The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-02-26 00:00:00

WRECKED GOODS.

For the last two or three weeks considerable quantities of
soft goods and hardware, of various descriptions, have been
brought from the wrecks of the Pennsylvania, the Lockwoods,
and the Victoria, and have, from time to time, been dis-
posed of by public auction. e drapers and hardware deal-
ers, who have been the principal purchasers, have exhibited
their respective lots in their windows, with (for the worst
part) the triflingly reduced prices affixed to each article ; and
by the additional aid of large bills, announcing " further ar-
rivals from the wrecks."—" More large lots of goods."—
" Just arrived extensive lots oflinens, lawns, diapers, cambric
handkerchiefs, table cloths, covers, &c., from the wreck of
the Pennsylvania," and so forth,—the parties, if we may
judge from the crowds that beset their premises, have, since
the fatal catastrophe that threw these articles in their way,
been driving a most successful business, thus verifying the
old saying, that " it is an ill wind that blows nobody good."
Certain it is the retail sales have been extensive, whether
from the cheapness, or supposed cheapness of the damaged
goods, or from, in some instances, (who knows !) an idea
amongst intended voyagers or emigrants, that in a shirt or
garment, fashioned out of materials that had once been
wrecked," they would possess a charmed habil mmt that
would serve them against all similar disasters, we shall not say.
In one hardware shop in Dale-street, we find " 250 pair of
wrecked fire-irons advertised, besides fenders, tea-trays, and
finally, fish-hooks (in bundles of 500 for the small sum of one
penny !--for the articles comprise literally from a best
bower anchor to a cambric needle."—and to crown the
whole, a quantity of " fire shovels, just made out of wrecked
iron." The force of wrecking could no further go. What
recommendation this will be to the shovels we are at some
loss to conceive ; but if we mistake not, the mania that has
spread abroad to purchase the articles received from the ill-
fated vessels, superinduces a shrewd suspicion that this is not
the only " manufactory of wrecked goods" in the town'
Who knows how many pieces of goods that have been " shop-
keepers" for many years for lack of purchasers, have been
brought down from their dusty shelves, and being moistened
and outwardly smeared with sand and mud, have been dis-
played, amongst the " last lots from the Pennsylvania," be-
fore the eyes of sympathizing customers as having been veri-
tably " wrecked ?" We cannot say, indeed, that time, which
as the immortal dramatist says, will " dissolve all that this
globe inherits," has, of the late storm, " left not a wreck be-
hind ;" for as that destroyer of all that is sublunary marches
on his resistless pace, the " wreck" of that fearful visitation
appears to be daily developed in increased abundance. We
have " the wreck, more., of the wreck. and nothing but the
wreck." Back yards and raiment grounds exhibit wrecked
webs fluttering in the wind, and dyers and callenderers have
found a new branch of their vocation in dressing and redeem-
ing fabrics from " the wrecks. The competition amongst
some of the shopkeepers from " wrecked goods," has
been proportioned to the eagerness of the public to pur-
chase them ; and it is probable that while the demand con-
tinues, " new lots " will continue to arrive, it may be, till
Christmas' next. One draper in Church-street, finding all
the custom going to the " wreck" shop next door, was fain,
in self-defence, to become " a wrecker" as well as his neigh-
bour, and his business, which stood a chance of being " ship-
wrecked," has since mightily improved. As for the hard-
ware-man, with his " fire shovels made of wrecked iron,"
the fact reminds 'us of a notable manoeuvre to obtain business
under circumstances somewhat analogous. Immediately
after the trial of the maniac, old Margaret Nicholson, for the
aitempted assassination of his late Majesty George 111., in
Drury-lane Theatre, an innkeeper obtained the identical
carving knife with which the culprit purposed to perpetrate
the bloody deed, and having announced in his sign that the
very instrument was there to be seen, his gaping customers
became so numerous that he soon realized a fortune. While

" his greatness was thus a ripening," the custom of another
Dennis Brulgruddery, who kept tap at the opposite side of
the street, as sensibly decayed for want of attraction, and the
poor man became low in pocket, and still lower in spirits,—
that is, his animal, not his foreign and British spirits, became
exhausted. At last, he bethought him of a device to bring
up the lee-way. When so much curiosity was evinced to see
the knife, little less would be to see the fork ! So, procuring
an old rusty fork of proportionate size and similar pattern,
he put it in a glass case in his parlour like his neighbour's
knife, got painted upon his sign-board " Here is to be seen
the identical FORK belonging to the knife with which Mar-
.

garet Nicholson attempted to take away-the of his most gra-
cious Majesty King George III." Whether he wished to
insinuate by this that the poor woman, had she succeeded in
'her attempt, meant to follow it up, by carving up the defunct
monarch and making a meal of him, we know not ; but cer-
tain it is, the public did not fastidiously inquire into the
matter ; but some in sober gravity, and others thinking the
thing a good joke, went to see the fork as well as the knife,
and by the copious libations which were the consequence,
the fortune of " mine host" was saved from " shipwreck."
It was like the advent of a " steam life-boat" in the hour of
peril, and like his neighbour he realized a handsome com-
petency. There is nothing like a little active ingenuity in
trade ! Some of the shopkeepers who have not been the for-
tunate purchasers of goods from the wrecks, have taken the
reverse position, and put out placards stating " No wrecked
goods at this shop." This, however, we take to be a mere
ebulition of envy and disappointment.

PARLIAMENTARY PAPER.

SESS. 1839.-2 VICTORIA:
LIVERPOOL DOCK BILL.
ESTIMATE DECLARATION, &c.
ESTIMATE OF THE WORKS TO BE MADE.

I, Jesse Hartley, Surveyor of the Liverpool Docks, do
estimate the expense of the works to be made in pursuance of
an Act for which application is intended to be made to Par-
liament in this present session, for enabling the Trustees of
the Liverpool Docks, and to amend the Acts relating thereto,
and to provide for the erection of warehouses adjoining cer-
tain of the present or intended Docks, and within the Dock-
walls, at or about the sum of £930,400.
Dated this 18th day of February, 1839. '
JESSE HARTLEY, Dock Surveyor.
DECLARATION AS TO THE MEANS BY WHICH THE FUNDS

ARE TO BE RAISED.

I, John George Vandenhoff, Solicitor to the Trustees of
the Liverpool Docks, do hereby declare, that the works
mentioned in the foregoing estate are intended to be made
out of money to be raised upon the security of the rates,
duties and charges to be granted, created, continued, or ex-
tended by the said intended Act, and also upon the security
of the tonnage and other rates and duties already created
and granted to the said Trustees by existing Acts, and that
the means by which funds are to be obtained for executing
the said works are by raising and borrowing money upon the
credit and security of the said rates, duties, and charges, by
bonds or assignments of the said rates, duties, and charges,
under the common seal of the said Trustees. And Ido fur-
ther declare, that no private or personal pecuniary profit or
advantage is to be derived to the said Trustees under the
said intended Act.

--
Dated this 18th day of February, 1839.
JNO. GEO. VANDENHOFF
STATEMENT OF PRESENT INCOME OF THE TRUSTEES.
I, George Withers, Treasurer to the Trustees of the
Liverpool Docks, do hereby declare,
That the gross income of the said Trus-
tees amounts to £163,841
That the annual charges and expenses
amount to
Leaving a net annual income of
ESTIMATE OF THE PROBABLE INCOME TO ARISE FROM THE
WORKS TO BE MADE IN PURSUANCE OF THE SAID IN-
TENDED ACT.
I, the said George Withers, do hereby estimate the
probable annual amount of the rates, duties, and
charges to arise from the works to be made in pursu-
ance of the said intended Act, at or about the sum of £50,800

157,913

£56,728

Dated this 18th day of February, 1839.
GEo. WITHERS, Treasurer,

REPEAL OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION
ACT.—MEETING AT WIGAN.—On Wednesday, a meeting
of the clergy, gentry, and inhabitants of Wigan, took place
in the Assembly-room of the Royal Hotel, for the purpose of
agreeing to petition both houses of Parliament for the repeal
of the Roman Catholic Emancipation Act—and also, that no
further grant may be made to the Popish College of May-
nooth. The room was crowded to excess, and would have
been filled if it had been three times the size. The admission
was by ticket ; eight hundred were disposed of in a very
short space of time, and hundreds of applications were re-
fused. The Rev. B. Powell occupied the chair, and was
supported by the Rev. Hugh M'Neile, of Liverpool, Cad-
man, Esq., A.B. Rev. Thomas, Nolan, of Stockport, Rev.
James Wright, Rev. George Whitlock, &c., and many dis-
tinguished churchmen of the town and neighbourhood. The
meeting was addressed in powerful speeches by the rev. gen-
tlemen we have named, and a petition agreed upon, in ac-
cordance with the purposes for which the meeting was called.
The petition is now exposed for signature. Manchester
Courieo.

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE UNITARIAN CONTROVERSY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

Stn,—lt is not a little singular that the advocates for the
Unitarian doctrine, in the discussion now going on in this
town, should be " a Trinity of persons" in a " Unity of
purpose."—Yours, &c., J. C.

IMPROVEMENT OF TEMPLE-STREET.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

SlR,—Every person must admire the 'exquisite taste, as
well as the sound judgment, displayed by our corporation at
the top of Temple-street. I, for one, must say that their
plan is most beautiful, and in perfect accordance with Ho-
garth's Analysis of Beauty. I hold, in common with those
gentlemen, that nothing is more frightful than straight lines,
and I am decidedly of opinion that the designers of the temple
of Paestum, and the Acropolis of Athens, were a parcel of
fools, who had no perception of the sublime and beautiful
whatever. Only follow nature, say the philosophers, and
you will never be wrong. Now, Sir, nothing is more beauti-
fill, abstractedly speaking, than a dog's leg ;—the hinder one
I mean. And this, with a little approximation to the right
angled triangle, has been the model our corporation, in their
reformed wisdom, have evidently selected for the " improve-
ment of Temple-street."
Mr. William Earle displayed very bad taste when he ob-
jected to the superb plan. Why, Sir, is it not a fact that
Liverpool holds its charter by the number of angles and
crooked lines it possesses ? And would it not have been a
departure from antiquity if the corporate body had made an
ugly square street up into Dale-street? I commend Mr.
William Wallace Currie very highly for the part he has taken
in this important matter. He has nobly sustained our an-
cient customs, and is entitled to the gratitude of the whole
community. He retains the waving or line of beauty in his
actions, and reserves the colouring for his arguments. Let
any one who is imprudent enough to disbelieve this, go into
Temple-court,—face to the northward,—and look at the ex-
quisite pile which stupid people say " blocks up the street ;"
and if they do not applaud the good taste of Mr. Currie and
his brother committeemen, I must say the sooner they read
Burke on the Sublime and Beautiful, the better ! Besides,
have they not saved some £5OO or £6OO by their plan; and
let me tell you, Mr. Editor, that to add a few inches,—a
matter of 72 !—to the width of a public thoroughfare, is not
to be sneezed at in these days of economy. It would abso-
lutely drive Joe Hume into fits to spend as much money as
even that has cost, in any thing save Greek bonds.
But now, sir, comes my grand plan. Upon the top of the
building in question, I propose that a statue of our first re-
form Mayor should be placed, and to which, I understand,
our good-humoured friend Bushby, the owner of the build-
ings in question, has no objection whatever. Let Mr. Currie
be invested with the toga of office, holding in his right hand
a plan of the improvement of the street ; and his dignified
appearance, when executed by Chantrey, will be much ad-
mired, and will add still further to the beauty of the whole.
It might, however, be as well if a stone were inserted in the
wall of the edifice, and the word " IMMONDEZZAJO" cut
upon it, to remind passers-by that nothing offensive should
be deposited in the convenient corner prepared by our Coun-
cillors for purposes of effect only.
I am, Sir, yours respectfully,
Exchange Flags, Feb. 20; 1839. SERIOUS.

MR. O'CONNELL & "THE OLD FAMILY PIECE."

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

Sitt,--fotiiae read, I doubt not, an account of the
doings at the Precursor meeting in Dublin on Monday last.
The robbery, or abstraction, or " appropriation" of Mr.
O'Connell's watch, chains, seals " and all," must fill with
grief and indignation the breast of every " true patriot" and
lover of owld Ireland. Paddy's lamentation over Drimindhu,
his " elegant cow," cannot bear comparison with that of Mr.
O'Connell for the loss of his "beautiful watch ;" how sadly
sweet, how beautifully touching! and then, the declaration
" that he would not for three hundred guineas have lost it, as
it was an Old Family Piece !"
In the days of our fathers there lived on the bleak shores
of Iveragh, a man named Connolly, or Connell ; he was, as
we learn from the records, a smuggler, " and something
more." It is not insinuated that he was one of " those lads
who love the moon"—quite the contrary ; darkness he loved
well, storms and tempests were " music to his ears ! ! Many
a hapless barque, and many a care-worn mariner were, by
the aid of floating lights, consigned to rest !
Years passed away, the smuggler lived on, and by the ex-
ercise of his honest calling, became " a most prosperous
gentleman ;" he quitted trade before those unwelcome in
truders, Martello Towers and Water Guards could interfere,
and spoil sport ; he became a man of acres, followed the
hounds, and appeared dressed
" In a hunting suit of Lincoln green."
The poor people, in those days, revered and loved the old
gentry, and laughed at the impudent assumptions of the
nmo gentleman, on whom they bestowed the nickname of
'Aunting cap Connell." This worthy died some years since,
bequeathing to " the ;;;.eat Liberator of Ireland" all his vir-
tues, and all the fruits of his hard, honest labours. Were he
to revisit this earth of ours,
" Could he return to bless our wond'ring eyes,"
we could readily obtain the history of " The old Family
Piece.''
Trusting that you will not suffer this valuable leaf from the
book of Irish history to be lost to the world.
I remain, Sir, yours,
DELTA.

P.S.—The Precursors have adjourned to the Bth of March,
in compliance with the commands of Mr. O'Connell; he,
tender, kind-hearted gentleman; wishes, doubtless, to spare
his erring brother the watch " appropriator," but this cannot,
shall not be : forbid it gratitude, forbid it justice—justice to
Ireland ! ! An extraordinary meeting should be summoned,
the delinquent expelled, his shilling returned—but no, this
would not be justice ; on the contrary, he should be heavily
fined, and the amount (despite of that Marplot Peter Pur-
cell) lodged in the great Tralee National Bank.

ROYAL INSTITUTION.

THIRD LECTURE ON ACOUSTICS,
BY ROBERT ADDAMS, ESQ.

On Friday evening, the 22d instant, Mr. Addams delivered
the third lecture of his course on the above subject, before a
very respectable audience, in the lecture room of the Royal
Institution, Colquitt-street. The lecturer commenced by
observing to his audience, that the nature of musical scales,
vital mechanism, and sound, would be the departments of his
subject to which he would then more particularly direct
their attention. Musical scales, he observed, consisted of
the artificial arrangement of a succession of sounds.
The lecturer elucidated this part of his subject in a
very elaborate disquisition upon the theory of sound, the
vocal organs of man, and explained the absolute necessity of
these scales, represented by letters, for the purposes of har-
mony and composition. Man's ear would not permit him to
make use of any sounds which did not correspond to these
established sounds. Intervals or TONES are of various dimen-
sions ; thus we have the major tone, the minor tone, and the
semi-tone. He elucidated these by the aid of his apparatus,
which, for ingenuity and elegance, we must say, is highly
interesting. He showed the differences between these tones
thus—where large " major," and where small " minor;" a
semi-tone was still smaller, or little more than half a tone.
Then he investigated the question, why we have thirteen? Why
will not eight answer. The reason he clearly proved to be,
because harmony would be limited by any other arrange-
ment. The lecturer then called his apparatus into requisition,
for the purpose of explaining the interesting effects of tuning
or " tempering" instruments. He explained the difference
between "flats" and " shops," and divers other technicali-
ties ; but it would be vain to attempt to offer any report
thereof, as the frequent recourse which was constantly had to
the apparatus for illustration, precludes the possibility of our
giving any idea thereof, without entering into a lengthened
detail. " Tempering' 'is an operation performed for the pur-
pose of regulating the distribution of certain keyed instru-
ments ; this is done by drawing tense, or relaxing the wires, in
the latter case, and the same principle is acted on in the tuning
of organs. Now there is a great difference between properly and
perfectly tuning an instrument ; for when perfectly tuned it
would be far from being properly tuned. If perfectly tuned,
the sounds of the various notes, in one key only, would be
very agreeable; so to have an instrument properly tuned
some wires must be relaxed as well as others tightened. In
music a phenomenon is sometimes observed, which is
termed a " beat." A " beat" is produced by the con-
fluence of two antagonising systems of sound waves.
When two sounds very similar are produced simultaneously,
the effect is the clash, and the phenomenon alluded to is the
result. Agitated waves afford a striking illustration. A very
beautiful invention, consisting of hundreds of pieces of brass
beams, all moveable, was here produced to illustrate the sub-
ject. The lecturer then proceeded to the last division of
that evening's lecture ; in this—vital mechanism, the ana-
tomical construction of the organs of speech in bipeds, qua-
drupeds, fishes and insects ; resonant sounds and recipro-
cating surfaces, were subjects for their consideration. With
respect to insects—they have the power of moving their
wings with surprising velocity ; by this process they actually
beat the air into waves ; bees, flies, gnats, and many other
insects possess this power. By this means air is displaced,
and a loud buzzing sound produced. But this sound is not
produced entirely by the motion of the wings, for some in-
sects possess a respiratory apparatus, the apertures com-
municating with which are placed near the root of the
insertion of each wing—the hole for the entrance of the
air being placed at one side, and that for the exit or expulsion
thereof being at the other. Thus by the combined action of
this peculiar kind of respiration, and the rapid motion of the
wings, is the sound produced. Now, if the wings of a " blue-
bottle" were cut off, the sound would be diminished, and the
sound produced then would be caused solely by the operation
of respiration. Gnats' wings move very swiftly. Dr. Wol-
laston ascertained that this insect's wings moved at the rate
of 1920 times per SECOND ! The ingenuity of man has been
exercised in gain to accomplish alike degree of rapidity. An
engine worked by steam could only be made to make 141 re-
volutions in a second. The talented lecturer then directed
the attention of his audience to the construction of the
vocal apparatus of man, and of mammalia in general. The
seat of the faculty of speech is the larynx ; the larynx is the
upper part of a semi-cartilagenous circular tube, which is the
means of communication between the lungs and the mouth
or fences. The larynx is composed of cartilages—viz., the
thyroid, cricoid, two aretenoid, and the epiglottis. These
cartilages enclose the glottis, or seat of the faculty of speech.
These cartilages pre bound by moveable tendons, muscles,
&c., and the glottis is covered by the valvular substance
termed the epiglottis. The lateral parts or sides of this
glottis are termed the " vocal chords." By a straining or
relaxing of these chords various sounds are produced ;
these chords become much thickened, oftentimes from the
effects of cold and other causes : the loss of voice, sometimes
for ever, sometimes periodically, has been the result. On the
structure, &c., of the vocal apparatus, and the various modi-
fications of sound, the lecturer dwelt at large : but however
interesting the subject is, we are compelled to omit the re-
mainder of his observations thereon. As to the attempts
often made to imitate sound by mechanism, little need be
said ;—every trial had proved a miserable failure. A few
automaton babies had been constructed, with the intention
of imitating the human voice ; but " mama" and " papa"
were the only loquacious results which their constructors had
succeeded in obtaining from them. To imitate vowels was
very difficult ; but an attempt to imitate a vowel and a con-
sonant was invariably attended with a ludicrously miserable
result. The effect is produced by pipes and valves, acted
upon by the organ bellows.
With respect to the last points on which he should dwell
that evening, namely, resonant sounds and reciprocal sur-
faces, the lecturer gave experimental illustrations. The re-
sonant sounds were caused by vibration on reciprocal sub-
stances, such, for instance, as a string, a bar of metal, or
other solid substance, or even a column of air, to which
sound could be transmitted.
The lecturer concluded his highly instructive and inter-
esting lecture by remarking, it is evident that dumb
animals were endowed with the power of making different
sounds, by the great Author of Nature, in order that they
might be the better able to recognize and distinguish one
another. The lecturer evidently gave great satisfaction, and
was frequently interrupted, in the course of his lecture, by
loud applause.—Two more lectures remain to be delivered,
and thosewho may desire to obtain some knowledge on a
subject of great interest, should avail themselves of the pre-
sent opportunity.

A contemporary, in an epitome of American news by the
Columbus, which sailed from New York on the 2d instant,
remarks,.that " the Great 'Western had not arrived ." a cir-
cumstance not at all strange, seeing that she left Bristol on
the.23th