The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-30 00:00:00

DANGEROUS NUISANCE.

The LORD MAYOR elect (in the absence of Alderman
Salomons) presented a petition from the inhabitants of
the ward of Cordwainer, for the interference of the court
in the suppression of a dangerous nuisance in premises,
having thereon a considerable stock of lucifer and other
combustible matches, from which great danger is appre-
hended. Referred to a committee empowered to give
instructions to the City Solicitor, if necessary, to prose-
cute forthwith.

The thanks of the court were voted to the Rev. Dr.
Mortimer for his admirable sermon preached on that day
before the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, &c., in the church of
St. Lawrence Jewry.

NUISANCE IN THE WARD OF CASTLE BATNARD.
A petition was presented from the inhabitants of the
parish of St. Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe, for the adoption
of legal proceedings against Messrs. iVhite, Ponsford,
and Co., in respect to their steam corn mill at the foot
of St. Andrew's-hill.

Mr. GIBBONS, one of the petitioners, urged the neces-
sity of adopting immediate measures for the suppression
of what he assured the court was an intolerable nui-
sance. He wished at the same time not to be suspected
of any design to throw impediments in the way of con-
ducting the great establishment of the proprietors. The
fact was, that the carrying on of other trades in the
vicinity would, if the matter were not scrupulously in-
vestigated, with a view to the complete abatement of
the nuisance, be quite impossible.
The TOWN CLERK informed the court that the pro-
prietors of the corn mill had sent in a petition praying
that proceedings might not be adopted against them
until they should be heard upon the question.
Alderman MUGGERIDGE said the nuisance was a very
great one, and he considered that the most advisable
course the court could pursue would be to refer the
petition to a committee, whose investigations would no
doubt lead to a satisfactory result.
Alderman HOOPER thought the Smoke Consuming
Act, which had been obtained through the exertions of
Mr. Anderton, one of the present under-sheriffs, ought
effectually to do the business which the petitioners
wished the Court of Aldermen to undertake for them.
The act professed to adminster the remedy so much re-
quired and so loudly called for, and he hoped that it
would be carried out—that it would not be allowed to
remain a dead letter. (Hear, hear.) He apprehended,
from what he constantly observed, that the act did not
appear to be carried into operation at all, for whichever
way he looked he saw clouds of smoke. (Hear, hear,
and a laugh.) He wished to hear the City Solicitor's
opinion upon the immediate subject under discussion.
The CITY SOLICITOR said that Alderman Wilson,
while alderman of the ward, had taken great trouble to
get the nuisance completely abated. The proprietors of
the mill were anxious to co-operate with the court in
that object, and were actively engaged in endeavouring
to accomplish it. He had had a quantity of the ashes
emitted from the chimney collected and examined,
and it was obvious that they were not, properly
speaking, ashes, but unconsumed particles of anthracite
coal, which, when exposed to the heat of the furnace,
crepitated, and were carried by the draught up the
chimney, and so dispersed over the neighbourhood.
The proprietors had used the anthracite coal, which
gave out no smoke like the bituminous coal. In conse-
quence of the well-founded complaints of the neighbours
Messrs. White, Ponsford and Co. had given instructions
to have all their furnace re-arranged so as to enable
them to dispense altogether with the anthracite coal.
They had already three out of their five furnaces re-ad-
justed with revolving bars, which enabled their stokers
to feed the furnaces by means of a trapper, so that the
smoke traversing the flame in its passage up the chim-
ney was entirely consumed. It was represented that
when these alterations were completed the cause of com-
plaint would be removed. By the direction of the Lord
Mayor and Alderman Wilson, he had applied to Dr.
Lyon Playfair to nominate a competent scientific engi-
neer to advise on this and other eases of nuisance which
had been complained of. If the court would be pleased
to refer the complaint and the petition from Messrs.
White, Ponsford, and Co., to the same committee to
which the petition from Cordwainer's Ward had been
referred, Lthe whole of these questions might be taken
into consideration. (Hear, hear.)
The suggestion of the City Solicitor was immediately
adopted by the court.—Adjourned.

A LIVERPOOL BANQUET.—The Mayor of Liverpool,
Mr. S. Holme, will entertain the Earl of Derby and a
distinguished party at a grand (private) banquet, in the
Town-hall, Liverpool, on Wednesday next.
EXPECTED VISIT OF MR. GLADSTONE TO MANCHES-
TER.—The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, Chancellor of
the Exchequer, is expected on a visit about the 10th
proximo, to Manchester, and will be the guest of Mr.
J. C. Harter. The visit is to be, it is said of a private
character.

EDINBURGH.—MUNICIPAL HONOURS.—At a meeting
of the Town-council of Edinburgh on Tuesday, it was
resolved to offer the freedom of the city to the Right
Hon. W. E. Gladstone, Chancellor of the Exchequer,
"in testimony of their respect for his high character as
a statesman, and for his eminent services in administer-
ing the financial affairs of the nation." The Lord
Provost (Mr. Maclaren), in introducing the motion, ad-
verted to Mr. Gladstone's budget, which 31 of the
Council had on a vote approved, only one dissenting,
and that on a point of detail. Such a testimony to the
merits of his budget rendered it, he considered, the more
incumbent on them to pay Mr. Gladstone the only com-
pliment they had it in their power to bestow, namely,
conferring on him the freedom of the city. He be-
lieved there never was an Administration in this
country which combined so many men of great ad-
ministrative talent as the present Cabinet, and there
was not one of them on whom he would not, on
a fitting occasion, cordially confer the same honour.
But Mr. Gladstone, he thought, stood out pre-emi-
nently as the man of the whole Cabinet who had ren-
dered to his country the greatest services during the last
session of Parliament. The motion was unanimously
adopted, but several councillors suggested that the name
of Lord Palmerston should be associated with Mr. Glad-
stone in the honour. The Lord Provost refused to en-
tertain the proposal, on a point of form, as the noble
Lord's name had not been proposed in committee. The
Lord Provost likewise remarked that this would be to
lessen the compliment intended for Mr. Gladstone, who
had done deeds incomparably superior to what had been
done by Lord Palmerston, or any other member of the
Government ; for what was wanted was good deeds
rather than beautiful orations. Considerable dissatis-
faction was expressed at the Lord Provost's decision and
his remarks depreciatory of Lord Palmerston ; and the
result of the proceedings of the Council is, that a large
body of the councillors and citizens are resolved to take
steps to invite Lord Palmerston to a public demonstra-
tion, but in what form is not yet decided.

THE EASTERN QUESTION.—fn addition to the gather-
ings about to take place in London and at Leicester, it
is stated that public meetings to discuss the Eastern
question aro about to be called in Manchester and
Wolverhampton.
RUMOURED ELEVATION TO THE PEERAGE.—It has
been rumoured in Inverness that Sir James Matheson,
of the Lewis, M.P. for the counties of Ross and Cro-
marty, is to be raised to the peerage by the title of Lord
Stornoway, and is to be succeeded in the representation
of the said counties by the burgh member—Mr. Mathe-
son, of Ardross—who, it is said, is to be created a baro-
net. It is further reported that in the event of these
changes taking place the Master of Lovat will step into
the Inverness district of burghs.—Edinburgh Witness.
DINNER TO MR. DUFFY, M.P.—On Tuesday a din-
ner was given to Mr. Duffy, M.P., in a room adjoining
the New Ross Hotel. The Freeman's Journal, which
contains a lengthened report of the proceedings, states
that this was "the first of the proposed series of ban-
quets to the independent Irish party," notwithstanding
which the only Irish representative present, except Mr.
Duffy, was Mr. Kennedy, M.P. for Louth county.
These two gentlemen were the principal speakers on the
occasion.

FLIGHT OF A NUN.—Great sensation has been caused
in Galicia, in Spain, by the flight of a nun from a con•
vent at Compostella. A nun in the Carmelite convent
of that place let herself down a few nights ago from her
cell, by means of towels and napkins sewed together,
and formed into a cord. The descent must have been
attended with danger, though the nun took the precau-
tion of tying knots at intervals in her cord. The moment
the escape was known a search was made after her both'
by the police and the gendarmerie, but no trace of her
could be discovered, and it is supposed that she suc-
ceeded in reaching Corunna and in embarking on board
a foreign vessel. She is only 22 years of age, belongs
to one of the most distinguished families of Galicia, and
is remarkable for beauty and talents.
An Englishman inquired of a Kerry peasant how Ire-
land happened to have so many mountains, to which
the Kerry boy replied thus :—" You see, Ireland being
the finest country in the world, in course was the last
country Nature made ; and when Ireland was finished
Nature had a dale o' stuff to spare, so she left it there,
and that makes the mountains..,"