The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-12-02 00:00:00

PUBLIC MEETINGS.

WEST DERBY Gt.TARDIANs.—The usual weekly meet-
ing of this body was held on Wednesday, Mr. Roskell in
the chair. The other guardians present were the Rev.
W. Badnal, and Messrs. J. Harrison, Alpass, Siddeley, E.
Johnson, Mountfield, Bolshaw, I've, Shaw, Abraham,
John Jones, Owen Elias, Jeffries, and Carter. The
balance in the hands of the treasurer was reported to be
£1,607 18s. 2d. The committee who were appointed to
select a suitable piece of ground for an hospital and ceme-
tery having reported that they had chosen a portion of the
ground belonging to W. Shaw, Esq. at Everton, it was re-
solved that some members of the boa;clshould wait upon Mr.
Shaw, to ascertain the terms upon which he would part
with it.

HEALTH COMMITTEE.—OR Thursday, at the usual
weekly meeting, Alderman Parker presided ; and the
other members present were Messrs. Bennett, Langsdale,
Godfrey, Henderson, Dover, Clayton, Johnson, Atkinson,
Nicholson, Beckwith, and Lloyd. The gratuitous use of
the Paul-street baths was granted, on application. to the
emigrants saved from the ship Unicorn. Mr. Beckwith
took an objection to an item of £226 paid to Mr. Rose
for removing the refuse of the markets. There were
plenty of people who would take the refuse for nothing.
The Chairman remarked that it was in accordance with a
contract made with Mr. Rose.—The report of the medical
officer noted a considerable increase in the mortality of
the borough during the last week, the deaths registered
being 265, a greater number than in any of the preceding
nine weeks. As compared with the week previous, the
increase was 44, and as compared with the average morta-
lity of the same week of the preceding four years, the
last week shows an excess of 51. The deaths in Toxteth-
park were 51, a greater number than in any week of the
two previous years. The greatest are at death was 93.
The atmospheric temperature, as in the previous week,
was below the average on every day. The mean of the
week was 39 1-10 deg., being five degrees below that of
the previous week ; 8 3-10 below the average of the cor-
responding week of the six preceding years, and lower
than in any week since March 1850. The mean reading
of the barometer was rather above the average, being
29.98 inches. The wind blew chiefly from the north, and
the mean daily horizontal motion of the air was 277
inches. A• motion that in future the meetings of the
health committee be held at the offices in Cornwallis-
street, was lost by a majority of seven to five.
PUBLIC LIBRARY, MUSEUM, AND GALLERY OF ART.
—The association for the furtherance of these objects
held a meeting in the Council-chamber of the Town-
hall, on Thursday,—Thos. B. Horsfall, Esq., in the chair.
There was a numerous and respectable attendance, in-
cluding several members of the Town Council, and of
the committee of the Royal Institution, as well as many
of the donors and subscribers. The secretary, Dr. Hume,
read a lengthy report from the committee, detailing their
operations since their appointment. The donations and
subscriptions which have been received to the present
time were stated to he as follows :—Subscriptions,—Paid
to treasurer, £l,Oll Is. 6d. ; unpaid, £477 18s. ; total
£1,488 19s. 6d. DonationB,-4,407 volumes, of which
2,967 have been similarly acknowledged. The committee
concluded the report by recommending that, after the
recent subscriptions and donations have been adver-
tised and the accounts passed, the entire donations
of money and books, together with the unpaid ac-
counts, be banded over to the library and museum
committee of the Town Council, for the purpose of
the library alone. Some discussion followed respect-
ing the desirableness of separating the library from the
other two objects, in which the chairman, Archdeacon
Brooks, Mr. Falkner, Rev. J. H. Thom, and Mr. Theo-
dore Rathbone, took part. At length, on the motion of
Archdeacon Brooks, seconded by Dr. Macintyre, the
adoption of the report was carried unanimously. It was
suggested, and agreed to, that the room at the Royal
Institution, in which the books had been temporarily
deposited, should be put again in good condition. After
a cordial vote of thanks to Mr. Horsfall, for the faithful
discharge of his duties during the past year, in which Mr.
J. Aikin was the mover, and Mr. Theodore W. Rathbone
the seconder, the meeting separated, and the association
was considered as dissolved.

DOCK COMMITTEE.—On Thursday, at the usual weekly
meeting, Mr. Turner, the chairman, presided, and there
was a very numerous attendance. The following mem-
bers were present :—Messrs. Shand, Molyneux, Robinson,
Brocklebank, Gregson, Chaloner, Steele, Dover, Clax-
ton, Hall, Lockett, Bold, Malcomson, Bigham, Holden,
Barber, Royden, Nicol, Tobin, Holme. and Langsdale.
Mr. Malrolmson withdrew his motion for the immediate
erection of warehouses on the Stanley Dock quays, and
gave notice that he should introduce another that day
fortnight.--A letter was read from Mr. Edwin Clarke,
offering to supplant by the electric telegraph the sema-
phore plan of communicating signals, for £BOO per annum.
The sub-committee recommended that the proposed sys-
tem be not adopted, and the committee confirmed the
recommendation. Mr. Lockett said that now they had
direct electric telegraph communication with Holyhead.—
The canal entrance from the river to the Salisbury dock
was ordered to be walled in, at a cost of £5OO to £6OO, as
only six vessels had passed through the gut during the
last six months.—A recommendation to increase the
wages of the weight-keepers from 20s. to 255. a-week,
and a suit of clothes a-year, was ordered to be referred,
the committee thinking that the addition of a suit of
clothes a-year was sufficient.—A communication from
Mann and Foster, and another from the tenants of the
slate yards, were referred to the sub-committee.—The
question of individual members obtaining information
from the officers of the trust was again discussed, on the
motion of Mr. Barber. Mr. Smith repeated his opinion.
that no general power on the subject could be delegated
by the committee, as the fact of such delegation would be
to make each individual member a sub-committee, and
there was no such power. Such power was inconsistent
with the constitution of the dock trust. A long conver-
sation ensued ; but the arguments pro and con have
already been reported. The members who voted for an
alteration of the existing system were Messrs. Langsdale,
Bigham, Holden, Hall, Barber, and Malcomson. The
other members voted for the continuance of the system
now in operation, and Mr. Barber's motion was lost. The
committee then proceeded to the consideration of matters
of finance.

SELECT VESTRY.—The fortnightly meeting was held
on Tuesday, the Rev. A. Campbell in the chair. A reso-
lution having been passed, some weeks ago, giving every
member the right of visiting the Workhouse, it appeared
that Mr. Gardner had been to the house, and ordered a
room to be fitted up with iron bedsteads. The irregula-
rity of this proceeding was strongly censured. By the
Workhouse Committee it was reported that there were
672 sick cases in the house, 90 being of fever, and 70 of
itch. The admissions to the vagrant-sheds, last week,
had been 520 males, 206 females, and 144 children. The
total number of paupers in the house on the 19th ult. was
2,159, against 1,832 on the corresponding date of last
year. The in-door labour of inmates, last week, had
produced only £3 Ss. 6d. Nineteen orphans had been
transferred to the Industrial Schools. A letter had been
received from Mr. R. W. Evans, the governor, resigning
his office, the term of service to expire on the 25th inst.
Mr. Evans stated that he had thus early given notice that
the Vestry might find a competent successor. It had
been resolved in committee that the resignation should
be accepted, to take effect at the time stated ; and that
such leave of absence as Mr. Evans might, in the mean-
time, require, should be accorded to him, the subject of a
successor being reserved for further consideration.—The
Industrial Schools Committee reported 90 vacancies, in
order that the number might be filled up by youths from
the Workhouse. A report was presented from the sub-
committee appointed on the 15th ult. to inquire into the
services of the blacksmith and joiner. This stated that
the original object in employing these men, that of teach-
ing the boys their trades, had not succeeded—not more
than two per annum from the blacksmith's, and four from
the joiner's shop, having left for the purpose of following
the trades in which they had been instructed. They were,
therefore, recommended for dismissal. This gave rise to
some discussion ; but, ultimately, the proceedings were
confirmed.—The resignation of Miss Halstead, school-
mistress, was read and accepted.—The Medical Relief
Committee, it appeared, had come to a resolution that
the fees for vaccination of the district medical officers
should not be paid unless it could be stated that each
medical officer himself could certify, at the bottom of the
bill, not only that he had himself operated in the case,
but could certify, from subsequent inspection, to its suc-
cess. It was stated that several of the surgeons delegated
their work to assistants, paying 4d. and drawing for
themselves ls. 6d. each case. An amendment was pro-
posed by Mr. Willmer, and the recommendation was
negatived.—X4,ooo in excess of last year was stated to
have been collected from cottage property during the pre-
sent year. The proceedings then terminated.
LIVERPOOL ARCHITECTURAL AND ARCHEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY—The usual fortnightly meeting of this society
was held on Wednesday evening last, at the Royal Insti-
tution, Colquitt-street, Mr. Picton in the chair. Mr.
Vincent Barber was introduced as a junior associate mem-
ber. The chairman announced the presentation to the
society, by Mr. William Billinge, of two works by that
gentleman, namely. " The Power of Form applied to
Geometric Tracery," and the " Baronial and Ecclesias-
tical Antiquities of Scotland." Another presentation was
a " South-cast view of the Catholic and Apostolic Church,
Canning-street, Liverpool," by Mr. Owen. The chair-
man alluded to a reference which had been made at the
last meeting to Elliott's patent for manufacturing bricks,
pipes, tiles, pottery, &c. A specimen of the material was
produced. A short conversation ensued, some members
thinking it was well adapted for flooring and draining
purposes, being impervious to damp : it was a beautiful
material, and much credit was due to Mr. Elliott for its
application. Other members thought that, from its brit-
tle character, it was inapplicable to building purposes. In
answer to a question relative to the proposed breakwater
at the mouth of the Mersey, the chairman said that, in
his capacity of t9wn•councillor, he was not in possession
of any information, but from a private source he had
learned something about the proposed scheme. A discus-
sion followed, in which it was stated that the Victoria
and Rock Channels were rapidly filling up; that buoys
which had been, three years ego, 600 yards apart, were
now only at a distance of 200 yards from each other; and
the question might yet be raised as to a safe outlet from
Liverpool. Whether the advantages resulting from the
proposed breakwater would be worth the cost, was con-
sidered by some members rather doubtful. The question
then dropped.—Mr. Higgin exhibited a beautiful and
ingenious artist's work-table, of his own invention, which
elicited the admiration of the members. Mr. Walker read
an elaborate paper on " Sanatory usages—ancient and
foreign," in which he contended that many sanatory cus-
toms of ancient nations, which had now fallen into disuse,
were worthy of the attention of the people of this country.
The paper embraced three important subjects, namely.
water, air, and extra-mural burials. Mr. Walker traced

the provisions made by the Assyrians, Persians, Jews,
Romans, the modern Chinese, and other foreign nations,
for an ample supply of water to private houses and public
baths, the free admission of air into dwellings, and the
burial of the dead in tombs, &c., outside of cities. He
quoted largely in support of his views from ancient and
modern authors. After a discussion upon the paper, in
which several members criticised some of its leading
points, thanks were voted to Mr. Walker, and the meet-
ing adjourned.