The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-07-22 00:00:00

BIRKENHEAD POLICE COMMISSIONERS. i

THE DRAMA

The commissioners, under the act for the improvement of I The dramatic legend of " Giselle, or the Phantom Night
the township of Birkenhead, held an adjourned general j Dancers," which has been brought out at the Theatre Royal
meeting at the Town-hall, on Tuesday evening. •In the in the good style and taste usually shown by Mr. Hammond,
absence of the chairriiau, W. Jackson, the deputy- I has, so far, proved towthinz hot chairman nrf,id.A

j t,
..
has been tickled with legitimate drama; but that will not 1.,
The Finance Committee presented a report, which merely down ; the bait of minor pieces has been tried, but the play
contained orders for the payment of certain accounts, and a goers—who, like the Indian tribes mentioned by the intel'
recommendation that Mr. Lyster should make a survey of gent Mr. Catlin, are yearly dwindling away, getting "
the township, and.prepare a new map, for which he was to be by degrees, and beautifully less"—will not pay major prices
paid £2O. This was ordered to be done forthwith, to see them. What, then, is to be done? Our advice is to
The CHAIRMAN stated, that, at the recommendation of meet bad times boldly; reduce the company, and reduce the
the committee, in consequence of the great defalcation in the prices, and call upon the proprietors to reduce their rent.
payment of rates for cottage property, they had found it ne- Everything, except perhaps land and agricultural produce,
cessary to issue summonses against thirty tenants of three of has come down in the scale of value.- ' Manufactures, art,
the largest owners of this kind of property, and also against education, and almost all the necessaries of life, are lower by
ten individual defaulters, who might be classed amongst the twenty-five per cent than they used to be; but theatricals, at
rich:
.1 1 . the " Royal Drouerties." are 1,1,2,1 ea t.:-.L. ..._.i , ..1 • • . •.1,

.00k place on

;his subjec

result, after which
Mr. PARKER wished to know what amount of money the
commissioners wanted to borrow from the bank, and what
security the latter wanted.
The CHAIRMAN said, they had a surplus amount at the
ferry, but they did not like to hand it over to the township
at present, as they could not borrow money on account of
the ferry until the sum of £28,000 was paid to the railway
company.
Mr. 'WALLABY said, the bank would lend the commissioners
£lOOO ; they wanted no specific security, as it was looked upon
as merely overdrawing their account.
The Ferry Committee reported, that by the purchase of
Mr. C. Ratnpling's share in- the Woodside Ferry, the com-
missioners were now in full possession of the whole of the
property ; and the new accounts on behalf of the township
would be opened op the Ist of next month.
Mr. MALLABY said, under the Act of Parliament it was
necessary that the commissioners fix and order what the
rates,- for the carriage across the ricer, of goods and passen-
gers should be ; and also that they should now agree .to all
by-laws to regulate the ferry, which must be submitted to
the Quarter Seisions. Mr. M. here read the tariff for goods,
which, after a few-observations, was agreed to.
The • CHAIRMAN announced, that during the last three
days, there had passed through the pay-gate of the ferry no
fewer than 4779 passengers per day. which was at the rate of
a million and a half per annum. This number was exclusive
of contractors ; and, if they were taken into account, he
thought they might safely calculate upon two millions of
people going through the gate in the year.
The proceeding of the Road Committee were next read,
and notice of a motion given to appoint a committee to recon-
sider the regulations connected with', and state of, the roads ;
also, to consider the benefits likely to arise from making a
new survey of the township; and that such committee report
fully on the state of the roads, and what streets ought to be
adopted by the township.
Mr. WATsoN wished to ask a question from the law-clerk,
on the subject of the election of Mr. Ravenscroft, a commis-
sioner in June last. They were now assembled for the third
time as commissioners, and Mr. Ravenscroft had not appeared
at one of their meetings, to qualify, and his (Mr. W.'s)
opinion, never intended to do so; because, as Mr. Ravens-
croft was not " rated in the rates for the relief of the poor,"
he well knew he was not competent to act. He assured the
board that Mr. Ravenscroft authorised him to use his name,
and state that he (Mr. Ravenscroft) never meant to act as a
commissioner, and that he told the gentlemen so at the time
he was put in nomination. Mr. Watson concluded by stating
that his sole object was to obtain information.
Mr. MALLABY, in reply, said, at the last election a
majority of the ratepayers had thought proper to elect Mr.
Ravenscroft. He knew nothing as to what course that gen-
tleman intended to pursue, as to acting amongst them as a
commissioner ; and this could only be tested by his appearing
and qualifying, or by his refusing to do so within the time
limited. The situation of Mr. Ravenscroft did not make the
least difference with rcference to the gentleman who was
second on the poll. He (Mr. Mallaby) thought it right to
retain Mr.' Ravenscroft, he having a majority of votes. Six
months were given him to prove his eligibility for the office ;
and if Mr. Ravenscroft refused or neglected to do so in that
period, then the commissioners would pursue the course they
thought most proper in accordance with the act of parlia-
ment.

, - • ct yla er, tne
actual value is by so much less than a they usedvv to be.wnue As
for " drawing," we do not know what would, just now,
prove a good card. Miss Kernble is the only one on the
boards worth taking up, end it is all a lottery whether she
turns up a trump or not. In the dearth of first-rate ability,
Mr. Hammond has certainly exerted himself to make up for
it by the admirable manner in which he has put his dramas
on the stage; and we do not think there is any provincial
establishment where more attention in this department is
exhibited. But what, so far, has been his repayment ?
Time was when a play got up at half the cost and labour of
the " Midsummer Night's Dream" would have been ap-
plauded to the very echo, and trumpeted forth as a magnifi-
cent effort of scenic display; and Mr. Hammond, in placing
Shakspeare, so efficiently on the stage, termed " a reformer."
But it will not do ; the drama is at a discount, and we, like
the gentle swain of •the olden bard, must " stand waiting
while the stream descends."

The new drama of " Giselle," which has been singularly
successful in London, is founded on a German legendary
tale, running to the following effect:—" The Wilis, or Noc-
turnal Dancers, are brides who die before the day of mar-
riage, without having fully satisfied their love of dancing—
there still remains in the heart which has ceased to beat, and
the feet that no longer move, that,passion for the fete which
inspired them during life. These young affianced ones rise
at the hour of midnight, and assemble in troops near the
highways, and woe to the young man that meets them; they
rush on him, and make him dance till he dies. They wear
crowns of flowers on their heads, and sparkling rings on their
fingers ; their faces, though white as snow, still preserve the
freshness of youth. Dressed in their marriage garments, and
sporting like elves in the bright moonlight, they have an air
so winning, a grace so seductive, smiles so perfidious, that
these brides of death are irresistible. It is in vain their
unhappy victims would fly them ; they follow, and own in
death their fatal fascination."

The plot of the piece is rather non-understandable ; but
as some part of it is left for the imagination to fill up, it h
pleasant enough, since it calls the spectator's fancy into play.
In fact, "Giselle" is a mere vehicle to bring upon the stage
a variety of pleasing dances—numbers of pretty dancers,
with pretty legs—and several extremely beautiful scenes.
The heroi.,e, Giselle, is played by Mrs. Honner, who -ori-
ginally did it in London. She is a.clever actress, possessing
pathos and feeling, and evidently takes nature for her model.
She moves gracefully, and sings sweetly. A " touch of her
quality" is exhibited in " Falls of Clyde," where she is
taxed by her father with her shame : her hysteric fit was
painfully natural. Mrs. Bonner is one of the Keeley school,
and a good school it is. She very frequently reminds us of
Little Gertrude, both in voice and manner. We say this
without bringing the least charge of being a copyist. In
Giselle, where she dances in the paroxysm of delirium,
her pantomimic action is singularly wild and affect-
ing. Mrs. Hornier will become a favourite here ; her
talents, so far as we have seen, challenge approbation.
Mr. Nantz, as Polonius says, " did enact" Hilarion, a
hunter in love with Giselle. Mr. Nantz' llfantilini
and Canterbury Tom were both capital impersonations,
but his Hilarion was gloriously Cartlichian. Old Richard-
son dearly loved " a bould voice :" the ohifplln., ~,,,,,i

au ua~c
enjoyed Hilarion vastly. Mr. Eaton, on Tuesday, played
Peterkin with much vivacity and hu►nour. He undertook

the part at a very short notice, in consequence of Mr. Slai-
ter's indisposition on the previous night, which arose, we
believe, from exposure to the 8204. On Monday night he was
evidently "in it" all through the evening: Mad. Schmidt,
Mrs. Barton, Mr. Vivash, Mr. Cooke, and Mr. Barton greatly
exerted themselves, to make the drama go well. Of t
scenery we can speak with unreserved praise
of Aloise, the hunter, and the hermit's cave

Some discussion took place on the inadequacy of the police
force, which was eventually referred to the Watch Committee,
and the commissioners then separated.

SPECIAL MEETING

On Wednesday evening a special meeting of the com-
missioners of Birkenhead was held at their room in the
Town-hall. The meeting was summoned for eight o'clock,
but at a quarter past that hour the following commissioners
only were present :—Mr. C. A. Watson, Mr. Stansfield, Mr.
J. H. Green, Mr. D. M`Nicol, Mr. D. Appleton, Mr. J. N.
Wood, and Mr. J. Gilbertson.

is an exquisite

On the motion of Mr. J. H. GREEN, Mr. Stanafield took
the chair.

Mr. WATSON read a clause in the Commissioners' Act
which required that every commissioner should have a sum-
mons sent to him through the post-office, at least seven clear
days previous to such meeting. This notice calling the
present meeting had not been sent through the post-office,
but had been left at his house on 'the 15th of July, con-
sequently it could not be a legal summons.
Several other commissioners produced their summonses,
none of which had been sent through the post-office as re-
quired by the clause of the act read by Mr. Watson.
Mr. HILLIAR (who acted as law-clerk in the absence of
Mr. Mallaby) said as the commissioners were present and
admitted the receipt of the summons that was sufficient to
constitute a legal service. s

Mr. GREEN said he supposed the clause of the act read by
Mr. Watson was merely tor the purpose of ensuring the ser-
vice of a summons on each commissioner.