ingenious model of artillery, 'for;
with the exception cf the casting avid boring, it has
been all fitted up with his own hand.—Dundec People's

Journal.
Concerning the gun referred to, we have had the fdl-
lowing handed to us by a respectable correspondent:—
All the information in regard to the above gun and
carriage was given for the good of the service, with the
view a having it sent to the Admiralty; but after it.had
been some considerable time in London, it'was returned
by Captain Carnegie, R.N.,. stating as .a reason- that,
as it had not been sent through the proper channel, it
could not be sent to the Admiralty.
We are 'asked whether it has not been inspected by
practical men while in-LOncloii. We are given to un-
derstand that Mr. Morman" has now another gun, but
that he requires a professional gentlemen to tiring the
present gun before the Admiralty ; and we are informed
that he is ready to send it to any professional patty
willing to take an interest in it; and as it cost him some
considerable trouble, -'he is desirous that it should' be
tborougly inspected,' and -then tried by the Liverpool-
Volunteers. All instructions—also the elevation, &c.
(quite new)—will be sent.- The carriage is admirably
constructed. Mr. Morgan has been in the coast guard
service since he was fourteen years of age, and is wholly
dependent on it for support, so that he has` no money to
throiv away; therefore he would, no doubt, be glad if
some respeetible party were to aid him in bringing his
guns under the
,consideration and inspection of en-
gineers,- and others competent to judge of their value.

TIP GREAT SHIP COMPANY (LIMITED).
Guedalla having, by advertisement, convened a meeting
of shareholders, to be held yesterday at the :London
Tavern, Bishopsgate-street, ,toagree what resolutions
to lodge at the office three clear days. prior "to the meet-
ing on the I lib," our reporter attended, but as no rooms
had been ordered, Mr. Guedalla not appearing, and three
shareholders only being present, cn meeting was held.—
Morning Herald, Jan. 6..
Cnuncir RATES AND THE CLERGY.—A meeting. of
the clergy and lay consultees of the rural deanery of Bre-
wood was held at Brewood on the 27th ult., on the sub-
ject of church rates, the Rev. W. Lister, victor of Bush-
bury and rural dean, being in the chair. The meeting
was felt by all present to be a very valuable one. It was
unanimously resolved that petitions to both houses of
parliament on the subject for which the meeting was as-
sembled should be forwarded both from the ruri-decanal
chapter and also from the several.parishes of which the
deanery consists. The abolition of church-rates, espe-
cially without a full and safe .equivdlent, was deprecated
by all present as a matter both essentially unjust in it-
self, and one calculated to inflict serious injury on the,
best interests of the country. .
THE TURKISH GOVERNMMNT AND TILE SUEZ CANAL.
It is reported in well-informed circles that M. de Lesseps
has received, for the .present at all events, a definitive
answer to his renewed appeals, or rather demands, to the
Porte. The Imperial Government, it is said, has intimated
its unalterable determination to entertain no further appli-
cations in the matter till conflicting foreign interests and
views nn the subject.have been-in some way harmonised;
and even then it gives no pledge-whatever that its own
action will 'ha influenced by anything but n. due and
proper regard to imperial interests—,he the duCord that
may be.come to on the subject by other powers what it
may: Such is evidently the true, as it is unquestionably
the most dignified, policy for the Porte to follox ; and.
if its present effect be to "extinguish" M. de Lesseps;
that gentleman will probably have very much to thank
himself for.the,result--4ompulsive and hectoring as has
been his tone,, whether in his countless published
"bulletins" on. the.. Subject, or in his directly .personal
conduct in -the prosecution of his scheme.—Levant
Herald, Dec..2B. --
RAILWAY TRAVELLING ON THE CONTINENT.—CaICII-
- based upon the most authentic returns have esta-
blished that since the introduction' of railways into
France there has been one traveller only killed out-
right in every two million of passengers, and there has
been. only -one traveller wounded. -in every five hun-
dred thousand passengers. -What was the ratio of
such- casualties in the good old times of slow travel-
line ? "Why, when the diligences were in use, there
was on an average of ten Yeats one killed of every
356,000 travellers by these vehicles, and one wounded in
every 30,000.. It seems, also, that in France, where
every care is taken to prevent timid dowagers, nervous
rentiers, and fast young people getting into danger at
stations, the results have been less favourable than in
Belgium,' where one only has been killed in nine millions
of travellers, and one wounded in two millions. ,Against
railway accidents one ought to be able, to assure his life
and limbs at a very small figure in Germany. In Prussia
and the Duchy of Baden there has been but one killed
in every seventeen and a half , million of travellers, and
only one wound, d in 1,200,000.
STORMS IN FRANCE.—Vagnes; the chief town of
the department of the Morbihan, and its environs
have within the last few days been. -visited by violent
winds and terreets of rain, and: even, according to
some persons, by slight shocks of earthquake. At
Kergrain, in the vicinity of the -town, about thirty
large fir trees were blown down; and some of them were
carried, it is supposed by a waterspout, a distanceof about
50 feet.' in, the town itself a sad accident occurred.
A very high wall, constructed of large stones, which
supported the terrace of the Prefecture, fell down, and
crushed some stables belonging to the postmaster, which
were built at their base. As it was known that two
postillions were in the stables the prefect and other
authorities immediately.set a number of soldiers and
labourers to work to remove the stones, in order to get
at the rnen. When the postillions were reached one was
found to be quite dead, his skull having been crushed
to pieces ; the other was in the, agony of death, and
soon after expired ; and of three horses in the
stables two were killed, arid•the other bad its leg
broken. The town of Riom, in the Puy de Dome, has
also within the last few days been visited by violent
winds, which have blown down chimnies, damaged.
roofs, &e. ; about 30 yards of a high wall surrounding.
a Carmelite convent was also:blown down. At Clermont,
in the same department,. high winds have likewise done
damage to houses. and buildings. At La Rochelle too,
there have been violent winds and rains, and the sea
has been so rough that the steamers Which ply between
• the port and the Ile de Rhe had to suspend their
Voyages. In the department-of the Calvados there have
been such heavy rains that inundations occurred in
s::veral places.—Galignani,

TAB PROPOSED NEW BYE-LAWS.

SPECIAL MEETING OF THE HEALTH '

COMMITTEE.

The new bye-laws passed under the provisions of the
Local Government Act, 1858, and proposed for adoption
by the Health Committee of the Town Council, laving
given rise to considerable opposition in various•quarters,
the Health Committee held' a special' meeting at the
Town-hall, yesterday, for the purpose of receiving a
deputation front the Liverpool Land and Houseowners'
Association, which is strongly opposed to the adoption
of the bye-laws in question. The deputation consisted
of Mr.. Owen Williams, president of the association, Mr.
Bremner, solicitor ; Mr. Hay, architect ; Mr. J. B.
Hughes, architect; Mr. Gray, surveyor of. the Board of
Works; Mr. Win. Williams, railway contractor;. Mr.
J. Jones, and Mr. Thomson, brewer. The members of
the committee present were—Messrs. Sheil (in ' the
chair),' Avison, Stitt, Beckwith, Bowring, Job, Cros-
thwaite, Haydock, Hodson, Nickson, and Barton.
The CHAIRMAN said the committee- had no desire to
propose anything, for the adoption of the Council or for
the government of the town, but what they believed would
be beneficial ; but still they might be like all other
people, and make. mistakes.. They were desirous of
avoiding this, and therefore anxious to hear the deputa-
tion, to whose opinions every attention. would be given.
Mr. OWEN WILLIAMS said, with respect to the first
bye-law for securing the stability of. buildings,. it would
• appear that .in future it was intended_ that no walls
should be erected unless they rested upon solid ground
or upon concrete,. or some other substructure. Now it
was very well known that a great deal of land was exca-
vated in and about Liverpool, and bricks made of the clay.
Now it would appear that no one would be allowed to erect
a building unless he should have first bored the land, to
find the depth of the solid ground. And not only so,
but -he would have to prepare a section :showing the
strata of the land. That, would be a very expensive
matter to builders ; and he thought it was hardly.
right to put the builders and . owners of property
to a very great: additional expense to the present mode
of building, without there were some evidence that the
public health. would be thereby benefitted. The only
reason that ho could see for making this requirement
was that it was expensive in constructing sewers in streets
and„ passages._ If that were the only objection, he
thought it could be got -over very readily, if the borough
engineer would lay the drainage pipes along the passages
before, or at the same time that the buildings were
being. constructed. Now, in the bye-laws there was
mention Of ".concrete.". That word mean/ a great deal,
for whilst. some concrete was inexpensive, another kind
would be very expensive. They had some knoWledge of
their borough engineer by this time, and he did not, think
the town. in general was impressed With.the idea.that.
he was a very inexpensive man. He thought many
individuals might be under -the (impression—possibly
erroneously so--that the borough engineer, was a most
ex_pensive individual to the town of Liverpool.
The C AN--I don't think there is any necessity
for remarks on the individual qualities or, practices of
any .particular person.
Mr. OWEN W X ILL/A' s went 'on to say that the.popiilar
feeling out of door's being what he had stated, ene.'en-
dereengen-
dered:a belief that 'when concrete was required to be.
laid , down in the foundation, it would be of the most
expensive and substantial kind. •
The CHAIRMAN—The borough engineer has nothing
to do with it. -

Mr. OWEN WILLIAMS—I beg pardon,: then; but that
was my impression.
The CIIAIRMNN—It is net in his department.
Mr. \VILLwas then went on to point out that, even
where land had been made by filling in pits With street
sweepings, ,the subsidence was so. gradual that ample,
time was' afforded to the_ initiates of houses built on
-such land, to retire if necessary. Besides, in streets
made and. in houses built upon concrete, there were
often. subsidences and fractures, so that infect .sinkinn•L
might,take place, whether there was- concrete under the
wall or not. He thought thatbeforethe building trade,
and houseowners should be called upon to incur such
serious expense as would, fall upon theni by the adop7
tion of these proposed bye-laws, a case should he made
out that the state of the public health wenlabe benefitted
by the changes.
Mr. BREMNER, as one of the deputation, wished
.to
address himself to the general questien. They were
imperfectly acquainted—in fact, they had no knowledge
whatever of the premises upon. which the Health
Committee sought to establish those bye-laws.. He did
not see any reason why the present powers of the
Council should not be sufficient for the purpose. of ,
protecting the public health .of the borough. The
deputation regarded_ the whole of -the proposed system
as vicious in principle, and so radically defective in the
superstructure of the clauses, that they could not assent
to it, in any shape or way. The principle contended
for was, that the whole .of those changes which were
about to be, imposed upon the public were to be in
the discretion and to the satisfaction of the
building.. surveyor. Was it reasonable to sup-
pose that parties would be satisfied that the plans
which had been laid out by gentlemen eminent in their
profession should be set aside hy_the building surveyor
or his:subs ? They held it was vicious-iii principle that
such a power as that .ought to be vested in anybody
whatever._ The point as to the space in the rear of
buildings and as to ventilation was also vicious in
principle. Where persons .had entered, ~as the law,
stood at preSent, into large contracts
,for the pur-
chase of land, the Health Committee would, by the.
operation of this clause, so defeat them in their con-
tracts that they would produce ruin to scores of people.
He knew of a case where a gentleman had entered
into a speculation for the purchase of a large lot
of land ; and although he had laid it out under
architects' and surveyors calculated 'to offer an opiniOn;
if this bye-law were passed the .transactions would be
ruinous to him. Departures 'from the strict rule of the
- clause might be made at the discretion of the committee
or the Council7' but this was a dangerous admission, as
it Woad open the door to.favouritism and jobbing.
Now, he did not appear befOre them as a professional.
man at all; but he had had the :pleagure of being
elected a member of this association-as a honseholder,
and as a householder he-had addressedthe obiervations
to their.

3lr. W. WILLIAMS,. of Everton, next addressed the
committee on several of the proposed clauses. He ad-
vocated the preient plan of laying the foundations on, .
ashes andcinders, which formed a concrete, rather than on
the original clay, on the 'ground that it was quite suffi-
cient in strength, and much more conducive to health. '
As .to the clause demanding
.a large 'area to the back of
houses, .it was impossible to carry it out ; and if,
they did, the houses themselves would be so expen-
sive that working men would not be able to afford
the rent, and the consequence would be. that five or six
families would, be put into one house. He also strongly
objected_ to the clause requiring the, builder to get.a cer-
tifieate from the building surveyor before the house
could be occupied, on the ground that the people who
took the houses were quite capable of making a bargain
for themselves and sedum whether 'the houSe was fit to'
he inhalfed or not. The-whole scheMe- was bad and
wrong towards the people who had bought the land.
In fact, he had a contract now to the amount of £30,000,
and if those clauses were. passed he would lose about
one-third' on that land. He should like tOknow*whether
the Health Comniittee would pay him compensation-in
such a case. ,
,Mr. J. B. liuGuris fully coincided in the remarks
niade by the preceding speakers. He addressed himself
partithilarly to the bye-law in reference 'to iron pillars,
and contended that if the new regulation were carried
out of building in the intervening spaces pillars of
brick or „stone,. as the contraction of the two materials
was altogether different,. the stability of the building
would be in fact endangered, and the symmetry of our
large, shops destroyed. He also objected 'to the clause
prohibiti4,parties making erections on the space' left
open, anti-held that the whole scheme was defectiVe. •
Mr. 0. WILLIAMS again addressed the Committee,
going through the various items in detail. He thought
it should first have been shown that the rate of mortality-
was' excessive, under the present state of the law, and.
_that there was a necessity for considerable-alteration.
Referring. to the statistics of the medical officer under
the committee, be contended that they afforded no proof
of, the necessity of the proposed- Changes. The whole
scheme .would uperate against the erection of decent
clwellingS for the poorer portion of the working-classes,,
and the ultimate result would be a state of over-crowd-.
ins far more than existed at the date of the last census.
Jr.' OWEN WILLIAMS, in answer to Mr. Avison, said
it was a great evil'for people to live either in cellarS
garrets, and he would be glad to join any number of
gentlemen in trying to devise a plan for such a class of
houses as would come within the reach of the working
classes.
.(11ear, hear.)
Mr. NICKSON asked if Mr. Owen. Williams bad calcu-
lated the difference of cost between a £l3 house erected