The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-05-11 00:00:00

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Ne'clCbt 181-.111•1. HENRYASPH ASPHALTUM COMPANY,, h
the United kingdom.
Capital £lOO,OOO iu 10,000 Shares of £lO each.
Deposit Ef per Share.
Bankers:—The Commercial Bank of England and its
Branches, and Barnett, Hoare and Co., Lrindon.
Solicitors :—Messrs. Atkinson, Birch, and Saunders.
Corisulting Chemist : —John Davies, Esq. Lecturer on Che-
mistry in the Royal School of Medicine & Surgery, &c &c.
In the present rage for "Asphalte Companies," which" many
of the sober-minded are disposed to class among the " bubbles"
of the day :
" The earth has bubl,-/er as the water hath,
And these are of them ;"
it may be necessary to give a short explanation of their origin,
and to show the essential difference between the Manchester
Asphaltum Company and all others projected, inasmuch as it is
the only one brought hitherto under Ithe notice of the public
that stands upon a legitimate and legal basis.
In the year 1834, Mr. John Henry Cassell, of Mill Wall,
London, manufacturing chemist, obtained a patent for the ap-
plication of a bituminous cement, in the making of roads, foot-
paths, roofs, doors, docks, canals, water-courses, and every des-
cription of work in which cement is or may be used. He fur-
nishes several public specimens of the utility of his invention,
among others, by covering a portion of the Vauxhall Bridge
Road, and the flouring of the stables of an extensive brewery at
Pimlico, with his bituminous surface. Of the former the
bridge committee have expressed unqualified approbation in
their published report, and neither has needed the slightest re-
pair to the present day.
Like many other meritorious inventions of native talent, this
was neglected, and its existence almost forgotten ; and it was
not until the extensive and successful application of the " As-
Oahe Mastic" to similar purposes in France and Belgium at-
tracted the notice of an intelligent English traveller (Mr. Cla-
ridge), that the British public were roused to a sense of the
value and importance of the invention, by his formation of a
a company for the importation of the Asphalte de Seysrel" into
this country. This has been quickly followed by the announce-
ments of various other " Asphalte Companies," professing to
derive their materials from Switzerland and other parts of the
continent; and one company announces that they have actually
despatched an emissaty to the Pacha of Egypt to make arrange-
ments for obtaining their Asphaltum from that country ! ! !
It is of course impossible for Mr. Cassell (for the present) to
prevent the formation of these companies, to dissuade people
from subscribing to them, or to prevent their respective shares
getting to a high premium • but as his patent is not fur the
use of any particular ingredients, but for the application of a
bituminous cement, to the purposes above stated, it is clear that
without his license no company can proceed in the construction
of any works of this nature during the next ten years, the un-
expired term of his patent. His determination to support his
patent right against all infractions of it (when the proper time
shall arrive) is announced in au advertisement inserted in the
London daily papers.
The promoters of this company were among the very first to
become sensible of the advantages of this invention, and the
importance of extending them to the towns of Manchester and
Liverpool, and the populous district of which the former town
may be considered the centre. But being determined to build
upon a foundation that cannot be shaken, and desirous to guard
against the possibility of becoming involved in a suit in Chan-
cery, they considered it an indispensable preliminary to investi-
gate the terms, and ascertain the legal effect of Mr Cassell's
patent (the only one qf the same stature enrolled), and to shape
their measures accordingly.
They have now the satisfaction to announce, that they have
concluded an arrangement with the patentee, by which is se-
cured to the company, upon very advantageous terms, the sole
use and exercise of his patent right, throughout the county
palatine of Lancaster, together with all the benefit of his past
experience, and any further improvement that he may make in
the process.
It is unnecessary here to enlarge upon the importance of im-
proving, the present means of intercommunication between
every part of this commercial country, or to enumerate the va-
rious purposes of practical utility to which this invention may
be advantageously applied.
To secure to this district, and to the county palatine gene-
rally, the advantages resulting from this discovery, it is pro-
posed to form a company under the above title, (protected by
Cassell's patent,) for the manufacture and use of, the cement
for the various purposes to which it is applicable, and with all
the improvements in the composition of which it is or may be
susceptible. The following are some of the leading provisions :
The capital, in the first instance, to be £lOO,OOO, in 10,000
shares of £lO each, with power at any future period to increase
it, by the creation of additional shales, if a special general
meeting of the proprietors shall deem it expedient to do so.
The deposit to be £1 per share, placed to the credit of the
shareholders, after defraying the expenses necessarily inci-
dental to the formation of the company.
Each subscriber, on receiving his letter of appropriation, to
pay the deposit within the time therein specified, or it cannot
be received by the bankers, and the allotment will be cancelled.
As soon after the appropriation of the shares as possible, a
general meeting of the proprietors will be called, to appoint
two trustees, in whom will be vested the property of the com-
pany, and to choose directors, to whom the provisional com-
mittee will render an account of their stewardship, and by whom
the future management of the affairs of the company will be
conducted. One portion to retire by rotation every year, so
that the entire directory may be renewed every three years; but
the retiring directors to be eligible for re-election. The quali-
fication for a director, the holding of 20 shares.
The deed of settlement to contain full and explicit provisions
for the regulation and government of the company, and for li-
miting the liability of the shareholders to the amount subscribed
by them respectively; and the better to insure this object, the
purchases of the company will be made solely by its known and
recognised officers or agents, and for present cash only.
This company offers an opportunity for a highly lucrative in -
vestintrit of capital, for the following among other reasons :--
1. It is the only one hitherto projected, protected by the li-
cense of the patentee; and the sphere of its operations is suffi-
ciently extensive for the profitable enjoyment of a greatly ex-
tended capital, without fear of a rival.
2. The ingredients are to be bund, not only in this country, but
within a short distance o f Manchester. A substance, in all re-
spects the same as the "Asphalte de
,Seyssel," may be obtained
in any required quantity. for little mere than the cost of transit.
Applications for shares to be addressed (post-paid ) to the
Provisional Cotninittee, at the office Mr. ItoßEtur 'WALKER,
Prince's-Court, Market-street, or at the office of Mr. J. D.
BARRY Stock and Sharebroker, 34, Brown-street, King-street,
Manchester, of whom Prospectuses may he obtained. No ap-
plication from London, or beyond the confines of the county
palatine, can be attended tn, unless at the same time the deposit
be paid to the company's hankers.

* The analysis of this substance, of which the public 6,s
lately heard so much, shows that it is composed of from nine to
ten per cent. of mineral bitumen ; the remainder is carbonate (j.
lime, nearly pure; the bitumen itself being► made up of about
twp pails of resinous petroliferous matter, and one part of cat bun.