The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-09-29 00:00:00

THE I•IVERPOOL STANDARD.

distress of the unfortunate people in that 'locality.'
The farmers and landlords of the entire district are
called upon to tax themselves for, probably, a very
useless road, to benefit a particular loca ity, or,
perhaps, a few interested individuals, lest when
these individuals go home " the people will say
that they were unable or unwilling to assist them !"
A. most unconvincing reason for throwing away the
money granted by government, with such very
little security of its being repaid.
It would surely have been within the power of a
wise government to have devised some great public
works, upon which the distressed people of Ireland
could have been employed, the benefit of which to
the country was not merely problematic ; to have
taken some precautions against that system of pri-
vate or local jobbing which has been the curse of
the social system of Ireland from time immemorial.
'there are lands to be drained there; bogs to be
reclaimed ; mountains, only requiring the outlay of
capital to enable them to produce food for man, in-
stead of cover for grouse or scanty pasturage for a
few sheep. Ireland has fisheries capable of sus-
taining the whole of her population ; but her fisher-
men have neither boats nor nets. The formation
of railways is calculated to give a vast impetus to
the future prosperity of that country; cannot these
great works be 'pressed forward by the aid of go-
vernment loans properly secured ? Surely none of
these remedies are beyond the reach of adoption; yet,
in the words of an Irish proprietor, addressing Lord
John Russell upon the subject of the present Relief
Act, the entire bounty of the British nation, willingly
extended towards their suffering Irish brethren, is
being `laid out in works of public inutility; in en-
deavouring to make mountains of mole hills, laying
out roads which lead to nowhere, and planning works
which will benefit no one but the county surveyors;
creating, in fact, a gigantic system of unproductive
labour, to be repaid by borrowed money, introducing
habits of laborious indolence, in the shape of break-
ing stones, amongst an agricultural population,
whilst the land which is to pay for all will derive no
benefit from the labour which will be wasted on the
roads." If this is the best that the present Ministry
can do ; if to sink the labourer in the social scale,
and, at the same time, to hang an increased burthen
of debt round the necks of the Irish landowners, is
the extent of Whig capacity to legislate for that
country, the sooner the duty devolves upon other
hands the better for all parties.

We feel it a duty to call the attention of our
readers to the letter which we annex, from a mem-
ber of the Pilots' Committee, and an intelligent
shipowner of this town, with respect to the satisfac-
tory working of the Albert Docks.
We must bear in mind that these new ware-
houses are not under the management of the
crentlemen who originally projected them ; and that,
therefore, they are not supposed, or represented, by
these gentlemen, and others, to be managed with
the same consummate wisdom possessed by their
:)riginal projectors. Our correspondent's letter,
however, will show that such complaints are not
exactly founded upon reasonable grounds; that the
warehouses are efficiently conducted ; that the
officials are most courteous and well acquainted
with their duties ; and that the prospect of their
future operation is encouraging both to the dock corn-.
mittee and to the merchant and shipowner. What
may be the profitable return to the Dock Estate of
such expensively-constructed warehouses, of course,
we do not pretend to guess. This much, however,
we repeat, that they will be used extensively and in
preference to warehouses of the ordinary construc-
tion ; and here we would have a word of ad-
vice to offer to our fellow-townsmen. We see
a great amount of warehouse construction
going on in various parts of the town—some
of them not the most eligible. We say to
them, «pause awhile." The new system is ab-
stracting the business from the best warehouses in
the town. It is hopeless, so far as profit is con-
cerned, to attempt the erection of warehouses in in-
ferior situations. Those who take our advice will
thank us hereafter.

We give here the letter of our correspondent.
with further comment :

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

Sint,—Having observed, ever since the opening of the
Albert Dock and Warehouses, a strong dismclination on
the part of shipowners—how produced I do not know—to
make use of these magnificent facilities for our com-
merce, I deem it but a duty to state my own exper'erce
of their working. My ship, the " Paragon," Captain
Coleman, from Calcutta, came into the Albert Dock, on
Thursday, the 17th instant, having on board a cargo of
sugar, rice, and saltpetre. She commenced discharging on
Friday, at one p.m., and finished on Wednesday followit g,
at three p.m., thus occupying four days and two hours.
I should state that we had every day to kaock off at half-
past three, only one landing waiter being appointed for
the ship. If we had gone to the expense of another land-
ing waiter, we could have been cleared out in three days.
The Bill which I have paid is the following :
Discharging 435 Tons, at 91. . . £l6 6 3
Ship mending, and materials lB 6
Receiving and putting Kentledge on board 15 0

£l7 19 9
Now, sir, for the contrast. My vessel, on her previous
voyage, came from the same port with the same cargo,
and was taken into Prince's Dock. She occupied five
weeks in discharging, during which time I had one man
doing little else than running up and down after the own-
ers of goods imported "to order." I had no trouble with
this class of importers here, although in this respect my
cargo was precisely similar. I paid for discharging on that
voyage, to a master Lumper . . £l6 10
Clearing decks ..

£l7 0
Wages of man running after importers, losg by pilferage,
and personal annoyance, I do not, for I crihifot, estimate
the cost of. I may state that on this voyage I have not
lost a package, or, I believe, an article of sty description.
To parties not acquainted with shipping, the advantage
to me may not appear very great. I will, therefore, state
what they consist of. I have my ship now chartered and
ready to receive cargo, having been already in the gray
ing-dock. If my last voyage was a criterion of the old
system she would not now have been discharged. Iler
lay days commence to-day. I, therefore, gain a
.full
montlz,—the value of which to me may be judged of by
the fact of the demurrage in my present charter being
five guineas per day. In some weather—a prevalence of
calms or adverse winds for sailing, or the opening of a
season,—no man can estimate the advantage of having a
few weeks in hand.
I cannot conclude without recording my sense of the
kindness and courtesy of the superintendent, principal
clerk, and every party connected with the management of
the Albert Docks.

I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
BEN. SIMPSON.

September 28th, 184 G.

A fire broke out in some unfurnished houses in Low-
ther-street on Friday night. The whole of the woodwork
in the interior of one of the houses was destroyed.
DISMISSAL OF A POLICE-OFFlCER.—Yesterday, at
the Police•corrt, a man named George Nelson was
charged by Ins ector Rimmer with being drunk and noisy
in Scotland-road. An offer was made to see him home,
but he declined, and followed Mr. Rimmer to the station-
house. On being remonstrated with, he became abusive,
and on the inspector attempting to remove him, he struck
him. It did not appear until towards the close of the
case that the prisoner was an officer in the police force.
Mr. Rushton ordered him to pay a fine of 20s. and costs,
for the assault, and, at the same time, dismissed him
from the service.

BRIEF BUT ALARMING FlRE.—About half-past four
o'clock yesterday afternoon, an alarm of fire in Bachelor-
street, (out of Dale-street), reached the fire-station,
Temple-court, and a large force of firemen was instantly
despatched. The engine, owing to some obstructions,
could not proceed by the direct route, (Temple-street)
but bad to pass along North John-street, and Mr. Hewitt,
superintendent of the fire-police, reached the spot shortly'
before it. He found the fire to be in one of the cellars of
the premises—two large warehouses—occupied by Messrs.
Moore and Vickers, rectifiers, near thebottom of the street •
and the blaze, arising from ignited spirits, was terrific.'
The men in the employ had exerted themselves to the
utmost in carrying water in buckets, and endeavouring to
subdue the flames, otherwise all additional efforts would
have been in vain. The fire had originated in a peculiar
manner. A carer was delivering a load of whiskey into
the cellar, and through carelessness, after rolling down
one puncheon in the usual way with ropes, he omitted to
scotch the puncheon next to it in the cart, and it rolled
from the cart and fell into the cellar. The cask-bead
flew out, and the contents rushing out, great part
ran into the ash -pit of the furnace that works one
of the stills, then at work. Immediate ignition of the
spirit was the consequence, and it became instantly
evident that unless the fire could be arrested, the spirits
in puncheons all round would also take fire, and a terrific
explosion, involving the destruction of these and probably
the adjoining warehouses (which also contained highly
inflammable substances), would he the result. Mr.
Hewitt and several of his men fearlessly got into the
cellar, in the middle, it may be said, of the very flames,
and there being a copious supply of water from the mains
of the Bootle Company, the flames were happily subdued
in about half an hour, with a probable loss of £4O to £5O.
Mr. Hewitt states that the men, clerks, and others in
Messrs. Moore and Vickers' employ exerted themselves
to the utmost, and as one man, throughout .
the trying
occasion ; and this testimony to their merit the more
to be appreciated inasmuch as it is perfectly disinterested.
He adds that in his long experience at fires he never wit-
nessed such zeal, intrepidity, and unison of action. One
of the partners was also equally active, and had the mis-
fortune to have his foot and mule rather severely Scalded
by the burning spirit.