The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-08-21 00:00:00

MEETING OF THE DOCK COMMITTEE.

The first meeting of the dock committee, since the elec-
tion of new members on Monday and Tuesday last, was held
yesterday. The following members were present :—Messrs.
Leathom, Benn, Barclay, Ripley, Martin, Chapman, Hors-
Sall, George Holt, Thomas Holt, Bailey, Moon, Evans,
Middleton, Segal., Tobin, and Gladstone.
The weekly accounts were passed, and the proceedings of
the previous meetings confirmed.
The north harbour-master reported that about 3 a. in. on
. the 15th instant a tire occurred on board the American ship
St. Lewis, originating from a man in liquor, smoking, who
was found asleep. A bed was partly burned, but no other
damage was done. A report was ordered to be sent to the
watch committee, for them to take the usual Proceedings:
The north harbour-master reported that William Birkett,
Prince's-pier master, and Richard Downing, one of the
Clarence-dock gatemen, had both died of fever, after an ill-
ness of four days. The appointment to the situation of.
Prince's-pier master, was ordered to be filled up at the next
meeting of the committee, and that of gateman by the sub-
committee, in whose province it lies.
The SECRETARY read a letter from Mr. Ward, owner of
the ship Tweed, stating that as it might not delay the clear-
ing of the ship. be had requested Messrs. Bold and Starkey
to pay the dock dues, but that he did not admit his liability
to do so. He, therefore, requested the committee to order
either that the whole, or a considerable portion of them might
be remitted. After a short conversation relative to the con-
ditions upon which compensation had been paid to the owner
of the Tweed, the letter, as we understood, was ordered to
lie upon the table.
The SECRETARY next reported the expenses of the dock
police for the quarter ending the 24th July last, from which
it appeared that a balance of £1553 12s. 4d. was due to the
watch committee.
• A letter was read from the Chairman of the Underwriters'
Association, stating that the Britannia, steam-ship, which
arrived in this port from Halifax, on Friday last, signalized
to the Holyhead telegraph station the following communica-
tions—That she sailed from Boston on the Ist August, and
from Halifax on the 4th, and had 76 passengers, together with
the prices of cotton. This intelligence not having been com-
tounicated to the Underwriters' Rooms, the chairman begged
call the attention of the committee to it, the public having
'been thereby deprived of the information they had a right to
expect through the Telegraph Station. The letter further

stated that the association felt the omissicw the more as the

signals necessary for conveying the intelligence had been
drawn up in their rooms, and one copy of them had been
given to the commander of the vessel, and another sent to
the Telegraph Office. •
The CHAIRMAN said it appeared that Mr. Court, having
arranged the sign-ills for the Britannia, sent a copy of them
to the Telegraph Office, in Chapel-street, instead of com-
municating with Mr. Lord, the supe-intending officer of the
establishment, as to whether it was practicable to carry them
into effect. Whether the signals were seen at Holyhead
remained to be ascertained; at all events they were not com-
municated to Liverpool. He understood, however, it would
have taken a great part of the day to have communicated
all the signals to the respective stations.
The SECRETARY entered into a similar explanation.
Mr. HORSFALL said it was certainly irregular upon the
part of Mr. Court to send communications of this sort to the
Telegraph Office. If they had a right to send signals for the
Britannia, signals might be sent there for other vessels. It
was, therefore, most necessary that every thing of the sort
should go to Mr. Lord, in order to see whether they were
practicable without inconvenience.
Mr. EVANS observed, that if two vessels arrived in one
day, with the same number of signals as the Britannia, the
telegraph would be occupied with them alone the whole day.
Mr. RIPLEY said a sub-committee had recently reported
that the telegraphs might be made more effective than they
were at present. Last Friday he himself saw an instance of
a signal from Puffin Island being unobserved for half an
hour, although the day was quite fine and clear. Arrange-
ments, however, were in progress to make the telegraphs
more effective, and then the signals, which now took so much
time, would pass more speedily..
The MARINE SURVEYOR was then called in. He stated
that Mr. CoUrt sent a list of signals just when the Britannia
was about to sail, to the town station, for 25 different sub-

jects. These would have taken a long time to accomplish,
and therefore he did not feel himself justified, without the
sanction of the committee, in sending them to the stations.
Amongst them were signals of the prices of cotton, the num-
ber of bales sold during the day, &c., &c.
Mr. BENN remarked that that was a use to which it was
never intended the telegraph should be applied.
Mr. Mooi said Mr. Courtwas wrong, in the first instance,
in not communicating with Mr. Lord; but news of the kind
he contemplated might be easily communicated, or the tele-
graph was inefficient.

Mr. GLAnsToNE thought it was desirable that such in-
formation as this should be communicated when the telegrapl
was not otherwise employed. _ _ _

Mr. MIDDLETON understood that Mr. Court proposed that
information of this kind should' be constantly telegraphed,
end not with special reference to the Britannia.
Mr. EVANS said if that were so, he should claim the same
nivilege for the tobacco trade.

It was then decided that the chairman of the Underwriters'
Association be informed, that all communications relative to
Signals for the telegraph stations be tnade to Mr. Lord, the