The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-08-03 00:00:00

and misrepresent him in the columns of an adverse poli- '
tical newspaper.
Pirates on the Thames !—what an extraordinary an-
nouncement in these boasted days of progress, civilization,
and everything that is superlatively admirable. Yet so it is.
Truth, in this as in many other things, has found
itself stranger than fiction. As Shylock says—
" Ships are but boards, sailors but men ; there be
land-rats and water-rats, water-thieves and land-
thieves : I mean pirates." Who would think that between
London Bridge and Sheerness, and within sight of
Her MAJESTY'S squadron, a British merchant vessel
would be boarded and plundered in blessed day-light, and
in utter contempt of cruizers and fort guns ? Talk of
impudence—if this be not the height of impudence, I
know not what is. Really the boatmen of Southend have
a " mighty purty" vocation, and this mode of life is ex-
ceedingly pleasant as well as romantic. Plunderinz
vessels in the Thames must be a profitable employment,
and far less laborious and dangerous than pirating in the
Levant, or the Bornean seas. If it were legalized a bit, I
should not mind myself turning Thames-pirate. With
the isle of Dogs for a retreat, and the golden waters of
the Thames, crowded with rich argosies, for a hunting-
field, one might manage to carry on a lucrative business,
and pleasantly " practise as a sea-attorney."
Art and artists have this week been thrown into a flutter
by an announcement that reads so like a hoax that one can
with difficulty persuade oneself that it is not one,—never-
theless it is a true bill. A. noted caricaturist has received
an order from the " powers that be" to prepare a design
for the new National Gallery. The present National
Gallery, all will remember, is that absurd edifice with the
mustard-pot and pepper-castors on top, in Trafalgar -
square, which is the laughing-stoek of all who see it. It
has been condemned by the public voice as a penal cell for
the daubs of the Royal Academy, and a new one has been
ordered. But, in the name of all that is rational, who do
you think is, of all the artists of the day, selected to design
the new gallery, which is to be a building worthy of tle
empire and of the arts ? The late caricaturist of Punch,
" H. 8.," whose sketches of distorted statesmen used to
make us laugh some few years ago, DOYLE, the comic
illustrator and humorist, is the man. Oh, shades of
CHRISTOPHER WREN and of INIGO JONES ! Oh, body of
Sir CHARLES BARRY ! To what a pass will architec-
ture be brought at this gate of going ! PAxTON, the
gardener, turned into an architect of crystal palaces,
was astonishing enough, but DOYLE, the caricaturist,
transmogrifiQd into a designer of the " Temple of the
Fine Arts" is the ne plus ultra of amazement. How-
ever, should he succeed in obtaining the commission, wo
may expect to have a delightfully droll national gallery.
We are a humorous people, and it is decidedly one of
our humours to spend immense sums of money on the
most monstrous and grotesque compounds of stone and
mortar on the face of the earth. DOYLE is just the lad
for our taste and money : he will
" Fool us to the top of our bent."
An absurd rumour has been just ventilated for stock-
jobbing purposes—that the CHANCELLOR of the Ex-
CHEQUER is preparing a scheme for taxing Railway Com-
panies beyond what they now endure. There is no truth
in it whatever. Mr. DISRAELI is really at work night
and day at the Treasury, mastering the great subject of
finance, and perfecting his forthcoming plan, but the
public must wait till the whole is ready to be expounded
in October or November.

WHO IS TO BE THE NEW DOCK

CHAIRMAN ?

AMONGST the gentlemen named thus far to succeed the
present Dock Chairman, when he vacates the office, in
order to assume his future more important public duties,
the name of Mr. J. A. TOBIN appears to be almost uni-
versally the most acceptable. Mr. TOBIN possesses the
requisite energy, ability, and local and business know-
ledge, requisite for a proper fulfilment of this onerous
charge. In his present position, as Chairman of the
Watch Committee, he has won golden opinions from
men of every party; and greatly contributed to bring the
police farce of the town to its present high effectiveness.
His eminent services as chairman of the special committee
appointed to enquire into the accommodation to be pro-
vided for the shipbuilding of the port were regarded with
much admiration ; and we have no doubt that, as Dock
Chairman, his value will be equally recognised.

ST. HELEN'S CANAL AND RAILWAY

COMPANY.
ANNUAL MEETING, YESTERDAY.

The annual general meeting of the shareholders in this
company was held yesterday, at noon, at the station at
St. Helen's.

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD, TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1852.

Gilbert Greenall, Eq., (chairman of the directory,)
presided, and there were also present, Messrs. W.
Fosbery, C. Holland, T. Kidd, S. J. Steers, John
Smith, John Hodgson, directors; and Messrs. A. F.
Jones, Jackson, Joseph King, William Houghton, Samuel
Taylor, Robert Robinson, H. Gaskell Taylor, Richard
Fildes, John Blundell, John Ansdell, &c.
The CHAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings of the day,
said he thought he should best consult both the pleasure
and convenience of the meeting by pursuing the course
they had always adopted on previous occasions; and there-
fore he asked Mr. Sinclair, the secretary, to read the
report which the directors had prepared.
Mr. SINCLAIR then read the report as follows
The directors have again the satisfaction of referring
to an improved traffic return, as compared with the corre-
sponding period of last year ; the increase in the gross
receipts being £1,239, whilst the increased expenses have
been £122, and the additional charge for interest and
preference dividends £516, leaving a nett surplus of £6Ol,
in excess of that shown for the first half-year of 1851.
The gross revenue for the half-year, as shown in the
statement of accounts circulated among the shareholders,
is, £19,631 15s. 7d. : and the working charges, rates,
taxes, and rents, £6,989 12s. Bd. or 35j,L per cent. on the
receipts; leaving a surplus of £12,642 2s. 11d. ; deducting
from which, for interest on loans, £2,314 16s. 2d., for
renewal of permanent way, £350, and for additional
works. £7B ss. 3d.—£2,743 ls. 5d.; there remains for
preference and other dividends, £9,899 ls. 6d. ; out of
which the directors propose that a dividend should be
declared for the past half-year, payable on th 4th of
August, of LI per old share, £1,200, of 10s. per half-share,
£528, of £3 10s. per £lOO preference share, £5,040, and
of 10s. 6d. per £25 ditto, £2,588 55.—£9,356 55.; leaving,
£542 16s. 6d. ; to which must be added the balance left
after payment of the dividend declared at the last general
meeting, £684 9s. ; making a balance to be carried to the
next account, of £1,227 ss. 6d. The number of passen-
gers conveyed during the half-year has been 145,247,
being 21,082 more than in the same portion of last year ;
while the weight of coals and merchandise conveyed has
been 231,916 tons on the canal, and 241,350 on the rail-
way, together 476,266 tons, which is 25,497 tons more
than the weight carried in the corresponding period of
1851. The various important works on hand have been
vigorously pressed forward, and the directors have now
the satisfaction of announcing, that the rails have been
laid on the whole of the line from Warrington to Garston,
and that the portion between Widnes and Garston, having
been completed as a double line, was opened for traffic on
the Ist of July ; the necessary ballasting has still to be
done on the remaining portion from Widnes to War-
rington, before it can be opened for traffic. So far as an
estimate can be formed from the few weeks' experience on
the portion opened from Widnes to Garston, in the
absence of any goods traffic until the completion of the
dock, the directors are glad to say, the revenue fully bears
out their anticipations. The importance of opening the
dock as early as possible, more especially under the
arrangements made, by which a large traffic is only wait-
ing their completion, has not been lost sight of, and the
directors confidently expect that before again meeting
you, these works, as well as the remaining portion of the
railway, will be in full and successful operation. The
directors have considered it advisable to secure ample
station-room at the Garston Dock terminus, and to in-
crease the dock and railway accommodation, which they
had formerly thought sufficient, both as regards the coal
trade and goods traffic; they have likewise made provision
for the most approved machinery for loading coals and
transhipping merchandise at the docks, and a correspond-
ing railway plant will be required to work the large anti-
cipated trade beneficially. To accomplish these objects,
and complete the Warrington and Garston Railway as a
double line, additional capital to a moderate extent is
requisite, and at the special meeting, after the termi-
nation of the general business, resolutions to carry this
object into effect will be submitted to the shareholders.
The directors have the satisfaction to state, that a large
proportion of the company's debentures having fallen due,
they have made arrangements for renewing them at 4 per
cent. in lieu of the previous rate of 5 per cent., thus effect-
ing a large saving in the future nett revenue available for
dividends. The following gentlemen now retire by rotation,
but are eligible for re-election, namely—Mr. Fosbery, Mr.
W. C. Fosbery, Mr. Hodgson, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Steers,
being five of the directors, and Mr. Crosfield, one of the
auditors."

The CHAIRMAN then said it was his duty to move that
the report and the half-yearly statement of accounts now
read be received and adopted. He knew very well that
the remarks which he felt it his duty to make on that
occasion must be very much an echo of what the report
itself contained ; and such figures as he found it necessary
to call their attention to must necessarily have been men-
tioned in the report just read to them by his friend Mr.
Sinclair. He could, however, indeed congratulate them
on the account which had been placed in their hands to-
day ; and the reasons of his congratulation would be
shown when he reminded them again that the gross
receipts on this half year were £1,239 superior in amount
to those which accrued in the half year ending June 30,
1851, and the profit they had at that moment was £6Ol
superior to that of the corresponding half year. (Hear,
hear.) The tonnage and the merchandise, too, it was
his satisfaction to state to them, had increased very nearly
29,000 tons, and the number of passengers carried over
the line had increased to the amount of 21,000 persons.
The working charges, on the contrary, he was glad
to tell them, for the half year had diminished from
37i per cent. to 35 per cent. ; and in calling their
attention to the amount of their stock, he might say they
were the owners of a very valuable property. If they
looked over the schedule marked with the letter B, they
would find that it now stood in amount at £31,005, whilst
in 1851 their stock was only set down at £19,000 ; and
yet their present stock, valued by Mr. M'Gregor at
£31,005, had been estimated by others at a much higher
amount. (Cheers.) On this occasion he was glad, too,
that there was another agreeable feature in their pros-
pects, to which he had the pleasure of calling their
attention ; and that was, that he hoped those now
present who might meet at the next half-yearly meet-
ing, in that room, would then witness the works in
which they had so long been engaged entirely, or
very nearly altogether completed. Then they would
know exactly the property they possessed, and then he
was quite sure they would all admit that the directors, in
their struggle to place this railway in the position it now
occupied, had been throughout guided by a sound and
clear judgment of what it was best for the interest of the
proprietary should be done. (Hear, and cheers.) The
Widnes and Garston line being opened, they had the
opportunity of judging what the traffic on that line to
some extent wauld be. They were now carrying over that
line about 800 passengers weekly, and the meeting was
aware that at present, the works not being completed, mer-
chandise would not form an element which could at present
be used. But all those circumstances conspired to in-
duce him to tell them that if, from the first, he had
expressed a hope that their undertaking would be a
prosperous one, he thought at the present time he might
speak with certainty and confidence when he said they
possessed a most valuable property. The dock, he hoped,
would also he completed before the next half-yearly meet-
ing. Every effort had been made with that view ; and
those gentlemen present, who had inspected the works,
must, he thought, have satisfied themselves that, when
finished, they would have most admirable docks.
Greater accommodation being necessary in consequence
of the very largely increased traffic over that which
they had contemplated, and in consequence also of the
very favourable alliance they had made for the accommo-
dation of the coal trade with the London and North
Western Railway,—such increased accommodation would,
of course, be attended with cost, and that would conse-
quently have to be provided for. Another circumstance
which he called their attention to was, that they had re-
duced, upon an amount of £BO,OOO, the interest which
they had been paying, from 5 to 4 per cent. That amount
of £BO,OOO was all the directors could deal with at that
moment, in consequence of the form in which the
money was borrowed; but he thought the time would
very briefly arrive when the interest now paid on those
other sums would also be very materially reduced.
(Hear, hear.) The meeting would find an account under
the head of additional works ; those works consisted of
siding and accommodation, and had been paid for up to
the present time out of the capital. The directors now
thought it was time these works should bear their own
cost; and they had determined to deduct such an amount
from revenue as would enable them to wipe off all those
amounts in ten years. Gentlemen who referred to the
accounts would see that, after they had paid on dividends
£9,356 ss. Od., they had in hand a sum of £542 16s. 6d.,
to which must be added the balanceleftafter paying the divi-
dend declared at thelast general meeting of £68495.. making
a balance to be carried to the nextaccount of £1,227 ss. 6d.
The directors knew there might be on the present occa-
sion a larger dividend than ss. in the pound ; but they
also thought it was advantageous and judicious not to
do so ; since their works being very nearly completed,
and universal experience showing that works when first
opened did not immediately come into fully productive
play, the board considered it much wiser to reserve a
fund in hand to enable them to keep up, what they
felt confident they should keep up, an equality of
dividend. (Hear, hear, and cheers). They knew them-
selves they were not a speculative Railway Company.
Those who had the honour of being associated with this
company had been connected with it for a very long time,
and knew that nothing like an element of speculation had
pervaded the board ; they were determined, as he said
before, to keep up an equality of dividend, and they knew
well enough, by past experience, when there was a reserve
fund, it was no unpleasant thing, as they had done for-
merly, to say to the shareholders, " Well, gentlemen,
we have kept your money up to the present moment,
and now you may have it." (Hear, hear.) After ex-
pressing a confident hope that the directors would he
enabled to adopt a similar gratifying course with
the present reserve fund, the chairman thanked the
meeting for the patience and kindness with which they
had listened to his remarks, and said he had only one
other subject to which he felt it necessary to refer. He
knew that there was a good deal of interest felt about the
Garston property. The directors did not think it would
be wise or prudent to lay before the shareholders fully
the whole circumstances atttendant upon that purchase.
All he could say was, that their directors did most wisely
to secure that property ; that it was a most valuable pro-
perty; that all they had done in the neighbourhood hitherto
had tended to increase its value most wondrously ; and he
really believed that, in that property, the proprietors had
a possession which would, at no very distant day, prove
itself an item of extremely great importance in the ac-
counts which would come before them. (Hear, hear.)
Ile concluded by moving the adoption of the report and
the accounts.
Mr. JOHN ANSDELL seconded the motion.
Thtoe tCheHeAffl effect
At
hNa, t i
sno
m e replyc tmo
paa
nremark r
rfrom
d Mr. Jack-
son
money
a
3 and 31 per cent., observed that he did not intend, by
mentioning they had reduced their rate of interest on
the £BO,OOO from 5 to 4 per cent., that they would not
endeavour to reduce it still more. The remark of Mr.
Jackson had not been lost sight of, and the board would
be happy to get money at 2/ per cent. if they could do 60,

(Hear, hear.) Th report and accounts were then unani.
mously passed.

The dividend recommended in the above report was
then sanctioned by the meeting, on the unction of Mr.
John Hodgson, seconded by Mr. Robert Robinson ; and
the retiring directors were re-elected on the proposition
of Mr. King, supported by Mr. R. Fildes. The re-ap-
pointment of Mr. Crosfield, as one of the auditors, was
also unanimously passed.
A desultory conversation then took place as to the
accommodation to be given to passengers at the different
points along the line just opened, and it terminated in the
assurance of the board, through their chairman, that
every attention would be paid to the subject. A code of
bye-laws having been confirmed, the business of the
general meeting was concluded.

THE SPECTAL ,GENERAL MEETING.
The CHAIRMAN said they would next resolve them-
selves into a special general meeting for the purpose of the
creation of fresh funds for the company. He regretted
very much his friend Mr. Wm. Fosbery was, by ill
health, prevented from being present, for he had taken
a very active part in this question, as Chairman of the
Finance Committee, and had prepared himself to have
laid before them the whole of the financial affairs of the
company, and to have given his opinion on the subject
they were now about to discuss. In the absence of Mr.
Fosbery, however, Mr. Holland would bring the matter
before them, and explain to them the reasons and feelings
of the directors in the course they now recommended to
the proprietors.

Mr. C. HOLLAND, in dealing with the question of the
additional capital which the company required to finish
the works they had now on hand, explained to them that
it was impossible for the directors, when they created the
6 per cent. shares, to exactly estimate what would be the
cost of the dock„ works, and line from Garston to War-
rington. The directors found themselves now with esti-
mates to finish the works, which would exceed, by
about £50,000, what they had originally intended to have
expended upon them. But he was himself perfectly satis-
fied, and so was, he believed, every member of the board,
that they had done very wisely in making this additional
outlay of £50,000 in the estimates, for which they had
secured very much greater advantages than they originally
contemplated in their scheme. Of the items which had
constituted this additional outlay, the first and most im-
portaat one was the extra space they had given to the
dock accommodation. On the suggestion of Mr. Court,
they at once saw the great advantage and expediency of
enlarging the dock now, rather than leave it to be en-
larged at a future time, when it must of course be done
at a very much increased expense compared with the
cost of the enlargement at the present time. So soon,
therefore, .as they had made what he considered a
very advantageous alliance with a neighbouring com-
pany, and so soon as they felt themselves confident
that they could command a traffic larger even than
they had at first indulged in anticipating. they at
once concurred with Mr. Court, that it was true
economy to make this dock, in the first instance, of such
capacity as, at all events for a few years, would meet the
increased demands that might be made upon it. They had,
therefore, increased the dock from four acres and a fraction
to about six acres; and the additional expense incurred
for additional land they had taken for the dock and an
additional entrance for small flats, was estimated at from
£20,000 to £30,000. After all, the execution of this
work would be completed at a cost unparalleled in dock
annals. They would have a dock of six acres, at a
cost of somewhere about £lOO,OOO more or less, in-
cluding the land for the wharfs, quays, &c. The
cost of this dock must be deemed ridiculously small,
compared with that which it was understood was the
expense at Liverpool ; for, taking all the data that could
be collected on the subject, it was estimated that the
docks in Liverpool do not cost less than £50,000, on the
average, for the acre of dock space. Thus, he thought
they would admit the directors had acted wisely in at
once shaping the docks for such additional accommo-
dation. They next considered the question of the ma.
chinery around the docks, and all the requisites for carry-
ing on the trade with the greatest convenience to the trader,
and the greatest economy to the company itself. The
estimated cost of this machinery for coal drops, &c., was
£15,000 ; and for the additional plants for working the
greatly increased traffic they now anticipated, they calcu-
lated an outlay of £20,000 would be required. In addi-
tion to these estimates, there was the probable expense
of the contemplated junction at Sutton, £5000; and there
was some additional land they had taken on the line to
Warrington and at the terminus at Garston, valued at
£lO,OOO or £15,000 more. Thus, if they turned to the
account laid before them, they would find the present
outlay on works in operation, in round numbers, to be
£470,000; and if to this were added thecostof theadditional
plants, and of the new junction at Sutton, about £30,000,
to which he had alluded, it would make a total of £500,000.
Again, if they added to that sum the outlay on new works
at present, £200,000, and the extra outlay completing
the railway as a double line, enlarging the dock to six
acres, and other expenses, £50,000, they would find the
total expenditure then brought up to about £740,000 or
£750,000. They would, therefore, have to create an
additional amount of about £50,000 of new stock, in order
to complete all these works, and bring up the amount
of capital to £740,000 or £750,000. The directors,
however, proposed not merely to create this addi-
tional amount of new stock, but likewise to cancel
the whole of the six per cent shares still unissued,
numbering about 1290. These propositions would ren-
der it necessary to create additional capital ; and
to raise that capital, about £120,000, he proposed to
issue 4,800 shares of £25 each, which would enjoy a pre-
ferential dividend of 44 per cent. per annum. Mr. Hol-
land then entered at length into the present position of
the company, and showed by carefully-prepared estimates,
that after paying all their fixed charges, when the works
were completed, they would have an amount of dividend
left which would very far exceed anything they were now
paying. He then read a string of resolutions, for the
purpose of raising the additional capital of £120,000, ex-
plaining their purport as he proceeded, and adding, that
the result would leave the amount of present capital to be
£399,635 ; new ditto, £120,000 ; loans, £233,100 ; total,
£752,735, He concluded by moving the subjoined pro-
positions :

" That it is expedient to raise an additional capital not
exceeding £120,000, under the power and authorities
conferred on this company, by virtue of the St. Helens
Canal and Railway Act, 1816, and the acts incorporated
therewith ; and that such share capital be, and the same
is hereby created accordingly. That such capital shall be
raised by the issue of 4,800 shares of £25 each, and that
such shares shall be entitled to fixed dividends, at the
rate of four pounds ten shillings per cent. per annum,
from the respective times of payment of the various instal-
ments thereof, subject to the following conditions:—That
the holders of such fixed four-and-a-half per cent. shares
shall be entitled to an option within seven years, from the
2d August, 1852. to exchange the same for rat=able ordi-
nary shares or stock of the same amount, by notice to be
given in writing to the clerk of the company. That the
company shall be entitled, from and after the 2d of August,
1859, to redeem and pay off at par, any of the then existing
four-and-a-half per cent. shares, upon giving one year's
previous notice in writing to the holders thereof. That
such new shares shall be offered to the existing share-
holders in the company, in rateable proportion to their
present shares, on condition of the payment of five
pounds per share, on or before the second day of
September, 1852, and of the remaining instalments, as the
same shall be called for by the directors, provided that
such instalments shall be made payable at intervals of not
less than three months, and that no such instalment shall
exceed £5 per share. That any shareholder accepting
such new shares, shall be entitled to pay up the whole
amount thereof, in one sum, and shall receive the fixed
dividend of four and half per cent. on such' whole sum,
from the date of payment thereof. That any shares not
accepted by the existing shareholders, within one month
after Ow offer thereof, shall be disposed of by the direc-
tors, in such manner, and at such times as shall seem to
them expedient."

Mr. lons HoncsoN, in seconding the resolution,
thought the company would never be able to redeem any
of the new shares after the lapse of seven yezrs, because
before that time they would long have been converted
into stock.

The resolution having been agreed to, after some un-
important conversation, thanks were moved to the
directors, to Mr. Sinclair, the secretary, and to the
auditors.

Mr. JONES, in acknowledging the last vote of thanks,
observed that in his experience no railway ever held
such a position as this one. During two years
shares were quoted from 15 to 16; twelve months ago
they stood at 48 and 50, and their present position was
76. Such a rise was not, he thought, to be met with
throughout the whole railway business of the kingdom.
(Hear, hear.)

Thanks were then voted to Mr. Whitley, the solicitor
to the company, and to Mr. Court, on the proposition of
the Chairman, after which the shareholders separated.

INQUESTS, YESTERDAY.

On the body of John Sabell, an old man aged 60, who
had been formerly a commercial traveller, but who had
latterly lodged at 22, Woodstock-street, along with his
wife, who was quite helpless. They lived on the bounty
of friends, but the deceased, whenever he could procure
money, was constantly drinking. On Saturday evening
he was found dead in bed. Verdict, " Died by the visi-
tation of God."

On the body of William Christian, who jumped over-
board from one of the Woodside boats as she was crossing
the river, and which was picked up about half-way be-
tween Liverpool and Runcorn, floating on the water. The
deceased, for several days previous to his death, had been
drinking heavily, and was in a state of delirium tremens.
Verdict—" That the deceased drowned himself in a fit of
temporary insanity."
On the body of a man unknown, who was found float-
ing in the river off the Magazines. He was sft. 4in. high,
and had on a kind of spotted waistcoat, in the pockets of
which were found one sovereign, three half-crowns, one
shilling, a copper token from some shop in Cork, a key,
and a knife. Verdict, " Found drowned."
On the body of Patrick Glynn, a young man, who came
from Ireland last Monday, for the purpose of emigrating
to America. On Saturday he went on board the Benja-
min Adams, lying in the Nelson Dock, along with his
sister, where they had taken berths. After getting their
luggage on board, the deceased assisted some of the other
passengers, and while coming up from the hold, he gave
way for a female to pass him, and, in doing so, over.
balanced himself, and fell backwards into the hold. He
was removed to the Northern Hospital, and died the next
morning, of congestion of the brain, superinduced by the
injuries received by the fall.—Verdict, accidental death.
CHILD FOUND.—On Saturday morning, the body of a
fine full-grown female child was found in a field near
West Derby Workhouse. From the evidence of Mr.
Kemp, surgeon, it appeared the deceased was born alive,
and bad died of congestion of the lungs. The inquest
was adjourned, to afford the police an opportunity of
trying to discover the child's unnatural parent.

THE SHIP THORWALSDEN, which was despatched on
Thursday last, for Melbourne, by Mr. J. M. Walthew,
took out 280 emigrants, chiefly first-rate mechanics and
artisans : not a single berth was empty, and so complete
were the arrangements, that the passengers took the op-
portunity of sending by the tug-twat a note of thanks to
all under whose management the equipment of the ship
had been placed,