Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-09-08 00:00:00

CER,TIPICATES OW DISCIURGE.

The following', instructions to shipping'' masters
bavo been issued by the Marine Department of the
Boaid of Trade
It has been determined to 4,13 a new form of certificate
of discharge Tor such seamen as may choose to avail them-
selvee of it, pesseesing the following advantages. It will be
on parch are' a and will csntain is owe document a record of
seamen's successive services and eharactets, and will thus
show at one dance the services anal characters of many years
It *lll be of value to the seaman, will assist him in pro-
curing employment, and will be less likely to be lost than
the 'numerous certificates scsnren are now obliged to carry.
Ws itb each form will be supplied a small tin case to keep it
in, and a iuplicats of the certificate on paper. A 3 the
duplicates of the certificates will be bound into volumes at
'the Registrar-General of Seamens Dffice as the different
'series are rompleted, the shipping master will be careful to
restrict his demand to the quantities that ha estimates
will be reqeired for immediate cue, and to issue the certi-
ficates in their numerical order. In the first instance, a few'
of the cer ificates will be sent to each poet-, accompanied
by their cases and durlicates. It will be the duty'
of the shipping master to call the attention of seamen,
when discaarred bafote him to the advantages which
these certificates possess for men of good character. No
seaman i., heeever' to he compelled to take one, and every
seaman will he at libeler to have the old form R'l if he
prefers it. In 'c Ise rif a man desiring to have the new ::arm,
the ship ring Master toil s fy himself that his character fur
the en sag-meet fr rim which he is being discharged is good.
The shipping maser will then enter the particulars in the
spaces at the heal of the form, and procure the sea-
man's signature in the space left for that -purpose.
The peraculars of the man's discharge and character
are then to 'be extracted ley the shipping 'blaster, and
is afterwatils '-to be signed by the mastet of the vessel
in the shipping master's peesence, and them by the ship-
ping Attester. the seaman, -must be called npon for a fee
of' one shilline, ant this being paid, the hipping master
will give the -certificate in the tin case to the seaman.
The paper eitiplicete recast be filled ap by the shipping
master, to correspond exactly in all particulars with
the origi• al. The seentau must sign 'it himself, and the
shipping master mast also sign it. InTeu of the signature
of the master, the slit-teeing master tariff enter the master's
name. A spare will be left in which are to be entered the
numbers of all near certificates issued in the coursi ter the
weeks and the duplicates must be annexed to that list and
forwarded to theitessietrar-Generet of Seaman, by whomthey will bitfiled'end indexed. 'Whenever, oe the discharge
of a te,ese. a seamen produces his new certificate, the ship
ping, master withmske the entries of the seaman's discharge
and chatahter in such certificate, and call upon the
master to siererthe proper form ; the shipping master will
tken sign thie iorro, and return it to the seaman, taking
care to enterethe number of t he certificate is red ink in the
same &dente as the seaman's name. If the holder of the
new certificate has been promoted to a superior rank in the
course 'Of stevoyage, the character and period of service in
each gratlesmust be given in a separate line. It is necessary
that these particulars should always be dististetly shown,
as they are of importance when the holder applies for a
eersifieate of competency as mate or master. The entries
in the new certificate shauld be very distinct and accurate,
and are therefore to be made invariably by the shippioz
master er his clerk, but the master must sign 'his name in
the proper column. It is also to be remembered that the
More:ant Shipping Act, 1854, 1761 does not make it
necessary that the character should be inserted on the cer-
tificate of discharge, unless the seaman wishes it.; -cense-
quenCy, if, on account of the character being indifferent, or
for other reasons, the seaman requires the entries of'
character or any of them to be omitted from the new certi-;
Ecate, they must he emitted ; and, with the view of giving
him this option, his attention should always. be -called to
the-point wherever it is proposed to insert a bad Cr indif-
ferent cbar,,eter. If the entries of character are omitted,
the shipping master must always blot out the blank space?,
'so as to p-event any entries being made in them subset
Anently. The master and seaman must attend tog,ether
at the shipping office whenever a discharge is entered in
the,certificate E 2. If the holder of such a certificate has
been serving in the home trade, and the Master chooses
to eccompany him to the shipping office, the entries may
-be made in the s cane way as in the case of a foreign-going
whip. The shipping master should satisfy himself as tar as •
be can that the master is really what he represents himself
to be, and is entitled to give the character ; and the
master must sign his name against the copy of _the
entries. No fee is to he charged in these cas s. When-
ever entries are made in the new certificate the shipping
master will, at the time, make an exact cony of such
entries in the " Weekly list of Entries in and Transactions
connected with Certificates of Discharge and Character;'
and will at the end of every week send to the Reeistrar-
-General of Seamen the list or lists for the week, in crier
that the duplicate certificates may bs entered up, so that
in case of the lass or destruction of an original certificate a
renewed one exactly like it may be issued. The shipping
master will use all the means in his power to see that the
certificates are not forged or used by those to whom they eo
mot belong:. In every case where a shipping master has
reason to believe a certificate to be improperly held or
used, he will make such enqniry as is in his power, and
report the case to the local Marini Board of the port, or
theißoard of Trade, asithe case may be. In case of an
application for a renewed certificate in place of one lost
or destroyed, the shipping master will pat to the seaman
the, questions in the form of applieation supplied to him,
and insert the seaman's answers in the proper spaces; he
will also pus any fah -tequestions connec'el with the man's
service at.sea prior to the. date of his eert fleets as may
assist in provirg his identity, and insert the answers
in the space left vacant for that purpose. The seaman
must than sign the form, and the shipping master will
countersien it, and forward it to the Registrar-Gsneral
of Seamen. 'Oa no account is a renewed certificate to
be issued without referenee to .aed directions (rain the
Registrar-Ganeral of Seamen. The Registrar Will then,
if there is no doubt of the mates identity, issue a
renewed certifessate containing entries corresponding
with those in tie lost ,•one, and will forward it to
the shipping raaater of the port at which the seaman
wishes to receive it, for delivery to him. The seaman
must sign the reocwed certificate in the shipping master's
presence at the time it is delivered to him, and the
shipping [master will compare the sign iture with that
which will accompany the renewed certificate for that
purpose. The shipping master should endeavour, befoe
handing: aver any such ieaewed certificate, to satisfy him-
self that the applicant is the proper person to receive it.
If the renamed certificate is required because the original
is filled np or is proved to have been lost •r des'..royed by
wreck, fire, or any accident beyond the man's contrel. no
fee will be.charged far the renewal; hut if this is ant the
case, a fee of one shilling will be ten tired, which musabe
sent to the Registrar-General of Seamen in postage
stamps. Wissaever -a reneaved certificate is appFc i for on
the grounl of; the original .one being defaced, illegible, or
flied up, the application newt be accompanied by such
original certificate. On the receipt of the. first supply of
the new ..c Ttifieates and cases, the shipping master will
forward to the 'Registrar-General -of -Seamen, out of the
balance in his hse..nd as Shipping
,ilfester, the amount of
fees to be charged for them. When a further supply of
the certificates is required, the shipping matter is to
forward to the Registrar with his .application a remittance
for their value entre the balance aforesaid. He will reim-
burse himself by the: fees which he receives•from the tea-
men to whom tie certificates are granted. These advances,
and the receip's of the chipping master for the sate of the
certificates. are not to spear in Me publicaccoants, lest
the shipping master sould for his owa:satistaction keep
a memorsndurn of the receipt and issue of the certificate.,;
and of the dee of trauerniseion of 'the counterparts, Ice
The number of certificatsa which the shipping master may
ny time, have in hand should be reckoned as part of
lee cash balance, and, being valaed at one shilling each,
should, with the. cash in hand, agree with the balance of
the cash due to the Government, as shown in •the cash-
book, . The remittance is to be made by pest-eface order
to John Hoskine Brown (the Registrar-General of Sea-
men), payab'e at,Great Tower Street, Tower Hill, Lo' tloa
(EX.); the charge for the order is to be included under
the Shipping Master's account current with the Board of
Trade, under the heading '° Charges for Pest °ace Orders
to the Regisrar-General of Seamen for Paymen s for Cer-
tificates of Discharge and Character!' When forms are
required which are not inserted in theorder-book sow in
use, the demand must be written in iair on the demand
sheet.

RAILWAY SeAgON TICKET HOLDEIII4.--,,R t3IMELL Y.
THE GREAT NOTaTillitsf RAILWAY.--The plaintiff, Mr.
Harley Kammell, has a first class season ticket, to and
from Barnet. As he was coming uo to town, on the 12th
of August, he was asked to produce his ticket, as usual,
but having left it at home, he was etargel tine otdivary
first-class fare, Is, 4d. He complained at the time, a
there were other gentlemen in the same carriage who were
in the same p.sicion, but they being known to the officials,
were not charged the fare. Mr. Rammell brought his
action yesterday in the Bloomsbury flaunty Court to
recover back his fa.,e. He produced in support of his
claim, his seascn ticket, upon which was distinctly printed
the following words :—" tra!esg this tickot be produced
the ordinary fre is to be paid." Mr. Heath (the judge)
said, upon the face of the ticket that condition (the pro-
duction ; f the ticket) vir,s on attached to the privilege of
travelling, It hal not been complied with, and his
judgment was, therefore, for al! defccdaats. The company
waived their costa,