Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-11-05 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN TIMES.---LIVERPOOL, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1857.

LIVERPOOL &BIRKENHELkD
DOCKS.

MPORTAN 11 CONFERENCE

AT MANCHESTER.

Yesterday, a meeting::iwas held in the Town-hall.
Manchester, for the purpose of consilering the question
of completing the Birkenhead Dicks, and the proposed

extension of the Docks at the north end of Liverpool.
There was a numerous and inn sential attendance.
Several bodies interested in the completion of the Birken-
head Docks were present. The Birkenhead Improvement
Commissioners were represented by Mr. J. Laird, chair -
man, and Mr. Cook. OA beliedf of the Birkenhead, Lanca-
shire, and;Cheshire junction Railway Company, there
were present Mr. Titherington, the chairman ; and
Alderman Bancroft. The Hon. Mr. Ponsonby, chairman ;
Mr. Williams, of Chester, and Captain Buckley, were
present on behalf of the Great Western Railway Company.
The Manchester Chamber of Commerce, the Manchester
Commercial Association, and the Corporation of Mau_
chester, were also represented, and amongst those present
we noticed Mr. Harold Littledee, of this town.
In the absence of Sir James Watts, the Mayor of
Manchester, who was unavoidably prevented from being
present, the Deputy Mayor took the chair.
The proceedings were commenced by the Chairman
calling upon Mr. :Laird to open the general business of
the meeting, and to state the present position of
the dock works at Liverpool and at Birkenhead.
Mr. Laird commenced by a reference to the Liverpool
Dock act of 1855, luring which there was a great con-
tention as to the works at the north shore, when it was
proposed to spend £4,000,0D0 on new dock works. At
that time there was a strong opposition to the scheme,
and the committee of the House of Commons, of which
Mr. Labouchere was chairman, decided to grant,
after a long discussioe, only £3C0,030 to be expended on
the Liverpool side, and ou this understanding the
corporation of Liverpool took over the Birkenhead
Docks, with art undertakiug that they would complete
them in three years, that is by the Ist of September,
1858. Since that time they had been to parliament more
than on one occasion. In 1356 they applied to parliament
for an alteration in the plans, which va as refused. In
the last year--the year 1837—another parliamentary
contest took place, and the trust was taken
entirely from the existing trustees, on the
understanding that the works at Birkenhead would be
completed within the prescribed period. Bat instead of
the works being completed by next September, as was
originally intended, very little had been done to them,
though by the completion of the inner works, according
to the time prescribed by parliament, a a area of 150 acres
of deep water aecein nosietiou would be afforded
to Liverpool. Mr. Laird then p. oceeded to say that, in
all the transactions that he had been a party to between
Mr. Hartley and Mr. Brune!, as to the Birkenhead Docks,
ao difficulty whatever was raised a; to any
alteration in the inner works, and it was, therefore,
with great surprise that, in September last, he saw a
report of Mr. Hartley's, in which he proposed to go to
parliament for an alteratioa in the inner works, and to
seek powers fur the purchase of land on the north side of
the pool. During the time the act of last session was
passing through parliament, the necessity of this was
never suggested, and if it was necessary, Mr. Hartley
ought to ,have discovered it before, without altering and
virtwally postponing, for a period of three or four years,
the completion of the great dock of 150 acres, which
might have been completed, by the most common
exertions, by the Ist of September next, thus giving to
the port of Liverpool, in nine or ten mouths, a large and
valuable space of deep water. The postponement of the
completion of the Birkenhead works, and the uncertainty
by which they were surrounded, had operated very
prejudicially to the irtterees of B:rlesahea 1, and to the
trade of the place generally, in p-op: of which he might
say that several manufacturers had proposed to
re-establish manufactories there, but had no induce•
ment to do so. in conseouennA of thn st.ta .r
uncertainty as to vessels being able to get into

the docks. (Hear, hear.) The completion or' the docks
at Birkenhead, with deep water entrances, would save, it
was calculated, at least £lOO,OOO a year to the trade of
the port, as ships then, instead of lying in the river for
days, as they had now t• do, and going into the river to
load, would be enabled to enter the Birkenhead docks on
every day of the year at the lowest neap tide. (Hear,
hear.)
,Many parties in Liverpool said this was merely
a Birkenhead q testion, affecting the interests of the
people there, but he did not consider it so, because the
Manchester people, and the Manchester districts
generally, as well "as the Ralway Companies, had
a deep interest in anything that tended to give
extraordinary facilities to the port of Liverpool, and
to cheapen the accommodation for trade. (Hear, hear.)
It was evident that Birkenhea 1 did afford all these
`facilities, as p trliament had, after three years' contests,
viz., in 1355, 1856, and 1357, decided that the Birkenhead
docks should be completed before further extensions were
made on the Lancashire side. This decision was come to
by parliament after hearing e►idence as to both
sides of the water, and he (Mr. Laird) urged on
the manufacturing districts of Lancashire to support
them in securing the carrying out of a bona fide
arrangement, entered into with the Liverpool
people and the Dock Trustees, that the Birkenhead
dock works should be completed before further extensions
o❑ the Liverpool side were permittel. In seeking for the
completion of the Birkenhead works they were only ask-
ing for what they were entiqed to, and what had been
decided over and over again in their favour. (Hear, hear.)
Thu Hon•Mr.Ponsonby, chairman of the GmatWestern
Railway Company, stated the views of his Company as
to the importance of the completion of the Birkenhead
works, and remarked that the Board did not consider
that the authorities at Liverpool had kept good faith.

Mr. Alderman Bancroft, one of the directors of the
Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshire Junctio❑ Riilway
Company, stated that a very large sum of money had been

expended by the Birkenhead and Cheshire Junction Com-
pany, on the faith of tha early an I efficient completion of
the Birkenhead dock work, and that it was only
due to them that no further delay should take place.
In the course of his remarks Mr. Bancroft referred
to a speech delivered by Me Alderman Sam lel Helms
in the Liverpool Town Council on Friday last, in
answer to a q testion asked by Mr. Graves. Mr. Bancroft
said that fro.n that speech it was quite evident that the
Liverpool people dtd not intend to go oa with the
completion of the Birkenhead works. Mr. Alderman
Helms stated in his speech of F'rid ty last, that tne act of
last session prevented them going on with the outer
works at Birkenhead, whilst he ought to have known. as
an active member of the Corporation of Liverpool, that
the act of parliament compelled them to g ) on with the
works. (Hear, hear.) It appeared, from Mr• Ilelme's
remarks, that there was a determination on the minds of
some of the Liverpool gentlemen not to understand the
asst of last session. (Heat', hear.)
Mr. Harold Little laic stated that he was largely
interested in property in Liverpool, and was a
bondholder in the Liverpool docks, but he thought
that great remissness had been shown on the part of the
Liverpool Corporation aed the Dock Committee, by not
proceeding with the Birkenhead dock works more rapidly.
He said that Mr. Laird had even understated the loss
to vessels discharging in the river by want of water to
enter the decks, and in illustration of his views he read a
communication from Mr. Mackay, of the firm
of Messrs. James, Baines, and Co., in which the
writer showed the great advantages of Birkenhead
to vessels of a large class, and the ruinous
expenses to which vessels were exposed by having to lie
in the river to load and discharge their cargoes. The
writer added that the determination to make docks further
north at Liverpool was, he considered, nothing less than
tempting providence. Mr. Littleiale then gave some
illustrations of the loss of vessels detained in the river
with a cargo, in consequence of the operation of a falling
market.

After several other gentlemen had addres3ed the

meeting,

_Mr. Malcolm Ross, deputy chairman of the Man-

chester Chamber of Commerce, proposed a resolution to
the eff.ct, that the Corporation and the Dick Committee
at Liverpool had neg'.ected to carry out the powers which
were conferred upon them in respect of the Birkenhead
docks.

The resolution having been seconded was carried, and
after other resolutions: had 'been adapted, it was
resolved that a memorial should be presented to the
Board of Trade, an I to the Conservancy Board, praying
them to assist the memorialists in compelling the com-
pletion of the Birkenhead works, and in preventing any
further expenditure at the north end of Liverpool, until
the Birkenhead works:were finished.
A committee was then appointel to carry out the objects
of the mectinE,r, consisting of—The Hon. Mr. Ponsonby,
chairman of the Great Western Railway Company ; Mr.
Laird, chairman of the Birkenhead Commissioners ; Mr.
Titheringtou, chairman of the Birkenhead and Cheshire
Railway Company; Mr. Allem z‘n Baucroft,Mr. Malcolm
Ross, vice-president of the Manchester Chamber of
Commerce; and Mr. Joseph Heron, town clerk of Man-
chester.

Mr. James A.spinall Turner, M.P. for Manchester, ad-
dressed the meeting at some length, and stated that he
and his colleague fully concurred in the objects of the
meeting, and hoped that the Liverpool people wou'd see
the necessity of carrying out the engagements into whi•th
they had entered with Parliament, and thus prevent hitn
and his hon. friend frona having to take active steps to
support the committee which had been appointed to pre_
vent the proposed extension of works on the Lancashire
side, until the engagements entered into as regarded the
Birkenhead works had been carried out.

The proceedings then terminated, having occupied up-
wards of two hours.

The following are the res-lutions :
Mr. Ross moved, and Mr. Alderman Shuttleworth
seconded—

That this meeting has learned, with extreme surprise
and regret, that the Corporation of Liverpool have uct
proceeded with the construc,ion of the Birkenhead Docks,
as r( colored by the Conservancy Act of 1857; but that,
disregarding the clearly expressed regnirements of that
Act, they seem determined rather to encourage the re-
newal before Parliament of the experiments of 185'3-57.
an I thus, by delay and expense, to sacrifice the interests
of parties who have expended enormous sums of money
on the faith of the works being completed at an early
perio I, or by altering the main features of the authorised
plarr, to neutralise, if not destroy, the natural advantages
of Birkenhead.

Mr. John Carver moved, and Mr. C)uncillor Clark

seconded—

That the evident intention of parliament, in traniferring
in 1855 the Birkenhead Docks to- the Corporation of
Liverpool, was to secure the early completion of the
works substantially in accordance with the authorised
plans ; and the intentions of the legislature were again
more emphatically expressed in the session of 1856 by the
rejection of the proposals for , alterations then
made by the Liverpool Corporation c yet this
meeting is surprised to hear that, notwithstanding
these repeated klecisims of parliament, no steps of any
consequence have been taken by the Corporation
of Liverpool in fulfilment of the obligations imposed by
parliament in 1855; and that tha outer works, nom_
prising the sea wall, the low-water basin, and the entrance
into the Great F.oat at Birkenheal, upon the early com-
pletion of which all parties relied, and are, in fact,
dependent for re9ef to commerce, remain untouched,
whilst every effort has been made to (Atari!' the docks of

Liverpool.
Mr. Davis proposed, and Mr. Alderman Bowker
seconOxd—

That this meeting being fully impressed with the neces-
sity of completing the Birkenhead Docks in the spirit of
the original plans before any further expenditure in the
extension of ducks to the north on the Liverpool side 's
prop )sed to, or sanctioned by, parliament, resolved—that
memorials embracing the foregoing resolutions be drawn

up and presented to the Board of Trade and the Con-
servancy Board, by deputation or otherwi,e ; and that the
following gentlemen bo a sub.convn!qee, to draw up and
take charge of the same :—The Hon. Mr. ronsonby, John
Laird,. Esq., William Titherington, Ez,q., Mr. Ald.

Ross, Esq ; and also, that a copy of these resolutions,
signed by the chairman on behalf of this meeting, be
forwarded to the Liverpool Corporation and the Dock
Committee.

A MURDER.FR AT 'Pisa FUNERAL OF WS VICTIM —The
Kinderhoek (U S.) Rough Notes, alluding to the funeral of
the fete Mrs. Tanner, ‘eho was murdered by her husband
in tlate villegi last Mon I ty, that the- murderer was
present among the mo alters, and that the oaly time he
evieced any feeling was just b fore the funeral, when a
grandcbial went up to kiln mobbing as if her heart would
break. wed kissed him. This set in d to toueh his heart,
aa l he gave vent to a 11 rw of tears. At the grave the
same caild apereached and asked him if ha was not sorry.
He replied that he wae, lut it was now tpo late. This is
the only irstance on record where the murderer attended
the funeral of his vie i-u as one of the mourners.
A NOBLE PATRI4RCH.-0a Thursday last the Marquis
of Briatl enjoyed the sports of the field in Day ton
Weed, with Earl Jarmyn, Lord North, and Lord Alfred
Hervey. 'The, supply of game being ample, the noble
Marquis, though in his eighty ninth year, quickly breught
eewu sight an ash :If brace of pheasants in twenty shots;
ani, after a lone walk ov.r the farm, viewing peat impro_
merits, and ordering fresh ones, finishel the (ley by relieving
with his nasal liaorality the eg'd sal deserving peer of the
neiebbourhood. The pleas ire of the day was mulls
increas,d by the coop toy of ladies visiting at lekwo eh.
prtion of the venereble nearq iis's lair and emleble
forty-five grand-children.
" Europe will shortly learn," says a letter f one St.
Petersburg, i t the Wanderer otVietin a a that four Mongol
tribes, who have been bithorto subjects of Cnina, -have
recngeised the sovereignty of Russ'a, whash has granted
them an exemption from taxeCoi for seeeral years. In
order to prevent the displeasure which China may feel at
this fact, the Russians arc establishing a hue of fortresses
along the Chinese frontier. Colonies are also being
founded under very advent:a-Nous conditions, and the new
tribes are being ennvere t into a wslasratnised frontier
militia. The esteblishmt nt of two new towns in Siberia
is a'so said to he in centemplation."
C. se oY Tesar-ametore—Trae delicate and interesting
operation of traesfsrting Ws) el from one person to aeother
has again been seec .sstalle perform el by Mr. J.
Wheatcroa, su geon, of Cinneca, assisted by Mr. J.
Illackfard and Mr. Semite' W lea croft. TA3 p itient was
Mrs Benton, of Caneock. Waen apoerently expiring from
loss of blood, about 21bs. of b'oal was transfuse I from the
veins of her heatarnd into lea. veins, soi•h the !ropiest
result. In a few tniautes after the eeriest': of b'ond began
to 11 ase, and the ebbing of life was checked, the circulation
being reseatablishel, and deliverance frern apparently
certain and app'o'ching diesolu ion secursd. Tke
operation was parformed ou the 28 h ul'. Mr. Wheaterota
sag rests the a sal of this operation in the last stags of low
typhus and the c alapse of Asi +tic cholera, waea all other
meats have fai'ed.—Welverhainptem Chronicle.
THE LADES CP PEEILIWIIit.—Y es, Rainy, we have a
show of ladies hero which would do credit to any land in
Enabled. Up here at the marls of the Khyber, we have
no lack of bright eyes, rca lips, and resy cheeks, to inspire
each and all of us to do his best with head, and heart, and
hand, to preserve them Cram any suspicion of barn; and
ircempleto indeed world be any narrative of our doings,
were due meed of praise withheld frsm the lidirs of
•Peshawar, for the firmness and courage they have displayed
throughout the disturbance,. True daughters of the
Ross, the Shemreck, rad the Thistle, have they proved
themselves, and higher praise than that I know net. A
pleasant, cheering contrast it was, to 'urn from the
anxious careworn faces of the men, and from their it ces-
sant wearing demand fir sews—more news—to look at a
party of the Peshawar ladies cut ridina on a bight
stammer morning, wi h the rairg sue, not much
brighter, in all his Inds, us glory, than their own beaming
eyes, shining gladly on them—and to hear them
laughing, as they canter along, as merrily and cheerily a'
if no such animal as a mutineer was in existenc e Alas !
tilts ! these mutinies will do us no good as far as female
secitty is concerned. Many ladies will now be seat borne
by prudent husbands and lathers, never to come out again ;
and there will be no new importa.iens from Eng'and for the
next half dozen veers er so. Indian officers used to be
rather at a premium in the matrimonial market at home—
taey will now be at a sad discount ; and there wi I thus be
a perceptible decrease in the number of ladies in evtry
station i t India—an event much to be deplored ; for
sef ening and refleing as female society is, always and
everywhere, nowhere is it more required than in India to
keep men up to the pr per marx of true courtesy and
gentlemanly fee'ing. God forbid that we should revert to
the state of society prevalent mit here fifty years ago ! -
Blackwood's Magazine, for November.

MINERS AND THEIR MASTERS.

IMPORTANT DECISION.

Wore V° West Riding magistrates, at %Vaketleld, oe Monday, the
following case, adjourned about a fortnight ago for the purpose of
taking counsel's opinion with reference to it, was gone into. At the
period of the adjeurnment, George Illingworth, a coal miner, and
about a dozen of his fel'ow workmen, were surnmened for having left
their work without giving a fortnight's notice. As the case of
Illingworth was precisely similar to the whole of the others, his only
was now token into conside-ation. At the. previous hearing, the
complainant's attorney proved defordant's eignatere to a book, end
put in the rules and bye laws attached thereto. He teso proved, by
the a_ent of the colli ry, the terms of Ilangworth's verbal contract,
ani that he entered the complainant's service by virtue of it. The
ceendant's attorney objected to the book and the reies and bye laws
attached b ing given as evidence, on the ground that this was the
" contract of service," and, being in writing, ougitt to have been
signed by the colliery owners, as w 11 as by the defendant, and that
not being so signed, it was a nuclevn yietum, and void for want of
mutuality. The complainant's attorney replied that there was a
verbal contract of service, nnd-r which Illingworth entered, ani that
the signa aro in the book was merely ate acknowledgme it by the
defendant that he had received the roles required to be given to him
in accordance with the Colliery Act of Parliament. The comae'
referred to Mr. Blanshard, the le tder of the North um circuit, and the
followine is a summary of his opinion :—Quiest.ion : Is the memoran-
dum signed J I lingworth in the book befo-e a ludet to a contract in
writing within the meaning of the Act 4 Gee. IV ? Answer : lam of
opinion that it is not, on the gi oiled that the contract in writing
spekon of in the at :tuts in this Lilacs must be gelled by the co treating
parties. The memorandum here spoken of is for the protecti.sn of
Messrs. Hudson, and furnishes road! proof that the general and
special roles o' the collieries are supplied to their miners.—Q aestion :
Would the verbal contract under which Illingworth is serving,
previous to the signatare of the book above referred to, be eutH lent
tinder section 3 of the Act 4 Gro. IV , n. 34, to bin I him to the
performence of the bye laws, assuming him to have received a cony
of the bye laws? Answer: It would, if at the time of the verbal
contract he reeeieed a copy of the bye laws.—lt was no proved that
every men had received a copy of the bye laws, if not at the time of
his engagement, still daring the interval ; and the beech deciiel that
this was sufficient, for although the men were engaged by day work,
it woeld never do, bee tare such was the case, that they should be
allowed to leave their employer at a moment's notice, put his 'easiness
to a complete steadstill, and, it might be, entail rein upon him.
Tee m •eistrates gave the men an opeortuni y of returning to their
work the next morning, when, if they chose, they might give a
fortuiclit's notic i; or if not ho would seed them to the House of
cotreetion. The men agreed to go to their work, and pay the costs.

TEIREITENING TO HORiENVIILP A COUNTY
COURT JUDGE.

Oa Tuesday. William live., a re.spectabie-looking o'd ma', was
trought up before fir. Ba:doe at the Marlborough street Police-
court, on a warrant, charging him for that he d d threaten to
horsewhip Franc's Bayley, I:4Q, Judge of the Westminster County
Court, St. Martin's-I tne, whereby he apprehends that ho goes in
dangtr of some bodily harm that he, t• e said Wiliam Hayes, will do
or cause to be done. Com2l.ins.nt said that some short time ago the
defendant was a plahltiff in a ease before him, arid in cons queues of
his eieating a disturbance and treat ng tho court with contempt, he
was obliged to commit hi n until the rising of the court. When the
coal ceased <ittie7, the defendant refused to off'r the least apology,
notwithstanding watch he ordered him to be discharged. Toe
p isorer then entered into conversation abut a case which had
recently be n decided against him, aid hie conduot was so off ins ye
Vast he called the officers of the court to eject him from the p'acc.
The defendant then became much excited, and said it was a question
whether he should not horsewhip him. Thinking he would carry his
threats into execution, he adopted the present proceedings, and now
wish:d him to ne bound oser to loop the peace. The prisoner, who
apparel to b 3 labeuriug under great excitement, made a long
rambling statement about some injustice ha Ind received at the
hands of the complainant, which made him very excited, and while
he was in that state he ci rtsinly might dare made use of the words
imputed to him by Mr. B. ylry, but without the least intention of
carrying the threat into execution. He was a religious man, aid his
Bible told him it was wrong to resent an injury. Mr. Beadon said if
he was a religious man he must have known his conduct Was highly
imeroper, io threatening t i horsewhip the Judge of the Court. In
order to restrain him for the future, he should order him to find two
saret es in CIO each, with himself in £4O, to t eep the peace for
three month,.

A TALE OF MYSTERY.

The Belem journals far the list few days have been publishing
the following extraordinary story, which appears capital. We give
it as narrated by the independence •—" A ticket-porter, nearly four
years' ago, delivered to the propeetor of the Hotel des Etrangers
a hat b x, which he said had been intrustel to him by an Eng -
man, who requested the landlord to have a bed prepared for him in
the hotel, where he should arrive the following day. Months and
yeirs, however, passed away, and no one al pet el to cl dm the box,
wbi h w.a throwninto a garret, end there lay forgotten. A few days
ago, the landlord, on reading in the English journals an account of
the mys'erioas murder in London, called to mind the fact of the
hat ' ox, and bad it sought for, th nking that perhaps It might con-
tain some part of a huma'e body. On its being opened, to his great
astonishment, he found in it balk notes to the amount of 4'60,039.
The box, and its ap,orently valuable contents, were han led over to
the castody of the police ; conjectures of all kinds being form d
con,erning it Some persons imagined that the owner was a thief,
and had been afraid to ciana the property through fear of bang
arrested ; others supposed it might belong to some'rich man, who
had died suddenly, or had loz.ea murdered on the day he sent the
box. The police delivered up the not sto the English Consul, who
sent three of them to the Bank of England to ascertain whether they
were gen,.ine. A few days ago a telegraphic despatch was rece'ved
from that estab ishment, sating that the notes ware all for.eries.
The imlstion, however, was so wall ',twitted that several of the
money changers at Brussels &Oared that that they would not have
hesit-ded to cash them. It is said that some police :gents have
arrived at Brasses from London to assist in the investigation in this
singular affdr.