The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-04-15 00:00:00

the shove railway would confer on the populous town of Man-
chester, and the populous districts to the east of it. I leave
them in your hands, to make what use of them you may think
proper.—l am, sir, your's respectfully,___

FORD. WM. PIC
Highilatts, near Penistone, 4th Bro. 1 2th , 1842. K
The Silkstone Coalfield, which lies within two miles of the
Sheffield and Manchester Railway, will be traversed through-
out its entire length by the projected branch line from Peni.
stone to the North Midland, via Barnsley. It consists of
several beds, all of which would pay for winning if a market
could be found within a reasonable distance. The lowest of
these seams is the " Silkstone Best Bed," of the quality of
which it is needless for me to speak : suffice it to say it is
universa'ly admitted to be the finest coal in the county of
Yorkshire. Not less than 150,000 tons are annually sent by
water to various parts of Yoi kshire, Lincolnshire, and places
on the eastern coast, as well as London. The nrine nt the

us. qu. per ton : but the miners have to
',ass through two or three upper seams before they get doWn
to the best bed, one of which, called the " Parkgate Coal,"
is 4 feet 8 inches thick, and is an excellent kitchen coal,
though inferior to the bed before-mentioned; but, owing to
the great distance from the place of consumption, and the
consequent heavy charges for freight, &c., the coal-owners
are precluded from disposing of it at a profit, and it remains
untouched; and when the best bed is won from beneath it,
and the props taken away, it naturally follows that the super-
incumbent mass gives way, and the good, useful coal, of
which I am speaking, is borne down with the intervening
strata of rubbish, and for ever lost. Millions of tons have
thus been entombed, and millions more will be, if the Man-
chester and Leeds directors succeed in their endeavours to
crush the Sheffield railway. But this is not all :in working
the best bed, the miners turn out a large quantity of what
they term " seat coal," which is not of so good a quality,
and contains a larger proportion of sulphur. This descrip-
tion of coal is consumed by the miners in their cottages.
They give ninepence for as much as they can pile on a two-
horse cart ; but as the collieries produce far more than they
can consume, immense quantities are left underground, and
never brought to light except when the workmen are stowed
out. It is then drawn up, and piled on the surface, and set
fire to, and the cinders used to repair the roads. Yes ; good
coal (equal in quality to the bulk of what is consumed in
Manchester) burnt to repair the roads!!!
Besides this there ar-
" slack" or enei-

riddlings commonly called

coal, large quantities of which are burnt
for coke, the price of this has hitherto been Bd. per ton at the
pit ; but I am informed that, owing to the depressed state of
trade, and the consequent limited demand, there is such an
accumulation of this description of fuel, that the proprietors
will give it to any one who will be at the trouble to take it
away

and I am convinced that it is much superior to the

generality of engine coal consumed in Manchester, in proof
of which I may mention, that ft was told by a mill-owner in
Manchester.in 1836, who had seen ii sample of the coal of
which I am speaking, that he was paying 10s. per ton for
fuel of a worse quality. Ido not know what the price of
coal is in Manchester at present, but if the Sheffield and
Manchester company charge the same tolls as the North
Midland and Stockton and Darlington companies, the best
Silkstone coal (which is superior to either Wigan or Oldham,
and is all but equal to cannel)
,can be delivered in Manches-
ter at 6s. per ton, the Pargate coal at 4s. 6d., and engine coal
at 3s. 6d. In conclusion I may hazard an assertion that, on
the completion of the Sheffield lint, the traffic in coal will be
one of its most prominent features—advantageous alike to
the company, and the manufacturing districts which the rail-
way connects.'

FREEMASONRY

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

" How can Freemasons reconcile the continuance of their meet
gs with the present state of the law ?"

SlR,—The above query forms the concluding portion of
the letter of your correspondent " Delta," in your publica-
tion of the 29th ult., in which letter he calls the attention of
the " Freemasons of Liverpool, and all members of other
illegal societies," to a report in the Times (London) of the
28th February, wherein it appears that Mr. Justice Burton,
in his charge to the grand jury at the late assizes at Longford,
is stated to have said, " Every secret society, no matter how
laudable its objects may be, is illegal." "Every species of
secret society, no matter what its object or denomination
maybe, is injurious to the peace and wellbeing of the com-
❑d ought to be put down."

munity

I must confess that I am not astonished at the query of
your correspondent ; neither do I think it requires any very
great logical sagacity to make such a deduction. However,
I beg to disallow the premises, and, with your permission,
shall inform " Delta " and the unenlightened portion of your
numerous readers upon what grounds.
On the " pre-

24th August, 1839,-an act was passed* for
venting the administering and taking of unlawful oaths in
Ireland," the second clause of which contains an exemption
in favour of Freeniasons and the Society of Friendly Bro-
thers. Thus much for Mr. Justice Burton's opinion as to
the illegality of all secret societies.
History info

s us of a periodt when it was illegal for
Masons " to confederate or meet in chapters or congrega-
" "an act having been passed by an " ignorant and illi-
to prevent their meeting. It never was

terate parliament
put in for(

§ and we find Henry VII., a; Grand Master,
summoning a lodge of Master Masons at the Palace, and
walking in procession with them to the cast end of West-
minster Abbey, where he laid with his own hand the founda-
tion of his magnificent chapel.
I feel that no evidence is more conclusive of the general
estimation in which Freemasonry is held, than to remark,
that ever since the time (A.D. 879) when Alfred the Great
had been-Grand Master, that institution has continued to
enjoy to this day the patronage of kings, princes, prelates,
statesmen, and warriors, as eminent in their virtues as illus-
trious in their dignities,--those, sir, who have not thought
it beneath their dignity to join a society whose every effort is
the advancement of art, the cultivation of the sciences, and
the practice of all moral and social virtues. I cannot close
without thanking von for your indulgence by the insertion

of this in your vilUable page

I am, Mr. Editor, your obliged servant,
J. A. C.,
P.M. of Cestrian Lodge, 613

Chester,9thApril, 1842.

* This bill (2 and 3 Vic. c. 74) was introduced by the then Attor
ney-General for Ireland, together with Lord Viscount Morpeth.
t Reign of Henry VI.

•t 3, fol. I