The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-09-10 00:00:00

SELECTIONS.

INDIAN RUBBER LIFE-BOAT.—A life-boat iS now
being constructed on the company's premises (thirty-four
feet length of keel, and twelve breadth of beam), which,
with the exception of the keel and some iron braces, will
be entirely formed of India-rubber and cork planking.
She will weigh but oue ton and a half, an ordinary life-
boat weighing three tons ; and it is the opinion of all naval
men and engineers who have seen her, that it will be al-
most impossible to sink her under ordinary circumstances,
and that, when driven on a rock by the action of the
waves, she will rebound like a ball, without fracture. It
is also proposed to use the caoutchouc preparation for an
inner lining between the guns in war vessels, to prevent
the effects of splinters ; for hammock nettings and bul-
warks, to save the crew from canister, grape, &c. ; and for
other useful though less obvious purposes.—Railway Gaz.
GAS STOVES.—The application of a method of burning
carburetted hydrogen or coal gas, for the production of
artificial heat for warming buildings, is an invention of
rather recent date. The apparatus in which this is ef-
fected is very simple. A metallic ring, pierced on its up-
per side with a great number of holes of very small size,
is connected with a pipe communicating with the gas main,
and is placed within a double drum or cylinder of iron,
raised an inch or two from the floor on small legs : this
double drum is so made, that there is a space between the
inner and outer cylinder of about two inches—and in this
space, near to the bottom, the ring pierced with holes is
fixed. A stop-cock in the pipe connecting the pierced
ring with the gas main shuts off the supply of gas when
the stove is not in use; on opening this cock, and apply-
, ing a light to the pierced ring, a brilliant ring of flame is
immediately produced, which soon warms both the inner
and the outer case of the stove by the heat generated dur-
ing the combustion of the carburetted hydrogen gas. The
top of the drum is covered with a large open ventilator, by
which the heated air that passes through the inner cylin-
der is allowed to escape into the room ; but the products
of the combustion, having no means of escape, pass down-
wards from the bottom of the stove into the room. This
having been found exceedingly unwholesome, a plan has
been contrived by which a considerable portion of the pro-
ducts of the combustion are carried off by a pipe inserted
between the two cylinders, which conveys away the gase-
ous products into the open air. A moderate-sized stove
of this description burns from twelve to fifteen cubic feet
of carburetted hydrogen gas per hour ; and this is con-
verted into two new compounds—water and carbonic acid
gas. The quantity of water formed will be 2 6 culiic
inches for each cubic foot of carburetted hydrogen, or
about a pint to a pint and a quarter of water per hour;
and from twelve to fifteen cubic feet of carbonic acid gas,
and eight times that quantity of nitrogen, will be the con-
stant products of the combustion. and produce the most
serious deterioration in the quality of the air ; but when
these gaseous products are carried off by a chimney, the
loss sustained will be very nearly one-half the total heat
which is produced by the burning of the gas.—Mining
Journal,

PONVER OF THE POOR LAW COMMISSIONERS.—When
the New Poor Law Bill was discussed in 1834, Lord
Granville
i Somerset uttered these remarkable words re-
specting t. " After the passing of this Bill, I think it
will be impossible for any man to say what is and what is
not the law for the relief of the poor." His lordship said
this, we conceive, in reference to those enormous powers
of making " Rules, Orders, and Regulations," for every
union and for every union workhouse in the kingdom,
which the Bill then in progress was about to confer on the
three Commissioners. lied a board or commission been
constituted, as in Belgium, for the purpose of taking care
that the rules laid down by the legislature should be
strictly enforced, the case would have been widely differ-
ent, and his lordship would not have so expressed him-
self. Lord Abinger (then Sir James Scarlett,) in the de-
bates on the New Poor Law Bill, used similar language
to that employed by Lord G. Somerset. " I must own"
said he, "that the clause by which the affairs of the poor
are placed in the hands of delegates or commissioners who
are to exist as a sort of central board, appears to. me to
establish such an imperium in imperio, that I think the
people of England never will consent to it." Mr. Ed-
ward Buller thus adverted to the extraordinary powers
the New Poor Law Bill was calculated to confer. " I
cannot disguise from myself that we are about to esta-
blish something approaching to absolute dominion—an
unlimited monarchy where everything will depend upon
the personal character of the parties." It were easy to
multiply quotations of this kind ; but our object in refer-
ring back to the debates of 1834, in reference to this ab-
solute and irresponsible power—power exercised by three
commissioners, but neither exercised nor possessed by the
three estates of the realm—is sufficiently answered. The
act of the present session can scarcely be said to diminish
those powers ; in several respects, which if it were worth
while, we could point out, it has actually increased them.
—Churchman's Monthly Review.

BARGEMEN AND BOATMEN.—We have been requested
by a correspondent to insert the following remarks, to
which we readily accede, feeling commiseration towards
a class of men generally considered the most demoralized
in the whole kingdom. " Flaying noticed that you, as
well as other editors of influential newspapers, have occa-
sionally in strong language referred to the crimes commit-
ted by watermen. I have no doubt you will kindly admit
the following extract from the last report of the Sabbath
Society, which may tend to benefit a body of men whose
moral and religious improvement has been so long and so
lamentably disregarded. The above report says—' There
is one point to which we must especially direct our atten-
tion ; it is this : that the poor bargemen and watermen
are excluded as it were from the beneficial operations of
Sir Robert Peel's bill; for if it can be proved. that 2,000
stationary population exist in any spot, in a neglected
condition as to moral and religious culture, the Ecclesi-
astical Commissioners may afford pecuniary assistance
towards providing a clergyman to instruct them ; but if it
were proved that double that number of that demoralized
migratory class, the watermen, usually on their voyages
frequented any spot, no assistance of any kind is allowed
towards supplying them with a pastor. Surely this is not
right in a country like our own, which owes so much to
commerce. It ought to be noticed in a proper quarter as
an act of injustice towards a useful but neglected body of
British subjects.' "—We shall only remark, that the case
does appear hard, and no doubt the mistake in overlooking
altogether such a demoralised class will in due time be
rectified, by their claims to religious instruction being ef-
ficiently met as well as acknowledged. The Church of
England ought to forget no class of the community ; and we
may rest assured that the Ecclesiastical Commissioners,
when they have it in their power, will not be unmindful
of the spiritual wants of the most disregarded of all classes.
Great Britain has derived many millions from her internal
commerce, but how few hundred pounds have been ex-
pended on the instruction of the poor men who toil to
promote its extension, and who are, as a body, little better
than the heathen. The great increase of the population
of this country, as well as the migratory habits of the
boatmen, prevent the parochial clergy in general paying
attention to this subject, which renders it more necessary
that pastoral superintendence should be expressly pro-
vided for the men employed in our inland navigations.—
TV° rcester Journal.

NELSON'S MEMORABLE SIGNAL, AND HIS LIEU-
TENANTS.-It may not be generally known to the younger
branches of the naval service, that the responsible and
arduous duties of first lieutenants of our ships, which at
present are invariably performed by the seniors, were,
during the last war, confided to any of these officers at
the discretion of the captains of their respective ships;
and the immortal Nelson himself, on the morning of the
21st of October, 1805, presented a striking instance of
this discretion The Victory, within a very short time
previously, had two first lieutenants, who were actually
the respective seniors at the time, promoted to the rank
of captain ; and the repeated changes in the person of
the executive officer proving somewhat injurious to that
state of discipline in which the admiral was pleased to
have his ship, his lordship was determined that this duty
should devolve on the junior lieutenant, because his turn
for promotion would be more remote, as his lordship still
intended, after his usual practice, to bestow promotion
according to seniority. On the morning of the 21st,
previous to leading into action, Sir ThomaS Hardy re-
quested Lord Nelson to appoint his two senior lieutenants
as captains of the line-of-battle ships, the commands of
which were vacated by the departure of captains who
held them to attend as witnesses at Sir Robert Calder's
court martial ; but the reply of the hero was worthy of
his hopes—that he considered the officers of those ships
were fully adequate to fight them, and he would not imply
such a want of confidence in them at such a moment;
and, as to any disappointment of his own lieutenants, he
trusted their anxiety would be allayed when he assured
them it was his intention to make them all post-captains
when the day was done. Shortly after he commanded
his memorable signal to be made to the fleet, which, we
are assured by the narrator of the above, was in these
words :—" England confides that every man this day will
do his duty." This, however, offering some difficulty in
communicating, from having to spell separately the word
" confides," his lordship's flag lieutenant, then the senior
of the Victory, suggested that the word "expects" should-
be substituted, when it was acceded to, and the signal was
promptly executed. It is needless to remark, that the
termination of the day prevented the illustrious hero from
performing his promise with respect to his lieutenants ;
and the prediction was only fulfilled to the junior, who
was doing the duty of first under the above circum-
cumstances, by the admiralty making him a post-cap-
tain. The three seniors were only made lieutenant-
captains (or masters and commanders), according jct. the
rank of that day. The officer, who was the senior and
flag lieutenant of this immortal chief, was made, some
six years subsequent, and, though fearfully wounded in
the action by a grape-shot, is now on the navy list, and
was, we believe, the recipient of one of the first good-
service pensions the present admiralty had the opportunity
to bestow. Had Nelsrm survived, Captain John Pasco
would now have been a flag officer.—Standard.

THE PROCESSION AT THE BURNS' FESTIVAL.—The
effect of the procession as seen from the platform almost
baffles the power of description. The wailing of the bag-
pipes and the crash of the bands were heard from the bo-
om of the deep wood-thicket behind, long before the
ranks became visible. At length, among the trees that
skirted the opposite banks, there was a glittering of
lances, and a lifting of banners, and a dark-growing line
of men, in closest order, marching as if to battle. Gra-
dually it flowed on, in continuous stream, file succeeding
to file without gap or intermission, until the head of the
column appeared recrossing by the Old Bridge, and wind-
ing up the road towards the platform ; and still new ban-
ners rose up behind, and fresh strains of music burst
forth amidst the leafy screen. And now they reached the
platform : lance and flag were lowered in honour of those
who stood bareheaded above, and deafening were the
cheers that ushered in the arrival of the national pageant.
The spectacle was most imposing, and must have con-
veyed to the minds of the strangers present a vivid im-
pression of the energy and enthusiasm so deeply implanted
in the Scottish character, and always so irresistibly mani-
fested at the touching of a national chord. The most in-
teresting part of the procession by far was the array of
farmers and shepherds, the flower of the west-country
yeomanry, attired in the graceful plaid. Of that same
breed of men, of tall and compact mould and hardy sinew,
was Robert Burns; nor is it possible to imagine anything
more animated than the appearance of those stalwart sons
of the soil, as they lingered for a moment before the plat-
form, and looked with wistful eyes at the sons of the Poet,
if haply they might trace in their lineaments some resem-
blance to the features of him whom, from their infancy,
they had learned to love. Then came the Freemasons,
and King Crispin with his train, and the Archers, and
much more of old Scottish device, until there seemed no
end to the flowing tide of population, all keen, and joyful,
and exult int. But the full burst of enthusiasm was re-
served for the close. In the rear of all appeared an enor-
mous thistle borne shoulder high ; and no sooner was the
national emblem in sight, than a universal and long con-
tinued cheer burst forth from the many thousands who
were now congregated in the plain beyond. Alas, for that
thistle ! Though Burns, as the insciiption bore,

" Had turn'd his weeder-clips aside,

And spared the symbol dear,"
such was not the fate of the offspring plant. Scarcely had
it reached the platform, when Christopher North •vio-
lently possessed himself of one branch, the Lord Jus-
tice-General seized upon another, and in the twinkling of
an eye it was torn into fragments, and its rough leaves
and rougher flowers displayed upon manly bosoms, from
which it would have been difficult to wrest them again.
So closed the procession—but not the gathering. Deafen-
ing were the cheers that followed for Burns—for his Sons
—for ;Professor Wilson—for Lord Eglinton ; until the
last remnant of reserve gave way, and a torrent of people
swept forwaid to obtain, if possible, a pressure of their
hands that were gladly and gra'efully held forth. De-
scending from the platform, we entered the meadow-
ground beyond, where the multitude were now assem-
bled. One of the bands struck up the beautiful air—
" Ye banks and braes o' bonny Doon ;" and immediately
the people, as if actuated by one common impulse, took
up the strain, and a loftier swell of music never rose be-
neath the cope of heaven. We thought of the fine lines of
Elliott—

" To other words, while forest echoes ring,
' Ye banks and braes o' bonny Doon.' they sing;
And far below, the drover, with a start
Awaking, listens to the well.known strain,
Which brings Schehallion's shadow to his heart,
And Scotia's loveliest vales : then sleeps again,
And dreams on Loxley's banks 01 Dunsinane."
Few could abstain from tears as the last glorious note
died solemnly away into the skies. We looked down from
the top of the pavilion-stairs upon the vast multitude be-
neath. There could not have been less than 80,000 souls
collected on the ground. Of all that mighty mass, not
one man had thrown discredit upon the harmony and or-
der of the day. Every face glowed with happiness and
congratulation, as if conscious that a good work bad been
done, and that the nation had at length discharged the
duty which she owed to one of her most gifted sons.—
Blackwood's Magazine.