The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-11-01 00:00:00

PROSPECTS OF BIRKENHEAD.

THE great demand upon our space this week, from
obvious causes, has compelled us to postpone the con-
tinuation of our remarks on " The Port of Liverpool."
There are, however, some gratifying symptoms of im-
provement in the town of Birkenhead, which must mate-
rially contribute to the prosperity of the port. It will be
remembered that, owing to the claim which had been set
up by the Commissioners of Woods and Forests to the
foreshore of Birkenhead, the Corporation of Liverpool
had been compelled to forego the lease which had been
granted to Mr. WILSON for a shipbuilding yard on the
Cheshire side of, the Mersey. The dispute, however,
was subsequently settled by the payment of a sum of
money ; and, this difficulty being got rid of, the Corpora-
tion of Liverpool have made arrangements for the
profitable occupation of their Cheshire property. It, will
be seen by the report of the meeting of the Town Council,
held yesterday, that Mr. Joint LAIRD, the eminent iron
ship-builder, has taken the piece of land above Monk's-ferry,
which had been leased to Mr. WILSON, for shipbuild-
ing purposes ; and that the land between Woodside and
Monk's-ferry has been leased, one half to Messrs. CLAY-
TON and Co., and the other half to Messrs. CLOVER and
ROYLE, the extensive ship-builders of Liverpool, for the
same purposes. The Corporation also intend to
remove the buildings of the Birkenhead Hotel, to
erect a sea-wall from Woodside to Birkenhead-ferry,
and to construct a graving dock and other appliances for
carrying on shipbuilding on an extensive scale. We may
also state that operations were to be commenced yester-
day in the great works of Messrs. BRASSEY, PETO, and
Co., for the construction of locomotive engines for the
Grand Trunk Railway in Canada. These are all signs of
great improvement, and must conduce in a material degree
to the prosperity of the port on both sides of the Mersey.

THE LIMERICK AND KERRY estates of the Knight of
Kerry was sold, on Friday, in the Encumbered Estates
Court. They realized close upon £57,000, about twenty
years' purchase on the net rental.
THE DEATH of the Hon. and Right Rev. Dr. Ponsonby,
Lord Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, occurred at the Palace,
Derry, on Thursday morning last.
THE GREAT EXHIBITION.—As Saturday was the last of
the sixpenny admission days, and but one day more at
half-a-crown until the final closing of the Exhibition, the
desire of the public to have a " last fond look" seemed to
pervade almost the entire population of Dublin. The
number of visitors up to five o'clock is estimated at 30,000.
There were 18,863 present on Friday, and the receipts
amounted to £450.

FATAL ACCIDENT.—On Thursday, Mr. Cornelius Egan,
son of Alderman Egan, of Dublin, met his death at Howth
whilst shooting. His gun accidentally exploded, and the
whole charge lodged in his heart. The deceased was in
his 17th year.
DEATH OF LORD CLONCURRY.—Another of the men
who figured remarkably in the troublous period which
preceded the union between Great Britain and Ireland,
has passed to his final account. Lord Cloncurry died on
Friday night, at his residence, county Dublin, at the ad-
vanced age of SO years.
PROROGATION OF CONVOCATION.—The Convocation of
the prelates and clergy of the province of Canterbury,
which stood prorogued to Friday, the 28th ultimo, was
further prorogued to Saturday, November 30th, according
to the tenor of a royal writ, by the Vicar-general of the
Most Rev. the Archbishop of Canterbury, primate, and
the metropolitan, under a special commission from his
grace to that effect.
A WARNING.—A labourer, named Otway, of Harptree
North Somerset, left his home on Sunday week to go to his
work, which was at a distance. Some time afterwards he
was found lying in a corn-field with his clothes in flames,
and his flesh was so burnt that he never recovered. Be-
fore he died, he stated that he had called at a cider-shop,
drunk freely, and then lain down to sleep with a lighted
pipe. This had set his clothes on fire, and was the cause
of his miserable death.

EXTRAORDINARY SUICIDE. A gentleman, named
William Rigby, residing with his friends at 130, Falkner-
street, committed suicide on Thursday last, by taking a
quantity of sulphuric acid. He had been for some years
past in a very desponding state of mind, and was of very
intemperate habits. He had, however, latterly improved,
but on the night of the 13th instant his gold watch was
stolen from him while in liquor, by a party of prostitutes
and artillerymen. The case was brought before the
magistrates some time since, and the publicity of the
affair seems to have driven him back to his former de-
sponding state, and he had been drinking to excess since
the occurrence. His friends endeavoured to calm him as
much as possible, and on Saturday last he left home and
did not return until Monday, when he was again in a
state of inebriation, and was put to bed, where he re-
mained until the Wednesday, when he appeared altogther
much better. On Wednesday night he again retired to rest,
and on Thursday morning he relapsed to his former bad
state, imagining that some person was in the house for
the purpose of carrying him away in a car and locking
him up. In the course of the afternoon the inmates
were alarmed by cries of " John, John," and inet the de-
ceased running down-stairs, with his hands across his
stomach, having on only his shirt. He went into the
parlour and threw himself on the sofa, still keeping his
hand in the same position. The impression was that he
had been seized with cholera, and Dr. Patterson was sent
for, but did not do him any good. Dr. Bickersteth and
his son were .then called in, and remained with him till
nine o'clock the same evening, when he expired. It was
(concluded that he had taken sulphuric acid, and a bottle
-containing-some of that liquid was found upon the mantle-
.piece of his bedroom.
CALIFORNIAN NOMENCLATURE.—Some of our people
in the interior have a most extraordinary taste in nomen-
clature. The recent election has brought to light such
delectable localities as Whisky Creek, Jackass Golch,
Humbug City, One Horse Town, One Mule Town, Drunk-
ares Bar, Murderer's Bar, Shirt-tail Canon, Lower
Humbug, Negro Fiddletown, Coen Hollow, Jay
Hawk, Condemned Bar, Grizzly Flat, Musquito Canon,
Poverty Bar, Mule'Canon, Greenhorn, Mugginsville, Mad
Muletown, Sucker Flat, Rattlesnake Bar, Yankey Jim's,
Peppermint Bar, Mad Canon, Humbug Canon, Rough
and Ready, French'Corzal, &c. For the love of posterity,
reform your nomenelature, good people, before it is too
late. Mare the settlers of most of the other new States,
our people have retained very few of the Indian names for
loc,alitiea. Most of -the 'rivers and counties in the State,
and many ,of the settlements south of Sacramento, are
still known by the high-sounding Spanish titles given
them by the.early Californians. They were a very devout
people, and sprinkled the names of their favourite saints
all over the country. Thus we have San Francisco, San
Joaquin, San Diego, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Santa
Barbara, San Bernardino, Santa Isabel, San Louis Obispo,
San Andreas, San Jose, San Antonio, San Rafael, San '
Leandre, Santa Yner, San Gabriel, San Miguel, and a
whole calendar more of Sans and Santas. Of their un-
eacksiastical names, what more euplsanous than Mendocino,
Mariposa, Alameda, Nevada,
Baines, Sacramento,
Martinez,ento,
Salines, Sonora, Sierra, Sancelito, Va ll t
Petalana P—San Franeiseo Herald.
antdon s) recbeenstaillyeldaunched
a will by the
TarztonGll:,:sT R E
designed,PUl3 A
Built,
indomitable-Donald .M`Kay, the builder of the Sovereign
of the Seas. In the construction of the Great Republic
1,500,000 feet of hard pine have been used, 2,056 tons of
hard oak, 336 - tons of iron, 56 tone of copper for bolts, &c.
exclusive of sheathing. She will spread 16,000 yards of
canvas, with four masts. A new feature on board is a
steam engine of 16-horse power ; intended to do all the
heavy work of the ship, such as hoisting in and discharg-
ing cargo, setting up rigging, hoisting topsail, &e.; it is
also connected with an apparatus for distilling fresh water
from salt water. It will diminish, too, the number of
men required to work the ship, her crew consisting of only.
100 men and 30 boys. The keel, for 60 feet forward, is
gradually raised from a straight line, and curves upwards
into an arch, so that the gripe of the fore-foot is the are
of the circle, and not angular, like other vessels. The
lines are concave forward and aft, up to a few feet above
the load displacement line ; the sides are arched something
like a man of war, but not so much in proportion to her
size ; the stern is semi-ecliptical in form, and, instead of
bulwarks, the outline of her spar-deck is protected by a
rail supported by turned oak stanchions. She has four
complete decks, and four houses on her spar-deck, erected
for the use and comfort of the crew. All her beams,
masts, spars, &c., are in proportion to her enormous size :
the mainmast and foremast are 44 inches in diameter,
the mainyard 28 inches and 120 feet long, carrying a sail
120 feet square. It is stated that so enormous is her
length that if it were possible to raise her on end along-
side the monument on Fish-hill-street, she would tower
above it more than 120 feet