The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-09-21 00:00:00

SELECT EXTRACTS.

BOG EA RTH,—A Monsieur Orguesson, a Swede by birth,
and proprietor of immense portions of land in the neighbour•
hood of II elsingfors in Finland, has invented an apperatus
by means of which he renders bog earth earth as hard and
compact as coal. In this state it easily takes fire, gives a
pure and brilliant flame, and produces as much heat, if not
more, than coat.
SEA BATHING.--Horne Tooke ridiculed sea bathing, and
said, if auy of the seal species wero sick, it would be just as
wise for a fish physician to order them to go ashore. Porson
declared that sea bathing was only reckoned healthy, because
many persons have been known to survive it. But Sheridan's
objection to salt water was most. quaint:—" Pickles,". he
said, "don't agree with me."
INCREASE OF STEAM POWER IN LANCASHIRE AND ITS
IMMEDIATE VlClNlTY.—lteturnes taken from a parliament-
ary document, afford sonic notion of the astonishing progress
which the cotton manufacture has made in Lancashire, since
the year 18.35. Fiotn the most complete, returns that have
yet been procured of the steam power existing in the manu-
facturing districts, and which were furnished by inspectors of
factories, it appears, that the total steam power employed in
the cotton mills of Lancashire and Cheshire was 24,597
horses. The increase since 1825, including the mills-now in
erection, is, according to the account, 17,413 horses, of which
2,036 are destined for purposes not connected with the cottou
manufacture, 15,377 as the increase in the cotton manufacture
alone. which amounts to 62 per cant upon the power existing
in the whole of the comities of Lancashire and Cheshire at
the date of the former returns.—Journal of the Statistical
Society of London.
ENNISKERRY.—Proceeding by the south side of Dublin,
and crossing the Dodder, a small river emptying itself into
the bay at Riugsend, we soon reach the village of Milltown,
and a little onward that of Dundrum. On clearing the
town, the environs on this side at once assume a rural cha-
racter. The villas, though small, are numerous; and the
proximity to the mountains, the salubrity of the air, and the
means of recreation afforded by the numerous roads branch-
ing off in various directions, have long rendered this place
generally attractive to the citizens, and to invalids a place of
frequent resort. Beyond Dundrum the road skirts the base
of the mountain r.inges, through which our road winds to the
termination of this route; passing on the right several of the
granite quarries opened for the supply of building stone. On
the left, the detached fragments of that rock attest what the
surface of this immediate portion of the country must have
been some years ago. From this road you command a view
of the city; and eastward, that tract covered with villas,
through which the various lines of road from Dublin to Bray
run; the more conspicuous from their elevation and proximi-
ty, being Minott Annville and Mount Merrion. A little
beyond Dundrum, on the right, is Moreen, the villa of Mr.
M'Key ; and near it, on the rame side, the cottage of Alder-
man Darley, remarkable from its situation on the hill side.
In the lower grounds to the left, are the old castle, church
ruins, and village of Kilgobbin; and a mile farther the village
of Kilt ernan—Kilternan House, the residence of Mr. Ander-
son, lying a little ti. the right. On the hill side to the left,
are the Lead Mines. Passing on the right, Springfield, the
villa of Thomas Thompson, Esq., romantically situated at
the commencement of that remarkable ravine, well known
as the Scalp. The road now enters the county of Wicklow,
and soon teaches Enniskerry, which is delightfully situated
in a deep valley, watered by one of the streams running into
the Bray river. The picturesque cottages, the scenery around
the neighbourhood, and the improvements of the proprietor,
Lord Powerscourt, rendes- this the most interesting.of the
small places around Dublin. It is much frequented by the
citizens; and is the first stage to the Seven Churches. There
is a comfortable ion, and several respectable lodging houses
—good cars and horses can also be hired. The road leaving
Enniakerry is vet y steep; this, however. might be temedied
by a line traversing the sloping grounds, up which the present
road is carried. Proceeding, we pass clone to the fine seat of
Viscount Powerscourt on the right; and in the valley below,
Tinnehinch, James Grattan, Esq., M.P. The house, a plain
edifice, is close to the road, in an angle of that beautifully
wooded valley, a branCh of which commences at the Water-
fall and extends to Bray. It connects also with Glencree,
and contains the Powerscourt deer-park, and the ravine of
the Dargle. It is watered by several streams, bearing various
local names, which tun from the mountain ravines and glens,
and uniting in their progress downwards, are borne in one
channel, called the Bray river, to the sea. Beyond Tinne-
hinch, on the right, is Charleville. the-seat of the Earl of
Rathdown; and on the left, Bushy Park, Hon. Ilugh Howard.
—Fraser's Guide through Ireland.
THE SEVEN CHURCHES.—At the confluence of the above
streams, and at the base of Derrybawn mountains, is Derry-
bairn., the scat of W. T.,Bookey, Esq. The house is a neat
modern edifice, and stands in a thicket of trees, which con-
nect with the extensive plantations on the mountain side.
From the nature of the soil, the low grounds of this demesne
have been improved at a vast expense; they stretch for a
considerable distance down the banks of the Avonmore river,
and up the Glendalough stream, including the southern side
of the lough; and as far as they are cultivated, the richness
of the verdure contrasts strongly with the sterility around.
The extensive copse-wood of Ballard, in front of the house,
gives the place quite a forest character. The village of
Laragh, close to the bridge, contains one or two good public
houses, where parties occasionally stop. The ruins of the
Seven Churches lie about half a mile west of Laragh bridge ;
they are merely the scattered fragments of what appears to
have originally been, with two or three exceptions, small
rude buildings. The principal group. consisting of the
Cathedral, Our Lady's Church, St. Kevin's Kitchen, and the
Round Tower, stands on a grassy eminence rising over the
small piece of water called Poolanass, which is detached
from the lake. You enter the well-tenanted cemetery, which
surrounds the cathedral by a ruined archway. The other
ruins, which appear to be pressed into the service to make
up the mystical number seven, are scattered along the road
side and opposite shores of the lake ;—they are now merely
masses of mouldering walls, with scarcely any architectural
feature remaining, end are termed the Ivy Church, Ithefeart
Church, The Abbey, and Team-pull-na-Skeltig. he lake is
_a_b_unt a mile in length lay a fourth in breadth; it is supplied
by two streaml-efs *bin run -dinv-trnte—steep-stne-s- ut-ttre
mountains; that on the south side runs through a deep
wooded ravine, which separates the mountain at Derrybawn
from the more lofty Lugduff, and is called the Poolanass
brook; it forms, a beautiful casade on a small scale, as it
forces its way through the chasms of the rocks; the other,
on the western end of the lake, called Giancola, runs be-
tween Lugduff and Comaderrv. and when the stream is full,
has a good effect, falling rapidly down the naked rock. The
mountain boundaries of the lake are lofty and precipitous,
and rise in many places almost perpendicular from the deep,
dark wavers; the shores are well fringed with unde.rwood;
and the mountain ash, Circh, oak, and holly, wherever they
can obtain a footing, serve to relieve and soften the sternness
of the mountain sides. There is nothing picturesque in the
scenery of Glendalough; it is of a sterile and melancholy
character, not bold enough certainly in its features to be de-
nominated grand ; and if it produces some feeling allied to
the sublime, this is not owing to the majestic features of the
scenery. but to its solitary and sombre nature, and to the
associations which are perhaps awakened by the crumbling
relics of other days—so perfectly in unison with that cha-
racter.—Fraser's Guide through Ireland.