The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-07-16 00:00:00

RAILWAY SQUABBLES.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
For sottid time past discussions have been going on
between the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Company and
the London and North-Western Company, on behalf of
the Stour Valley Railway, which they have leased, as to
the right of the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Company
to form a connexion at the joint station at Wolverhampton
with the Birmingham Canal. The Shrewsbury and Bir-
mingham assert that such a connexion is necessary for
the convenience of the public and for the due conduct of
their business, as they have at present no access to
Birmingham by railway.

After some Preliminary skirmishing, it became obvious,
on Friday last, that a serious collision of the rival compa-
nies was likely to ensue. The Shrewsbury and Birmingham
Company having been, it is said, obstructed on that day
in forming a temporary connexion with the canal within
the station limits, determined to persist on the following
morning in completing the necessary work and carrying
on their business.

The London and North-Western men mustered in
great strength, there having been collected 600 or 700 of
the " navvies" employed in the construction of the Stour
Valley line. About twelve o'clock, a train, containing
30 or 40 waggons of the Shrewsbury and Birmingham
Company, loaded with materials which were intended to
be conveyed by the canal, were brought down along the
Shrewsbury and Birmingham line, accompanied by a body
of workmen, for the purpose of transhipping into the
canal boats.

They commenced to lay down planking for that purpose,
but it was immediately torn up by the London and North-
Western men, upsetting a number of people, and breaking
one man's leg. At this stage of the proceedings, the
Mayor of Wolverhampton, accompanied by the consta-
bulary and military, made their appearance. The riot
act was read, and the mob ordered to disperse. The
Mayor stated aloud, that finding the Shrewsbury and
Birmingham Company in possession of the station, and
they being the only company now using it for the pur-
poses of traffic, the police and military would protect them
while conducting their business, and that he would appre-
hend any person attempting to obstruct them. The
planking was immediately laid down, under the protection
of the military, and the Shrewsbury and Birmingham
Company proceeded to tranship the materials from the
railway waggons into the canal boats without further
interruption.

At this stage of affairs, however, the London and
North-Western men were ordered to take their places in
a set of contractor's waggons, (which had been brought by
an engine to the spot,) as it was believed, for the purpose
of removing them altogether. Having taken their places,
the waggons were pushed several hundred yards in the
direction of Shrewsbury, when the mni jumped out,
upset the waggons, turning them upside down, being
scattered over both the up and down line of the Shrews-
bury and Birmingham Railway so as to completely
obstruct the main line of that company ; there was a
passenger train about to start at the time, and another
one due.

The London and North-Western men were imme.
diately charged by the police with their drawn swords,
and the military advanced with fixed bayonets. The
rioters being at first violent and stubborn, the police had
to use their swords ; several wounds were inflicted, and it
is thought one will prove rather serious. They were at
last driven from the ground, and, under the protection of
the authorities, the waggons were cleared off, and the
Shrewsbury and Birmingham trains were enabled to pass
without further obstruction.

A number of the leading and most active of the rioters
were apprehended, and are immediately to be brought
before the :magistrates.
This case seems to be somewhat similar to what has
taken place at the Chester Station, the disputes in both
cases being between the same parties.

A meeting, convened by the Mayor, was held in Preston
last night, to consider the propriety of erecting in that
town a monument to the memory of the late Sir Robert
Pcel.

THE FINE ARTS.—The admirers of the classical pro-
ductions of Italian art will be delighted with the oppor-
tunity about to be afforded to them of competing for the
possession of some of the most recherche specimens of
ornamental sculpture extant. It will be seen in another
part of our paper that selection has been made from the
most celebrated antiques, and that the finest models have
been consulted in order to gratify the improved taste
which is rapidly developing itself in this department of
classical investigation.
EXTENSIVE AUCTION OF THE SPITAL ESTATE.—
Yesterday this property, consisting of about 193 acres of
land, the property of W. Jackson, Esq., M.P., adjoining
upon Bromborough Pool, and a portion of it laid out for
ornamental buildings, was offered for sale by Messrs.
Winstanley, at the Monks' Ferry Hotel, Woodside. The
attendance was very scanty. The whole lot was put up
in the first instance, but the biddings only reaching
£6.500, it was withdrawn at the reserve of £19,300, or
£lOO per acre. Two small lots were offered for which
there was no bid ; and the auctioneers having announced
that Mr. Jackson would remain for a while to treat with
private buyers, the bulk of the company withdrew. It is
stated that this estate cost Mr. Jackson £21,000.
NEW SCHOOLS, TRANMERE.—A strenuous effort is at
present making for the erection of National Schools in
Limekiln-lane, Tranmere. It appears that the want of
such an institution in the district is severely felt, as there
are not less than 300 children wandering about, whose
parents are unable to find the means of educating them.
We sincerly hope that the appeal of the promoters of this
most laudable undertaking will meet with a liberal and
speedy response, more especially as they propose to make
the building suitable for a place of worship, until a church,
which is much wanted, can be built. An eligible site near
to the Railway station has been presented by George
Orred, Esq., the Lord of the Manor, and Mr. Barry,
architect of this town, has furnished the plans, &c.,
gratuitously.
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.—Last week was truly one
which will be remembered with gratification by the fre-
quenters of these gardens. The Scottish fete attracted on
each evening large and delighted companies by their per-
fect originality so far as this locality is concerned, the ro-
mantic reminiscences they excited, and the fact that the
eyes of Royalty had so recently gazed upon and approved
the parties engaged. We learn that it is the intention of
Mr. Atkins to make this a yearly entertainment, and in
doing so to present it on a more extended scale. For
next week a very rich programme is provided, including
the performances of the best of all bands—that
of Mons. Jullien, who is engaged to appear at Bir-
mingham Royal Vauxhall Gardens, on Thursday,
July 25 ; at Liverpool Zoological Gardens, Friday, July
26 ' • and Bellevue Gardens, Manchester, on Saturday,
27th July, 1850. We beg to refer our readers to the ad-
vertisement, which we have received at a late hour, but
are informed that it is avery rich bill.

IMPORTANT TO THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.—A mea-
sure has been brought into the House of Commons by
Mr. Newdegate, Mr. R. Spooner, and Mr. C. B. Adder-
ley, to provide medical assistance in cases of accidents on
railways. The preamble of the bill recites, that
an action is not now maintainable against a railway com-
pany by a surgeon called in by the servant of a railway
company to render assistance to a passenger who has
been accidentally injured, although it is expedient that
oftentimes the company, in such case, should be answer-
able for the services of the surgeon called in. It then
proposes to enact that the servants of the railway compa-
nies may call in surgeons in cases of accident, the acts of
the servant to bind the railway company until notice is
given to the medical attendant to the contrary. A rail-
way company may recover expenses from other railway
companies in fault; and in case of a pauper passenger the
company is to have a legal right to recover from the over-
seers of the parish in which the accident happened. The
act, it is proposed, shall be fixed on a board at every sta-
tion along the railways.
THE TRACTARIANS.—We regret to find that not even
four legal decisions in succession can quiet tha restless
spirits which have been raised by " the Gorham contro-
versy," but that the dull and heavy season of the dog-
days is to be at once enlivened and yet rendered more
intolerable by a " great meeting on the Gorham case,"
to be held in Long-acre some time next week
We might wonder at the pertinacity and apparent useless-
ness of this continued warfare, were it not explained by
the unguarded exclamation of a western archdeacon, cre-
dibly reported to us—" We will never rest until we get
these Evangelicals out of. the Church !" Such language
brings to mind a well-known sentence of Dr. Johnson's—
" It would be impossible were it attempted, and it would
be foolish if it were possible." Never, from its first
foundation, has the Church of England been without two
parties within its pale. Their existence seems almost as
natural and as necessary as that of Whigs and Tories in
parliament; and the idea of exterminating or excluding
either, seems nearly as foolish as it would be to resolve,
that the House of Commons should in future consist
wholly of men of one political creed.—Morning Herald.
THE IRON TRADE.—The late quarterly meetings have
been very well attended, and have resulted in a light
amount of business done at fair average prices. Notwith-
standing the threatened determination to insist upon
lower rates, the day was passed at Wolverhampton on
Wednesday with much spirit, and a successful effort was
made, particularly among the pigsellers, to recover lost
ground. On Thursday, in our Town-hall, though a little
flatness was again apparent, from a partial absence of the
usual wholesale orders of large dealers, numbers of
buyers were in attendance, anxious, if possible, 'to avail
themselves of the slightest disposition that might have
been shown to giving way ; but when it became known
that the Shropshire trade had found no difficulty in
holding their position, and that they had resolved to
maintain the prices of the previous quarter, a still firmer
tone was encouraged, and but little underselling was re-
sorted to. The nailmongers, and consumers of rods,
chain, and other hardware iron, who had been loudly cla-
mouring for a reduction, went home generally disap-
pointed, and orders were doubtless withheld, because
the prices attainable for manufactured goods would not
admit of their being given. We are also sorry to hear
that the settlement of the accounts was scarcely so satis-
factorily transacted as usual. On Saturday evening a con-
siderable arrear of business was wound up at Dudley,
without any advantages being obtained by purchasers
from the delay. On the whole, it must be acknowledged
that trade generally exhibits more healthy symptoms.
Furnaces continue to be put out of blast, and the work of
mills and forges is further restricted, so that the quantity
extend their
Itnhetihremeantime ,
makers
upon
connections
of iron produced is gradually becoming more equalised
to
market,
rms. That spirit of reck-
lessness seems also, to have been abandoned which a few
the
thaete demandprn present
not
ten in t tt
ruinous.i e
solicitous
ttto
prompted to the acceptance of any specula-
tiveight be offered, under an illusion, and
weeks
ordersincteha t m
tunpeoung the rt ma
es tho,
tteh,e
babsurdity owf
iwd
eh iacwh
atkhee. p alrft iet
ks
ea rper
ensoe wn
t,
efforts. should be continued for the general interests of the
trade, the prospects of a sounder business during the
autumn and winter months is becoming more prottable.—,
Birmingham Gazette of yesterday.