The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-05-15 00:00:00

LOCAL MEETINGS.

CHURCHWARDEN AND SIDESMAN.—A special general
vestry was held on Thursday, when Mr. Thomas Dover
was elected churchwarden, in the place of the late Mr.
Poole ; and Mr. Harmood Banner was elected a sidesman,
to supply Mr. Dover's vacancy.
SELECT VESTRY.—On Tuesday the Select Committee
appointed to inquire into the charges brought against the
late Workhouse Committee, in connexion with articles
supplied to the Workhouse, met for the first time. Nearly
all the members of the committee were present. Air. W.
Earle was appointed chairman. Mr. Callis appeared be-
fore the committee, and the various charges were gone
into. After a sitting of upwards of two hours, the com-
mittee adjourned. The report will be presented, to-day,
at the Select Vestry meeting.
WAVERTREE.—At a meeting of ratepayers on Tuesday,
it was resolved to form a main sewer from the lamp-post
in the centre of the space near the pond, and to be con-
tinued towards Liverpool, along the main road, a length
of 800 yards, without any junction with the sewers of
Liverpool, and under the present management of the
Highway Board. The cost of the sewer, with all the
contingencies, including a large tank for the reception of
the refuse of the soil,. was estimated at £l,OOO, which
sum it was proposed to spread over three years' collec-
tion. A committee was appointed to carry out thareso-
lution.
DOCK COMMITTEE, THURSDAY.—It was ordered that
the Brunswick, Union, and Coburg docks s/ c. 0.41. be run
dry on the 20th instant, subject to the usu*.notice,being
gpien.—The Committee of Costs wore ordgrea to..proceed.

with the construction of sheds round the Nelson and..
Bramley-Moore docks.—The men employed at the land-
ing-stage were ordered to be sworn in as special consta-
bles.—A memorial was received from Mr. W. R. Col-
borne, and numerous inhabitants of New Brighton, Egre--
mont, and Seacombe, complaining of the inconvenience
and danger of the present arrangements at the new land-
ing-stage ; the memorialists suggested that the northern
ferry-boats should have the berths at the north end of the
stage, and not be, as at present, changed about according
to the state of the tide. Mr. Mann thought the great
evil was from the Woodside boats running at short inter-
vals, and not keeping the half-hours. The matter was,
after a short conversation, referred to the Marine Com-
mittee, and that Mr. Mann's suggestion be taken into
consideration. Mr. Holme said the irregularity, as it was
called, of the Woodside boats, was a great accommoda-
tion to the public, and every facility should be hfforded to
them.—On the motion of Mr. Nicol, the accounts of the
Albert Dock warehouses recently laid before the council,
were referred to the Committee of Warehouse Manage-
ment for them to report upon.
WEST DERBY GUARDIANS.—On Wednesday the usual.
weekly meeting of the above board was held at the Work-
house, Everton. Present, Messrs. Roskell, (chairman,)
W. B. Jones, Harrison, Shaw, Ledger, Isaac Edwards,,
Betteley, John Birch, Smith, Sidney, James Birch, Bol-
shaw, Medcalf, Pilkington, Walker, Lightbody, Burton,
Batten, and the Rev. Mr. Badnall. A long, warm, and
noisy discussion took place respecting the opposition of
the overseers of the West Derby township, to the appoint-
ment of Mr. Whitehead as assistant-overseer, during which
Mr. Sidney said that he was of opinion that such objec-
tion tended greatly to lower the usefulness of the board.
—Mr. Walker said they had the example of Toxteth-
park to guide them. In 1843 or 4 the guardians appointed
an assistant-overseer for that township. The appoint-
ment, however, did not meet with the approval of
the overseers, who petitioned the Poor Law Commis-
sioners, and they allowed the overseers to set aside the
election of the guardians and to choose their own officer.
He thought it would be quite consistent and legal
for them to follow the example of Toxteth-park. He
(Mr. Walker) was of opinion that by making such
appointments the board was doing much to lower itself.
—Mr. Badnall rose to order; he could not allow such
expressions to be made use of.—Mr. Walker with-
drew the term, and explained that Mr. Whitehead bad
for some time been canvassing for a situation under the
board. A short time since, when Mr. Shaw's situation, as
assistant overseer, was likely to become vacant, Mr.
Whitehead was canvassing. Had the rate-papers of West
Derby known earlier of the choice about to be made, they
would have strongly objected to it. He thought that the
honorary overseers ought to have something to say in the
matter, as the assistant overseer was to them in the light
of a private secretary.—Mr. Smith objected on the same
grounds.—Mr. Ledger also objected to the appointment,
contending that it was not fair or legal that any appoint-
ment in the gift of the guardians should be given to an
individual member.—The Rev. Mr. Badnall was of a con-
trary opinion.—After some further discussion of a perso-
nal, angry, and noisy character, the subject dropped.—
The clerk said that there was a great deal of statistical in-
formation to be furnished by the returning officers of the
Union to the Poor Law Board. He had not been able to
get the necessary statistics from Mr. Allen, the relieving
officer for the township of West Derby. This arose from
the greatly increased nature of his duties. The clerk then
read a note from Mr. Allen, which stated that he had
weekly to visit no fewer than 612 families, consisting of
1973 persons, expending a sum of £lO3 18s. It was
agreed that Mr. Allen should procure an assistant, for one
month, at a salary of one guinea per week, and the mat-
ter was referred to a committee to be formed of the guar-
dians of the district in which Mr. Allen's labours lie. It
was moved by the Rev. Mr. Badnall, and seconded by
Mr. Sidney, that the Rev. Thomas Moore be appointed
chaplain to the workhouse. It was moved by Mr. Bat-
ten, and seconded by Mr. Betteley, that the Rev. Mr.
Matthias be appointed chaplain. On a show of hands, Mr.
Matthias was elected chaplain, the numbers being, for Mr.
Moore 7, Mr. Matthias 11. The board then adjourned.

SPECIAL METING OF THE POLYTECHNIC
SOCIETY.-THE WATER DEBATE.

A numerous and highly respectable meeting of the
Polytechnic Society was held on Thursday evening last,
for the purpose of taking into consideration the report of
Messrs. Simpson and Newlands on the subject of water
supply for the borough. The president, WM. MILNER,
Esq., presided on the occasion ; and, after a few remarks
from him and Mr. BENNETT. on the importance of the
question, Mr. C. F. SALT, the secretary, read a pretty
lengthy abstract of Messrs. Simpson and Newlands' re-
port, and the discussion was commenced by
Mr. C. J. SMITH, who defended the society from im-
putations and sneers which had been cast upon it by cer-
tain parties at the Town-hall for its interference on this
important subject. He also demonstrated, from various
papers read and discussions held in that room on this
question, that the opinions expressed by the society were
quite in accordance with, and fully borne out by, the able
report then before the meeting. He cordially agreed with
the report, and trusted that the Council would adopt
those portions of it which bore upon an immediate im-
provement in our present supply, leaving the ulterior
measures proposed an open question for future considera-
tion. _ _ _

Mr. GRANTHAM, C.E., next addressed the meeting.
He was of opinion that the able and lucid report of
Messrs. Simpson and Newlands—a report which was in
every way worthy of the men who had drawn it up—
would put an extinguisher on the Rivington Pike
scheme for ever. (Hear, and applause.) He, however,
did not approve of their putting down one plan merely for
the purpose of propagating another ; and therefore he was
of opinion that they should first ascertain to a certainty
what amount of water their present works, if put into an
efficient state. both as regarded machinery and manage-
ment, could raise, before they proceeded to spend even the
£300,000 alluded to in the report. He thought such an
expenditure was quite uncalled for; and Mr. G. entered
into some calculations to show that with a very moderate
outlay, say £60,000, we could make the present works
yield us an abundance of water for the next eight or ten
years. He warned the public not to be led away by the
convenient handle made of the water required for watering
the streets and flushing the sewers,; they had ample means
at their hand to supply any quantity of water for that pur-
pose. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. J. R. JEFFERY said that in considering the scheme
submitted by Mr. Hawksley, it presented itself under
four heads. The first was that when reservoirs were
formed, would the water be there ? secondly, would the
quality of the water be as good as that we had enjoyed
for years ? thirdly, could the works be constructed at the
expense set down ? and fourthly, was there any man
breathing could estimate the compensation we would be
called upon to give. year by year, and every year, to the
end of time ? (Loud applause.) These four questions
had presented themselves very powerfully to his mind,
and he had not been able individually to solve any of
them. He had felt that to sacrifice the beautifully pure
water we had here, would be to make a sacrifice not to he
estimated. _

Mr. JOSEPR BOULT, after v. few general remarks, ana-
lysed at length and replied to Mr. Hawksley's strictures
on the report of Messrs. Simpson and Newlands. He
quite agreed with Mr. Grantham that it would be wrong
to enter into any new project now, or until the efficiency
of their present wells had been fully tested. (Hear.)
Mr. SPENCER said no one who knew the geology of
Liverpool ever doubted that a much larger supply of
water might be got from the red sandstone. (Hear, and
ironical applause.) It was not the first time he had stated
so. (" Oh !oh !") In the report he drew up for the
Corporation in 1846, he had stated so emphatically. But,
at the same time, he had showed, from long experience,
that the water was always becoming less and more dete-
riorated in quality.
Mr. BENNETT was glad to find that Mr. Spencer
altering his views on this subject. (Hear, and appla was
Mr. SALT was glad to hear from Mr. Spencer tha use.)
could get plenty of water from sandstone. (Applaut they
Mr. SMITH then made a few observations, which se.)
the discussion, after it had lasted for three hours closed
half. and a-