and used, we shall submit an estimate resting partly on the testimony taken on several occasions by committees of the British House of Commons, and on the well authenticated statements of the cost of erecting gas works, &c. to be found in numerous publications. On the authority of these statements, and making due allowance for the difference in the price of materials and labour in this country when compared with England, we believe that gas works competent to produce 75,000 cubic feet of gas daily, may be erected, and the necessary mains and pipes for distribution to the extent of eight miles, be laid by an expenditure of $76,000 That the floating capital necessary to carry on the works and cover incidental charges in their construction would be Making a total of 24,000 $100,000 The present cost, at 78 cents per gallon for oil, is $19,841 64, and does not include waste by leakage, &c. which is estimated by the contractor for supplying the city with oil in a recent publication, at about 10 per cent. more. Having fully satisfied ourselves of the expediency of introducing gas lighting, we proceed to the second point of the resolution, which is to prepare a bill that shall effectually guard the city from any increase of taxation, or from any eventual loss by adopting the project. In the ordinance herewith submitted, we have endeavoured to present a plan embracing both the object of the resolution, and what may be considered as not only the wishes of the petitioners, but also of the remonstrants, namely, that the experiment shall not be tried at the expense of the city. The first and second sections of the ordinance authorize a subscription for raising a sufficient sum of money, for the construction and carrying on of works competent to manufacture 75,000 cubic feet of gas daily, and provide that as a compensation to the subscribers, they shall be entitled to the profits of the establishment, without looking to the city treasury for any other remuneration in case the project does not succeed, and reserve to the city, the right at any time to take possession of the works, and 1,200 00 fund the stock at an interest of six per cent. per an5,000 00 num. The third, fourth, and fifth sections provide for the election of a board of trustees, to whom the 5,000 00 management of the works is to be confided, define their duties and contain the necessary provisions for securing a supply of gas to private consumers at a price to be ap$44,335 00 proved by Councils, and the lighting of the public lamps on such terms as will compensate for the advantages given to the subscribers by the ordinance. To produce an available quantity of 75,000 cubic feet of gas daily, there will be required 4,380 tons of coal annually, for carbonization and fuel, which, at six dollars per ton, would be $26,280 00 4,380 bushels of lime for purification, at 25 cents, 1,095 00 5,760 00 Sixteen men for attending retorts, $30 per month, Four laborers for incidental services, $25 per month, Wear and tear of works, 5 per cent. Salaries of superintendent and clerk, taxes and incidentals, Making the cost of 27,375,000 cubic feet per annum, The sixth section directs all moneys received or paid Or about one dollar and sixty cents per thousand cubic feet, exclusive of the interest on the capital invest-on account of the works, to be accounted for at the city ed in the works. In this estimate, no deduction from the cost of manufacturing has been made on account of the coke and other products obtained during the process, for which it is believed a ready and profitable market exists in the city. The sale of these products would essentially lessen the cost of production; but as the above estimate is made on the supposition that the whole quantity of gas which the works are competent to produce would be sold, is deemed more safe to omit them in giving results which are liable to be affected by the variable consump. tion of gas during the summer months, as in some degree compensating for the permanent charges which always remain stationary, and increase the cost of producing a dimininished quantity of gas. instead of oil from the elements thus furnished, it ap- treasury, under the usual restrictions, and the seventh section authorizes the construction of the works on the ground owned by the corporation north of the Permanent Bridge on the Schuylkill, at a fixed rent, with the right to the city to reclaim so much thereof, at any time after the year 1840, as may in the opinion of the trustees, not be necessary for the accommodation of the proposed works. This ordinance, it is believed, will not only guard the city from any increase of taxation, but will ensure the construction of sufficient extent to present the subject intelligibly to our citizens. No loss can be sustained by the city in the event of a failure of the project, and the guardianship and control of the establishment being completely vested in the corporation, every thing connected with the public interest is effectually secured. to the terms on which a private company would furnish The third part of the resolution directs an inquiry ingas sufficient to light a certain number of public lamps, in order that the expense, the advantages and the inconvenience of the measure may be fully known. On this point the committee beg leave to state that there is at present no establishment for manufacturing gas of the kind proposed in operation in the city of Philadelphia. The small works belonging to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, are now arranged for the manufacture of Gas from Rosin, and are not of sufficient capacity for the purpose, and even in the event of our ability, to make a satisfactory contract with them, no results applicable to the manufacture of gas from coal could be obtained, having a bearing on the question, either as re. gards the expense, the advantages or the inconvenience of the plan submitted. An application has however been made to the Grand Lodge: to which they have made the following reply. That they could $2,346 00 supply the city with from 10 to 12,000 cubic feet of gas 66 every 24 hours, at about one and a half cents per foot, and it would be indispensable that the city should provide a gasometer to receive the article as manufactured." The committee are of the opinion, that as the experience of upwards of twenty years in Europe, has fully established the superiority of coal gas over every other means of illumination, it would be unwise to resort to a plan not only known to be comparatively unprofitable, but also creating a dependence on other states for a supply of the crude materials, when by adopting one sanctioned by an enlarged experience, we should foster one of the most valuable branches of our domestic industry, and draw our supplies entirely from the bosom of our own commonwealth. The resolution of the 26th ultimo, directs the committee to inquire as far as practicable, and report what proportion of the sign ers of the several memorials are minors, or non-residents of the city. On the first point, the committee are not able to arrive at any result that would be satisfactory, inasmuch as records entirely beyond their control, would be required to establish or deny the usefulness or age of many of the signers; and it is therefore dismissed from our consideration. On the second point, namely, the non-residence of signers, it appears that the signatures of owners of real estate in the city have been obtained both to the petitions and remonstrances, and that the question of residence in such cases does not appear to us to be material. It may suf. ficiently answer the object of this resolution to state, that about the same proportion of signers known to the committee, is to be found on both classes of the memorials. In order that Councils may have all the information before them, we lay the several memorials on the table, merely stating, in passing, that the petitions are signed by about 4000 persons, and the remonstran ces by about 725. We deem it due to the gentlemen of both parties who have been instrumental in bringing the subject before us, to state, that no fraud appears to have been practised or intended by either party. In conclusion, the committee having, to the best of their ability, performed the duties confided to them, earnestly recommend the passage of the ordinance submitted with this report, under the conviction that the public mind is fully prepared to give it a favorable trial; and that the advantages which gas presents in point of economy and safety, will gradually bring it into such general use, that the city may, in a few years, take possession of the works, and enlarge their capacity to an extent that will furnish a cheap and brilliant light for all public and many private purposes. FREDERICK FRALEY, Philad., March 9, 1835. MAHONING CANAL. Committee. An act to amend the act to incorporate the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal Company. Sect. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, that the Company incorporated by an act, entitled "An act to incorporate the Pennsylva nia and Ohio Canal Company," passed January 10th, 1827, be and they are hereby allowed ten years, from the thirty-first day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five, in which to complete said canal, any thing in said act to the contrary notwithstanding, and that the charter of said Company be and the same is hereby renewed. Sect. 2. It shall be lawful for the said Company an nually to fix, regulate, and receive the tolls and charges, by them to be received for the transportation of property or persons, on the Canal, authorized by the act to which this is an amendment, for the sole benefit of said Company, Provided, that the net proceeds of such tolls and charges thus fixed, regulated, and received by said Company, shall at no time exceed ten per cent. per annum, on the capital invested in construction and necessary expenditures of said Canal: Provided, however, that this restriction in the amount of tolls and charges, will not be construed so as to prevent said Company from fixing and receiving the hightest rate of tolls and duties, together with the charges of freight to which property of a similar kind is subjected, as the costs of transportation on the Ohio Canal during the same period of time. Sect. 3. That whenever the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or a greater amount of the Stock of said Company, shall have been subscribed, the commissioners named in the act to which this is an amendment, shall have power to call a meeting of the Stockholders, for the purpose of organizing said Company, in the manner pointed out in the said act, any thing contained therein to the contrary notwithstanding. Sect. 4. That said Company shall keep a fair and ac curate account of the whole expense of making and repairing said Canal with all incidental expenses appertaining to the same, within the respective limits of each of the States of Pennsylvania and Ohio, together with an accurate and just account of all the tolls collected by said Company, on such part of the said Canal as lies within the territorial limits of each of said States respectively, and said States shall each have the right to purchase at any time hereafter, all that portion of said Canal which lies within their territorial limits, for the sole use and benefit of said State, by paying to said Company a sum of money, which, together with the tolls rèceived by said Company within such State, shall equal the cost and expenses of said Canal as aforesaid, within such State, with an interest of eight per cent. per annum thereon, and the books of said Company shall always be open for the inspection of the Agents of said States, respectively appointed for that purpose by the Legislature of either of said States, and if said Company shall neglect or refuse to keep and exhibit their ac counts as required by this section, when thereunto requested by such Agent, then all the rights and privileges granted by this act shall cease and be determined. JOHN M. CREED, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Feb. 20, 1835: CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO CANAL. MEMORIAL Of the Baltimore Convention, held the 8th of Decem. ber, 1834, praying for Legislative aid to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal,and for the passage of a Resolution, recommending the said work to the patronage of Congress. To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: The memorial of the undersigned, in behalf of a Convention of delegates from various parts of the States of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, and the District of Columbia, assembled at the city of Baltimore, on the 8th December, 1834, respectfully represents: That, in conformity with the views of numerous and highly respectable popular meetings in the States and District referred to, the Convention was called into existence, and proceeded to deliberate on such measures and suggestions as were deemed best calculated to promote the further progress and ultimate completion of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. To the undersigned, members of that Convention, as citizens of Pennsylvania, the appropriate duty was assigned, of memoralizing the Legislature of their State, for aid and assistance to this great and interesting work, which, in its contemplated route, passes through a highly important section of, and in its commercial effects cannot fail to become greatly beneficial to other and extensive portions of our State. Your memorialists cannot refrain, at this time, from offering their humble congratulations to your honorable body, on the enlightened wisdom so eminently displayed in the Councils of the Commonwealth, only equalled by that Herculean labor and perseverance which has consummated for the State, a line of artificial communication throughout her whole interior, and permanently connected her interests with the rapidly expanding trade of the valley of the mighty Mis sissippi; laid at her feet the rich products of the grow. ing empire on the borders of the Ohio, and promising in return a speedy and ample remuneration for the toil and treasure of her citizens, expended in the completion of this stupendous enterprize—an enterprize no longer doubtful-an enterprize which, in effect, has changed the current of the Ohio from the west to eastwhich, instead of wafting on its broad and friendly bosom, to an unhealthy, remote, and precarious market, the exhaustless and varied products of the States adjacent to its borders; is now, to a vast extent, transferring them, by its ascending navigation, and through the great internal channels which the wisdom, and wealth, and public spirit of the Commonwealth have perfected, to the commercial emporium of our State. As each returning year comes laden with an increase in the population and productions of the wide and luxuriant fields which stretch themselves out on either bank of the Ohio, unparalleled in any age or any country under the face of the sun; it requires no prophetic vision to foresee that, long anterior to any contemplated completion of the interesting work, (for the further progress of which we now implore the aid of your honorable body,) the canals and rail ways of Pennsylvania will be in possession of a commerce far, very far, exceeding in extent their utmost capacity to accommodate. Even at this moment, is Pennsylvania without a rival for that great and constantly augmenting trade. — None need she fear, in future, if these views are worthy of consideration. No conflicting interests; no matters of State policy, then, interfering between the citizens of Pennsylvania as a community, and reasonable protection, encouragement, and regard for the advance of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal to its ultimate completion, your memorialists approach the Legislature of Pennsylvania with the less reserve, and with re-assured confidence of success, imploring you, that the mighty arm of their own great State may be outstretched for its relief, in this the "hour of its need." Surely shall we not ask in vain, when we remind your honorable body, that the aid which we invite and trust will not be refused to the great work under consideration, will be returned and repaid in the advantages and facilities of trade which will be afforded by its construction, to a large number of your immediate constituents, (unrivalled for their industry and enterprize,) inhabiting the several counties of Somerset, Bedford, Franklin, Fayette, Washington, and Greene, on our southern borders; who have hitherto borne, without a murmur, their proper proportion of the burden, but who, from their local position, are deprived of many, if not all the advantages which other portions of the State enjoy from the construction of our own works of internal improvement. At a former Session of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, a joint resolution of the two branches, to the following effect, was passed with more than usual unanimity:-"That the Senators in the United States Senate, and Representatives in Congress of this State, are requested to endeavour to procure the passage of a law authorizing the subscription of a million of dollars on the part of the General Government, to the stock of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, to be expended on the western sections." With this resolution on your statute books; with the just claims of a large portion of your constituents, adverted to above; with the enlightened liberality which has so uniformly characterized the Legislature of our State; and above all, the deep and abiding interest which Pennsylvania professes and feels in every measure calculated to cement and increase the bonds of union between all the members of this great confederacy; your memorialists will not permit themselves to doubt for a moment, the success of their appeal, on the present occasion. The funds there for provided by individual and corporate public spirit, for prosecuting this splendid enterprise, are well nigh exhausted. The approaching crisis in the affairs of the company which has the immediate supervision and charge over the construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, has necessarily created an unusual sensation in the public mind throughout all the section of our common country directly concerned in the prosecution of the work, and imperatively demanding the active sympathy and efficient aid of their brethren every where. In that sensation, operating far and wide, originated the convention under whose instruction, and at whose instance, your memorialists have the honor at this time to approach the Legislature of Pennsylvania. Your memorialists, therefore, in conclusion, pray that such pecuniary aid or subscription of stock to the Ches. apeake and Ohio Canal, may be authorized by law, as the wisdom of the Legislature may deem proper and adequate to meet the pressing exigencies of the company; and that a joint resolution be passed by your honourable bodies, recommending this great work to the patronage of the National Legislature: And your memorialists, &c. &c. WM. ROBINSON, Jr. Chairman Committee Ball. Convention. Allegheny county, 5th Jan. 1835. CHESTER COUNTY ATHENEUM. Chester County Athenæum, held in the reading room At an annual meeting of the stockholders of the called to the chair, and U. V. PENNYPACKER, Esq. on 20th February, 1835, DR. ISAAC THOMAS was appointed Secretary. The Report of the Directors relating to the finances of the institution, was read and adopted. The usual Annual Report of the Directors embracing a view of the past, present and future prospects of the Athenæum was laid before the meeting, approved of, and ordered to be published. On motion, it was In the early part of the year, the board resolved to admit all the editors of the borough to the free use of the Athenæum, upon their furnishing us with their own, and such other newspapers as they could conveno hesitation in saying that we have profited largely by the measure. We have thus been liberally furnished with an additional quantity of excellent reading matter, at a very small if any additional expense. We hope the Board of Directors about to be elected, will see the propriety of continuing this advantageous arrangement. All which is respectfully submitted. years have now elapsed since a few public spirited individuals in the borough of West Chester, conceived the idea of establishing an institution of this character, with a view to their own moral and intellectual culture, and the elevation of the literary character of the neighbor-niently spare. The offer was accepted, and we have hood. The project was by some considered visionary; by many its practicability was doubted; and by nearly all it was feared that we were not yet sufficiently awake to its advantages to induce us to sustain it with that firmness to which its merits entitled it; but the ardor of its friends was not thus to be extinguished. They persevered; and although during a few of the first years of its existence they had to struggle with great pecuniary and other difficulties, so as almost to revive those dormant fears for its fate, yet they now have the satisfaction to know that the institution is placed upon a firm and permanent basis. For the last few years, the Athenæum has been gradually gaining strength, and the literary prosperity of the association, by its own continued accretion, and extensive and liberal donations, has greatly increased in value. If there were any thing in its conception to cheer the almost drooping spirits of its friends, there is an hundred fold as much to animate them now; and as determined perseverance has bitherto sustained it, there can be no fear but that a proper estimate of its benefits and advantages will continue to be held by those interested in its success. Within the past year, there has been no diminution of the interest heretofore manifested in the prosperity of the institution. It is true a stockholder, or an annual subscriber, from a change in his residence or his pursuits, occasionally ceases his attendance at the room; but we are at the same time receiving occasional accessions, which continue the actual supporters of the Athenæum at about the same number. There has been no material variation in this respect during the past year. By reference to the Treasurer's report, it will be seen that our funds are amply sufficient for our present ordinary expenses. It must be admitted however, that an increase of money in the Treasury would be very desirable, as well to enable us to supply ourselves with additional newspapers and journals, as for the purposes of binding up our reviews and magazines which are constantly accumulating upon our shelves. It will be highly necessary to take measures to accomplish this object at an early day. Within the year we have had the pleasure to acknow. ledge the receipt of many valuable donations to the Athenæum. Among those deserving our particular notice, is the regular receipt of the most of the important public documents from the Honorable David Potts, our member of Congress, to whom we have heretofore been so highly indebted for his attention to our institution. To our members of the Legislature of the last and the present session also, we are under many obli gations for valuable and interesting public documents. To William H. Dillingham, Esq. we are indebted for a present of a map of the survey of the boundary line between the United States and the British colonies; and to the same gentleman for deposite in the Athenæum of a handsomely drawn plan for the public buildings of this county, by Thomas U. Walter, architect. We have to express our acknowlegments to Anthony Bolmar, Esq. the enterprising Principal of the West Chester Academy, for a donation of a number of volumes of French and English works, the productions of his own labors. It gives us pleasure also to notice the recent receipt of a package of books and pamphlets from our esteemed friend J. J. Barclay, Esq. of Philadelphia, one of our earliest and steadfast friends and patrons.We may hope and trust that the same spirit which dic tated such liberal donations to us from the commencement of our existence, will continue to be manifested in the cause of literature and morals; and that we shall still continue to deserve the same encouragement that bas heretofore been so freely held out to us. WM. DARLINGTON, M. D. Pres't. WEIGHT OF SHEEP. The dead weight of seven sheep fed by Clinton 2 66 3 66 4 66 5 Average, 140 lbs. 122 lbs. 118 lbs. 114 lbs. 198 lbs. 120 2-5 lbs. HAZARD'S REGISTER OF PENNSYLVANIA. DEVOTED TO THE PRESERVATION OF EVERY KIND OF USEFUL INFORMATION RESPECTING THE STATE. VOL. XV.--NO. 13. EDITED BY SAMUEL HAZARD. PHILADELPHIA, MARCH 28, 1835. EDUCATION SYSTEM. REPORT Of the Secretary of the Commonwealth and Superin- SECRETARY'S OFFICE, 2 GENTLEMEN No. 377. this law, from the ambiguity and obscurity of its provisions, which are thought worthy of the notice of the Legislature. By the first section it is provided, "that every ward, township, and borough, within the several school divisions, shall each form a school district." Some of Is each ward of the boroughs are divided into wards. one of these boroughs to constitute a district? or is the whole borough included in one? In York and Reading, each ward was taken to be a district; and this seems to the superintendent to be the correct interpretation of By the seventeenth section of the act to establish a this part of the law. In Harrisburg, which consists of general system of education, passed on the 1st day of 2 wards, the borough was considered as but one district. April, 1834, the Secretary of the Commonwealth is reAccording to the fifth section, "the appropriations quired as Superintendent of the Common Schools, to made by the joint meeting shall be considered part of "Prepare and submit an annual report to the Legisla- the authorized estimates of county expenditures, and ture, containing a statement of the condition of the shall be levied and collected in the usual manner."— Common Schools, estimates and accounts of expendi- It also provides, that to constitute a joint meeting, at tures of the school moneys, plans for the improvement least two of the county commissioners, and a majority of the common school system, and all such matters re- of the delegates of the school districts in each division, lating to his office of Superintendent, and to the conshall be required." By the sixth section, if a majority cerns of the common schools, as he shall deem it exof the joint meeting refuse to make appropriations for pedient to communicate." The present report must common schools, those who may have voted in the af necessarily be confined to a statement of what has been firmative, being the minority of the delegates, are emdone towards organizing the system created by this powered to fix the amount of tax to be raised by the disact, and of the difficulties that have occurred in the tricts which they represent. How is this tax to be leconstruction of the law, so far as they have come with vied and collected? It is not an appropriation made by in the notice of the superintendent. The condition of the joint meeting, for the commissioners have nothing the schools, and the cost of maintaining them, cannot to do with it, and therefore it does not come within the be known, till reports shall be received from the in- provisions of the fifth section. In this case, the disspectors, which the sixteenth section of the act re-tricts in the minority do not constitute a school division: quires them to make on or before the first Monday in November. The duty enjoined by the twenty-seventh section on the Secretary of the Commonwealth, was attended to; and copies of the act were sent to the sheriff of each county in the State. The notice required by the nineteenth section, of the share to which each division might be entitled of the appropriation of seventy-five thousand dollars, made by the State, was prepared in August last, and pub. lished, agreeably to the provisions of the law, in every county of the Commonwealth in which there was a newspaper, except Mifflin and Juniata. The county of Juniata having constituted a part of Mifflin in the year 1828, when the last enumeration of the taxables in the State was made, it was not known what number was in each. This fact having been ascertained in November, the requisite notice was then given to these divisions also. their delegates act independently of the representatives of the county, and without their concurrence. It is expressly provided, in the seventh section, that sums, which the districts acting separately and independently of the divisions, shall resolve to raise for school purposes, "shall be collected as township or borough rates and levies are by law collected." The superintendent has therefore, in answer to inquiries upon this point, stated his opinion to be, that this tax is to be collected in the same way. Some of the supervisors however, in accordance with the advice of counsel, as it is said, have refused to collect it; and in some of the counties it has been assessed, and is intended to be collected, like county rates and levies. The seventh section provides, that, "within twenty days after such joint meeting of the delegates as aforesaid, or at such time as such joint meeting shall fix and determine, if said delegate meeting shall have determined to make an appropriation as aforesaid, the peo. ple of the several school districts shall assemble, &c. The enumeration of 1828 being the last made under the authority of the State, was taken as the ratio by Meetings of the people in the districts have been held which the appropriation of seventy-five thousand dol- at times and places appointed by the minority of the lars was apportioned among the several school divisions. delegates, in those counties in which the joint meetings The share to which each is entitled, according to refused to make appropriations. Many of these meet. this appointment, appears by the table hereto appended.ings agreed to raise sums in addition to the amount Reports of the proceedings of the delegate meetings held on the first Tuesday of November last, have been received from all the counties in the State, except Clearfield, Columbia, Greene and Montgomery. The results of these proceedings are stated in the table. Some difficulties have arisen in the construction of which their delegates had resolved should be levied.— The language of the law does not authorize these proceedings, and the collection of these additional sums may be successfully resisted. This will produce great hardship in some of the districts, in which they mainly rely upon the sums they expect thus to raise for the support of their schools. All which is respectfully submitted. JAMES FINDLAY, Secretary of the Com. and Sup. of Commun Schools. |