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September 17, 1853.] THE LEADER. 891
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HOTELS : FOREIGN AND BRITISH. The extort...
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CATHOLIC ALLKdlANCK. An Irish Roman Cath...
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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The British Association. The Gathering A...
proposed that a train should not bo allowed to go from ne station until the next had signalled that the line was clear . T ) r . Statham suggested that a train should have win ^ s , and that it should spread them out when it wanted to stop . He also proposed to stop the engine by a m agnetic current along the rails . Mr . Oldham attributed accidents , tq the use of old and worn engines for work which , they could only do when new . Mr ' . JSfcison ; said , that , according to the present proportion of accidents to the population , a man has to travel 960 years before he meets with an accident . An unknown frentleman proposed to diminish the force of . collisions
by supplying the buffers with something padded and soft in the shape of boxing-gloves . Mr . Locking ( a railway secretary ) blamed the public themselves for their want of punctuality in not arriving early at stations , and , therefore , delaying the trains . Mr . Fairbairn read an essay on the causes of boiler explosions . It is not very clearly summarised in the daily papers but its conclusion seems to be , that the boiler which
exploded at Longside should not have exploded-, according to scientific calculations . A curious paper , on tlie corrosion of iron ships by sugar cargoes , was read by Dr . Gladstone . An essay on a cui-rency composed of Exchequer bills , issued by the State , and accepted as taxes , was read by Mr . Francis Bennocli . A paper on reaping machines was read by Mr . Crosskill : he gave the highest honour to Mr . Bell , as the earliest inventor of the best machine .
On social and commercial questions the papers were interesting , though not numerous . The Reverend James Selkirk , chaplain of Hull Gaol , traced crime mainly to drunkenness ; and said , that every Saturday evening no less than 10 , 000 people got drunk in Glasgow . English gaols now hold 16 , 000 prisoners , and Scotch gaols , 2 * 700 . In a paper on the supplies of gold , Mr . Newmarch stated , that , from 1848 to 1852 , the world ' s stock of gold had increased ten per cent , by the Califdrnian and Australian production . Mr . Locke read an interesting paper , on Irish emigration , and Irish social facts . During the six years ended 1852 ,
1 , 313 , 226 persons have left the spheres of Ireland , During the last years the emigration has decreasedthe " thousands" in these years being , respectively , 45 , 42 , and 36 . Irishmen abroad sent home , in 1851 , 990 , 000 ^ , and in 1852 , 1 , 404 , 000 ? . Industry is progressing in Irish workhouses , and out of doors . In 1 S 52 , " murder" had decreased forty-one per cent . ; and in the property sold under the Incumbered Estates Act . there had been but three agrarian crimes within tlie last three years . Tipperary assizes used to last ten days , with a special commission to complete the clearance of criminal : last assizes the business did not take five Lours .
Mathematics were represented by several papers . There was one on the trigonometrical survey , contributed by Sir John Burgoyne ; and a paper on the specula of reflecting telescopes , read by its author , Mr . Sollott . Some very interesting information as to the appearances of tlie moon , as revealed by means of photograp hic pictures , painted by moonlight itself , wan given in an essay , read by Professor Phillipsand in a
, subsequent discussion . By tho reflecting and niagni-» . Y > ng powers now within our reach , we can see an object in the moon as big as an ordinary house on earth . Mr . Hopkins remarked , that we will very soon be much hotter acquainted with most of the characteristic details of the gology of the moon than wo will bo of tho < ' » rth . The distance of the moon gives us groat
facili-*' H-S T Oil ft 1 st Uiir \* x' *\ £ i \ -M * n "i-. i-vm-. tl-. tl I * - * .. , ¦ . ( . ' nKi .,. t .. Z .. > « 'K . s ; one is Bhown in the possibility of obtaining a K <«> d tri gonometrical survey , and another is found in tho fact , that wo can peep into craters , and so forth . ( uiolopy , in ; ts abstract department , wan treated of » y I rofesaor Sedgwiclc , who revived the controversy Mwocm himself and Sir Roderick Murchison us to the names "Cambrian" ami "Lower Silurian" for lh «
wia'ozoic rocks of Great Britain . In a more practical ^ '' . V , 1 . bo science was illustrated by Mr . Culvert , who j ' l 'il ( : £ ol ( l w « s found in forty counties in thi . s ¦ : '"< l [ . no might , have added " boroughs" ] , and over «» « wi of 50 , 000 K ( , uaro milo . s . The west and north ... . ' " IllIul , and tho cast and north of Ireland , arc Lho ""• 'loro ,, district ,. Only two of our gold fields have ] ,.. ] ' Wm ; k < Hl ~ tho Lanarkshire , to tho extent of nearly ' a nnlhon , and tho VVicklow , which ban produced k "'« l worth 100 , 000 /
• m-iiv " " ' . i 0 ^ I < lll ) 1 | y I hero wo . ro aome very iutcr < wfcui ah h " i > my ° f tho . statements wore elucidation ; - ) of , " * . }>«> P « rfci ,. H of light ; hut Mr . Robert Hunt M | ' j " " " " practical fact . Homo year * shu-o , Mr . i'wluiVrT '/ 1 | iH ° " Hlltiflf "«''> ° » <•''»< ' liKl » t of a * hU . « . l- V * (" m lli ) ) I > O ( 1 | 1 <; ^ 1 > V transmission of " ilio ., Ulrou » ' <> ol )! ll (; hhw glass ) aulH tho grrini' 'Mini „ i T " - ° a thiM SIll ' . i nuHm tho vitality of tropical weds from 30
to 90 per cent . M . Glaudet read a paper on photographs made for the stereoscope . The last general meeting for the season was held in the Mechanics' institution on Wednesday , when a * report of the proceedings of the general committee was laid before the ladies and gentlemen present . At the conclusion of this portion of the business , Mr , Phillips entered into a detail relative to the attendance at the meeting . He stated that they had , during the week , entered on their register 141 old life members , 13 new life members , 59 old annual subscribers , 58 new annual
subscribers , 368 associates , 23 G ladies , and six foreigners , making a total of 881 persons , from whom there had been received 904 ? . There had also been received for books and other publications of the society 221 ., making the total receipts 926 / . Colonel Sabine also informed the company that the receipts bad exceeded the expenses of the meeting by nearly S 70 L Thursday wa-3 devoted to pleasure-seeking—one party of nearly 300 proceeded on a visit to Lord Londesborough , at Grimston-park ; and another , somewhat smaller , to view the wonders of Flamborough-head , dining on their return with the mayor and corporation of Beverley .
September 17, 1853.] The Leader. 891
September 17 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 891
Hotels : Foreign And British. The Extort...
HOTELS : FOREIGN AND BRITISH . The extortions of our innkeepers have been continuously exposed in daily letters to tlie ¦ Times . ' From , all parts of the country come complaints . A gentleman and his wife stopped at a humble-looking hotel in a narrow street in the Strand . They got a small bedroom on a higher story , a lunch of cold meat aud mutton-chops , eggs and chops again with tea , and breakfast the next morning . 1 / . 12 s . 6 d . was the charge . "A . B . C , " gives a specimen of the charges for a single man for a single night at the Calverley Hotel , Tunbridge Wells . " The apartments are charged 7 s . Gel ., because they have no coffee-room ; wax candles are charged Is . 6 d ., but I undertake to say there is no such thing in the house . Add Gd . for the ' boots , ' and the charge for servants alone , for one night , is 3 * . " ~^ At ' the'Royal Victoria Hotel , St . Leonard ' s , Sussex , a gentleman and his wife suffered severely . The following was their bill : — Dinners , 8 s .,- ale , Gd . ; sherry , 3 s . ; teas , 3 s . ; apartments , 9 s . ; wax , Is . Gd . ; attendance , 4 s . ; breakfasts , 5 s . ; > ra \ vns , Is . "The dinner consisted of a chicken , vegetables , and a cabinet pudding : the wine , short in quantity , at 72 s . per dozen , was a manufactured article which I cannot describe . The breakfast , two and a half cups of coffee , tsvo slices of bacon , and one egg ; tho prawns were not ordered , and appeared to have earned many previous shillings . The waiter said the charge for attendance was not enough . "
Another letter is so good that we give it entire :- —¦ " I have just returned from a tour of the lake districts and North Wales , and beg to add the result of my experience in hotel charges . My party consisted of myself , two ladies , and a maid , and we passed the first night at tho Queen ' s Hotel , in Birmingham . I annex a copy of our small account : — £ . . < l . Dinners () 1 . 3 ( J Mosello 0 11 0 Teas () 4 , G Servant ' s ten ... ... ... ... ... 0 1 ( 5 Apartments and attendance 0 10 0 Wnxlights 0 2 0 Breakfasts 0 7 ( 5 Three-cups of coffee in apartments ... 0 1 ( 5 Servant ' s supper ... ... ... ... 0 1 0 Servant ' s breakfast 0 1 0 dU 3 0 ( 5 " Wo had two bedrooms , and the maid was put inlo . a sort of den adjoining the ladies' room , all well peopled with vermin . As for tho win <\ for Avhioh wo paid Mio aristocratic price of 11 . s \ , all I can say for ifc is , that it was produced in a foreign bottle with an English cork , and that nry Ooblentz wine merchant ; furnishes me with much better Moselle , in bond in Mio London docks , for 2 (> . s \ a dozen . Although the hotel bill-heading declared that tho ' charges include chambermaid , waiters , porters , and attendance of every description , ' I . was solicited by each and every ono of them for douceurs when I took my departure .
" On looking over my accounts , 1 find that Uio average of my hotel expenses lins been 2 f . 1 . 0 s . per diem-, excliinivo of douceurs to servants and tho charges for boats and carriages . I travel much on tho continent , and between Boulogne and . Naples , by various routes , hnvo usually paid from ( Jiirty-livo to forty francs per diem for tho entortiuninonfc of my party , although I went into my own carriage , and bud an expensive courier us an attendant ; . For them ) sums . 1 " havo always had bettor iiecoinmodation ; hotter food , and boiler attondiinco t | w « n I : bnvo mofc ' witli in I 0 nglnndi
3 ) uring my lato trip T havo id ways paid from (\ s . to 7 s . a < lay for win <) , Ixiing about double tho London price . Tho quantity furnished was seven , or Hoinntimcs oight wiuoglasses full , served in a . dmmtor ; and I discovered that . tho oxpre . HHion of a wish that ; Mio wino should bo puf , on tablo in tho original bhiok bol . tlo wan received us an iinporlinoiKio . Whilo on tho subject of wino , T may as well add that I invariably found thai ; a jug of tablo boor , containing , perhaps , / hroo half-pintfl , figured next morning in tho bill us " alo , Is . " But tho charges for carriages aro on a still moro
injiinuficent scale . At one of the first inns in North Wales I had a one-horse car for a few hours' excursion—thn t is to say , J- - hours going , two hours returning , and an intermediate rest of a couple of hours . The cost was as follows : — " ^ . £ ¦ s . d : far ... . 11 ¦ ()' Hay , corn , and postboy ' s eatin ^ , '" o 3 0 ' . Ostler .... ' . ¦ " .. ... ' ... _ ' ' "' 0 l 0 ' Postboy ' s mileago . ; . . ; , \ t \ "" 0 5 0 "No wonder that Englishmen , pvcfo . r travclliivr on the continent to seeing the beauties of their own country . " I am , sir , your obedient servant , "A Traveler . " Though smallest , in its way , one of the sharpest pieces of extortion is that told of tlie Ship Hotel , Dover . The victim writes : — "I had arrived from Calais , in company with a friend , and during the quarter of an hour that elapsed between the arrival of tho boat and the departure ' of tho train for London we remained at the Ship , and ordered a mutton chop and glass of sherry , for which we were "let in . " for the sum of 9 s . Gd . in the following- items : — s . d . Supper ( three mutton chops ) ' 5 ( 5 Apartment and waxlights ... ... ... 1 0 Attendance ... " ... ... ... ... i q Wine ( two glasses of bad sherry ) 10 0 G " And this for one quarter of im hour ' s very inferior accommodation , consisting of a cold cheerless room and a trio of tough cutlets . " An English traveller gives his experience of hotels in the United States .-
—-room , servants , bed , breakfast , dinner , tea or supper ( sometimes both ) , and in the western cities conveyance to and from the railway-or steamboat . Tho convenience of this uniformity , in enaWmg the traveller to estimate bis expenses prospectively , is not its greatest advantage . It prevents the imposition so common in European hotels , where-a bill is in / lamed by unforeseen , " extras , " from 3 s . or 4 s . for waxlights down to three . sous- tor Sveillee , or knocking you up in a morning , which some of the Swiss extortioners ' demand of their victims . "
includes house "One of the greatest advantages which the American system possesses over ours consists in the uniformity of charges . Everywhere in the northern states the charge of the first-class hotels for the expenses of . an entire day amounts to two dollars , or 8 s . 4 d . in English money . Tho only exceptions , I believe , are the Metropolitan and St . Nicholas at New York , and the Tremonfc and Revere at Boston , which ,. 'during the present year , have raised their charges to two and a half dollars . This two-dollar charge
After pointing out the comfort of the American dinners , and the superior style of the hotel fittings , ho adds : — " I travelled for exactl y twelve months in tho United States , Canada , and Cuba—and of the former visited every State except California and Maine . I was accompanied by my wife , and tho entire expenses of our jonrnoy , including voyage out and home , and a loss of over 50 dollars on a re-sale of horses in Texas , did not exceed 050 / . The total distance travelled was more than 2 . "> , 0 () 0 miles . Could . you havo travelled as far in Europe , and been out so lon ^ , for so little money ?" Communications appear testifying to Uie civility mid cheapness experienced at two Scotch hotels—namely , Plu-lp ' s Royal Hotel , Bridge of Allan , and the Commercial Hotel , Galashiols .
Tho following presents a pi quanta contrast : — "At Birmingham wo went to tho theatre bv daylight , and , returning a lil . llo after 11 . o ' clock , I asked ' tl ' io hall for ' bed candle .- ; , ' with which we proceeded at once lo our dormitory . On passing the door of our sitting-room , I saw a waiter lighting a pair of candles , which Ik ? immediately blow out . These figured in our bill aw ' wax-lights , 2 s . (> , / . !' At Cheltenham 1 happened to see some fine-looking oranges in a barrow under the window , and directed Ilio waiter to buy three , for which I . saw him pay < 1 \< L They were placed on tho table , as was also a sngar-caslor , which was not used . The charge juado was- ' - ' Oranges , \ is . ; sugar , ] .. ? . !'"
Wo do not remember any passage in the Canterbury Pilgriniago lu-aring hardly upon Mine Host of the Tabard , that prineo of innkeepers , for his extortions . His descendants havo for < rntfen him .
Catholic Allkdlanck. An Irish Roman Cath...
CATHOLIC ALLKdlANCK . An Irish Roman Catholic IJishophas mado u slafenieiif as to the lei ml of allegiance duo by Irish Catholic * < o tho Queen . The Bishop is Mio Ki ^ hf , Keverend Doctor Keane , HishopoC Koss , and the following is a passage in a discourse preached til the concluding . silting of the lato Minister synod : — " in tlrti 'head of the church you recognise not the sovereign of Kouic , A . i secular ruler of a cerium territory bo may Imvo whatever views or plans lien ! , unit , the interests
of his own subjecls . In ( lie political ooidImiiiiIiimim required by the clashing rivalries of nations , I ' rolestant ulaleM huve Homot hues been the friendly aliies nnd (' ntlinlie . soverei .-iiH have been the formidable enemies of t . ho ruler of Mm socallod I'a pal . Stales . As ( lie allegiance ofa Cutholie Frenchman is duo to a Louis or a Napoleon ( or an tho iillegianoo of a Catholic Helgian is due to a Leopold ) your whole and undivided civil allegiance is duo to the Sovereign of tlio British empire . That allegiance of heart and band you readily odor ; and together wilih it ; in a spirit , of respoeM ' iil attachment to ( , ho illuulriou « lady who now wita on tho
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 17, 1853, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17091853/page/3/
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