The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-01-10 00:00:00

PURCHASE OF BIRKENHEAD FERRY

• (From the Liverpool Journal)
The corporation are now in treaty for the purchase, which
we hope there will not be a mordent's hesitation to complete,
of the valuable estate constituted of Birkenhead Ferry and
Hotel, and about nine acres of the adjacent land, with all the
shore down to low water mark. The price, £65,000, though
large, does not seem an extravagant one, even without refer-
ence to prospective improvement.
The old corporation showed much less than its usual judg-
ment in purchases, in not securing the whole of the Birken-
head estate belonging to Mr. Price, which a very few years
back might, we have been informed, been had for £lOO,OOO,
and which, even under the ferry monopoly, which has tended
greatly to check improvement, has immensely increased in
value=possibly to six or seven times that amount. The ad-
vantages of such a purchase, not merely to the corporate
estate, but.to the general interests of the peopleof Liverpool,
would have been incalculable.

• ,The advantages of the present purchase are great and ob-
vibus. If merely sold off, or let on lease, it • would afford a
fair investment for money. It gives the corporation, in con-
junction with the Wallasey estate, the monopoly of the only
sites on that side of the water suitable, either in respect of
convenience or economy, for the construction of docks ; and,
more than all, it affords them the means of securing the pub-
lic the free navigation of the river, by affording a landing
place for competition in the conveyance of passengers at the
lowest possible cost. To say nothing of the steamers, the
corporation could.not 'do a more useful or popular thing than
to afford a free slip, at which the poor boatmen on the river
might earn a living in fine weather, by plying, which they do
now under. great disadvantage, being compelled to land pas-
sengers on the open beach, since they were driven from the
ancient highway at Woodside.
Under the acts constituting the Liverpool dock trust, the
bond debt contracted in their construction, amounting to
nearly a million and a half, is secured on dock duties payable
,equally by all vessels which enter the Mersey, whether they
discharge in the docks or at Runcorn, or any other point on
its shores. This guarantee, to which :the public faith is
pledged, at least so long as the debt remains unpaid, has
been frequently assailed by parties having an- interest on
points of debarkation higher up the river, backed by the'
representatives of Manchester and the inland towns and
counties ; and at this moment the Harrington dock company
have a hill before parliament for effecting that object. It
was the stumbling-block in the last conservancy bill, and
stands in the way of every attempt to improve the navigation,
and will stand equally in the way of the proposed warehouse
bill ; for we do not believe that the legislature will ever con-
sent to mortgage the whole commerce of the Mersey, to the
extent of six- or eight hundred thousand pounds. to build
warehouses in Liverpool; or that the money can possibly be
borrowed on the particular security of the docks and ware-
houses to be constructed.

Such .being the case, the Liverpool corporation and the
dock committee have looked with great and well-founded
jealousy on the formation of any docks by other parties on
the opposite shore, which might not only compete with their
own, even under the disadvantage of double dues, from the
cheapness of the site and natural facilities of construction,
but might add new and formidable opponents to a list al-
ready sufficiently formidable of the enemies of their claim
to tax the commerce of the river; and their purchases on the
shore of Wallasey Pool were dictated by the same judicious
motives as now prompt the one proposed on the creek of
Tranmere. No such objections, however, apply to the con-
struction of docks there, to a certain extent, by themselves.
Whether it would be politic to construct docks for the pur-
pose of discharging, and warehousing on the spot, the car-
goes of inward bound vessels, is certainly a doubtful matter,
and will continue doubtful so long as there are the means of
further dock accommodation within the present line of
quays; and when those are exhausted, the question will he,
whether it is more politic to contend with the sea on the ex-
posed north shore, or to go to the natural shelter on the other
side of the river. But we think there can he no question
that it Would greatly facilitate the commerce of the port to
have at Birkenhead a dock for the reception of flats em
ployed m transferring the merchandise shipped at LiverpOOl,
like the basins at Ellesmere port, Runcorn, and Weston
Point, at which the different great canals, the feeders of our
commerce, debouch. The necessity of such a port will be
the more decided, when the Birkenhead and Chester Railway
is completed, as a means of transferring to this shore, or
from it, the heavy goods, cattle, and bulky articles of dif-
ferent kinds which that railway will most certainly convey.
The finance committee deserve great credit for their fore-
sight in this matter; and we again repeat our hope that there
will be not a moment's hesitation in. ratifying a contract
every way desirable.

( From the Liverpool Courier.)

We are glad to see that the Town-council is turning its
attention to the, opposite margin of the river, with a view to
taking advantage of the facilities which it affords for mer-
cantile acconoodation, in the event, of Liierpool continuing
to proceed,at her 'present rate of commercial and territorial
advancement. The report of the Finance Committee, to
which allusion is made abeve,' referred to the subject of the
Birkenhead j-Iotel; and other 'property, with the right of
ferry, whicli.the Corporation; it appears, haVe now an oppor-
tunity of purchasing, at the sum of .£l ,000. The quantity
• of land; exclusive of the shore, is stated at 43,000 square
yards, the space available for dock's, and capable of extensive
increase bY Mean's- of purchases under parliamentary powers,
at 300 yards by 110.'
It is greatly to be regretted that this purchase was not
• made conjointly with the old one. at Wallasey Pool, or, ante-
rior to that period, when the entire estate of Birkenhead
might have 'been pnrchaSed for £lOO,OOO or under. It af-
fords another illustration of the good policy of anticipating
the wants of commerce, by purchasing land likely to be re-
quired for commercial purposes while it can be purchased
advantageously. • 'The position of Birkenhead is one of
incalculable importaziee to the port of Liverpool. In
the event of new chicks • becoming, necessary, it may be
a question whether Birkenhead would not present a more
eligible site than the remote extremities of the present
lengthened line on this side of the water. There are
a variety of ways in which the interests of the port might be
promoted by the formation of docks at Birkenhead. It
might be•advisable:to remove thither the timber trade, which
now absorbs so much valuable space on this'side,; or a steam
dock might be constructed, to admit the larger class of ves-
sels of that. description; or, thirdly, it might be made the
depot for Iriih produce, so as to save the inconvenience and
expense of warehousing in Liverpool, previously to its being
sent up the country. -To whatever purpose; however, it may
be applied, the reasons, foe, the Corporation taking it into
their hands are sufficiently Obvious. They involve, 'pros-
pectively, to our 'raindS,- the whOle question as to whether
Birkenhead shall lie "a SUbSidiary adjunct or a formidable
rival to Liverpool. Should the Council let this opportunity
slip, other parties may ',,et possession of the grdund, and
form docks along it, to the s,rious detriment of the trade of
Liverpool. There seems to be a...natiiral reason, too, why
the Corp Oration, as conservator; Of the river, should..be in
possession of the ferry, which may be termed, and is, we be-
lieve, so considered in'laC the king's highway.
The sum :demanded' it large, it is true; but the time is
fast coming when it will-be-Much larger, should the property
he even attainable at any price-. Much of the uncertainty
which would formerly have hung over such a spechlation is
now removed. Birkenhead is already a flourishing town,
and there are many certain indications of its future eminence.
It will very shortly be the terminus of a railway to Chester,
connecting the shores of the Mersey with the important
mining districts in that direction, and giving an impulse to
business in all its departments. It is extensively resorted to
as a ready and cheap retreat from the turmoil of the town,
and for those advantages of a pure and salubrious atmos-
phere which cannot so easily be obtained on this side ; and
new residences and public buildings for the accomodation of '
the accumulating population are springing up on every side.
There can be no question, therefore, that this is the point
towards which the Stream of prosperity is now setting ; that
`consequently, if decks are to be constructed on any part of
the.opposite coast, it must be here and that, whether con-
verted to dock purposes or not, there can be no doUbt that
the proposed purchase will prove a safe speculation.'

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

MANCHESTER, TUESDAY EVENING.

We stated, on Friday evening, that we anticipated the
Chester Cup entry-would be " superior to that of last year."
It proves, numerically speaking, to be so'; exceeding last
year's entry by three horses, and amounting; to the largest
number :ever known for this stake, viz. forty six: It re-
mains, however, for the evnoscena to say, whether the qua-
lity of • the field is as good as :the extent is great. Leaving
'them to • settle 'this point, we may simply obServe, that the
list, as far as the entries have gene, does not look so pro-
mising as the last one ; but, if the sport is -equally good,
there will, indeed, be little occasion ter complain. Y ester-
day the gelding entered by - Mr. Massey was backed for a
good deal-of money, the acceptor tiring the fieldsmen at 100
to 5. Lanercost and Cowboy were then supOrted it 20 'to
1, the former to win at least £5OO. Neither Abraham New-
land nor Malvolio go down at the price which was the ex-
treme of the -tharket a week agp, as should be almost disposed
to think that-the closeness in the offers, against two or three,:
leaves it a doubtful point to write the absolute premier.
Twenty to one was at noon offered against two or three,
Malvolio we did not hear named. Twenty-five to one was
offered against any of Colonel Peel's lot, and 100 to 6 would
have been taken on " All Ireland." Melbourne was asked
after, but no price transpired. Great changes will no doubt
appear when the handicap comes out, and the latest day must
be the 14th. As near as we can collect the market, an aver-
age scale is thus :
THE CHESTER CUP, p.p. ,
100 to 6 on the field.—off
20 to 1 against Tubalcain.—t
20 to 1 Sir Thomas Stanley's Cowboy.—t

20 to 1
20 to 1
25 to 1

25 to 1

Mr. Isaac Day's Caravan.—t 25
Lord Westminster's Sleight-of-Hand.—off
Lord Westminster's Sir Ralph.

Mr. Ramsay's The Doctor.

25 to 1 .. Mr. Stephenson's Lightfoot.
25 to 1 .. Mr. Rarosay's Lanereost.

30 to 1 .. Culonel Peel's Dey of Algiers.—t

50 to 1 .. Lord Eglinton's St. Bennett.—t
50 to 1 .. Lord Eglinton's Bellona.—t
THE DEl2l3l%—This evening 15 to 1 was offered against
Brother to Euclid, or 100 to 6 bar him ; 300 to 15 was taken
on Muley Ishmael. and takers of 25 to 1 on Bokhara or
Wardan ; 100 to 3 offered v. Molineux (take 40 to 1 freely);
200 to 30 v. Gambia (off).—Mancliester Guardian.