The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-07 00:00:00

School Ship Society.

The sixth annual meeting of this society was held
yesterday, at No. 24, New-street, Spring-gardens ;
Sir John Pakington, M.P., in the chair. Mr. Stephen
Cave, M.P., the honorary secretary, read the report
of the committee, which stated that the progress of
the institution continues sound and satisfactory.
The number of boys on board the reformatoryschool
ship Cornwall, now lying in the Thames, off Pur-
fleet, Dec. 31, 1864, was 140 ; in 1865 the admis-
sions were 77 ; the re-admissions from license, 2 ;
from absconding, 1 ; making a total of 80 ; there
had been 64 discharged ; leaving 156 boys in the
ship on Dec. 31, 1865. The steady increase of ad-
missions, which rose from 25 in 1863, to 50 in 1864,
and 77 in 1865, showed that the value of the insti-
tution was becoming more and more appreciated,
and the conduct of the boys after leaving the ship
bore equal testimony to the efficiency of the system
carried out on board. The behaviour of the boys had
been during the year satisfactory, and their general
health good ; but there had been one death from con-
sumption, of alad who was in bad health when he came
on board. The balance-sheet was more unfavourable
than that of last year. The boys were still very far
short of the full complement. This had added ma-
terially to the expense ; but the most serious cause
for anxiety was the state of the ship itself, the upper
deck of which was in a very rotton condition when
made over to the society. The rigging now requires
refitting, and portions of it have to be replaced ; the
upper deck must be caulked and repaired ; the cook-
ing apparatus was completely worn out ; the hull
required caulking outside, and a considerable outlay
would be necessary in future for general repairs, in
order to keep the ship sound and dry. Forty-six
boys had visited the Cornwall during the year, hav-
ing either returned in their ships from foreign voy-
ages, or being otherwise in employment ; many had
written, and of many others satisfactory reports had
been received. The character maintained by the
boys had been such that the difficulty which was
once experienced in finding them employment had
entirely passed away. The total number of boys
admitted to the end of last year was 447, and up to
the same date 227 had left the ship. The receipts
an t
el ad to
oe
£3,642f £4 8 0o
18s.n t9hde. par: d-
Not
oef tuhse aycecaoru
expenditureninthad
tdhl including
showed balance
credit of £l6B 9s. 4d. in
favour of the society, whose assets at the same
period were estimated at £965 I.Bs. against lia-
bilities for £462 4s. sd. The Chairman, in moving
the adoption of the report, remarked that its de-
scription of the ship somewhat reminded him of the
Irishman's knife, for when the repairs were effected
there would be very little of the original vessel left.
The presentation took place when he was at the
Admiralty, and as it had certainly been far from his
intention to present the society with a rotten ship,
be present state of things, he
be allowed to continue. Ile regrettedthought,otuogfih
find
dn otth to
the society received no support from the Middlesex
magistrates, nor did he like the idea of a
society like this becoming a begging society,
but still he could not help being struck by the

WSPAPER
• -,•.\
r • -
difference there was between the amount subscribed
by the public and that derived from the Govern-
! merit allowance and the payments by friends of the
boys. In the former it was only £153, while in the
latter it was verynearly £3,000, going, indeed, a
long way towards defraying the whole charge of
the institution. It was gratifying to know that of
the 297 boys who had left the ship only 21 had re-
lapsed into the evil ways from which it was the ob-
ject of the institution to reform them. The Mar-
quis of Westminster briefly seconded the motion,
expressing the warm interest he took in the success
of the society. The Rev. Sydney Turner, one of
the visiting committee, while bearing testimony to
the useful action of reformatories and ragged
schools, deplored the increase of juvenile crime
which was now taking place in London and Liver-
pool. Throughout the country generally there had
been a decrease; but in those two centreathe increase
last year was far beyond the ratio of increase in the
population, thus showing that more reformatory
agencies were required. He mentioned that 77 per
cent. of the boys sent forth from the ship were
doing well, and explained that the reason the Mid-
dlesex magistrates did not support the society was
because they had a reformatory of their own at
Feltham ; but then it should be remembered that
offenders over 14 years of age could not be sent to
that school, while here they would be received up
to 16. The motion having been unanimously passed,
Mr. Stephen Cave, M.P., in proposing a vote of
thanks to the chairman, took the opportunity of
stating that the desire of the committee was to make
the ship self-supporting, and that if it were used a
little more by the authorities it soon would be so.
Mr. Robert C. Hanbury, M.P., seconded the motion,
and promised to moot the question on the Middle-
sex bench. Sir John Pakington, in acknowledging
opbfbe
and
Admiralty, the
forthwith
necessitybroughtw
o,
hf oe
underits
pi n 1 itehr
se
uenad aodtei ec
wo ;o repair
ut hl
de
render some assistance in

6.-

elect Committee on Theatrical Licences
and Regulations.

A paper has been delivered in to this committee Fred. Stanley, solicitor, on behalf of the London M b'y Mr.
Proprietors' Protection Association, in which he stusie-hall
he has had experience for the last 17 years in the maates
that
ment of music-halls, having been connected witnhathe-
" Canterbury Hall" from the time it was first opened:
subsequently became one of the proprietors in partnership
with Mr. Chas. Morton, the originator of the present
system of music-halls ; and subsequently Mr. Morton and
myself established the " Oxford," which I Tried on con-
jointly with him till 1863, when I was anxious to resume
my profession,and I sold my interest to Mr. Morton, who
became sole proprietor of both establishments. Upon the
present question (namely, theatrical licences, &c.), I repre-
sent nearly all the proprietors of the principal music-halls
in London, who are members of the society, and am well
acquainted with their views on the present subject. On the
site now occupied by the Canterbury Hall was an ordinary
public-house, called the Canterbury Arms, where a singing
meeting was held once a week, attended by respectable
tradesmen and mechanics. This was called in those days
a "free-and-easy." When Mr. Morton opened the singing
room at the Canterbury Arms it was only capable of hold-
ing 100 people. Subsequently, at the solicitation of the
frequenters of his room, he opened the room one evening
in each week for the admission of his visitors and their
wives. Finding the room then built not large enough,
another larger one was built, which is the present " Canter-
bury Hall," capable of holding 2,000 persons. The total
cost of the present hall, picture gallery, and pictures must
have amounted to at least £40,000. In order to induce
first-class vocalists to sing at music-halls, Mr. Morton
offered Mr. Sims Reeves .£1,200 fora month, to sing once
each evening. The next hall was opened by Mr. Weston, in
Holborn, and now there are some 23 music•halls in London.
Low singing-rooms have ceased to exist since the estab-
lishment of music-halls. " The Oxford" was opened in
1861, previous to which £35,000 was expended upon it. Mr.
Stanley further states, "During the two years 1 was in-
terested in the two establishments (the Canterbury and
Oxford), we paid £24,828 for salaries of artists and profes-
sional persons, or at the rate of £12,414 per annum, or about
£238 per week. As much as £2O and £3O per week has
been paid for a single performer." " I believe," he
says, "it is impossible to get a comic song written worthy
of the present age. Mr. Morton once offered and paid a
premium for the purpose, but it was unsuccessful." The
music hall proprietors of London do not desire that the
right of performance of stage plays should be entirely
thrown open. They only desire the right of performance of
light pieces, and that the number of performers in a stage
hvaeirly. ral re
be
ollicocvuorttehnact et
ht he actridiiosytumrebnatticed
esritavekde
play should be limited, say to five or six persons. It is a
patlaniceusinicahmaluissii: from the privilege of smoking and the lounge whilst wit-
nessing the performance. The average amount spent in re-
freshments per night during the time I was one of the pro-
prietors of the Oxford was from 6d. to 7d. each person. In
1862 the number of persons who iaid for admission to the
Oxford was 384,982, and in 1863, 428,448, or at the rate of
8,239 per week. Music hall proprietors frequently expend
more than their receipts for admission in the cost of the
entertainments which they produce. They expend a por-
tion of their profits on refreshments, and therefore if the
privilege of selling refreshments be taken away, the prices
of the entertainment must be considerably higher, or its
quality lower, or music halls cannot be carried on at a pro-
fit. The present system of licensing I consider bad. I think
the tribunal for granting music and dancing licences is un-
satisfactory. It is composed of a vast number of gentlemen
who are appointed magistrates by political influence. There
is no appeal from the October sessions. There is a good deal
of private influence used in matters of licences. I have no-
ticed that at times there is a disposition to grant licences
freely, and at other times the feeling of the bench has been
quite the reverse. No reasons are given for the decisions ar-
rived at. The present law defining stage plays is very objec-
tionable. At the Canterbury Hall a constable is provided
from the police station, and paid for by the proprietor, in
order to have some person in authority in case of need. Mr.
Morton applied to have a policeman allotted to him at the
Oxford, but was refused by the police authorities. I consider
that the restriction on the performance of stage plays
should be partially removed. It is advisable to proceed by
steps ; first, the restriction should be partially removed,
which will give an opportunity hereafter of ascertaining
whether it will be advisable to remove eventually the re-
striction entirely. It is advisable that a new tribunal
should be appointed for the purpose of granting licenses
for music-halls and of hearing complaints against the pro-
prietors. It should ba composed of at least two persons ,
who should be high in authority, inasmuch as the pro-
perty under their control represents great wealth. It is
very undesirable and unfair to the proprietors that the
Lord Chamberlain should have control over the music-
halls. If it be desirable that a theatre should be turned
in to a music-hall, let the proprietor make application for a
licence and conform to the law. So, also, if it be required
to turn a music-hall into a theatre, there' should be an ap-
peal from this new tribunal to one of the superior courts
upon points of law, but not upon matters of discretion.

SUICIDE
OF A BETTING MAN.—A man named
Samuel Birchall, an engine-driver in the service of the
Midland Railway Company, committed suicide in Leeds on
Monday by poisoning
himself with opium. Deceased was
55 years of age, and had been in the employ of the company
for about twenty years. Ho was strongly addicted to the
turf, and has recently suffered heavily from horse-racing;
After an absence from Leeds of about nine weeks he visited
his family on Friday last, and on Saturday, Sunday, and
eetdicieaslllyveart°l‘bleri.niolldr:
Monday ho was in a state of continued intoxication. On
Monday he said that he had " taken something," and the
medical men who were called in. found him suffering from
the effects of opium. Emetics were administered, but
aswedhesnwothreeseenreermg
d andec deceased
head, the doctor, and endeavoured to strike li''
un- A. ver-
dict of " Felo-do-se" was returned by the •
swisitetndouitneffichcet,
quest, which was hold on Tuesday.
[ADVERTISEMENTI-- Dyspepsia (in •
tion, debility, consumption, and all digestion), eonstipa-
and liver complaints in every sta.- nervous, bilious, stomach
accelerated by drugs of ever ,e,.are only aggravated and
able by Du Barry's healthy- description, but perfectly cur-
Food, as proved by thousand restoring Revalenta Arabica
hopeless, such as sof cases which had been con-
sideredlim.morrhoids, liver
M ugh, asthma, also diarrho2a
biliousness, fevers, sore complaints, flatulency, nervousness'.
influenza, noises
in,
thethroats, diphtheria, catarrhs, colds,
purities, eruptions; head and ears rheumatism, gout. Mi-
nces, acidity, ,hysteria, neuralgia, irritibility,sleepless-
dropsy, cramps palpitation, heartburn, headache, debility,
or at sea, sinking spasms,
finteuse a and
a evenin
tightnesspreg-
nancy
ofthe chest, pains hi the •t s'of bronchitis,tl tOmasch and 'between the
shoWders, k
—O. we uotpeia few :lets'ure No. 46,276. MrJames
Roberts, timber merchant,of Frimley, Surrey, of 30 years'
diseased lungs, spitting of blood, liver derangement, and par-
tial deafness.—Cure No. 47,121. Miss Elizabeth Jacobs, of ex-
treme nervousness, indigestion, gatherings; low spirits, and
nervous fancies. —Cure No 1,771. Lord Stuart de Decies, lord
lieut. of Waterford, of many years' dyspepsia. —No. 19,832.
Fifty years' indescribable agony from dyspepsia, nervousness,
asthma, cough, constipation, flatulency, spasms, sickness, and
N
vomiting—Maria Joly —Cure o. 51,816. The Rey, James
T. Campbell, Fakenham, Norfolk, of indigestion and torpid-
ity of the liver, which had resisted all medical treatment.--•
2g gd; 21b, 4s 6d ; Mb,
In tins, 11b, lls ; 121 b, 228 • 241 b
and C 0.,. 77,
405.—Barry Regent-street, London;
:
Du Barry o.,
also Phillips, tea dealers, 8, King William-street ; likewise
at 61, Gracechurch-strect ; 4, Cheapside ; 49, Bishopsgate-
street Within ; 63, 150, and 298, Oxford-street • 330, Strand;
54, Upper Baker-street ; 103, Tottenham-court-road
oad-
Upper-street, Islington, N.; Harvey, l'Totting-hill • ' 96'
, Close
Brothers, 65, High-street ; and Stubbs, Qu ,
een s-terraoe, st.
John's-wood, London; and all respectable grooera and Oh&
, mum—Beware of spurious imitations,

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