The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-05-29 00:00:00

MEETING OF THE DOCK COMMITTEE.

The weekly ineefing of the Dock Committee was held
yestcrclay,"in the Dock-office, Custom-house. The following
members of the trust were present :—Mr. Benn, Mr. Bar-
clay, Mr. J. B. Yates, Mr. }Jolt, Mr. Booth, Mr. Bailey,
Mr. Dixon, Mr. Martin, Mr. Smith, Mr. Gladstone. Mr.
Henry Holmes, Mr. Segal-, and Mr. Thomas Tobin. Mr.
Berm, deputy chairman of the committee, took the chair.
The proceedings of the meeting on Thursday last were
reap and confirmed, and a number of accounts were ordered
to be paid.

Thj SECRETARY read a report from the Marine Surveyor,'
stating that the New York packet-ship, outward bound,
whilst being towed by the Victoria Steam-tug, about seve❑
o'clock on the evening of Saturday last, ran foul of the
Queen, the new light-ship recently placed near Formby. The
light-ship was not dragged from her station, nor so much
injured as to prevent the usual exhibition of lights, or to re-
quire her to be brought into port, but the damage was esti-
mated at £lB ss. 7d.

The MARINE SURVEYOR was called in, and he said he
understood that the New York, whilst endeavouring to
keep to windward, the wind blowing very strong at the time,
met a vessel inward bound, and in the attempt to avoid a
collision, the Queen received the damage.
Jennings, master of the tug Victoria, was next called
in, and he stated that it was blowing very fresh at the time.
The channel was very narrow there, and another ship
coming down the Victoria was obliged to bear away. In so
doing he called out to the pilot of the ship, but he either did
not hear and would not attend, and the' vessel struck the
light-ship. Had the pilot attended to the call the damage
would not have occurred. _ _

Mr. YATES enquired whether the Queen was not more
exposed to this species of collision than the other light ships ?
The MARINE SURVEYOR said that she was.
Mr. YATES asked whether any additional security could
be provided ?
The MARINE SURVEYOR feared not. The Queen was as
strong as wood and metal could make her.
Jennings said the New York was taken out of her course
by the other ship ; the pilot, however, had told him that part
of the crew of the New York were drunk, as they frequently
were when on the point of sailing.
Some further discussion followed, and it was ultimately
decided that the consignees, both inward and outward, should
be called upon to pay the damage.
A short conversation next took place relative to the power
of granting a superanuated allowance to an old man who had
served in the life-b Oat for a great number of years, as pro-
posed in a report of the Marine Surveyor. We understood
that the decision of the question was poStponed.
Mr. GLADSTONE and Mr. BOOTH reported that they had
awarded £2OOO to the owners of the ship Tweed, which had
been accepted, for the damage sustained by that vessel in the
Clarence Graving Dock.
The CHAIRMAN enquired whether that was the lowest
sum that would be accepted?
Mr. GLADSTONE said it was; and that £lBOO had been
positively refused.
The award was then confirmed.
A letter froM the North Harbour Master was read relative
to the claims made by a number of shipwrights who rendered
important services to him during the night in which the
Tweed was damaged. The parties were requested to send in
the amount of their claims. .

The CHAIRMAN read a report to the effect that in the night
of the 25th inst., a police-officer discovered smoke issuing
froni the Fortitude, of Exeter, lying in Salthouse Dock. On
boarding her and going below, he found a bed.on fire, and a
man asleep upon it ! He speedily removed all apprehensions
of danger by rousing the man and throwing the blazing ma-
terials overboard. The report was ordered to be entered,
and the usual proceedings to be taken. It was stated that
the fire had been caused the man on board falling asleep
whilst in the act of smoking. Some approbation was ex•
pressed of the-Vigilance of thepolice-officer.
Mr. GLADSTONE said many persons were exceedingly
anxious for some information respecting the dock bid ; and
he therefore begged to ask the chairman whether it was in-
tended to make any report to the present meeting ?
The CHAIRMAN replied that no report would be made.
He might state, however, that the bill was yet in committee.
It had been delayed three days in consequence of Lord Stan-
ley's absence, but the consideration of it was to be resumed
on this day. Some concessions had been proposed, but he
was not prepared to state what they were ; they were the
subjects of negotiation. It seemed to be agreed in commit-
tee that it was necessary to have a new dock bill.
Mr. GLADSTONE.—Lan you give any idea of the expense
of it ?
The CHAIRMAN.—I really cannot.
Mr. YATES.—You have no power to pay money out of
this estate for such a purpose.
The CHAIRMAN.—We have authority to get the bill.
Mr. YATES.—But ,by what authority will you get the
money to pay for it ?
The CHAIRMAN.—You have given us authority to proceed
to London to solicit the bill, and as a matter of course you
find us money to pay for it.
Mr. YATEs.-1 must remind you that there is no clause
in the act authorising you to spend money for such a purpose.
Mr. TosiN thought that those gentlemen who had been to
London fur six weeks upon this business, ought to pay the
expenses out of their own pockets.
Mr. SMITH.—No, rio. We have had trouble enough,
without being called upon to pay besides.
The SECRETARY read a resolution from the minutes of
proceedings, to the effect that the bill be solicited, and the
expenses paid by this body.
Mr. YATES was aware of that resolution ; but it was
inoperative, because the committee had no power by the act
to make such an order.
The discussion then terminated, and the committee sepa-
rated.

A publican in Adare, named Doolan, has been served with
a notice that the Rockites will shoot him on the first oppor-
tunity.—Limerick Chronicle.
THE TIMES AND THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND.—Towards
the bulk of the Irish people we feel nothing but deep com-
miseration. We pity them as dupes, and slaves, and victims.
We reprobate the purposes of which their barbarous igno-
rance, their countless numbers, their headlong violence, and
their depraved seducers, have rendered a warm-hearted race
the tools. We detest their proneness to commit murder,
and compassionate their tameness in suffering robbery by
O'Connell. But antipathy against them as a people, we
have none; and the worst disgrace that has ever yet be-
fallen the people of Ireland is their enduring that such base
demagogues and such an insidious priesthood should direct
their actions, and address the world in their name.--Times.

THE BOTANIC GARDEN.

TO rHE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

Sig,—Some time ago, when the question of opening the
Botanic Garden to the public on Sunday was first agitated,
I took the liberty of addressing a few lines to you on the
subject, and I had hoped that the decision of the proprietors •
in the negative would have been conclusive; but very greatly
to my surprise and regret, the question, when again brought
forward on Monday last, was carried in a contrary way, by
49 proprietors voting in favour of opening the garden on
Sunday, and 47 against it.
My object now is to give my strong and. well-considered
opinion, that the sense of the majority of proprietors of the
garden was not thus correctly ascertained, and to urge the
necessity of another appeal to them or. the subject. At the
first meeting there was a very decided majority (at least three
to one) against opening the garden, and the question was
therefore, by many of the proprietors, considered as set at
rest, and they consequently did not attend the last meeting.
I will not trespass on your columns or the Faience of your
readers to argue the question, believing that it is one on
which the minds of the proprietors- must already be made
up ; but 1 would strongly urge those of them who conscien-
tiously consider that Me opening of the garden. on the Lord's
day would be a serious breach of the Divine command, to
require that the question be again brought forward, and again
decided as it ought to be.
I remain, sir, your obedient servant,
A PROPRIETOR.
Liverpool, 27th May, 1840.

MELANCHOLY DEATIL—At four o'clock on Sunday morn-
ing last the body of Daniel Robinson, late chief mate of the
ship Brigand, now in the King's Dock, was found lying dead,
at the bottom of a rocky precipice, a little to the north of
the hamlet at the Herculaneum Potteries, in Toxteth-park,
called the Flags. A road has recently been excavated there,
a considerable depth below the hamlet, which it intersects,
and close to the Potteries. On the east side of this-cutting
a quantity of freestone has lately been quarried, making a
precipice of from 10 to 15 feet in height, winch has been left,
most reprehensibly, without rail or other fence, and that,
too, at a spot necessarily much frequented by work-people
and others. The deceased aas found with his face partly
buried in the sand, and, from appearance, one of his knees
had broken a piece of stone on which he had fallen. lie had
been seen, on the night before, at a beer-house at the top of
the hamlet, in company with two young women and a man.
with whom he parted. it appeared, on good terms. He there
showed a spotted shell, and soon afterwards spoke to a boy
io the neighbourhood. A little boy named Derrant disco-
vered the body, and gave information to a police officer. The
latter called his inspector, Mr. Harmer, who immediately
sent for Mr. Hodgson, surgeon, of Park-road, who examined
the body exteriorly. The body was then removed to a house
at the top of the Flags. There was found upon hiin a silver
lever wateh, and some papers, one of which-chewed that the
deceased and his friends were very respectable. He was
about twenty-one years of age, a very promising young man,
and much respected by all who knew him. The captain of the
Brigand, When he identified the body as that of his mate,
shed tears at his untimely fate. His cap and the shell alluded
to was found in the field at the top of the precipice, about a
stone throw from the spot where he. was found. The rihband
of a woman's bonnet was also found a short distance from
the spot. An inquest was held on the body on Monday,
and by adjournment on Tuesday. A post morten examina-
tion was made by Mr. Hodgson, and he was of opinion, on
also hearing the evidence, that the deceased died from con-
cussion of the brain, occasioned by the fall. The jury deli-
vered a verdict to that effect, but how or in what manner he
bad fallen there was no evidence to show. They appended to
their verdict an expression of strong reprehension of the un-
protected state of the place where the deceased met his death.

RESTRAINTS ON MARRIAGE.—WC beg to call the atten-
tion of our readers to an advertisement in another part of our
paper relating to restraints on marriage, which we hope to
see shortly placed upon some certain basis, consistent with
sound reason and good sense.
BRISTOL SUGAR MARKET.—The late arrivals have given
some degree of animation to the trade, and a fair amount of
business has been done since our last.—Bristol Standard of
yesterday.
HYDRO-NATRON'OMY.—The emperors of the east are
fabled to have drank gems, bright and sparkling, melted into
their cups ; but p.obably this tradition arose from some one
having discovered a process for making Soda Water; and it
may be said by our posterity that Queen Victoria and Prince
Albert quaffed diamonds, for it seems they drink " Ellis's
Soda Water."—See Advt.
PRESENTATION OF THE PORTRAIT OF THE MAYOR TO
HIS LADY.—The subscribers to the portrait of. his worship
the mayor, with their ladies, and other members of their
families, assembled on Monday, at the town-hall, to present
to Mrs. Walmsley the portrait of the mayor, painted by
Midge. Upwards of three hundred ladies and gentlemen
were present, and the party included a large number of
zealous conservatives as well as of members of the party to
which his worship belongs. John Miller, Esq. with whom
the idea of presenting the picture originated, came forward,
when the company had assembled, and in a brief address re-
quested that Mrs. Walmsley would accept the portrait, as a
mark of the respect and esteem felt by the subscribers for
her husband. Mr. Miller then read the list, which contained
upwards 160 respectable names, without any distinction of
party. The mayor, in returning thanks for the honour done
to his lady and himself, said, " I feel that I can very ina-
dequately express to you the thanks which I am deputed to
convey. I may, however, with the utmost sincerity, state,
that the splendid picture which you have this day presented
to my beloved wife is, in her estimation, onl exceeded in
value by the high and generous feelings which dictated so
delicate and truly acceptable a testimonial of your esteem for
her husband. Your kindness wiii be cherished through life,
and this mark of your approbation transmitted to our chil-
dren will, I hope, be an incentive to them to use their best
exertions to deserve the affections of their fellows. Personally
permit me to say, that the approval of my public conduct by
persons so capable of appreciating the purity of my intentions,
is a source of high gratification, and its value is enhanced by
the fact of its being free from all party or political bias, and
emanating from those whom to know is to esteem, and whose
good opinion it will always -be my highest ambition to de-
serve.' The company afterwards partook of a splendid
dejeuner h la fourchette, after which the health of her majesty
the Queen, of Mrs. Walmsley, and of his worship, was drunk
with all the honours. •

New WOOD PAVENIENT.—On Tueday, Mr. J. Lee Ste-
vens submitted to a party of gentlemen,. assembled for the
purpose by invitation, a model of the invention adopted by
the Metropolitan Patent Wood Pavement Company, and ex-
plained its principle. The pavement, of which Count de
Lisle is the inventor, consists of blocks of wood taken on a
peculiar bearing of the cube. They are about six inches
each ivay, the upper and under surfaces being square and
.horizontal, two of the sides diagonal, the one, of course,
inclining outwards, the other inwards, and the other two of
a diamond shape, forming what is called a parallelopiped,
containing a double isosceles triangle. In the centre of each
triangle is a hole for receiving a dowel or peg. The blocks
being laid in courses across the street, each course presents, •
on either side, a series of holes, which, by the reversing of
the direction of the diagonal ends of the blocks in each alter-
nate. course, are made so to meet, that every block, by means
of its two dowels, takes hold of two of the opposing blocks.
The whole is thus firmly locked together, so as to present
the greatest resistance to displacement. This was the chief
novelty in the plan. When the road requires to be broken
up, a certain number of the dowels are to be divided with
a saw, and the pavement to be prised up in masses. in an-
swer to inquiries respecting the cost of the pavement, Mr.
Stephens said that the price charged in London was 12s 6d
per square yard, which was cheerfully paid: the proprietors,
however, were prepared to treat upon lower terms where
paving under existing modes might be less expensive. They
guaranteed all repairs and alterations for fourteen years, finr
one-third of the existing rates. Pavement was usually re-
newed every three or four years. It was mentioned by per-
sons in the room, that the best paving in Liverpool, the
square sets for instance, in Castle-street and Dale-street,
had been done at from 5s 8d to Gs, and that the former had
stood for five years, and the latter for eight, with little or no
expense for repairs. In conclusion a resolution was passed,
in testimony of the scientific nature of the invention.

MONSIEUR MILER'S CONCERT.—This concert, which
took place on Tuesday evening in the Amphitheatre, notwith-
standing the rich treat promised in the scheme, was, we are
sorry to say, but thinly attended. The boxes, it is true, con-
tained many very fashionable parties, but the theatre was not
by any means filled as it ought to have been on such an oc-
casion. Notwithstanding an unavoidable disappointment
which occurred, we can promise those who forbore to pa-
tronise the performance, that they missed one of the most
agreeable musical entertainments ever presented in this town.
The disappointment to which we have alluded was the ab-
sence of the celebrated violinist, Herr Molique, who was pre-
vented by illness from fulfilling his engagement. Copies of
the following certificate were handed round amongst the au-
dience : " This is to certify, that Mr. Molique is suffering
from a serious illness on account of which it would be dan-
gerous for him to leave his room. London, May 25, 18-10.
(Signed) G. J. Gream." The following was added : " The
arrival of Mons. Batta, whose reputation as a violoncellist is
very great, will in some measure relieve the disappointment,
and it is hoped, secure the indulgence of the audience."
Not a word of disapprobation was expressed, while the ac-
clamations which greeted both Mons. Batta and Mons.
Dohler were both loud and frequent. Mons. Batta's first
essay was in La Romanesca, in which he displayed astonish-
ing command over his instrument. In the second part he
played a fantasia on airs in Lucia di Lammermoor, with
which the audience were so delighted that they called unani-
mously for its repetition. The gentleman who accompanied
him on the piano deserves great praise for the taste and judg-
ment which he exhibited. M. Dohler's first piece pleased us
best. La trille is a perfect wonder; while in the subsequent
etude his display of power with the left hand, in La nano
sinistra obligate, was not less surprising. Miss Birch was
never heard to greater advantage. Miss Dolby sung " The
Wanderer" splendidly, and was rapturously encored. Zuc-
chelli also was warmly applauded.

THE N EW WOOD PAVEMENT.—On Tuesday many of the

leading official characters of the town, including the mayor
and several of the common councilmen, and of the commis-
sioners of highways for Liverpool and the adjoining town-
ships, attended a meeting at the Adelphi Hotel, to hear an
exposition, and inspect the models of the Count de Lisle's
patent wood pavement. Mr. J. Lee Stevens, of London,
was deputed by the Metropolitan Patent Wood Pavement
Company, on this occasion, to give the necessary description
of the plan. John Holmes, Esq., the chairman of the High-
way Board, was unanimously called to the chair. Mr. Ste-
vens, after giving a scientific sketch of the principle of the
plan, founded, it would seem, upon very precise mathemati-
cal data, exhibited the models, made to a scale of one-sixth
the working size, and described the pavement as consisting
of series of wooden blocks, or paralelopipeds of that material,
whose diagonal angles are definitely fixed somewhat between
63 and 64 degrees. These are laid down laterally, so that
the angles of every alternate series incline oppositely; and
they are then pegged together into a solid platform or floor-
ing, capable of sustaining any superincumbent weight, wher-
ever it might happen to impinge. The surveyors and other
professional gentlemen present, as well as the company gene-
rally, then questioned Mr. Stevens on every possible point
of detail ; and the meeting evinced its favourable opinion by
passing an unanimous resolution, approving of the scientific
principle thus demonstrated. We understand that tile pave-
ment laid down at Whitehall, Buckingham Palace, and other
places, by the Metropolitan Patent Wood Pavement Com-
pany, gives the utmost satisfaction both to government and
to the public, and that great pecuniary advantage justly ac-
crues to the spirited adopters of the invention. We should
certainly like to see it tested in our streets. Exchange-street
East for heavy vehicles, and Church-street for lighter car-
riages, would perhaps be the best spots that could be selected.
A GOOD JOKE.—There was a bill before the Massachusetts
legislature, at their last session, for legalising the marriage of
blacks and whites. A member made the following remarks
upon it :—I shall vote in favour of this bill,
simply because
I do not wish to see a law on the statute-book regulating a
mere matter of taste, for such I consider to be the whole
of inter-marriage between persons of difhtrent
colours. It is purely a matter of taste, and if my friend.
from Nantucket wishes to marry a black, blue, or green
I am content that he shall have full liberty to indulge his
preference for either colour. All I request of him hi,, that:
whenln
oltask m
happen e to pay
kisse
pay
his
mu
a friendlyk .a milk-and-molasses mvisit s acts
children _ h
wil
POETRY.—A. south-western lover pathetically }.)tx‘ ale, the
loss of his sweetheart, who ran off with another, in the
fallowing poetical strain :
Gone gone for ever, now the hope,
SallyT h e joyn n forhas whichlaitohpier:sted
And I am done wp and bursted !


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