Halpins of Wicklow, etc. - Part 4

[Shanachai]

Part 2.

The Wicklow Newsletter, September 30th, 1865.

Correspondence.

To The Editor of the Wicklow Newsletter.

Sir - A Correspondent has sent you a letter from the Times relative to the Alkali Works.  I now enclose another to show how destructive the fumes from such works may be, and which also incidentally proves Alkali Works to be more pernicious than Copper Works, or they would not have been the first to be regulated by Act of Parliament.  Lord Derby's Bill would be, no doubt (if possible to carry it into effect) of great service in particularly abating the nuisance but when we see the great facility with which the laws are evaded, which profess to compel railways to burn coke, and manufacturer to consume their own smoke, one cannot hope that the Alkali Regulation Act will be enforced.  The great works set up near Newton, in Lancashire, by the Messrs Merspratt, at an enormous expense, were, I believe, taken down; the costs of the lawsuits with Sir John Gerard and others being found too ruinous to fight against.  Now I think every person residing within a certain distance of the projected works should serve notice upon the projectors, that they will seek for damages.  It may not be too late to stop a scheme which will, if carried out, be more injurious to the Town of Wicklow, than people, not conversant with such matters, can be aware of. 

There is another subject of a somewhat similar nature to which I may take this opportunity to bring before the notice of the inhabitants of Wicklow viz, the attempt now being made to [open a mine near] Ashford.  Should it succeed, [its pollutants] must flow into the Vartry, [poisoning the reservoir] and destroying all the fishing in the lough and at the mouth of the river, as it did at Arklow.  Had the proprietors of the land and the fisheries in the Vale of Ovoca, taken the matter up in time, the miners could have been compelled to dispose of their poison in some other manner, at whatever cost.

I am, Sir, only A Neighbour.  September 28th, 1865.

To The Editor Of The Times.

Sir - I see that your columns are open to some communications on the subject of copper smoke; I venture to hope that you will afford room for a few lines from one who can prove the immensity of the evil caused by that smoke.  I lately sat upon a committee for the new assessment of tenements to poor and county rates in Glamorganshire; the valuation of hundreds of acres in the neighbourhood of Swansea had to be reduced by one half, as young stock cannot be reared at all, and cows and horses kept upon the grass soon die of salivation.  I reside seven miles from any copper works.  Even at that distance the smoke reaches me; and, finding that a large wood of 400 acres was pining, I sent specimens of it to one of the most eminent analytical chemists in London.  The reply was that ''the specimens gave sulphuric acid and recognizable quantities of arsenic.''  I calculate that the surface of more than 20,000 acres of land in the neighbourhood of Swansea and Neath is now undergoing a gradual process of destruction from copper smoke; and this, that about half-a-dozen gentlemen - for the trade is in very few hands - may make enormous profits at the cost of their neighbours.  It is well known that for 35 years not an effort has been made on the part of the copper smelters to mitigate the evil, and every invention calculated to afford such a result when offered to them has been rejected.  The state of the law, also, which makes it incumbent upon a plaintiff to fix the damage upon some particular work when an action is brought, has hitherto protected them.  It has just been announced by the owner of one of our leading copper smelters - the only one, I think, possessing landed property of any importance in the county of Glamorgan - that he has discovered and adopted a method of smelting by which more than two-thirds of the poisonous vapours are caught and even rendered profitable.  I trust therefore, that Parliament will now interfere and take the matter up, as they did in the case of alkali works, and thus save the estates of your humble servant and others from gradual but certain destruction.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant, N. Edwards Vaughan, Rheola, Vale of Neath, September 6.

[Shanachai]

The Wicklow Newsletter, October 7th, 1865.

Correspondence.

Chemical and Smelting Works.

To the Editor of the Wicklow Newsletter:

Sir - Had "A Neighbour'' been better informed on the subject of his letter, in your last impression, he would have hesitated before, if not altogether refrained from, rushing into print regarding some matters on which it is evident he wants some enlightenment.  He states that ''Lord Derby's Bill would be, no doubt (if possible to carry it into effect), of great service in partially abating the nuisance; but when we see the great facility with which the laws are evaded, which profess to compel railways to burn coke, and manufacturers to consume their own smoke, one cannot hope that the Alkali Regulation Act will be enforced.'' 

It is a trite saying, but not the less true that ''one fact is worth a thousand arguments,'' and if ''A Neighbour'' will refer to the fourth section of that Act he will find that ''Every Alkali work shall be carried on in such a manner as to secure the condensation to the satisfaction of the Inspector, derived from his own examination, of not less than 95% of the muriatic acid evolved, under a penalty of, in the first conviction, not exceeding £50; and of every offence after, not exceeding £100.'' 

So much for the provisions; now for the results of the Act.  Let him, therefore, further refer to the ''First Annual Report by the Government Inspector, Dr. Angus Smith, of the proceedings under the Act, during the year 1864,'' and he will find that ''the actual condensation, per cent., was 98.72; the average escape of acid, 1.28% over the whole of the United Kingdom... That there was no conviction under the Act; no obstruction on the part of the Manufacturers;'' but on the contrary - that while it was believed that it would take two or three years to bring every work to a compliance with the demands of the Act, it was gratifying to be able to say that ''this result had been brought about in the first year, and no less pleasing to add that the success in many cases had been more complete than had been anticipated.''  Besides, Lord Derby, when commenting on that report in the House of Lords, on the 22nd of May last, declared that the facts therein detailed were ''remarkable and satisfactory'', and the result ''gratifying.'' 

From these facts, therefore, it must be obvious to anyone that ''A Neighbour'' has been somewhat hasty in his assumptions as to the inefficacy of the Act.  But, if further proof is necessary, the projectors of the Works in question have the permission of Dr. Smith, as well as of Dr. Percy, Lecturer on Metallurgy, at the Royal School of Mines - the best authorities on the subject in the kingdom - for stating that by the patent processes which are to be adopted, ''the nuisance can be wholly suppressed.''  In fact, the sulphurous acid gas, instead of being evolved as at Swansea, will be too valuable to throw away; instead it will be fully utilized.

As to railways being compelled to burn coke, it will be found that there is no law to make them do so.  They, or any manufacturer, not consuming their own smoke, are accruing unnecessary losses; they could avoid this by very simple arrangements, and be large gainers by the improvement.

As to the Vartry being poisoned by any trifling driblet which may flow into it from the Mine referred to, it is very doubtful; the true cause of the scantiness of fish in the lough and the river is the conversion of the harbour into an open cesspool for the sewage of the town and the vessels frequenting it.  Proper sanitary arrangements might in a great degree obviate this also.

It is very disheartening to find that in the present advanced stage of the world's civilization and enlightenment, whether from some peculiar idiosyncrasy, or whatever cause, there is in Ireland not only an ignorance of but an indifference to learning the right means of developing its industrial resources - that, even among the talented and estimable of the rank and wealth of the community, there is a disposition to pooh-pooh, no matter how practical, every project.  More particularly disheartening is it to find that the smells of the manufactory or the workshop can motivate some to object to the founding of an industry which would raise the labourer from earning one shilling a day, to the position of an artisan earning three to five shillings a day.  Make two traders thrive where one starved before, and otherwise conduce to the material prosperity of the country.

No wonder that Fenianism stalks through the land, and other disturbing influences exist to arrest the investment of capital in many of its languishing resources, when those who should be the foremost to further its advancement, are so apathetic, so wanting in that co-operative and energetic action which is the mainspring of the onward progress of our near neighbours in England and Scotland.

I am, Sir, A Projector, October 5th, 1865.

[Shanachai]

The Wicklow Newsletter, Saturday, October 14th, 1865.

Editorial

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A series of letters relative to the proposed erection of Alkali Works on a site called ''the Island,'' lying about three quarters of a mile from this town, on the property of Earl Fitzwilliam, have recently been published in this newspaper.  The correspondence commenced with a letter complaining of the want of excursion trains and other facilities for tourists to visit the scenic beauties of our neighbourhood, or to enjoy a healthy promenade on the Murrough.  Or, if so inclined, to take a dip in the sea available here at any hour of the tide - safe, clean and comfortable.  Incidentally, alluding to the splendid building sites, both on the Fitzwilliam and Corporation properties, Wicklow is all the more desirable owing to the absence of local taxation, a burden heavily felt in some of those towns where the inhabitants have been fortunate enough to have themselves placed under the provisions of the ''Towns Improvement Act.'' 

But, lest any should be tempted in consideration of these advantages to venture thither, another correspondent fully alive to the advantage of an unadulterated atmosphere, and not one, evidently, who would wish to see the suburbs of the town draperied in the smoke of a smelting-house chimney, cautiously warns the inhabitants against these impending evils; which, he says, will be calculated to destroy the pure and healthy atmosphere for which Wicklow has been remarkable, render the neighbouring pastures useless, and destroy every prospect of Wicklow ever becoming a desirable resort for Summer visitors.  We can hardly think it possible but that this description of the evils attendant on the presence of these works is exaggerated.  A legislative enactment stipulates that at least 95% of the muriatic acid evolved must be consumed, and fixes a heavy penalty for non-compliance.  And this is not evaded.  It is actually a source of profit for the manufacturers to comply with the law; and setting even this aside, Government Inspectors are appointed to see the law carried out. 

There are few towns in which the expenditure of capital is more needed than in this; and, now that the Town Commissioners have set themselves earnestly to provide the means of reconstructing our harbour and deepening the river, we cannot wish to see any obstacles thrown in the way of erecting works which would be the source of employment to the many able-bodied men who, more than half idle, are depending on the odd jobs that turn up throughout the year, for the support of themselves and their families.  At the same time we confess that no amount of pecuniary advantage to be derived from the proximity of these works should in the least degree weigh in their favour, if it can be unmistakably shown that the health of the inhabitants of our town should in the least suffer.  Possibilities should not alone be taken into account in offering opposition to schemes calculated to increase the commercial prosperity of the town, which we believe would benefit more by the increased trade, which a good harbour and manufactories and works, such as these, would bring to it, than by the Summer visits of thrice the number of sojourners who have hitherto patronized it.  We consider the letter of ''A Projector'', published in a previous number of this paper, so explanatory on this matter as to be almost convincing to ourselves, and, without offering any decided opinion either way, we would recommend the matter to the serious consideration of those who still have it in their power to do what is best for the interests of the town, when they shall clearly see their way in the matter.

[Shanachai]

The Wicklow Newsletter, Saturday, October 14, 1865.

Editorial.

In the midst of scenery which, in its peculiar richness of verdure and wide expanse of sea and land view, is not surpassed even in Ireland, Wicklow has long been hovering between stagnation and progress.  Tourists have written up places not half as beautifully situated, and speculators have converted them into Brays and Bundorans.  Active MPs have advanced the claims of the seaports they represent, to have hundreds of thousands of pounds laid out on their harbours, and they have got their claims allowed, while Wicklow only - declared by all the practical men out of Parliament, to be the best situation for a harbour, from Liverpool to Cork - is still only hoping. 

It is, however, gratifying to find that our neighbourhood is appreciated.  That the value of property is steadily on the increase, and that any one who purchases and improves, finds his money fructifying, was shown by His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin purchasing the Demesne of Broomfield at a price which, we heard, was considerably more than the proprietor had given a few years before.  Had it been publicly offered for sale it would, probably, have produced still more; as, in several instances, we know of some hundreds more being got by auction than the property had been offered at previously.  The many thousands His Grace is expending on ''Beautiful Broomfield'', shows we may expect to be constantly honoured by his residing amongst us.  It is now stated that another and larger property (Cronroe) has changed hands, at a price which makes the people who are always going to buy property, but find it too dear, hold up their hands in astonishment.

[Shanachai]

The Wicklow Newsletter, Saturday, October 7th, 1865.

Correspondence

.

To the Editor of the Wicklow Newsletter.

Sir - Now that the necessity for sanitary improvement so strongly urges itself upon us, may I beg through your columns to draw the attention of those whose duty it is, or whose comfort and health render it necessary to look after such matters, to the state of the passage leading from the Mall to the Quay in this town.  Even in this dry weather, filthy matter exudes from the yards over the way, and nasty sights offend the eye, equaled only in nastiness by the stench that assails the olfactories.  Can nothing be done?

Yours, Health.


The Wicklow Newsletter, Saturday, October 14th, 1865.

Sir - As you have noticed the condition of other parts of this town, I beg you will also direct attention to the state of Strand Street, on the Murrough, and its environs.  I cannot describe it; anyone of good constitution, and not easily deterred by filth, can examine for themselves; and to add still further to its unwholesomeness it is so built that there is no proper sewer or fall for the water.

I am, Sir, &c., A Sufferer.

Summary of the News.

A Genius - An extraordinary genius has been discovered in Ireland, in the person of a lad of sixteen years of age.  The lad has constructed, entirely unaided, a piece of machinery in full motion, occupying a ground space of some six or eight feet square, and driven by a small waterwheel about four feet in diameter.  On a close inspection it was found that the various wheels, cogs, cranks, and spindles were entirely wood, and were performing simultaneously the varied operations of pumping, churning, hammering on an anvil, operating perpendicular, diagonal and circular saw, &c., but so cleverly adapted to these respective uses that the whole was driven with the most perfect and easy motion by the water-wheel already alluded to.  The lad is the son of a blacksmith living in Knockrath, county Wicklow, and has never been ten miles from his home.

[Shanachai]

Part One.

The Wicklow Newsletter, Saturday, June 17th 1865.

The Forty-third Report of the Inspector-General of Prisons has just now been published.  It is a voluminous document, containing a variety of statistical details on the subject of the prisons.  The most gratifying point which we notice is in reference to the diminution in the number of offenders, which has been of late years a subject of congratulation.  In 1863 there appeared to be a slight reaction, but last year the downward tendency was resumed.  In the number of prisoners confined there has been a total decrease of 1,576 persons, and in the number of committals the decrease is 1,070.  The number of debtors has diminished by 250; the average daily number of prisoners by 186.  There is a proportionate reduction in juvenile criminality, the committals having decreased by 213, and the individuals by 216.  A remarkable fact, which had been adverted to in former reports, and is still to be noticed, is the ratio of crime to the religious classification of the population.  Members of the Established Church number 3,312, or 10 per cent; Presbyteriansm 1,094, or rather over 3 per cent; and Roman Catholics, 28,256, or 86 per cent.  These proportions have been substantially maintained for the last three years, the only variation being a slight increase in the Presbyterian per-centages.*


One of the most esteemed of the Dublin clergy, the Rev. E. S. Abbott, Rector of St. Mary's Parish, and Sub-Dean of the Chapel Royal, committed suicide on Monday last, in a fit of temporary insanity.  The evidence at the inquest showed that he had been for some time subject to fits of despondency.  So late, however, at the previous day he took part in the services of his church, and was out through the city on the morning of his death.  About one o'clock he returned home, and in a few minutes after was no more.  The funeral of the above lamented clergyman took place on Thursday last, and was most numerously attended by the principal clergy and gentry of Dublin.  In the address delivered previous to the internment of the body in Mount Jerome Cemetery, by the Rev. Mr. Gibson, the melancholy circumstances attending his death was attributed to his being involved in pecuniary embarrassments through his generosity in supplying the wants of others.

Viscount Gort is elected to fill the vacancy in the Irish representative Peerage.  The noble Lord is in his 75th year, and has experienced in a large degree the vicissitudes of life.  Succeeding to a fine estate he was created a Peer in 1816, but he burthened it with a heavy debt in raising up a princely mansion in the demesne of Loughcoote, and soon after the opening of the Encumbered Estates Court, he was literally left without an acre.  For several years he managed to exist, no one could well tell how, until 1860 when a poor widower he married a widow with an income stated at twelve to fifteen thousand a year, and now he is sent to represent his Peers in the first assembly in the world.  When he attempted to remonstrate against the sacrifice of his estates in the Encumbered Court - and they were sacrificed - he would hardly be listened to, and now the highest and the noblest in the land must listen to him whenever he chooses to speak.  The story of his life has a moral worth studying.  Debt dragged him down, but a lucky turn of the wheel of fortune raised him again to the surface.

[Shanachai]

Part Two.

The oyster fishery at Sligo was very successful during the past year.  Sir Robert Gore Booth, received over £2,000 for ''Lissadrills,'' and as many as 853,000 were exported from another fishery.

At the Head Police-office, Dublin, on Monday last, a man named Doyle was fined £1 or in default one month's imprisonment for beating his father.

At the Blanchardstown Petty Sessions on Monday last, a farmer named Kennedy was fined in a penalty of two guineas with £1 costs for unhorning cattle.  Two men who assisted him in the cruel operation were fined one shilling each, with costs of the same amount.  It is to be hoped the practice will now be given up.

On Friday last a fine young woman was murdered at Palmerstown, about five miles from Dublin, on the Ashbourne road, by a man named Kilkenny.  Kilkenny wanted to marry her but she preferred another lover who had gone to America, and from whom she had got a letter with a photograph a few days before.  This made Kilkenny madly jealous, and he smothered the unfortunate girl in a muddy ditch, but his conscience wouldn't let him rest and he came into Dublin and gave himself up to the police.  Kilkenny was in rather good circumstances, but the girl's parents are not so.  He is fully committed for trial.

Some Bailiffs who went to Limerick Barracks a few days ago, to arrest a Captain of the Limerick Militia were rather roughly handled by the men of his company, and while the melee was going on the gallant Captain made his escape.

The herring fishery has commenced at Howth and Arklow favourably.

*All italics are mine unless otherwise stated.

[I have been asked to present this material in chronological order, or to arrange it according to subject only.  I've deliberately chosen not to do that because I don't want my selections to overly shape a reader's impressions one way or another.  As I move from a general presentation of the kind of news Wicklow residents were reading in the 1860s and 70s, to a more focused selection of stories that impinged directly on the Wicklow people and specifically on members of the Halpin family, I'm hoping to shed a little light on the motives and personalities of those involved in the various local disputes and initiatives, and to demonstrate why so many members of the Halpin family - or the Halpin clan, if you like - adopted relatively extreme and somewhat confrontational political positions.]

[Shanachai]

The Wicklow Newsletter, Saturday, June 17th 1865.

The Murrough Of Wicklow.

To the Editor of the Wicklow Newsletter.

Sir - The fright some of us have been in at the proposed conversion of our health-giving Murrough into a stinking depot for chemicals, abated considerably on Tuesday when we heard the representative of the reported ''Company'' admit that this wonderful combination had no advertised existence, and that he could give no names of Directors.  He said also that he could not promise an outlay of £5,000, though nothing less than six acres of ground would be enough for this wonderful speculation.Of course, in this age of company projections, we can only conclude that this gentleman wants to get a lease of our Murrough, and then try to form a company to do something with it.  The papers are full of such schemes, which, as our Law Courts show, generally end in litigation, and loss to the parties who have any money to lose.  At present my idea is, that we shall not see the project brought forward by parties who will give any guarantees, or pay a deposit to be forfeited if the undertaking is not carried out.  It is well, however, to let your readers know that there is no doubt the most baneful results are felt by persons employed in chemical works.  Since the meeting I have inquired if Lord Derby's Act has amended the destructive results to trees and vegetation, clothes hung out to dry, and to persons at all inclined to chest infections.  I find that the Act is evaded, and that people do not like being constantly at law.  All the inconveniences I have described are still felt by persons living even one or two miles away.  Everton was once the chosen residence of the chief merchants of Liverpool.  Now Aiybwith is selected, and Everton is left to the Alkali Works.  I feel certain that while there is a chance of making Wicklow a prosperous resort for visitors - a second Brighton as it ought to be - we should discourage any manufactures, or utter desecration of the Murrough by tall chimneys; but, if we even abandon it with regret and in utter discouragement, let us not have a trade carried on which banishes all other less objectionable branches of industry.

I am, Sir, yours &c., Francis Wakefield, Midland Hotel, Derby, June 15, 1865.

[Shanachai]

The Wicklow Newsletter, Saturday, June 17th, 1865.

Married

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June 14 at St. Nicholas Church, Galway, by the Honourable and Rev. Wm. Wingfield, the Rev. Wm. G. Ormsby, Rector of Arklow, County Wicklow, to Anne, only daughter of Henry Hodgson, Esq., of Merlin Park, County Galway, and Ballylaine, County Wicklow.

Wicklow Town Commissioners.

A special meeting of the Wicklow Town Commissioners was held in the Court House, Wicklow, on Tuesday last at 2 o'clock pm.  The Chairman, George Wynne, Esq., presiding, to meet Mr. Mackee, the applicant for a site for Alkali Works, to receive information from him relative to the company for whom he seeks the site and other particulars necessary to be known.  It appears that nearly six acres will be required for the purposes of the intended company, but Mr. Mackee declined giving a positive guarantee for more than £3,000, but stated that in all probability a sum of £10,000 would be laid out within twelve months, and therefore he would not consent to take less than the entire of the plot already referred to.  The Commissioners did not come to any decision, and the matter stands over for further consideration.