The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-03-31 00:00:00

BA NASTRE STREET.

Near to one end of this street was a privy common
to seven houses, which was cleaned by the the night
scavengers. It was in the most abominable condition—
or, as the neighbours described it, "scandalous and
shameful." A trap-door was formed in the floor, just fac-
ing the door, and a heap of straw was strewn over the
floor. This trap-door was for obvious purposes ; hut,
from neglect of being closed properly, had, according to
the neighbours' account, eventuated more than once in
becoming a man trap, in or.e of which cases death by
asphyxia appears nearly to have ensued ; and, in another
instance, the rescued wretch loaded the rescuer with
abuse, charging such person with having placed a trap on
purpose. Fleas and rats, and such like vermin, are said
to have infested the adjoining premises.
A court in this street deserves no•ice specially. The
approach to it is by a step descent from the street,
and presents the frequently to be met with covered arch-
way, in passing along which stooping is a sate posture.
This leads into a court containing six or seven houses,
and, before landing in the court, you are met by an over-
flow of dirty stagnant water, resulting from the blocking
up of the drain, as stated by the inhabitants. On inquir-
ing how long this state may have existed, a period of about
twelve months was alleged for its duration, and the land-
lord appears to have disregarded the request of his tenants
to have this nuisance rectified. They themselves had done
what they could, from time to time, to remedy the matter,
and even, as they said, had taken up the flags all the
length of the passage, and cleaned it out with their own
hands. This shews that the inhabitants of these locali-
ties are not averse to making some efforts at improving
their sanitory condition. The police had been more than
once notified formally of the persistence of the nuisance,
but with unsuccessful issue. Now, what has been the
consequence of this neg!eet, from the testimony of the
residents of the court. Fever, as might have been natu-
rally expected, made its appearance in the court, and one
entire family were seized, of which the head of the house-
hold, the father, fell a victim. " AnotLer family had two
or three children down with it."

This single specimen, of which there can be no doubt,
is a very common occurrence in the regions of LIVERPOOL
PROPER., requires not a word of comment. But the tact
of the passage running on a lower level than that of the
street, is a very unfavourable circumstance in all attempts
at imprOving the sanitory condition of the court. The
fact of several courts and their entrances being consider-
ably lower than the street level, is a common thing, either
in the shape of an abruptly sudden fall, or of a gradually
declining transition-from the footpath, Freemasons'-row
presents several of the latter, and there are the remains of
one of the former modes near the North Dispensary end
of the street, which was formerly a passage to a privy and
ash-pit for the houses fronting the street. It was four or
five stone steps down from the level of the pavement. and
so cramped was the archway, that the key of the arch
scarcely rises above the level of the footpath itself, so that
it must have been a task of no inconsiderable adroitness
to effect an entrance, without striking the head against the
archway,andforalmost acertainty,any hator other covering
worn upon it. In fact, I cannot imagine how they ever
did avoid suds a mischance in getting down such a scram-
bling hole. The flood-tide of accumulations, operating
upon these circumstantial disadvantages, has at last re-
sulted in approximating the ash. pit, & c , to the street,
and now it presents the curious aspect of an ash-pit under
two front houses, having the ornament of four or five use-
less steps descending to it, down which the ashes are now
shot, in place of human footsteps. The interested resi-
dents complain loudly of it, but are in despair at present
of any remedy.
The fact-of these declining ways are not particularized
in the excellent report of Dr. Duncan, " On the Physical
Causes of the high Rate of Mortality in Liverpool," be-
cause he confined himself to a general outline of non-
sani'ary modes of building. I must stop for the present,
and remain, Yours, &c.,

G. C. WATSON.

DIVINE SERVICE ON EASTER EVE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

Sirt,—Nest week is the solemn season of Pasbion Week,
and in many of our churches there will be Divine Service
every evening up to Good Friday ; but why should not
the service continue to the end of the week ? why not on
Saturday evening as well as on the other evenings of the
week ? Surely the eve of our Lord's Resurrection is a
very appropriate time for the hallowed occupation of
worship. The practice has been occasionally purbued at
Edge Hill Church. I shall be very glad if the hint cause
the adoption of the practice at all the churches where
the:3 is service on the other days of the week.—Yours. &c.
CONSISTENCY.
Liverpool, March 30, 1846.

MOLD JUNCTION RAILWAY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

SIR,—You are probably aware that there is a bill now
before Parliament for making a railway from Mold, in
this county, to the Hooton station of the Chester and
Birkenhead Railway, called the Mold Junction Railway.
The object of this railway is to give to a very. valuable
mineral district the most direct communication with Bir-
kenhead and Liverpool ; and in order to attain this ob-
ject, it is necessary to cross the river Dee at King's
Ferry, following. in fact, precisely the same route as the
passengers from Flintsbire and Denbighshire take at pre-
sent. I cannot give you a greater proof of the importance
of this railway than by stating that it will enable the Mold
district, which has neither railway nor canal at present, to
deliver coal and lime at Birkenhead at a cheaper rate than
any other district in the kingdom ; and that as to the pub-
lic generally, it will effect a saving of nine miles of dis-
tance to all who travel by railway between Liverpool and
Ireland vid Holyhead.
No sooner was the Mold Junction Railway announced,
than it received such an amount of support from the land-
owners and gentlemen resident on the. spot, as it seldom
'falls to the lot of any railway to obtain. This success was
viewed with no little jealousy by certain busy inhabitants
of Chester, who augured little less than destruction to the
interests of that venerable city from the loss of the Mold
traffic, which traffic, by the way. it does not possess now,
and never can have, for the Welsh passengers, rather
than go ❑ine miles round, will still continue to cross the
Dee at the ferry, whether there is a railway to Sutton or
not, and, by so doing, they will effect a saving both of
money and time, as compared with the more circuitous
route through Chester. This alarm, therefore, of the
Chester interest, as to the loss of passengers travelling to
Birkenhead and Liverpool, from North Wales, is wholly
groundless, while, as respects minerals, I would ask, for
what reason consumers of coal and lime at Birkenhead
and in Lancashire are to be charged for nine miles of extra
distance by railway ? Such an additional charge, in these
days of cheapness end intense competition, cannot be jus-
tified for a moment, and it is something too much that the
public are to be taxed to this extent merely to please the
Chester people. But no ! Ido them injustice ; the inha-
bitants of Chester, as a body, care nothing about the mat--
ter. The opposition to the Mold Junction Railway is
confined to a small knot of shareholders in a rival railiCay,
resident in Chester ; and I beg leave to tell them that that
opposition is to the last degree selfish and untenable. Can
it be contended for one moment that Mold has not as much
right to a direct communication with Birkenhead for its
passenger and mineral traffic as Wrexham or any other
town ? " Oh, but," say these Chester gentlemen, " the
navigation of the Dee will be ruined; you cannot have a
direct road to Birkenhead without crossing the Dee, and
that must on no account be permitted." Why the very
same argument was used years ago, against improving the
ferry over the Dee at King's Ferry, and the city of Ches-
ter was defeated in that contest, and the right of the
Welsh public to the shortest communication with Liver-
pool was fully recognised by Parliament.
This outcry about the navigation of the Dee is really
ridiculous, when we consider that there is no intention on
the part of the Mold Junction Company of interfering
with the traffic of the river. They believe, and will be

March 31, 1846.

prepared to prove at the proper time, that it is perfectly
practicable to cross the Dee without inflicting the
slightest injury upon its traffic. It may suit the purpose
of their Chester opponents to make the navigation of the
river the ostensible ground of objection to the railway,
keeping the real motives of their opposition out of sight;
but this misleads no one, and certainly will not succeed.
The Chester Chronicle may rail on, but the Directors of
the Mold Junction Railway, confident of the justice of
their cause, will, I trust, persevere to the end ; and that
success may crown their exertions is the sincere wish of,
sir, your most obedient servant,
AN INHABITANT OF FLINTSHIRE.
Mold, March 24th, t 816.