The Sun.
London, England, 1835-10-19 00:00:00

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

(GOVERNMENT CIRCULAR.)

Whitehall, Oct. 1, 1835.
SIR-I have already, in conformity to the directions of
Lord John Russell, transmitted to you a copy of the Muni-
cipal Corporation Act, and of the Order in Council of the
1I th September. I now transmit a copy of a Supplemen-
tary Order of the 30th September.
I am likewise directed to forward to you a copy of in-
structions which have been addressed to overseers, framed
upon the provisions of the Act.
You will observe that, by section 38, the existing mayor
and ,2embers of the council, or governing body, are to go
out ceb. der this Act.a.fter the declaration of the- first election of
o f o
councillors
.?
u
You will likec.rise observe that where, by any statute,
charter, by-law, or custom, any election is to take place
between the time of the passing of the Act and the Ist
day of May next, no sztch election shall take place, but
every persen holding office the time of the passing of this
Act shall continue to hold such asce till the time appointed
by the Act for him to go out of office. You will perceive
that, by the Order in Council issued in wirsuance of the
powers given by the Act, some of the days mentioned in
the Act are changed to other days, but, with this alteration,
—the directions contained in the Act are to be strictly ob-
served.
With respect to any vacancy by death, where by any
statute or charter it is necessary to proceed to a new elec-
tion, there is no espress provision in the Act which would
make such election illegal, and the governing body of tho
corporation will take that course which the urgency of the
case or the positive directions of the charter may seem in
their judgment to require.
The provision in sec. 30 of the Act, that, wherever any
day appointed for any purpose shall happen on a Sunday,
the business shall be done on the Monday following, must
be construed as equally applicable to any days appointed
by the Order in Council of the 11th ult.
I am directed to request that, so soon as the declaration
of councillors has been made, you will signify to the new
councillors that within five days they must make and sign
the declaration mentioned in sec. 50. You will likewise
take the precaution to call their attention to sec. 51,
whereby the fine for non-acceptance of office is made in
some degree discretionary with the Council.
I am likewise to request that in case your borough is in
schedule (A) of the Act, you will make it publicly known
to the new council that any recommendation which they
may think fit to make of persons qualified to be entrusted
by his Majesty with the commission of the peace for the
borough of which they are the governing body, will have
its due weight with the advisers of the Crown.—l have the
honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,
S. M. PHILLIPPS.
The Mayor or Chief Officer of

A GHOST STORY.

At. the latter end of last and the commencement of the
present week, the most strange stories were told of a ghost
that had fixed its nightly abode in the office of Mr. Lane,
the architect, at the corner of Cross-street and St. Ann's-
street. As all children and nursery-maids know, ghosts are
of two kinds. the visible and silent, and the invisible and
noisy, and this was said to be one of the latter. A long
account of its nocturnal visitations was printed and hawked
about the streets, by which we find, that " some suppose it
to be the troubled spirit of some person who has been buried
in the neighbouring chapel-yard." This authentic history
further tells us, that " various laughable adventures are
said to has e taken place, in one of which it is said that five
men were determined to surround the ghost. They ac-
cordingly procured the keys of the warehouse, and took their
station in one of the rooms. Presently the dreadful sound
approached ; it appeared to issue from the floor close to
them ; nothing, however, was to be seen. This was too
great a trial for their courage. They simultaneously took
to their heels, and with all speed rushed into the street to
report the awful tidings to an already terrified assemblage
of persons who were collected there. Indeed, one of the
men has since been heard to declare that he actually thought
that his ghostship had got hold of him and was litterally .
tearing him to pieces." The sting of a serpent is in the
tail, they say, and certainly the pith of this -eloquent narra-
tive lies in the advice couched in the last sentence. " Such
is the consternation these sounds have produced, that
it is hoped that active measures, will be taken for the de-
tention of the ghost, and thereby set at rest the existing
alarm." Of course the greater part of this statement is a
gross fabrication ; but the real facts of the matter are to the
full as singular, though perhaps not quite so much to the
taste of lovers of the marvellous and horrible. About 11
o'clock on the night of yesterday week Mr. Booth, who keeps
the Lord Hill public-house, St. Ann's-street, (which is sepa-
rated from Mr. L.'s offices by an entry), thought be heard a. •
noise as of some one walking inside Mr. Lane's office. He
gave information at the watch-office, which is distant not
more than 50 yards, and Mr. Davies, superintendent of the
watch, returned with him to the spot. On applying their
ears to the window-shutter they distinctly heard the noise
of footsteps, as if of some one pacing up and down, the
drawers appeared to be opened, and occasionally there was
a rustling, as if papers were being examined. Without
making any noise, a watch was kept outside the premises ;
the keys were procured, and Mr. Davies had not the
slightest doubt that on their entering the place the thief
would be immediately discovered. No such thing. The
watchmen searched every nook and corner in the two lower
rooms used as the clerk's office and that of Mr. Lane ; they
went up stairs, but no one could be found, nor was anything
disturbed. A porter-cellar below the offices was also
searched, but with no better succes. As the noise had been
heard by many persons, and as no natural cause was to be
discovered, the credulous and superstitious immediately
ascribed the thing to supernatural agency, and the vicinity of
Cross-street chapel furnished them with a home for " the
restless and perturbed spirit." Crowds of people collected
round the place, and as the noise was still to be heard at in-
tervals, hearing was held to be believing, and the watchmen
had great difficulty in inducing the people to disperse. Dur-
ing Saturday the report spread, as such things do, faster than
eiter good or bad news of the ordinary every-day complexion,
and on Saturday night, from the hour at which the office of
Mr. Lane was closed, hundreds of people congregated near
the spot, including many pickpockets, who are ever quick
at discovering a crowd, and who would ply their vocgs-
tion undismayed by the presence of a hundred ghosts..
The watchmen, with some difficulty, cleared the street,
and Mr. Davies being determined to ascertain the cause
of the noise, which he supposed to have its origin in a
mischievous frolic, placed several of his men inside the
office ; others within the porter-cellar below ; and others
again in the entry and yard at the back'of the premises.
In this way he arrived at one fact which, at first sight,
would seem to favour the notion of a supernatural visi-
tant, viz.—that while those who listened at the office win-
dow heard the footsteps cross the floor, and, to all per-
ception, evidently approach the window itself, the watchers
within, who remained perfectly quiet, heard not the least
sound. But this fact, which to the credulous would have
been " confirmation strong as proof from holy writ," only
led Mr. Davies into a further investigation. Finding that
the tap-room of Mr. Booth's house was the next inha-
bited place to the office, although, as we have already
said, it was separated from it by an entry leading to the
yard behind, he directed Mr. George Shorland, who was
present, to listen at the office window, while he entered
the tap-room. He paced across the floor two or three
times, sometimes slow and sometimes fast ; and it was
found that the footsteeps were again heard with precisely
the same variation in pace. This discovery once made,
all the pranks of the ghostly visitant admitted of a ready
and simple solution. A noise resembling the rustling of
papers could be produced by drawing the hand along the
surface of the tap-room table, as guests do when drinking ;
and pushing the table an inch or two along the floor was
found to give the noise of a drawer being opened to the
listener at Mr. Lane's office window. This discovery,
which was made about one o'clock on Sunday morning,
might reasonably be thought to have set the matter at rest ;
but all the assurances and explanations of Mr. Davies
and the watchmen have not hitherto been able to con-
vince some people of the fallacy of their notion that there
is a ghost. They hear the noise, and hearing is believ-
ing ; so that, unless Mr. Booth can be induced to close
his tap-room in the evening, crowds will assemble in the
streets, and the affair will attain a celebrity inferior only
to that of the Cock-lane ghost or some other equally mar-
vellous tale. The whole circumstance is, however, a cu-
rious one, curious as an illustration of some of the laws
of acoustics. We remember being astonished many years
ago at finding that the scratching of a pin could be
heard distinctly at. the other end of a very large and long
log of timber ; and we doubt not that the noise heard in
St. Ann's-street is another exemplification of the same pro-
perty in timber of conducting sound. It seems that the
beams on which the taproom floor rests are connected with
others supporting the floor, &c., of the office. The wall
of the office, which is an old building, has recently shrunk,
cracked, and sunk at the end next the tap-room, and on
the stairs there is an aperture, owing to this circumstance,
in a situation which is highly favourable to the admis-
sion of sound. Without listening at the window of the
office, which may be done any evening after it had been
closed, no one could have any notion of the complete
acoustic illusion (if such a term may be used) which these
circumstances combine to present. Yesterday and over-
valiant ghost-hunter was brought up at the New Bailey,
charged with wilfully damaging one of the outer doors
by kicking at it, in a vain attempt to frighten the ghost.
Reprimanded and discharged. —Manchester Guardian.

At Shrewsbury fair, on Tuesday, fat sheep averaged
about sd. per lb. Pigs sold at the prices of last fair.