The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-04-11 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL DOCK BILL.

This bill, which has for its object to enable the dock trus-
ees to charge dues upon freight carried in the poops of ves-
sels, (which has, hitherto, from an oversight in previous acts'
been exempt,) passed through a committee of the House of
Commons on Thursday. We give below its only important
clause, describing the mode in future to be adopted for ascer-
taining tonnage for the leveying of dock rates :
"And be it enacted, that from and after the passing of
this act, it shall be lawful for the said trustees and for their
collector of the said tonnage-rates, or his clerk, agent, or
servant, or any officer of the said trustees, for the time being
duly authorised, to measure and ascertain the tonnage of all
vessels liable to the payment of all or any of the tonnage-
rates or duties imposed by the said recited acts, or any of
them, according to the following rules ; (that is to say) if the
hold is clear; divide the length of the upper deck, between
the after part of the stem and the fore part of the stern-post,
into six equal parts; depths, at the foremast, the middle and
the aftermost of those points of division, measure, in feet and
decimal parts of a foot, the depths from the under side of the
upper deck, to the ceiling at the limber strake : in the case
of a break in the upper deck, the depths are to be measured
from a line stretched in a continuation of the deck ; breadths,
."-titride each of those three depths into five equal parts, and
measure the inside breadths at the fallowing points, videlicet :
at one-fifth and at four-fiths from the upper deck of the fore-
most and afterrnost depths, and at two-fifths and four-
fifths from the upper deck of the midship depth ; length,
at half the midship depth, measure the length of the ves-
sel from the after part of She stem to the fore part of the
stern-post; then to twice the midship depth, add the fore-
most and aftermost depths; for the sum of the depths,
add together the upper and lower breadths at the foremost
division, three times the upper breadth wad the lower breadth
at the midship division •and the upper, .and twice the lower
breadth at the after division for the snm of the breadths;
then multiply the sum of the depths by the sum of the
breadths, aqd this product by the length, and divide the final
product by three thousand five hundred, and the quotient
shall be the amount of tonnage of such vessel. If the cargo
is on board, measure first the length on the upper deck be-
tween the after part of the stein and the fore part of the
stern-post ; secondly, the inside breadth on the under side of
the upper deck, at the middle point of the length ; and,
thirdly, the depth from the under side of the upper deck
down the pump-well to the skin ; multiply these three dimen-
sions together, and divide the product by one hundred and
thirty, and the quotient shall be the amount of tonnage
of such vessel. If such vessel shall have a poop, half-
deck or break in the upper deck, measure the inside, mean
length, breadth, and height of such part thereof as may be
included within the bulk-head; multiply these three measure-
ments together, and dividing the product by 92.4, the quotient
shall be the amount of the tonnage of such poop, half deck
or break, and shall be added to the amount of tonnage of the
same vessel as ascertained by either of the preceding rules :
Provided always, That in ascertaining the tonnage of any
such vessel which shall be propelled by steam, the tonnage
due to the cubical contests of the engine-room shall be de-
ducted from the total tonnage of the vessel as determined by
the rules aforesaid, and the remainder shall be considered as
the amount of the tonnage of the said vessel, in respect of
which the said rates and duties shall be paid; and the ton-
nage due to the cubical contents of the engine-room shall be
determined in the following manner ; (that is to say) measure
the inside length of the engine-room in feet and decimal parts
of a foot from the foremost to the aftermost bulkhead, then
multiply the said length by the depth of the vessel at the
midship division as aforesaid, and the product by the inside
breadth at the same division at two-fifths of the depth from
the deck taken as aforesaid, and divide the last product by
92'4, and the quotient shall be the tonnage due to the cubieal
contents of the engine-room."

MOCK HUMANITY.

(For the Liverpool Standard.)
Friends of " Humanity" (?) protect the " sweep";
No more shall climbing-boys up chimneys creep.
No more shall " dogs," like donkeys, make a start,
To carry burdens, or to " drag a cart."
No more shall " wasps" be kill'd because they've stung;
Because they root, no more shall " pigs" be " rung"!
No more shall hunters chase the timid " bare";
Moles," " rats," and "mice," shall henceforth 'scape
the snare;
And he who dares to kill a " gnat" or " flea,"
With these philanthropists shall have no plea!--
Still all the while they shield the selfish knave,
Who'd work to death—his infant FACTORY SLAVE!

HOMO.

TILE Roust,: OF CommoNs.—We understand that the
house will adjourn to-morrow, till Monday week, for the
Easter recess.

J. F. Sinzenick, for shooting at the Rev. Mr. flaydon, in
St. Paul's Cathedral, on Saturday last, was on Friday corn-
rnitted for trial.
On the 27th Of-February, two villages on the Tras-os-
Montes, Portugal, were swept away, with part of their in.
habitants, by a sudden mountain torrent.
A grand regatta, by women, is to take place at Venice, nez
the 25th of May. It is announced that it will be conducted
in all the style of the time of the republic.
We may state that Mr. Wordsworth, in consequence of
communications from Sir Robert Peel and the Lord Cham-
berlain, has accepted the appointment of poet laureate.—
Standard.

FATAL ACCIDENT.—On Wednesday last an accident,
which terminated fatally, occurred to Mr. Simcox, the pro-
prietor of a cross-country coach from Brighton. Upon the
arrival of the coach at Lewes Mr. Simcox was engaged fas-
tening the luggage to the roof when the strap broke, and he
fell into the road and broke his back. The unfortunate man
lingered in great agony until Saturday morning, when be ex-
pired. The deceased was a fine, healthy man, only thirty-
six years of age.

• COMBUSTION IN A COAL MINE.--A volcano of a novel
, kind has broken out in the neighbourhood of Kcenigshutte,
a town in Silesia. For twenty years past a slow fire, which
occasioned no alarm, has burnt in the coal mines of that dis-
trict ; but recently it has assumed an alarming character,
shooting out immense volumes of flame, which threaten de-
struction to the surrounding buildings, and to the vast forests
of the country. A steam-engine has been established for the
purpose of discharging water into the mines ; but, at the latest
accounts, this machine had been in action for seventy-two
hours without producing the slightest effect.
MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT.--A poor man of the name of
O'Briens, returned from Scotland on Sunday morning last,
and being fatigued he went to his bed, throwing his clothes,
in a pocket of which was a loaded pistol, on a box or chest.
His wife, a few minutes after, went to the box for some
article which was in it, and was in the act of lifting the
clothes, when, melancholy to relate, the pistol went off, and
the ball entered the forehead and passed out at the back part
of the head of her daughter (a fine child of three years old),
who was standing at her side. Instant death was the con-
sequence.--Derry Sentinel. ;;~
MRS. Nk 00D (FORMERLY MISS PATON).—A correspon-
dent of the Oxford Herald says—" You will, I am quite
sure, have no objection to my contradicting in toto the state-
ment in your paper of last Saturday relative to the conversion
of Mrs. Wood to the Catholic religion. To my certain
knowledge the statement in question is an absurd hoax,
which can produse no other possible effect than inflicting
pain on more parties than one. What may have been the
object of the author of this hoax I cannot say ; but, at all
events, every one must agth; -in the propriety of holding up
the perpetrator of this falsehood to universal detestation. I
give you my name and address,-from which, if I mistake not,
you will at once perceive that I aim in possession of means of
as accurate information as can be derived on a subject like
this."