The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-25 00:00:00

THE NEW SALE OP BEER, &c., BILL.

GRAVESEND, Aug. 24.—Yesterday being the day ap-
pointed by the borough magistrates for the annual
renewal of existing licenses, and for granting new
licenses, six of the eight gentlemen in the commission,
together with the mayor (who presided), were on the
bench. The superintendent of police of the borough
having on Monday last reported to the bench, occupied
on that day only by the mayor (Mr. W. F. Dobson)
and by Mr. Oakes, one of the justices, that out of the
90 licensed houses in the borough 85 kept open from 1
in the afternoon till 10 o'clock at night on the day
before, and that some of the principal taverns were open
for the sale of beer, spirituous liquors, and wine even up
to eleven o'clock at night, the mayor reiterated an
opinion which he gave expression to from the bench the
Monday before, to the effect that visitors to the town on
the Sunday were " bond fide travellers" within the
meaning of the New Sale of Beer, &c., Act ; that the
. Legislature not having defined who were to be con-
sidered as " travellers had obviously left it to the
discretion of the magistrates oft the country to make
definition in accordance with circumstances of time
and place in their respective districts, and that in
a place where there was such an influx of strangers
or visitors on Sunday as into Gravesend, it could
not have been the design of the Legislature in passing
this act to deprive, between the hours of half-past
two o'clock and six o'clock of the afternoon of the Sun-
day, all means of obtiuniug refreshment, shelter, and rest,
in hotels, taverns, or other licensed houses. Those
persons who kept their houses open, or who served
visitors or other such travellers before 1 o'clock of the
forenoon of Sunday, or after 10 o'clock on the Sunday
night, were decidedly violaters of the new act, and alien
brought before him he would adjudge them to be so,
but he could not, until better informed on the subject,
consider it illegal of licensed victuallers to supply " ex-
cursionists," or visitors, whether by railway or boat, m-
other means of conveyance to the town, and who iii his
opinion were travellers within the meaning of the act,
with refreshments, if required from them by such per-
sous. It would appear that yesterday all the magistrates
present adopted the mayor's construction .of the act in
this respect, for the police were directed to report only
such licensed victuallers or beershop keepers as opened
for sale of beer, &c., before 1 o'clock in the afternoon
and after 10 o'clock at night on the Sundays. The
landlords who had on Sunday night last kept open after
10 o'clock were cautioned by the lieech to avoid again
violating the new act. There were 13 -applications for
new licenses, but the majority of the magistrates consi-
dering that, as there were at present 90 licensed houses
in the town, such number was amply sufficient for public
accommodation, refused to grant another licence.

SANITARY MEASURES AT HOLT,
NORFOLK.

Any stranger visiting Holt, Norfolk, must have been
struck with its natural advantages for drainage, and the
singular want of it—so little have the inhabitants availed
themselves of their elevated position, or the proprietors
of property of providing even necessary accommodation
for their tenants.
These evils will be remedied. A local board of health
has been formed, and measures have been taken to pro-
vide a sewerage for the town ; and those invitations to
the cholera, and other epidemics which for years have
been a disgrace to the authorities of Holt, are ordered
to be removed.
On a place called "The Spoats Common," within a
few hundred yards of the market-place, a noble spring
of water, which discharges from 30 to 40 barrels per
hour, has been allowed to run waste ; preliminary steps
have now been taken to secure its advantages to the
town. A meeting of the inhabitants has been held, and
a company will immediately he formed Pm the purpose of
supplying the town with water. We call attention to
the doings at Holt, in the hope that other towns will
follow its example, and that the dirt and filth which
has so long been disregarded may no longer be seen
amongst us.

RIOT AT THE LONDON-BRIDGE STEAM-BOAT PIER.—
Another attempt was made yesterday to fix the steam-
boat pierat the- London-bridge stairs; adjoiningFenning's
Wharf,• but, as on the previous day, the most determined
opposition was offered. Heavily-laden barges, strongly
moored to the wharf wall, were drawn across the foot of
the stairs, and a number of Trish labourerswerep
placed in
the craft, ready to assist in driving back the steamboat
people. A large number of the Thames, City, and the
M division of police, .under the superintendence
the of Mr.
Har.
Haines, were in attendance. At high avatar
bour-master of the Port of London, independent of any
authority of the steam boat company's
esaiprepdroalicimh to the
trhee-
mpve the barges which obstructedng
I e
public stairs, and which w niand d to throw out the
pier, waited upon Mr. Fn
the
ss an offence against the laws
which govern the navigation of the Thames. The order
was not heeded, the barges remained, and an attempt
was made to cut the chains which held the craft in front
of the stairs. Avery alarming scene then ensued. A
number of the
labourers on the wharf appeared with
tl'cke in 'their hands, and one who kept watch on the
chainss exhibited a huge chopper. The cuttings of the
moorings on the stairs then commenced, the Thames
police restraining the wharf labourers. Powerful ham-
mers and chisels were brought to play upon the chains,
but the labourers, by their sticks, so baffled the exertions
of the smiths, and the commotion on the bridge was so
great, that the pier authorities determined upon sue-
pending the work, and accordingly, about Fix o'clock,
the operations of the day were brought to a elose. It,
is understood that the matter will cons before the South-
wark Police 'Court in a day or so, the owners of the
barges having been summolied by the Harbour-muster
for ob,tructing the approach to the public plying pla
ce
of p ace
of the stairs.
ROYAL ORTHOP,EDIC HosmAt.—Yesterday the half-
yearly geueral meeting of the governors of this charity
was hell in the board-rooru of the Listitution, Bloom;.
bury-square ; Mr. Jacob Bell in the chair, It appeared
from the report that during the past half-year, 931 pa-
tients had been admitted to the benefits of the hospital,
being an increase over the number of those admitted hi the preceding half-year of 231. The total number ad-
mitted since the opening of the institution was reported
to be 16,227. It was also stated that the funds of the
charity were increasing, but were neverthless insufficient
to meet the demands upon them, as upwards of 200 per-
sons were waiting for adinission into the wards,w
could not be treated as out-patients. The buildingfund,
too, headed by her Majesty and his Royal Highness
Prince Albert, was progressing, but was very far short
of the amount required. The report wasado_ipptoesde,da4d
a quantity of routine'business having been di
the proceedings terminated in the usual net%
man