The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-12-24 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

LIVERPOOL DISTRICT COURT OF BANK-
RUPT C IL-YESTERDAY.

MESSENGERS' BILLS IN INSOLVENCY.

The public may have observed that during the last few
days, a letter, signed a " Solicitor," has been going the
round of the Liverpool papers, charging the messengers
of the Court of Bankruptcy with making extortionate
charges to solicitors employed by insolvents, in what is
termed " messengers' fees." The charge went to show
t hat they (the messengers) exacted the enormous sum of
£3 14s. Od. for advertising alone; and that they had,
moreover, made a bargain with a newspaper to put in
these advertisements at one-half the price usually paid
by solicitors before the passing of the late act, the infer-
ence being that the messengers put the other half into
their pockets.
Mr.GASKELL, one of the messengers, on behalf of him-
self and the other messettgers, denied the truth of these
grave its:ertions, and called upon the anonymous solicitor
to come forward and substantiate them before the Com-
missioners. The solicitor, in reply to this, in the same
paper which originally brought forth the charges, con-
sidered being called upon to substantiate a very easy and
convenient mode of meeting charges on the part of the
messenger," at the same-time sending his card to the
paper, on which was inscribed " Green, solicitor." It
subsequently appeared that the letters of Mr. G. een re-
ferred to a case of insolvency; a person named Bleakley,
whose petition, &c., he took into the Bankruptcy Court;
requiting the messenger to advertise and do the ordinary
duties on receiving the insolvent's petition. This. the
messenger refused to do without the fees were paid
down, amounting in all to £3 145., unless he was
ordered by the Commissioner (who was then sitting) to
do so. Mr. Green did not apply to the Commissioner,
and the necessary advertisements (by the insertion of
which in the Gazette and papers, a locus standi for the
insolvent could be obtained) were withheld, and yesterday
was the day appointed for the insolvent's first hearingr.—
Mr. Green then complained to the commi..sioner that the
messenger had refused to insert the necessary advertise-
ments.

Mr. Commissioner PHILLIPS enquired from the mes-
senger, (Mr. Gaskell,) why the advertisements were not
inserted.

The Messenger said that Mr. Green owed him upwards
of £lO for fees, and th,,t he ham refused to send any more
advertisement; to the Gazette or elsewhere, unless a de-
posit of .£3 14s. was made.

Mr. GREEN replied, that he did not owe the mes,-en-
ger a farthing, as he conbidered his charges were un-
warranted.

Mr. DODGE, the solicitor, then rose, and said that the
real facts of the case were these :—On Fridsv week, Mr.
Green went to the messenger. arid desired him insert
the advertisement of an insolvent named Bleaklev ; the
messen er refused, un'ess he paid the fees, which he un-
derstood amounted to £3 14s. Mr. Green then tendered
him £1 for the first advertisement and fees. wh ch the
messenger also refused. Now he (Mr. Dodge) thought
that the proper curse to have pursued was, to have ap-
pealed to his Honour the Commissioner who was sitting
at the time, and then if the messenger was doing wrong
he could have been brought before him, instead of which
Mr. Green left the court and wrote a letter in the Liver-
pool /Vail, which he then held in his hand, bringing
charges against the messengers, the statements in which
were denied by Mr. Gaskell as being wholly devoid of
truth.

Mr. Commissioner PHILLIPS said that he could not
lis►en to any newspaper letters. Mr. Green could not be
responsible for what a newspa,)er had put forth.
Mr. DODGE said that Mr. Green had admitted being
the author.

Mr. Commissioner PHILLIPS thought that Mr. Green's
proper course would have been that which Mr. Dodge bad
laid down, viz., to have applied to the Commis-inners,
for neither himself nor Mr. Sergeant Ludlow would tole-
rate any thing that was wrong on the part of the ..fficers
of the court. A newspaper could nut be a proper tribunal
to appeal to in such matt Ts.
Mr. GREEN said, that he thought the charges of the
messenger were most extot tionate and illegal.
Mr Comniissoner PHILLIPS said, that he thought that
the charges of the messenger ought to be' paid before he
put in the fist advertisement. A messenger must be
rich indeed if he cculd afford to advance money for every
insolvent who came into the court.

Mr. GREEN contended that the act of parliament
stated that the Commissioners should cause notice of the
filing of the petition to be inserted in the London Gazelle
and the local newspapers, and that nothing wes said in
the act relating to paying the fees to messengers before-
hand.

Jr. GASKELL, the messenger, said that he should be
very glad to explain how the fees amounted to £3 14s.
The COMMISSIONER stated that he conceived the ques-
tion of fees was for the officer below him to regulate—
viz., the Registrar. He would leave the matter to him,
and he could report the result.
Mr. DODGE said that as the messenger's character had
been attacked in the letters referred to, he would wish
the scale of fees to be investigated.
Mr. Commissioner PHILLIP said the matter was left
to ►he Registrar. And here the affair ended.
The insolvent's case was then postponed for a week, in
consequence of the non-insertion of the advertisements.

LISCARD SCHOOLS —An examination of the children
belonging to the schools took place on Wednesday I,st,
and was attended by a numerous and respectable body of
friends, among whom' were the Hon. Mrs. Kenyon and
family, who were highly pleased with Vie improvements
which had taken place since previous examinations in the
education of the children—great praise being due to Miss
Wells and Mi,s Price for their attention to the children
entrusted to their care. fht the re-opening of the school
after vacation. a treat will be given to the children by the
Rev. J. 'robin. consisting of bun, loaf. &e.
TYPOGRAPHIC PLANS.—A abort time ago we noticed
the very beautiful and novel plan of Birkenhead, which
had been published by the Proprietors of, the LIVERPOOL
STANDARD. We have now been favoured with an early
copy of a rema, kably well-executed plan of the present
and intended docks at Ltv,rpoot. and also a plan of the
proposed Railway Tunnel from Waterloo Dock to Edge
Hill, in that town, to be circulated with the STANDARD
to-day. It is a very clever specimen of the application of
typography to this purpose, and does great credit, not only
to the care and skill of the printer, but also to the
liberality and public spirit of the publishers.—Cheater
Courant._ _

THE MARINER'S CHURCH SCHOOL.—Yesterday, the
half. yearly examination of the female children of this
school took place in the Floating Church, George's Dock,
before the Rev. Mr. Maynard, the incumbent,—who takes
an unwearied interest in their advancement,—and a con-
s derable number of visitors. About sixty children, all
neatly attired, attended, and acquitted themselves in a
manner that fully evinced the great attention they had
paid to the able and assiduous instructions of Miss
Maxwell, their principal teacher, and of Miss Brewer,
her very young but able assistant. A considerable part
of the examination was conducted by the rev. gentleman
himself, who, from time to time, in the k,ndliest terms,
impressed upon his juvenile hearers the importance of
abiding by the virtuous and self-denying precepts inculcated
by the several passages from Scripture read or repeated
from memory. The junior classes commenced by recit-
ing successive verses of sacred poetry; readings, succeeded
by questions upon them, followed, which were answered
with prompitude and accuracy, ~hewing the great pains
that had been taken in their tuition. The higher class
were next etarnined with equal effect on Scriptural facts.
In the geegtaphy of the Holy Land, and finally of ti e
world, the whole evinced remarkable precision, even in
details. Spelling, with meanings. and Sip sing were handled
with equal ease. The copy-books exhibited much im-
provement in the general manuscrirt of the pupils, who
also strewed much proficiency in the common rules of
arthruetic. Several beautiful and affecting pieces of poetry
appropriate to the occasion were recited in an impressive
manner by girls of various ages. The whole concluded
by a hymn "On Leaving School." At the close, buns
were distributed, and the gratified scholars broke up for
the holidays.
MEETING OF OPERATIVES CONNECTED WITH THE
IRON TRADE.—Last night, a meeting took place at the
Nelson street Assembly-room, of the workers in iron, in
this town—mechanics, engineers, millwrights, moulders,
smiths, and boiler• makers—for the purpose of forming a
branch union with the original club of the same trades io
Manchester, for the protection of their labs ur. The
principal speakers were from Manchester, and had come
as a deputation to invite the 'r fellow-workmen here to
hear an exposition of their views. The room was
well attended by sell-dressed mechanics. Mr. Ro-
binson, of Manchester, took the chair, and i❑ open-
ing the bustneNs read some documents, showing that
the masters had formed a union wl:ich he believed had for
its final rbjsct a reduction of the wages of their men.
.The printed circular purported to be signed by several
respectable firms in thi- town and elsewhere. Another
circular was also r-ad from the secretary of the masters'
association of this town to the effect that if the re-
gulations of the masters were not complied with the
men would be discharged. He observed that the ob-
ject was to break up all unions of the men, even benefit
societies if et all connected with the regulations of their
trade, and reduce them to a state of bondage. The other
speakers,. Messrs. Roberts, Roche, Cornforth, Shep-
prd, Hornle, and others spoke at great iength, with
much animation and no little eloquence against the union
of the masters, but expressed a feeling of respect to them
as such, and a, wish, if possible, to accommodate
matters ; but a determination, if that could not be
effected, to stand out to the last—especially against
what they termed a " quitance " paper on leaving
their service, which they all alleged wou'd leave them
destitute of employment afterwards, as it was to the
effect that they bad lett in consequence of being discon-
tented with the wages they had received, so that no other
master would employ them, of which there were already
many instances. They also complained of misrepresen-
tatioris in a letter in the Journal, to the effect that the
society had not carried out the objects for which it was in-
stituted. whereas the Manchester union had since its fer-
mation.:--1837 to 1844 inclusive—paid £12.600 to sick
member•, 1:24,000 to men travelling in search of employ.
ment, £l,OOO to members injured by scciderir. 4:1,00
to aged members (above GO ye.irs of age), and £31.:(0
for funerals. Resolutions were prvsed-Ist. u, cue effec t
that the mechanics present (of Liverpool) should form a
branch of the Great Piot. ction Society of Gt. Britain and
Ireland ; 2d, that the societ y adopt the principles laid down
in the rules of the mechanical trades of the uttion in Man-
• chester ; 3d ly, that 3 members of each of the 6 t•ades named
should meet to choose a committee to consist of 15. A
Mr% Dixon, who stated he had been brought up in a coal
pit, addressed the meetittg with great vigour and eloquence.
It was stated that several masters had withdrawn from the
masters' union, and a vote J f thanks was returned to
them.
WRITING, &c.—Adults, who write indifferently, would
do well to take a few lessons from Mr. Thompson, Clay-
ton-square. His plan is novel, simple, and ingenious,
and admirably calculated to secure the attainment of fine
penmanship.—See adv.

POLYTECHNIC SOCIETY.-NEW MARINER'S

CONI PASS.

At the last monthly meeting of this society, the Presi-
dent, Mr. Gratitutam, exhibit-d a new mariner's compass,
invented by Commander N,l, est, lt.N. The advantages
proposed are twofold : first, to reduce the oscillating.
and, secondly, the rotatory motion of the card when it, a
heavy sea. To reduce the oscillating motion, a small
ivory ring is attached to the under side of the card, and
about two inches below it. by wires. This ring surrounds
the pivot on which the card revolves, and only allows as
inueli side motion as the difference between the diameter
of the ring and of the pivot. To reduce the rotatory mo-
tion, two very thin pieces of horn are placed, also, on the-
lower side of the card, and perpendicular to its plane.
These present a broad surface to the air as the card re-
volves, and tend to check its motion. Lieut. Lord had
tried the compass at the Light-ships and in small boats,
and expressed a favourable opinion of it. Several experi-
ments were tried at the meeting to enable the members
to form some idea of its merits comi-hred with the com-
mon compass, and also with the beautiful new compasses
now extensively sold by Messrs. Jones, Eray, and Keane,
of this town. From the results thus strewn, it did not
appear that the ivory ting was any advantage, but, on the
contrary, rather added to the motion of the card. The
President, however, cautioned the meeting against form-
ing a decided opinion from these trials, as they possessed
very imperfect modes of testing it. The horn fans did
chew sonic favourable results. A rotatory motion was
given to the card, and the vinrations were counted. With
the fans properly set, it made only seven vibrations before
coming to a state of rest ; with the fans laid flat on the
card, it made eight ; and when altogether removed, it
made nine vibrations ;—thus spewing that light paper or
horn fans might be advantageously employed.
At the conclusion of the meeting the president gave his
accustomed annual address, in a, cordatice with the rules
of the society. He spoke at some length of the progress
and general success of the society. lie said he was aware
that a great change had taken place in public feeling with
respect to scientific societies, only a few years back, lec-
tures on chemistry, mechanics, &c., would attract crowded
audiences, every man thought he c iuld become acquainted
.wi.h the arts and sciences through these means, but the
novelty soon wore off, the public became as well acquaint-
ed as the lecturer himself with all the beautiful experi-
ments and mode's which he had to exhibit,—hut little or
no progress had been made in the elements of the study
itself, and the com..emient di•appointment causetta c. rrvs-
ponding reaction—and flow our lecture-halls are to he
made places of amusement before an audience can be ob-
tained. He hoped, however, that better things were at
hand and that more solid results were about being obtained.
He only alluded to the above fact to make a favourable
contrast with the sgsiety over which he presided. Their
pursuits were purelrof a practical nature and much solid
benefit had been derived from them. Having warmly
thanked the members for their uniform kindness and sup-
port during the tour years in which he had been at their
head, he said, that he felt himself under the necessity of
declining to be.re-eiected to the high office he Inld, should
that again be their intention, and hoped the members
would come prepared at the next me dug, with a fresh
candidate for the honour. To fulfil the office properly, it
was necessary to give considerable time and thought to
its affairs arid having undertaken numerous heavy and
responsible duties, he thought, in justice to himself and
to those who had entrustet their Property to his charge,
he ought not to engage in any occupation, however flat-
tering to his own feelings, that could distiacthis attention
or occupy b:s time.