The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-08-29 00:00:00

FATHER MATHEW IN ST. GILES'

On Sunday a " batch" of aspirants for the pledge at
the hands of Father Mathew received orders to kneel
down. While in this position,
A respectably dressed man asked Father Mathew if it
Was absolutely necessary for him to kneel down to receive
the pledge at his hands ; if so, he should refuse to take
it.

Father Mathew said it was not necessary ; he could take
it standing if he pleased.

The Inquirer—l not only object to the kneeling down, but
also to your placing your hands on my forehead, as I un-
derstand is your practice.
Father Mathew—l wish neither to place my band upon
you, nor that you should kneel, unless you desire to do so,
as I have no desire in administering this pledge to inter-
fere with the religious feelings of any man. The fact is
that the large body of Roman Catholics who take the
pledge will not be satisfied without kneeling to do so, in
reverence to the Deity, and without receiving my blessing.
It is natural that they should do so, and that they should
wish me to place my hands on them, for it is one of the
rites of our Church. Ido not see why Protestants should
object to; it, for they themselves have the sign of the
cross made on their foreheads at their baptism.

A voice in the crowd—The truth is, Esther Mathew,
they come here to receive your blessing. They make quite
a religious matter of it, and are not satisfied with kneel-
ing out of reverence to the Deity unless they also kneel
to you.

The pledge was then administered, the person who had
interrogated Father Mathew receiving it standing, and
with his hat off.

Another batch of a very motley character next took
the pledge. Amongst them were many notorious drunk-
ards, as well as some of the poorest inhabitants of the
district.

A Mr. Donaldson then addressed the meeting. How
many familiar faces, he remarked, did he see before him?
—(cheers)—and how many had he kissed and wept over
when they were babies in his arms—(cheers and laughter.)
(It was here stated that he had for years past been an
itinerant preacher in the " Rookery.") Yes, he had
watched over them at the time of the cholera, and many
and many a time, on a Sunday morning, he had wept over
them in that very mews, whilst preaching against drunk.
enness. And what had he got for his pains? Why they
had tried to make him drunk many a time—(loud laugh-
ter)—and never but once succeeded—(renewed laughter.)
Many was the drunkard he had reclaimed in St. Giles's,
and he could give them some striking instances.. Let
them look at Joe Birkitt, the cadging psalm singer—
(roars of laughter.) They all knew " Joe"—(cries of
"To be sure.") Yes, he knew they did. Many a time
he had met " Joe" with his hymn-book in his hand, so
drunk that he could not speak ; but " Joe" was at last
prevailed upon to take the pledge, and he was now living
in comfort in a neat and snug little cottage down at Hull.
Then there was " Poll Moriarty"—(hear, hear. A voice
—" My eyes, she was a rum'un") Who was there among
them that had not come in contact with " drunken Poll ?"
They all knew what she had been, but what was she now ?
A virtuous woman, who had been holding the keys for
" the Sisters of Mercy," at half-a-crown a week—(laugh-
ter.) Let them all come forward and take the pledge at
the hands of the " holy father," and they would then,
instead of being the " rooks," become the doves, the vir-
tuous doves of St. Giles's—(roars of laughter.)

THE ATMOSPIIERIC RAILWAY.

(From the Dublin News Letter.)

A preliminary experiment of the principle upon which
the atmospheric railway is to act was made on Saturday,
and it answered in every respect the expectations of the
patentees, Messrs. Clegg and Samuda, as well as of all
those concerned in the introduction of this most important
national project into Ireland.
At five o'clock the scientific gentlemen interested ar-
rived, and the steam was soon after laid on, when the
leviathan air pump commenced its labours—the mercury
in the barometer soon displayed with what success. In
sixty strokes an altitude of twenty inches was obtained,
and shortly afterwards it renelled twenty-two inches and
one-tenth. This was the realisation of the most sanguine
expectations, and left no room for doubt as to the com-
pleteness and power of the machinery and its capability
of producing sufficient vacuum.

Mr. JacohSamuda asserts that he will, with the efficient
means at his disposal, have twenty-seven inches at any
time, if required.
The power may be estimated thus :—The exhaustion
indicated by each inch of mercury in the barometer guage
is capable of propelling nearly nine tons on a level road,
or nearly two and a half tons up an inclination of one in
one hundred and fifteen, that of the Dalkey line, at a
velocity dependant on the speed of the air pump piston
with the present apparatus ; each double stroke of the air
pump is equivalent to upwards of two miles per hour;
and the Dalkey engine being constructed to work at the
rate of twenty-four double strokes per minute, it follows
that if desired the trains may be moved at upwards of
fifty miles per hour.
Thus far having progressed—the next course pursued
was to introduce the piston into the tube at the equili-
brium valve near Glasthule-bridge ; but while this was
being done the key of the fly-wheel slipped, and a delay of
nearly an hour elapsed before it was adjusted. It has
been stated that the experiment was but preliminary, and
to this may be ascribed this trifling incident, for accident
it cannot be called.

The fly-wheel movement being rectified, the engine was
set going once more, but not on its condensation princi-
ple, for there was no cold water to condense. 'lt was at
high pressure and half power; the height of mercury in
the gunge varied from eleven to fourteen inches. The
signal was given by men stationed with flags along the
line, and the piston carriage, with two passenger carriages,
one second and one third class, attached, moved along
per se amid the joyous shouts of those assembled. It
seemed more as if some magic power were at work—some
force that no human energy could awaken into existence.
In four minutes they accomplished the distance, one and
a quarter mile, retarded considerably at starting by the
breaks on the wheels to keep the motive power under
proper control, as also at the terminus, not to let the train
overshoot the line of rails.

Mr. Joseph Samuda was on the piston carriage, and
several gentlemen took seats in the other carriages, and
they describe the motion to be more than ordinarily
smooth and easy—the curves were passed without the
slightest perneptible difference in the motion of the car-
riages ; altogether, it is pronounced to be no longer an
experiment, but un fait accompli. What was deemed to
be a problem by the uninitiated is now perfectly solved.

A few data of the line of railway and the machinery may
not be uninteresting.
___

When finished there will be in length 9200 feet of open
pipe. The close pipe forming the connexion with the air
pipe is upwards of 400 yards.
The engine is one hundred horse power—to be worked
on the expansive condensation principle.
The air pump is double stroker, its diameter sixty-seven
inches ; the diameter of the tube or open pipe fifteen
inches.

The station at Dalkey is seventy-six feet higher than
that at Kingstown. The elevation varies—one in fifty-
seven being the greatest, one in one-hundred and forty
being the least, and the main ascent being one in one
in one hundred and fifteen.

It is computed that the train will descend from Dalkey
by its own gravity, at the rate of from thirty to thirty-
five miles an hour.

The sharpest curve is only 547 feet radius

Another trial has taken place in the presence of the
Lord Lieutenant, with still more signal success than the
experiment before recorded. Two carriages ascended at
the rate of twenty-five miles an hour, in three minutes,
and returned down the inclined plane, by their own mo-
mentum, in five minutes.

MORE FIRES IN LONDON.—On Thursday a destruc-
tive conflagration broke out in the extensive hemp, flax,
and cane warehouse, belonging to Messrs. Mandeville,
Kent-street, Borough, and which has resulted in an im-
mense loss of property. A colour-maker received a most
frightful injury whilst he was removing some of the hemp
out of the warehouse. About four hours previous to the
above conflagration, a most alarming fire was discovered
raging in the workshops of Mr. Bourne's cooperage, 7,
Cornwall-road, Lambeth ; and so rapid was the progress
of the flames, that before the inmates of the dwelling-
house could escape, the staircase had taken fire, and was
all alight. Instantly on the alarm being given, Mr. and
Mrs. Bourne attempted to pass down the stairs, but find-
ing it impracticable they returned to the second floor; and
precipitated themselves into the road. Mr. Bourne is
severely cut in different parts of his person, and Mrs.
Bourne has broken her collar-bone and both her legs,
and lies in Guy's Hospital in a dreadful state of suffering.

Pooß LAWS.—A parliamentary return has been issued.
headed " A return showing the number of in-door and
out-door paupers relieved during the first week of the
month of April, 1843, in the several unions comprised in
each assistant poor law commissioner's district." It ap.
pears that there are nine assistant commissioners. The
number of unions in the nine districts is 587. In-door
poupers relieved in the week mentioned, 115.250. Out-
door paupers relieved in the same period, 701,741. Total
of paupers relieved in one week, 816,991. The popula-
tion in 1841 was in England and Wales, 13,762,853. The
flit proportion of the total number of paupers o the popula-
tion is at about 6 per cent. The Teta rther shows
the following two items :—Estimate fo? nions not in.
eluded, and places not in unions, in-door paupers, 17,958 ;
out-door, 109,346. Total, 127,304. Estimated totals of
(paupers) England and Wales, in-door, 133,208, out-
door, 811,687. Total, 944,295, out of a population in
1841 of 15,906,829, being 6 per cent. on the whole 6 per.
sons out of every 100 receiving parish relief.
DISGRACEFUL SCENE.—On Saturday afternoon a scene
took place in the neighbourhood of the old bridge of Dee,
of a character that cannot be too severely censured. A
silly fool, slightly the worse for drink, urged apparently
by some companions of his own stamp, having collected
a crowd about him by the profane use that he was making
of a copy of the Scriptures he had in his possession,
began to mimic the performance of public worship. Part
of a Psalm was sung, mingled with oaths and chorused
by laughter ; a passage of Scripture was next read in the
same manner ; and, lastly to crown his profane mockery,
the silly being, who had not even the poor excuse of
youthful thoughtlessness to plead in behalf of his conduct,
flattered apparently by the laughter that be elicited from
the crowd of young men and women that surrounded
him, stood up in the attitude of worship, and brought
his blasphemy to the horrible climax of giving utterance
to the Lord's prayer, mingled with imprecations on his
ribald audience to cease the peals of laughter, that, by
discomposing his gravity, seemed likely iID put a close to
the wretched exhibition.—Aberdeen paper.