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The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803-1842) (about)
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Cite: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article628458
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SYDNEY
Sitting Magistrate for the ensuing Week-S.
LORD, Esq.
Assize of Bread for the ensuing Week, to remain
the same as before.
Average Prices of Articles at last Saturday's
Market:
Wheat 8s. 7¼d. per bushel; oats 6s. per ditto;
maize 7s. per ditto ; potatoes 8s. per cwt ;
fowls 5s. 6d. per couple ; and eggs 3s. per
dozen.
The Toll-Gates between Sydney and Parramatta, which were Lett by Auction for one year, on Wednesday last, in the Public Maiket Place,
were knocked down to Mr. Edward Redmond, he being the highest bidder, for the sum of £390.
In consequence of a report being made to the Coroner on Sunday morning last, of the death of Mr. James John Grant having been possibly oc-
casioned by mal-treatment from his own man ser- vant, an Inquest was immediately assembled, to whom it appeared, that notwithstanding the de- ceased had some days previous to his death been engaged in a scuffle with the servant, yet that his demise was by no means imputable to any hurt he could have received there from; - Their Verdict
was in consequence, Death by the Visitation of
God.
An arrival from Hawkesbury has just informed us, that as Mr. and Mrs. S. of Richmond, were returning home from Windsor in a cart, one of the wheels name in contact with a stump, by which acci- dent the riders were precipitated to a distance suffi- cient to escape the overturning of the nether wheel, which in its fall came so closely into contact with the head of Mr. S. as to have effectually relieved him from any corpeous exuberancy that might have dignified his temples, had any such existed; when fortunately not being the case, Mr. S. escaped
unhurt.
COMMUNICATION.-At a Meeting: of Cord- wainers, which was held on the twenty fifth of Oc- tober, at the sign of the Lost, Mr. Barnaby Bristle took the chair, and opened the business of the meeting with the following address :
Brethren,
We are called together for the purpose of consi- dering the best means of rescuing the profession of shoe-making from the contempt that hovers over it, and is ready to fall, as would a hammer, upon the very sole of our reputation.
The antiquity of our order is undoubted; for although that slippers were not introduced into England until 1570, and shoes of the present con- venient form were little known till the year 1633. Yet sandals were invented almost as soon as feet ; the Egyptians wore them at the time of Pharoah ; the Trojans wore them; and had Achiles, who was killed so long ago as 2996 years by the wound of an arrow in the heel, wore good stout shoes in- stead of sandals, he might have lived much longer. The Chinese, who draw their figures from nature, never omit the sandal, and as it is known that they admit of no innovation in their manners, customs, and habits, so it must be neeessarilyy in erred that they wore sandals from the first creation as an Empire, which is admitted even by those who
envy their antiquity to have been above 4000 years ago ; though the Chinese themselves, who ought to be the best judges, claim a seniority commencing many thousand years before the de- luge, since which desolation 3468 years have elapsed. Unwilling to occupy the time of this
august assembly by multiplying evidences of our existence as an order from the earliest ages of
antiquity, I shall nevertheless call to recollection who and what we are, not only as the defenders of soles against the attack of thorns and briers, but us, the professors of an art which has been dis- tinguished by the countenance of a Saint and Martyr, of whose benign vistage we cannot suf- ficiently endeavour to evince a worthiness.
We are all acquainted, that our profession in
this Colony has of late years flourished the more,
on account of the importation being a good deal abandoned, which could only happen from a sup- position, that those of the craft who had sojourned hither were capable of supplying their fellow- colonists ; and it must to our present shame be ac- knowledged, that as good shoes were once turned out of hand as need be taken off a last ; but, what a falling off is now observable ! In the shops of Sydney are exposed to sale poor flimsey immita- tions of our art, unworthy of a rank among the most humble productions of the second-hand pro-
fessors of Field-lane ; and those at a price that might afford the best materials, and the soundest
workmanship. The falling off that I have no-
ticed, however gradual, has at length approached its nadir, and shoes thaf sell for twelve or fourteen
shillings are in general worth less than half the
money, and leave the purchaser in doubt whether the materials or the labour is the more contempti- ble. By so careless a performance of our duty to the Public who supports us, we involve a question that has both a side and an end to it ; namely, can
the Public do better withour us than we can
do without the Public:--to which question the answer of course will be the end. How we might do without the Public I shall first consider, by imagining a Colony of shoumakers only ; whose avocation being the same, they could be of no use to one another ; until 10-12ths, abandoning the profession for other employments, should consti- tute a public like that in which we at present live, and without which it would be impossible, as shoe-makers, that we should live at all. Upon the
other hand, how are the Public to do without us? Why, very badly, most undoubtedly ; for as shoes or substitutes for such have always been in use even
among barbarians, they could not possibly be dispensed with by a Public, the poorest orders of whom, speaking generally, are at least, attentive to the decency of their apparel. But, by charging extravagant prices for our manufacture, shall we not drive the poor to the necessity of contriving something in the place or shoes, when they can- not afford to purchase them ! Do we not know, that were substitutes once adopted, it would be difficult to have them laid aside again, and con- sequently that it would be belter now to work for a fair and moderate price, with the advantage of constant employment, than little by little accus- tom the poor to do without us, and ultimately have to content ourselves with half-employment, at abated prices, which must follow of course, as the best and cheapest workman then only will be dealt with? Yet, my brethren, I assure you that excessive charges for an indifferent commodity al- though very desirable while submitted to, is one of those abuses which must in time correct itself, when its effects will fall like a lap stone upon you, and
one half of you will be obliged to renounce the most ancient profession in existence, to indure ascanty sub-
sistence to the rest.
Having thus briefly considered the state of the question as far as it relates to the impolicy of ex- acting exorbitant prices from those who cannot afford to pay them, I shall as briefly turn to the style and workmanship, which as much regards the higher class as durability and cheapness does the lower. If, then, those shoes that are publicly ex- posed for sale in the shops are to be taken as specimens, what opinion can the lease experienced judge of a shoe entertain upon the subject? If after examining 20 or 30 pair, he is obliged to put up with one that can scarcely be considered half finished, it must be remembered that he does so from necesity, and not from choice, and that submission is an act of compulsion, from which he will not fail to relieve himself as soon as occasion offers.--- He not only determines to wear as few shoes of co- lonial manufacture as he can possibly help, but en- courages the importation by representing what has
of late beccome too much a fact, that a good shoe is scarcely possible to be purchased at any price ; and
that shoes of the most contemptible quality cost considerably more than ought in justice to be de- manded for the best kind. Thus then, by encou-
raging importation on the one side, and by the in- troduction of substitutes on the other, our larours will firstly be out of all proportion ; and then we shall find to ourcost, that we cannot be in epen-
cent of a Public, but that a Public may be driven to the extent of declaring its independency of us.
Mr. Bristle was supported by Mr. Stack, Mr. Cooper, and other independant members, who by
their ordinary practices have evinced a desire to sus- tain the order of St. Crispin. The following Resolutions were accordingly put
and carried:
Resolved.--1st. That all good and true members of
this our ancient order turn no work out of hand that shall not be worthy of examination.
2d. That a protest be forthwith entered against all
pretenders to the art, who evince their ignorance
thereof by the production of work that will not bear inspection. 3d. That all shopkeepeps be requested to aid in
the enforcement of the 2d resolution, by purcha- sing no shoes for sale but such as will bear exa-
mination ; and further, that they content them- selves with a fair and moderate profit upon the first cost ; without which the blame of exorbi-
tancy may improperly attach to the makers, in- stead of the vendors ; and the order thereby
sustain injury, as well in their reputation as their
interests.
4th. That the thanks of the meeting be voted to
the chairman, for his lively serife and true expla-
nation of our interests ; and also, to all the
members composing this assembly, who shall adopt his counsels. And lastly, That any member infracting the
principles emanating from the representation so wisely laid down shall be expelled, and sent to Coventry forthwith.
These resolutions were passed nem. con. and after
a free circulation of the bumper, the members re- tired with a determination to support their professional character to the best of their ability, in honour of St. Crispin.
The following narrative, however incredible it may appear, is copied literally from a respectable
London Paper, and is further authenticated by a Gentleman now resident in the Colony, who had a long knowledge of the man of whom such extra-
ordinary circumstances are related.---" A few days ago died at Spotforth, Knareshorough, aged 94, John Metcalf, commonly called Blind Jack. He was born at Knaresborough in the year 1717, lost his sight when only four years old, soon after which he was instructed to play on the violin, and afterwards attended as a musician at the Queen's Head, High Harrowgate, for many years, and was the first person who set up a sheel carriage
for the conveyance of company to and from the places of public resort in the neigbourhood. In the year 1745, he engaged to serve as musician in
Colonel Thornton's volunteers, and was taken pri-
soner at the battle of Falkirk. Being soon re- leased he returned to Knaresborough and com- menced common carrier between that town and York, and often served as a guide in intricate roads, over the forest, during the night, or when the tracks were covered with snow ; nor was any person more eager in the chace, which he would follow either on foot or on horseback, with the greatest avidity. Strange as this may appear to those that can see, the employment he followed for more than forty years was still more extraordi- nary, and one of the last to which we could sup- pose a bind man would ever turn his at- tention -- that of projecting and contracting for the making of high roads, building bridges, houses, &c ! With no other assistance than a long staff in his hand, he would ascent the precipice and explore the valley, and investigate the extent of each, its form and situation. The plans which he made were done by a method peculiar to him- self ; and which he could not well convey the meaning of to others. His descendants are four children, twenty grand children, and ninety great, and great great grand children.
A method of stopping leaks under water, which has been discovered by a labourer in His Majes- ty's yard, at Plymouth, is likely to bepatenized by the Board of Admiralty. In August last, in consequence of an Admiralty order, the inventor attended on board the flag ship La Haminaz, and explained his plan to the perfect satisfaction of the professional men and Naval Officers. From what we can learn, a box of large dimensions is
to be sunk, placed over the leak, and, in the first instance, to be confined to the ship's side by a rope passing round the ship. It is then secured by screws, and, the water being pumped out of the box, a man descents in perfect security, cuts out the broken place, puts in a new piece, and caulks it. In the present state of his plan, the inventor says that it will answer only from the aft of the zen-channel to the fore part of the fore- castle of a ship ; but there is little doubt that the plan will be improved on, and that it may
hereafter be as successfully applied to the boys and buttocks of ships as to the space mentioned aboye.