The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-04-16 00:00:00

19,933 0 0

Amount for Passengers
To these should he added a considerable number of pas-
sengers who at present travel with post-horses. They
will be greatly increased when the new Low-water Piers
are opened ; but for these no credit is proposed to be
here taken.

2.—GOODS TRAFFIC.
I.—Parcels and for carrying
the Mail, &c £2,000 0 0
2.—Goods from Shore to
Shore, 40,000 tons, at
6s
3.—Goods from Perth to
Burntisland, 20,000
tons, at 65...... • •
4.—Goods as Local Traffic,
32,000 tons, at an
average of 2s. 9d. per
ton
s.—Farm produce, 15,000
tons, at 2s
6.—Minerals, viz., Coal,
Limestone, and Iron-
stone, 170,000 tons, at
an average of 2s. 6d.
per ton ..
7.—Minerals on the Perth
line, 50,000 tons, at
2s. per ton..
B.—Wood, 10,000 tons, at
25..
9.—Materials for Buildings
—Bricks, Tiles, Pave-
ment, Slates, &c..... 4,000 0 0
Io.—Carriages, and Horses,
Cattle, and other Live
Stock, on the lowest
calculation 3,000 0 0
Amount for Goods Traffic 60,150 0 0

Total Traffic £113,451 0 0
From which deduct for Annual Expense
of working the line, and for the Interest
of the first cost of Plant 42,817 0 0

Leaves of Free Revenue.... £70,634 0 0

Being nearly Nine per Cent. on the Capital.
In making the above estimate, it is to be observed that
the average rate of fares for Passengers has bee.l taken
under per mile; the Goods under 2d. per ton per
mile, aad the Minerals at little more than lid. per ton per
mile ; and no credit is taken for any increase in the
amount of Goods at present carried. Keeping this re-
mark in view, and other important articles not stated, the
Committee have every confidence that the estimate is be-
low the amount which will be realised.

The principal Landed Proprietors on the line have sig-
nified their intention to support, or not to oppose the Bill;
and the Committee have the satisfaction of being able to
state, as regards the Capital required, that subscriptions
to a large amount are promised as soon as the books are
opened.

The Standing Orders of the Houseof Commcns Provide
that ten per cent. on the sums subselibed shall be depo-
sited before a Railway Bill can be read a second time, and
a deposit to that amount will therefore be required before
applying to Parliament. A deposit of 10s. per share to be
paid as the Shares are awarded. The amount of the calls
to be payable at such time as the Committee may direct.
The Shares of parties failing to pay the Calls, when re-
quired, will be forfeited, along with any sums which they
may have previously paid. No Subscriber will be liable
beyond the amount he has subscribed.

The Act will provide, that not more than £2 10s. per
Share will be called fur at any one time ; and that there
shall be an interval not less than three months between
the Calls.

After the Act is obtained, four per cent. interest will
be allowed upon the Calls from the date of payment until
the Line is opened for traffic. If the Act is not obtained,
the payments, deducting expenses, will be returned.
Edinburgh, 6th April, 1844.

Books to receive the subscriptions of those who propose
to be Shareholders will be found at the following places,
where copies of the Prospectus may be obtained.
London .. Messrs. Coutts and Co., Bankers.
Sir Richard Carr Glyn and Co.. Bankers.
Sir Claude Scott and Co. Bankers.
Messrs. Johnston, Longdon, and Co., Bro-
kers, Token House Yard.
Messrs. Capel and Co., Brokers, Popes-
head-alley.
LIVERPOOL.. Messrs. Moss and Co., Bankers.
Messrs. D. and J. B. Neilson, Brokers.
Manchester. John Duncaft, Esq., Broker.
Leeds .. Messrs. R. B. Watson and Co., Brokers.
Derby ...... Messrs. Thomas Earp and Son, Brokers.
Newcastle .. Jonathan Drury, Esq., Broker.
Edinburgh .. The Royal Bank of Scotland.
The Union Bank olScotland.

Albert Cay, SharebrOker, 99, George-street.
Pillans and Home, Sharebrokers, 68,
Prince's-street.
Glasgow The Royal Bank of Scotland.
The Union Bank of Scotland.

James Watson, Sharebroker.

Buchanan and Co., Sharebrokers.
Duncan and Hutchison, Sharebrokers.
Dundee.. The Western Bank of Scotland.
Shiell and Small.
D. B. Niven, Sharebroker.
J. Sturrock, Sharebroker.
Cupar-Pjfe . Carstairs, M`Glashan, and Doug7as.
Perth .. Duncan and M'Lean.
Gray and Jameson.
Montrose Messrs. Lindsay and Walker, Bankers.
Aberdeen.. William Gordon, Sharebroker.
Oswald, George, and Co., Sharebrokers.
Those who may not find it convenient to enter their
subscriptions at any of these places, may transmit their
applications to any of the Bankers or Brokers ; to the
Provisional Committee, at 7, Darnaway-street, Edin-
burgh ; or to the Solicitors in Edinburgh or London, in
the form annexed :
To THE PROVISIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE EDINBURGH

AND NORTHERN RAILWAY.
GENTLEMEN,

I request that you will allot to me
Shares, of £25 each, in the proposed Edinburgh and
Northern Railway, on the terms and conditions of the
Prospectus. I shall pay the deposit, and sign the neces-
sary deeds when required.
Dated at the day of IS4I.

Name.
Residence,
Trade or Profession,

CALEDONIAN RAILWAY.
TO TILE SECRETARY TO THE GLASGOW, DUMFRIES,

AND CARLISLE RAILWAY.

SIR,
lOBSERVED that the Provisional Committee of the
Caledonian Railway stated in their letter to your
Chairman, that it was not their intention to notice further
attacks from the promoters of the Glasgow, Dumfries,
and Carlisle Railway. How far a knowledge of this in-
tention may have induced you to put forth a statement of
such a nature as that which has appeared in the papers of
this week, 1 know not ; but as I, and doubtless many
others, deem it calculated to mislead the public. I must
beg your indulgence, if I endeavour, as shortly as possi-
ble, to set them right in the matter.
With regard to what you are pleased to call the satis-
factory reply of your Chairman, as far as I can see, that
Gentleman simply disclaims .being a party to any crusade
against the Caledonian Railway, and declines responsibi-
lity for the statements of others, leaving them to get out
of the scrape the best way they can. The reply of Mr.
Watson seems to me to be but little more " satisfactory"
than that of your Chairman. It is not of great moment
at what precise time the parties to whom he alludes did
subscribe. The sum and substance of the matter is, that
two or three names only, I believe, have been withdrawn
from the Provisional Committee of the Caledonian Rail-
way, and the remainder of the " formidable array of
names" stands as originally put forth, with numerous in-
fluential additions. I do not know whether it was Mr.
Watson, or some one else, who stated that he was stay-
gered when be saw the formidable array of names ; but it
seems to me a doubtful matter, whether the withdrawal
of two or three names from the formidable array will ena-
ble him to recover his equilibrium.
It cannot but have struck the public as a conclusive
answer to the statements respecting the gentlemen com-
posing the Committee of the Caledonian, published by
you and others, that not one of thcse gentlemen has come
forward to contradict the statements in the letter of the

Committee, signed by their Secretary, and to stepper!
your random assertions.

This being the case, it is quite ludicrous to see you and
others, who state what you wish were the case, endea-
vouring to induce the public to give credit to your state-
ments, against authorized contradictions of them.
To enable you to understand how the whole of the
North of Scotland will be benefited by the Caledonian
Railway, it is only necessary to state, that by that line the
communication with England will be shorter, Quicker,
and cheaper. than by any other line; and that from Edin-
burgh and the North-East of Scotland there will be a
saving of upwards of seventy miles in distance, and from
Glasgow and the West, of upwards of twenty miles to the
West of England, with which Scotland has most commu-
nication.

Since you are pleased by an " ingenious plan" of your
own to make out a statement of population in favour of
the line by Dumfries, perhaps your "ingenuity" will ena-
ble you to inform the public, how you have contrived to
omit, from the population on the Caledonian line, the pa-
rishes of Lanark, Carluke, and •Carstairs, containing a
population of upwards of 12,000, and the whole of the
parishes on the line to Edinburgh, as well as those of
Dumfries, Tinwald, Kirkmichael, and Lochmaben,
through which the Dumfries Branch would pass; and,
moreover, how, while you abstain in the case of the Ca-
ledonian line, from taking any account of the parishes
near to which the line ?Josses, you have contrived to in-
troduce in favour of the Dumfries line the population of
Greenock, Port-Glasgow, &c..--places which would be at
least fourteen miles nearer to England by the Caledonian
than by the Dumfries Railway,
With regard to these somewhat important omissions.
although I may be disposed to believe that you have done
so from carelessness, others may be less charitable. To
quote from a no less celebrated author than yourself, I
may say that " I wish to ovoid all expressions of an offen-
sive nature, btit must beg of you to recollect, that if you
are not more accurate in future in quoting from public
documents, you, and the Committee of your Company
who sanction these misquotations, cannot escape the im-
putation of attempting to mislead the public."
You will search in vain, I believe, in the Government
Commissioners' Report fqkany decision to the effect that
the making of the t lifftrs, namely, that by Dumfries,
and also that by Newcastle, would be better for the
country than the Caledonian line.
Now, let me ask you, could the country generally be
benefitted by a Railway system, by which it is proposed
to send the traffic between Edinburgh and the east of
Scotland upwards of 70 miles, and that from the great
commercial city of Glasgow, upwards of 20 miles out of
their way to the west of England?
On the subject of &stances and gradients, a few words
may not be thrown away upon you. Various statements
have been put forth by parties unfriendly to the Caledo-
nian Railway, with a view to lead the public to the con-
clusion that the gradients to be obtained were of a nature
unheard-of in Railway making. You and your party argue
against the gradients of the Caledonian Railway, and yet
one of your Committee stated at Dumfries that you could
do nothing without a Railway carried from Lancaster and
Carlisle through Shap Fells ; a line of which the gradients
are steeper than on the Caledonian line. On many of the
English lines now in successful operation, there are gra-
dients as steep or steeper than those proposed on the Ca-
ledian—such as the Liverpool and Manchester, Birming-
ham and Glo'ster, North Union ; and even your favourite
North British line, if executed, must be added to these.
Nor do we find that the average speed on these lines is
materially less than on the more level lines. The Edin-
burgh and Glasgow is one of the most level lines in this
country ; yet the speed of the fast trains is only 23 miles
an hour. You state that going round a steep hill is easier
than going over it—this language seems to me somewhat
vague, for you do not enlighten us by stating bow far we
should be justified in going round to avoid a hill of a given
steepness. I presume you mean we should go round by
Kilmarnock and Dumfries, whatever be the distance ; but
why not carry out your own principle, and state, that to
avoid the summit of the Dumfries line, the ibhabitants of
Glasgow should, on their way to Lancashire, adopt the
more level route by Edinburgh, Newcastle, and Carlisle.
Finally, with regard to your grand climax of what you
call the objects of parties," which being rendered into
the vernacular means, I presume, motives, I can see
nothing in the letter of the Provisional Committee of the
Caledonian Railway, showing that they wish to mislead
the public into the belief that the Directors of the Eng-
lish Lines, whose names appear in the list of the Provi-
sional Committee, are influenced solely by public motives.
But you may very safely conclude, from seeing their
names in the said list, that they are quite satisfied that the
Caledonian Railway will send far more traffic to their
lines than will the Dumfries line, or any other and if, as
you seem to hint, they are sufficiently awake to their own
interest, the legitimate inference is that the Caledonian
Railway will accommodate a greater proportion. of the
travelling public than either or both of its rivals.
I remain, Sir, your most obedient servant,
A FRIEND OF THE PUBLIC.
G'asgow, sth April, 1844.

NOTICE TO JOURNEYMEN SHIPWRIGHTS.
AT a MEETING of the SHIP-BUILDERS' ASSO-
CIATION, held on WEDNESDAY, the 10th instant,
to take into consideration the numerous and repeated
complaints which have born made from time to time by
Ship-Owners, of the present high rate of Wages in this
Port. After having taken into consideration the great
Reduction which has taken place in the necessaries of life,
since January, 1839, at which time, in consequence of the
high price of Provisions, the Wages were raised to the
present rate; and, considering the ruinously depressed
state of the Shipping Interest, it was unanimously agreed,
that from and after the 13th day of May next, the Rate of
Wages shall be REDUCED to FOUR SHILLINGS
and SIX-PENCE per Man per Day, the overtime; &c. to
be paid in the proportion observed when the Wages were
before at the same rate.
(Signed,) THOS. WILSON, Chairman.
P. CATO, Secretary.
Liverpool, April 13th, 1844. '

THE ALARMING EXPLOSION OF GAS IN A HOUSE IN
ISLINGTON.—We furnished in our last, and we believe
exclusively, an account of the gas explosion in the house
of Mr. Holden, which took place a few hours before our
going to press. The Courier quotes our whole paragraph,
and, after correcting some assumed inaccuracies, states—
" It has been ascertained since the explosion, that the
house in which it occurred had been entered by thieves,
the bells and a portion of the water and gas-pipes baring
been wrenched off and taken away, and a lead pump taken
down preparatory to its removal ; and as the concussion
took place about a quarter-past seven, it is supposed it
originated with the depredators having obtained a light,
the better to enable them to carry on their proceedings—
a half-burnt lucifer match and a piece of burnt paper
having been found on one of the chimney-pieces. It may
be right to mention, that when the former tenant left the
house, the gas was regularly turned off by the Gas Com-
pany, as is usual in such cases." The Courier states that
our account was " inaccurate in some particulars," yet,
strange to say, in correcting us " by request," does no-
thing more than recapitulate all that we stated, to the
letter, with the exception of stating that Mr. Molyneux,
on going to the Gas-office, was told that he might have a
man that night, but that as be (Mr. M.) " had deter-
mined to turn the gas off for the night, he considered it
unnecessary till morning for a man to be sent up." All
we can say is, that our reporter derived his information
on this point from Mr. Molyneux and his lady, in person,
in their own lobby, and noted it down in their presence
at the moment; and he must have therefore strangely
mistaken Mr. M. The thing is the more inexplicable
when it is considered that Mr. M. went down to the office
expressly at that early hour of the evening, yet returned
immediately, and had just prepared to go to bed ten mi-
nutes after, when the explosion took place,—he having,
it is stated, determined to turn the gas off for the night.
What need had he to go to the office that night, if he did
not care about the matter being looked to till morning ?
We never accused the Gas Company of negligence at all,
but we see in " the correction" (as the matter did not at
all impugn Mr. Molyneux) an attempt to meet a supposed
or imputed neglect, on our part, of the Gas Company;
and this is confirmed by the gratuitous finale of the Cou-
rier, that " when the former tenant left the house, the
gas was regularly turned off by the Gas Company, as is
i usual n such cases"—a regularity of which we never be-
fore heard, and which induces us to inquire whether the
Gas Company had an outside gas-tap or valve to the
house, to turn it off irrespective of the wish of those
within. The fact is, our whole account was substanthlly
correct, in conjunction with these " corrections " ; and
we rather opine, that when the Gas Company learnt that
there was a strong smell of gas in the house, t was their
duty to send up a man immediately to arrest the further
escape of so inflammable a matter. If they were as punc-
tual in turning off their gas, so that it might not enter an
uninhabited house, as they are in demanding their rates,
the explosion would probably not have taken place. There
is one correction, however, of our contemporary, to which
we submissively bow, in deference to his superior gram-
matical taste and accuracy. TVe said that about three
o'clock no smell of gas could be perceived. He sets us
right by stating that " at that time no effluvia Was ap-
parent "—in obedience to the laws of Lindley Murray,
or rather of those laid down in Ruddimae's Rudiments
of the Latin Language, of which he affects to have a
smattering ! The Journal of Saturday states of this ex-
plosion :—" As no one was hurt by the explosion, it is
certain that it took place after the departure of the thieves ;
and the gas-men are of opinion that the ignition may
have taken place from a lighted cigar outside. That the
thieves had departed. may be further inferred from the
fact, that a gentleman residing next door was alarmed at
an early hour by a strong escape of gas."
RATTAN, THE DERBY FAVOURITE.—As may be sup-
posed, I was extremely anxious to see Rattan, the pre-
sent favourite of the coming Derby.. Every one knows
that this valuable colt is the property of Mr. Crockford,
and that be is trained by one of the most skilful profes-
sors of the time, Mr. Joseph Rogers. Rattan is a nice
wiry animal, with a pedigree good enough to run any--
thing. Some fastidious writers have thought fit to pro-
nounce him " leggy," and " not at all a Derby horse ; "
my Opinion is very different. It is true that he is not so
powerful as a Plenepotentiary or a Bay Middleton; but
many a horse of less substance, and without a tithe of his
character for speed and stoutness, have carried off the
Derby easily ; need I allude to Frederick, in 1829, to
Spaniel, in 1831, and Little Wonder, in 1840. Rattan,
without doubt was the best two-year old performer of last
season, and he won his two engagements so easily that it
isimpossible to say how greatly superior he was to the
fields he met—and they were large fields of good horses.
I do not fancy him much grown since I saw him "pull up"
in the Houghton Meeting, but he unquestionably is im-
proved in the muscular department, and his action is
straight and good—just such as I prefer to mount the
tiring hill at Epsom. In health Rattan looked blooming
and well. Pineapple, his " leader, " also looked well and
went in good style. It is said that be is to go for the
Craven Stakes.—Sporting Review for April.

ttteraturr.

---..e..--.__

NOTICES.

TTncle Svm's Peculiarities, by Uncle Sam. 2 vols.
John Mortimer, London.
We have seen most of the works published of late years
by British travellers, detailing their "impressions" during
their sojourn in the United States—including, of course,
Mrs. Trollope, and more latterly, the versatile Dickens
'hut we do not remember having derived so much amuse-
ment, and we may add instruction, in respect to the " pe-
culiarities" of American life, as from a perusal (though
.testy) of the two handsome volumes before us. The two
authors whom we have named are generally considered to
have dealt—from the force of national prejudices—too
largely in what may be called romance of character: both
- of them having mingled almost exclusively with the re-
ublican and foreign aristocracy of the country, drew their
44 experiences" more especially from those classes; and
indulging in the usual latitude of flying voyageurs—if we
may judge from various favourable specimens of the
44 natives," both here and their own landsLliave furnished
pictures generally overcharged in colouring, or imperfectly
-finished in detail. This is the besetting sin of most tour-
ists; and though our present author is not entirely free
from a similar charge, we think, that if offence there be,
it is of a mitigated nature—his expositions bearing that im-
« press, which evidently approximates to truth. The author,
who, we may state—having learned the fact sub rosa—is
a talented, literary, and scientific townsman, in fact pleads
guilty, in his preface, of the probability of " a few carica-
tures." but adds, and we think properly, that " these
may be considered attributable to the " art of compres-
-sion." " If," he continues, " three of the most comical
Kentucks' be rolled into one, a caricature will certainly
be produced • but, at the distance taken by readers to
view a pen and ink sketch, the likeness will be the more
striking. Beyond this no exaggeration is admitted."
The "peculiarities," he further states, are by Uncle Sam,
(U. S.) as he himself develoilbs most of them in dialogue,
.The papers, he informs us, comprising the volumes.
were written from memoranda made by a mercantile
tourist during a twelve month's residence in the United
States." An enthusiastic republican, detesting the mere
'epithet of subject, previous to his residence among citizens,
ixe returned to England to consider, and ultimately to
laugh at his former republican phantasies, perfectly satis-
fied tbs.' " the best of all possible republics," to use the
words of La Fayette, " is a monarchy surrounded by re-
publican institutions." lie thus concludes his prefatory
. remarks—" That the United States do not form the best
ofvepublics, let Slavery and Repudiation cry aloud ! And
• if there shonld be a reader vriso cannot admit the fact from
the mere enunciation of these two words, it is humbly,
but earnestly recommended by the present author, that
he should visit America."—We have not ourselves been
in the United States, but a first glance at these papers—
which may be called a series of lively sketches, that may
be dipped into at any chapter and almOst at any page—
*scited in us some surprise that the author could, after so
comparatively short a residence in that country, throw
together, in so handsome a form, such a body of inforrna-
tiers and amusement—still preserving, in the venous cha-
racters he introduces, that keeping and vraisemblance in
action and in idiom, which cannot be the work of inven-
tion, but clearly of lively impressions derived from the
reality, and therefore entitled to almost implicit credence.
The marvel is, however, explained on a closer perusal;
• for we find that while other recent tourists were co fined,
by circumstances or taste, to the study of exclusive and
nearly exclusively independent grades of society, our
author " conversed" (to use a Yankee phrase) with the
middle and lower orders, as well as occasionally with the
high and wealthy. He ming ed with them at their town
and country inns and places of amusement, and in their
private domtciles ; spent his long winter evenings amongst
them; partook of their localities, and humoured their foibles
—so that, though still maintaining his national integrity,
and on all possible and safe occasions " speaking out"
against the abominations of slavery, the " repudiation"
of just debts, and the eternal and empty brag of "beat-
ing the British,"—he contrived to keep himself within a
=whole skin ; to command from the more enlightened a
degree of grateful respect •, and, if we mistake not, to ex-
cite impressions amongst his opponents in conversation
that staggered their previous crude and erroneous con-
victions, and led not a few of them to a more correct esti-
mation of " the old country" and its inhabitants, and a
less boastful assumption of the superiority of their own
and its institutions. There are many graphic and highly
amusing descriptions of men, manners, and scenery,
throughout the volumes • but we have not space to par-
ticularise. The traits of character are well sustained, and
esotne of the scenes rendered even dramatic by the intro-
duction of dialogue. American idioms, anecdotes, and
`".Jonathanisms,' are copious, and many of them highly
original and ludicrous. A vein of good humour prevails
throughout; and, although the author appears to us to
have sometimes hit rather bard, and to have lost sight of
the fact that there are " peculiarities" in our own coun-
try as well as in that of Uncle Sam, we forbear expressly
pointing out these trifling aberrations, in consideration of
our inability within our circumscribed space, to do entire
justice to the work in the aggregate. One or two ex-
tracts will be found elsewhere, and we have a few others
4.. rt reserve.

Present State of Aural Surgery: a Lecture at the Royal
Dispensary. By John Wanison Curtis. 4th edition.
Whittaker.

This is an interesting pamphlet, and the suggestions it
contains on the subject of the public heal,h, are very use-
ful. He touches on the subject of parks and squares—
.and some good hints may be gathered from perusing
them. He alludes to the Prince's Park here in terms of
eulogy. Altogether, though the style savours rather of
-egotism, yet it is a service to the public; and his remarks
,on the deaf and dumb ought to have been carried .out
earlier in London and elsewhere, we hope it will not be
lost sight of in our own schools for these pitiable objects
-of Heaven's restricted hand.