The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-09-29 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

SHEFFIELD, ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE, AND MAN-
We promised in ouHE STER
r late remRAILWAY arks upon this undertaking to
show that, independent of its merits as an investment, it
possessed strong claims for support upon the commercial in-
terests of Liverpool ; and we now proceed to fulfil our
promise.
The communication between Liverpool and the midland
district of England, has been hitherto almost entirely unfitted
for the purposes of commerce. A vast portion of the cut-
lery and heavy wares of Sheffield and Rotherham, it is well
known, is taken off by the American trade. Yet, between
these two towns, and their western seaport, the only route
for merchandise is by a hilly, and, in winter, an impractica-
ble road conveyance for upwards of forty miles to the Man-
chester and Liverpool Railway, or for more than twenty
miles by road, to a circuitous and expensive canal convey-
ance at Castleton, in Derbyshire. By either of these routes
the carriage is so expensive and tedious as to exclude our
merchants from supplying Sheffield with any considerable
quantity of imported articles.
The formation of a railway from Manchester to Sheffield,
communicating at the former place, with the Manchester
and Liverpool Railway, will therefore introduce to Liverpool,
for the first time, valuable and extensive consumers in the
population of Sheffield, and the various other places adjacent
to the line of railway on the Yorkshire side of the summit
ridge, the whole of which have hitherto been dependent for
a supply of the products of the western world, upon the
ports of London and Hull. It will also throw open the
Liverpool and the Irish markets to a large agricultural dis-
trict, south and south-east of Sheffield, besides shortening
considerably our communication with the important manu-
facturing towns of Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Loughbo-
rough, &c. Instead -of the transit of merchandise between
'these places, occupying as at present three and four days, it
will be conveyed by railway with certainty in nine or ten
hours, at one-third the present cost.
In addition to the advantages thus offered by the commu-
nication afforded with Sheffield and its neighbourhood, a
considerable intermediate traffic would arise between Liver-
pool and the large manufacturing towns upon the line of
railway on the Manchester side of the Summit Ridge.
Amongst these we may mention Glossop, Mottram, Staley-
bridge, Ashton-under-Lyne, Newton, and Hyde, containing
together a population of about 100,000 souls ; a great portion
of Derbyshire, with the manufacturing valley of Holmfirth,
New Mills, &c. In all probability, too, this line will ulti-
mately furnish the nearest railway route to Huddersfield,
and decidedly the nearest to the Humber, and to the whole.
of the north of England. The line to the Humber we may
mention has been already surveyed by Mr. Locke, the pre-
sent engineer of the company.
We cannot but think that a candid consideration of the
advantages which this undertaking holds out to the et no-
merce of the port of Liverpool, should induce our enterpris-
ing capitalists to afford it the assistance of some portion of
their countenance and support. On a future occasion we
shall endeavour to dissipate some of the prejudices which we
believe to exist, with respect to its merits as an engineering
and remunerating line.

THE GREAT WEsTERN RAILWAY.—The extraordinary
speed with which his Royal Highness Prince Albert travelled
on the above line of railway, on the occasion of his visit to
the late Princess Augusta, on Monday last, is, perhaps, the
greatest that has yet been attained on that or any other rail-
way, it averaging nearly a mile per minute. The train was
one specially ordered for the occasion, and consisted of the
" Sun" new engine, to which was attached a second-class
carriage, and the Royal Saloon carriage, which has been re-
cently built by the company for the exclusive use of the mem-
bers of the royal family. In allusion to the extraordinary
speed of the train, his royal highness, on his return from
Clarence House. to the terminus at Paddington, was heard to
observe to the directors, as they were handing him into the
saloon, " You travel very fast on this line ; not so fast back,
if you Please." The line will, we understand, be further
opened, before the end of the year, to Wootton Bassett, and
from Cheltenham to Cirencester, and the entire length of the
railway on the Ist of June next (1841.)
GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY TRAFFIC BETWEEN BRIS-
TOL AND BATH.—Week ending 20th September, Passengers,
13.8631; Receipts, £1,12305. 9d.
The Shoreham branch of the London and Brighton Rail-
way carried 3926 passengers during the week ending the 15th
of September, which is an average of 561 daily; the receipts
were £134 Bs. Bd.—Briyhton Gazelle.
EASTERN COUNTIES RAILWAY.—We understand the
Eastern Counties Directors have given up the idea of creating
new shares at a discount, and intend to issue debentures of
one-third the value of the original shares,•or at £8 6s Bd.,
covenanting that the holders of these debentures shall, at the
end of two years, have the option of receiving for each such
debenture, a share in the common stock of the Company,
and with respect to dividends stand upon precisely the same
footing as the original shareholders.—Railway Times.
RAILWAY TRAFFIC.--The lines in the-neighbourhood of
London, on account of the recent bad weather, have slightly
fallen or upon the week ; a slight improvement, however, is
visible in the country generally. The North Midland has
increased 20 per cent, the Birmingham and Derby 16, the
Midland Counties 12, the Newcastle and Carlisle, and the
York and North Midland 10 per cent. The first report of
traffic on the Northern and Eastern Railway for eight days
is £37l.—lbid.

NORTH MIDLAND RAILWAY
week ending 19th September :
Passengers, parcels, carriages, horses, and

—Traffic returns for the

Merchandise and minerals, previous week

£3834 1 9
464 5 10

£4298 7 7
HULL AND SELBYRAILWAY.—Traffic returns from Sep
;ember 14 to September 20, inclusive
Passengers (3697), parcels, &c
Goods, parcels, sheep, Szt

£507 6 9
214 15 3

THE BIRKENHEAD BAZAAR.—It has been resolved to
reopen this Bazaar, which is in aid of a fund for the comple-
tion of the beautiful new church at Birkenhead, to-morrow
and next day—the weather having during the past week been
so unfavourable, as doubtless to have deterred parties from
attending: -The amount received on the first three days was,
we learn, about £350. There are still many beautiful at tides
-on sale, and as the object is one , which promises a lasting
blessing to a large portion of the community, we sincerely
wish that the fair keepers of the stalls will be even more suc-
cessful than hitherto.
ODD FELLOWS' SOCIETY AT BIRKENHEAD.—Yesterday
the quarterly meeting of the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
lows of Birkenhead, holding of the Manchester Unity, was
held at the Albion Hotel, in the former place. The attend-
ance was unusually numerous, and many new names were
added. We learn that such is the increase in this the " Li-
verpool" district, that it is in contemplation to divide it into
two divisions.

CHESTER AND BIRKENHEAD RAILWAY.—This railway,
which was opened to the public last week, has, considering
the shortness of the notice, the state of the weather, and the
fact that the Crewe line, leading from Chester into the Grand
Junction is not yet carried through, bid fair to command a
large number of passengers. There are five trains from each
of the termini every week day, and five times in all on Sunday,
namely—three from Birkenhead and two from Chester,—the
Sunday trains being in the morning and evening only. Seve-
ral of the trains have taken from 80 to 100 passengers, and
the traffic is progressively on the increase. The whole line
is rapidly approaching to a state of completion at all points ;
and as the period of transit between this town and Chester
will be very brief, the probability is that it will become more
and more popular as it becomes known.
PitonanLE ACCIDENT ON THE CHESTER AND BIRKEN-
HEAD RAILWAY AVERTED.-011 Saturday forenoon last,
the children who, it appears, had found their way upon the
railway close to the Tranmere iron bridge, got a loose wooden
sleeper, and laid it across the rails. Luckily Mr. Graham,
one of the sub-contractors, happened to pass soon afterwards,
and discovered the piece of timber, a very short time before
the approach of a train from Chester. which might have been
thrown, by cont.lct with it, off the line, and a sacrifice of life
or limb been the consequence, as the railway passes over a
high embankment at the spot. The juvenile delinquents
were afterwards apprehended by Mr. Groves, superintendent
of the Tranmere police. They were respectively only six,
sel en, and eight years of age. They were taken before the
magistrates, when, us it could not be supposed that mere
children could compass or imagine the destruction that might
have ensued, and as it appeared they were not instigated to
the act by others, they were strongly admonished and dis-
charged. _ _

REPRESENTATION OT MANCRESTER.-Mr. T. M. Gib-
son addressed a meeting of the members of the Manchester
Reform Association on Friday, and a resolution was passed,
that he was a fit person to be brought forward at the next
election, in opposition to Sir George Murray.
Lord Francis Egerton, M.P., has subscribed the liberal
sum of £5O towards the erection of a chapel of ease at Farn-
worth; to be called the New Berry Chapel.

IMPROVEMENT IN SHIPBUILDING.—The Roseanna, a new
ship, lately built by Mr. Jackson, at the South Shore, is the
first vessel ever entirely fitted with iron lower-deck beams.
They are remarkable for their strength and neatne,s, and,
above all, give additional room for stowage, equivalent to 12
inches depth of hold. It is by such practical combinations
of Acid and iron that we may expect to compete with other
nations more highly favoured with shipbuilding; and ue
advise every man who takes an interest in " the wooden
walls" to go and judgefor himself. The Roseanna lies at
the southwest corner of the Brunswick Dock.
LaNcAsinau INDEPENDENT COLLEGE.—The Manches-
ter Guardian gives the following account of the accident
which happened at the laying of the foundation stone of this
college, on Wednesday. Our neighbour, the itt
—ereury,
ri -
presented it as " distressing and frightful ;" but we are glad
to find that the old lady was imposed upon :—" For the con-
venience of the parties expected to be present on the occa-
sion, a temporary gallery had been erected, which was ap-
propriated to the ladies. It was constructed of timber, and
was in the form of a hustings used at elections. The length
of it was perhaps from 30 to 40 feet. About eighty ladies
were on the gallery, and there were about as many, or per-
haps more, gentlemen on the ground. The Rev. J. Gwyther
commenced the proceedings by giving out the 118th hymn in
the congregational hymn-book, the first verse of which had
been sung, and he was giving out the first two lines of the
second when a crackling noise was heard, followed immedi-
ately by an awful scream ; and it was perceived that the centre
support of the gallery had given way, and that the whole
structure, except the sides, had fallen to pieces, one end of
the planks falling towards the centre, funning on both sides
an inclined plane, and the ladies fell upon each other, sonic
amongst and others under portions of the timber. A rush
was instantly made to rescue them from the situation in
which they were placed, whilst the agonising cries and excla-
mations made by those who were in search of their wives or
daughters were truly distressing, and great apprehension was
felt that some lives were lost. In the course of a few mi-
nutes, however, this fear was removed ; the ladies were all
extricated; and it was ascertained that, though many were
severely hurt, no one was killed, nor was any fatal or dan-
gerous injury inflicted ; and we therefore think it unneces-
sary to give the names of the sufferers."
A palm tree of enormous dimensions was taken through
this town on Thursday week, on its way to the Duke of
Devonshire's seat at Chatsworth. Its weight was 12 tons,
it was drawn by nine horses, and the carriage alone was ex-
pected to amount, before it reached its destination, to £l,OOO.
—Northampton Mercury.

Dr. Shuttleworth, the new bishop of Chichester, is a native
of Preston, and was educated at the Corporation Grammar
School there, of which town his father several years ago was
vicar. _ _

CUNNING OF MOUNTAIN FOXES—When the litter is dis-
covered, " the fox-hunter" is brought into requisition (who
often, at this time, has more calls than he can answer) ; his
terriers are sent into the den, and the young massacred. A
watch is then sent to command a view all around, in order, if
possible, to shoot the old ones when they return. I have
been told by people thus employed, that they had no idea of
the proverbial cunning of the fox, until they saw it shown
upon such occasions. Although the place has been perfectly
bare, the old ones have come, unperceived, within ten yards
of the party ; and were, at last, only discovered by the strain-
ing of the dogs on the leash. I have often heard Ow watchers
say, that the ease with which "the tod" avoids their faces,
and skulks behind their backs,
.is most surprising. If the
foxes escape the gun, as they commonly do, " thestreakers"
are slipped upon them ; and if not then run down, nothing
remains to be done but again. to set the watch. So long as
the old ones are prevented from entering, they will return
morning and evening for several days ; but should either of
them get access, and miss the young, they come back no
wore.—The Moor and the Loch.