The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-03-10 00:00:00

THE CHASE.

-The CHESHIRE HOUNDS will meet on
To•nacirrowA,Wednesday), 10, at . Kingsley
Thurtday,,11., at
Saturday,M. at.• • • • Beeston•liall
Each day at half past ten.
SIR W. W. WYNN'S HOUNDS will meet on
Thursday, I I , at . Winnstay

Saturday, 113,,at
Each day at half-past ten.

COMMISSIONS BY THE LORD LIEUTENANT OF THE
COUNTY ,OF LANteASTEE.—William Shawe,, Esq., to be
Deputy-Lieutenant; Richard Atkinson, Ego.. to be De-
puty-Lieutenant;; V Regiment of the Duke of Lancas-
ter's Own Militia, Sir T. G. Elesketh, Bart., to be Major,
%ice Ilornby, resigned; 2nd Regiment of the Duke of
Lancaster's Own 'Militia, Major J. H. Ford to,be Lieut.-
Colonel, vice Entwisle, resigned.
THE EASTERN LILSVENSARY.—We beg to dun the at-
tention of our readers to the advertisement in our.co44sinns,
announcing a meeting.of the subscribers and friends olthe
above institution, to be •held at the parish Board-room,
Fenwick•streei; on Monday next, upon matters conneeted
with the paying of of the debt in which it is at present
involved. It is lamentable that, in such a town as Liver-
pool, such an institution .should be suffered to fall into
difficulties; and we trust .the public spirit and charitable
feelings of our merchants and tradesmen of Liverpool will
at once wipe away this stain From the character of our
town, and give to an excellent institution the means of
more extensive usefulness.

ieLPARILITIES or THE OREGON.—Referring to my
jeurual for particular descriptions and for sectional boun-
daries between good and bad districts, I can only say, in
general and comparative terms, that, in that branch of agri-
culture which implies the cultivation of grain and staple
crops, it would be inferior to the Atlantic states, though
many parts are superior for wheat:; while in the rearing of
flocks and herds it would claim a high place. Its grazing
capabilities are great ; and even in the indigenous grass
now there an element of individual and national wealth
may be found. In fact, the valuable grasses begin
within one hundred and fifty miles of the Missouri fron-
tier and extend to the Pacific Ocean. East of the Rocky
Mountains it is the short curly grass on which the
buffalo delight to feed, ( whence the name of buffalo,)
and which is still good even when dry and to all appear-
ance dt ad. West of those mountains the grass is of a larger
growth, in clusters, and hence the name of bunch gross
which has a second or fall growth. Plains and mountains
both exhibit them ; and I have seen a good pasturage at
an elevation of 10,000 feet, In this spontaneous product
the trading or traveling caravans can find subsistence for
their animals ; and in military operations any number of
cavalry may be moved and any number of cattle may be
driven ; and thus men and horses be supported on long
expeditions, and even in winter in the sheltered situations.
Commercially, the value of the Oregon country must be
great, washed as it is by the North Pacific Ocean, fronting
Asia, producing many of the elements of commerce, mild
and healthy in its climate, and becoming, as it naturally
will, a thoroughfare for the East India and China trade.
--Fremont' .s &Tiering Expedition 10 the Bppkil 3foun_

FALLING OF THE WAREHOUSE IN
MOOR-STREET.
CONCLUSION OF THE ADJOURNED INQUEST, AND PRO-
FESSIONAL EVIDENCE ON THE CAUSES OF THE
ACCIDENT.

Yesterday, the adjourned inquest touching the death of
Peter Lancey, who was killed by the falling of Mr. Tip-
ping's warehouse in Moore-street and Old Ropery, on the
31st January, and which bad twice :been adjourned, (on
the last occasion from the 23d of last month) was resumed
before the Borough Coroner ; and as the inquiry chiefly
invoked the impor'ant question of the cause of the falling
of the building—whether from defects, or from its being
overloaded—a great number of witnesses, and a still more
numerous auditory were present. Mr. Lowndes, solici-
tor, again rppeared on behalf of Mr. Tipping; and Mr.
North, solicitor, for Messrs. Wm. Steele and Co.
John Brett, warehouseman to Mr. Jan Tipping, was
first called. He had been with him for 13 years. He had
been in the warehouse that fell very often. Mr. Tipping
rented rooms 5 and 6 from Mr. Deane. Room 5 con-
tained barley in hulk. There were 2011 sacks in it, ex-
tended over the floor. The pressure was about 13 cwt.
per square yard. He would put more in a lower room
than an upper one. He considered 13 cwt. a proper
weight for No. 5, but in No. 1 he would put 14 cwt per
yard, and the same in Nos. 2,3, and 4. He would be
afra'd to put that weight into No. 5. Room No. 6 con-
tained barley also. It contained 1811 sacks in bu k—pres-
sure 11 or 12 cwt. on the square yard. He thought 12
cwt. not too much for No. 6. He did not consider there
was any danger. There was a passage between the ware-.
house that fell and the one on the west side of it, which
ran up about half-way. The barley in No. 6 weighed
about 170 tons.

By Mr. North.—No. 6 was not quite full. In No. 5
the height of the barley was 16 or 17 bricks. He made
his calculation by guess. The number of bricks high is
the usual way of regulating the stowage of grain. He
calculated from the weight-book (produced) which was
kept at the office, and had no other knowledge of them.
If he stowed the room 17 brick high with barley, he would
not have stowed wheat more than 13 bricks high. It was
usually stowed 12 or 13 bricks, seldom higher than 14, and
that in a new warehouse.

By Mr. Lowndes.—The whole of the quantities taken in
are kept at the Custom-house.
Arthur Murphy, a weigher in Mr. Tipping's employ,
took 291 sacks of barley into No. 5, on 13th January.
Each sack was weighed as taken in, and entered in the
book produced. Into room No. 6he toLk the same day
1811 sacks, and entered the weights.
Christopher Monk, weigher in Mr. Steele's employ,
said that there were pease and wheat in room No. 7-
1403 sacks of pease, put in bulk, but 70 sacks were deli-
♦ered out before the accident. The weight of the pease
left was about 3,002 cwt, 1 quarter. Toe wheat (713 sacks),
also placed in bulk, in the same room, weighed 1535 cwt.
The total weight of the whole in the room, 4,537 cwt. it
was not in a state to tell hew many bricks high it reeched.
It did not reach to the beams above. A greater quantity
of wheat might be placed in the centre of the room, rising
towards the ridge of the roof. The area of the toom was
about 309 square yards, and the pressure about 144 cwt.
on the equare yard. He had been engaged in stowing
goods in warehouses 16 or 17 years. If employed to fill
the whole rooms in the warehouse in question, he would
put a ton to 23 cwt. in room No. I. He was not aware
of anything wrong with the warehouse to prevent his do-
ing so there. He would reduce the weight in each suc-
cessive room to the top. He considered that if the pease
and wheat in N 0.7, had been left as he left them and not le-
velled, there might be danger of something breaking down,
but none if they had been levelled. It was -Mr. Steele's
duty to level them. The pease were worth about 17s. a
sack. The wheat was worth about 235. a sack.—By a ju-
ryman.—The pease were mostly at the south end of the
room. By Mr. Lowndes.—He saw it fist on the 17th
January. The levelling had commenced when he was
last there. There was space left in No. 7to take in a load
or two more in the gar g say between the pease and wheat.
There was space to raise the whole higher by about a yard.
below the beams. The entire weight in the room was
about 226 tons 17 cwt. If an old warehouse such as that
betrayed no symptoms of weakness, that weight might, he
thought at the time, be Out into the top room with safety.
If the same warehouse were still standing he would not
hesitate to put the same weight int ) it. The relative
weight on the square yard guided him as to the weight and
the 'measurement of the contents of the floor also.

Mr. John Leah, out-door superintendent to Messrs.
Steele and Co.—He took the room No. 7 for them from
Mr. Dean, for 2,200 to 2,300 sacks of beans and wheat.
Mr. Dean's man told him the room would hold just this
quantity, but that quantity was not put in ; but less by
300-sacks, sold in the interim. He thought the quantity
put in reasonable, and less than be considered the room
able to bear. He bad had thirty years' experience in
stowing warehouses. In room No. 5, occupied by Mr.
Tipping, after the warehouse fell, he saw the barley on the
part of the floor left, and it was heavier than our stow-
age. It was about 16 cwt. 3 qrs. to the square yard,
taking the barley at 53 lbs. to the bushel. He founded
calculations on the weights of the barley as given in
evidence by John Brett. Their wheat was fourteen brick
high. The weight of it was less by 2 cwt per square yard
than flour five barrels high. He ordered the wheat and
pease to be levelled as soon as the whole was taken in.
By Mr. LouNDee.—He took the warehouse for 2,300
sacks, and received into the room 2,116 sacks. He deli-
vered 70 sacks, leering in at the time of the accident
2,047 sacks. Pease were considerably heavier than
wheat or barley—in the ratio of 63 lbs. to 53 lbs. in bar-
ley ; and from 63 lbs., to 53 lbs*, or 58 lbs. in wheat. In
his caleulation of the relative weights in Mr. Tisping's
room, and Messrs. Ste.e.le's, h a calculation took their
wheat at 60 lbs., ,the pease at 63 lbs.' and the baety at
50ilbs. He thought the quantity in No. 7 was reasona-
ble. and less than he had computed it to hold according
to n age. There was space for 200 sacks more. In
loading a warehouse, there was a graduated scale from
the top rooms downwards from about 16 or 17 cwt. to 30
cwt. per square yard. in a good warehouse. The pease
and wheat in No. 7 would be on the square yard
equal to flour four barrels high on the square yard. Five
barrels high would be about 19 cwt. upon the square yard.
When the warehouse was taken, he considered it per-
fectly good. There was no appearance of weakness.
By Mr. Non-rts.—When witness stated that Mr. Tip-
ping's barley was seventeen bricks high., he -spoke of it
according •to all appearances, the original stowage being
perfectly level, and not apparently altered by the accident.
Thomas Hannah was employed, with •another man, in
levelling the wheat and pease after all was taken in. The
work was completed in three or four days. It was after-
wards turned, the last time on the day before the ac-
cident. _ _

By Mr. LOWVDES.—There was room up to the ridge
of No. 7 to put 1000 sacks more, not that we would have
put that quantity in.
Mr. Picton said the area of each Teem was, irrespective
of the staircase, about 296 to 297 square yards.
Mr. LOWNDE€ called Mr. Samuel Huggins, builder,
who said he had measured the warehouse. The area of
the top room, N0..:7, was 294 k square yards without de-
ducting the stairs, and deducting the staircase 2891. No.
6 and 5 the same; No. 4 was 280. The cotton rOOOIWEB
2761 without deducting the stairs, and without including
them 271 1-6tb. The area of the middle rooms, 4,3,
and 2, taking off tl.e stairs, was 280 square yards each.
The fo lovr ng pso essto a testimony was then taken :
Mr. John Steaart, surveyor, said,—l have, both alone
and in conjnnction with others, taken a survey of the
ruins. 7 will not undertake to assign any individual
cause for the building falling. There are many causes,
some stronger than others The main and probable cause
was the rottenness of the ends of the beams in the eastern
and western walls, which could not be discovered when
the building stood, but is now manifest. There were
other causes in the weakness of the building, especially
the nature of the foundation on which the lower series of
props rested. That Also was a hidden defect, developed
only by the breaking down of the warehouse. The
western wall was weakenedby flues at every ten feet, and
part of it did not abut upon the nest warehouse. I
never saw flues so put. At the time it was built it would
be considered a well-timbered warehouse. i have heard
what has been stated as to the quantities in each room,
and the pressure upon the square yard. Assuming that
the quantity of wheat and other articles were eitually dis-.
tributed over the floors, and there was no evidence of
bulging or giving way, Lshould not, (judging from the
parts of the floors remainiuga) consider it was overladen.
,consider the cause of the accident to have been the un-
'foreseen rottenness of the ends of the beams, and the
unforeseen causes named.

'Ey Mr. LOWNDES.—There was a difference in the
building of Warehouses according to the produce they were
to,receive. For instance, rooms for cotton were generally
much loftier than those for West India produce or corn,
This, es regarded cotton, arose from economy in building
and stowing, and did not refer to the pressure on the
beams. Cotton was not distressing to the timber. I would
not stave sugar as I would cotton, I cannot state from
my survey what part of the warehouse gave way first.
Many of the beams had broken in the middle, but this
might have readily been the effect of the fallen goods, &c.
The ends of the beams were reduced in size from the decay
of the timbers. The defects in the foundation were that
the stones on which the props rested at the turn of the
arches of the vaults, upon rubble-stone and rubbish with
which the arches are backed, instead of being built up
with good and solid brick-work. " Had I been called in
the day before the warehouse fell, to give an opinion whe-
ther it was overloaded or not, I should' have expected to
see some deflection in the beams or crushing of the caps of
the props into the beams, before I came to such a conclu-
sion. There is no such evidence in the part standing."
Mr. Samuel Holme said—l have heard Mr. Stewart's
evidence ; I agree with him in general. The most promi-
nent cause has been the giving way, by decay, of the ends
of some of the bottom beams. The greatest decay was in
the beam-ends of the first floor (No. 1), at the west side.
The props (two rows) likewise stand, as stated by Mr.
Stewart, upon a very insufficient foundation of rubble and
brick-work, which form the backing of the arches ; and the
walls which divide the arches, and carry the props, are
only 18 inches thick, and each wall has two door-ways, to
pass from one vault to the other. There are six ventila-
tion flues in each side wall, carried up vertically in the
walls, and these have tended materially to weaken the
walls. I have frequently attended the clearing away of the
ruins, and the best judgment I can form of the cause of
the accident has been, that one or more of the bottom
beam-ends have crushed through decay—that a movement
has taken place of the produce in consequence; that the
weight has acted laterally upon the west wall, which was
broken up into sections by the flues, and the weight being
thrown to the south-west corner, .as carried away the
wall where it was unsupported by an adjoining building,
and taken the south front of the warehouse with it, which is
torn off vertically from the south-east corner. This is the
hest judgment I can form, but it is matter of (million. Ha
builder had been sent to survey the warehouse it is impos-
sible he could have discovered the flues. All the defects
which I have named were bidden ones, and could not
have been detected by boy but a practical man, I CODSi.