The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-01-06 00:00:00

DREADFUL SHIPWRECKS

Never, perhaps, for the last half century, has there been
such a continuation of tempestuous weather, as during
the last month. We give, in our shipping intelligence,
an account of several distressing shipwrecks, and amongst
them that of the St. David steamer, trading between this
port and Havre. There were, including the crew, nearly
fotty persons on board, all of whom perished, and the
vessel must have gone to pieces; but no distinct account
can be obtained about her.

The steamer Tom Bowling, belonging to North Shields,
was wrecked off the Dutch coast, and all hands perished.
The Dutch Indiaman, Twee Cerucleleuses, wrecked in
Pevensey Bay, near Eastbourne, on Sunday morning last,
had a cargo valued at £30,000, which was totally lost
with the ship. Two other Indiamen were lost more to
the westward, one called the Kate Nickleby, belonging to
Glasgow, laden with rum, sugar, and other West Indian
produce ; and the other named the Ness, from Demerara
to Bristol. As regards the loss of the former ship, no-
thing has been mentioned as to the fate of the crew. She
is insured, we believe, for several thousands. The other
wreck happened on Tuesday morning, on the coast near
Padstow. Part of her cargo has been saved, viz.: about
twenty casks of rum, and the same number of hogslieads
of sugar, none of the latter seriously damaged. The
wreck is under the protection of the military, who were
called out by the custom-house authorities to prevent pil-
lage The ship and cargo is valued at £40,000. Within
a short distance of the spot where the Ness went ashore,
a vessel, which turned out to be the Albion schooner, 160
tons burthen, belonging to Brixhatn, and Wen with iron
rails, was totally lost, and all hands except one man. She
wa- from Newport, bound to Ramsgate ; her cargo of rails
being for the intended railway of that town, now in course
of formation by the South Eastern Railway Company.
To the westward of Dungeness Bay, near Rye, two most
fatal wrecks happened during Christmas-day and the suc-
ceeding night. The names of the ill-fated vessels were
the Elizabeth, coal laden, from Sunderland to Rouen,
and the Eliza, of North Shields, the property of Mr.
Fleming, also coal laden, for Honflour ; and, dreadful to
relate, every soul belonging to them, amounting to 20
persons, were drowned. Similar catastrophies occurred
off Wisbeach, Cromer, Yarmouth, Robin Hood's Bay,
and Calais. That at the first-named port was the loss of
a brig called the Young Adam, of Skegness, and seven of
her crew perished. Off Cromer, the Richard, of Elsi-
nore, foundered, and all on board, nine in number, went
down in her. At Yarmouth, some miles out, two vessels
were seen to founder, and as their crews have not been
seen or heard of, it is supposed that every soul belonging
them was sacrificed ; and at Calais, the Montague, of
Newcastle, for Honfleur, also foundered. The crew,
eight in number, took to the boat just before she went
down, and were making for the shore, when the boat cap-
sized, and the whole of them perished. Since then their
bodies have been picked up, and it was owing to some
papers being found upon them that the name of the ill-
fated craft was ascertained. Round the neck of each of
the bodies were medals of the Shipwrecked Fishermen and
Mariners Benevolent Institution, 1845.
Thirteen coasting vessels were driven ashore during the
gales off different parts of the Welsh and the more distant
portion of the Western coast.

Along the Dutch coast the sacrifice of property bas
been equally as great as off the English. The total num-
ber of vessels reported to have been lost amounts to 16.
The Belgian and French c,ast have been visited with si-
milar disasters, also occasioning a deplorable loss of life.

LIVERPOOL JULY

MEETING, 1846

The following entry for THE MERSEY STAKES, was
closed on Thursday last, January Ist :—Wolverton—
c by Simoon, out of Cassandra—Tribute—Miles's Boy—
Daring—Glentilt—Projectile—b Meeanee, by Touch-
ston—Eryx—Van Tramp—b fby Lanercost, out of Quilt
Arnald's dam—The Maid of Motherwell—Tyrone—ln-
fringe—ch f by The Provost, out of Manilla—Chat—
Mary Stuart.

CHESTER SPRING MEETING, 1816

The GROSVENOR STAKES for all ages. To name on
the day of entry for the plates. Subscribers : Lord Geo.
Bentinck—Mr. E. J. Irwin—Lord Chesterfield—Mr. A.
W. Hill—Mr. Mostyn—Mr. Meiklatn.

The following entries closed on Thursday last, Ist Jan.
The TWO-YEAR-OLD SWEEPSTAKES.—LeporeIIa, by
Touchstone—Semiramis ; Glentilt ; Projectile ; f by Don
John—A rachne ; The Prairie Bird, by Touchstone—Zil-
lah. by Reveller; Nerissa, by Launcelot ; f by Lanercost
—Quilt Arnold's dam ; f by St. Martin—Royalty ; Cre-
dential ; Saddleworth, by Dick ; 'Wintonia, by Wintonian;
; Tribute, by Record ; Miles's Boy, by The Saddler ; Dip-

thong, sister to E. O. ,•ForecloEure, brother to Freeman,
The TRADESMEN'S PLATE. 142 subscribers.— CEoline,
Black Strap, Best Bower, Clumsy, Miss Elis, Marquis of
Conyngham by Slane, Blackbird. Camera Obscura, Laird
o'Cockpen, Lothario, Peasant, Muscatel by Mua, Pompey,
Lycureus, Plaudit, Valiant by Vigo, Pal by Confederate,
Anti-Repealer, Spur, St. Lawrence, Winchester, Wes-

zhter. Pvtbia

- "
Salopian, Pedometer, Mlneiour, Trueboy, Inheritress,
Rowena, Brother to Sir Henry, The Hero, Colleen Dhas,

mooericic, The Warrior, Queen Pomale, Cataract, Con-
naught Ranger, John Goldham, Lady Wildair, Game-
cock, .Javelin, Jenny Wren, Crimt Con.. Sir Dig
Diddle -
What

ary,.sweetmeat, The Libel,
rn Ironaster, Teetotaller, Portrait, Columbus, Johnny,
Deodara, The Magnet, Artist, Lancashire Witch, Extem-
pore, London, Prince Royal, Discord, Hope, Zanoni,
Redstreak. Queen of Tyne, Beaufrontv,Sarah Rebecca by
Touchstone, Miss Burns, Alice Hawthorne, Isabella,
Mountcharles, Xanthus, Elena Clara by Epirus, Tell by
Record, Glossy, Flattery, Finvaragh by Harkaway, Dr.
Husband, Hooton, Coranna, Little Hampton, f by Rust,
Outcast by Despise, Ruff. Moss Trooper, Pilot, Surety
by Muley Moloch. Whinstone, John Davis by Emilius,
Mermaid, Wolf Dog, Highwayman,by Frcney, Arthur,
Vates, Billy Purvis by The Bard, Example, The Baron,
Sorella, Petit Morceau, Mervis by Hornsea, Joe Lovell,
Rowland Hill, Morpeth, Vitals, Yardley, Little Cassino,
Merryman, Duc an Durras, Flahowlagh, Colleen Bawn,
lonian, King Cob, Devil's Dust, Valerian, Vol-au-Vent,
Elemi, Mongrel, Correct Card, index, Advice, Satyr.
The DEE STAND CUP.—Felix, Harry, Ould Ireland,
The Pride of Kildare, Sweetmeat, Tractarian, Midlothian,
Wolf Dog, The Warrior, John Goldham, and The Duke
of Richmond.

The MARQUIS OF WESTMINSTER'S PLATE.—Laird o'
Cockpen, Best Bower, Midlothian, Arthur, Miss Burns,
Chertsey, The Pride of Kildare, Warp, Ironmaster, The
Warrior, Trueboy, Philip, Godfrey, Lancashire Witch,
Hope, Example, Joe Lovell, Rowland Hill, Yardley,
Fair Char lotte, Flattery, Fitzallen, The Cossack Maid.
The CHESHIRE STAKES.—Weatherbit, Intrepid, The
Pride of Kildare, Polish. Warp, Ould Ireland, Trueboy',
Philip. Godfrey, Extempore, Lady Wijdair, Best Bower,
Discord, Blackbird, Marquis of Conyngham, Eboracum,
Arthur, Fitzallen, Pompey, Lycurgus, Plaudit, Queen of
Tyne, Beaufront, The Libel, Salopian, Dr. Husband.
Sorella, Petit Morceau, The Roper's Daughter; P ythia,
Event, Pilot, Whinstone, Morpeth, Y ardley, Colleen
Bawn, Flattery, and Judex. •

£2,336,755
This would be about the cost, and in five or six years
the property would be worth more if a revenue could be
shown to anything like that amount. A good warehouse
in Liverpool produced, of annual rent, a guinea to 25s a
yard, for every yard of land they stood upon, and if they
were close upon the dock sides they would produce more.
He put 355. throughout for land per yard, and £8 108 for
building. This included the outlet's and approaches of
the warehouses. The actual land on which they stood he
would estimate at £5 or £6—say £5 10s. for the land,
and £8 10s. for the buildings, so that £l4 would be the
fee-simple. He then went into calculations relative
to warehouse property in Liverpool, concluding by
valuing the fee-simple of the land there at £l7 10s.
per yard, and these not close upon the docks, which those
of Birkenhead would have the advantage-of in cartage,
&c. The Birkenhead docks, warehouses, &c., would in
6 or 6 years be worth between two and three millions
sterling, and from his experience he thought it would in-
crease in a great ratio in 40 or 50 years. In Liverpool
land on the water side has greatly increased, in some in-
stances ten or fifteen fold.

In cross-examination, witness admitted that be con-
sidered property in Liverpool more important and value-
able than in Birkenhead. Liverpool was a fact ; ken-
head a contingency. His calculation made the return 6
or 7 per cent. upon the project. The Trustees of the
Liverpool Docks purchased the Harrington Docks two
years ago, at 325. a yard, and about £50,000 had then
been expended in forming part of a dock wall. The slob
and shore land, at the North Shore, cost them less than
£1 in fee simple. An outlay of upwards of £1,000,000
would be required to call out the value of the land at
Birkenhead as it now was. If the money could not be
raised for the completion of the project the land would
let, near the water, for trades requiring water frontage,
but not for much. One shilling a yard might be the
minimum. At Wallasey Pool, 30 years ago, the land
would not have let for pasturage for more than ten shillings
an acre. Though Birkenhead town had increased, the
pool was not a place for building houses upon. The
crown land would have to be made, and if it were en-
closed between the sea-wall and the corpotation land, it
would reduce the latter to very little value. In this point
of view the crown land was as valueless as the other, if a
power was had to interpose the crown land between the
water and the corporation land. Either, alone, are of
little value, but put together they are valuable. The
crown land (86,700 yards,) be valued on an average at
12s in cash for the fee-simple. He considered £7OOO
the relative value of the reversion or three per cent. upon
.C 37,000 which would be £1,71013-year, and he took 4 years'
purchase upon that as a return. (Much was here gone
into relative to the manner.of striking the reversion.) He
reckoned a 16 years' purchase for a lease of 75 years, and
the interest an equivalent of 6 per cent. to the lessee.
On this plan the corporation proceeded. The formation
of Docks at Birkenhead was discussed in Liverpool and
through the papers, but little in the council. Many years
ago there was a talk of a ship canal through Wallasey
Pool. Plans we re made for it to the Dee. ,At that time
the Corporation purchased the land from Tobin, Laird,
and others. Some of it cost 18s and some 30s; but he
did not know the average. He believed the land was pur-
chased in order to stop the project. He remembered the
sales of land at Wallasey made by the corporation. It was
said in the council that it was well sold.. 1 would not
have parted with it, as I thought something was going on
which would make the Pool valuable. Others thought
so too. The Pool would have been a valuable adjunct to
Liverpool whether Birkenhead had risen or not. If
made into a floating dock it would be valuable to Liver-
pool, by receiving vessels from the overcrowded docks.
The witness here explained a number of transactions in
band which he was agent for, for the Earl of Derby. He
had sold 5000 yards of land on both sides of Great Howard-
street, for 30s. a yard in fee simple. The value of a re-
version depended on no abstract value of laud, but on the
probability of what it would be when buildings covered it.
On re-examination, Mr. Stewart said be believed the
Crown land would be sold to the Birkenhead Commis-
sioners for the sum he had valued it at—£s7.ooo. He
considered the lessees would be amply indemnified in the
73 years after erecting all the docks and buildings. The
greater part of the witness's evidence afterwards given
was in explanation of the principle he adopted in regard
to reversionary interests.

Mr. Wm. Tire, surveyor of London, said he thought
the Birkenhead Commissioners world be justified, and
act wisely inlaying out the amount stated on the docks
and warehouses, as it would bring them into successful

competition with the Liverpool docks. He approved of
Mr. Stewart'sprinciple of reversion. Eighteen years pur-
chase of such property was, be thought, moderate.
Mr. JOHN Mt EIGHTMAN, architect and surveyor of
Liverpool

xamined.— Ells evidence was much to the
zte t'ffect as Mr. Stewart's, as to the rising value of the
lend at the Pool, if laid out for mercantile purposes ac-
cording to the plans. It was desirable in a lessee of the

always put the supposition that the Dock Uompany's
Act had never passed.) If the property were so converted
as intended, and its value should be £2,400,000, at the
end of five years, it would be much more valuable at the
end of 73 years. The fair value of the reversion to the
Corporation was what at three per cent. would make up
the entire value at the end of the term.

AtIr..JoHN ti ARTLEY, asistant surveyor of the Liver-
pool and Hull Docks, was next called. lie handed in a
detailed estimate. In reply to Mr. Lloyd he said he es-
timated" the cost of the sea-wall along the nanrgin of the
pool and the others, at £3O per running yard. A wall
bounding the property at lease, and not built so strong as
a river wall, would cost £l3 a yard. and satisfy the con-
rs. The proportion of frontage to the depth back-
)f the Harrington Ducks land was more than two-

Mr. EicHARD EARLig, agent to the Earl of Derby,
spoke to the vast increase in the value of his lordship's
properly contiguous to the new North Docks, and the
quantity of property built on 75 years' leases•there and
over the town. In rising neighbourhoods there was no.
thing so valuable as reversions. He thought 3 per cent.,
as required by the corporation, the proper sum, at the
end of 75 years.

Mr. W. S. SHERWOOD attended for Mr. Leigh, a large
proprietor of Liverpool. He concurred with the other
witnesses as to the rise in the value of property in the
contiguity of commercial improvements. He adduced
instances in Mr. Leigh's property. The operations in Bir-
kenhead would increase the value of property here : it
would give an impetus to this side. "There was nothing
like bringing people out a little."—The Solicitor-General
here remarked, that Birkenhead would no more injure
Liverponl, than the Surrey side injured London.
Mr. FRANKLIN, the corporation surveyor, said the
part of the Birkenhead corporation property let on lease
to Mr. Cole, was formerly let for £1 an acre—at least
about 53 acres of it. That part was sold for 73 years, on
lease, at £l2OO an acre. This he certainly considered a
good bargainl as they had only paid 41 an acre.

_ .
This closed the attic for-the corporationond the inqUiry
was adjourned.