The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-01-29 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

ing to go on, the recent advance of 2s. to 3s. in the value of
Irish. leading to the belief that a corresponding improvement

will be effected in American

shoulders have been sold at low prices ; prime new long cut
hams have realised 445. to 455. per cwt. In cheese rather more
business has been done, the sales of the fortnight being about
1,300 boxes, at 345. to 425. per cwt., according to quality ; a
parcel of ship-damaged, in casks, realised 235. to 375. A few
sales have been made in old pork, at low figures, and of new
Baltimore at 565. per barrel. The demand for new beef is
slightly improved, but still very much of a retail character,

prices varying ftom 675. 6d. to 775. Gd. per tierce, according to
quality. A considerable parcel of inferior old has been taken
for Ireland, at 50s. per tierce.
The arrivals of Irish Butter

for the week amount to

ks. The transactions since our last
fined to low and middling descrip-

not at r

overbdrthehed with

consumption

We have received several valuable circulars, just pub-
lished, relative to the Timber trade, and as they contain

remarks and statistics of the utmost importance to the
trade, we shall proceed to lay before our readers the most
interesting features. Messrs. A. F. and D. Mackay, in
their annual report, state that
" In our last annual circular we noted symptoms of general
improvement, and in most branches of trade they have been
realized, and if, as we then hinted, care had been taken to keep
the supply and demand more equally balanced, our own trade
would have shared in the general prosperity. This, however,
was not the case ; for in the months of October and November,
so great was the influx of ships, timber laden, and the accom-
modation for this great branch of trade so inadequate in point
of quay space and yard room, that vessels have been detained
from thirty to fifty
.days after arrival before completing their
discharge, thereby incurring enormous expenses to shipowners
and importers, and leaving so large a quantity of unladen tim-
ber pressing upon the market at one time as to cause prices to
recede 1(1. to lid. per foot—n source of loss to importers that
must have redress; for with the increasing trade of this port,
and accommodation becoming daily more and more curtailed,
we cannot comprehend how the timber trade can be carried on
profitably to all concerned in its present locality.
"Notwithstanding the unsettled state of the Continent in the
part of the year, and the almost total cessation of all
railway operations, there has been a fair demand for most de-
scriptions of North American timber; prices remained steady
until October, when the excessive import and other causes
already stated, forced them to fall—from which to the present
they have not recovered. _ _ _ _ _ .

"The year 1850 opens with fair prospects of improvement
generally. In the manufacturing districts all appears bright
and promising, with a good demand for all descriptions of
manufcctured goods, at enhanced rates, which appear likely to
be sustained ; we have money in abundance, at extremely low
rates—the world at peace—and mercantile confidence restored
to a proper level: With such cheering prospects, it would not
be presumptuous to anticipate a year of prosperity, with an
increased demand for all descriptions of wood."

The want of sufficient accommodation alluded to in the
above extract is a grievance which cannot be too loudly
complained of, and as the following extract from the ge-
neral observations on the timber trade, published by
Messrs. Chaloner and Fleming, in their circular of Sa.
turday's date, treats the subject more in detail, we leave
those gentlemen to speak for themselves :
"The shipping occupied in the Foreign and Colonial Timber
Trade of this port in the past year, amounts to 260,000 tons, a
large proportion of which, say fully one half, addresses itself,
in the winter months, to the carrying of cotton • there thus
arises out of the interest connected with the Timber Trade of
this ports at least 393,000 tons of shipping which annually fre-
quent this port, and, therefore, well worthy of the considera-
tion of the Dock Committee. A ship of 800 tons, in the Tim-
ber Trade, one year with another, averages three voyages a
year, and thus would pay to the Dock Trust £165, occupying
during that period scarcely more than thirty days dock room ;
while a similar ship, in the East India trade, makes but one
voyage, and pays .."55 only, while she occupies, on an average,
sixty days dock room. The importance, then, of the Timber
Trade to the Dock Trust, as a financial question, requires no
further proof ; but when the number of artisans, tradesmen,
seamen, and others ti-pendant upon it are considered, it be
comes a vital question to the town itself, and one which must
be determined on very shortly ; for the minds of those engaged
in the trade have become too anxious to admit of postponement
or delay. Accustomed to the locality of the Brunswick Dock,
and many of the trade having invested large sums in the pur-
chase of land and adaptation of premises, there will natu-
rally be great repugnance to removal elsewhere, and if it
be possible for the Dock Committee, it would be wise to accom-
modate them where they are; but we fear their power to do so.
unless some very different system be adopted than that hitherto
in use. For many years they have had constant promise of
accommodation, and some years since a very 'arge sum was
expended in the purchase of land professedly for that purpose,
but up to the present day there is no more approach to accom-
modation than there was ten years ago, and in lieu of reduced
expense, in many instances the cost of rents has been doubled.
It is true that plans for the accommodation of the trade at the
north end of the town have just been prepared, and that such
profess to afford every desideratum of dock room, extensive
floatage, and cheap land for storage; and, doubtless, if these
points can be satisfactorily proved to the timber merchants,
self interest will guide them In the adoption of the accommo-
dation so provided; but at present, two difficulties present
themselves, namely, their contentment at the present time
until the north end scheme is finished, and the uncertainty of
tenure that must attach to holdings under a body like the Dock
Committee, continually undergoing change of members, and,
perhaps, change of views ; before, therefore, so serious and im-
portant a matter as a change of locality for so great a trade like
the timber trade can be brought about there must be absolute
certainty of tenure through long leases at low rates assured to
the merchants, (these advantages are offered to them by rival
companies,) and nothing short of them can or ought to con-
tent them. The policy that would allow them to pass else-
where, can be only designated as suicidal.
Further on, Messrs. Chaloner and Fleming allude to
another subject—viz. the internal communication by rail
and water—and view with great alarm the recurrence, on
the part of the rival carriers, to their former high rates.

These gentlemen, in the body of their circular, draw
attention So the following erratum :
"The report circulated last month, that there is not a log
of St. Domingo or Honduras Mahogany in first hands in Liver-
pool,' is incorrect, as also that `the market is altogether bare
of fresh imports,' for though true (as regards the Liverpool
side of tho Mersey), at Birkenhead (which is also the port of
Liverpool) there was a large cargo just landed, and two other
cargoes have now finished discharging. These cargoes, which
contain everything that can be desired Honduras Mahogany,
wi.l be sold by public auction as per advertisement elsewhere."

G RATIFYING TESTIMONIAL.-PRESENTATION
BY ARTISANS TO THEIR EMPLOYER.

Last sight, about 170 of the hard-working and intelli-
gent artisans employed in the exensive foundry and en-
gineering establishment of Messrs. Smith and 'Willey, at
Windsor, sat down to an excellent supper at Mr. White-
man's Brunswick Hotel. The object of their meeting was
to present to one of their employers—Mr. Smith—on his
retirement from the firm, a valuable piece of plate, the
beautiful workmanship of Mr. Dismore, of Bold-street.
The workmen at the establishment are altogether about
400 in number; but as not half could be provided with
accommodation at the supper-tabl
chiefly married men, have 1

JACKS()

d, and amidst

who are

acemer

aechanics," to which

Finch and Wiley,

>UPPLY6' OF WATER TO "'LIVERPOOL
MR. STEPHENSON'S IN'QUIRY.

On Tuesday, the adjourned inquiry, before ' Robert
Stephenson, Esq., M.P., the eminent engineer, into the
general question of the water supply to Liverpool, was
resumed at the Sessions'-house. There was aconsiderable
attendance, and warm interest was manifested.
Mr. STEPHESSON announced that he had received from
the Water Committee all the documentary evidence on
the subject, which he would read when he had an oppor-
tunity. That morning he would commence receiving, he
would not callit the evidence, but the statements of parties
anxious to communicate their views. He trusted that
there would be no appearance of party spirit on the oc-

casion.
f 4 Mr. NEWLANDS was the first witness called upon. He
spoke somewhat as follows:—As in our report, Mr.
Simpson and I have arrived at conclusions greatly at
variance with the theories of the geologists, it may be
proper for me here to adduce the facts which led to these
conclusions, and to our recommendation of the plan pro-
posed by us. Ido not set myself up in opposition to the
science of the high names arranged on the no water side
of the question. T admit their premises so far as they
themselves base them on knowledge, and not on hypothe-
ses; but I demur to the deductions made from them
because they are contrary to well-known facts. I con-
sider the views of the geologists, that the supply to the
sandstone is derived from the atmosphere by direct ab-
sorption to be untenable, for these reasons: Ist. That
much more is pumped from the wells daily than they could
possibly receive on the most liberal of the hypotheses of
the amount of rainfall and absorption over the whole
surface. 2d. That the source of the water pumped from
the wells, in the town, where, from paving and sewerage,
there can be no absorption, cannot be thus accounted
for. 4th. That the three facts of surface absorption, the
exhaustion of one well by the pumping of another, and
the net-work of faults filled with clayey matter, so much
insisted on by geologists, cannot exist together. sth.
The welling of the water over the surface in bore holes
supposes a higher source of supply than the surface over
which the water flows. The hypotheses of the geologists,
therefore, not only do not explain the every-day pheno-
mena of the sandstone wells, but are, indeed, at variance
with well-established known facts. Some of these facts
I shall now state :-Ist. In any part of the sandstone
district, water can be obtainad by sinking or boring.
2nd. Water is obtained near the surface by shallow sink-
ings, from what are called top springs, and from a greater
depth from what are called bottom springs. 3d. The top
springs are sometimes separated from the bottom springs
by large intervals of dry rock. 4th. In all deep wells the
mean water level varies in height above 'a given datum.
sth. At Green-lane the water level is about 114 feet above
the mean low-water mark. At Clock-house Bridge the
water flows over the surface at 67 feet above the mean
low-water mark, from a bore-hole 154 feet deep, and at
another bore-hole, in the vicinity of the last, at 45 feet
above the same datum. These three places are nearly at
the same distance from the sea shore, and in a line nearly
north and south. 6th. As the wells approach the sea
shore, the water level becomes gradually lower, and in its
immediate neighbourhood it is a little above mean low
water-mark. sth. Speaking from my own experience, I
cannot perceive that the deep wells are at aH affected by
atmospheric changes. During a drought of more than
thirteen weeks last spring, the wells continued to yield
the same quantity of water, while, throughout the coun-
try, the storeage reservoirs dependent on surface drainage
were nearly dried up. It may be supposed that these
underground stores only took a longer time to be acted
on by the drought; and, had the experiment ended here,
this might have been a doubtful point ; but in the three
months of summer which succeeded, and during which
there was also much hot dry weather, more than the usual
daily average quantity of water was pumped from the
wells. In point of fact, the dip books scow that from
April to September, the daily average quantity of water
delivered into the pipes was nearly four and a quarter
million gallons. From these facts, I conceive myself war-
ranted in drawing the following inferences, viz.. Ist. That
every part of the sandstone rock in this district is sur-
charged with water to within a short distance of the sur-
face. 2d. That this water is not derived from the rain
which falls on the surface of the district merely. 3d.—
That, without venturing to decide from whence the supply
comes, I may safely say that the source is remote, and
that the quantity pumped from the wells of Liverpool and
its neighbourhood represents an enormously large drain-
age area. 4th. As a corollary to the two last proposi-
tions, it may be stated that the water does not, except in
the case of surface springs, proceed downwards from
above, but rises upwards from below through the faults
and fissures of the strata, and freely through the pores of
the rock itself; and that it is not stagnant, but flows to

the outlets in the wells and to the rivers and the ;;;,-tile
waters of which are the cause of its being held up in the
rock. sth. That the water is held up in the rock at
ng as the distance