The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-07-10 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANIAR&

MEETING OF, THE TOWN COUNCIL.

The monthly meeting was held on Wednesday.
The Mayor said that in future he should dismiss the
Council if there was not a quorum in a quarter of an hour
after the time appointed for the meeting.
The proceedings of the Finance Committee having
been read,—Mr. G. H. Lawrence, in moving their con-
firmation, referred to the increase of salary applied for by
the Recorder and the Clerk of the Peace. With regard
to the application of the Recorder. the committee wished
that the further consideration of it be deferred to the
next monthly meeting of the Council, as it was not ne-
cessary at present finally to fix his allowance. There
was no one that was not aware of the fact that his duties
had considerably increased. The Clerk of the Peace had
also applied for an increase to his salary ; but although
the committee fully admitted that the duties of his office
were creditably discharged, they had not thought it right
to accede to the application of Mr. Peter Wright.—Mr.
Mann objected to the way in which the two applications
had been dealt with by the committee. There was an
application from the Recorder of the borough for an in-
crease of salary which was entertained, and he did not
see, therefore, why the application of the Clerk of the
Peace was not entertained also. They both sat in the
same court, the one above and the other below ; and if
the duties of one had been increased, the duties of the
other must have been increased also. He moved as an
amendment, that the application of the Clerk of the
Peace be referred back to the Finance Committee for
further consideration.—Mr. Bent seconded the amend-
ment.—The amendment was negatived on a division,
three only voting for it.—Mr. Thomson objected to the
public money being used to carry people over to Birken-
head for nothing. They now proposed to reduce the
contracts at the ferry, which he considered very unfair
to the ratepayers of Liverpool. The working of the boats
cost £lB 3s. 6d. each boat per week. He found from
May, 1848, to May, 1849, they had expended in working
the ferry £5082 19s. 2d. ; and they had received tolls,
penny fares, £1384 16s. 7d. ; making a loss of £3698 2s.
sd. Then there was the loss of rent—then there was the
interest on the cash and the repairs. He knew there was
great difficulty in managing the ferry, but he would move
that that part of the committee's proceedings be not con-
firmed.—Several members expressed an opinion that the
Council were bound to keep up the ferry, and as they had
ordered two new boats the ferry ought to be still worked.
—The amendment was then rejected by a majority of 19

to 15.
The proceedings of the Markets Committee having
been read,—Mr. Beckwith applied for information as to
whether a certain account had been paid to a person
named Crawford, and having been informed that such an
account had been paid, Mr. B. proceeded, at considerable
length, to charge Mr. Cooper, as chairman of the Mar-
kets Committee, with jobbing, in having contracted seve-
ral accounts with his brother and cousins.—Mr. Parker
condemned the attack which had been made upon Mr.
Cooper. If there was blame anywhere it ought to attach
to the committee generally.—An exceedingly long and
warm discussion followed on the subject, which ended in
a motion being passed to the effect that the matter be
referred to the Markets Committee for investigation, and

the other portions of the proceedings were confirmed.
The proceedings of the Health Committee were next
produced, when Mr. Procter objected to their being read
or taken into consideration, on the ground that they had
not been deposited at the Town-hall the requisite num-
ber of days before the meeting of the Council.—A very
long and irregular discussion followed, several members
objecting to the suspension of the standing orders as a
dangerous precedent, whilst Mr. Tinne contended, on the
other hand, that it was an extraordinary case, and one in
which the standing orders ought to be suspended, so that
the proceedings might be read and taken into considera-
tion.—The Mayor stated that the proceedings could not
be taken into consideration until the next monthly meet-
ing, unless he (the Mayor) received a requisition to call a
special meeting.—A requisition to the Mayor to call a
special meeting was then signed and presented to his
worship in the chamber; in answer to which, he said
Thursday week was his first open day. He did not name
a day, but merely observed that it could not be before
Thursday week.—A motion by Mr. Tinne for printing
the evidence and reports relative to the water supply was
postponed in order to ascertain the expense of printing.—
Mr. Tinne's motion, of which he had given notice, for
the appointment of a special committee to examine and
report on the financial position and prospects of the Liver-
pool water account, was, after a short discussion, with-
drawn.—On tho motion of Mr. T. B. Horsfall, thanks
were voted to the special constables enrolled last year,
whose term of office had expired..—Mr. Hodson and Mr.
Thomson agreed to postpone to the next meeting the
motions of which they had given notice.

WALLASEY COMMISSIONERS.
A general and special meeting of this body was held
on Thursday evening last, at the Queen's Arms, Liscard.
Present,—J. C. Ewart, Esti., chairman, and Messrs.
Meadows, Halliday, Healing, John Parry, Richard Parry,
Mawdsley, Barton, Holland, W. Peers, Banner. Hill,
Dean, and Goldsmith. The special meeting was sum-
moned to consider and rescind a resolution on the subject
of the sewerage, passed at the preceding meeting. The
proceedings of the Improvement Committee having been
read, reeommending the acceptance of a tender for the
carrying out of the inclined plane at Egremont, and the
construction of a railing from Messrs. Parry's ferry down
the inclined plane to the beech, a memorial was read from
a number of inhabitants of Seacombe and Liscard, praying
the commissioners not to proceed with the sewer ordered
at the last meeting to be formed from Liscard to Orrell's-
corner, in Seacombe. A communication was also pre-
sented from Doctors Donlevy and Hodson, tepresenting
the occurrence in the locality of several cases of cholera;
and it was directed that the surveyor should see that all
cottages of imperfect construction should be white-
washed and thoroughly purified, and that the Board
of Health in London should be asked to put their orders
in force in the neighbourhood.—After a conversation on
the subject of the dismissal of an old :servant of the com-
missioners, brought forward by Mr. Barton, and a com-
plaint by Mr. Halliday of the improper condition of some
of the cottage property in the township,
Mr. RICHARD PARRY rose to complain of a nuisance,
which had been greatly complained of by the inhabitants
of Seacombe, and had no doubt contributed to cause the
sickness which had occurred there. This nuisance arose
from the drain, containing the sewage matterof the neigh-
bourhood, being brought into the dam recently formed by
the Dock Company of Birkenhead, for the purpose
of scouring the Seacombe ferry, and pent up there
six hours each tide, emitting deleterious vapours
all over the neighbourhood. His attention had only
been drawn to it that morning ; and having gone
down and ascertained the fact of the nuisance,
he had at once communicated with Mr. Brown, the resi-
dent engineer of the Dock Commissioners, and required
its removal. The Dock Committee were bound by a
clause in their act to carry off all the surface water and
drainage of the district to the tideway. They. ought to
have fu n'shad a proper sewer from Neff Point to the
river. Nothing, however, had been done. The present
sewer was brought no further than the dam in front of the
property on the shore; and even when carried through it
as proposed by Mr. Brown, its contents would be left
where there is no scouring power to carry them away.
Mr. MAWDSLEY stated that he had brought the sub-
ject before the attention of the Dock Committee of Bir-
kenhead, and that every thing would be done by them to
prevent the nuisance. He reminded Mr. Parry that the
drain in question had always emptied itself at that spot.
Mr. PARRY, in reply, urged that previously to the en-
closing of the Pool there had been a strong scouring
power there.
A memorial was put in, numerously signed, complain-
ing of the nuisance, after which Mr. Parry produced a
section showing the elevation of the bank of the dam, and
contended that the effect of penning up the sewerage there
at every tide was to drive the noxious gases up the sewer
into the house drains of the inhabitants, to the serious
injury of the public health. The steps which were pro-
nounced as about to be adopted by the Dock Committee
would only increase the nuisance, by spreading it over a
larger area. The Commissioners were bound to have
made a proper sewer to the tideway long ago.
The LAW-CLERK read a communication from Mr.
Mainwaring, on the part of the Board of Guardians,
stating that he had received a letter from Mr. Halliday
respecting the occurrence of cholera in the neighbour-
hood, and that the guardians would visit Seacombe on
Friday, on the subject of an application to the Health
Corn mittee.
Messrs. Banner, R. Parry, C. Holland and Mr. Halliday
(ex officio) were appointed a committee to meet the
guardians.
Mr. HALLWAY briefly moved the rescinding of the
resolution for carrying the sewerage from Liscara down to
Orrell's Corner. He contended that such extension had
not been asked for; and that the sewerage could much
better be taken down Church-street, Egremont, where it
would be a great benefit to the property.
Mr. MAWDSLEY defended the proceedings of the Im-
provement Committee, and endeavoured to show that
when the present plans were first discussed Mr. Halliday
had been in favour of them, and that they had been fur-
nished by their then surveyor, as the best which could be
adopted. He would ask Mr. Richard Parry how their
present sewer could be scoured if they did not carry it on
to Liscard.
Mr. RICHARD PARRY, after an explanation on this
point to Mr. Mawdsley, contended that it was not desir-
able, on sanatory grounds, to collect the sewage of any
neighbourhood to one point. Some gentlemen seemed
very fond of comprehensive schemes ; but he objected to
putting the public to unnecessary expense. He had got
prepared a correct plan and section, which showed that
the houses in Liscard, where the want of drainage was
complained of, could be effectually drained by having the
sewer let into Mr. Littledale's land, near Mr. Peers's
house. The stoppage of the old watercourse there by Mr.
Peers had caused the difficulty. That was the natural
drainage of the neighbourhood, and the communication
which he pointed out would serve it for twenty years to
come.
Mr. CHARLES HOLLAND defended the proceedings of
the Improvement Committee. They had endeavoured,
under the direction of their surveyors, to lay down a per-
fect system of sewerage ; but it was not their view to
carry it out all at once. After a further discussion, in which
Mr. Parry, Mr. Goldsmith, and Mr. Halliday took part,
the votes were taken, and the motion of Mr. Halliday was
carried by 9 to 4.
After the presentation of a memorial from inhabitants
of New Brighton, complaining of the practice of persons
bathing in front of their houses, Mr. Ewart retired from
the chair, his year of office, and that of a portion of the
commissioners having expired, Mr. Miles Barton, having
been moved temporarily to the chair, proposed a vote of
thanks to Mr. Ewart for the urbanity and kindness which
he had shown in the discharge of his duties.; and Mr.
Ewart, having replied, proposed Mr. William Mann as-
his- successor. Mr. Halliday proposed Mr: Holland as.
vice-chairman. Carried unanimously.
The accounts for the year were then re* and the fol-
. lowing abstract, as condensed with great care by Mr..
. Hill, one of: the Finance Committee, ,wili,be.neefia/