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TI I E
MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE,
E stablish ed. J u l y , 1 8 3 9 ,
3Y FREEMAN HUNT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
V O L U M E X IX .
DECEMBER,
1848.
N U M B E R VI.
*
CONTENTS OF NO. VI., VOL. XIX.
ARTICLES.
A .R T.
PAGE
I. M OBILE A N D OHIO R A IL R O A D . By F r a n c is B. C l a r k , Esq., o f Alabama....................... 579
II. C O T T O N : A N D T H E C O TT O N T R A D E . By C . F. M ’ C a y , Professor in University o f
Georgia......................................................................................... ............................................... ..............591
H I. TH E L A W OF SICKNESS, A N D ITS AP PL IC A T IO N T O H E A L T H IN SU R AN CE AN D
B E N EFIT SOCIETIES. By G e o r g e W . S a v a g e , Esq., President o f the Eagle Life and
Health Insurance C o m p a n y .... * .....................
601
IV . PROTECTION OF VESSELS FROM LIG H TN IN G. By J o s e p h J o h n so n , M. D., o f South
Carolina........................................................................................................................................................ 60QV . CO M M ERCIAL CITIES OF EUROPE.— No. I X .-L I L L E .- A M I E N S ....................................... 614
VI. COM M ERCIAL CODE OF SPAIN .—N o. V II.— F o r m of C o n t r a c t — E n u m e r a t io n of
•
t h in g s w h i c h c a n b e
I n s u r e d — O b l ig a t io n s
w h ic h e x is t b e t w e e n t h e
I nsured
and
By A . N a s h , Esq., o f the N ew York Bar............................................... 619
VII. C O M M ER CIAL FA C IL IT IE S OF T H E AM E R IC A N C O N T IN E N T S : w i t h r e f e r e n c e
th e
U n d e r w r it e r s .
to th e
G e o g r a p h ic a l D iv is io n
P r o d u c t io n s ,
ney,
and
of
N orth
N a t u r a l E xch an g es,
and
or
S outh A m e r ic a ,
t h e ir
C o m m e r c ia l I n t e r c o u r s e .
S o il , C l i m a t e ,
By A . W
h it
E s q ., o f N e w Y o rk ........................................................................................................................................ 625
V m . M ASSAC H U SE TTS H UM ANE SO C IE T Y —L IF E -B O A T S . B y R . B. F o r b e s , Esq., Mer
chant, o f Massachusetts........... ............................................................................................. ................ 62T
MERCANTILE
LAW
CASES.
Marine Insurance— A Decision o f the British Chancery.................................................................................. 630
Liability o f Shipmasters for Detention o f Shippers’ Produce...........................................................................631
The Law o f W reck and Salvage...........................................................................................................................631
C O M M E R C I A L C H R O N I C L E AND R E V I E W ,
EMBRACING A FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL REVIEW OF THE UNITED STATES, ETC.,IL L U ST RAT ED
W IT H T A B L E S, F.TC.,AS FOLLOWS :
The Money Market—Imports and Exports o f New York for last Four Months— Specie M ovem en tImports and Exports of Specie at New York— Duties Collected and Sums Borrowed by the Govern
ment, with rates o f Exchange, and price o f United States Stocks—United States Stocks sold on
Foreign Account—Revenue and Expenditure o f the United States—Value o f Products—Operations
o f a Tariff—Import o f Grain and Flour into Great Britain—Demand for Capital in Railroad Invest
ments—The N ew England Railroads—Massachusetts Savings Banks—The Railroad Movement in
New York—Comparative value o f Real Estate in Boston and New York—Tolls o f the Erie Canal
for Ten Years—Erie Railroad— Area o f its Influence—Its importance as an Avenue for Western
Trade— Its Influence upon the supply o f Coal, etc., e tc........................................................................ 632-640
VOL. XXX.--- NO. VI.
37
578
C O N T E N T S O F N O . V I . , V O L . X IX
PACK
COMMERCIAL STATISTICS.
Crain, Meal, Flour, etc., Imported and Exported into and from Liverpool for last Eight Years............640
Liverpool Annual Corn Report.............................................................................................................................641
List o f Ships, etc., built by Brown & Bell from 1821 to 1848 ......................................................................... 642
Java Import and Export Trade in 1840-47......................................................................................................... 644
New Orleans exports o f Cotton and T obacco from 1822 to 1848.................................................................... 645
Extent o f the North-west Coast Fishery.—Number o f Ships touching at St. Helena................................. 645
Statistics o f the Early Commerce o f Salem, Mass.—Mercantile Marine o f Prussia............................... .. • 646
COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS.
Tariff o f Antigua o f 1848...................................................................................................................................... 647
Tariff and Trade o f M orocco................................................................................................................................ 648
Increase o f the German Zollverein duties......................................................................................................... 648
Regulations for the California and Oregon Mails..................................................... .........................................648
British Duty on Magnesia—Regulations o f Ships’ Stores............. .................................................................. 649
Landing o f Foreign Goods in England—A Regulation o f the British Board o f Customs..........................649
Drawback on Foreign Sugar in United States................................................................................................. 650
Importation o f Cattle in England : an Order in C o u n c il ............................................................................. 650
Removal o f Goods under Bond in England............................................. ....................................................... 650
NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
Buttermilk Channel, in Harbor o f New Y ork .................................................................................................... 651
Lights and Light-houses on the Coast o f France.............................................................................................. 652
Floating Lights in Prince’ s Channel.— Regulations for Vessels entering near Gibraltar............................653
New Life-boat.—Christmas Island.— W reck in Hollesley Bay....................................................................... 654
R A I L R O A D , CANAL, AND S T E A M B O A T S T A T I S T I C S .
Railroad System Suggested.— British Railroad Statistics................................................................................. 655
Railway Dividends in England.—Railroad Track Sprinkler........................................................................... 656
Railroads and Branches in the several States o f the United States............................................................... 657
Opening and closing o f the New York Canals from 1824 to 1848. ............................................................... 658
............................. 658
Steamboats in the United States in 1810.—India Rubber Car Springs.........................►
Foreign Railroad Iron.....................................................................................................................
659
J O U R N A L OF M I N I N G A N D M A N U F A C T U R E S .
First American Manufactory. By G eorge M oody , M .D ............................................................................ 659
Manual Dexterity in Manufactures.................................................................................. . •. ...........................6C0
Morals o f Manufacturing T ow ns.......................................................................................................................... 661
Origin o f Day & Martin’s Blacking.— Anti-Putrid Disinfecting Agent........................................................ 662
Ancient Mining on Lake Superior.— Artificial Minerals and Precious Stones............................................. 663
A New Process for Preserving Breadstuffs......................................... ..........................................................►. . 664
Bamford’ s Improved Stocking Fram e..................................................................................................................... 664
British Sales o f Copper Ore.—Raspberry Vinegar or Syrup........................................................... .............. 665
Experiments with Galvanized W ire and Hemp Ropes.—Electric Decompositions o f Metals.................... 665
Quicksilver Mines in California.—David’s Improved Razor........................................................................... 666
British Iron and Steel Trade.—Cultivation o f Cotton in India..................................................................... 666
J O U R N A L OF B A N K I N G , C U R R E N C Y
AND F I N A N C E .
The Revenue o f France in 1847-48................... .................................................................................................
Revenue o f Great Britain in 1847-48........................................................................................................ ..
Finances o f the Croton Acqueduct Board....................... ..................................................................................
Wealth o f New York City.—Taxation o f Ireland............................................................ .. ............................
MERCANTILE
667
668
668
669
MISCELLANIES.
The Literature and Statistics o f Commerce....................................................................................................... 670
Boston Mercantile Library Association. ••. ....................................................................................................... 673
The Sturgeon: Its Commercial V alue............................................................................................................... 674
The Ship Canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific. A Poem, by F rancis L ie b e r , Esq........................... 676
The T h ief and the Defaulter................................................................................................................................. 676
Merchant Princes.— Lectures on British Emigration.—The Honest Boy a Successful M erchant........... 677
Nature and Uses o f Money.—The New English Law o f Bankruptcy........................................................... 678
Dollars and Cents, Shillings and Pence.— Importation o f Rum in England................................................ 678
TIIE B OOK T R A D E .
Notices o f Forty New W orks, or N ew Editions........................................................ ............................ 679-686
H U N T ’S
MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND
COMMERCIAL REVIEW.
DECEM BER,
1848.
A r t . I . — M O B I L E A ND OHIO R A I L R O A D .
W h il e the cities o f the North and East are stretching their “ iron arms”
towards the Mississippi— and New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore are struggling in mighty rivalry with each other, which shall firsi
grasp, and appropriate the treasures o f that vast region— Charleston is
silently pushing her claim, and completing, step by step, the grand highway, which is to bear to her port the riches o f the great South-west. A l
ready she has advanced to the borders o f Alabama ; and, that nothing may
be lost, tributary branches are thrown northward into the fine agricul
tural districts of Tennessee, eventually to be extended to Nashville and
Memphis ; while the main trunk, after traversing the heart o f Alabama,
will pass through the capital o f Mississippi, and meet the “ Father o f
Waters” at Vicksburgh.
That this extended system o f railway, when completed, will increase
the commercial importance o f Charleston in an eminent degree, requires
no discussion; and it is equally plain that the interests of N ew Orleans
and Mobile— the two commercial cities o f the Gulf, and natural points of
shipment for the produce o f the great valley— will be materially affected
by the opening o f this new and rapid channel o f communication with the
seaboard. Even now, the direction o f trade is shaping to meet the new
condition; and we find, during the present season, that “ Alabama cot
tons” are for the first time regularly chronicled among the arrivals by rail
way, into Charleston and Savannah. Returning, North Alabama and
East Mississippi receive merchandise by the overland route from Charleston, and transport it from the present railroad terminus, many miles, bywagons ; often, to points immediately upon the waters emptying into M o
bile Bay, which are navigable by steamboats for several months of the
year. And this is but the beginning. The laws o f the Medes and Per
sians were not more inflexible than are the laws which govern trade.
Individual preferences, or State pride, avail nothing. The merchant who
waits for the uncertain winds o f heaven to waft his freighted barque to*
*
580
Mobile and Ohio Railroad.
her destined port, cannot compete in the raGe with him who employs om
nipotent steam t(5 transport his commodities into a harbor where he finds
the “ iron horse” waiting, ready harnessed, to draw them with lightning
speed to his very door.
Alabama, hitherto prolific in schemes o f internal improvement, has ac
complished nothing, save only a few miles o f railroad from Montgomery
eastward— a link in the great chain before mentioned, which is to drain
her of her wealth, to enrich and build up cities in more enterprising and
sagacious States. Superior to many, and second to none, o f her southern
sisters in the natural elements o f greatness, Alabama still languishes, and
her people groan under the burdens o f public debt and prospective tax
ation, while her resources remain undeveloped, and her principal city and
only seaport is fast going to decay 1
Such is the present position o f this great State ; but we have assurance
that a brighter day is about to dawn, and that Alabama, stimulated by the
example of her eastern neighbors, (and in spite o f the short-sighted and
illiberal policy o f her State rulers,) is shaking off the unaccountable
lethargy which has so long overpowered her, blighting like a mildew, and
eating into the very sources o f her vitality, and will soon enter upon a
new and more brilliant era o f her history. With a soil o f surpassing fer
tility— with mineral treasures o f incalculable value, scattered in varied
and lavish profusion throughout her territory, she only requires a vigorous
and well-directed system o f internal improvements to render them acces
sible, and place her at once in the front rank o f wealthy and powerful
States. The first and most important step in this system, may well be
characterized the great undertaking to connect the Gulf o f Mexico with
the Ohio and Upper Mississippi valleys, by means o f the Mobile and Ohio
Railroad.
The Gulf o f Mexico, from causes rapidly developing, is destined, ere
long, to become the theatre o f a new and extended commerce. The ap
plication o f steam to ocean navigation, while it has given a wonderful im
petus to the commerce o f the world, has also awakened a restless spirit
o f enterprise, that will not much longer brook the delay and hazard o f a
tedious voyage round Cape Horn to reach the Pacific, when a channel at
once safe and accessible can be created, which will cut off half the dis
tance at a blow. The growing importance of our possessions in Oregon,
and the large territory acquired by the Mexican war, will make it impera
tive upon our government to establish, without delay, some more safe and
expeditious route o f communication with that country; and we have good
reasons for believing that the subject is receiving, at this time, the atten
tion at their hands which its high importance demands. That a few years,
at farthest, will witness the completion o f an unbroken avenue from
ocean to ocean, either across the Isthmus o f Tehuantepec, or some more
favorable point, cannot, we think, admit o f reasonable doubt.
The cities o f New York and Boston, from their natural location, their
capacious and excellent harbors, and healthy climate, occupied positions
eminently favorable for becoming, at an early period, the great receiving
and distributing reservoirs of the nation. With the advance o f emigration
westward, it became necessary to construct new facilities for reaching the
seaboard; and the great pioneer o f American improvement— the Erie
Canal— was extended from the Hudson, through the then wilderness o f
Western New York, to the blue waters of Erie, thus opening to the trade
Mobile and Ohio Railroad,
581
of New York a territory stretching over two thousand miles inland, with
an uninterrupted water communication through its whole extent. As if
by magic, the wilderness disappeared, villages and towns sprung up, and
the solitudes o f yesterday were peopled with an active and industrious pop
ulation. New York, stimulated by the commerce o f the canal, leaped
forth like a young giant, and soon left her competitors and rivals hope
lessly in the distance. How can we estimate the tremendous influe'nce
which the Erie Canal has exerted upon the growth, not o f New York
alone, but o f that vast territory which borders upon the Lakes ? The
rapidity o f this growth may be conjectured, however, by comparing the
revenues from tolls on this canal and tributaries for the years 1826, 1836,
and 1846, being intervals often years:—
Receipts for tolls on N ew Y ork canals in 1826, in round numbers.......
“
«
“
1836
»
“
“
“
1846
“
“
$762,000
1,614,000
2,764,000
Or an average increase o f nearly 8 per cent per annum. It must be re
membered, also, that the rates of toll have been much reduced, and the
same amount of revenue in 1846 would represent a far greater product
than in 1826, and would make the average, therefore, higher than the
figures.
The moment that a highway is completed to the Pacific, the superior
advantages which these Atlantic cities afford for supplying the great valley
with foreign merchandise, will cease forever. We need not enter into
argument to prove that the route of which we have spoken must then, of
necessity, become the grand thoroughfare for the commerce o f the world.
It has been done by abler pens than ours. Need we know more than the
fact that the ports o f the Gulf will be brought, by its consummation, into
immediate vicinity with the boundless treasures o f the Pacific ? that it
will be the nearest route from Europe to the East Indies ] The cities of
the Gulf must then become the “ half-way houses” for all foreign traders
with the East, and upon the shores of this “ Western Mediterranean” must
rise the future commercial capital o f America, if not o f the world ! Mo
bile, as we shall endeavor to show, possesses striking advantages over any
other point on the Gulf for becoming the chief emporium o f this com
merce.
Upon inspecting a map o f the Gulf of Mexico, we discover five consider
able ports upon its northern coast, within the limits of the United States,
to w it:— Galveston, New Orleans, Mobile, Pensacola, and Apalachicola.
The depth o f water upon the bars, which obstruct the entrance to these
harbors, is as follows:—
Galveston.........................................feet
N ew Orleans (month o f Mississippi).
Mobile (by recent survey)...................
...
Pensacola...................................................
15
Apalachicola..............................................
20£
22
16
The last named, from its easterly position, can never become more than
a depot for the produce o f a limited district; as, whatever may be its ad
vantages otherwise, the system o f railways leading to Savannah will
effectually cut off all trade from the interior, above a certain point.
Pensacola, with a fine harbor, and, at present, a greater depth o f water
than any other on the coast, occupies an isolated position. Without means
o f intercourse with the upper country, she can never become the seat o f
extensive trade. Efforts have been made to connect with Montgomery
582
Mobile and Ohio Railroad.
and Savannah by railroad, but without success; and it is not probable that
it will be attempted hereafter, should the Mobile and Ohio Railroad be
completed.
Galveston is well situated to command a flourishing trade with the in.
terior o f Texas, but, like the two ports above named, must always be trib
utary to the more favored cities o f the Gulf.
It remains, then, for us to consider the ports o f New Orleans and Mo
bile, and compare their relative advantages. The growth o f New Orleans
is the result o f the necessities o f commerce. Twenty thousand miles of
navigable waters converge, and flow by a single outlet to the sea, drain
ing a territory unequalled for fertility upon the surface o f the globe. The
surplus products o f this vast region could reach a market by no other route,
and a shipping port was o f course inevitable. The most formidable ob
stacles ever encountered by human energy were overcome, and a city has
risen from a pestilential swamp, second only in its commerce to New
York. Notwithstanding the rapid increase o f New Orleans, and her im
mense trade, she does not concentrate the wealth or population, to which
her position as the seaport o f the Mississippi valley entitles her. The rea
son is obvious. The difficulties in the way o f her growth are permanent
in their nature. Circumscribed between narrow limits, with the river
upon one side, and impassable marshes upon the other, every step in her
progress is at immense cost. During the warm season a deadly miasma
exhales from these marshes, by which thousands of her population are
annually destroyed. Being more than a hundred miles from the ocean,
vessels reach her wharves at a heavy expense for towage up the powerful
current o f the Mississippi. The bars at the mouth o f that river do not
permit ships o f large tonnage to enter her harbor. From all this, it is
evident that the trade o f New Orleans must be taxed with heavy expenses.
Since the northern cities have tapped the Ohio valley, a large trade has
been diverted in that direction in all articles o f value sufficient to pay the
enhanced cost o f transportation by land. Thus, while New Orleans ex
ports a large share o f the products o f the West, New York imports and
distributes most o f the foreign merchandise to the same region at a fine
profit. Every additional line o f improvement constructed in the West, re
duces the cost o f transportation to and from the eastern cities, and conse
quently increases the tendency o f trade in that direction. Nevertheless,
were it possible to make New Orleans a healthy city, with a dry soil on
which to build, she would soon outstrip New York, and become and continue the first, as she is now the second, commercial city o f the American
continent.
Let us examine the situation o f Mobile. Built upon a dry, sandy plain,
at an elevation o f fifteen feet above tide-water, this city answers the con
ditions in that respect which William Penn required o f his commissioners,
when about to found the city o f Philadelphia:— “ yt the scituation be high,
at least dry and sound, and not swampy, wch is best knowne by digging
up two or three earths, and seeing the bottom.” The location is healthy,
and the summer heat is tempered by refreshing breezes from the Gulf.
The country in its vicinity is undulating, and abundantly watered with ex
cellent springs. Pure and wholesome water is brought in pipes from a
distance o f four or five miles, sufficient to supply the wants o f the city.
Spring Hill, six miles distant, and various elevated points less remote, offer
convenient and charming rural retreats, where the climate is as salubri
Mobile and Ohio Railroad.
533-
ous as in any section o f the Union. Immediately below, Mobile River
expands into a beautiful bay, affording secure anchorage for the largest
fleets. The labors of the United States Coast Survey, now in progress,
have been rewarded by the valuable discovery that the water on the outer
bar, at the entrance to Mobile Bay, is gradually deepening, and will now
float over vessels drawing twenty-one feet at mean low water. In the
language o f Lieut. Com. Patterson’s report:—
“ The survey o f the entrance to Mobile Bay proves that remarkable
changes have taken place since the survey by Major Kearney, United
States Topographical Engineers, in 1822, and that by Major Ogden,
United States Corps o f Engineers, in 1841.” “ In 1822 the greatest depth
which could be taken over the bar was seventeen feet; in 1841, it was
nineteen feet; in 1847, it was twenty and three-quarter feet, each at mean
low water.” “ With the present depth, our heaviest steam frigates can enter
and find secure anchorage in Mobile Bay ; and, should the depth continue
to increase in the same ratio it has for the last six years, it will not be
long before our largest frigates may do so also.”
While the entrance to this harbor is in a state o f transition, that of Pen
sacola is supposed to have arrived at nearly its stationary point; so that
at the present ratio o f progression, in a few years, a greater depth may be
carried over the bar into Mobile Bay, than into any other harbor o f the
Gulf. At present, ships o f large tonnage are compelled to anchor in the
bay, about twenty or twenty-five miles below the city, and employ lighters
to receive and discharge their cargoes; as vessels drawing more than
eleven feet cannot come to the wharves. Mobile River is divided, a few
miles above the city, into several channels, one o f which debouches at
Mobile, while a larger body o f water, (Spanish River, as it is named,)
diverges to the east, and empties into the bay on the opposite side o f the
island which it forms.
By erecting a dam or pier at the head o f this
island, across Spanish River, it is believed that the whole may be made
to flow in a single channel past the city and find its outlet into the bay at
that point. This would produce a current sufficiently powerful to wash
out the channel speedily, and with a moderate expenditure, water enough
could be obtained to bring at all times the largest ships to the wharves.
Mobile is more accessible from the Gulf than New Orleans. She is
nearer Havana than either New Orleans or Charleston, and is better sit
uated than either of those cities for supplying the great valley with West
India products. A central position on the Gulf—an elevated and healthy
location— an abundant supply o f pure water— the best harbor on the coast;
all these elements combine to make Mobile the most favorable point that
could be selected for the terminus o f a great trunk, like the projected rail
way to the Ohio.
T o a private citizen of Mobile, M. J. D. Baldwyn, Esq., belongs the
honor of originating this magnificent project. The continuous and rapid
diminution o f the trade o f Mobile with the interior for several successive
years, the marked change in the character o f that trade, and the inevitable
transformation, not far distant, o f one o f the most active commercial cities
o f the South, into a mere depot for the storage and transhipment o f cotton
bales, had forced upon the consideration o f reflecting men an inquiry into
the causes of this depression, and by a natural sequence led them in quest
of a remedy for the evil. The active mind o f Mr. Baldwyn was the first
to comprehend the immense importance o f a railway connection be
584
Mobile and Ohio Railroad.
tween the Ohio and Mississippi valleys and the Gulf o f Mexico, and
the favorable position o f Mobile for its southern terminus. Undismayed
by the magnitude o f the project, he sought to enlist the public feeling in its
behalf, and soon succeeded in awakening a deep interest among his fellow
citizens. This resulted in a call for a public meeting, which was held ac
cordingly in the city o f Mobile on the evening o f Jamuary 11th, 1847, and
was numerously attended. From that period may be dated the birth of
this gigantic enterprise. '
Tennessee was the first State to bestow a charter upon the Mobile and
Ohio Railroad Company ; and with a just appreciation o f the true interests
ot her people, she sought to encourage the prosecution o f the work by the
most liberal provisions, and accompanied the instrument with a noble
testimonial o f favor, in the shape o f a State subscription o f over $600,000.
The legislature o f Alabama soon after passed an act incorporating the
company, with a capital o f $10,000,000 ; which was followed by Missis
sippi and Kentucky, with grants o f the right o f way through those States,
and an extension o f all the chartered privileges appertaining to the com
pany under their act of incorporation in Alabama. In May last, books
were opened in Mobile for subscription to the capital stock, and in twenty
days the sum o f $650,000 was subscribed in that city. The company
was then organized by the election o f president and directors, who are
actively engaged in the prosecution o f the necessary steps preliminary to
the commencement o f the work. Having thus briefly alluded to the in
ception o f this great enterprise, and its progress to the present time, we
proceed to examine its merits as an investment for capital.
A careful examination o f the country has been made by Lewis Troost,
Esq., engineer, whose reconnaissance has resulted in the discovery o f the
entire feasibility o f the project, and in the recommendation o f the follow
ing, as the most favorable route :— Commencing at Mobile, the route pro
posed extends up the valley o f the Chickasawbogue, until it strikes the
dividing ridge between the Tombigbee and Escatawba rivers— follows
this ridge to the head o f the Escatawba— from thence, continuing its general northerly direction, and passing near the towns of Marion, Macon,
and Aberdeen, Mississippi, to the Tennessee River, in the State o f Ten
nessee, below the Big Bend Shoals, a distance o f about 340 miles from
Mobile. From thence, through the towns o f Jackson and Trenton in
Tennessee, and Moscow in Kentucky, to its terminus on the Mississippi
River, at the town o f Columbus, Kentucky, 16 miles below the mouth of
the Ohio River, and 470 miles from Mobile.
This will be the longest railroad in the United States under a single
charter. Great as is its length, however, the general surface o f the country
is so singularly adapted to its favorable construction, that the route need
va y little from an air line connecting the termini. The absence o f large
icreams, (the longest bridge required being over Obion River, in the State
o f Tennessee, about 180 feet span,) the freedom from all obstacles in the
way o f heavy rock excavations, as shown by the reconnaissance o f Mr.
Troost— the abundance o f suitable timber— the light grade, which is either
level, or descending towards the Gulf, in the direction of heavy freights—
these are characteristics which are seldom found united, but which exist
here. From these facts, it may well be doubted whether a railroad o f
considerable length could be built between any other two points in the United
585
Mobile and Ohio Railroad.
States at as small a cost per mile, or one capable o f transporting freight
and passengers at as cheap a rate with profit to the stockholders.
By comparing Mr. Troost’ s report o f the topographical character of tBe
country upon the route o f the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, with the cost o f
other works already completed in the South, in sections presenting similar
general features, we are enabled, in the absence of an accurate instru
mental survey,* to make a reasonable approximation to the amount re
quired to construct and equip this road, ready for business. The following
estimates, made upon this basis, it is believed will be found to exceed,
rather than fall short of, the actual cost o f this work :—
•
Cost o f grading (including bridges and culverts) ready for superstructure,
470 miles, at an average o f $3,500 per mile..............................................
Cost o f superstructure, counting the rail at 56 pounds to the yard, and the
iron at $ 6 5 per ton of 2,240 pounds, including depots, water stations,
side tracks, & c., & c., at $9,780 per mile...................................................
Cost o f locomotives, freight, baggage and passenger cars, &e., &c., to
place the road in efficient working condition, say....................................
Total cost o f road and equipments..........................................
$1,645,000
4,596,600
608,400
$6,850,000
Being a little over $14,500 per mile. This railroad, when completed,
must depend upon the following sources o f revenue :—
1st. The travel and freight supplied by the country along the line.
2d. The through travel, and such portion o f the freight passing between
the mouth of the Ohio River and the Gulf o f Mexico, as can bo diverted
to the railroad from the Mississippi River.
3d. The transportation o f the mails.
First. The local trade and travel. The following table, prepared with
care, and based upon the estimates derived from Patent Office Reports,
and other reliable sources, exhibits the population and resources o f the
country through which the Mobile and Ohio Railroad will pass, and the adja
cent sections, which will be dependent upon and furnish traffic to that road :
POPULATION AND PRODUCTS OP COUNTRY ON THE ROUTE OF MOBILE AND OHIO RAILROAD IN
1847.
Twelve counties in Alabama, namely, Mobile, Washington, Choctaw, Sumpter, Pick
ens, Fayette, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, M organ:—
Population...................................
Bushels o f w h e a t.....................
“
com ...........................
° oats....... ....................
14 rye................
“ potatoes....................
Tons o f hay..............................
Pounds o f cotton.......................
241,500 Pounds o f w ool.........................
450,000
“
tobacco....................
10,400,000 Number o f horses and mules.
“
neat cattle..............
686,600
26,250
“
sheep......................
“
swine......................
394,000
3,000 Poultry, value............................
71,000,000
190.000
177.000
55,500
222,200
108,150
598.000
$173,100
Nineteen counties in Mississippi, namely, Attala, Chickasaw, Choctaw', Clark, Ita
wamba, Kemper, Lafayette, Lauderdale, Low'ndes, Monroe, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee,
Oktibbeha, Pontotoc, Tippah, Tishamingo, Winston, Yallabusha:—
130,200
Population.................................
227,500 Pounds o f w ool.........................
“
to b a cco...................
130,000
Bushels o f wheat......................
372,300
corn..........................
5,604,500 Number o f horses and mules.
57,500
oats..........................
-i„9,‘10n
“
neat cattle..............
275,000
“
rye............................
7,650
14 sheep..................
65,100
“
swine,............ v ......
528,300
“
potatoes....................
341,600
Tons o f hay...............................
350 Poultry, value............................
$212,700
Pounds o f cotton....................... 67,500,000
* Such a survey will be commenced early in November, under the direction o f John
Childe, Esq., as Chief Engineer.
5 SO
Mobile and Ohio Railroad.
Twenty counties in Tennessee, namely, Benton, Carroll, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Harde
man, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Hickman, Humphreys, Lawrence, McNairy,
Madison, Obion, Perry, Stewart, W ayne, W eakley:—
Bushels o f wheat.............. ......
“
corn................. ......
“
oats.................
“
potatoes.........
Tons o f hay......................
Pounds o f cotton.............. ......
2,625,000
“
tobacco....................
14,804,350 Number o f horses and mules.
“
neat cattle..............
54,600
“
swine.......................
648^000
8,100 Poultry, value............................
18,270,000
502,100
15,874,200
96,500
295,400
251,500
Six counties in Kentucky, namely, Ballard, Calloway, Graves, Hickman
Marshall:—
Population..........................
Bushels o f wheat..............
“
corn................. ......
“
oats.................
“
ry e...................
lt
potatoes...........
Tons o f hay.......................
Pounds o f cotton..............
34,200 Pounds o f w ool.........................
“
tobacco....................
228,000
2,180,000 Number o f horses and mules.
“
neat cattle.............
634,500
“
sheep.......................
13.250
“
swine......................
90,500
Poultry, value............................
550,000
92,300
2,550,000
14,850
33.150
46.150
105,500
$27,500
RECAPITULATION.
761,300 Pounds o f w ool.........................
Population........................... i___
Bushels o f wheat.......................
3,675,300
“
tobacco....................
“ corn .......................... 32,988,850 Number o f horses and mules.
“
neat cattle..............
“ oats...........................
3,664,800
“
sheep...............
“ r y e ............................
101,750
“
swine......................
“ potatoes....................
1,474,100
Tons o f hay..............................
13,400 Poultry, value............................
Pounds o f cotton....................... 157,320,000
914,600
18,671,209
224,350
825,750
470,900
2,279,400
$652,500
These fifty-seven counties embrace an area of more than 35,000 square
miles, and comprise within their limits some o f the most fertile lands o f
the South. Much o f the country is remote from market, and consequently,
is comparatively new and unsettled. The stimulus given to the growth of
these districts by the construction o f a railroad through them, would fill
them up rapidly with an active population, which would furnish a constant,
ly increasing traffic to the road. I f we may be allowed to judge o f the
local support that would be rendered to the Mobile and Ohio Railroad,
from a comparison with the population and resources o f districts traversed
by other railroads, and the business they create, we must conclude that
this source o f revenue alone would yield a moderate income to the stock
holders.
Second. The through travel, and freight transportation. No accurate
record is kept o f the number o f passengers annually arriving by steam
boats into New Orleans from points above the mouth o f the Ohio R iv er;
we are, therefore, left somewhat to conjecture. From the best data we
are able to procure, however, we believe the aggregate o f arrivals and
departures will be found to exceed 40,000 per annum. The completion
o f the Mobile and Ohio Railroad will afford the traveller destined for the
G ulf a choice between the two following routes :—
Distance.
Tim e.
Fare.
From Cairo to N ew Orleans by steamer...
“
Mobile by railroad..............
1,012 miles.
470 “
84 to 96 hours.
24
“
$ 1 5 00
10 00
Difference in favor o f M obile.
542 miles.
60 to 72 hours.
$ 5 00
587
Mobile and Ohio Railroad.
Or, if destined for New Orleans—
Time.
Fare.
470 miles.
175 “
24 hours.
16 “
*10 00
645
40
$ 1 5 00
Distance.
By railroad from Cairo to Mobile.............................
By steamer from Mobile to N ew Orleans...............
Total
5 00
Leaving a difference in favor o f the route via Mobile o f 367 miles in dis
tance, and 44 to 56 hours in time, at the same rates o f fare.
The Mobile and Ohio Railroad must, therefore, when finished, inevi
tably attract and monopolize the whole o f this immense travel. Not only
this, but thousands who are deterred from visiting the Gulf by the perils
o f Mississippi navigation, would avail themselves o f the existence o f rail
road facilities, to enjoy the delightful winter climate o f the tropics.
The tide o f travel between New York and the West Indies and Mexico,
would tend more and more to the route o f this road, as the different lines
o f railway now progressing north and east o f Cincinnati should be com
pleted. From these circumstances, we hazard little in the assertion, that
the number o f passengers to be conveyed over the whole length o f the
Mobile and Ohio Railroad, would reach nearly 50,000 per annum.
Could this road compete profitably with the Mississippi River in the
transportation o f heavy freight ? W e answer in the affirmative. Fortu
nately, the experience o f the last fourteen years in railroad building in
the United States affords ample material for our guidance, in entering
upon new undertakings. W e are no longer compelled to advance new
theories, for the results o f all previous experiments are before us. From
these we can institute correct comparisons, and illustrate the advantages
o f particular routes.
There are several railroad lines in the United
States that come in direct competition with river routes, and some o f these
are sufficiently analagous to enable us to form a safe judgment, from their
success, o f the prospects o f the Mobile and Ohio Railroad.
The Western Railroad, from Boston to Albany, furnishes a most striking
example o f the success o f railroad competition against formidable odds.
This road was opened in the fall o f 1841, at a cost o f over $8,500,000,
and is 156 miles in length. It gave to produce reaching Albany from the
West, the choice o f two markets— New York, 160 miles distant, without
changing freight, by the “ safest river navigation in the w o r l d o r Bos
ton, nearly the same distance by railroad, with the additional cost o f re
moving the produce from canal boats to the cars. What has been the
consequence 7 Witness the rapid and steady increase o f the revenues
upon this road since its completion, a large portion of which is from
freights:—
Tears.
1842................................
1843 ................................
1 8 4 4 .............................
1845 ............................
1846 (11 months)........
1847 .............................
1848 .............................
Receipts.
Expenses.
$512,688
573,883
753,753
813,480
878,417
1,325,336
..............
$266,620
283,826
314,074
370,621
412,679
676,689
.............
Nett Income.
Dividends.
$246,068
................
290,057
................
439,679
3 per cent
442,859
5 “
465,738
6 “
648,647
8 “
725,000 prob’l y ................
Witness also the effect of this road upon the growth of Boston, as com
pared with New York :—
588
Mobile and Ohio Railroad.
Population o f New Y ork in 1830...........
ft
((
1840............
(t
<t
1845...........
“
Boston
1830............
u
li
1840...........
i*
(i
1845...........
203,007
312,710 Increase in 10 years 54 percent
(i
371,102
5 “
18J
61,392
ft
85,000
10 “ 37
li
114,366
5 “ 35
From this, we see that while the ratio o f increase has declined in New
York, since the completion o f the Western Railroad, from 54 to 37 per
cent for ten years, the ratio for Boston has increased from 37 to 70 per
cent for the same period. The value o f real and personal estate has in
creased in the latter city in like proportion :—
Value o f real estate in Boston 1830 $36,963,000 Personal $24,104,200 Total $61,067,200
“
“
1840 58,577,800
“
32.248,600 “
91,826,400
“
“
1845 81,991,400
“
53,957,300 “
135,948,700
This shows an advance in the ratio o f 100 per cent, since 1840. It
cannot be denied that this wonderful prosperity is chiefly owing to her
railroad communication with the West. Notwithstanding the heavy cost
o f this work— equal to the sum required to construct the Mobile and Ohio
Railroad, which is three times its length— it has yielded a fine profit from
the beginning, and, as shown by the table, the stock is becoming more
and more valuable every year.
The Georgia and South Carolina railroads afford further illustration,
nearer home, of the value o f similar enterprises, whether we regard them
as objects for the investment o f capital, or in their higher bearings, as
powerful agents in stimulating the growth and developing the natural re
sources o f the regions through which they pass. At Augusta, as at A l
bany, we find a navigable river and a railroad competing for the transporta
tion of the produce arriving there, and with like results. Although every
bale of cotton shipped from Augusta byrailroad to the seaboard paysafreight
o f one dollar, and a heavy drayage tax, which is avoided by the boats, while
the freight by the latter is only fifty cents per bale, we find that the South
Carolina Railroad has proved the more successful competitor, and receives
the largest share. O f the total amount o f 134,302 bales o f cotton received
in Charleston by the railroad in 1847, 73,149 bales were from Hamburg
and Augusta. About two-thirds o f the receipts at the two places last
named, now go forward by railroad to that city, and the tendency in that
direction is annually increasing. Notwithstanding the quantity o f cotton
reaching Charleston by this road in 1847, was (owing to the short crop
in Georgia and Carolina) 62,833 bales less than in 1846, the receipts
o f the company were $66,494 05 greater than for that year, and the nett
revenue increased $72,722 78. Much o f this gain was in up freights,
destined for North and East Alabama; and, as we have before remarked,
some portion o f it for places immediately upon the rivers emptying into
Mobile Bay. Need we stronger proof o f the fact that freight will abandon
the water for land conveyance, whenever railroad facilities are offered ?
That northern capitalists are satisfied o f this, is manifest from their readi
ness to invest a large amount in building a railroad parallel to the Hudson
River, thus acknowledging the superiority o f railroads over the most favor
able circumstances o f river navigation.
The length o f the Mobile and Ohio Railroad will be about 470 miles.
The distance from'the mouth o f the Ohio River to New Orleans by water
is 1,012 miles. From a report o f Thomas Allen, Esq., to the Chicago
Mobile and Ohio Railroad.
589
Convention o f July, 1847, we obtain the actual cost o f the trips o f three
steamers plying between St. Louis and New Orleans:—
Steamer I -------, o f 249 tons, ran at an expense o f $1 43 Striper day.
“
M ------- , 886
“
“
“
355 00
“
“
«
“
325 00
“
“
W -------, 498
T otal.
1,633
$8 23 50
Estimating these three steamers with an aggregate tonnage o f 1,633
tons, to convey, on an average, an aggregate o f 1,800 tons cargo to New
Orleans, at the cost o f $823 50 per day, we should have for a trip o f 4^
days, (the usual time required between Cairo and New Orleans,) a total
of $3,705 75. Adding to this, for one day in port, loading and unloading,
at, say half the running expenses, $411 75, would make the whole cost
$4,117 50 for the trip. At a cost o f $60 per ton, for building 1,633 tons,
we have $97,980 as their value, which is below the average. This would
give $16,330 per annum as the depreciation in value, supposing the steam
ers to last six years. Including these items, we should have as the cost
of transporting 1,800 tons o f freight to New Orleans by water—
Running expenses o f the trip...............................................................................
W ear and tear o f hulls, & e., & e.......................................................................
Insurance on do., one-half value.........................................................................
Total............................................................................................
$4,117 50
408 00
50 00
$4,575 50
Being, without fractions, $2 54 per ton.
This approximation would
require a considerable addition in practice, for the delays and acci
dents, loss o f trips, & c., & c., to which steamers are liable on the Missis
sippi, and which it is impossible to estimate with any accuracy. Sup
posing, however, these causes to increase the cost one-fourth, the total
would be $3 17 per ton.
The cost of transpor ing freight over the following railroads was, in
1847—
Georgia Railroad 1.670 per ion permile, and the average load drawn per engine, 38J tons.
Baltimore & Ohio 1,C52
“
“
“
“
41J “
Western
1,334
.“
“
“
“
....
Which includes “ maintenance of way,” and all other expenses incident
to these roads. On the two former, owing to imperfect construction, and
the use o f the flat rail on the earlier portions o f the route, the annual cost
of repairs is unusually large. I f we deduct this excess, and, on the Balti
more and Ohio Railroad, the expensive charge for horse power with which
it is burdened, we shall have for that road a cost per ton per mile o f 0.947,
in trains o f 41* tons per engine. On that, as well as on the Western
Railroad, grades o f over eighty feet to the mile are used, while we are
assured by Mr. Troost, that the grade'of the Mobile and Ohio road need
nowhere exceed forty feet to the mile. Assuming that an engine o f the
second class would draw a load o f fifty tons nett freight, over a grade o f
eighty feet to the mile, without difficulty, one o f the same power would
move ninety tons over a grade o f forty feet with ease ; and an engine of
the first class would pull one hundred and thirty-five tons over the same
grade, with like facility.
Let us suppose for a moment that the Mobile and Ohio Railroad is com
pleted. Applying the advantages which it will possess over the roads before mentioned, in its straight line and easy grades ; and assuming ninety
590
Mobile and Ohio Railroad.
tons as the average freight drawn per engine, we have as the cost o f trans
porting one ton from the mouth o f the Ohio River to Mobile, at .442 per
mile, omitting decimals, #2 08 per ton. Or, if the ratio per mile be onehalf greater than the above, owing to increase o f tonnage, we should
have .663, or $3 12 per ton.
This estimate, which is about half the
actual cost o f freight transportation on the Western Railroad, will not, we
are convinced, be found too low.
It is contended by many, that, as freight destined for the Gulf must be
brought from the Upper Mississippi and Ohio by steamboats to the north
ern terminus, when once aboard it would remain there, and float on to
New Orleans, in preference to stopping half way, to be transported by
railroad cars. That the railroad would intercept all such freights, we do
not, o f course, assert. That it would divert a large portion, enough to
make it one o f the most profitable roads in the Union, we firmly be
lieve. But what is the case at present ?
The number of steamboat arrivals into the port o f St. Louis for 1846,
was, as we gather from published statistics—
From Illinois River.............................................................................................................
“ Upper Mississippi.....................................................................................................
“ Missouri..................................................................................................................
446
663
256
1,365
These steamers were o f light draft, and terminated their voyages at
St. Louis. At this point they deposited their cargoes, and received return
freights.
The arrivals from N ew Orleans for the same year, were 395 steamers
o f larger tonnage, that likewise loaded and discharged their cargoes at
St. Louis. The down cargoes o f these 395 steamers were mostly made up
o f produce, & c., brought into St. Louis from above by the smaller craft
before mentioned. Thus, we see that the largest share of Upper Missis
sippi freight passing Columbus, Kentucky, to and from New Orleans, is
transhipped once at St. Louis. This city being only 170 miles above, it
will be easy, when the railroad is completed, to transfer the shipping point,
and extend the trips o f these light draft steamers to Columbus. So with
regard to the Ohio. Navigation is frequently interrupted above the mouth
for the larger class o f boats, and much freight passing that river is trans
ferred from one boat to another, before reaching its destination. The
construction o f this road would result in the formation o f steamboat lines,
connecting with all important points above on the two rivers ; and these,
ere long, would in turn give place to tributary railways, uniting St. Louis,
Cincinnati, and other chief cities o f the West, to the Gulf by an unbro
ken chain.
The Georgia Railroad transports grain 171 miles for 8 cents per bushel,
and merchandise at an average o f 25 cents per 100 pounds; which yields
a profit o f 9 per cent on the investment, besides paying interest on a con
siderable debt.
The usual freight charges between St. Louis and New Orleans, by
water, are about 12|- cents per bushel, on corn and grain; for flour, pork,
&c., 40 a 50 cents per b arrel; and from 20 a 25 cents per 100 pounds
on merchandise shipped by weight.
The total exports o f eight leading articles o f western products, from
New Orleans, for the year ending August 31, 1847, were as follow s:—
591
Mobile and Ohio Railroad.
Flour.
Barrels.
1,319,500
Lard.
Beef.
Lead.
Whiskey.
Barrels.
Hhds.
Kegs.
Barrels.
Pigs.
Barrels.
Sacks.
230,520
Pork.
25,904
Bacon.
907,977
51,996
624,958
63,259
2,520,813
Corn.
Allowing that only one-fourth o f the above products would be transferred
from the river to the railroad, we should have from this source—
Flour.
Pork.
Bacon.
Lard.
Beef.
Lead.
Whiskey.
Corn.
Barrels.
Barrels.
Hhds.
Kegs .
Barrels.
Pigs.
Barrels.
Sacks.
329,875
57,630
6,476
226,994
12,999
156,964
15,815
630,203
Third. The transportation of the mails. This item at $200 per mile,
which is about the rate paid for day service, would yield to the road a
revenue o f $94,000 per annum.
T o give, in tabular form, a view o f the probable business and profits of
the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, deduced from the foregoing data, and
adopting the lowest scale o f charges for through freight:—
PROBABLE BUSINESS OF MOBILE AND OHIO RAILROAD FOR ONE YEAR.— LOCAL TRADE.
100 passengers per day, each way, average half distance, 73,000 a J
a 10 cents,
300.000 bushels wheat
a 10 cents,
500.000
“
com
a $ 1 50.
350.000 bales cotton
3 00.
20.000 tons freight, both ways
$438,000
30.000
50.000
525,000
60.000
$1,103,000
THROU&H TRADE.
25,000 passengers each way, or 68J per day, 50,000 a $10.
$500,000
330.000 barrels flour.................................................................. a 50 cents.115.000
86,500
“
pork, beef, and whiskey..................... a 60 “
51,900
3,200 tons bacon............................................................ a $ 5 ..........
16.000
630.000 sacks corn...................................................................a 124cents 78,750
227.000 kegs lard........................................................... a 20
“
45,400
156.000 pigs lead........................................................... a 20
“
31,200
10.000 tons all other down freight.............................. a $ 5 ...........
50,000
30.000 “ up freight....................................................a $ 5 ...........
150,000
\
$1,038,250
94,000
Mail transportation.
Total estimated receipts................................................................
$2,235,250
EXPENSES.
Transportation 73,000 passengers half distance, and 50,000 whole dis
tance, equals 86,500 carried 470 m iles; or 40,655,000 passengers
carried one m ile; which, at .840 per passenger, the actual cost on Bal
timore and Ohio Railroad, (exclusive o f horse power,) is.......................
Transportation freight, estimated in tons, equals 258,42? tons earned 470
miles, or 121,459,750 tons carried one mile ; which, at .663 per ton, is
Total estimated expenses........................................................
Total nett income.....................................................................
$341,502 00
805,278 14
$1,146,780 14
1,088,469 86
Which is equal to 15i per cent on a capital of seven millions.
When the great diminution in cost o f transportation over level or de
scending grades and straight linefs, in comparison with frequent curves
and heavy grades, is considered; and the advantages which the Mobile
and Ohio Railroad will possess, in these respects, over any other road in
the United States— except, perhaps, the Reading Railroad, in Pennsyl
vania— are remembered, our estimate o f .663 per ton per mile is suffi
ciently high. On the Reading Railroad, with a heavy transportation, the
cost is found not to exceed 7500 per ton per mile. If, however, we in
crease our estimate from .663 to 1.000 per ton per mile, we should still
have, by the above table, a nett income o f $679,150 50, or nearly 7 per
592
Mobile and Ohio Railroad.
cent on a capital o f $7,000,000, The amount of tonnage, (258,425 tons,)
and number o f passengers, (123,000,) computed in the table, are, it is believed, rather under than over the mark. The Baltimore and Ohio Rail
road Company transported in 1847, over that road, 288,000 passengers
and 263,000 tons o f freight.
The superior advantages o f railroads over every other mode o f trans
portation, are becoming every day more apparent. Their speed, their
certainty and regularity, will always ensure them the preference over river
routes, at rates moderately higher. This we have seen, whenever they
have been brought in competition. But nowhere would these advantages
be more strikingly displayed, than upon the route in contemplation. Com
mencing on the seaboard, at one o f the best harbors on the Gulf, it pene
trates to the very heart o f the Mississippi valley. It opens an avenue by
which commodities can be conveyed to the Gulf in from twenty-five to
thirty hours, with perfect safety, at a cost not higher than at present, by a
devious and hazardous route, requiring from four to six days to accomplish.
At low rates, the business o f this road will only be limited by its capacity
to transport. The saving o f river insurance alone would be sufficient,
on all articles o f value, to decide transportation in favor o f the road.
In a military view, this is an undertaking o f the highest national im
portance, and well worthy the attention and favor o f government. In
time of war, th» facility with which troops and munitions could be trans
mitted by this road from the interior to the seaboard, would save an im
mense sum to the country.
By an inspection o f the map, the relations between the Mobile and
Ohio Railroad and other great lines o f railway now in progress, will be
easily perceived. T o the Baltimore and Ohio, and the Cincinnati and
Sandusky railroad companies, the completion of this road will be of great
value, by throwing upon those lines a large amount o f travel that would
otherwise seek different channels. T o the cities o f Louisville, Cincinnati,
and St. Louis, it will open new avenues o f trade, and new elements of
prosperity. Like a great river, it will have its tributaries on either side,
and thus draw into itself the trade o f a vast country. In short, not one,
among all the various projects now inviting the attention o f capitalists,
offers greater inducements for the investment o f capital, or promises to be
more valuable, as an element o f national wealth, than the Mobile and
Ohio Railroad.
Since the above was written, we have been kindly favored with a copy
o f the following letter from Professor A. D. Bache, Superintendent United
States Coast Survey, to our friend and townsman, S. G. Fisher, Esq., con
cerning the recent discoveries in Mobile Bay, made by the Survey, under
the immediate direction o f Lieut. Com. Pattison, United States Navy. In
connection with the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, these discoveries are of
the highest importance, establishing conclusively, as they do, the superior
advantages o f Mobile Bay over any other harbor o f the Gulf, as the sea
board terminus for a great system o f internal improvement.
C oast Survey S tatioh, near Manchester, N. H., Sept. 5,1848.
S. G riffitts F isher, E sq., of Mobile.
D ear Sir :— In reply to your request, for the most recent information in regard
to the changes at the entrance to Mobile Bay, and to the depth of water of 20}
feet upon the bar, I send you the following extracts from a recent report by Lieut.
Com. C. P. Pattison, United States Navy, the Assistant in the Coast Survey, to
Mobile and Ohio Railroad.
593
whom the credit is due for the excellent progress and interesting discoveries made
in the hydrography of that section of the survey :1st. The depth of water which can be carried over the bar at the entrance of
Mobile Bay at mean low water, is 20¾ feet mean rise, and fall of tide one foot.
2d. The channel is perfectly easy, one course N. 19° W. true, going through
with one or two casts on the ridge of shoalest water.
3d. Continued strong northerly winds depress the water at the extreme 2 feet
below mean low water; and continued south-east and south winds elevate it 2i
feet-in rare cases to an extreme of 4 feet.
4th. In heavy gales, the sea is said to break across the bar. This I have never
seen, but judge it must be the case.
5th. After crossing the bar the channel varies from one-half to seven-eighths of
a mile in width, averaging 7 fathoms in depth, and perfectly clear.
6th. The depth of water immediately at the end of the wharf at Fort Morgan,
Mobile Point, is 6½ feet; 150 yards ont, there are 5 fathoms; and in mid-channel,
abreast of the wharf, one-third of a mile out, there are 9 fathoms.
7th. The depth of water at the anchorage of the fleet of merchant vessels in
the bay, is 3½ fathoms. There is perfectly secure anchorage, in any wind s, for
large vessels off the west end of Mobile Point, with the light-house bearing from
S. E. to S. S. W. in from 8 to 10 fathoms water, and distant from the shore from
one to one-tenth of a mile.
•8th. There is a fine harbor for small vessels drawing not over 12 feet in Navy
Cove, just to the north end of Mobile Point, secure in all winds, and easy of
entrance.
9th. Pelican Island in 1822 was 1,723 yards long, in 1841 it was 2,757, and
in 1847 it had increased to 3,457 yards, making an increase of 1,735 yards in 25
years. The north end of this island had made a few yards further out in 1848.
The shore of Dauphin Island, to the northward of Pelican, had cut out a few
yards, so keeping the distance between them nearly the same.
10th. The distance between the north end of Pelican Island and Dauphin
Mand in 1822 was 1,957 yards; in 1841, it was 788; and in 1847 it was but
383 yards. The depth through this channel has remained the ~ame since 1822,
being 13 feet at mean low water.
11th. Sand Island: upon which stands the outer light-house, was in 1822 but
131 yards across; in 1841, it was 1,542 in length; and in 1847, it had decreased
to 908 yards. This island is constantly undergoing increasing or decreasing, as
the various causes of change act upon it. Within the last year, the north point
has been cut off for a distance of 60 yards, and the east shore for an average
wiath of 15; whilsfthe shore to the north of the light-house has made out 60 yards.
A small channel 10 or 15 yards wide, and 6 feet deep, which separated the north
point from a small bank dry at low water, was filled during one spring ebb tide.
12th. Little Sand Island, as it is called, where was in 1822 from 3 to 10 feet
water, had made up into an island in 1841 of 952 yards in length, and increased
to 2,625 yards in 1847.
"
13th. In 1822 the greatest depth which could be taken over the bar was 17 feet;
in 1841 it was 19 feet; and in 1847 it was 20¾ feet, each at mean low water.
14th. In 1822, the distance from the position in which Sand Island light-house
now stands, to the shoalest water in the channel on the bar, was 3,446 yards ; in
1841, it was 3,5~1; and in 1847, it was 3,724 yards.
15th. Upon a line of soundings which took over the bar in 1841 but 13 feet,
in 1847 the depth was 20 feet.
16th. The changes constantly taking place cannot better be illustrated than by
the frequent appearance and disappearance of Little Pelican Island, which is often
sever~l feet above water, and as often as many below it.
From these facts, it appears that the islands have been on the increase since
1822, whilst the bar itself, connected with them, has passed gradually seaward,
deepening as it advanced.
Yours respectfully and truly,
A. D. BACHE, Supt. United States Coast Surve1/.
VOL. XIX.-NO. VI.
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38
I -
{j 4
C.otton : and the Cotton Trade.
Art, II.-COT'rON: AND TUE COTTON TRADE,
IF we examine the causes that have produced the present low prices
in cotton, our attention is immediately directed to the wars and political
disturbances in Europe. The consumption of cotton manufactures is
considerable in Prussia and Denmark, Naples and Sicily, Sardinia, Lombardy and Venice, where actual hostilities have been waged for a large
part of the past year; while in France and Germany, where revolutions
have occurred, the demand is large, both for manufactured articles and the
raw material. But not only in these countries have political troubles lessened the consumption. The Chartists in England, the Repealers in Ireland, and the Carlists in Spain, though their movements have not been so
successful as to be honored with the name of revolutions, have excited
alarm and disturbed that confidence which is so necessary to the operations of industry and commerce. Besides these political causes which
have affected the demand and the price of cotton, the commercial and
financial embarrassments which prevailed throughout Europe at the beginning of the year, and the large crop of the past season, and the fine
prospects of the one now gathering, have exerted more or less influence.
To separate these causes, it may be remarked that the supplies of 1848,
or even of 1849, would not have been equal to the demands of the present
year, if there had been no foreign decline in the consumption since 184.5
or 1846, ( see Tables I. and II. at the end of this article.) This will show
satisfactorily that the present low prices are not to be attributed to Yer
production, but to other causes. These are principally the political troubles in Europe ; but if we examine the English exports for the present
year, and compare them with former years, (Table III.,) we will find that
although there has been no falling off in the exports to Belgium, Greece,
Holland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and Turkey, where quiet and order
have not been disturbed, and although the deficiency in the exports to
.Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Naples and Sardinia, where wars
and revolutions have interrupted the pursuits of commerce, is very large,
yet the amounts sent forward to the British possessions, and to other countries out of Europe, have sensibly declined. It follows from this that political troubl s have not been the only causes of the present decline. Two
large crops in the United States, when connected with the falling off in
the English exports to Asia, Africa and America, would have brought
down prices below their average rates; and as this average, since 1840,
is about 7¾ cents, (Table IV.,) and as the present price for middling fair
cotton is about 5½ cents, (October 28th,) the decline produced by political
causes must be less than this difference of 2¼ cents. If, then, the prospects of general peace should increase, the price may be expected to rise
and range between the present rates and the average; but if, on the contrary, hostilities should be renewed, especially if England, France or Russia should hecome involved in the quarrels of the other States, we may
look for a still further decline. As the chances of permanent pes1,ce in
France, Italy or Germany, or of a general war involving England and
Russia, are both very small, no material change in the present prices -can
now be expected.
These general remarks on the probable price of cotton for the coming
year it is necessary to make, before the supply and the demand can safely -
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Cotton: and the Cotton Trade.
59-5
be estimated. Low prices not only diminish the English imports from
the East Indies, but also the receipts at the American ports. When cotton falls to the present low rates, our planters hold back their crops, diminish their production, a1Jd wait for the coming of better times. In India, more is retained for domestic use, and more is shipped for the· Chinese market. The opposite effect is prodl!lced by a<lvancing prices. 'J'his
-influence . is felt more decidedly in the demand than in the supply. A
Jarge crop and l0w prices, universally bring a great increase in the con•sumption. The present year is an example of this. Although the prices
in January and February were good, and the commercial embarrassments
.of 1847 were still exerting theit· influence, and violent political agitation
was disturbing nearly every country in Europe, still the consumption has
Jargely advanced over 1847, on account of the low rates to which cotton
-has now fallen. So it has always been, and so it will be hereafter. Low
prices lessen the su+wly and increase the demand, while high prices produce the opposite effect.
In considering tbe supplies from .the United States, it may be remarked,
that the amount of the old crop in the hands of the planters is unusually
large. This is especially true in the Atlantic States, where most of the
,cotton is sent to market by railroads. But the same is true also in the
West. This is the natural effect 0f low prices, and still more of declining
prices. The planting for the present year has been large; the season
:has been long ; the spring early and the frost late ; the picking began
soon; and the weather for the picking season has been very fine. Scarcely
a rainy day occurred in September, and in October there were very few.
No general b ght has overtaken the crop. The 1·avages of the caterpillar
.and boll worm ·have been local and limited. The rust and the rot haYe
done but a partial injury. There was too much rain in the summer, the
<irought succeeded suddenly, and many of the forms dropped off without
maturing. These and other drawbacks have not been general or of great
importance, especially when compared with the disasters of last year. We
may therefore ,expect that the ,c rop will be large and the receipts greater
than in any former year. Fram South Carolina and Georgia, the number
of bales sent to market in September and October have more than doubled
_those of last year, showing the early state of the crop, and the large
amounts of last year's cotton in the hands of the planters. In these two
States, l would estimate an advance of ~O per cent over last year's receipts. fa Florida, a large increase may be expected. Not that their
crop is so superior, but because the disasters that have been so ruinous
there fo1· the last two years, have not been felt. The rust has done
some harm, but the ravages of the worm were stayed by the hot and dry
weather at the end of August. The planting was generally large, and
along the Chattahoochee the increase in the production will be very great.
From Alabama, the reports have heen almost uniformly favorable. In the
spr,ing and summer they were very good. In August, the complaints of
the boll worm were numerous, but the fine weather of September and
October have revived the hopes of the planters. Remembering how exteRsive was the failure of last year, an advance of 15 or 20 per cent may,
I think, be looked for. At New Orleans, we cannot expect any increase,
because their Jast year's crop was very fine. A heavy storm in September injured the opening cotton throughout Mississippi and Louisiana. The
worm has been busy in North Alabama and Tennessee. An increase may
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fi96
Cotton: and the Cotton Trade.
be expected in Arkansas and Texas, but not from any other portion of
the country which finds a market at New Orleans. Still, as many circumstances have been favorable to a large yield, no falling off•in the receipts can be anticipated. For the whole Union, I would estimate the
crop of 1849 at 2,550,000 bales. (Table V.) Were it not for the low
prices, the estimate might be larger, as I do not doubt that the actual production, added to the stocks on hand, considerably exceeds this amount.
The imports from the East Indi es must rapidly decline in 1849. When
Surat and Madras are quoted in Liverpool at 3 pence for fair cotton, it
is impossible to look for the usual receipts from India. The long voyage,
the heavy freights, the delays in receiving payments after a shipment is
made, the expensive inland transportation before the cotton is brought to
the seaports, cannot he paid for-, consideTing th e inferior quality of their
cotton. Low prices do not produce their effect immediately on so distant
a market, but the depression has now continued long enough to exert their
legitimate influence. By considering the advance and the decline in the
East India imports in fo-rmer years, according as they were encouraged or .
not, by the condition of the European market, I cannot estimate the receipts from this source to exceed 100,000 bales for 1849·, although, for
1847 and 1848, they are over 200,000 bales. (Table VI.) This is lower
than the imports for any former year, excepting 1846, but the discouragements to large imports from India are now greater than at any former
period.
From Brazil the supplies may fall off because of the low prices, but this
deficiency will be made up by the increase from Egypt. The interruption
in the demand at Marseilles and Trieste, because of the political troubles
in France and Austria, will divert a larger portion of Egyptian cotton to
Great Britain. As the whole of these supplies is small and nearly stationary, there will be no difficulty in making an approximate estimate for
the coming year. The imports into England from South America, the
West Indies, and Egypt, will be about 150,000 bales for the present year,
(Table VII.,) and I would anticipate the same for 1849.
We thus have the total supply for these sources for 1849, at 2,800,000
bales. (Table I.) This exceeds considerably the amount of any former
year, but as prices are very low, and as the consumption in the United
~tates has gone steadily forward, the demand will nearly equal this, in
spite of the wars and distmbances in Europe. The stocks on hand are
not extraordinarily large at present, (Table VIII.,) and this slight increase
can be borne without further depressing prices.
The largest consumer of cotton is the United States. England is the
great workshop, indeed, of the world, but the actual consumption in our
country exceeds that of Great Britain and Ireland, and all the English
possessions in the four quarters of the globe, including the English exports to Gibraltar and India, whence doubtless large amounts are re-exported to Spain and the East India Islands. The New York Shipping
and Commercial List, which is the highest authority on this subject, gives
607,000 bales as the American consumption for 1848. Of this, 523,000
bales was delivered to the factories at the North, and 75,000 was the estimated consumption in the South and West. This estimate is probably
too low-certainly the amount allowed for Georgia is not near as large
as it ought to be. But taking this number and turtling the bags into
pounds, at 400 pounds each, the amount reaches 423,000,000, which exceeds
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Cotton: and the Cotton Tra11e.
597
tb.e av~rage of the last three years in England (Table IX.) by 7,000,000
pounds4 As the increase in our country is more rapid than in any other,
we may be regarded hereafter as tbe largest consumer in tl:te world. The
home market, ho,w ever undervalued, is thus the most important of all. I
have take n no notice of our impo1:ts and exports of-cotton goods, supposing
that they will nearly balance each other. In -value, the imports are
double the exports ; but the former bei ng light•and valuable, while the
. l~tter -are coarse and cheap, the weight of both is probably about the
same. Our con sumption for 1849 may be estimated to be larger than for
1848, as the amount bas uniformly increased for many years past. It _was
feared that If.he low tariff of 1846 would diminish the home aemand for the
raw material, but experience has happily dissipated these fears. The importations of cotton manufactures have · increased very largely; but the
enterprise and industry of our-manufacturers have not only kept the market
for heavy goods in their own hands, but, even in the finer articles, they
have forced the importers to lessen the supplies with which they at first
deluged the market. (Table X.) The -consequence has been, that the onward progress of our home consumption has suffered not the slightest
check. (Table XI.) For 1849 I would estimate the wants of the northern
manufacturers at 550,000 bales ; the amount consumed in the South and
West being excluded from the estimated receipts, is also excluded from
the estimated demand.
The wants of Great Britain for her home market will be as large in
1849 as in any former year. The harvests have now been good for two
successive seasons, and the stocks of grain have accumulated. The total
repeal of the duty in March next will bring down tbe pr.ices for corn still
lower than they now are. The work on railroads is going on. briskly,
and the demand for lahor on these new works will be considerable. The
manufacturing towns and iron districts, though not in a prosperous condition, have fair wages, and but few of the furnaces are out of alast, and
few of the mills are working short time. The currency is undisturbed,
and the rate of interest low. The home consumption is about 30 per
cent of the whole 1 (Table IX.,) and this part of the demand may be ex. pected to be as large as in 1845. If we examine the exports to that part
of Europe undisturbed by wars or revolutions, (Table III.,,) we will find
no diminution in their demand for English manufactures. This includes
Belgium, Greece, Holland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, and Turkey, and receives 25 per cent of the whole amount exported. The .goocls forwarded
to Austria, Denmark, Germany, Lombardy, Naples, Sardinia, and Sicily,
have fallen off folly one-third below the average, and no revival fo this
trade cao be reasonably expected for the coming year. The exports to
the British possessions, and to other countries out of Europe, have declined in 1848, but that is io part to be attributed to excessive supplies
sent to these countries during the financial troubles of last year. We
may, therefore, expect that the deliveries to the trade for 1849 -will ex- ·
ceed the consumption of the present year, and though it may not reach the
amounts of 1845 and 1846, it will approach nearly to those limits. For
1849, I would estimate the English demand at 1,450,000 bales, against
1,570,000 in 184:n, 1,560,000 in 1840, 1,ll!0,000 in 1847, and about
1;·3 00,000 in 1848.
The exports from th e United States to France during the present ·year
have increased from 241,000 to 279,000 bales, but ,each of these is m ucl1
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598
Collon : and the, Cotton Trade.
less than the exports of previous years. The deliveries to the trade for
the first eight months of 1848 .were 193,816 bales, against 194,248 in
1847, but the consumption of American alone had increased. The political troubles have not, therefore, been more disastrous-to the manufacturerthan the scarcity and high price of food in 1847. With the low pricesthat are anticipated for 1'849, the consumption will proLably advance.
The amount of American cotton wanted for the coming year will not
probably be less than S00,000 bales, against 356,000, the average for the- ·
five years ending December 31st, 1846. The consumption for the present
year will be 270 or 280,000, and an increase of 20 or 0,000 bales may.
be safely expected.
The consumption on the other parts of the continent has advanced overlast year, but is probably less than in 1845 or 1840-. The diminished~
wants of Germany and Austria are balanced by the increase in Russiat Belgium, Holland, and Spain. The average consumption of the continent 1
has been for the last five years (Table XII.) 391,000-·bales, and for the ..
last four 412,000 Bales. Fol" the present year it will probably reach,
420,000 bales, and an advance rather than a decline may be expected .
.From this review of the wants of Europe and America, it would appear
that the demand for 1849' will probably amount to 2,720,000 hales, (Table ·
XIII.,) and this will cause an increase in the stocks of 80,000 bales. A&the stocks in Liverpool are now 140,000 bales over those of last year, a
still further increase cannot fail to keep down prices to very low limits..
Not, indeed, below their present rates, for the stocks are -not near as large
now as they have been formerly, (Table VIII.,) and· they will bear this
increase without further depressing prices. The prospects of the planters
are gloomy indeed. The proper remedy is to lessen tne produetion, and
this will doubtless be done. Self.interest will prompt them to look for
other employment for capital than the raising of cotton at 5 or_ 5½ cents
per pound. Until this is-done, no improvement in prices can be reasonably expected.
TABLE
r:
SUl'PL Y OF COTTON.
1847..
f848.
1849:·
Crop of the United States ........................bales 2,101,000
2,3'48,000 2,550,00
English import from East India.......................
223,000 ab't 200,000
100,000
"'
"
"· other places.....................
13;1,000 " 150,000
150,000Total supply from these sources..............
2,455,000
2,698,008 2,800-,000'
TABLE Il.
DEMAND~
1845.-
18.f6.
Consumption in Great Britain.......... . ~· ......... ... .............bales 1,577,000 1,561,000
Consumption in the United States..................................... .
428,000
423,000
French deliveries of American ................................. n • ..... ..
375,000
351,000
English and American export to other countries.................. ..
399,000,
406,000
Increase in the American demand for 1848........................ ..
109,000
104,000
Total demand (had there been no decrease in Europe). .... ..
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2,866,000 2,867,00~
Cotton : and the Cotton Tf!ade.
599
TABLE III.
ENGLISH EXPORTS OF COTTON MANUFACTURES, INCLUDING PL AIN AND PRINTED CALICOES AND
COTTON YARN•
For the first six months of
184§. 1846. 1847. 1848.
To British possessions .......... ... .. .... ...in millions of lbs.
European States, undisturbed .... .... ... ................. .. .
''
"
more or less disturbed'... ...... .... ... .
All other countries....... ... ..... ........................... .
54
60
40
65
59
49
45
52
54
37
32
69
45
53
28
49
Total exports, ............... ..... ................. .. .....
219
205
192
175
TABLE IV.
AMERICAN EXPORTS, VALUE, AND AVERAGE PRICE.
Year.
1840 ...... . .. ... .
1841 .......... .. .
1842 .......... . ..
1843 ...... ..... .
1844 ............ .
1845 ....... ... .. .
1846 ............ .
1847 ............ .
1848 .......... .. .
Export in lbs.
743,900,000
530,200,000
577,500,000
817,300,000
663,600,000
872,900,000
547,600,000
527,200,000
Value.
Price in cts.
$63,870,000
8.6
54,330,000 10.2
47,590,000
8.2
49,120,000
6.0
8.1
54,060,000
5.9
51,740,000
42,770,000
7.8
53,450,000 10.1
. ... .... .. .. ab't 7.
Crop in lbs. Value whole crop.
870,000,000
654,000,000
674,000,000
952,000,000
812,000,000
958,000,000
840,000,000
711,000,000
940,000,000
$74,820,000
66,708,000
55,468,000
57,120,000
65,772,000
56,522,000
65,520,000
71,811,000
65,800,000
Total.. ... . ... .. .... ........... ..... ....... .. .... . ...... ..... . 7,411,000,000 $579,541,000
Average price, 7 cents and 8 mills.
TABLE V.
UNITED STATES CROP.
Estimate for
Receipts
1846.
1847.
1848.
1849.
New Orleans.... ....... ..... :.bales
Mobile ...............................
Florida .............. .. ......... .. ....
Texas ... ...... .. .................. .. ..
Georgia ... ........ . .............. .....
South Carolina .......... . ...........
Other places ... ....... ...............
1,037,000
422,000
141,000
27,000
195,000
252,000
27,000
706,000
324,000
128,000
8,000
243,000
350,000
20,000
1,191,000
436,000
154,000
40,000
255,000
262,000
10,000
1,190,000
500.000
180,00()
50,000
290,000
330,000
10,000
Total. ... .... .. .... ... .... bales
2,101,000
1,779,000
2,348,000
2,550,000
TABLE VI.
ENGLISH IMPORT!:! FROM EAST INDI.l.
Import.
Years.
1825 to 1833 ... ........... . ... average bales
"
1833 to 1841..... ... . . . . .. . . . •
180 to 1843 ........ .. ....... .
1843 to 1845 .................•
1845 .............. .. ..... ...................... .
1846 ............... ...... ... ........... ........ .
1847 ........................... ................ .
1848•.... .•..................... ..... . ...• about
1847 ............................... six months
1847 ..................... Oct 6th, Liverpool
1848 ............................... six months
1848 ........ . .. ...........0ct. 6th, Liverpool
1849 .. ............. ................... . ... about
73,000
140,000
265,000
210,000
155,000
95,000
223,000
200,000
87,000
93,000
102,000
87,000
100,000
Remarks.
Declining prices.
High prices.
Chinese war.
Peace and low prices.
"
"
"
"
"
"
Low prices and repeal of doty.
Advance in prices.
Declining prices.
Advance in prices.
Declining prices.
Very low prices.
TABLE VII. •
ENGLISH IMPORTS FROM EGYPT, AND EAST AND WEST INDIA.
1843 ........ ........ . .... ....bales
1844... .............. .... . ..........
1845................ ................
1846..... ... . . . .. ... . ..... ....... ...
1847....... . ........................
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
165,000
197,000
201,000
158,000
138,000
l84i ... Six months......... .bales
1848...
·········"·"··
1847 ... 0ct. 6th, Liverpool ......
1848.. .
"
"
1848 ... Whole year aboot. .... ...
53,000
55,000
77,000
93,000
150,000
Cotton : and the Cotton Trad,e.
600
'!'ABLE VIII.
STOCKS,
Year.
Liverpool.
G. Britain.
1840, Dec. 31st.bales
366,000
430,000
1841.... ..... . . . .........
1842... . .. ..... .. .. ... ...
457,000
1843..... ... .. .. .. .... .. .
654,000
1844..... ....... .........
741,000
1845...... ... . .. . .. .. .. ..
885,000
1846...... .... .. ...... .. .
439,000
1847...... ...... ..... .... .
364,000
1847, Oct. 6...........
386,000
1848........ . . . . ... . .. . .
533,000
1848, Dec. 31......... ab't 580,000
464,000
550,000
551,000
786,000
903,000
1,060,000
549,000
452,POO
Total.
Fro.nee. Rest of Contin't.
94,000
136,000
138,000
119,000
78,000
69,000
·30,000
63,000
Sept. 1. 53,000
"
95,000
ab't 80,000
672,000
761,000
821,000
1,055,000
1,101,000
1,219,000
618,000
591,000
114,000
75,000
122,000
150,000
120,000
90,000
39,000
76,000
........ ab't 800,000
TABLE IX.
CONStTMJ;'TION IN ·GREAT BRITAIN AND HER DEPENDENCIES,
i84@.
1846.
Millions of lbs.
Holt.
Burns.
Millions of lbs.
Burns.
Holt.
1847.
Millions of lbs. Average.
Burns.
Holt. Mill. of Iba.
Weight manufacturedh .. ••·
494
528
495
533
362
391
"
exported.............
337
358
354
377
288
311
"
consumed at home.
157
170
141
156
74
80
Exported to Brit. Possess.. .
85
87
67
Total amount consumed by British subjects......................................
Add for waste l¾ oz. in every lb. of the raw material........... ..............
467 337
130
80
210
26
Total amount of raw cotton used by British subjects..........................
Amount consumed in the United States in 1848...... .... .. .. . .. . ... .. . .. . . . ..
236
243
TABLE X.
BRITISH EXPORT TO THE UNITED STATES,
Year.
1845 (First six months of) ........... .
"
1846 "
1847
1848
.Calicoes,
printed and dyed.
Yards .
Calicoes, plain.
Yards.
8,803,000
6,360,000
20,972,000
19,220,000
7,963,000
5,367,000
22,131,000
9,950,000
Other cotton•.
Yards.
4,809,000
2,480,0005,734,000
3,996,000
TABLE XI.
I
AMERICAN CONSUMPTION.
American
consumption.
Bales.
Year.
1843 ...
1844 ...
1845 ...
325,000
347,000
389,000
A•,ernge for Increase,
three years. per cent.
Bales.
305,000
321,000
354,000
3.4
5.2
10.3
Year.
I 1846
...
1847 ...
1848 ...
American
consumption.
Bales.
423,000
428,000
523,000
Average for Increase,
three years. per cent.
, Bales.
386,000
413,000
458,000
9.0
7.0
10.0
TARLE XII.
CONSUMPTION ON THE CONTINENT.
American exports Stocks on the
English exports. to the continent. 31st De.:ember.
Year.
1844 .... ................. .bales
1845 ........................... .
1846 ......................... .. .
1847 ........................... .
1848 .... ....................... .
135,000
121,000
194,000
208,000
220,000
144,000
285,000
205,000
169,000
255,000
120,000
90,000
39,000
76,000
Apparent
consumption.
309,000
437,000
450,000
340,000
ab't 420,000
TABLE XIII.
•
DEMAND.
1848.
English consumption of aH kinds............................ bales ab't 1,300,000
"
"
American
........ ............... ! ...... ....
523,000
French deliveries of American.............................. ...... ab't 275,000
English and American exports to other countries . . ... . ..... .. ab't 420,000
Total from other sources ...•.................................. .
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
2,518,000
1849.
1,450,000
550,000_
300,000
420,000
2,720,000
I
•
The Law of Sickness, etc.
601
lrt. 111.-THE LAW OF SICKNESS, AND ITS APPLICATION TO HEALTH INSURANCE AND BENEFIT SOCIETIES,
WITHIN the last three ~ears several companies have been formed in.
this country for the purpose of effecting insurance against the pecuniary
loss and inconvenience occasioned by sickness. Although the idea appeared novel, yet the same thing, substantially, was practised by the vai'ious secret and other benevolent societies which ·have abounded for years
past. Their system of dues and benefits is only .another name for effecting an insuranoe by paying premium. ~rhe object sought to be accomplished is one very praiseworthy and benevolent, and of great service to
a large and valuable part of the community ; hut as all did not wish to
become members of secret societies, which, until health insurance companies were formed, was the only mode of compassing security of this
kind, such institutions . were deemed necessary. There is no kind of insurance which may be made more generally useful than this, f-or it contemplates a provision for the wants of an individual .o r family at the very
time when such provision is most needed ; and whatever sums are paid to
the insured, the value is greatly enhanced by the consideration that it is
not the result of benevolence or charity, but proceeds from his own wise
and . prudent forethought.
When the hand of affliction is laid upon an individual, his health gone,
and his physical energies paralyzed, what pleasure must the reflection
give him who has by an insurance provided for the support of his family,
or secured for himself medical aid and those comforts which a sick bed
{equire.
We do not wish to dwell here upon the various uses to which health
insurance may be applied, or to enumerate the classes of persons to whom
the practice would be beneficial ; our object is rather to exhibit some important facts in vital statistics, and apply them to the business of those
societies and companies. Recent investigations made in Europe sho
the average amount of sickness experienced by persons of different ages~
others show us how health is influenced by locality and other causes ; and
we shall now proceed to give the result of some of those investjgations,
an~ state the source from which they originated.
The number of friendly societies in Great Britain, and the vast number
of persons belonging to them as members, and the considerable sums
which in the aggregate was annually contributed for the purpose of securing sick benefits, funeral money, &c., arrested the attention of Parlia.
ment, and an investigation was had, at the instance of the government, to
ascertain whether the sums contributed were sufficient, under this mutual
system, to -secure the object contemplated. Startling conclusions were
arrived at, for it was shown, with clearness little short of demonstration,
that the failure of many societies which had already occurred was owing
to circumstances which still existed, and were operating with equal certainty in those that remained. Not ha,Ting any reliable data upon which
to base their terms of membership, it was commonly regulated by caprice,
and with a disposition to make the dues as light, and.the benefits as large,
as possible. Thus, the general err.or was discovered, that the contributions were too sma]] to defray the obligations incurred. The necessity
for receiving a much larger sum, during many- of the earlier years of a
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
The Law of Sickness-,
602
society's existence, than is required to meet the claims coming upon them
during those years, so that an accumulated fund will be in their possession when the time arrives when the claims will be constantly greater
than the receipts, has not been understood by the originators or managers
of these institutions. The author of the statistics above referred to,
Charles Ansell, Esq., F. R. S., who was employed to make the investigation, in his work on this subject, published under the superintendence
of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Know ledge, speaking of this sub..
ject, says:-" The number of societies who have existed long· enough to
bring-the sufficiency of their contributions to the test of experience, bears
a lamentably small proportion to the number that have become insolvent..
In the early stages of such institutions the claims upon their funds are
few. They have usually started with the great mass of their members in
the prime of life, and in robust health, so that, for a while, nearly all their
:receipts have appeared to be profits. It is only when advancing age, in ..
creased sickness, or permanent infirmity, together with accelerated claims
for funeral money, press heavily on the funds, that it is discovered the
original contributions have been inadequate to provide for the benefits
promised to the members; and when insolvency shows itself, the ruin
produced by it to the elder members comes at a time when their vigor is
forever gone, and they are no longer capable of realizing by their labor
the means of beginning anew to make that provision for their helples•
age, which, to their credit, they had for the best proportion of their lives
been honorably striving to effect."
The society for diffusing useful knowledge caused blank forms of schedules to be printed and sent to friendly societies in most of the counties in
England, and from almost every part of the country returns of them filled
up were received. Information was by this means obtained of the actual
experience of a large number of societies, embracing several thousand
members, taken indiscriminately from all parts of England, while passing
through in the aggregate 24,323 years of life, principally between the age
,2,0 and the age 70. We wHl not give the intricate and ingenious process
by which the following table was deduced from the societies' returns, as it
would take much time and space, and would after all only be interesting
to the sQientific reader.
Age.
20 ...........•..... .. . ~
21. ................... .
22 ........... ... ...... .
23 ......•••.....•......•.
24 ... ... .... .. .. ... .....
25 ........ .. ......... ..
26 .................... .
~7 ... ........... -. .... ••
28 .................... .
29 .................... .
30 .......... : ..•.....•
31 .................... .
32 .............•.......
33 ........... : ........ .
34 .......... .... ...... ~
35 .................... .
36 .................... .
*
.776
.780
.785
.791
.798
.806
.815
.825
.836
.848'
.861
.876
.893
•912
.933
.S56
.981
Age.
37 .................... .
38 .................... .
39 .................... .
40 .................... .
41. .... ............... .
42 .................... .
43 ...... .............. .
44 .................... .
45 .................... .
46 .................... .
47 .................... .
48 ................... ..
49 .......... .......... .
50 ..... : .............. .
51 .................... .
52 .................... .
53 ................... ..
*
1.009
1.040
1.074
I.Ill
1.151
1.195
1.243
1.295
1.351
1.411
1.475
1.554
1.619
1.701
1.791
1.890
1.999
Age.
54 .................... . 2.120
55 ........... . ····· •·•• 2.256
56 .................... . 2.410
57 .. ... ............... . 2.586
58 .................... . 2.788
59 .................... .
3.021
60 .................... . 3.292
61. ................... . 3.611
3.991
62 .................... .
63 .................... . 4.448
64 .................... . 5.001
5.672
65 .................... .
6.486
66 .................... .
67 ................... . 7.471
68 ................... .. 8.659
69 .................... . 10.086
70 .................... . 11.793
* Quantity of sickness experienced in an individual in the year following each.age,
expressed' in weeks and decimals of a week.
·
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
And its Application to Health Insurance and Benefit Societies. 60
A glance at the above will be sufficient to show its importance in de termining the actual liabilities of friendly societies-Odd Fellows, Recbabites, Sons of Temperance, &c.
The first inquiry that arises is, whether the results here given may be
depended upon ; and after considering the data from wh:ich the tahl'es werededuced, and on e:i:amination of the table itself, considerable confidence
in it must be accorded. But we have more information on the laws of
sickness proceeding from other sources, embracing the experience of other
persons and societies~ covering another period of time, and collected and
arranged by another person, which goes to sustain the general accuracy
and reliability of the above tables, which had- refeTence· to the five years1823-1827. The data from which the following law of sickness was deduced consists of the quipquennial returns for 1836-1840; made under the·
friendly societies' act, H) George IV., as amended by 4 and 5 William IV.,
and by sending blank schedules to 6-e filled up, a prize being offered as a
reward to those whose returns were · the most foll and complete. The material thus collected was used by F. G. P. Neison, F. L. S., who read the
result of his labors before the Statistical Society in 1845. We have in
this production a vast amount of eurfous and useful information res-pecting
the rate of mortality and the laws of sickness, and the influence of locality and oec-upation on health and longevity. The sickness tables are of
various kinds, discriminating between the experience of the rural, town,
and city districts, and between the experience of England and Scotland.
lVERAGE SJCimESS PER' AcNNUM TO EACH PERSON AT THE FOLLOWING AGES,EXPRESSED 1N WEEKS~
E·NGLISR AND'W11:LSB DA'l"k.
Age:
20 ...••.
21 ....••
22 ....••
23:.....
24 ......
25 ...•••
26 .....•
27 ......
28 .....•
29 ......
30 ......
31. ...••
32 ......
33 ......
34 ......
35 ......
36 ......
37 •.....
38 ...•••
39 ......
40 ......
41. ....•
42 ......
43 ......
44 ......
-45 ......
T6wn •
Rural
district.
district.
.8387
.8397
.8426
.8475
.8542
.8fi30
.8736
.8802
.88~7
.8810
.8753
.8655
.8630
. .8677
.8798
.8991
.9257
.9551
.9872
1.0221
1.0677
1.1002
1.1398
1.1786
1.2166
1.2537
.8564
.8678
.8746
.8767
.8741
.8649
.8551
.8504
.8529
.8626
.8794
.9035
.9287
.9551
.9827"
1.0114 ·
1.0414'
1.0819 '
l.1330
l.194r
}.26691
1.3'49B
1.4477
1.5608
1.6890
1.8323
Rural,
town, and
Age.
city
Oity
clistriet. district.
.5659
.6762
.7713,
.8511
.9157
.9650
.9'991
1.0303
1.0584
1.0837
1.1059
1.1252
1.1480
1.1742
1.2040
1.2372
1.2740
1:3152
1.3611
1.4114
l.4663
f.5258
1.5901
1.6593
1.7335
1.8125
.8398
.8453
.8515
.8585
.8661
.8744
.8834
.8!H5
.8988
.9052
.9107
.9154
.9250
.9396
.9591
.9836
1.0130
1.0474
1.0869
l.1313
1.1808
1.2353
1.2939
1.3565
1.4232
1.4939
46 ... ..•
47 ......
48 .....•
49 .....•
50 .....•
51. ..•.•
52 .....•
53 ....••
54 ..•.••
55 ......
56 ......
57 .....•
58 ......
59 ....•.
·60 ....••
61. ....•
62 ......
63 .....•
64 ....••
65 ......
66 .... ••
67 .....•
68 .....•
69 ......
70....••
Rural
district.
Town
district.
1.2900 l.9908
1.3417 2.1423
1.4089 2.2871
1.4915 2.4249
1.5896 2.5559
M031 2.6800
1.8335 2.8168
1.9808 2.9662
2.1450 3.1280
2.3260 3.3029
2.5240 3.4903
2.7756 3.7450
3.0811 4.06i0
3.4402 4.45-64
3.8531 4.9'132'
4.3198 5A3V3'
4.9308 6.1219
5.6863- 6.9670
6.5862 7,9126,
7.6305, 9:138'1
8.8192 10.4652
10.0700 11.9646
11.3829 13.0368
12.7579 14.2817
14.1949 15.4995
Rural,
town, an d
city
City
district. districL
1.8964 1.5688
1.9954 1.6528
2.1095 1.74'61
2.2388 1.8486
2.3831 1.9600
2.5426 2.0812
2.7144 2.2161
2.8985 2.3650
3.0949 2.5279
3.3036 2.7047
3.5246 2.8956
3.7545 3.1371
3.9932 3-;4293
4.2408 3.7722
4.4973 4.165-7
4.7626 4.6099
5.0357 5.1904
5.3167 5.9073 .
5.6054 6.7605
5.9019 7.7501
6.2062 8.8760
6.7643 10.06't
7.5761 11 .3251
8.6417 12.6494
9.9610 14.0391
With the aid of tables such as these it becomes easy, after determi ing
how far they are likely to agree with the experience of this country, to
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
604:
. The Law of Sickness,
form a tariff of r,ates for a friendly society, which will be equitable, and
-conduce to permanency. This is very apparent, that the annual contributions or dues should be graduated according to the age p f the party at
entrance. Notwithstanding healthy persons, whose ages range between
20 and 50, may stand an equal chance for enjoyment of health for. one
year, yet there is a great difference in the value of the risk if extended
for a term of years, or during life. Yet in most benefit societies all persons between 21 and 40 or 45 years of age are admitted on -the same
terms. The rates of premium charged by the Eagle Life and Health
Insurance Company are formed strictly with reference to the risk as developed by these investigations, and being the fullest and most correct of
any published, we subjoin them:ANNUAL PREMIUMS FOR AN JNSURANC'E OF $4 PER WEEK DURING SICKNESS, AND IN THAT PROPORTION FOR A GREATER OR LESS WEEKLY A'LLOWANCE,
Age.
20 . ............
21 .............
22 .............
23 ............~
24 . .......... _
25 ......•.....•
26 .............
27 .............
28 .............
29 .............
30 .............
31 .............
32 .. ...........
33 . .. .. . .......
34 .............
35 . ...... .. : ...
For term of For term of
5 years.
7 years.
$5 25
5 30
5 35
5 40
5 45
5 50
5 60
5 70
5 80
5 90
6 00
6 10
6 25
6 40
6 55
6 70
$5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
30
35
40
45
50
60
70
80
90
00
10
25
40
55
70
85
·Upto
age 70. Age.
$8
8
B
8
8
8
8
8
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
11
00
00
00
00
00
25
50
75
00
25
50
75
00
30
60
00
36 ........ ..
37 ··········
38 .. ........
39 ..........
40 ..........
41 ..........
42 ..........
43 ..........
44 ..........
45 .. .. .....•
46 ..... .....
47 ..........
48 ..........
49 ..........
50 ..........
For term of For term of
5 years.
7 years.
$6
·7
7
.7
7
8
8
8
8
9
9
9
10
10
10
85
00
25
50
75
00
25
50
75
00
25
60
00
25
50
$7 00
7 25
7 50
7 75
8 00
8 25
8 50
8 75
9 00
9 25
9 60
10 00
10 50
10 75
11 -25
Up to
age 70,
$11
11
12
12
13
13
14
14
15
15
16
17
17
18
19
'40
80
20
60
00
50
06
50
00
50
25
00
75
50
25
A further investigation into the organization of secret benevolent societies, as they exist in England and in this country, discovers other radical errors in the terms on which they are conducted, and excites wonder
that alarm is not created at their insecurity, and dissatisfaction at the inequality of the terms of membership. They agree to pay, besides the
sick benefits, certain sums upon the decease of a brother, and a brother's
wife ; this is, therefore, merely a life insurance to that arnollftt, and jus tice to all manifestly requires that the initiation fee, which is understood
to be the consideration for the promised funeral money, should be graduated according to the age of the party at entrance. In most of these ROeieties, however, as was remarked above, no difference is made in the
-charge for admission between the age of 20 and 45, while the difference
of the expectation of life, according to the best tables of mortality, is
about 16 .years. We think it needs no argument, beyond the statement
of the fact, to show that if the society may expect to , enjoy .the interest of
the sum paid sixteen years longer in one case than in the other, considerable difference should be made in the sum demanded from two persons
who ask admittance when there is such a disparity between their ages.
The prosecution of this subject further would be a digression, as it concerns the laws of mortality and -not sickness, but at another time 'Ye-may
d' scuss it with the hope that their attention being called to the subject,
reforms will be made that will conduce to equity and permanency in their
organization, and thus incr.ease their usefulness. It is to be regretted,
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
And its Application to Health Insurance and Benefit Societies. 605
however, that there is such a disposition to cling with tenacity to old
ways, notwithstandi!)g the folly of such practices is apparent on every
side. Occasionally a lodge which has been in existence several years accumulates funds rapidly, and may really be in a prosperous condition, owing
to the falling off of many of its members who have paid their initiation,
and the influx of new ones-young, healthy men. Such cases seem to be
constantly before the eyes of other and Jess fortunately situated lodges,
and serve to cheat them into a belief that, because they are similarly organized, they will also be, ultimately, as successful.
The following extract from the report made by a sub.committee of a
district in England, containing 5,000 members of the I. 0. 0. F., is a
summary of our views on this subject :-" So long as an influx of young
members shall continue, the funds may appear to maintain a position which,
to the eye of the inexperienced, may be altogether delusive. But when
the original members shall have passed the meridian of life, and have be.
gun to experience the infirmities of old age, the demands made upon the
funds will necessarily be much larger. The stability of the institution
will cause them to be fairly tested." And again they say:-" If the present system is permitted to continue, which seems not only to involve within itself the elements of dissolution, but is constructed on principles which
act unfairly towards the younger portion of the members-thus, for example, a young man, eighteen years of age, is charged as much for his
initiation as a man of thirty, while all the time the entry money of the
former has been accumulating at compound interest; thus evidently showing that the entry money at eighteen is in reality nearly double of what
it is at thirty, though undoubtedly it ought to be the revers_e ..•• That it is
unjust, and likewise unsafe to the well-being of a benefit society, that
each member should pay an equal sum, whatever his age may be at the
time of his entry."
These investigations into the laws of sickness have brought out this
very interesting fact, that sickness and mortality do not bear the relation
to each other of cause and effect, but that, on the contrary, the highest
ratio of sickness is sometimes found associated with a favorable rate of
mortality. It is ascertained that many trades have less than the general
average of sickness, while they have a high rate of mortality, as bakers,
for instance, whose expectation of life is considerably less than the average, while the ratio of sickness does not come up to it.
• Again : clerks and tailors are found to be subject to a very high rate o(
mortality, but still they fall short of the average amount of sickness. Mr.
Neison on this subject remarks:-'' The most striking refutation of the
theory that sickness and mortality bear the relation to each other of cause
and effect, will perhaps be derived from a comparison of the general results of mortality in friendly societies in England for all districts combined, with that for Scotland."
The result of this comparison will be, that the rate of mortality in
Scotland among the members of friendly societies is much higher than
among the same cl_ass in England ; and if the theory just recited were to
hold good, there should also be found a greater amount of sickness in
Scotland ; but it is ascertained that such is not the case, and that, instead
of there being an increased ratio of sickness, the ratio is actually below
that of England. Nothing further need, therefore, be said on this sub.
ject; but the arguments may be rendered more obvious by an inspection
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
,
Protection of Vesseia from Lightning.
606
of the following table, in which it will be seen that while the excess of
mortality is uniformly against Scotland, the excess of sickness is as constantly :against England.
Age.
Mortality, per cent, in
En1?land.
Scotland.
30 ... .. ...... .
.7563
.9386
1.4267
2.5054
40 .....•....••
50 ... ...... . . .
60 ......... .. .
•
.7926
1.0767
1.5830
2.9096
Excess ofmorExcess ofsick tality fo Scot- Average sickness yearly in ness in England, per cent. E ngland.
Scotlnnd. land. per cent.
4.7997
14.7134
10.9538
16.1331
.9107
1.1808
1.9602
4.1657
.8376
.9767
1.8548
3.9423
8.0268
17.2849
5.3818
5.3628
It is much to be lamented that we have no data wherewith to ascertain the rate of sickn·ess and mortality in this country. But there is consolation in the fact, that, if the govemment will do nothing, in a few
years the experience of friendly or benefit societies and health insurance
companies will supply the deficiency. The Eagle Company already number the persons insured with them by thousands, and as soon as practicable the rates will be deduced from their experience a nd published.
Art. IV.-PROTEUION :O.F VESSELS FROM LIGHTNING .
T o THE
EDITOR o F T HE MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE AND CoMMERCIAL REvrnw.
IN the Merchants' Magazine for June, 1846, I observe an article on
this subject, affording much valuable information, from the pen of E.
Meriam, Esq., of New York, to which we solicit the public attention.
Among other matters obtained by his researches, are extracts from a report made to the British Parliament by a commission appointed by them
in 1839 for this purpose. Parliamentary reports on various important subjects, are among the most valuable publications from the British press.
"They are made after much research and inquiry from the highest authorities, and comprise the most authentic information. From the investigations made on this occasion, we learn that, in cases of damage from lightning on board of British armed ships, they report one hundred and fourteen
occurrences. Of these, forty-seven were line-of-battle ships, forty-nine
frigates, and seventeen brigs and cutters. Of these, sixty-eight were
struck on the mainmast, twenty-eight on the foremast, five on the mizen,
and one on the bowsprit. Of these, also, fifty were struck both on t e
main and mizenmasts, six both on the fore and mainmast, and of sixty-one
cases, the particulars are not mentioned. Of one hundred cases, it was
found that sixty-two persons were killed and one hundred and fourteen
wounded, exclusi.ve of one case in which "several" were killed, and exclusive of the 44 gun frigate "Resistance," in which only four were
saved-three hundred Jives were probably lost on this occasion.
Of the spars damaged or destroyed, ninety-two 'Yere lower masts,
eighty-two topmasts, sixty topgallantmasts, one royal, and one bowsprit.
After this fea.rful enumeration of injuries sustained, the Commission observe, "and no instance, so far as we are aware of, has ever occurred of
a. ship sustaining injury when struck by lightning, if the conductor was up
to the masthead, and the continuity uninterrupted to the water."
The following letter is published as an official document, in confirmation of the opinions adopted in tha,t repo,rt : -
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Protection of Vessels from Lightning.
-OD7
[EnRACT OF A LETTER FROM CA.PT. W. H. SllflTH, ROYAL NAVY.]
" In my written orders, the officer of the watch was directed, whenever the
weather appeared threatening, whether at sea or in port, to hoist the conductor,
which was kept (not in the storeroom) in a box fixed to the stool of the after maintopmast backstay, and both officer nd men were carefully instructed to place it
o that the spindle would be always above the truck, and the chain carried into
the water clear of the crosstrees, top, and channel, by outriggers."
This letter is from high authority, and we shaU have occasion to recall
the attention of our readers to some of its particulars. It certainly shows
that there is but one conductor to a ship of war, and that much indifference
exists among the officers about that one, from the highest to the lowest.
Ships of war, with their heavy batteries of cannon and masses of iron
balls, are not more subject to injury from lightning than those in the merchant service, where no such metallic masses exist. Nor are the numerous steamers, with their elevated smoke stocks and massive machinery,
more liable to such injury than other vessels. The railroads, too, with
their vast expanse of horizontal iron and their flying cars, are not more
ubject to such accidents than other establishments. Nor are forts and
castles, with their heavy armament, more liable to such injuries than pri'Vate dwelling-houses. The reason for such exemption we ascribe to the
broad superficjes of metal, every part of which is in contact with the
earth, the great receptacle into which the electricity is rapidly passing.
The capacity of electrical c-onductors is not according to their massive
bulk or weight, but proportioned to their superficial expanse. A superficies of tinfoil equal to that of the Princeton's heavy gun, would attract
and convey just as much of the electrical fluid as it. On this principle
Dr. Franklin advanced the opinion, that a roof of sheet iron would protect a house from Hghtning more effectually than other expedients.
But let us return to the injuries by lightning to vessels generally. Mr.
Meriam continued his inquiries, extending them to the American navy
and merchant vessels. He says, "I have kept a record of the damage
done by lightning for a number of years. The catalogue now numbers
more than four hundred cases of injury, or loss of life and property, but I
have never yet found a case of injury to a human being in a vessel or
building protected by any kind of metallic conductor reared for the purpose
of protection." He addressed a letter to the Secretary of the Navy, and
received the following answer : American Navy Department, August 2d, 1843.
Sm :-Upon the receipt of your letter of the 25th ult., making inquiry as to
the sufficiency of the lightning conductors used on board our public vessels, I referred it to the Chief of one of the Bureaux for information as to their practical
operation.
I am informed that the lightning conductors now and heretofore in use, have
been found to answer well. None of our ships have ever been injured by lightning, if the conductors were up. Whether the rods may be reduced or enlarged,
it would be difficult to say, until experiments have been made to test the point.
DAVID HENSHAW.
I am very respectfully, &c.,
E. MERIAM, EsQ., Brooklyn.
We also received the following from Capt. Silas H. Stringham, of the
United States navy, then in command of the Ohio:The iron used for conductors of vessels 1of war in the nay,y iis 1of the following
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
608
Protection of Vessels from Lightning.
<limensions, viz: for sloops of war, one-quarter of an inch diameter; for frigates
and ships of the line, five-sixteenths ·of an inch.
Respectfully, &c.,
S. H. STRINGHAM,
Capt. U. S. N. " Ohio."
'1V e believe that it has been sincP- found necessary to reduce the size
and weight of the cond1Jctors on board of our sloops of wai·.
With evidence so conclusive that vessels may be protected from injury
by lightning, let us inquire how it happens that so many lives are lost
yearly from this cause, and so much injury sustained by persons and property. Instances occur at sea where vessels and cargoes, crew and passengers, are all destroyed oy lightning, and none survive to narrate their
misfortunes and sufferings. Vessels have been seen burning at sea, of
which no other accounts were ever received; many are known to be lost
at sea from casualties unknown, of which, from what we see and know, it
is reasonable to suppose that a portion of them are destroyed by lightning.
Mr. Meriam says :*In 1841 he recorded 8 vessels struck by lightning.
6
"
"
1842
"
1843
6
1844
17
184i14
"
Fifty.one vessels struck by lightning in five years! an average of more
than ten vessels .yearly that we hear of, and .who can say how many more
have been destroyed, of which we can never hear! Why does this blight
on commerce exist? Why such and so many occurrences so afflicting to
humanity?
Besides the consequences here reported, there are others of great interest to navigation-to the successful prosecution of a voyage, and even
to the lives and property of our fellow-citizens. A ship well found has
always a good chronometer as well as good compasses provided. By an
explosion of lightning, the polarity of the magnetic needle is destr~yed,
and the course of the ship can only be directed, as of old, by the heavenly
bodies. The chronometer is also rendered useless. The temper of the
steel pendulum and main-springs, the bushes, arbors, and chain, and of
other important parts, is destroyed by the electric explosion and rendered
magnetic, and the crew can no longer tell the longitude without resorting
to the precarious calculations from the log-line.
Even in the British navy, whose discipline is in many respects acl~ir..
able, the benefit derived from the single chain conductor allowed to each
vessel, however great, is certainly contingent on the vigilance, care, and
judgment of a junior and inferior officer. The officer of the watch will
probably be a midshipman ; he is made answerable for compliance with
his written or verbal instructions, whenever the weather appears threatening,· to hoist the conductor, &c. With the strictest attention to his duties,
this gentleman may not be weatherwise, and, in case of misfortune, his
plea of a mistake or error of judgment would excuse him, and ought to
excuse him, for who of his senior officers has not been occasionally mistaken in his prognostics of the weather? The young man is accordingly
sent hack to his command with a charge to keep a sharp look out in fu.
ture. He complies with his instructions, and having been previously mis• In an article published by him in Hunt's Merchants' Magazine for June, 1846.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Protection o f Vessels from Lightning.
609
taken in the threatening appearance o f the sky, he now becomes too cautious. On the gathering of a cloud he orders up the conductor, and, on
its clearing off, he orders the conductor down, to be hoisted up again,
possibly, within his own watch. For such errors he would be roughly
joked by his messmates, and possibly nicknamed by his own men. He
consequently becomes careless and indifferent about conductors all the rest
o f his life, or adopts the opinion prevalent among seafaring men, that
such conductors endanger the ship by attracting the lightning to it. Although, from the days of Dr. Franklin to the present, it has been repeat
edly proved that even such a conductor, properly elevated and extended in
continuity to the sea, does protect a ship from lightning, it is equally true
that such a conductor, left in a bag or box at the heel o f the topmast, with
its spindle extended upwards, is more dangerous than having no conductor
on board.
The chain conductors hitherto used for shipping are made o f round
wire, measuring about one-third o f an inch in diameter. In the British
navy they are of copper, and in merchant vessels o f iron, in links about
eighteen inches long, counected together by the ends o f each link turned
over and united by intermediate rings. The joints to the links are there
fore clumsy, and the weight increased by those turns about one-third; the
cost also is increased fully in that proportion. Besides this unnecessary
cost, the weight of the chain conductor at the masthead is a very serious
evil in stormy weather, and in the working the vessel. The iron con
ductors weigh from forty to fifty pounds each, and cost about $15 to
$'20; the sheet copper conductors weigh twenty-five pounds, and cost $8
each.
Carelessness in extending the conductor to the sea, or negligence in
extending it in due time, is the cause o f its discredit in the British navy.
W ho can doubt that a metallic spire, extended from the head o f the royalmast to a bag or box containing the rest of the chain conductor, at the
foot o f the topmast, or anywhere short o f the ocean, would collect the
lightning that may be in the atmosphere, and increase the danger from
explosion? Who, on the contrary, can doubt that if such conductor be
duly extended to the water, its metallic point would silently drain off from
the clouds their excess o f electricity, and convey it without injury over the
side ? W ho can doubt that his house is rendered secure from electrical
explosions by a permanent perfect conductor ? or that this conductor, if
broken off, or otherwise interrupted in reaching the earth, would be more
dangerous than none ? And no one should doubt that his ship would be
equally safe with a permanent perfect conductor extended from aloft over
the side to the sea.
But unfortunately the ships’ conductors have hitherto been loosely at
tached to spars that require to be taken down in threatening weather,
the very time when a conductor is most needed. When these spars, or
any o f them, are lowered or carried away, the conductor goes with them,
not for that spar only, but for the whole mast for the whole ship. The
present ships’ conductors are elevated through the truck at the head o f the
royalmast, above the topmast and topgallantmast, descending by the
maintopmast backstay, until it passes over the side to the water. I f the
royalmast is removed, the conductor is also removed, and although it might
be attached to the topgallant, or topmast, or lower mast, I believe that it
39
V O L . X I X . --- N O . V I .
610
Protection o f Vessels from Lightning.
seldom, if ever, is so attached. The crew are then fully employed in
taking in sail, and stowing away those heavy spars and their appendages.
That such want o f attention and indifference about conductors prevails
in the British navy, we infer from the numerous disasters detailed in the
Parliamentary Report spoken o f above. Also from the letter of Capt.
W . H. Smith, therein published, saying that he keeps his conductor, not
in the storeroom, but in a box at the stool o f the backstay to the maintopgallantmast. This leaves a palpable inference that other captains in the
British navy keep their conductors carefully stowed away in a storeroom,
among the supplies o f beans, bacon, and salt junk. I have heard also of
another incident, in which, after a long search, the conductor was found in
the bottom o f the carpenter’s tool-chest.
In a publication by W . Snow Harris, Esq., F. R . S., in the year 1844,
two hundred and ten cases are alphabetically reported in the British navy
alone o f injury from lightning, greatly to the prejudice o f the public in
terests, both in peace and war. He makes no allusion to the Parliamen
tary Report, or to the conclusions o f the Board o f Admiralty. He shows
that the evil still exists, for, since those proceedings,' eighteen cases o f in
jury from lightning had occurred up to the date o f his publication, and
leaves the conclusion unavoidable, that some new or more efficient meas
ures are highly necessary in the British navy.
I am told that in the British periodical, the United Service Journal, or
Nautical and Army Magazine, may be seen a detail o f the injuries sus
tained in the British commercial marine, equally or more extensive in pro
portion to those o f the Royal Navy.
Hitherto our attention has been confined to the British navy, from
which that o f America was certainly modelled. W e hope that the daugh
ter has in some respects improved on the discipline and customs o f the
mother. With respect to the conductors, we believe that the plan and in
structions are much alike, but that the American public ships have a con
ductor to each mast, and their constant use is more strictly enforced than
in the British navy.
W e certainly hear of few or no disasters in the
American navy, while those in the British navy are truly deplorable.
The flexible chain conductors, under the rigid discipline o f the American
navy, enforcing due attention to them, have been perfectly efficient. No
injury is ever sustained in the American navy ; for, with the numerous
officers and men on board o f each vessel, the duty is easily executed.
When one o f their vessels is undergoing repairs, or laid up in ordinary,
the lower masts are still guarded by their conductors, from the greatest
elevation o f the standing masts to the wTater or to the earth. Mr. Meriam ’ s opinion as to the perfect efficiency o f conductors in protecting ves
sels from lightning, is established and confirmed by the experience o f the
American navy, where chain conductors are rigidly attended to.* But in
the merchant service, where the number o f men is very limited, it is im
possible to enforce due attention to them, as now constructed and ar
ranged. Without such attention, it is better to have none than such con
ductors ; the vessel has sometimes been struck while preparing to hoist
the conductor.
W e hope still to protect the lives and property in merchant and packet
* The Navy Department in Washington published this fact about the latter end o f
February last.
Protection o f Vessels from Lightning.
O il
vessels from the disasters to which they are now exposed from lightning.
W e hope to obviate the prejudices and objections among seafaring men
and merchants, by showing that efficient conductors may be attached to
the masts of a vessel without requiring time, trouble, or attention from
her officers and men.
In the first part o f these observations we stated the well known fact,
that electricity is conveyed on the surface o f metallic conductors, and that
the power of such conductors is in proportion to their superficial extent,
without regard to their thickness. W e now add, that as metals are the
best conductors of electricity, it never will fly off from a metallic surface
connected with the sea or earth, to strike the human body. It never will,
it never can, quit a conductor thus extended to the earth or sea, to injure
any human being. It never can quit a broad metallic surface thus con
nected with the earth or sea, and fly off to a smaller metallic mass or
surface.
On such principles as these, Mr. W . Snow Harris, of Plymouth, took out a
patent about ten years ago, for a marine conductor made o f strips o f sheet
copper let into the wpod, extending from the masthead through the hold,
and terminating at the kelson or in the run o f the vessel. Mr. Harris
was highly respected for his talents, his literary and scientific publications
being found in the best literary periodicals in Great Britain. He was a
member at the time o f the Royal Society, and is now Sir W . Snow
Harris. He offered his right to this improvement to the British govern
ment for the public service ; his offer was considered and discussed by
the Board o f Admiralty, and finally disapproved by them, because his con
ductors were made to lead the dreaded lightning into the body o f the ves
sel. Mr. Harris relied, we believe, on his plate conductors to convey the
electricity down to the kelson, and on its passing off readily to the ocean
by the numerous bolts which connect the kelson to the k e e l; the water
always in the ship’s run acting as the conductor between his plates and
those numerous bolts. So confident was Mr. Harris in the perfect effi
ciency of his plan, that he is said to have passed his plate conductor
through the magazine o f a man-of-war. Some merchantmen use them,
and we have never heard o f any injury from lightning where they were
attached and extended as proposed by him. Mr. Harris recommended
one of his plate conductors to each mast, and from various accidents in
the British navy, he demonstrates not only the propriety, but necessity for
conductors to each mast. He is o f opinion that metallic bodies have no
particular attraction for the electrical fluid, but that they are its best con
ductors, and that their metallic points prevent electrical explosions by
silently absorbing from the clouds their excess o f electricity, and that it
cannot leave the best o f conductors, his metallic plates, if they be extended
to the sea or earth. From his valuable collection o f facts, it is evident
that lightning does not always come on board o f a vessel from aloft, but
sometimes enters obliquely or laterally from different quarters, striking the
spars and masts below the masthead.
He reports one hundred and thirty-three cases o f injury from lightning
in the British navy during twenty-four years o f war, and fifty-five during
the same number o f years o f peace ; showing conclusively, that 'when ves
sels are laid up in ordinary, with the conductors extended, they are much
less subject to injury; but that accidents do occur when only one conduct
or is given to a ship, and that a chain conductor. Mr. Harris’ plan and
Protection o f Vessels from Lightning.
612
proposal having been condemned by the British Admiralty because it
conducts the lightning into the very body o f the vessel, it has been very
generally condemned also in the merchant vessels. The patent was a
failure with his original arrangements, and I am told that he has altered
that arrangement in conformity to public opinion ; but whether he has
taken out new patents for his new arrangements, I have not heard. But
the necessity for a permanent conductor is as urgent as ever, or more so,
in proportion to the greater extension o f commerce. W e therefore en
deavor to obviate the objections to this patent by proposing a different
arrangement from his, and an improvement on it.
The surface or circumference o f the rods forming the chain conductors
for the largest men.of-war being about one inch, we propose that strips
o f sheathing copper, one and a half inch wide, be let into the royalmast,
as in Mr. Harris’ patent, extending a little above the truck, and serrated
or pointed. That it also extend a little below the heel o f the. royalmast,
and the projection be there also serrated or pointed. This increased
number o f metallic points, at different elevations, is considered an im
provement, but I have not seen the specifications or description of Mr.
Harris’ conductor. That the junctions o f the strips be brazed, and that
they be cleaned with sand-paper, so as to be perfectly cleared o f rough
ness and projecting points, especially on the edges, and then tacked to the
mast, so as not to be above its surface, or otherwise interfere with the
working o f the vessel.
The capacity o f this plate conductor will be
one-third greater than that of the largest chain conductor used in the
navy, the weight be comparatively a trifle, and the cost much less. For
a mast 140 feet high, the weight o f the copper conductor would not exceed
25 lbs., and the whole cost be eight or ten dollars. A sheet o f 16 inch
sheathing copper measures 4 feet long by 14 inches wide, may be cut into
9 strips, = 36 feet. Its weight is from 4J to 5 lbs., at 27 cents per lb.
36 feet.
5
180 feet mast.
Cost o f a sheet $ 1 35
05 sheets.
$ 6 75 per mast.
A strip also o f sheathing copper, a little wider than that above described,
( I f , ) must be let into the topgallantmast from head to heel, projecting a
little and pointed at both extremities. So also with the topmast; the
width of the strip being also increased |th o f an inch, and inserted into the
topmast, so as not to be above its surface, and both polished with sand
paper and serrated at both extremities, that the numerous points may ab
sorb any electricity which might otherwise strike below the masthead ;
and yet not liable to be caught in the rigging, or prevent those spars, or
either o f them, from being taken down or put up again when occasion re
quires it.
From the head o f the lower masts o f almost all vessels is a stay called
a “ swifter,” descending for the support of the mast on both sides, a little
aft o f the shrouds, and secured like them to the outer sides o f the vessel.
As some vessels are not rigged with swifters, a rope may be extended
from the tops or crosstrees o f the lower masts for the sole purpose of
guiding the conductor over the side, in any situation that will be least in
the way o f the rigging or o f the crew. There is no occasion whatever
for outriggers in a vessel! Are they ever thought of for houses ?
From the heads o f the lower masts, I propose that the strips o f sheath
Protection o f Vessels from Lightning.
613.
ing copper should descend on one o f these swifters, and when they reach
the chains to which the swifter is attached, that the width o f the copper
strip be further increased, so as to render it unquestionably a stronger
conductor than the iron chain with which it comes in contact. The cir
cumference of the chain must dictate the width o f the copper conductor
at this point. If the chain be made o f inch iron, the superficies o f the two
sides will be six inches, and the width o f the conductor should be seven
inches wide, extending over the chain down to the ship’s copper bottom,
or to the water. The broadest surface o f metal will always be the strong
est conductor, and there is no danger o f explosion in any part o f this con
nected line o f metallic plates from the masthead to the sea.
The iron bands called the “ withes,” which connect the upper with the
lower masts, form the connecting medium between those sections o f the
conductor which are let into the upper masts or spars. In those vessels
which, instead o f iron withes, have wooden caps, the connection can be
as well made by lining the upper surface of the caps with some o f the
same sheathing copper, and the continuity of the conductor be perfect and
permanent. I f either o f the upper spars be taken down or carried away,
the remainder continue to be perfect conductors, without extra trouble or
foresight o f any o f the crew. If one o f the masts should be carried away
in a storm, the other, being armed with conductors, would save the per
sons and property from destruction by lightning.
The owners o f these merchant vessels would not sleep quietly if their
family residence was not secured from lightning by a permanent conduct
or, neither ought they to risk the lives and property on board o f their
ships, without a plate conductor permanently attached to the masts and
extending over the side to the water.
This improvement in the outfits o f merchant vessels for the preserva
tion of lives and property from injury by lightning, is respectfully sub
mitted to the American merchants, who are among the best educated men
in our country. The merchants o f Boston, being mostly educated at Cam
bridge, are familiar with such subjects both in theory and practice, and
are particularly requested to take up the subject and set the example.
Merchants are the owners o f the vessels, and they alone are looked up to
for these means of protection— for the protection and promotion of their
own interests, as well as the interests of humanity.
The American masters o f vessels, particularly of the packets and steam
ers, calculated for the accommodation of passengers, who are among the
most polished, the best educated masters o f vessels o f any nation on earth,
are earnestly entreated to interest themselves, and provide for the protection
from lightning o f the numerous lives under their care in each voyage.
T o the directors of the numerous insurance companies, composed o f the
best informed merchants, and the most respectable masters o f vessels,
grown gray in the service, and now retired from the sea, we appeal ear
nestly that they provide for the safety from lightning of that property which
they insure hereafter. They now very properly require a minute inspec
tion o f each vessel insured, and if a single rope be deficient, or the stran
o f a rope parted, they make a difference in the rates o f insurance. W e
conjure them to extend their notice to the provision o f conductors in each
vessel insured, making it the interest, as well as duty, o f ship owners and
navigators to equip them with metallic conductors permanently attached.
614
Commercial Cities o f E urope: Lille.
Art. V.— C O M M E R C I A L C I T I E S OF E U R O P E .
DUMBER IX.
L ILL E .— A M IE N S .
LILLE— ITS SITUATION— COMMERCE— FLAX— LINEN THREAD— LINENS, DYING, BLEACHING, ETC.— COTTON
MANUFACTURES— LACKS— WOOL MANUFACTURES— OILS — CHEMICAL PRODUCTS — OTHER MANUFAC
TURES— TRADE IN COLONIAL PRODUCTS, ETC.— BANK AND MINT.
L il l e , a large fortified city o f France, is situated on the frontier line,
near Belgium, at a distance o f 60 leagues north-east o f Paris, and in lati
tude 50° 38' 44" north, longitude 0° 43' 37" east from Paris. Its popu
lation within the walls is about 72,000.
This city is one o f the most important strongholds on the frontier o f
France. Its citadel, built by Vauban, is considered the finest in Europe.
Commerce. On account o f its position on the frontier, Lille carries on
an extensive transit commerce in colonial products. Its many and vari
ous manufactures also furnish the means o f a flourishing trade. The pro
ducts of its soil and o f its manufacturing industry are exported to Holland,
Belgium, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, England, the ports of the Med
iterranean, the French Islands, and North and South America. The
principal manufactures connected with its commerce, are the spinning o f
flax and cotton, the weaving o f linen goods and laces, and the manufac
ture of oil, beet sugar, and chemical agents.
Flax. Flax is one o f the richest products o f the agriculture o f the neigh
borhood o f Lille. As, however, on account o f its exhausting character as
a crop, it can only be produced at intervals o f several years, the linen
factories o f the city are obliged to depend for their raw material, in a great
measure, upon the foreign article. A large part o f the population o f the
suburbs is supported during the winter months by preparing flax for the
factories.
Linen Thread, single. The manufacture o f this article at Lille is
greatly hindered in its developments by the competition o f England. In
spite o f the duties to be paid, and the cost o f transportation, the English
are able to make a good profit, by purchasing flax and tow in the French
markets, and after spinning them in England, to sell them again in France,,
to be used in the manufacture o f linen goods, & c. This is owing to the
perfection of the English machinery, and the fineness ofthe thread which
it produces. The English spin tow with such skill, that often the thread
cannot be distinguished from linen, and will command nearly as high a
price.
The thread imported from England is used at Lille in the manufacture
o f ticking, o f table and mattress linen, and o f twisted thread. In the stuffs,,
the linen thread is used for the warp and the tow for the woof.
Lille and Roubaix (situated about 2 leagues to the north-east o f Lille,
and engaged in nearly the same manufactures) consume annually single
English thread amounting in value to nearly 6,000,000 francs.
Notwithstanding this dangerous competition, the manufactories o f this
article at Lille are constantly advancing, both in extent and in the char
acter of their machinery.
Linen Thread, twisted. The manufacture o f this article is one o f the
most ancient and important branches o f the industry o f Lille. Within the
Commercial Cities o f E urope: Lille.
615
city it employs 68 factories, whose products are always held in the highest
esteem. Their quantity varies but little, though the increased use o f cot
ton in sewing has been somewhat detrimental to the sale of linen thread.
The machinery used in this manufacture is o f an inferior kind. Few
improvements have been made in it for a long series of years. The
amount o f single thread annually consumed in these factories is about
1.700.000 kilograms. Two-thirds o f this is imported from England. The
rest is manufactured by machinery in Lille, or spun by hand in the neigh
borhood, or imported from Belgium. These factories employ 6,000 work
men, whose pay has usually been from 1 franc to 1 franc 75 centimes
per day. O f this number some are children, who earn two or three francs
a week.
The spun thread of Lille is sent to Paris, Lyons, Marseilles and Bor
deaux. The city has one manufactory o f lace thread, whose products are
sent to Caen, Bayeux and Nancy. The foreign countries which receive
these articles from Lille, are Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Martinique, Gaudaloupe, and the ports o f the Mediterranean. Formerly the thread was
sent to Paris and Lyons to be dyed. The establishment o f a chemical
school in Lille, however, has o f late enabled the manufacturers to dye
their thread before selling or exporting it.
Linens— Dyeing, Bleaching, <Sfc. An extensive trade is carried on at
Lille in bleached and raw linens, table and mattress linen, & c., which
are manufactured in the city and its neighborhood, and at Armentieres,
Hazebrouck and Merville. Besides this, a large quantity is imported at
Lille from Belgium.
The bleaching establishments in the neighborhood o f the city, compete
successfully with those o f Belgium. The value o f the cloth is increased
by bleaching from 20 to 40 centimes the aune, according to the width o f
the cloth and the degree o f whiteness given to it, whether ordinary white
or milk white.
The raw and half bleached linens are used for bed linen and for
clothing.
There are fifteen establishments for dyeing linen at Lille, which em
ploy 200 workmen, and color annually about 80,000 pieces. O f this,
30.000 pieces are intended for blouses and other articles of dress, in the
making o f which 6,000 women are employed in and about the city.
A large quantity of table linen is manufactured at Lille, and in the
neighboring towns o f Armentieres and Merville. At Merville, where the
best qualities are produced, 200 weavers are employed. The damasked
linen o f Merville is in high esteem.
Since the close o f the European wars, the trade o f Lille in linens has
been greatly extended. The city has more than 120 houses in the trade,
most o f which carry on a large business. The capital employed is about
20,000,000 francs. The goods are sent to every part o f France, to Spain,
Italy, and North and South America.
Cotton Manufactures. Lille was the cradle o f the cotton spinning of
France. Previous to 1791, nearly all the cotton used in the factories o f
the city and its neighborhood was carded and spun by hand. In that year
an Englishman passing through the place offered the municipality a card
ing and spinning machine, similar to those used in England. This ma
chine was purchased by the authorities, and after considerable commotion
616
Commercial Cities o f E urope: Lille.
among (he workmen, copies were made and put in use. From that pe
riod this manufacture developed rapidly.
At present the number o f factories engaged in cotton spinning is 44.
These employ 3,800 laborers. The fixed capital invested in them is
about 7,000,000 francs.
Their annual product is nearly 8,000,000
francs.
Constant improvements are made at Lille in the manufacture j>f single
cotton thread. Since 1829, the spinning mills have produced twisted cot
ton suitable for the manufacture o f laces, & c. The sewing cotton called
fil d’Ecosse has o f late been manufactured at Lille with great success.
The article produced is superior to that made at Paris.
The cottons o f Bahia, Georgia, Louisiana and Cayenne, are spun to be
used as the w arp; those o f Pernambuco and Jumelle, as the w oof o f the
woven fabric. The cotton thread manufactured at Lille is nearly all sent
into the interior o f France.
The weaving o f cotton is o f less importance than the spinning in the
industry o f this city. However, considerable quantities o f calicoes, Ker
seys, dimity, and ticking, are manufactured in the neighborhood. Most
o f these articles are sent into Belgium, and to the French colonies.
At Roubaix, about two leagues from Lille, these manufactures are car
ried on extensively.
Laces. Lille is the first city o f France in the manufacture o f laces o f
every kind. These are made both by machinery and by hand, and em
ploy directly nearly 6,000 persons. In 1820, the number o f persons em
ployed was upwards o f 16,000.
The products o f these manufactures are sent to Paris, Lyons, and the
south of France, and to England, Spain and America. The commerce in
laces employs a capital at Lille o f about 3,000,000 francs.
Wool Manufactures. The manufacture o f wool was formerly o f great
importance at Lille. O f late, however, it has much declined. The arti
cles manufactured are yarn, blankets, hose, & c. There are many wool
spinning mills in the neighboring towns.
Oils. The manufacture o f oil from grains is carried on very extensively
at Lille. Three hundred wind-mills, besides 8 moved by steam and 5 by
water, are kept in constant activity. The neighboring country does not
produce enough oleaginous grain for the supply of this manufacture. A
large part o f the raw material is imported from Riga and Hamburgh.
Chemical Products. The environs o f the city abound in manufactories
o f chemical agents. At Loos, 1,000,000 kilograms o f sulphuric acid are
annually produced, a part o f which however is again consumed in the
same factory, in the manufacture o f muriatic acid and sulphate o f soda.
Ten factories, with 272 workmen, are employed near the city in the manu
facture o f white lead o f the first quality. The amount annually produced
is valued at 2,500,000 francs.
Other Manufactures. Great quantities o f beet sugar have been made at
Lille. In 1837, the annual product was valued at 9,000,000 francs.
The large factories of the city support numerous machine shops, foun
dries o f various metals, bleaching yards, card factories, dye factories, & c.
Besides these, Lille has 16 breweries, 6 distilleries, 10 mead factories,
14 salt refineries, 5 soap factories, 9 tanneries, 10 starch factories,
& c. & c.
The number o f steam engines used in the city and its environs is 207 .
Commercial Cities o f E urope: Amiens.
617
Trade in Colonial Products, <Spc. The colonial products which arrive at
Dunkirk pass through the hands o f the merchants o f Lille, and are sent by
them into all the surrounding country.
Lille also supplies the neighboring departments with olive oil, spices,
brandy, Bordeaux wine, wool, potash, dye woods, wax, tar and pitclr, and
various other articles.
Bank and Mint. The Bank o f Lille was established in 1836, by royal
decree, with a capital o f 2,000,000 francs.
A Mint was established in the city in 1685. Between 1818 and 1834,
the value o f the gold coined there was 57,000,000 francs, that o f the sil
ver, 396,000,000 francs.
A M IE N S .
AMIENS— COMMERCE— MANUFACTURES— WOOL SPINNING— ALEPINES— COTTON SPINNING— COTTON VEL
VET-W OOLLEN HOSIERY— VARIOUS MANUFACTURES— FAIRS.
Amiens has for a long period held a prominent place among the com
mercial and manufacturing cities of France, and although for some years
it has been less flourishing than of old, it is still a place o f great import
ance. It lies directly to the north o f Paris, and is about 28 leagues dis
tant from tha^ city. Its population is 45,000.
Commerce. Amiens lies on the river Somme, which affords it an easy
communication with the English Channel, and through that with the
northern ports o f Europe. Its trade is not confined to the products o f its
manufactures, but comprises also the dyes, spices and drugs of Marseilles,
colonial products coming from Bayonne, Bordeaux, Cette, La Rochelle,
Nantes and Havre, together with the articles o f merchandise which
France receives from Spain, Portugal, Holland, England, and the north o f
Europe.
Manufactures. The manufacturing industry o f Amiens and its environs,
consists of wool spinning, the weaving o f alepines, or stuffs o f wool and
silk, the spinning and weaving o f cotton, and the weaving of hose.
Wool Spinning. Till about 1823, wool was spun at this city only by
the spinning wheel. At that time machinery was introduced, and its use
was rapidly extended, in order to supply the wants of the manufacturers
o f alepines. The number of looms at present employed in wool spinning
is about 360, divided among 42 spinning mills.
The products o f this industry are about 800,000,000 livres o f yarn, num
bered from 25 to 60— the numbers between 25 and.36 being most in demand. The active capital engaged is about 5,000,000 francs. T w o thou
sand persons are employed in the spinning mills.
Alepines. The manufacture o f alepines was begun at Amiens about fifty
years ago, and now that place produces annually 36,000 pieces, valued at
18,000,000 francs. This manufacture employs 6,000 workmen, and is
second in importance only to the cotton manufacture. Amiens has almost
the monopoly o f the manufacture o f merino alepines.
Cotton Spinning. There are thirty cotton spinning mills at Amiens,
moved mostly by water or horse power. These produce about 600,000
kilograms of spun cotton, between the numbers o f 25 and 60. The num
ber o f workmen employed is from 12 to 15,000. It is only here that the
w oof o f cotton velvet is well spun.
Cotton Velvet. The manufacture o f cotton velvet at Amiens is very ex
tensive, and o f great importance to the commerce o f the city. It origina
618
Commercial Cities o f E urope: Amiens.
ted about the middle o f the last century. The attempts made at that time,
though they met with little success, were followed up with perseverance.
English workmen were obtained from Manchester, and great attention
was given to the improvement o f the art. In 1788, the first mull-jenny
made in France was constructed at Amiens. Up to that time, hand looms
alone had been used.
With the aid o f this improvement, the manufacture o f velvet advanced
with great rapidity. Large factories were erected, and Amiens acquired
great importance as a manufacturing city. This place, however, has
never rivaled Manchester, the great velvet manufactory o f England, nei
ther In the amount of its products nor the perfection o f its machinery. The
English machines are more economical. Every loom is moved by ma
chinery, and each loom usually weaves two pieces at once.
In 1814 the products o f the velvet factories o f Amiens amounted to from
120,000 to 140,000 pieces o f 52 or 53 aunes. Since then it has fallen
to 70,000 or 80,000 pieces. The decline is chiefly owing to the change
o f fashion which has substituted cloth for velvet in the dress o f gentlemen.
Formerly this article was exported to Germany, Belgium, Switzerland,
Italy, and Spain, but at present little is sent abroad, except to Spain, which
receives about a fifth o f the whole quantity manufactured.
The velvets intended for Spain are sent to Bayonne on the Bay o f Bis
cay, or to Perpignan on the Gulf o f Lyons, where they are purchased by
the Spanish merchants, who smuggle them across the frontier. It is thus
that Catalonia, Navarre, Arragon and Biscay are provided with this article.
Those parts o f Spain lying near Portugal, or upon the Atlantic coast, are
supplied by the English.
About 1,800 workmen are employed in weaving velvet and other cotton
fabrics. The fixed capital invested in buildings, machinery, & c., is esti
mated at 12,000,000 francs, the active capital at about 4,000,000 francs.
Woollen Hosiery. The manufacture o f woollen hose has been carried on
for many years in the neighborhood o f Amiens. This manufacture con
sumes about 800,000 kilograms o f wool yearly. Two-thirds o f this is
from Holland, the rest is French. The French wool has not the length
nor the natural whiteness o f the Dutch or English, and can never wholly
supersede them in manufacture.
The value o f the wool annually consumed in this manufacture is about
8.000. 000 francs.
The annual product is valued at 17,000,000 or
18.000. 000. The active capital employed in the export and sale o f the
article is about 8,000,000 francs.
About 10,000 women are employed in spinning the wool, 15,000 weavers
are occupied in the factories, and 20,000 persons o f both sexes and all
ages are engaged in sewing, dyeing, and other occupations incidental to
the manufacture. O f the products, about one-fifth is sent abroad.
Various Manufactures. Besides the articles we have already mentioned,
Amiens produces woollen plaids in great quantity, swanskin, prunella,
turkey satin, and goat’s hair stuffs for underclothes. It has also carpet
factories carried on after the plan o f the English, as well as factories of
the oil of grains, vitriol, soft soap, and a large number o f dyeing and bleach
ing establishments.
Altogether, the factories o f this city produce about 180,000 pieces o f
cloth o f all kinds, valued at about 40,000,000 francs, and requiring an
Commercial Code o f Spain.
619
active capital o f 24,000,000. The number o f merchants dealing in the
products o f the factories is about 150.
Fairs. Amiens has two fairs during the year, one on the 25th June,
which continues fifteen days, and one on the 11th November.
art. VI.— C O M M E R C I A L CODE OF S P A I N .
NUMBER VH.
W e continue our translations from the Codigo de Comercio o f Spain.
Our present number treats o f Maritime Insurance, ( Maritimo Seguro.)
C O N C E R N IN G T H E F O R M O F A C O N T R A C T .
A r t . 840. The contract o f insurance must appear by a public or pri
vate writing, in order to be valid in law.
The different forms o f its celebration, and the respective effects o f each,
are the same as those which relate to the contract o f bottomry, and these
are, that such contracts can be celebrated—
First. By a public instrument with the solemnities o f law.
Second. By a policy signed by the parties, with the intervention o f a
ship-broker, (corredoi\)
Third. By a private document between the contracting partiesContracts o f insurance, which may appear by a public instrument, carry
with them ready execution. Such contracts shall have the same effect
when made with the intervention o f the ship-broker or notary.
The policy o f the demandant can be proved by the registration of the
broker, whenever this is found, with all the formalities prescribed in Art.
95 o f this code.
Being privately celebrated between the contracting parties, the con
tract shall not be executive, unless the authenticity o f the signatures ap
pears by judicial examination o f those w'ho made them, or in some other
sufficient form.
841.
In whatever manner the contract o f insurance is drawn up, it
ought to contain all the following circumstances :—
First. The date, with the expression of the hour in which it was signed.
Second. The names and domicils o f the insured and underwriters.
Third. Whether the insured has his own goods underwritten, or acts by
agency on the account o f another party.
Fourth. The names and domicils o f the owners o f the things under
written, in case o f the goods being underwritten by commission.
Fifth. The name, tonnage, flag, matriculation, armament, and crew,
of the vessel in which the transportation o f the things underwritten is to
be made.
Sixth. The name and domicil o f the captain o f the vessel which is to
transport the goods.
Seventh. The port or roadstead in which the merchandise has been or is
to be shipped.
Eighth. The port whence the vessel is to sail or had sailed.
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Commercial Code o f Spain.
Ninth. The ports or roadstead in which the vessel ought to load or dis
charge her cargo, or for any other reason, to stop at or to enter.
Tenth. The nature, quality, value, and objects insured.
Eleventh. The marks and numbers o f the goods insured, if they have any.
Twelfth. The times in which risks are to begin and end.
Thirteenth. The amount underwritten or insured.
Fourteenth. The premium agreed upon for the insurance, and the place,
time, and mode o f payment.
Fifteenth. The amount o f premium which corresponds to the outward
and return voyage, if the insurance is made for an entire voyage and to
return.
Sixteenth. The obligations o f the underwriters to pay the damage which
may happen to the effects insured.
Seventeenth. The time, place, and form in which the payment o f losses
is to be made.
Eighteenth. The submission of the parties to the judgment o f arbitra
tors in case o f dispute, should the parties have so agreed, and every other
lawful condition which the parties may have agreed upon in the contract
o f insurance.
842. Spanish consular agents shall authenticate contracts o f insurance
which are made in places of their respective residences always, when any
one o f the parties is a Spanish citizen, and the policies which they au
thenticate shall have equal force as though they had been made by the
intervention o f a ship-broker ( corredor) in Spain.
843. When there are many underwriters, and they do not all sign the
policy at the same time, each one shall express before his signature, the
date on which he makes it.
844. One and the same policy can comprehend different insurances and
premiums.
845. The vessel and cargo can be insured in the same policy, but the
amounts are to be distinguished which are insured upon each, without
which the insurance shall be ineffectual.
846. When insurance o f merchandise is made, a specific designation
o f it may be omitted, and also o f the vessel in which it may be transport
ed ; but in case o f misfortune, when these circumstances do not appear,
the insured must prove, besides the loss of the vessel, and her sailing from
the port of loading, the embarkation o f the effects lost, and their true
value on account o f the party procuring the insurance.
847. When the obligation o f the insurance o f the goods shall extend
not only in favor o f the person in whose name the insurance is made, but
also to his order, the policy o f insurance shall be endorsable.
C O N C E R N IN G T H IN G S
W H IC H
CAN
BE
IN S U R E D , A N D
TH E
E N U M E R A T IO N
OF THEM .
848. The following articles can be the object o f a maritime insurance :—
First. The hull and keel of a vessel.
Second. Her sails and apparel.
Third. Her armaments.
Fourth. Her provisions and stores.
Fifth. The amounts lent on bottomry.
Sixth. The liberty of the passengers or persons sailing in the vessel.
Commercial Code o f Spain.
621
Seventh. All commercial effects subject to the risk o f navigation, whose
value can be reduced to final amount.
849. The insurance can be made upon all or part o f the objects above
expressed, together or separately— in time o f peace or war— before the
commencement o f the voyage or pending it— for the outward and the
return voyage, or for one or both— and alsp for the whole time of the
voyage, or for a limited j^riod o f time.
850. The expressing generally that the vessel is insured, all the ap
purtenances annexed to her are understood to be comprehended in the
insurance ; but not her cargo, although it may belong to the same n avier o
or ship’s husband, unless express mention o f the cargo is made in the
contract.
851. In case of insurance o f the liberties o f the persons navigating in
the vessel, there shall be expressed—
First. The name, nativity, domicil, age, and profession, and signs o f
the person mentioned.
Second. The name and matriculation o f the vessel in which he em
barks.
Third. The name o f the captain o f the vessel.
Fourth. The port o f departure.
Fifth. The port o f destination.
Sixth. The amount agreed upon for a ransom, and the expenses o f a
return home to Spain.
Seventh. The name and domicil o f the person to be exchanged, with
the negotiations o f the ransom.
Eighth. The time in which the negotiations are to be made, and the
indemnification which is to be made in case o f the negotiation not being
verified.
852. The underwriter can reinsure by others the effects which he may
have insured for a greater or less premium than he contracted for, and the
insured can also insure the costs o f the insurance and the risk which there
may be for the recovery of the first insurance from the underwriters.
853. On the things which the captain or shipper may procure an insu
rance, which are embarked with the captain’s or shipper’s own effects,
there shall be left ten per cent at the risk o f the insured, and the insu
rance shall only have effect for nine-tenths o f the just value o f the things
insured.
854. There shall not be underwritten upon vessels more than four-fifths
of their value, deducting the loans taken on bottomry upon them.
855. The value o f the merchandise underwritten ought to be fixed, ac
cording to what it may have, in the place where it is shipped.
856. The subscription o f the policy raises the legal presumption that
the underwriters admit as just the valuation made in it.
But if there has been fraud on the part o f the insured in the valuation
of the effects o f the insurance, the underwriters shall be allowed to prove
the fraud by the survey and the just valuation o f the effects, or by the in
voices or other legal means of proof; and the fraud resulting being proved,
the responsibility o f the underwriters shall be reduced to the just value
which the effects may have.
857. When by error, and not by the fraud o f the insured, an exagger
ated estimate may have been givert to the effects o f the insurance, this es
timate shall be reduced to the amount o f the legitimate value of such effects
622
Commercial Code o f Spain.
by agreement o f the parties ; or, in default o f it, by arbitration ; and ac
cording to the result shall be the liabilities o f the underwriters and the
obligations o f the insured, there being allowed to these one-half per cent
upon the amount which may result as excess.
Th is reclamation shall not take effect either on the part o f the under
writers nor on that o f the insured, after notice has been received o f the
situation and loss o f the vessel.
858. The valuations made in foreign money shall be converted into
the exchange or equivalent o f the kingdom, according to the course or
rate which it had on the day in which the policy was signed.
859. The value of the things insured not being fixed at the time o f the
making of the contract, it shall be regulated by the invoices o f consigna.
tion, or, in want them, by the appraisement o f ship-brokers, ( corredors,)
who shall take as a basis for their valuation the prices which the effects
insured were worth in the port where they were shipped, adding the duties
and expenses caused until they were put on board.
860. The insurance falling upon i ; e t u r n s from a country where com
merce is not carried on except by permutations or exchange o f commodi
ties, and the value of the things insured not being fixed in the policy, it
shall be regulated by that wljich they had in the port o f embarkation, add
ing all the subsequent expenses.
C O N C E R N IN G T H E O B L IG A T IO N S W H IC H E X I S T B E T W E E N T H E IN S U R E D A N D
T H E U N D E R W R IT E R S .
861. On account and at the risk o f the underwriter, there shall run all
the losses and damages that may happen to the things insured by strand
ing and the working o f the vessel, by storms, by shipwreck, by collision,
by a forced deviation o f the ship or vessel, by jettison, by fire, by capture,
by plunder, by declaration o f war, by embargo, by detention o f princes,
by reprisals, and generally by all the accidents and perils o f the seas.
The parties shall stipulate the exceptions which they may deem con
venient, making, necessarily, mention o f them, without which requisite
they shall have no effect.
862. The damages which may happen on account o f any o f the follow
ing causes are not chargeable upon any o f the underwriters :—
First. A voluntary change of the route o f the voyage or the vessel with
out the consent o f the underwriters.
Second. A spontaneous separation from a convoy, there being a stipu
lation to go in company with it.
Third. A prolongation o f a voyage to a port more remote than that de
signated in the insurance.
Also, arbitrary dispositions, and contrary to the policy o f affreightment
or to the knowledge o f the naviero shippers and freighters.
Fourth. The barratry o f the captain or crew, there being no express
agreement to the contrary.
Fifth. Waste, deterioration, leakage, and losses upon the cargo which
may proceed from the inherent defect o f the things insured, when they
may not have been comprehended in the policy by a special clause.
863. In whatever cases the preceding article forms an exception to the
liability o f the underwriters, they shall gain the premium whenever the
objects insured have begun to run the risk.
864. The underwriters shall not respond to the damages which may
Commercial Code o f Spain.
623
happen to a vessel for not carrying the regular documents which the mari
time ordinances prescribe, but in such cases the underwriters are re
sponsible for the damages which may occur to the cargo insured.
865. The underwriters are not bound to satisfy the expenses o f pilotage
and light-house dues, nor the duties imposed upon the vessel or her cargo.
866. The cargo outward and homeward being insured, and bringing in
no return, or bringing in less than two-thirds o f her cargo, the underwri
ter's shall only receive two-thirds o f her premium, corresponding to the
return cargo, unless the contrary may have been stipulated.
867. The cargo o f the vessel being insured by separate parcels and
distinct underwriters, without expressing in detail the objects correspond
ing to each insurance, all the underwriters shall satisfy pro rata the losses
as may occur in the cargo or in any portion o f it.
868. Different embarkations being designated to take the goods in
sured on board, it shall be at the will o f the insured to distribute them
amongst such embarkations as the insured may think expedient, and as it
may accommodate the insured ; or he may reduce them to one embarka
tion, without there being any alteration in the responsibilities of the un
derwriters for this cause alone.
869. The insurance o f a cargo being contracted, with the designation
of the vessels, and a particular expression o f the amount insured upon
each, if the cargo shall be reduced for a less number o f vessels than those
pointed out, the responsibility o f the underwriters shall be reduced to the
amounts insured upon the vessels which may receive the cargo, and they
shall not be chargeable with the losses which may occur upon the re
mainder ; but the underwriters shall have a right, in this case, to the pre
miums for the amounts insured on such remainder whose contracts shall
be held null, there being allowed to the underwriters one-half per cent
upon their amount.
870. The eargo being transferred to another vessel after the voyage
is commenced, the one designated in the policy having become useless or
unseaworthy, the risks shall run on the account o f the underwriters, even
when the vessel to which the cargo is transferred shall be of a different
tonnage and flag.
I f the unseaworthiness o f the vessel shall occur before sailing from the
port o f departure, the underwriters shall have the option to continue the
insurance or not, allowing for the averages which may occur.
871. The time not being fixed in the policy in which the risks are to
run, on the account o f the underwriters, the dispositions mentioned in Ar
ticle 835 o f this code shall be observed, which are, that the risks shall
commence, in respect to the vessel and its aggregates, from the moment
in which she makes sail to that o f her anchoring and mooring in the port
of her destination ; and, with respect to the cargo, the risks shall run
from the time of loading the vessel in the port where the voyage com
mences until the vessel is discharged in the port o f her consignation.
872. When a limited time is fixed in the policy o f insurance, the re
sponsibility o f the underwriters shall end, the term having run out, even
when the risks o f the things insured may be pending, but upon whose re
sults the insured can make new contracts.
873. The involuntary delay o f a vessel in the port o f departure does
not fall to the prejudice o f the insured, and it shall be understood that the
term designated in the policy is prorogued on the effects o f the insurance
for the whole time that the delay may be prolonged.
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Commercial Code o f Spain.
874. A reduction o f the premium o f insurance cannot be exacted even
when the vessel terminates her voyage, or the cargo is delivered at a port
nearer than that designated in the contract.
875. A variation which may be made in a route or voyage o f a vessel,
by the accident o f superior force , to save the vessel or her cargo, shall
not discharge the underwriters from their responsibilities.
876. The delays or stoppages which may be made, by necessity, for the
conservation o f the vessel and cargo, are understood to be comprehended
in the insurance, although they may not be expressed in the contract
when they are not expressly excluded.
877. The insured is bound to communicate to the underwriters all the
information which he may receive concerning the damages or losses which
may happen to the things insured.
878. The captain who may make insurance on the effects loaded on
his account or on commission shall prove, in case of misfortune, to the un
derwriters the purchase o f the effects insured by the bills o f sale or in
voices of the sellers, and also their embarkation and transportation in the
vessel by a certificate o f the Spanish con su l; or, when there is none, by
the civil authority o f the port where he loads them, and by documents of
the voyage or o f the expedition, and by the clearances at the custom
house.
This obligation shall extend to every person insured who may sail with
his own merchandise.
879. I f it should be stipulated that the premium o f insurance shall be
augmented in case o f war happening, and the quota o f this increase should
not have been fixed, it shall be regulated by skillful persons named by the
parties, consideration being had to the risks incurred, and to the stipula
tions in the policy o f insurance.
880. A gratuitous restitution o f the vessel or cargo made by the captors
to her captain, it shall fall to the benefit o f the respective owners, without
any obligation on the part o f the underwriters to pay the amounts which
they have underwritten.
881. When a time is not fixed in a policy in which the underwriters
ought to make payment on the things insured, or the damages which may
be to their account, they shall be bound to verify it in ten days following
the legitimate reclamation o f the insured.
882. Every reclamation proceeding from the contract o f insurance
ought to be accompanied by documents which prove the voyage o f the
vessel, the embarkation o f the effects insured, the contract o f insurance,
and the loss o f the things insured.
These documents shall be communicated, in case o f judicial controversy,
to the underwriters, that, on view o f them, they may resolve either to make
payment o f the insurance or oppose it.
88:1. The underwriters may contradict the, facts on which the insured
sustains his demand, and proof to the contrary shall be allowed them without prejudice to the payments o f the amount underwritten, which ought to
be verified or paid without delay, always when the policy o f insurance is
executive; and the demandant shall give sufficient surety to respond in
case of the restitution of the amount received.
884. An underwriter paying the amount insured, he is substituted in the
place o f the insured for all the rights and actions which belong to him
over and above those which, by fraud or defaults, caused the loss o f the ef
fects which the underwriter insured.
a . n.
.
Commercial Facilities o f the American Continents.
625
Art. VII.— COMMERCIAL FACILITIES OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENTS:
WITH REFERENCE TO THE GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISION OF NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA, THEIR SOIL,
CLIMATE, PRODUCTIONS, AND NATURAL EXCHANGES, OR COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE.
F ir s t , we start on the parallel o f 4 9 ° north latitude, south o f which and
east o f the Rocky Mountain range, all the waters empty into the Gulf of
Mexico or the Atlantic, and west o f said range all the waters empty into
the Pacific, forming a grand division or separation from said 49th parallel
to Cape Horn.
Said division, on the 49th parallel, is on the 114th meridian of longitude,
10° east o f the Pacific, and 54° west o f the Atlantic ; said range or divis
ion runs in a south-easterly direction to the parallel o f 32° on the 106th
meridian, 10° east o f the Pacific, and 26° west o f the Atlantic. N ow all
this immense country east o f the division to the Atlantic, and north o f the
parallel o f 38°, is expressly calculated and ordered by nature for the pro
duction o f food for man— breadstuffs and m eat; while all south is more
particularly calculated for the production of cotton, rice, tobacco and hemp.
West o f the division to the Pacific, the climate lieing more mild all south
o f 40° latitude, where there are streams suitable to supply irrigation, it
is calculated for the production o f cotton, rice, tobacco and hemp; while
all north o f 40° is calculated for breadstuffs and meat, with the ocean
fishery, more valuable than that of all the world beside. The division
continues its southeasterly course, till it approaches very near the Pacific,
on the parallel of about 16°, and so on to Panama, and thence to the par
allel o f 8° south latitude, on the meridian o f 78-1° ; one degree east from
the Pacific, and 40° west from the Atlantic, continuing the same to the
parallel o f 38° south latitude, where it is 2° east from the Pacific, and 14°
west from the Atlantic ; then continuing the same, but narrowing down
on the eastern side to Cape Horn, south latitude 56° about, and west lon
gitude 67°.
Now it will be seen that the northern and eastern side o f this division
is capable of being made to produce food for all the world ; and that the
southern and eastern part, including the Columbian Archipelago, or West
Indies, is also capable o f being made to produce tropical and other pro
ducts, such as sugar, molasses, coffee, indigo, cotton, hemp, tobacco, & c.,
for all the world. Now these two sections are dependent on each other
for an exchange o f products, and Europe dependent on both for an ex
change for her manufactures ; and the streams which drain all this vast
country, emptying into the Atlantic, directing the courses and forming the
means o f transit for these exchanges. And it will be seen by the western
or Pacific division, from the Cape to north latitude 16°, that owing to pe
riodical droughts, the worst o f climates, want o f means to irrigate, &c.,
there is but a small amount o f land suited to cultivation, and can sustain
but a small amount of population ; but from latitude 16° to 25° are more
land suited to cultivation ; thence to latitude 35° the lands are poor, and
will not produce without irrigation; to 38° better, but requires irrigation ;
from 38° to 49° is a tract suited to sustaining a large population. O f this
side o f the division, the northern portion can only be supplied, for the de
ficit in tropical products o f the southern half, directly from the islands in
the Pacific and Indian Ocean, and from Japan and China, more convenivol . xix.— no. vi.
40
626
Commercial Facilities o f the American Continents.
ent and less expense o f transit than from the eastern side. Thus it must
be evident to all that the natural products o f these two sides o f the divis
ion cannot be exchanged, because each, including the islands o f the Pa
cific and Indian Ocean, produce the same. So as the-roof o f a house di
vides the waters which fall on it from the heavens, and guides them equally
to the two cisterns on either side, are these two continents and the world
divided, and as soon might the one cistern propose an equal exchange o f its
waters with the other, as to expect an exchange o f the products o f the two
sides of these continents. Europe also could be supplied from the eastern
cheaper than the western side, all except the products o f the fishery. But
if the western side can find markets in Asia, Japan, China, the islands,
&c., giving a return sufficient, then its population can purchase the
manufactures of the eastern side and o f Europe ; but this must always
be limited, and require but limited intercourse, because commerce can
not be carried on to any considerable extent except by exchanges o f the
commodities, the products o f each. The present commerce o f all the
Pacific coast is limited, and the greater amount o f which may now be con
sidered as the commerce o f the Atlantic slope ; the merchandise is taken
to ports on the Pacific, and there transported upon mules over the moun
tains to the Atlantic side, and minerals returned in the same manner.
This is done for two objects, to save duties and transit expenses ; but so
soon as steam is applied to navigate the many streams which reach from
the Atlantic to within a few miles o f the Pacific, the present commerce
must diminish, and the intercourse also ; for it is clear that all that very
narrow space between the dividing range from the Cape up to even 32°
north latitude, can never produce more than sufficient to supply the wants
o f its own population, and the products o f from 32° to 49° north lati
tude, with the exception o f the fishery, will be food for man ; and it is clear
there can be nothing to be brought this side all from the Cape to 49° north
latitude.
Thus, then, nature has so divided and separated these two slopes that
they cannot exchange products, can therefore have but little intercourse,
and receive no benefit from each other; on the contrary, their interests
would be rival and conflicting. The western slope will command that
fishery, where it must very shortly be transferred ; they will command
the commerce of Japan, China, Polynesia, and all Asia. The tide o f
emigration now from Europe to the Atlantic side, which employs so many
ships and men, and pays a heavy amount o f transit all through to their
settlement in the country, would be changed to from Europe direct to the
Pacific slope. The two hundred dollars which the emigrant now pays for
160 acres o f land, would more than pay his passage direct to the Pacific
side, where he would find land without price, and save besides the now
heavy expenses from the time of his landing to his destined home. And
the ships taking out the emigrants could take a return cargo of oil, & c.,
from Vancouver’s Island to England as colonial produce. I f these views
are correct, and I do not see how they can be controverted, being founded
on the only law's (an exchange o f products) which can ever regulate inter
course and commerce, there must be two separate, distinct nations upon
this continent; but if we proceed at once to build the proposed railroad
from Lake Michigan to the Pacific, it would attract and draw to it the
emigrants from Europe, because it would give a rew'ard to labor sufficient
to produce comforts and plenty; and when completed, it would bind the
Massachusetts Humane Society— Life-Boats.
,
627
two sections together in mutual interests and benefits, each participating
in the local advantages and position o f the other, and secure to both the
command, control, and the transit o f all the commerce with Asia, now so
important to Europe, England particularly, because it is an exchange of
their manufactures for teas, spices, coffee, indigo, & c. Without the road,
(and that cannot be accomplished if it is not commenced without delay,)
the result seems certain and unavoidable, and the blood and treasure
which California has cost us will have been spent in vain, and all that we
now spend for governments for California and Oregon is worse than so
much scattered to the winds, because it builds up a rival.
Art. VIII.— M A S S A C H U S E T T S H U M A N E S O C IE T Y — L I F E -B O A T S .
As the following letter, from an eminent merchant o f Boston, refers to
a subject o f general interest to merchants and underwriters in all our com
mercial cities, we cheerfully comply with the request o f R. B. F orbes ,
Esq., the author, by giving it a place in the pages o f our journal without
further comment. It tells its own story, and its contents are well worthy
of the most careful consideration.
Boston, November 1Oth, 1848.
To F reeman H unt, Esq., Editor of the Merchants’ Magazine.
D e a r S ir :— As your valuable work appears to be open to publication on sub
jects interesting to those engaged in commerce, I make no apology for troubling
you with some remarks on the means now in use, and the means to be adopted, to
save life on our Atlantic coast.
The M assachusetts H umane S ocietv was instituted at 1786, and incorpora
ted in 1791 ; the “ end and design,” as expressed in the act, being—
“ For the recovery of persons who meet with such accidents as to produce in
them the appearance of death ; and for promoting the cause of humanity, by pur
suing such means, from time to time, as shall have for their object the preserva
tion of human life and the alleviation of its miseries.”
I have the pleasure herewith to send you a pamphlet containing a history of
the Society. You will observe thereby that under its auspices, life-boats and
huts, for the protection of shipwrecked mariners, have been provided at various
points on the coast in this vicinity, and that the efforts of the Society have been
eminently successful in ameliorating suffering, and in rewarding, by medals or
grants of money, all those coming under the notice of the Trustees who have been
instrumental in rescuing mariners or others from peril by water.
The usefulness of the Society has been somewhat limited, owing to a want of
means to carry out the views of the Trustees. Recently, however, the Secretary
of the Treasury has granted a sum of money, appropriated by Congress in 1847,
in the Light-house Bill for the benevolent objects of the Society ; and the Trus
tees intend forthwith to increase the means of saving life in this vicinity, by es
tablishing further life-boats and other boats, rockets, etc. etc.
In the bill for light-houses passed by the last Congress, a further sum of ten
thousand dollars was placed under the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury,
for the purpose of providing means, on the coast of New Jeigey, for saving life.
It has long been a matter of surprise to me, that a great commercial community
like that of the city of New York, with its dangerous entrance peculiarly ex
posed to the action of gales from north-east to south-east, should so long have per
mitted the subject of preserving the lives of shipwrecked mariners to have occu
pied so little place in their minds. If half the stories we hear are true, the
628
,
Massachusetts Humane Society— Life-Boats.
wrecked sailor has to contend not only with the elements on the coasts of New
Jersey and Long Island, but meets, on landing, no sympathy from the inhabitants.
I trust this is about to be rectified, and that the government will be induced an
nually to extend its patronage to humane societies, than which no better use can
be found for a little of the m«ney so largely contributed by merchants and sailors.
With a view of offering the little experience I have gained to the public, and to
call forth discussion on life-preserving apparatus, I will give you my ideas on the
subject.
The present life-boats of the M assachusetts H umane S ociety are constructed
something like those of Henry Greathead, of South Shields, with copper air-tight
boxes at the ends, and in the sides near the bilges, with plug-holes to let out the
water, when the boat ships a sea. They have answered the intended purpose
very well in locations where they can be manned in a sheltered place, and thence
pulled to the scene of disaster, but they are too heavy to launch from an exposed
beach, or to transport from place to place without a carriage and horses—not al
ways to be had when most wanted.
It is a very difficult matter to construct a life-boat which shall answer all the
ends desired. She must be large enough to carry half a dozen people besides her
crew ; she must be flat amidships in order to land on a beach tolerably upright
and to give her buoyancy ; she must be sharp at the ends in order to pull well; she
must have great shear in order to be drier than a straight boat, and to accommo
date the steer oar; she must have beam enough to pull “ double bank she must
be light enough to transport on land, and pull in the water easily ; she must be
strong enough to stand some hard knocks ; and she must not cost too much mo
ney. The question then arises—How shall all these properties be best combined ?
for we cannot give up any one of them in a useful life-boat. I have no hesitation
in saying that the metal boat is likely to combine all the properties named, provi
ded she can be constructed of proper model; and, in addition to the qualities
named, she will remain tight after being long boused. I must say, however, that
of all the metal boats I have seen, not one is of suitable model to command confi
dence in a sea way.
Whether the life-boat is made of wood or metal, I am fully of opinion that the
best plan to make her buoyant and to prevent her capsizing, is to have, first, the
right shape, and, to make her safer, particularly in case of shipping water, she
should have a strong inflated bag or cylinder under a deck at each end, confined
loosely by a bulkhead or grating, aifil coming well up to the gunwale; she should
have two cylinders twelve or fifteen feet long and eight or ten inches diameter,
tinder the thwarts, close to the side of the boat, and two more outside as high up
as the oars will permit them to be fastened ; and if these are found not to be suffi
cient to buoy up a stoven boat and crew so that she can still pull at some incon
venience, two other cylinders may be secured to the upper part of the thwarts close
out to the side, especially for double-bank boats; for surf-boats, pulling single, or
with long oars, the cylinders or inflated buoys may be placed amidships, and so be
out of the way of the men. Experience will best tell us where to put the indiarubber canvass cylinders, but there is no doubt in my mind that they are the pro
per thing to use instead of metal boxes ; the outside cylinders or buoys will be
found eminently useful as fenders to protect the boat from being stove, and also
as buoys to keep the boat from being upset by the stroke of a sea, or by too
many getting suddenly to one side.
After all, the best life-boat and crew can do little in the height of a gale on a
surf-bound and rocky coast, and it may be truly said that the best life-boat, though
well adapted to taking a number of people off a wreck after the brunt of the storm
is past, is next to useless for the purpose of establishing a communication in a
storm with a wreck, as compared with a regular surf-boat; a common dory may
do this when the best life-boat cannot.
At each exposed location on the coast, the hardy inhabitants, generally engaged
in fishing, have peculiar notions as to the best vehicle to pull to sea in from a
beach in rough water. Call this prejudice, or call it what you will, it is best to
consult these men, on whom you are to depend to man the boats in time of peril.
Massachusetts Humane Society— Life-Boats.
6’39
The Nantucket people would probably say, “ Give me a whale-boat and a good
crew to pull to windward and do service,” yet every one knows that a whale-boat,
steered by an oar as she must be in a surf, cannot take on board another man
without his being much in the way; and every man conversant with landing in a
surf knows that a shorter, flatter and wider boat is better for that purpose than a
whale-boat.
At every life-boat station there should be a boat of smaller size and lighter ma
terial, to be fitted with the inflated “ fixings,” to be used to run a line or to commu
nicate with the wreck. Such a boat might rescue, one by one, a crew from a
wreck, when the larger boat could not; and, to have the system complete, (so far
as boats are concerned.) a still smaller boat would at times be very useful to tow
off to windward of a wreck by the larger boat, and to be dropped down to the
wreck by a line. Two or three instances have been reported to our Society in
which a small canoe, or punt, has been used in this way successfully, when the
large boat could not or did not dare go alongside the wreck. In addition to these
means of saving life, every exposed location should be provided with some appa
ratus for throwing a line. It often happens that a vessel is cast on shore and
there holds together for hours when no boat can go to her at all, or with any great
hope of succeeding in the attempt, and yet so near the rocks, or the beach, that a
line may be thrown to her, and by that a hawser may be got on shore, and so, by
rigging a tub, many lives might be saved which otherwise might be lost. Take
the case, for instance, of the Henry Clay ; she was on shore in a position toler
ably safe in the weather that she had at the time, and there was no imminent
danger to life while the weather remained as it was, but there was danger in get
ting a boat to and from the shore, and we know that several lives were lost in the
attempt. I take it for granted that she could have thrown a line with one of
Carte’s rockets, on shore, or near enough to be got on shore, by the men on' the
beach ; and I am sure that there are many cases where a rocket, properly con
structed, may carry a line to a stranded ship when a boat cannot. I have im
ported some for the M assachusetts H umane S ociety, and found them to answer
so well that I shall try to have them placed at all our life-boat stations. Many
people are not aware that it is difficult to get a line from a stranded ship to a
beach, through the surf, by a buoy ; the undertow takes the bight of the line back
at each retreating wave ; and again, lines and buoys are not always at the com
mand of half-frozen, half-drowned men, hanging to a wreck. Every packet-ship
should have a dozen of Carte’s rockets on board, with a good line or two. They
would not only be useful in case of being cast on shore, but also often at sea, in
case of falling in with a wreck in rough weather, when a line may be thrown to
her and made fast, while a good boat with two or three men could be hauled up
to her by it, or a larger line be hauled to the ship. In short, the Carte’s rocket,
or some similar apparatus, need only to be seen and tried to be appreciated.
I trust that these remarks, hastily thrown together, will call forth discussion
and investigation on the subject of life-preserving apparatus, and that the parties
who have the disbursing of the ten thousand dollars appropriated in the Light
house Bill of 1848, will entertain the suggestions I make as coming from one not
entirely “ green ” in nautical matters, though ready to learn something further
of Nantucket, Cape Cod, and all “ along-shore'people” about landing and getting
off a beach.
I am, very truly, your servant,
R. B. F orbes,
One of the Trustees of the Massachusetts Humane Society.
630
Mercantile Law Cases.
M E R C A N T I L E LAW CASES.
MARINE INSURANCE.
I n the British Court of Chancery.
Stewart and others, vs. the Directors of the
Greenock Marine Insurance Company.
This was an appeal against a decree of the Court of Session. The appellants
here, the pursuers in the Court below, instituted an action against the respond
ents to recover the amount of .certain policies of insurance effected on the ship
Laurel, of Greenock, one for £ 1,500, and the other for £500. Insurances were
effected with other companies to the amount of £6,500, the vessel itself being
valued at £7,500. This vessel was insured at and from Liverpool to New York,
and thence to any other port in the United States, or to Quebec; thence to a
port of discharge in the United Kingdom, and thereafter for a period not exceed
ing ten days, which days were allowed for the discharge of the cargo. The Lau
rel sailed from Liverpool to New York, and thence to Quebec, where it arrived
in safety, and having fully delivered its outward cargo, took a cargo of timber,
with which, on the 14th of July, 1842, it sailed from Quebec for Liverpool. On
the 27th of that month it encountered icebergs, and during the night was struck
by one or more of them so heavily over the bows that it became waterlogged.
The nature of the cargo prevented the vessel from sinking, and the master and
crew using great exertion, finally, on the 11th of August, brought it into Liver
pool, where the master proposed to bring it into dock at once. This proposal
was refused by the dock-master, who insisted that it should be moored outside
the'dock, and in the open river. This was done, and, as the tide ebbed, holes
were bored in the bottom of the vessel, and the water in the hold was enabled to
escape. The vessel grounded, and was much injured by being treated in this
wav. The holes were stopped as quickly as possible after the water had escaped,
and the vessel then floated with the rising tide, and was taken into dock. The
cargo was discharged, and a survey of the vessel was made. It was found that
it had sustained very serious damage, both from the icebergs and from its being
allowed to ground outside the dock gates. On the 1st of September, the owners,
acting on the report of the persons whom they had employed to survey the ves
sel, wrote a letter to the underwriters, dated on the 1st of September, enclosing
. the report, and abandoning the vessel as a total loss. As it appeared that the
cost of the repairs would amount to £3,000 or £4,000, the underwriters tendered
that amount; but the owners refused to accept it, and insisted on a total loss.
The manager of the underwriters then wrote to say that he was authorized to
offer a full indemnity for the loss, which he proposed to calculate in a particular
manner. This offer was likewise refused. The pursuers then brought their
action to recover as for a total loss; and the respondents pleaded that, as the dam
age sustained by the Laurel through the collision with the iceberg, did not amount,
either actually or constructively, to a total, but only to a partial loss, the pursuers
are not entitled to abandon the ship, and to claim as for a total loss; and second
ly, that even supposing the pursuers entitled to abandon, and to claim as for a
constructive total loss, they can only do so subject to their accounting, by way of
compensation to the respondents, as abandonees of the ship, for their proportion
of the amount of freight earned by the ship after the accident through which such
constructive loss was occasioned. The freight of the vessel had been separately
insured for £1,500. The cargo having been discharged in the manner already
mentioned, the freight paid to the owners was £1,402. The case went onto
trial upon the following issue: whether the ship, through the injury sustained
on the 27th July, 1842, and the 11th of August, 1842, or on one or other of
these dates, and during the currency of the policies, became a wreck, and
was totally lost. The jury found that the Laurel was properly abandoned,
and was not worth repairing; that the damage to it arose from coming in
contact with an iceberg, and from grounding outside the dock at Liverpool;
that the vessel was seaworthy when the voyage was begun, and that there was
Mercantile Law Cases.
631
a total loss; and the claim of the defendant to a portion of the freight was, as a
question of law, reserved for the consideration of the Court. The case was con
sidered by the consulting judges, who found, “ that the defendants, with whom
insurance was effected only on the ship, are entitled, on accounting with the pur
suers, to have placed to their credit their due proportion of the freight, amounting
to £1,402, subject to such deductions as may be found competent to affect their
interest in the said freight.” It was against this decision that the appeal was
brought. The case was argued in June, 1847, by Sir P. Thesiger and Mr. Wat
son, (Mr. Anderson was with them,) for the appellants; and Sir F. Kelly and Mr.
Wickens, for the respondents.
The Lord Chancellor now moved the judgment of the House. After stating
the facts of the case, and the finding of the jury, he said he was of opinion that the
judgment of the Court below ought to be affirmed, with costs. His noble and
learned friend, Lord Brougham, who had likewise heard this case argued, had sent
him a written communication, declaring the same opinion, and he therefore moved
the judgment of affirmance.— Judgment of the Court below affirmed with costs.
LIA B ILITY OF SHIPMASTERS FOR DETENTION OF SHIPPERS’ PRODUCE.
During the session of the Circuit Court, says the Louisville Courier of the 19th
September, 1848, Judge Bullock made a decision, which, if sustained, will prove
of much importance to masters or owners of steamboats. A mercantile house in
our city sued the owners of the steimer Grace Darling, for detaining a lot of
flour several weeks, shipped on her to New Orleans, hereby causing the loss of a
considerable sum of money on the venture by the decline in the New Orleans
market. The merchant had one thousand barrels, about half of which was ship
ped on the steamer Old Hickory. The captain of the Grace Darling engaged the
residue of the flour for his boat at an advance of five cents per barrel for freight,
stipulating to proceed to New Orleans immediately in consideration thereof. The
boat, however, was detained for some time, and the price of flour had materially
' declined in the Southern market. The judge decided in favor of the plaintiffs, and
ordered that the owner or owners of the Grace Darling shall pay damages to the
full amount of the loss sustained by the shippers in the detention of their pro
duce from the market.
--------THE L A W OF W RECK AND SALVAGE.
At the Sculcoates Hall, Mr. Saxelbye, as the Receiver of Droits of Admiralty
at Hull, (England.) appeared before the magistrates to support two informations
against parties for an infringement of the Wreck and Salvage Act, 9 and 10 Vic.,
c. 99. The first information was against a person for picking up, and not report,ng to the receiver of droits, a piece of timber belonging to Mr. Lynn, the railway
contractor, which had floated from the works at New Holland to the opposite
shore ; and the second information was against a party for purchasing and retainng the timber. By the 5th section of the Wreck and Salvage Act it appears that
my person finding any goods at sea, or in any tidal water, or stranded on the
shore, is bound forthwith to report the same, in writing, to the Receiver of Droits
of Admiralty, and place the same at his disposal; and every person who shall keep
possession of, or retain, or conceal, or secrete, any such goods, or shall deface,
take out, or obliterate any mark or number thereon, or alter the same in any man
ner, or shall not forthwith report and place at the disposal of the receiver any
such goods in the manner aforesaid, shall forfeit all claim to salvage, and shall,
on conviction, forfeit any sum not exceeding £100, and also forfeit and pay dou
ble the value of the article to the owner thereof, if claimed, or to her Majesty, if
the same become a droit of the Admiralty ; and the parties may also be proceeded
against as the receivers of stolen goods. Mr. Prankish appeared on behalf of the
'defendants, and the magistrates being satisfied that the offence had been commit
ted through ignorance of the act above mentioned, and without any fraudulent in
tent, the informations were ultimately withdrawn, on defendants paying the value
of the timber and the expenses. Mr. Saxelbye, at the same time, intimated that
he should in future proceed against all parties who might in any manner offend
against the provisions of the act.
632
Commercial Chronicle and Review,
COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW.
THE MONEY MARKET— IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF NEW YORK FOR LAST FOUR MONTHS— SPECIE MOVE
MENT-IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF SPECIE AT NEW YORK— DUTIES COLLECTED AND SUMS BORROWED
BY THE GOVERNMENT, WITH RATES OF EXCHANGE, AND PRICE OF UNITED STATES STOCKS— UNITED
STATES STOCKS SOLD ON FOREIGN ACCOUNT— REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE OF THE UNITED STATES
— VALUE OF PRODUCTS— OPERATIONS OF A TARIFF— IMPORT OF GRAIN AND FLOUR INTO GREAT BRITAIN
— DEMAND FOR CAPITAL IN RAILROAD INVESTMENTS— THE NEW ENGLAND RAILROADS— MASSACHU
SETTS SAVINGS BANKS— THE RAILROAD MOVEMENT IN NEW YORK— COMPARATIVE VALUE OF REAL
ESTATE IN BOSTON AND NEW YORK—TOLLS OF THE ERIE CANAL FOR TEN YEARS— ERIE RAILROAD—
AREA OF ITS INFLUENCE— ITS IMPORTANCE AS AN AVENUE FOR WESTERN TRADE— ITS INFLUENCE
UPON THE SUPPLY OF COAL, ETC., ETC.
T h e money markets of the leading cities have, as the season has advanced,
become more easy; that is to say, money has rather fallen in price, notwithstand
ing that the importations continue to a considerable extent larger than in former
years at this season. In our number for August we gave the imports and exports
of the port of New York for the twelve months composing the fiscal year which
ends June 30th. The following table- indicates the progress of the trade in the
four succeeding months:—
IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF NEW YORE FOR FOUR MONTHS, ENDING WITH OCTOBER.
,-------- — -------- 'EXPORTS.— :---------'---------- ,
,------------------------IMPORTS.------------------------ ,
Specie.
Free. Dutiable. Domestic. Specie.
J u ly ......................... $744,983 $29,532 $58,949 $2,090,285 $64,631
August........................
331,031 79,865 101,836
2,172,845 133,855
September..............
561,455
41,421 175,346
2,926,212 197,098
October.......................
882,423 24,924 221,789
3,576,057 127,998
Total 1848..........
“
1847..........
2,519,892 175,742 557,920 10,764.999
1,119,143 223,657 497,327 17,323,434
Free.
Dutiable. Duties.
$650,055 $7,046,389 $1,794,236
1,128,555
9,796.778 2,533,343
513,749
8,158.299 2,119,571
439,587
5,136,332 1,328,833
523,582 2,731,946 30.137,797
685,093 2,494,360 33,790,479
7,775,983
8,716,205
These aggregates for the four months indicate for the last year a larger import
and export than for the same four months of the present year; but for the last two
months, that is to say, September and October, the balance is in favor of the
present year. It was in the month of October last year that the exchange between
this country and England began to feel the influence of the revulsion in England,
and specie went forward to the extent of $674,548 in October, by reason of the
distrust of bills. In November that feature began to have a serious influence,
and powerfully affected the money market in the cities. The state of affairs was
described as follows in our article for December, 1847 :—
“ The movements of specie for the quarter ending with October were, for the
port of New York, nearly as follows:—
Duties paid.
Export.
Import.
August.............
September........
October.............
$3,337,541
2,096,604
1,229,296
$66,000
550,925
674,548
$195,155
94,548
101,170
Total.............
$6,663,441
$1,291,473
$390,873
Specie in Assist. Trees., N. Y ork,
August 1 ........
September 1.
November 1. '
$2,187,836
6,426,356
4,551,841
“ This large movement of specie reduced the amount in th9 city banks from
$10,769,732 in August, to $7,779,000 in November; and, inasmuch as that the
imports fell off with the close of October, it was supposed that the banks, which
had contracted towards the 1st of November, when their accounts are returnable
to the comptroller, would resume their discounts. Continued adverse news from
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
633
Europe, however, was unfavorable to the negotiation of bills, and enhanced the
disposition to ship specie. Sovereigns advanced to $4 874, five-franc pieces to
94i, and Mexican dollars to 14 a 14 premium, and the shipment became active,
although the best bills could be had at 91. and were dull at New Orleans at 34 a
4 per cent; presenting a singular anomaly, and showing that heavy losses were
incurred in the shipments of specie, rather than trust to the payment of bills in
England. The packets of the 1st November carried out considerable sums, and
the shipments continued, until the amount reached near $2,000,000 by the middle
of the month. This was a serious drain in the state of affairs with the banks
presented in the above table, and the institutions immediately adopted the most
stringent measures. A very small proportion, only, of the notes offering, were
discounted, and loans on stocks were called in rigorously. Importers’ paper, par
ticularly, was struck at; and first class auctioneers’ paper sold from U a 2 per
cent per month, while it became impossible to procure loans on New York stocks,
the first class of security, at a large margin. The banks rigorously drew bal
ances from each other in specie, and adopted a general system of curtailment,
that exceedingly oppressed the market; causing prices, particularly of stocks, to
fall rapidly.”
This export of specie continued on English account until February, when it
nearly ceased, and began slightly to react, when the events in Europe renewed
the efflux, which has continued important until the present moment. It is known
that under the operation of the present Independent Treasury law, the payments
into the United States treasury are in specie only, consequently the duties form a
continual drain upon the banks for specie. During the past year the government
has borrowed considerable sums in specie for war expenditures ; and these three
causes, viz, the export, duties, and loans, have together formed a formidable de
mand for the precious metals, and to the following extent monthly:—
IMPORT AND EXPORT OF SPECIE AT THE PORT OF MEW YORK, AMOUNT OF DUTIES COLLECTED AND
SUMS BORROWED B Y THE GOVERNMENT, TOGETHER WITH THE RATES OF EXCHANGE, AND PRICE
OF UNITED STATES
6 PER
CENT STOCK OF
Imports.
November........
December........
January...........
February......... .
March...............
A pril................
M ay.................
June.................
July..................
August..............
September.......
October.............
November........
Total.......... ....
39,712
48,032
22,781
165,919
133,922
69,532
64,631
133,855
197,398
127,998
18,130
1862.
Exports.
$1,455,946
1,788,867
1,738,554
433,226
452,507
1,180,422
2,249,253
1,871,972
744,983
331,031
561,455
882,423
210,000
Duties.
$988,119
856,576
2,305,017
2,416,497
1,553,003
1.686,506
1,312,036
1,144,497
1,794,236
2,533,343
2,119,571
1,328,833
644,763
Loans.
}
3,739,370
s
}
4,643,300
s
i
7,674,650
6 p. c.
st’g. Stock.
9
1021
101
99
10f
984
10
96
91 1031
81 1031
101 103
11
104
91 104
91 1034
91 1031
9| 103
8* 107
$1,135,027 $13,900,639 $20,681,995 $18,069,770
These figures show a remarkable progress in affairs. It will be observed that
the import and export of specie is that which is entered directly to and from the
custom-house at this port. Considerable sums, probably near .$5,000,000, last
fall and winter left here for Boston, to go by the Curiard steamers, which does not
appear on the New York customs’ returns. The government has taken for loans
$18,069,770, and for duties $20,681,995, and the nett export is at least $17,000,000.
These sums together make $55,751,765 paid by the city of New York in the
twelve months closing with October. The remarkable fact is, that while these
634
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
enormous payments have been made, money has constantly been becoming easier;
that is to say, instead of being unable to procure money at all upon stocks, as was
the case last year, it is now easily attainable at the legal rate, say 7 per cent;
and good auctioneers’ paper is done at 10 per cent per annum. On the 1st of
November last year the amount of specie in the assistant treasury at this port was
$4,551,841. This year, at the same time, it was $855,330. It will further be
observed in the above trade tables that the ease of the money market in November
cannot be ascribed to stock business, inasmuch as the trade of the port has been
larger, than last year. Thus for October and the first week in November, the im
port of goods has been $7,048,181, and for the same time last year $5,998,514.
The exports in the same time have increased $1,200,000, making an increase of
$2,500,000 in the business of the port this year, naturally requiring more money.
It has been the case, however, that very considerable sums of United States stock
have gone abroad, independent of the $3,000,000 placed in the London market by
Messrs. Corcoran and Riggs, of Washington. The amounts sent weekly have
been as follows:—
EMISSION OF UNITED STATES STOCK ON FOREIGN ACCOUNT.
Oct. 14.
Oct. 23.
Oct. 28.
Dollars. Dollars.
Dollars.
Dollars. Dollars.
To—
Oct. 7.
England........
Germany......
France..^......
Switzerland..
Cuba.............
Portugal........
Canada.........
Ireland.........
Belgium.........
Brazil.............
Spain.............
Madeira.......
Total........
22,000
26,000
20,000
34,000
5,000
Nov. 4.
29,000 95,050 354,000 32,900
13,000 26,000 65,000 27,000
25,000 3,000 89,300 17,600
5,0u0
7,000
2,500
6,000
5,000
........
3,000
10,000
30,000
.......
4,000
.......
.......
19,000
N ov. 11.
Dollars.
Nov. 18.
Dollars.
Total.
Dollars.
764,100 468,500 1,765,550
167,000 25,500 349,500
9,700 200,600
36,000
40,800
1,800
5,000
7,000
96,100
8,600
80,000
10,000
3,000
28,000
4,000 14,000
62,000
13,000
7,000
7,000
107,000 82,100 130,050 556,306 99,600 1,073,700 525,300 2,574,550
This gives an amount of $2,574,550 sent abroad in seven weeks, and the bills
against much of this investment have been upon the market constantly. It may
be remarked that the whole figure does not represent fresh sales, some amounts
of prior sales being returned for transfer. Eminent banking houses have, it is
said, taken much of that drawn by Messrs. Corcoran and Riggs ; but the amounts
drawn against continental investments have been offering in various hands.
About one-half the amount issued in the week October 23, was to Mr. Packenham, the English minister. In the week October 28, $130,000 was to Cor
coran and Riggs. In the week November 11, $47,000 was to Madam Weiss,
the directress of a dancing troupe. The English holders generally prefer the
coupon stock, as a matter of course. W e mention these details in order to show
the nature of the stock operations going on to an extent that has affected the
exchange market, as well as relieved the stockholders of pressure. There has
also been paid five instalments, amounting to $1,098,000, of Mexican indem
nity, due to United States by the government under the terms of the Mexican
treaty of peace. The relief thus afforded to the stock market, together with
the amount of the department, that owing to the flourishing state of the finances
there will not be required any further instalments upon the last loan until Janu-
635
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
ary has placed the market for those securities upon a firmer footing. The con
dition of the United States finances for the year ending September 30, according
to the quarterly reports of the departments, are as follows :—
UNITED STATES REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE.
Quarter ending
Customs.
Lands.
Dollars.
December 31
March
31
June
30
September 30
5,337,874
9.383.000
5,888,567
9.010.000
Total......... 29,619,442 73
Expenses—
December 31
March
31
June
30
September 30
Total.........
State Dep’ t.
1,641,053
1,389,582
1,446,978
3,371,918
Miscellaneous.
Dollars.
Dollars.
84
00
89
00
11
01
37
27
908,956
700.000
781,795
470.000
36
00
81
00
2,860,752 17
W ar Dep’ t.
3,308,823
7,241,659
6,698,470
8,064,851
15
55
36
38
48,500 00
176,200 00
36,375 50
101,000 00
Total.
Loans.
Dollars.
Dollars.
1,012,450
5,387,820
4,643,300
7,674.650
00 8,307,790 20
00 15,647,020 00
00 i 1,349,039 00
00 17,255,650 00
362,075 50 19,718,220 00 52,559,499 20
Navy Dep’ t.
2,649,749 15
1,964,771 49
2,395,066 12
2,979,022 17
Treas. loans, & c.
1,706,793
6,458.359
2,585,527
968,050
Total.
57 9,305,918 98
46 17,054,372 51
06 13,126,041 91
38 15,383,842 20
7,849,531 76 25,313,804 44 9,988,608 93 11,718,730 47 54,870,175 60
In the payments of the last quarter by the State department is included the first
instalment paid to Mexico under the treaty of peace ; and in the payment of the
Treasury department is included the $800,000 redeemed of a house in New York.
The next quarterly return will probably embrace the re-issue of a similar amount.
It is observable that the ordinary revenue of the department, under the heads of
customs, lands and miscellaneous, amounts to $32,842,270 40, a sum which ex
ceeds, by near $9,000,000, the whole expenditure of the year 1845, before the
Mexican war commenced. To that figure the expenditures will probably be
again reduced, enhanced, however, by an increase of $1,000,000 per annum for
interest on the new debt, and $3,000,000 per annum for the four annual instal
ments due Mexico under the treaty. This will raise the expenditure to $27,000,000,
and at the rate of income now accruing will leave a surplus of $5,000,000 per
annum for the sinking of the debt, which, were it all payable at pleasure, would
effect it in seven years. This favorable condition of the federal treasury is likely
to be still further improved for the coming year through the influence of the en
hanced exports of produce, the proceeds of which must be returned in the shape
of dutiable goods, possibly at somewhat enhanced prices from those which have
obtained in the last few months. The effect of the revolutions in Europe has
been to cause a vast amount of European labor to be sent here for little money ;
that is to say, fabrics have been sold at a less sum than would replace the capi
tal expended in its production. As an instance, we have seen Belgian cloths sold
at 50 cents, which cost 117 to produce. The manufacturing capital of Europe
cannot stand such sacrifices, and production must cease or go on at advanced
prices, to exchange for United States produce. Inasmuch as that our tariff has an
ad valorem operation, a rise in the price of foreign fabrics will enhance the reve
nue. American produce, particularly cotton, has sold and is selling very low,
but it may be doubted whether the actual proceeds is less than usual; that is to
say, measured in money we get much less, but measured in goods, the product of
labor, we get much more. The capital of Europe is being squandered for the
benefit of the United States. In the case of farm produce we maintain the money
price, and this price commands a much greater quantity of European labor than
usual. The exports of farm produce from the United States continues on an ex-
636
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
tended scale, being now considerably larger than at the corresponding period of
last year, with every prospect of a large continued demand in England. The
importation of all kinds of grain and flour in Great Britain for several years has
been as follows, together with the nature of the season, the average price of
wheat, and the quantities remaining in bond :—
IMPORT OF GRAl’N AND FLOUR INTO GREAT BRITAIN.
1841......................
1842......................
1843.......................
1844......................
1845......................
1846.......................
1847.............. ........
1848, 8 months....
Grain.
Qrs.
Tlour.
Cict.
In bond.
Price.
s. d.
3,258,698
3,369,335
1,305,594
2,747,951
2,162,644
3,864,666
8,047,082
3,193,928
1,275,656
1,151,827
442,462
984,704
953,258
3,356,812
7,158,620
643,192
186,003
804,121
64 4
57 3
50 2
53 8
48 7
53 4
83 6
49 10
1,068,050
108,240
Season.
Average.
Good.
“
Potato fails.
M
Good.
Potato fails.
It will be observed, that in years of good harvest the supplies of foreign grain
required in aid of the English production were very large, as much so as in for
mer years of scarcity. The crop of potatoes was damaged in 1845, and the sup
plies required in 1846 increased considerably at an improved price, and the fail
ure of 1846 still further raised the foreign demands, notwithstanding the advanced
prices, because the large expenditure upon the public works probably counteract
ed to some extent the effect of the advanced price in diminishing consumption ;
but the harvest of 1847 was good, yet a formidable quantity has been required in
aid of it. The crop of 1848 is now short, and again must 1849 be a year of large
importations, and the abundance of money must follow the accumulations of
capital.
Almost monthly the avenues of trade are increasing, and facilitating the trans
portation of the rich produce of the interior to the Atlantic border. The demand
for capital, for the prosecution of these great lines of trafflc, has been a decided
cause of the high rate of money on the Atlantic border. Massachusetts has been
particularly active in the construction of these noble works. In the last three
sessions there have been chartered the following roads :—
Capital.
1846 ....
1847 ....
1848 ....
18 roads and branches.......................................
16 “
“
.......................................
19 “
“
.......................................
Stock o f roads in operation increased............
T otal.........................................................
$5,795,000
4.822.000
7.105.000
3.945.000
$21,667,000
The total length of roads in New England is 1,126.54 miles, and the cost over
$3 7,00 0,00 0. This large expenditure has been effected only by absorbing all the
surplus earnings of almost all classes of society. The accumulating dividends of
capitalists of all grades have sought this direction, and, as a consequence, a far
less amount has been available for the ordinary employments of industry. Even
the savings bank deposits have been applied in this direction. The direct in
vestments of the Massachusetts’ savings banks in these works were $4 4,38 9,
and loans upon railroad stock $ 3 0 0 ,6 9 8 . The income of the roads increased from
$1,961,3-23 in 1846, to $2 ,5 6 4 ,1 9 0 in 1847. The effect of these multiplied means
of communication upon the trade and property of Boston is magical. New York,
which has also made great efforts in railways and outlaid much capital in their con
struction, does not as yet feel their influence upon its business, but has now in
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
637
progress, and about to be opened, four lines which must produce an immense in
fluence. These are the New York and New Haven, which will probably in Jan
uary, 1849, connect New York with Boston; the Harlem Railroad, to be opened
in January to Dover Plains, Dutchess county, 83 miles from New York ; the Hud
son River, which will open to Poughkeepsie in the course of the year; and
the Erie Railroad, now running to Port Jervis, on the Delaware, and to be
completed to Binghamton in January, a distance of 200 miles from Piermont, on
the North River, and it will then be the longest road in the United States.
The Central Railroad of Georgia is 192 miles, and the Boston and Worcester and
Western railroads, connecting Boston and Albany, are together 200 miles. These
four roads to run into New York have taken near $12,000,000 of New York cap
ital, which, as yet, is unproductive, yet all of these works must in a short time be
come very productive. The Harlem Railroad has, unfortunately for the interests
of the city, been managed more with a view to the fluctuation of its stock in the
market, where it for years has been the “ stalking horse” of speculation, than for
its own welfare. The opening of the New Haven road in January, running 16
miles upon the Harlem, will benefit the city trade more than the latter company.
The eccentric operations of the Harlem company have greatly retarded the pro
gress of that spirit of enterprise necessary to the advance of New York in the di
rection necessary to preserve its trade, and some degree of rivalry exists between
the Erie and Hudson River roads. This should rather be a spirit of emulation,
inasmuch as both are necessary to the welfare of the city. The population of
the city in 1800 was 60,489; in 1820,123,706; in 1840, 312,710, thus more than
doubling every 20 years. Since this has been the ratio of increase for 60 years
past, there is no reason to doubt its continuance, and, in that case, in 30 years
from this time the population will be 1,300,000, which will involve the occupation
of Manhattan Island to Plarlem River. A chief element in this increase is the
cheap supply of the necessaries of life. The Croton River gives a sufficient sup
ply of water, the mines of Pennsylvania supply fuel in abundance, and the rail
roads are the means of supplying this as well as fresh provisions in any extent.
The Erie Railroad last year, running 53 miles, supplied the following articles:—
Quantity.
M ilk.................... qrts.
Butter..................lbs.
Fresh meat................
Cattle, (beef,)....head
Est. value.
7.1) 90,430 $ 2 8 3 ,6J 6Calves............... head
3,758,440 676,519 H ogs..........................
3.01) 7,890 150,490 Sheep & lam bs......
2,362
86,853 Strawberries.. .bskts.
Quantity.
11,457
5,548
8,198
389,920
Est. value.
51,649
38,366
29,975
15,596
In addition to the above, large quantities of poultry, game, fruit, vegetables, &c.,
are brought to market. The freight received by the road for the transportation
of milk alone, was $35,450. This road negotiated the remaining $500,000 of
bonds received from the State on the 20th November.
That the great advantage of railroads is in the stimulus they impart to the busi
ness of the cities with which they connect, appears very evident in the comparison of
New York and Boston. In tire New England States there are 1,264 miles of rail
road ; in the State of Massachusetts there are in operation 880 miles, and these
have cost $31,019,089 capital paid in, and $11,045,740 borrowed, making
$42,065,829 actually expended within a very few years ; whilst New .York, as
we have remarked, had depended almost entirely upon her natural communications.
The following figures show the assessed valuations in Boston and New York for
many years:—
638
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
,----------------------------- BOSTON.— ------- ---------------- ,
Real estate.
Personal.
Total.
,--------------------------- NEW YORK.---------------------------- ,
Rea! estate.
Personal.
Total.
1841 $61,963,000 $36,043,600 $98,006,600 $186,350,948 $68,843,672 $255,194,620
1842 65,499,900 41,223,800 105.723.700 176,512,342 61,294,559 237,806,901
1843 67.673.400 42,372,600 110,056,000 164,955,314 63,064,575 228,001,889
1844 72,048,000 46.402.300 118,450,300 171,936,591 64,023,456 235,960,047
1845 81.991.400 53.957.300 135.948.700 177,207,990 62,787,527 230,995,517'
1846 90,119,600 58,720,000 148,839,600 183,480,934 61,471,470 244,952,404
1847
97,764,500 64,595,900 162,360,400 187,315,386 59,837,917 247,153,303
1848
193,027,576 61,164,451 254,192,027
It will be observed that the different modes of valuation in the two cities are
such that the figures do not give a correct idea of the actual comparative wealth,
but in a series of years they show the comparative progress, more particularly in
respect of real estate, which, while that of New York has remained nearly station
ary, that is to say, was nearly the same in 1847 as in 1841, that of Boston has
increased 60 per cent in value! This has been the direct result of the railroad
influence. It will be observed that notwithstanding the number of persons that
have moved from Boston into neighboring towns, the increased value of the prop
erty taxed is $74,000,000, nearly double the whole cost of the railroads. That New
York has taken a start during the past year, is to be ascribed to the general pros
perity and the growing influence of the Erie Railroad. The Erie Canal was
opened in 1825 through a northern or central tier of counties, the population of
which was, by the State census of 1825, 394,636. As the Western States bor
dering the lakes became settled, not only did the canal become necessary to the
local business of those counties, but to the transit of annually increasing quan
tities of western produce. The business of that work for ten years has been
as follows :—
AMOUNT OP TOLLS ON THE ERIE CANAL FOR TEN TEARS.
Tolls.
On produce o f other States.....................................
“
this State........................................
On merchandise going west...................................
T ota l.........................................................
For 5 years end- For 5 years ending Jan., 1839. ing Jan., 1844.
$792,359 $2,327,346
3,376,129 3,298,200
2,388,037 2,661,733
$6,556,525
$8,287,279
Total, 10 yrs.
$3,119,705
6,674,329
5,049,770
$14,843,804
This table, from official sources, shows the gross amount of tolls derived alone
from the Erie Canal in the last ten years, and the proportion drawn from the pro
duce of other States, as distinguished from that gathered from the produce of this
State. The tolls on produce from other States, is that paid on produce shipped at
Buffalo and Black Rock; of that paid on merchandise going west, at Albany and
Troy, is lo the extent of 20 per cent on goods going to other States.
The Erie Railroad is now progressing through the lower tier of counties, the
population of which was, in 1845, 362,103, or about the same as the upper tier
when the canal was built. The whole area commanded by this road is 12,000,000
acres of the best land, and the population occupying it, including the upper Penn
sylvania counties, numbers 1,200,000. The resources of this country and these
people are to be stimulated into activity by this road, which strikes the Erie lake
at a point open for navigation in the spring four weeks earlier than at Buffalo.
At this point it will receive the produce of Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, the
Canadas, Michigan and Ohio. The aggregate population of these States commu
nicating with the lakes is 2,500,000, and their prolific lands are crossed with rail
roads and canals, pouring almost a limitless quantity of produce into Lake Erie as
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
639
a basin. For several weeks after Buffalo harbor and the Welland Canal are
closed, this produce may accumulate at Dunkirk as the only depot, and be carried
all wipter to New York over a descending grade throughout the 450 miles, accu
mulating in its way the traffic of the vast tract and people we have described, fed
through lateral railroads, [n the spring this route is the first opened, and in ad
dition to the lateral railroads, the traffic from Buffalo will pass through Seneca
lake over the road to New York. It is to be observed that the Erie Railroad must
become not only the great avenue for fuel from the Pennsylvania coal mines to the
city of New York, but also westward for the supply of western New York from
the same prolific source. The Reading Road, running 100 miles from the mines
to Philadelphia, has cost near $ 11,000,000, and brought down last year 1,256,567
tons coal, thus establishing the capacity of a railroad even at enormous cost to
carry coal in opposition to a canal. The Delaware and Hudson Company run a
railroad from the mines, 16 miles, to Honesdale on the Delaware, thence 108 miles
by canal to Rondout on the Hudson river, 90 miles distant from New York. This
is a route ot 204 miles, and the coal is twice handled. This Delaware Canal
cost $3,000,000, and the stock sells at 135 per cent. It last year brought down
352,144 tons. Now the Erie Railroad crosses the canal at Port Jervis, 98 miles
from New York; that is to say, with a capacity equal to the Reading Road for
carrying coal, it is 100 miles shorter to New York than the Delaware Canal, or
it forms the base of a nearly equilateral triangle, of which the Delaware Canal
route forms the two sides. It becomes evident that this railroad must be the
route for coal to the New York market to the extent of 500,000 tons per annum.
The cost of the coal at the mines is $1, and may be delivered in New York at
$3 50. At Athens the Pennsylvania North Branch Canal delivers coal from the
Pennsylvania basin in such abundance as to enable the Erie Railroad to supply
western New York and the lake trade at Dunkirk. This road will ultimately
have a larger coal business than the Reading Road, and will cost less money
than that work. That is to say, 450 miles of Erie Road will have cost no more
money than 100 miles of Reading Road, and a coal business equal to the whole
trade of the Reading will be but a secondary consideration to its other traffic. In
order not to interfere with its regular business, it may by its branch deliver the
coal at Newburgh, which will be 23 miles nearer New York than the Delaware
Canal route, and be open all the year round.
The distance from Boston to Lake Erie is 522 miles, from Philadelphia by
railway and canal 558 miles, from Baltimore by railroad, via the Ohio river, 505
miles. While the total length of the Erie Railroad is 450 miles— 72 miles
shorter than to Boston. The capacity of the Erie Road to carry freight is indica
ted in the fact that its track is the broadest in the country, being 6 feet, while the
northern lines are 4 feet 8j inches. This broad track is laid with a heavy T rail,
and furnished with such working stock as will transport in the best manner any
quantity of produce on a descending grade to the Hudson. This road has strug
gled with the greatest difficulties, but is now safe. Under the present able man
agement, it has been opened to Port Jervis on the Delaware, 98 miles from New
York. At that point it crosses the Delaware and Hudson Canal, and strikes the
Delaware river two miles beyond. This stream is crossed on one of the most
magnificent of bridges, being 750 feet long and 60 feet high. It is supported on
five stone piers of immense strength, to resist the floods of the Delaware, which
Commercial Statistics.
640
rises at times 40 feet when swollen by mountain torrents. The span of the arch
on the Pennsylvania side is 160 feet, of that adjoining 150 feet. On the completion
of this splendid structure in December next, another section of the road will be
opened to Binghamton, 127 miles from Port Jervis, and 225 miles from New
York. We shall then realize the fact that the line will he the longest and most
important railroad in the world, and its income will be commensurate with its im
portance. It will be observed that although it will on its completion drain an
area of 12,000,000 acres, and a population of 1,200,000 persons, the section now
in operation to Port Jervis communicates with only 40,000 persons, and an area
of 428,890 acres. Yet its income is $1,000 per day, and its nett profits $150,000
per annum! The country between Port Jervis and Binghamton, to be opened
in January next, embraces an area of 3,276,480 acres, and a population of 100,000
persons. These resources will at once be added to the road, with but little in
crease in running, and this portion is the most expensive of the whole to build.
The most brilliant success seems now to await this stupendous undertaking, and
while the southern tiers of counties will be stimulated by access to market, the'
growth of New York will receive a new spur in this development of new re
sources.
COMMERCI AL
STATISTICS.
L IV E R P O O L A N N U A L C O R N R E P O R T .
IMPORT AND EXPORT OF GRAIN, MEAL, FLOUR, ETC., INTO AND FROM THE FORT OF LIVERPOOL
FOR EIGHT YEARS.
T h e period having arrived at which it has been customary to consider the year, a s re
spects the corn trade, to terminate, comparative tabular statements o f the annual imports
and exports o f grain, meal, and flour, into and from the port o f Liverpool, may not be
without interest. The following table shows the average yearly s u p p l y into Liverpool for
the twelve years prior to the passing o f the corn law in 1842, and the quantities received
during the seven subsequent years, the last o f the series ending on the 30th ult.
AVERAGE YE ARLY IMPORT OF GRAIN, ETC., INTO LIVERPOOL, FOR 1 2 YEARS, ENDING 3 1 s T AU
GUST, 1 8 4 1 .
Year ending
September 3 0 —
1841...........
1842...........
1843...........
1844...........
1845...........
1846...........
1847...........
1848...........
September
30—
1841...........
1842...........
1843...........
1844...........
1845...........
1846...........
1847...........
1848...........
Coastwise and
Ireland.
Qrs.
*
Colonial.
Qrs.
292,054
172,365
125,847
223,502
295,179
194,501
130,761
137,438
23,400
24,384
8,934
22,083
3,413
49,038
55,006
2,826
British.
Qrs.
328,831
197,468
219,956
234,940
232,220
194,059
100,552
190,493
Foreign.
Qrs.
British.
Sacks.
170,442
653,637
76,852
240,227
65,972
287,451
519,159
218,681
192,807
65,947
155,507
259,556
416,903
264,983
79,948
156,964
Foreign.
Qrs.
British.
Qrs.
23,147
13,403
6,022
8,966
10,591
4,430
66,307
56,187
39,360
32,043
33,530
35,664
33,648
30,596
33,784
Foreign.
Qrs.
14,425
4,542
20,967
17,007
17,785
8,620
57,992
27,786
----
FLOUR.-----
Foreign.
Bbls.
175,019
180,505
10,931
155,200
41,886
877,659
1,979,491
227,285
British.
Qrs.
19,216
12,450
10,231
12,178
11,649
10,418
13,556
11,077
Colonial.
Bbls.
36,022
221,939
79,680
226,833
136,086
246,276
410,806
105,127
Foreign.
Q rs.
31,957
49,751
12,978
21.726
42,633
70,033
115,418
125,504
641
Commercial Statistics.
Year ending
September 30—
--------PEAS.------
1841..............
1842.............
1843..............
1844..............
1845..............
1846..............
1847..............
1848..............
British.
Qrs.
Foreign.
Qrs.
3,754
2,850
475
.3,508
3,613
12,686
9,646
3,941
17,173
26,406
981
17,532
9.728
5,031
24,400
8,060
Colonial.
Qrs.
4,576
17,268
2,412
2,392
4,586
1,765
10,715
696
EXPORTS FOR TWELVE MONTHS ENDING
OATMEAL.
INDIAN CORN.
British.
Loads.
Foreign.
Qrs.
191,331
214,966
362,040
350,747
229,424
138.095
57,256
166,168
I. c .
37,918
192,026
1,171,608
504,193
30tHSEPTEMBER, 1845, 1846, 1847,
m eal.
Foreign.
Bbls.
430,534
105,337
1818.
AND
/------------------------ FLOUR. Ending September 30—
1845.................................
1846................................
1847.................................
1848.................................
Coastwise and
Ireland.
Qrs.
Foreign.
Qrs.
15,627
8,567
33,115
50,046
4,901
/----------Ending September 3 0 -
1845..
1846..
1847..
18481..
Foreign.
Bbls.
45,636
11,671
47,611
2,163
30,510
159,712
541,278
221,144
__ > ,------BEANS.------- ,
,------ BARLEY.
Qrs.
Foreign.
Qrs.
Coastwise. Foreign. Coastwise.
Qrs.
Qrs.
Qrs.
1,984
2,620
9,105
3,806
12,409
2,386
8,900
438
1,199
1,966
19,800
3,253
Coastwise.
.
.
—
OATS.
Coastwise and Ireland.
Sacks.
Bbls.
17,508
16,603
43,887
20,979
r—--------- -PEAS.------------- *
Ending September 30—
1845 ..........................................
1846 ...........................................
1847..............................................
18 48.............................................
108
22
609
2
3,043
4,994
2,943
6,219
INDIAN CORN.
I. C. MEAL.
Ireland and
Coastwise.
Bbls.
Coastwise.
Qrs.
Foreign.
Qrs.
Ireland and
Coastwise.
Qrs.
1,297
3,420
18,192
1,648
2,986
102
120
28
16,101
144,106
639,667
491,907
............
.........
161,999
189,567
W ith respect to the immense importation o f American flour and Indian com for the
year ending 30th September, 1847, it may be necessary only to refer to the circumstances
which called it forth; since that period the supplies thence o f the former article have little,
if at all, exceeded the average o f the previous years. Of home produce we have this
year had a large increase as compared with the previous year: from Ireland the excess
amounts to 33,000 quarters o f wheat, 77,000 sacks o f flour, 90,000 quarters o f oats, and
110.000 loads o f oatmeal; whilst we have had a liberal supply o f flour by railway and
canal, from some distance in the interior. As naturally follows, the exports to Ireland
and coastwise show a considerable falling off, particularly as respects American flour, o f
which the exports coastwise and to Ireland during the last twelve months were 320,000
barrels, and o f Indian corn 150,000 quarters, less than the year 1846 to 1847.
At this period last year the stocks held here were estimated at 120,000 quarters wheat,
400.000 barrels flour, 300,000 quarters Indian corn, and 200,000 barrels Indian meal.
The following statement may be considered as a close approximation to the quantities o f
each article o f the trade held here at the present time, free and in bond ; those in bond
being virtually free— the duties on all grain having reached the minimum point under the
present la w :—
Qrs.
Wheat.
Bbls.
60,000 | Flour..
Qrs.
Beans........
Qrs.
30,000 | O ats....
25,000 | Peas...........
Sacks.
3,000 | Oatmeal. 4,000 | Barley.
Qrs.
Qrs.
2,000 | Indian corn.
20,000 | Indian meal.
Bbls.
5,000
Bbls.
3,000
Little fluctuation has occurred in the value o f the leading articles o f the trade until the
middle o f July, when unpropitious weather set in, and continued with scarce an interrup
tion for six or seven weeks, greatly to the injury o f the growing crops. Potatoes also be
gan to show extensive disease, being in some districts as much affected as in the calami
tous season o f 1846. These circumstances caused a good deal o f activity on our grain
market, and prices were put up Is. to Is. 3d. per bushel for wheat, 6d. per bushel for oats,
6d. per barrel for flour, and other articles in proportion. Our present rates are, best
American white wheat, 8s. 6d» to 8s. 9 d .; mixed, 7s. lOd. to 8s. 2d .; Danzig, 8s. 6J. to
V O L . X I X .-----N O . V I .
41
642
Commercial Statistics.
9 s.; Baltic red, 8s. 6d. to 8s. 8 d .; Polish, 8s. to 8s. 2d., all per 70 lbs. Choice western
canal and Canadian flour brings 33s. to 34s., and secondary quality 31s. to 32s. per bar
rel. English flour is selling at 42s. to 44s. per 280 lbs. Indian corn and corn meal have
become favorite articles, and are extensively used in this country as well as in Ireland;
both articles have found a ready sale, and we have no accumulation of stock ; the present
rates are 37s. per 480 lbs. for the best American white and yellow, and 35s. to 36s. for
mixed. Indian meal is selling at 18s. per barrel. Egyptian beans command 28s. 6d. to
29s. per 480 lbs., and peas 40s. to 44s. per imperial quarter.
The weather during the month just closed has been highly favorable for the in-gathering
o f the crops o f Scotland, Ireland, and our northern counties, but in the south the harvest
was mostly got in in a damp condition, and the millers will require a large admixture o f old
wheat for some months to come. The interior markets are being abundantly supplied
with old and new wheat from their own districts, at much under our prices, and the farm
ers are understood to hold a pretty large surplus o f the crop o f 1847. There is reason to
apprehend that the yield o f this year’s crop o f wheat will be below an average of years,
and considerably under that o f last year. A few new oats have reached us from Ireland
and Scotland o f superior quality, and they appear to be an abundant crop ; they have sold
at 3s. 6d. to 3s. 9d. per 45 lbs. W e have had no fair specimens yet of the Irish wheat
crop, but it is spoken o f as being a bad yield, and middling quality, and certainly the few
lots which have arrived here confirm this opinion. Barley is a good crop.
A fair portion o f the potato crop may probably prove fit for human food, but the waste
from disease is very great, and the apprehension that what now appears sound will not
keep, is forcing them fast into early consumption. Under all circumstances, we must con
sider that a large importation o f breadstuff's will be required from abroad ; and as the
law admitting foreign grain at the nominal duty o f Is. per quarter takes place on the 1st
February next, this country will be looked to as the market for a large portion of the sur
plus crops both o f America and the continent o f Europe. With the exception of Belgium,
and probably Holland, where the potato disease has again appeared, all the countries o f
Europe are reported to have superabundant crops o f food. The crops of the United States
are stated as being unusually great.
S H IP -B U IL D IN G IN N E W Y O R K .
W e give below a full report o f Messrs. B r o w n & B e l l ’s ship-yard, foot o f Stantonstreet, East River, from 1819 down to the present time, containing the name, class, and
tonnage o f each vessel, and the time in which she was built.
Messrs. Brown & Bell were both originally from Darien, Connecticut; a circumstance
almost sufficient in itself to insure them their well earned and richly merited success.
What State in the Union has given wings to commerce, genius to the mechanic arts, en
terprise to every pursuit, and intelligence to the world in a greater degree than Connecti
cut? Every intelligent son o f this world-known State feels an almost intuitive inspira
tion stimulating his energy, and inviting him to enterprise and triumph. They came to
New York and served a regular apprenticeship at ship-building in the same yard which
they now occupy. In 1817, after having learned their trade, they went io St. Stephens and
there built the first steamboat (the first vessel o f any kind) ever built in Alabama. They
remained in this place about a year, and removed to Blakeley where they stayed about a
year and a half, and returned to New York in 1819.
They took the yard o f their former employers in 1819, and commenced business. They
had no capital, but their credit being good they were able to go on with a steady success
until 1823, when they were burned out, with a loss o f $20,000 less than nothing. By
their own exertions and the assistance o f their friends they again started business.
In 1827, they had a severe embarrassment by too freely endorsing and aiding others ;
but they succeeded in accomplishing a settlement without making an assignment, and
since have been going on prosperously. In 1832, their business became established be
yond a question.
In all their business relations they have been remarkable for their energy, promptness,
and fortitude, whether in prosperity or adversity. One remarkable evidence of prompt
ness, which few business men can claim, is the fact that they have never failed paying off
all their hands every Saturday.
Mr. Brown retired from business in January, 1848, with an ample fortune, the establish
ment being now in the hands o f Mr. Bell, who is now building a steamer for the United
States mail line to Liverpool.
They are part owners o f nine ships in the Liverpool, China, and N ew Orleans trade,
without reference to real estate, which is worth over $300,000.
Commercial Statistics,
643
S H IP S B U I L T B Y B R O W N A N D B E L L .
1R21
ft
1822
((
«
ft
William T ell..............
Baltic Say....................
John W ells.................
Heniy..........................
New Y o rk ..................
1823
««
1822
1824
1825
tt
"
1826
t«
1827
it
ft
1828
1830
1831
<«
ft
1832
1833
t<
•(
Savannah.....................
Pacific..........................
Washington................
R om an.........................
United States..............
Britannia.....................
John Jay......................
H elen...........................
George Canning.........
Caledonia.....................
Hibernia.......................
William Dravton........
Congress......................
North America...........
South America............
Victoria........................
Mississippi...................
465
414
4110
442
306
615
615
295
267
657
979
601
829
893
741
593
548
637
741
665
390
472
699
720
719
743
708
1833
1834
•I
((
1835
it
Patrick Henry..............
Cornelia........................
Liverpool ......................
Queen o f the W est....
Houqua..........................
Sultana..........................
Henry Clay...................
G alena..........................
Constitution..................
Samuel Russell.............
Maid o f Orleans.........
696
666
738
554
827
471
596
638
927
927
927
708
1,009
779
968
1,184
1,074
1,169
706
692
1,228
851
1,334
940
1,050
Total, 52 ships.........
37,813
V ixen.............................
241
656
Total, 7 steamers.....
2,852
T roy...............................
Silvie De Grasse.........
Vicksburgh....................
Shakespeare..................
M ontezuma..................
it
1836
it
M
1837
1838
ft
1839
((
1841
1843
(t
1844
t<
1845
1846
1847
“
((
Garrick..........................
Sheridan.......................
Siddons...........................
Eutaw ............................
Roscius..........................
STEAMERS.
1830
Eagle............................
it
1846
J o v e .............................
D a n .............................
Spitfire.........................
1827
1828
1830
1831
1833
Brig Havana Packet.. ..tons
Bark Cyrus Butler......
Brig Seraphina............
“ Monte Video......
“ Una.............. ..
1824
1825
Hudson.........................
Constitution.................
Constellation................
1841
it
668 1846
668 1847
189
189
241
BARKS AND BRIGS.
160 1841 Brig Florida Bianco,... tons
472 1842
“ Liberty..................
196 1848 Bark R over...................
260
312
Total, 8 vessels.........
184
239
380
___
2,203
STEAM BO ATS.
“
((
1826
it
ft
1827
1828
1829
«»
1831
it
1832
if
McDonough................
Marco BozzaTis..........
Barnet..........................
Independence .............
Ohio..............................
President.....................
Water W itch..'...........
B oston .........................
E r ie ..............................
Champlain...................
it
it
1833
«
Providence...................
David Brown...............
John Mason.................
177
280
280
330
265
125
37
345
421
371
528
187
380
490
490
191
344
192
189
1833
ft
1834
William Gibbons.......... tons
Tam pico.......................
Bangor..........................
((
1835
ft
ft
ti
41 7
Frank............................
James Boatwright.......
Massachusetts...............
Rhode Islan d ...............
1836
ft
1837
it
1838
it
1832
299
144
353
Saint Matthew.............
N ew Y o rk ....................
Savannah......................
Kosciusko......................
Colonel Jewett..............
Jacob Bell......................
Total, 34 Steamboats__
Steamboats at the South, say five
others......................................
115
175
660
587
550
185
375
349
253
132
239
10,455
1,000
I
Commercial Statistics.
644
FERRY AND TOW BOATS.
1825
it
((
1834
T ow boat O h io......
T o w boat..............
Ferry boat W m , Cutting....
“
P luto....
85
85
150
100
1837
“
Ferry boat Fulton......
“
R elief........
Total, 6 vessels.......
180
100
—
670
SLOOPS, SCHOONERS, AND GUN BOATS.
1823 'Schooner Maria....
1825
1829 Schooner N e d ......
it
“
A lbert..
“
Amelia..
1837
“
Anglona.
1840
1841 Gun boat Eagle....
(t
“
Liberty...
1842 Schooner Mazeppa.
1844 Gun boat Matilda..
it
“
Emily......
*
48
70
96
64
171
85
184
181
184
69
69
1845
Gun boat Isabella......
“
1844
1846
“
“
1848
Clara...........
“
Lizzv...........
“
Reefer.........
“
Bonite........
“
Petrel..........
Schooner J. W . Bell..
ts
Total, 17 vessels...
77
77
77
77
77
77
77
100
—
1,860
PILOT BOATS.
1824
1828
1835
1837
1838
Gratitude................
Thomas H. Sm ith.
Washington............
James Avery..........
Joseph Leggett.......
1832
1844
W a v e .....................
A ddy.......................
Spray.......................
57 1838
80 1839
91
John E. Davidson......
Jacob Bell...................
81
61
96
86
—
Total, 7 vessels......
552
YACHTS.
30
1844
Ianthe...........................
59
Total, 4 vessels......
—
148
18
41
RECAPITULATION.
52 Ships..............................
7 Steamers.......................
8 Barks and brigs............
6 Ferry and tow boats....
37,813
2,851
2,203
11,455
670
19 Sch’s, sl’ps, and gun boats.tons
7 Pilot boats......................
4 Yachts...............................
1,860
552
148
142 vessels.........................total tons 57,553
IM P O R T A N D E X P O R T T R A D E OF J A V A IN 1847.
By official statements respecting the commerce o f Java in 1847, it appears that the im
port trade o f the island for the year, including specie and merchandise, was valued at
29,435,402 florins, against 36,120,685 florins in 1846, showing a decrease o f 6,685,283
florins. Compared with 1845, the decrease is still larger, the import trade in that year
being valued at 37,221,956 florins.
The principal articles, o f merchandise constituting this branch o f trade have been re
ceived from Europe, America, and the»Cape o f Good Hope, the returns from these places
giving an aggregate o f 17,501,768 florins. T he Eastern Archipelago figures for the next
important sum, the produce received thence being estimated at 8,167,540 florins. Eng
land has, it is stated, supplied merchandise valued at 3,917,200 florins, against 5,440,800
in 1846; Holland 12,588,200 florins, against 11,073,100 in 1846; and France 538,100
florins, against 444,093 in 1846.
T he exportations for 1847 are estimated at 60,216,700 florins, being a little in excess
o f 1846, when they amounted to 60,157,300 florins, but considerably below 1845, for
which year they were valued at 68,083,000 florins. The chief products o f the year 1847,
contrasted with the returns for 1846, show the annexed results:—
1847.
R ice.......... florins
C offee.................
Sugar..................
3,243,000
17,642,000
18,444,000
1846.
3,002,000 Indigo.......... florins
15,586,000 T in ..........................
18,123,000 Tobacco..................
1847.
1846.
4,444,000 4,379,000
3,072,000 3,531,000
1,980,000 2,140,000
Commercial Statistics.
645
N E W O R L E A N S E X P O R T S OF C O T T O N A N D TO BACCO.
The editors o f the
chants'
Transcript,
N e w
Orleans Price Current,
Commercial
Intelligencer,
a n d
M e r
have compiled from their records the following table, by which the
comparative receipts and exports o f cotton and tobacco at the port o f N ew Orleans for
a period o f twenty-five years may be seen at a glance:—
STATEMENT OF THE RECEIPTS AND EXPORTS OF COTTON AND TOBACCO AT THE PORT OF NEW OR
LEANS IN EACH YEAR, FROM
1822-23
Years.
TO
1847-48— A
Receipts.
1822-23.....................
1823-24.....................
1824-25.....................
1825-26.....................
1826-27.....................
1827-28..................... ..........
1828-29..................... ..........
1829-30.....................
1830-31.....................
1831-32.....................
1832-33.....................
1833-34.....................
1834-35.....................
1835-36.....................
1836-37.....................
1837-38..................... ...........
1838-39.....................
1839-40.....................
1840-41.....................
1841-42.....................
1842-43.....................
1843-44.....................
1844-45.....................
1845-46.....................
1846-47.....................
1847-48.....................
Total.....................
Bales.
295,853
268,639
742,720
PERIOD OF TW ENTY-FIVE YEARS.
Exports.
/------ TOl 3A.CCO. ------ \
Receipts.
Exports.
Bales.
Hhds.
171,872
143,843
203,914
250,681
326,516
304,073
267,736
351,237
423,942
358,104
410,524
461,026
536,991
490,495
588,969
738,313
579,179
949,320
821,288
749,267
1,088,870
895,375
984,616
1.054,857
724,508
1,201,897
16,292
25,262
17,759
18,242
20,681
29,443
24,637
32,438
32,098
34,174
20,627
25,871
35,059
50,555
28,501
31,588
28,153
43,827
53,170
67,555
92,509
82,435
71,493
72,896
55,588
55,882
28,624
25,910
16,849
18,231
26,540
35,098
25,288
28,028
33,872
35,056
23,637
25,210
33,831
41,604
35,821
35,555
30,852
40,436
54,667
68,058
89.891
81,249
68,679
62,045
50,376
60,364'
Hhds.
14,877,413
1,078,735
1,085,771
It will be seen that the total receipts o f cotton at this port for the last twenty-five years
have been 15,134,590 bales, and o f tobacco 1,078,735 hhds. W e have not time to go
into an investigation o f the average value o f the receipts o f each year, based upon the
average o f prices, but it may be safe to assume for cotton an average o f $ 4 0 per bale,
and for tobacco $ 7 0 per hhd. Upon these bases, then, the total value of cotton received
at this port since 1822 would be $605,383,600, and o f tobacco for the same period
$75,511,450— making a grand total for these two leading articles o f export o f $680,895,050.
E X T E N T O F T H E N O R T H -W E S T C O A S T F IS H E R Y .
The N ew Bedford Whalemen’s Gazette gives the following as the average quantity o f
oil taken from 1843 to 1847, inclusive :—
In 1843, 108 ships averaged 1,340 barrels. Equal to. 145,692 barrels.
1844, 170 “
«
1,528
“
“
249,760
“
1845,263 “
«
954
“
“
250,639
“
1846,292 “
“
869
“
“
253,748 “
1847, 70 “
•“
959
“
“
67,130
“
T he number o f ships composing the north-west fleet o f 1847 is estimated at 19 0; about
100 less than the fleet o f the previous year.
SH IP P IN G T O U C H IN G A T S T . H E L E N A .
The St. Helena Shipping List gives a tabular statement o f the ships which have anchored
or communicated with that island during the past year, from which it appears that the
646
Commercial Statistics.
number o f British merchant vessels which have touched at or passed the island was 652,
against 589 in 1846. The number of vessels o f war had been 25, and whalers 3, making
a total o f 680. French vessels 92, American 73, Dutch 110, Swedish 9, other foreign
flags 35, and o f captured slavers 24, making a total o f 1,023 vessels against 993 in the
year 1846. In 1833 the number o f ships which had called at the island was 475, and in
the following year 575. From another table it appears that the average time o f passage
from Calcutta to St. Helena last year was 79 days, the minimum being 68 days in April,
and the maximum 92 days in July. T he annual average in 1846, as also in 1843, was
83 days, and in 1834 80 days.
E A R L Y C O M M E R C E OF SA LE M .
A correspondent o f the S a l e m G a z e t t e furnishes some interesting statistics, &c., o f the
commerce o f Salem and Beverly near the close o f the last and at the commencement o f
the present century. A s matter o f history, we transfer these statements to the pages of
the Merchants’ Magazine:—
In the year 1807, the commerce o f Salem was at its height, having upwards o f 43,000
tons o f vessels. In the last quarter o f that year, the duties on the vessels that arrived wa»
much greater than in any other quarter. T w o hundred and thirty-six vessels entered in
that year from foreign countries, the duties on their cargoes being $1,152,000. Year
1805, duties $1,000,000. N o year since 1807 have the duties amounted to $700,000.
Vessels
entered.
1790 to 1799..............
1800 to 1807..............
1808 to 1817..............
1818 to 1827..............
1828 to 1834..............
1839, Aug. to D ec....
1,466
1,542
936
1,139
704
55
Duties
secured.
$2,490,412
6,041,263
3,785,799
4,639,782
2,925,615
13,200
55
24— 8 years, average per year, $155,157 4080
92
50
45
5,842 $20,217,374 46
5,842 vessels, average duties, $4,462 25— 1807,236 vessels entered, average duties, $ 4 ,887v e ssels
Ships....................
Barks...................
Brigs....................
Schooners............
Sloops..................
Brigs....................
Schooners............
Sloops..................
ACTUALLY BELONGING TO SALEM AND BEVERLY JANUARY
61
12
53
40
1
— 167
1
101
32
----- 134
16,509
2,182
7,950
3,729
58
---------
=
301 vessels.
1, 1809.
30,624 tons registered.
16,179 tons enrolled for coasting and the fisheries.
40,803 tons.
Tea entered in the United States from China in the year 1790.................... lbs.
Salem, ship Astrea................................................................................ 320,502 )
“
“ Light Horse...................................................................... 263,701 >
“
Brig William & H enry............................................................ 144,668 )
All others......................................................................................................................
2,601,852
728,871
1,872,981
Salem, 28 per cent o f the whole import.
In addition to the above, entered from Europe, 440,000 pounds.
T H E M E R C A N T IL E M A R IN E O F P R U S S IA .
It may not be uninteresting to give the following extract o f the statistics o f the Prus
sian mercantile marine, recently published by government, up to the 1st o f January, 1848.
It embraces the ports o f Dantzic, Stettin, Stralsund, and Codin, including Swinemunnde.
According to this report, these ports owned 952 sea-going vessels, including 20 steamers,
having a total tonnage o f about 25,000 tons, and employing 7,800 hands. T he number
o f small craft, o f five tons and less, amounted to 520, including five steamers, and em
ploying 1,000 hands. The greater part o f these vessels are now lying idle, or are detained,
by lear o f capture, in foreign ports.
647
Commercial Regulations.
COMMERCIAL
REGULATIONS.
T A R IF F OF A N T IG U A OF 1848.
S t . J o h n s, A n t ig u a ,
September
13 th, 1848.
I n t e l l ig e n c e that Her Majesty had sanctioned the undermentioned acts has been r e
ceived at St. Johns:—
An act to repeal the imperial duties collected by the customs establishment.
A n act to alter and amend the tariff act.
An act to repeal the tonnage duty act.
SCHEDULE OF DUTIES LEVIED UNDER THE NEW TARIFF.
A le, beer, cider, perry, and porter, in bulk........................................................ t o n £ l 10
44
41
44
44
44
44 ............................. dozen quart bottles 0 0
B eef and pork, salted and cured....................................... per bbl. of 200 lbs. nett 0 16
Bread and biscuit.................................................................................................... cwt. 0 2
Butter....................................................................................
Candles, other than tallow........................................................................................lb. 0
0
“
tallow................................................................................................................ 0 0
Cheese.......................................................................................................................cwt. 0 8
Cigars..........................................................................................................................M. 0 10
Flour, wheat................................................................................. per bbl. o f 196 lbs. 0 5
Fruits, dried and preserved..................................................................................... lb. 0
0
Hams, bacon, dried beef, and tongues, pickledordried..................................... cwt. 0
8
Horses, mares, and geldings............................................................................... head. 1 1 0
cwt. 0
5
L a r d ......................................
Leather, sole................................................................................................................lb. 0
0
44
upper o f all sorts..............................................................................................
0 0
Oil, namely, sperm, cocoa-nut, olive, rape,andneats foot.................................gall. 0
0
Peas, beans, barley, calavances, oats, corn,and allother grains..................... bush. 0
0
Rice...................................
cwt. 0
1
Soap..................................
lb. 0
0
Spirits, brandy, and all other cordials....................................................... imp. gall. 0 4
Sugar, refined, in bond in the United Kingdom, not being o f the growth of any
o f the British Possessions in America, or o f the Mauritius, or any of the
British Possessions within the limits o f theEast India Company’s charter.lb.
0
0
'Staves........................................................................................................................ M. 0
7
T ea, souchong, and all other black teas..................................................................lb. 0
0
: 44 gunpowder, hyson, and all other greenteas........................................................ 0 0
Tobacco, leaf, unmanufactured..................................................................................... 0 0
44
manufactured............................................................................................... 0 0
W ines, whether bottled or not, onevery£ 1 0 0 value................................................ 15 0
W ood— pitch pine, for every 1,000 feet,superficial measure o f an inch thick... 0 10
W hite pine......................................................................................................................
0 6
Spruce................................................................... .......................................................... 0 4
Shingles, cypress................................................. ......................................................... 0 4
44
cedar, pine, and spruce................................................................................ 0 1
W ood hoops.............................................................................................................. .-M. 0
2
0
9
0
6
0
3
1
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
1
2
6
3
0
i
u
6
0
3
C
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
6
6
And after these rates for any greater or less quantity, on such goods respectively.
Carriages, furniture, jewelry, perfumery, artificial flowers, musical instruments, porce
lain and China ware, gilt mouldings, paper hangings, clocks and watches, silver and plated
ware, pyrotechnics, carpets, 10 per cent.
Articles composed o f linen, cotton, and other materials, o f which the invoice cost is
less than 4Jd. per yard, 2J per cent
On all goods, wares, and merchandise not hereinbefore enumerated, except such as are
comprised or referred to in the subjoined table o f exemptions, an ad valorem duty o f 5
per cent.
TABLE OF EXEMPTIONS.
Except the following which shall not be liable to any duty under this act— asses, personal
baggage, printed books, bullion, coals, coin, gold, silver, and copper, cattle, and all other
010
648
Commercial Regulations.
live stock not hereinbefore enumerated, drugs and medicines, fish, namely, fresh, salted,
dried, or pickled, fresh meat, fruit, not Being dried or preserved, hay, implements o f hus
bandry, ice, iron hoops, linseed meal or cake, meal, namely, barley, rye, oat, Indian, and
buckwheat meal, mules, manures o f all kinds, maps and charts, machinery and apparatus
for mills, steam engines for manufacture o f sugar, rum, or other produce, poultry, plants
and shrubs, salt, seeds o f all kinds, straw, turtles, temper lime, tiles, namely, roofing,
draining, and paving, provisions and stores o f every description imported or supplied for
the use o f Her Majesty’s land and sea forces.
T A R IF F A N D T R A D E OF M OROCCO.
The following is an extract from a private letter, addressed to the editor o f the
M e r
by T h o m a s H a r t H y a t t , Esq., the United States Consul at Tangier,
the Empire o f M orocco. It embraces a piece o f commercial intelligence that may be o f
chant^ .Magazine
interest to our merchants generally.
T he letter o f Mr. Hyatt is dated “ Consulate Gen
eral o f the United States, Tangier, Sept. 27, 1848.”
“ A Royal Order has been received at this place from the Government o f Morocco, r e
t h e d u t i e s o n a l l g o o d s i m p o r t e d i n t o t h i s E m p i r e , f r o m 20 d o w n to 10 p e r c e n t
a d v a l o r e m ; excepting upon the articles mentioned below, which are reduced as follows:—
On Iron, from $ 5 to $ 4 per cwt.
On Raw Cotton, to $ 3 .
On Raw Silk, from $ 1 to 50 cents per lb.
“ This radical reduction in the duties upon foreign goods coming into this oountry will,.
I hope, have the effect to cause enterprising commercial men of the United States to turn
their attention hitherward, where a lucrative trade might be established up\>n a field now
almost entirely unoccupied by American enterprise, while several other nations are reap
ing a rich harvest from their trade with this Empire.”
ducing
IN C R E A S E OF T H E G E R M A N Z O L L V E R E IN D U T IE S .
The Prussian government has, in the name o f the Zollverein, published a decree im
posing additional duties on foreign fabrics, which, although only provisional, and subjecS
to the sanction o f the other states, was enforced on ten days’ notice, just on the eve o f
the great Leipsic fair, and is to continue in operation until the end ooff the yiear.
year, W e
subjoin the principal features o f the new measure:—
IncreaseOld duty.
30 lbs.— Goods all silk...........................................................per cwt.
$110 00
$•110 00
30 c.— Goods composed partly o f silk in connection with either
woollen, cotton, or linen yarn..........................................................
55 00
10 o o
41 \f.— W hite, three and more fold, woollen or mohair yarns, also
dyed yarns..........................................................................................
2 00
8 00
41 c 1.— W oollen or worsted goods, without silk, either all wool,
or in combination with any other material, either fancy or
printed.................................................................................................
50 00
10 o o
41 c 2.— Unfinished or plain-..............................................................
30 00
10 o o
Single and doubled undyed yarn, with the exception o f hard (Eng
lish) combed yam s............................................................................
00 50
9 50
R E G U L A T IO N S F O R T H E C A L IF O R N IA A N D O R E G O N M A IL S .
T he following extract from an official circular o f the Postmaster General o f the Uni
ted States, dated Post-Office Department, Washington, September 16th, 1848, embraces
all that is material to the public:—
“ Mail bags will be made up at N ew York to be forwarded by said steamer for R io Ja
neiro, Valparaiso, and Callao; also, for San Diego, Santa Barbara, Monterey, and San
Francisco, in California, and Astoria, in Oregon. The inland and sea postage on all let
ters and newspapers, to be forwarded by said packet, for places not within the territory
o f the United States is to b e p r e ~ p a i d at the offices where mailed, and the postmasters
concerned will see that this requisition is complied with, and will stamp the letter and pa
pers accordingly. T he mails to said foreign ports will be sent to the care o f the United
States consuls, at the respective places, under the seal o f the New Y ork post-office. ’ T he
Commercial Regulations.
649
ship postage for single letters, not exceeding half an ounce, will be 24 cents to Rio Ja
neiro, Valparaiso, or Callao; and for each newspaper, pamphlet, or price current, 3 cents.
In each case the regular inland postage to N ew York is to be added. T o Panama, each
letter, as aforesaid, will be rated at 30 cents, and to San Diego, Santa Barbara, Monterey,
San Francisco, or Astoria, 40 cents, without any addition for inland postage.”
T H E B R IT IS H D U T Y ON M A G N E S IA .
A n inquiry having recently been instituted as to the liability to duty o f magnesia im
ported from abroad, it having been customary, at one o f the principal outports, to levy the
a d v a l o r e m duty o f 10 per cent thereon, in consequence o f its having undergone various
processes o f calcining and mixing with other ingredients; and, therefore, no longer re
taining the character o f a simple drug. But as the article termed calcined magnesia is in
public and general estimation considered to be a drug, and in fact largely dealt in by all
druggists, it has become matter for consideration whether it should not be admissible free,
under that general head in the tariff’, as the table o f duties does not define the description
o f drugs which shall be free from liability to duty or otherwise, neither that they shall be
merely essences, or not a combination o f different materials, or shall not be in a prepared
state, but simply enumerated drugs, without reference to their actual character or qualities.
For these reasons, and on the principle that all articles which are applicable to and in
tended for medicinal purposes, whether in their primitive state or having undergone a de
gree o f manufacture, should be considered drugs, provided they are not actually mention
ed in the tariff as being liable to duty under any particular rate, it has been considered
that such was the intention o f the legislature in repealing the duty on drugs, and that
magnesia is such, an artiple, and therefore admissible duty free. The question as to what
constitutes a drug has frequently engaged the attention o f the revenue authorities, when
there was some doubt entertained whether articles which were not entirely and only ap
plicable to medicinal purposes should be considered drugs; but no doubt existed as to
those which were applicable to medicinal purposes being so classified. This decision, as
it will govern future imputations o f this article, is o f much interest and importance.
L A N D IN G OF FO R E IG N GOODS IN E N G L A N D :
A REGULATION OF THE BRITISH BOARD OF CUSTOMS.
V
The revenue authorities have received a communication from Sir C. Trevelyan, one o f
the Secretaries o f the Treasury, signifying that their lordships having had before them the
report o f the Board o f Customs, representing that they are o f opinion that it is expedient
to adopt the following regulations for the better promotion o f the revenue with regard to
the landing o f foreign goods in this country, viz:— “ That when any goods shall be un
shipped or removed from any importing vessel for the purpose of being landed after due
entry thereof, such goods shall thereupon be immediately removed to, and discharged at
the wharf, quay, or other place at which the same are intended to be landed ; and if such
goods are not so removed, and on a requisition from the proper officers forthwith landed,
the forfeiture and penalties imposed by the 13th sec. o f the 8th and 9th Vic., cap. 86, will
be incurred ” — he, Sir Charles Trevelyan, was to acquaint the board that their lordships
are pleased to approve o f the adoption o f this regulation, and to authorize the board to is
sue a notice o f their intention to carry the same into effect.
B R IT IS H R E G U L A T IO N S OF SHIPS’ ST O R ES.
A matter o f interest and importance has recently been under the consideration o f the
revenue authorities, with reference to the shipment o f foreign flour from the bonded ware
house, duty free, as ships’ stores. It arose on an application from a firm at one o f the
Scotch ports, to be permitted to ship as stores, duty free, some barrels of ffour imported
from Hamburgh, and deposited in the bonded warehouse, which was objected to by the
local authorities o f the department. 1'he parties referred to an order issued by the com
missioners in March, 1844, permitting biscuits and flour in bond to be repacked for stores,
but subject to certain restrictions. The question for consideration was, whether the board
was empowered to permit the shipment o f flour imported from foreign parts for ships’
stores, duty free, or simply flour deposited in the warehouse under the Grinding Act, being
either flour manufactured from foreign wheat in the United Kingdom, or foreign flour
which had paid the duty, and been cleared for home use. The 19th section o f the G en
eral Warehousing A ct permits the shipment as stores o f all warehoused goods under such
650
Commercial Regulations.
regulations as the board may direct and appoint, in consequence o f which there is not any
legal objection to the shipment o f any foreign flour or biscuit as stores from the bonding
warehouse, under the usual regulations, free o f duty, although it has not been usual to
grant the privilege o f the free shipment o f foreign manufactured flour for the purpose ; but,
under the circumstances detailed, permission was given by the revenue authorities for a
cympliance with the request.
D R A W B A C K ON F O R E IG N SU GAR.
T r e a s u r y D e p a r t m e n t , S e p t e m b e r 29 tk, 1848.
A s the 14th section o f the T ariff Act o f 30th August, 1842, enacts that the drawback
to be allowed upon the exportation o f foreign sugar refined in the United States, shall be
e q u a l i n a m o u n t to the duty that was paid on the foreign sugar from which the refined
was manufactured, and no more, to be ascertained under such regulations as shall be pre
scribed by the Secretary o f the Treasury ; and it being found upon due investigation o f the
subject, that the drawback o f “ two cents and one-sixth o f a cent,” authorized by the cir
cular instructions o f the 17th o f February, 1847, is greater in amount than the duty paid
on foreign sugar from which the refined is now being and hereafter may be manufactured,
owing to a reduction in the foreign market value, on which the import duty o f 30 per
cent is assessed under the Tariff Act o f 30th July, 1846, it becomes proper further to regu
late the matter in conformity with the law.
The drawback hereafter to be allowed on due exportation o f foreign sugar refined in the
United States, imported since the first day o f January, 1848, under the present tariff, if
exported within three years next preceding the day o f importation, is fixed at one cent and
one-half cent (1J) per pound, subject to the deduction from said drawback o f two and onehalf per cent, prescribed by the 15th section o f the Tariff A ct o f August 30th, 1841; p r o t A d e d a l w a y s , that the exporter o f such refined sugar, shall by his own affidavit and other
evidence, prove to the satisfaction o f the collector receiving the export entry of said refined
sugar for the benefit o f drawback, that the foreign sugar from which the same shall have
been manufactured, was imported since the first day o f January, 1848.
M ’C l in t o c k Y o u n g ,
A c t i n g Secr e t a r y o f the
Treasury
.
IM P O R T A T IO N OF C A T T L E IN E N G L A N D .
T he L o n d o n G a z e t t e contains an order in council, giving directions for bringing into
operation the act o f the last session to prohibit the importation o f sheep, cattle, or other
animals, for the purpose o f preventing the introduction o f contagious or infectious dis
orders ; and it further enacts, that if any sheep or lambs imported or brought into this
country appear at the time o f their importation to be infected with or laboring under the
variola ovina, or sheep pox, such sheep and lambs, and all other sheep and lambs imported
and brought into this country in the same ship or vessel with any sheep or Iambs which
appear to be diseased, shall be seized and detained by the officers o f customs at the port o f
import; it enacts also that the circumstances o f such seizure shall be forthwith reported by
such officers to the British Commissioners o f Customs and the Board o f Trade ; and if it
be certified to the former board by any veterinary surgeon appointed by them to inspect
such sheep, that they are infected with such disease, that they may, if they think proper,
cause such sheep or lambs to be forthwith destroyed. Directions also may be given for
further detaining or destroying all or any other o f the sheep or lambs which may have been
imported into this country w’ith the diseased animals, or for returning them to their ow n
ers, subject to any conditions which may be prescribed, and on the payment o f any ex
penses incurred by the Commissioners o f Customs in respect o f their detention.
R E M O V A L OF GOODS U N D E R BON D IN E N G L A N D .
The revenue authorities having received application from certain merchants in Dublin,
requesting that the privileges now allowed with respect to the removal of tobacco and
other goods under bond, from one port to another, without the same being re-weighed on
arrival, may be extended to coffee and cocoa shell, they have, on consideration of the mat
ter, directed that coffee and cocoa shell may be allowed to be removed without being re
weighed, subject to the regulations in force on the removal o f other articles in the same
maimer, and an intimation to that effect has been given to the principal officers of the
customs department in London, and the collectors and comptrollers o f the several outports
throughout the United Kingdom for their information and future government in the matter.
651
Nautical Intelligence.
NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
T H E B U T T E R M IL K C H A N N E L ,
etc.
T o F r e e m a n H u n t , E s q ., E d i t o r o f t h e M e r c h a n t s ’ M a g a z i n e .
D e a r S i r :— I hand you herewith the copy o f a report made by Lieut. Com. David D.
Porter to Hon. R. J. Walker, Secretary o f the Treasury, in relation to Buttermilk Chan
nel, which I received on the 7th instant from Professor A . D. Bache, Superintendent of
the Coast Survey. I have been informed by Jonathan Goodhue, Esq., o f the commercial
house o f Messrs. Goodhue & Co., o f N ew Y ork, that in June, 1776, General Washington
in one o f his letters to Congress stated that a British ship o f war, o f large class, had passed
through Buttermilk Channel that month. The harbor o f N ew Y ork is approached from
the ocean through three channels, v iz: between the Battery and Governor’s Island— in
this channel is Diamond R e e f; Buttermilk Channel, between Governor’s Island and the A t
lantic D o ck ; near this, but within the harbor o f New Y ork, is Prince’s R e e f; and Hurl
Gate channel, through Long Island Sound. This last channel is very dangerous. A n
application will be made to Congress at the session soon to commence, for an appropria
tion to remove the rocks in Hurl Gate channel, and also Diamond and Prince’s Reefs.
T he whole expense will not exceed one hundred thousand dollars, as estimated by Lieut.
Com. Porter, o f the U. S. Navy.
In relation to his survey o f Hurl Gate and its vicinity, I
have received the following letter:—
O f f ic e o f S u p t . o f C o a s t S u r v e y , N
ov.
2d , 1848.
Sir:— In compliance with your request, I herewith send a copy o f Lieut. Com. Porter’s
report on Buttermilk Channel, and have requested him to furnish you such information as
you may desire for immediate use, in anticipation o f his report not yej received, on the
soundings in Hurl Gate and its vicinity. Y our application being addressed to the Secre
tary o f the Navy, instead o f the Secretary o f the Treasury, or to the Supt. o f the Coast
Survey, has produced some delay. I hope, however, you may receive in time what you
desire for present use, and will forward to you Lieut. Com. Porter’s report when received,
and, if desired, a tracing o f his new soundings.
Yours respectfully,
A . D. B a c h e ,
Supt.
To E
ben.
M e r i a m , Esq.,
N e w
U . S. C o a s t S u r v e y .
York.
N ew Y ork, S eptem ber 5 t h , 1848.
D e a r S i r :— A s you seemed to be anxious about the result o f the examination o f Butter
milk Channel, I hasten to inform you that I have finished the survey, and that the repre
sentations which have been made to you about the difficulties o f the channel, are incorrect.
A s I expected, it has in some places deepened, and in every place there is water enough
for the largest ship in the world. There is no difficulty in entering the channel, even
without a pilot; it is perfectly straight, and a buoy on each side will be sufficient to take
any one in. I have been very much struck with the advantages o f the present location o f
the warehouses over every other, both in point o f economy to the government and to indi
viduals. A vessel can come direct from sea, discharge her cargo without an hour’s de
lay, and take in another. I f a vessel had to discharge on the New Y ork side, she would
likely be obliged to wait a week before she could get into the docks, owing to their
crowded state. Vessels loaded with grain discharge with great ease at the present loca
tion, owing to the facility with which Pafin’s elevator can be used, and can at any m o
ment be loaded again with the same ease. The saving in insurance on property stored
in the warehouses, I am told, will be one-quarter o f what it would be if stored in the city
o f New York. The water close to the docks is deep enough for any sized vessel, and the
increased velocity o f the current, owing to the channel’s being contracted by the docks,
has a tendency to make it still deeper. I shall finish the chart immediately and send it
to you through the Superintendent o f the Coast Survey. The interior of the dock is yet
Undergoing great changes, and I find it difficult to make a very minute survey o f it. Ves
sels o f the heaviest draft go inside, but it will at present contain only thirty or forty with
convenience. W hen finished, it will be one o f the most desirable harbors I know o f in
652
Nautical Intelligence.
any part o f the world. I have, while employed in this matter, taken notice o f the ferry
boat which runs from the Atlantic Dock to New York. I should say she offers every fa
cility for the transportation o f goods to the opposite side, coming and going constantly,
and never to appearance so much crowded with goods, carts, & c., that more could not be
put on board without the least inconvenience.
In conclusion, I would say that on the inside o f the docks and in Buttermilk Channel,
there is room enough for nearly all the vessels that sail out o f N ew Y ork to lie at anchor
in perfect safety.
I remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
D a v id D. P o r t e r ,
Lieut. C o m .
H o n . R . J. W a l k e r ,
S e c r e t a r y o f the
U . S. s c h o o n e r P e t r e l .
Treasury.
BUTTERMILK CHANNEL SEVENTY-TWO YEARS AGO.
“ D e a r S i r :— A t foot I hand you the extract which I mentioned to you from W a s h
in g t o n ’s correspondence, in which he speaks o f a British ship o f war passing Buttermilk
Channel.
I am, dear Sir, yours t r u l y ,
J. G o o d h u e .”
“ E x t r a c t .” — “ New Y ork, September 4, 1776. On Monday night a 40 gun ship
passed up the Sound between Governor's and Long Island. In her passage she received
a discharge o f cannon from our batteries, but without any damage, and having a favorable
wind and tide soon got out o f their reach.”
A s soon as I receive a copy o f Lieut. Com. Porter’s report o f his survey o f Hurl Gate
and its vicinity, I will send it to you for publication, together with the report made by
Lieut. Davis in 1847-8, o f the same strait.
Yours very respectfully,
November
15 t h , 1848.
E b e n . M e r ia m .
L IG H T S A N D L IG H T -H O U S E S O N T H E C O A S T O F F R A N C E .
C onsu la te-G en era l de F rance, A u x E t a l s U n i s , )
N e w Y o r k , N o v e m b e r 1, 1848.
$
To F
reem a n
H u n t , E s q .,
Editor of
the M e r c h a n t s '
Magazine.
D e a r S i r : — The Consul-General o f France has received from the Navy Department
o f France a
N o t i c e to N a v i g a t o r s
(o f which I enclose a copy) about five new Light-houses
erected on the coast o f the D e p a r t m e n t d u F i n i s t e r e , to be lighted every night from the
15th o f October, 1848. This notice being very important to ships bound from here to
France, I hope you will insert it in the next first number o f your interesting publication.
Respectfully, Sir, your obedient servant,
L. B o r g .
M i n i s t r y o f P u b l ic W o r k s , A u g u s t , 1848.
Notice is hereby given to navigators, that from and after the 15th o f October, 1848, five
new Lights were lighted on the north and north-west coast o f France,— one at Calais, and
the others on the shore o f the Department o f Finistere.
T he position and character o f these Lights, and the distance at which they are visible,
are as follow s:—
N e w L ig h t o f C a l a is .— Light changing every 4 minutes showing flashes, preceded and
followed by short eclipses. From and after the 15th October next, the old eclipse Light
o f the tower o f the city will be taken away. Instead o f it a new Light will be established,
changing every four minutes and showing a blaze, preceded and followed by short eclip
ses. The distance o f the new Light from the old one is about 1,300 feet. It will be
placed upon a tower lately built in one o f the entrenchments o f the fortification which
surrounds the city, in latitude 50° 57' 4 5 " N., longitude 0° 29' 2 ", W . from Paris.
Elevation above the groudd, 167 feet; above high water, 190 feet; visible 24 miles.
In ordinary times, the eclipses will only appear total at a distance o f twelve marine
miles and upwards.
T o provide against mistakes which may arise from the number o f Lights on this coast,
we give the characters o f those in the neighborhood o f Calais.
Ostend, a Fixed Light; Dunkirk, eclipses every minute; Gravelines, a Fixed L ight;
Calais, (new,) varied by bright light every 4 minutes ; Grinez, eclipses every half-minute ;
Cayeux, (entrance o f the Bay o f the Somme,) varied by bright light every 4 minutes.
Nautical Intelligence.
653
DEPARTMENT OF FINISTERE.
I. T w o L i g h t s
o f the Odet.
at the M o u t h
of
the
Odet.
— 1st. A Light on the
Point d u
Coq,
left bank
Fixed Red Light.
Latitude 47° 52' 2 0 " N . Longitude 6° 26' 58 " W . from Paris.
Elevation above the ground, 31 feet; above the sea, 34 fe et; visible 11 miles.
2d. Light about 870 feet to the N. 14° W .
Fixed White Light.
Elevation above the ground, 31 feet; above, the sea, 58 feet; visible 11 miles.
T he above two Lights kept in range indicate the direction o f the great channel o f the
mouth o f the Odet.
II. T w o F i x e d L i g h t s o f t h e H a r b o r o f C o n c a r n e a u . — 1st. Light in the battery o f L a
C r o i x at Concarneau.
Latitude 47 ° 52' 11" N . Longitude 6° 15' 2 1 " W . from Paris.
Elevation above the ground, 31 feet; above the sea, 46 feet; visible 11 miles.
2d. Light between Concarneau and Benzec, 6,155 feet N . 28° E. from the first.
Elevation above the ground, 31 feet; above the sea, 178 feet; visible 14 miles.
These two Lights kept in range indicate to navigators the course to take in order to
enter the little roads o f Concarneau, avoiding on the west the banks of Lue Vras and the
neighboring shoals, and on the east the banks o f Cochon, Barzic, and Men-Fall. This
course passes very near the bank o f Cochon.
F L O A T IN G L IG H T S IN T H E P R IN C E ’S C H A N N E L .
T w o Floating Light Vessels have been moored near the East Tongue and Girdler Sands
in the Prince’s Channel, in the following positions:—
The “ T ongue” Light Vessel is placed in 5J fathoms at low water spring tides, three
cables’ lengths to the eastward o f the East Tongue Buoy, and with the following compass
bearings:—
North-east Spit Buoy o f Margate Sand...................................................................... S. E. j S.
Tongue Beacon...................................................................................................... W . by N. J N.
North-east Tongue Buoy.................................................................................... W . N. W . J N .
Shingles’ Beacon.......................................................................................................... N. W . i N .
The “ Girdler” Light Vessel is moored in 3J fathoms at low water spring tides, onehalf cable’s length to the southward o f the Girdler Buoy, with the following marks and
compass bearings:—
The Eastern Preventive Station at St. Nicholas, its apparent width open to the westward
o f the west end o f Cleve W ood......................................................................... S. S. E . J E.
T he Girdler and Shingles’ Beacon in line....................................................E. S. E., Easterly.
South Girdler Buoy................................................................................................... E. by S. J S.
North Pansand Buoy................................................................................................ S. S. E. f E.
W est Pansand Buoy..................................................................................................S. by E. f E.
Shivering Sand Buoy...................................................................................................... N . N. W .
Mariners are to observe that on board these vessels Lights, as hereinafter described, will
be first exhibited on the evening o f the 1st o f October next, and thenceforth continued
every night from sunset to sunrise, v iz :—
A t the East Tongue— T w o Fixed Lights, one o f which, at the masthead, will he
W hite ; the other will be shown at a lower elevation, and colored Red.
A t the Girdler— One Bright Revolving Light will be exhibited.
N o t e . — The East Tongue and Girdler Buoys remain at their stations for the present,
but will be taken away and discontinued after a short time.
R E G U L A T IO N S F O R V E SSELS A N C H O R IN G N E A R G IB R A L T A R .
G i b r a l t a r , S e p t e m b e r 13 lh, 1848.
His Excellency, the Governor, has received the subjoined official communication from
the competent authority at Algeciras.
By the roadstead o f “ Tunara” is meant the Spanish Beach, about two miles behind
the R o c k ; where, sometimes, during a long westerly wind, from fifty to one hundred
square-rigged vessels come to anchor, being unable to pass the Straits.
That o f 11 Getares ” is commonly known by “ Sandy Bay,” between Algeciras and Point
Carnero. It is certainly a safe anchorage for vessels unable to pass the Straits, being the
654
Nautical Intelligence.
weather side o f the bay during westerly winds. Masters o f vessels in quarantine must
be very guarded, however, not to infringe the sanitary laws and regulations o f Algeciras,
or they will be subjected to very heavy fines, such as were inflicted some months ago on
the barques Hope and Amana.
“ As it is a very great abuse on the part o f all classes o f vessels, whether national or
foreign, to anchor on any part o f the coast under pretext o f contrary winds, thus infring
ing the existing laws, particularly the Sanitary, by giving rise to repeated complaints by
irregularities, and as 1 am determined not to permit that abuse in the maritime district
under my command, by which danger to the public health might accrue, and upon which
subject the Provincial Board o f Health o f this district has communicated to me the course
it considers the most advisable to be pursued. I have, therefore, instructed the command
ant o f the coast guard o f this station to warn the commanders of the vessels of the di
vision under his orders to cruize to the eastward o f Gibraltar, and not to permit, upon any
consideration, vessels to anchor in the roadsteads o f Tunara or Getares, or on any part o f
the coast.
“ Thus vessels, prevented by contrary winds from fetching this anchorage or that of
Gibraltar, may put into some authorized port to the eastward, where proper surveillance
will be exercised by the established authorities, or their assistants, whereby all danger to
the public health will be avoided.”
N E W L IF E B O A T IN V E N T E D .
The L o n d o n M o r n i n g C h r o n i c l e furnishes a description o f a valuable improvement in
the construction o f Life Boats, just perfected by Captain J. Keyse, by which the buoyancy
o f vessels o f this description has been increased to an extraordinary degree. The modelboat, built under the direction o f Captain Keyse, at Walworth, is only 26 feet in length,
but it is calculated that it will carry
tons. By means o f what is technically called a
“ watercourse,” introduced just below the watermark, it is rendered perfectly impossible to
upset the bark, upon the safety o f which so many lives frequently depend. Another inim
itable contrivance which Captain Keyse has introduced, enables the generous-hearted sail
ors who peril their lives for the salvation o f the shipwrecked, to lower the mast on near
ing a rock, for a landing bridge ; and its efficiency in this respect is increased tenfold, by
its being removable upon a swivel to either end o f the life-boat. The model-boat, which
has received the approval o f the British Admiralty, has been removed to W oolwich for
trial. Captain Keyse is also the inventor o f a floating line, which is calculated to be the
means o f saving many valuable lives in cases o f shipwreck, and it is anticipated will prove
wonderfully serviceable in enabling an army advancing into an enemy’s country to estab
lish the communication across rivers necessary for the construction o f pontoon bridges and
other purposes.
C H R IS T M A S IS L A N D .
Christmas Island is little else than a sand bank, bounded by a coral reef, which makes
o ff about half a cable’s length from the shore and surrounds the island, with the exception
o f the south-west point, where the surf makes to the beach. It lies in lat. 2 ° North, and
long. 157° 30' W est. It is about 80 miles in circumference. The eastern point lies in
long. 158° 40' W est, and lat. 1° 45 ' North. T he island is low, and cannot be seen at a
distance o f more than 16 miles in a clear day. The north-east side o f the island forms a
deep bay, with a strong current setting in shore, and it is necessary to avoid getting em
bayed here. There is safe anchorage for ships on the west side, opposite the entrance to
the lagoon, with soundings say from 10 to 30 fathoms. The English whale ship Briton
was wrecked on this island October 10th, 1836, and lately the Chilean ship Maria Helena,
and Bremen whale ship Mozart
W R E C K IN H O L L E S L E Y B A Y .
A Green Buoy, marked “ W reck,” has been laid about 18 fathoms to the westward o f
a schooner sunk in the Western entrance to Hollesley Bay. The Buoy lies in 3$ fathoms
at low water spring tides, with the following marks and compass bearings:—
The second Westernmost Tower at East-Lane, its width open o f two remarkable poplar
trees........................................................................................................................ N. W . by W.
Baudsey Church...............................................................................................................W . N. W .
Orford High Light-house..................................................................................N . E. by E. £ E.
Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics,
655
RAILROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT STATISTICS.
T H E R A IL R O A D S Y S T E M S U G G E S T E D .
I n the M e r c h a n t s ' M a g a z i n e for March, 1846, (vol. xiv., pages 249-260,) we published
an interesting article entitled, “ First application o f Steam to Railways,” furnished by J.
E. Bloomfield, Esq., o f N ew Jersey. By reference to that article it will be seen that, as
far back as 1809, Col. John Stevens, o f Hoboken, was the first individual in this country
who conceived and defined the proportions o f the locomotive, and compared “ the supe
rior capacity and advantages o f a railway with those o f a canal.” He even predicted that
steam carriages would be propelled at the rate o f 40 miles per hour; a prediction which
has been fulfilled on the best English railroads.
A late London paper attributes the honor
o f suggesting the “ Railway system ” to Sir Richard Phillips, as will be seen by the fol
lowing extract:—
A striking suggestion o f the extension o f railway communication into a 11 system,” as
connecting lines are now called, will be found in Sir Richard Phillips’ “ Morning’s Walk
from London to Kew,” published in 1813. On reaching the Surrey Iron Railway, at
Wandsworth, Sir Richard records: “ I found renewed delight in witnessing at this place
the economy o f horse labor on the iron railway ; yet a heavy sigh escaped me as I thought
o f the inconceivable millions which have been spent about Malta, four or five of which
might have been the means o f extending double lines o f iron railway from London to
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Holyhead, Milford, Falmouth, Yarmouth, Dover and Portsmouth!
A reward o f a single thousand would have supplied coaches and other vehicles, of various
degrees o f speed, with the best tackle for readily turning o u t; and we might, ere this, have
witnessed our mail coaches running at the rate o f ten miles an hour, drawn by a single
horse, or impelled fifteen miles an hour by Blenkinsop’s steam-engine. Such would have
been a legitimate motive for over-stepping the income o f a nation ; and the completion of
so great and useful a work would have afforded rational ground for public triumph in gen
eral jubilees !” The writer o f these penetrative remarks lived until 1840; so that he had
the gratification o f witnessing a triumph akin to his long-cherished hope.
B R IT IS H R A IL R O A D S T A T IS T IC S .
A paper by Mr. W . Harding, Manager o f the Glasgow and Greenock Railway, was
read at the last meeting o f the British Association for the advancement of science, which
affords some interesting particulars o f the working o f the railway system. It appears by
his statements that in 1842 the average receipts per mile were £2,489, and in 1847,
.£2,596 ; that the length o f railway open in Great Britain, including Wales, was in the
former year 1,990 miles, and the gross receipts o f traffic, £4,740,000; whereas in 1847,
the miles open were 3,597, and the gross amount o f traffic, £8,366,772. The receipts,
therefore, were about doubled, upon a less proportionate amount of mileage, a circum
stance which would tend to give confidence as regards the prospect for the great addition
al lengths o f railway, for which acts have been passed. The length of railway sanction
ed by Parliament, up to the beginning o f the present year, but not opened, was 7,150
miles, a considerable portion o f which is in more or less rapid progress. On the 1st of
May, 1847, 5,209 miles were in progress, on which 215,792 persons were at work. It is
calculated that within the next five years there will be upwards of ten thousand miles o f
railway open in Great Britain, which will give permanent employment at good wages to
upwards o f 140,000 persons, representing about 720,000 o f gross population, taking five
to a family. W hen it is considered that there are about 4,000 miles of canals, and about
30,000 miles o f turnpike road in the kingdom, this 10,000 miles o f railway in addition is
an accession o f vast importance to our internal communication. Mr. Harding states tfie
gross receipts o f traffic on the railways for the year ending June 30, 1847, at £8,366,000,
which includes £3,342,000 receipts for carriage, in round numbers, of 7,000,000 tons of
merchandise and goods, 8,000,000 tons o f coals, 500,000 horned cattle, 1,500,000 sheep,
and 100,000 horses, besides mails, parcels, & c .; leaving for passenger traffic £5,024,000.
The passenger traffic constitutes, therefore, about 60 percent o f the whole receipts. Since
1842, the proportion o f receipts from other sources than passengers has increased by I I
Railroad, Canal, <meZ Steamboat Statistics.
656
per cent. The total number o f passengers, by the returns of the Board o f Trade, for the
year ending June 30, 1847, was 47,484,134, and in 1842, 22,403,478. The average dis
tance travelled by each passenger in 1842 was thirteen miles, and in 1847, sixteen miles.
T he classes o f carriages used were in the following numbers and proportions:—
1847.
1842.
14.2
38.3
47.5
20.2 per cent.
45.4
“
34.4
“
First class................. :........................................................................
Second class.........................................•.............................................
Third class...................................................................... ..................
The third class passengers increased from 6,000,000 in 1842 to 21,000,000 in 1847.
In 1842 they formed about one-third, and in 1847 they were nearly half o f the whole
number travelling by railroad. The reduction o f fares between the periods appears to have
been 21.8 per cent on first class carriages, 23.8 on second class carriages, and 25 on third
class carriages. The reduction o f fares, coupled with the increased speed o f travelling,
may be considered as the chief cause o f the increase o f the number o f passengers since
1842. It appears that the increase o f third class passengers has been very different on
different lines, reaching as high as 83.3, 79.5, and 72.3 per cent on some lines, down to
65.4 and 50.3 per cent on others; and on the Great Western it is as low as 14.6 percent
The different characters and circumstances o f the population in different localities will
account, no doubt, in a considerable degree, for the state o f the traffic, but there must be
other causes operating to produce so marked a difference o f result in the case of the Great
Western. The results of the whole, as bearing on the question o f traffic by the railways
generally, is greatly in favor o f a reduced system o f fares, which is most satisfactory, as
Sir as the public interests are concerned.
R A I L W A Y D IV ID E N D S IN E N G L A N D .
L ist;’ says the Chronicle, “ gives the following tabular statement
of the rates o f dividend paid during the last four half years by ten o f the principal rail
ways :—
“
The
Weekly
Share
DIVIDENDS PER CENT PER ANNUM.
1846.
2d half.
Eastern counties.......................................
Great Western.........................................
Glasgow and Ayr.....................................
London and North-Western....................
“
South-Western...................
Brighton....................................................
Midland....................................................
South-Eastern..........................................
York and North Midland........................
York, Newcastle, and Berwick..............
G}
r -1 8 4 7 .
1st.
7
5
8
7
9
9
4
7
6.34
6.34
7
10
9f
10
2d.
4
7
6
8
8
4
7
1848.
1st.
4
7
4
7
6
2i
10
6.34
10
6
6.34
9
9
8
8
The South-Eastern is, therefore, the only company which has maintained the same rate
o f dividend for the past four half years; and the Eastern Counties and Great Western
the only two which have paid the same dividend for the 1st half of 1848 as for the 2d
half o f 1847.
R A IL R O A D T R A C K S P R IN K L E R .
This is the name o f a contrivance that has been patented by persons in Providence, R . I.,
for sprinkling railroad tracks. The Journal o f that city states that “ it has been applied
to the trains o f the Stonington Railroad, with results favorable far beyond the expectations
o f the projectors. A tank o f 2,000 gallons has been found sufficient to sprinkle the whole
track from Providence to Stonington, the train going at the rate o f twenty miles an hour.
The dust has been laid so effectually as to give no annoyance to passengers; the friction
o f the wheels on the rails has been greatly diminished; the bearing of the wheels and the
journals have been much less worn, and such a thing as a “ hot box ” to a car has not been
known, even at the greatest speed, since the sprinkler has been in use. The labor of
cleaning the cars, and the wear upon them, have also been greatly diminished. The
sprinkler is placed just behind the locomotive, so that while the locomotive is constantly
traversing a dry and comparatively dusty track, the cars are going over a wet one.”
657
Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
R A IL R O A D S A N D B R A N C H E S IN T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S .
GENERAL STATEMENT SHOWING THE NUMBER OF RAILROADS AND BRANCHES IN THE UNITED
STATES, THEIR TOTAL LENGTH, AND THE AVERAGES OF FARE PER MILE FOR FIRST AND SE
COND CLASS AND W AY PASSAGE, AND FIRST AND SECOND CLASS FREIGHT PER TON PER MILE, (OMIT
TING THE CAMDEN AND AMBOY, THE CAMDEN AND AMBOY AND UNION TRANSPORTATION RAIL
ROADS, AND THE BORDENTOWN AND tRENTON RAILROAD,) TAKEN FROM DOGGETt ’ s RAILROAD
GUIDE FOR
1848.
Maine........................... .......
N ew Hampshire.........
Vermont....................... .......
Massachusetts......... .
Rhode Island................ ........
Connecticut..................
N ew Y o rk ...................
New Jersey.................. .......
Pcnnsvlvania................ .......
Maryland...................... ........
Virginia.........................
North Carolina............ ........
South Carolina.............
G eorgia................ ........
Kentucky......................
Mississippi...................
A labam a......................
O h io.............................. ........
Indiana................. ........ .......
Michigan...................... ......
l.
3
61
2
t4
9
f9
2
4
1
3
T ota l.........................
j
3.
82
00
00
43
00
50
17
00
60
45
74
23
00
14
46
35
50
2 77
3 00
3 00
2.
22 6}
99
33
1,9291
91*
[253}
798 i
H55J
355
661
264J
248
204
1602
28
70
67
397
86
241
6,720
2
3
3
2
3
2
3
4
3
3
4
4
5
4
4
5
4
2
3
3
1
2
1
1
3
3
3
2
4
5
4
4
5
4
1.
50
00
00
66
00
75
50
33
26
45
38
23
00
14
46
35
50
2 77
3 00
3 00
i
2
2
3
2
3
2
3
3
3
3
4
4
5
4
4
6
5
2
57
62
00
71
16
20
75
54
60
58
72
00
00
70
46
00
50
66
3 00
3 32
6.
2 63
2 87J
3 00
2 27
2 72
2 15
2 81 -H
3 62*
3 48|
3 49*}
3 94|
4 15*
5 00
4 32!
4 46
5 56*
4 83*
2 73*
3 00
3 lO f
72 16 64 28 74 09 70 19
Averages..................
3
60 3 21 3 70
3
7.
5 68
5 25
4 00
5 47
6 37
5 75
9 04
13 57
6 75
4 56
10 44
9 83
10 75
9 33
9 00
24 39
16 83
6 60
8 00
8 44
8,
3 38
5 00
4 00
4 54
4 39
3 SO
5 79
11 66
5 25
3 12
4 69
6 37
5 50
4 78
9 00
17 30
8 00
4 62
5 81
6 50
179 46 120
51
8 97
30
6 16
1. Number o f railroads and branches.
2. Total length of miles.
3. First
class per mile— average in cents and hundredths o f a cent.
4. Second class per mile
— average in cents and hundredths o f a cent.
5. W ay passage per mile— average
in cents and hundredths o f a cent.
6. W hole average o f first and second class fares
and way fares.
7. First class freight per ton per mile— average in cents and hun
dredths o f a cent.
8. Second class freight per ton per mile— average in cents and
hundredths o f a cent.
It appears from the above table, from an average o f all the railroads and branches in
twenty different States, one hundred and seventeen in number, and six thousand seven
hundred and twenty miles in length, that the average price o f fare on them is three cents
and fifty-one hundredths o f a cent, or three and a half cents per mile. •
O P E N IN G A N D C LO SIN G OF T H E N E W Y O R K C A N A L S .
W e give below a table showing the time o f commencement and close o f the navigable
seasons o f the State canals from 1824 to 1847:—
Years.
Opened.
1824.......
1825.......
1826.......
1827........
1828.......
1829.......
1830.......
1831.......
1832........
1833.......
1834........
1835.......
1836.......
vol.
April 30
“ 13
« 20
« 22
Mar. 27
May 2
April 20
« 16
“ 25
“ 19
“ 17
•* 15
“ 25
xix.— y o , vi.
Closed.
Dec
«
4
5
U
18
« 18
ft
20
<* 17
f(
17
<f
1
If
21
<f 12
(C
12
Nov 30
(* 26
Days. Years.
219
239
243
241
269
230
242
230
241
238
240
230
216
1837........
1838........
1839........
1840.......
1841........
1 8 4 2 ......
1843........
1844 ......
1845........
1846........
1847........
1848........
42
Opened.
Closed.
April 20
“ 12
“ 20
“ 20
“ 26
« 20
May 1
April 18
Dec. 9
Nov. 25
Dec. 16
“
3
Nov. 29
“ 23
Dec. 1
Nov. 26
“ 15 „
« 16*
May 1
“
1
“
29
“
“
25
21
234
228
228
227
218
218
214
223
228
224
234
Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
058
T he river generally remains open from one to two weeks after the canal has closed, but
it has frequently, within the past eighteen years, closed within a day or two of the canal,
and in some instances on the same day.
The annexed table gives the day on which the Hudson closed at Albany for several
years:—
1830.....................
1831......................
1833....................
1833......................
1834.............. ....
1835......................
1836.....................
1837.....................
1838.....................
(t
((
<<
ic
1839....................
1840..................... . . . . . .
1841....................
1842..................... ............
1843....................
1844...................... ............
7 1845..................... ................
14 1846......................
1847......................
5
21
13
13
“
5
“
16
November 28
“
17
“
3
“
“
15
24
S T E A M B O A T S IN T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S IN 1810.
The following paragraph, from an English paper o f 1810, shows how far in the great im
provement o f steam navigation the United States was at that time ahead of all Europe, and
how freely at that moment the British press admitted the fact, and recommended an imita
tion o f the example:—
“ They claim in America the honor o f a most important discovery— ‘ the art o f naviga
ting a vessel with a keel o f 160 feet long so as to go by force o f steam six miles an hour,
without a sail, and against wind and tide.’ T he idea, however, has often been practi
cally tried in England ; and it is believed that the principal merit of the discovery in
question is owing to a native o f Scotland, born at the Carlton hill, in Edinburgh, where
a number o f ingenious mechanics reside— the son o f one o f whom, after living at Glas
gow as an engineer, went some years ago to America, and having a mechanical turn, com
pleted, with the assistance o f an American gentleman, this important invention. Steam
boats, as they are called, are already established on the Hudson, where the tide runs at
the rate o f six miles an hour; and in the Delaware, where it runs four m iles; and it is
soon to be extended to the Ohio and the Mississippi. In the New York steamboat there
are four cabins, in which they can dine and lodge 100 people, and they travel with the
same ease, and receive as much and as good accommodation as can be obtained on the best
roads, and in the best regulated inns in Europe. The choicest wines are furnished, and
the strictest order and decorum are kept up. They can go 2C0 or 300 miles in all sorts
o f weather within an hour o f the regulated time. A§ his discovery has already been brought
to such perfection in America, it were to be wished that a plan and description o f these
steamboats could be obtained, for they might be o f use in our navigable rivers and canals,
and on the Scotch and Irish lakes; in particular they might obviate some objections which
have been made to navigation in Lochness, as a part o f the Caledonian Canal. They
might be the means o f taking ships out o f a harbor, and would thus render navigation
more certain ; and they might also be o f service, if the system of iron railways were ex
tended, by applying the same principles to the carriage travelling on them. Even in a
military point o f view advantages might be derived from the invention ; for it might en
able our troops to attack places which otherwise, owing to the wind and tide, they would
not approach. On the Ganges and large rivers in the East, such boats might be o f sin
gular utility. It is to be hoped that these hints will attract the attention of some individ
ual who may have it in his power to bring this important discovery from America to Eu
rope.”
______________________
IN D IA RU B B ER C A R SPRINGS.
D. K. Minor, Esq., the intelligent editor o f the
American
Railroad
Journal
, has had
an opportunity o f riding in two railroad cars— one upon the Harlem road, and one upon
the N ew Jersey road, from Jersey City to New Brunswick— fitted up with India rubber
springs, and testifies to their ease and quietness.
He says:—
“ The difference between these cars and others on steel springs, in the same train, was
^manifest, especially when reading— and it appeared that, while in the cars with India
rubber springs, the track was in much better r e p a i r than when in the other cars. The
apparent difference arose from the greater elasticity o f the rubber springs, which contin
Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.
'
659
ued to yield as long as additional weight was applied, and to return on passing any ine
quality, however small. O f their comparative durability we cannot speak, though we see
no reason to doubt their durability. This point will, however, be soon tested, as they are
coming rapidly into use on several roads.”
F O R E IG N R A IL R O A D IRON.
The following is a list o f the railroads which have been engaged in relaying their tracks
with heavy rails during the nast year, together with the quantity o f iron which has been
contracted for i n E n g l a n d Rr that purpose:—
Syracuse and Utica....,.......... tons
New York and New Haven.......
Eastern............................................
Boston and W orcester..................
W estern..........................................
Vermont Central............................
Vermont and Massachusetts.........
Rutland...........................................
Old Colony......................................
Stonington......................................
2,500
6,000
2,000
4,000
5,000
8,000
4,000
8,000
2,000
1,000
1,000
New Haven and Plartford... ..tons
Concord and Portsmouth... .......
Law rence............................. .........
Boston and Lowell.............. .........
Utica and Schenectady....... .........
Ton a wan d a.......................... ........
Buffalo and Attica................ .........
Ramapo............................... . .......
Somerville, (about,).............
3,000
4,000
2,500
1,000
2,000
2,000
4,000
2,000
2,000
T otal......................... ........
66,000
JOURNAL OF MINING AND MANUFACTURES.
T H E F IR S T A M E R IC A N M A N U F A C T O R Y .
B Y GEGRGE MOODY, M. D.
B y f ie g d F a c t o r y was the first regular establishment o f the kind in America.
It was
erected 1793, at the falls o f Parker river, in Newbury, Byfield parish, on the site of the
ancient Spencer Mill lot, which was conveyed by Spencer to Henry Sewall, who came
from England, and it descended by inheritance to his posterity. Mr. Samuel Slater had,
perhaps, a small spinning establishment previous, at Pawtucket, but the one at Byfield
was the first regular factory. The machinery was made at Newburyport, by Messrs.
Standring, A rm sfon g & Guppy. The company o f stockholders consisted o f William
Bartlett, principal, Capt. William Johnson, Capt. Nicholas Johnson, Capt. Michael Hodges,
Capt. Joseph Stanwood, Mark Fitz, a Mr. Currier, o f Amesbury, Chief Justice Parsons,
(then a lawyer in Newburyport,) Jonathan Greenleaf, Esq., James Prince, Esq., Abraham
Wheelright, Phillip Coombs, and others, whose names are not now known to the writer.
It will be seen, then, that the history of this establishment is the commencement o f all
factory history in the United States. O f the individuals who were concerned in erecting
the building, only two remain, Mr. Samuel Kimball, o f Bradford, and Deacon Charles
Foster, o f Andover. Mr. David Poor, deceased, was master carpenter. The English
operatives who started the establishment were Arthur Scofield, John Scofield, James Sco
field, J. Lee, Mr. Aspenwall, Abraham Taylor, John Taylor, John Shaw, James Hall,
principally from the. towns o f Oldham and Saddlewortli, in England.
A t first the establishment was entirely woollen ; but, owing to the circumstance that
the workmen manufactured the wool promiscuously, without sorting, into fine or coarse
fabric, as best suited their fancy or convenience, it became unprofitable, and the stock
holders gradually sold to one another till it all went into Mr. Bartlett’s hands. Pie again
sold it to Mr.^Tohn Lees, a native o f Saddleworth, in Yorkshire, who carried on the man
ufacture o f broadcloth and flannel till about the year 1806. Then the circumstance o f
Arkwright’s invention gave a new impulse to the manufacturing business, and Mr. Lees
went to England after cotton machinery. The exportation o f this was forbidden by Eng
lish law— the machinery was, therefore, packed in large casks and labeled “ Hard Ware.”
Mr. Lees came in another vessel to prevent trouble by detection. The machinery was
first set up in the large story over the grist mill, by two English machinists, John Han
cock and James Mallelovv, and over the door was placed a large placard with the inscrip
tion, “ N o admittance without leave.”
This machinery consisted o f drawing frames, and spinning frames, technically called
mules throttles. This machinery was afterwards transferred to the third story of the fac
660
Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.
tory building, where it was successfully worked for a number o f years. The product con
sisted chiefly o f cotton yarn, wicking, coarse ginghams, and sheeting. The cotton cloth
was all woven at the factory by females. The price o f sheeting at this time, covered
with cotton burrs, was fifty cents per yard, and ginghams, perhaps seventy cents.
About this time (perhaps the year 1809) an event occurred which had like to have an
ticipated an invention in England. Dr. Joseph Richards, now of Claremont, N. H., then
a student o f Dr. Biicker, o f Newbury port, and afterwards o f Dr. Cogswell, o f Atkinson,
N . H., who took a medical degree at Dartmouth College, 1815, projected a power-loom
to move by water. He went to Byfleld, and made an attempt to set it up, but, owing to
some defect in the machinery, it failed to work well. Perhaps if he had had more perse
verance, he would have had the honor o f inventing the power-loom in America, and the
inventor himself realized a fortune. This brings down the history o f cotton milling to
the time o f Dr. Cartwright in England, the true inventor of the power-loom. This, with
the cotton gin, invented by Whitney, o f N ew Haven, changed the condition o f the cotton
business entirely.
The Boston Chronicle for 1816, speaks thus of the cotton business at this time, and
about the year 1815-16, the Boston Manufacturing Company was formed; Mr. Francis
C. Lowell, having been previously in England, in 1812, and Mr. Boott likewise having
resided in England. Mr. Lowell, whose penetrating mind had ascertained that the cotton
business could successfully be engaged in the United Slates, made the attempt. It is,
then, owing to the genius and application o f Francis C. Lowell, aided by the talent and
skill o f his surviving relative and associate, Patrick T . Jackson, and by the mechanical
science and ingenuity o f that profound but unpretending mechanician, Mr. Paul Moody,
that the country is indebted for the first establishment, which satisfied our most intelligent
citizens that the business o f cotton milling could be engaged in with safety and success.
Byfield Factory was carried on till about the year 1821, when Mr. Lees died, and at
his decease it was sold. It was purchased by Gorham Parsons, Esq., and Major Paul
M oody, o f Lowell. It was thoroughly repaired and raised several feet; a new basement
o f stone being added, and the water course altered. It was subsequently worked by Mr.
William Cleaveland a number o f years/ Afterwards it was again sold to Edmund Le
Breton, Mr. Emery, Mr. Hale, and others. W e understand this property has lately been
purchased by Dr. Francis N. Noyes for a country residence. The scenery around this old
river is wildly romantic, and beautiful and rich in historic legend.
M A N U A L D E X T E R I T Y IN M A N U F A C T U R E S .
T he “ body” o f a hat (beaver) is generally made o f one part o f “ red’* wool, three
parts Saxony, and eight parts rabbits’ fur. T he mixing or working up o f these materials
is an operation which depends very much on the dexterity o f the workman, and years o f
long practice are required to render a man proficient. The wool and fur are laid on a
bench, first separately and then together. The workman takes a machine somewhat like
a large violin b o w ; this is suspended from the ceiling by the middle, a few inches above
the bench. The workman, by means o f a small piece o f wood, causes the end o f his
“ bow ” to vibrate quickly against the particles o f wool and fur. This operation continued
for some time, effectually opens the clotted masses, and lays open all the fibres,— these fly
ing upwards by the action o f the string, are, by the manual and wonderful dexterity o f the
workman, caught in their descent in a peculiar manner, and laid in a soft layer o f equable
thickness. This operation, apparently so simple and easy to be effected, is in reality very
difficult, and only to be learned by constant practice.
In type-founding, when the melted metal has been poured into the mould, the work
man, by a peculiar turn o f his hand, or rather jerk, causes the metal to be shaken into all
the minute interstices o f the mould.
In manufacturing imitative pearls, the glass bead forming the pearl has two holes in its
exterior: the liquid made from a pearl-like powder, is inserted into the hollow o^f the bead
by a tube, and by a peculiar twist o f the hand, the single drop introduced is caused to
spread itself over the whole surface o f the interior, without superfluity or deficiency being
occasioned.
In waxing the corks o f blacking bottles much cleverness is displayed. The wax is
melted in an open dish, and without brush, ladle,or other appliance, the workman waxes
each cork neatly and expeditiously, simply by turning the bottle upside down, and dipping
the cork into the melted wax. Practice has enabled the men to do this so neatly, that
scarcely any wax is allowed to touch the bottle. Again, to turn the bottle to its proper
position, without spilling any o f the wax, is apparently an exceedingly simple matter ; but
Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.
661
it is only by a peculiar movement o f the wrist and hand, impossible to describe, and diffi
cult to imitate, that it is properly effected. One man can seal one hundred in an hour!
In pasting and affixing the labels on, the blacking-bottles, much dexterity is also dis
played. As one man can paste as many labels as fwo can affix, groups o f three are em
ployed in this department. In pasting, the dexterity is shown by the final touch o f the
brush, which jerks the label off the heap, and which is caught in the left hand of the work
man, and thrown aside. This is done so rapidly, that the three-fold operation of pasting,
jerking, and laying aside, is repeated no less than two thousand times in an hour. T he
affixing o f the labels is a very neat and dexterous operation ; to the watchful spectator, the
bottle is scarcely taken up in the hand, ere it is set down labelled. In packing the bottles
into casks, much neatness is displayed.
The heads o f certain kinds o f pins are formed by a coil or two of fine wire placed at
one end. This is cut off from a long coil fixed in a lathe ; the workman cuts off one or
two turns o f the coil, guided entirely by his eye ; and such is the manual dexterity dis
played in the operation, that a workman will cut off 20,000 to 30,000 heads without
making a single mistake as to the number o f turns in each. An expert workman can fas
ten on from 10,000 to 15,000 o f these heads in a day.
The pointing o f pins and needles is done solely by hand. T he workman holds thirty
or forty pin lengths in his hand, spread open like a fan ; and wonderful dexterity is shown
in bringing each part to the stone, and presenting every point o f its circumference to it3
grinding action. In finally “ papering ” needles for sale, the females employed can count
and paper 3,000 in an hour !
M O R A L S OF M A N U F A C T U R IN G T O W N S .
Until within a few years, the belief seems to have prevailed almost universally that
manufacturing towns were necessarily doomed to moral degradation. The ignorance,
corruption, and crime o f the manufacturing districts o f England were pointed to as indi
cating the unavoidable tendency o f all such enterprises, and no doubt many persons in
this country have dreaded the establishment o f home manufactures, under the impression
that the.places where they might be located would become plague-spots, and high places
of iniquity.
The actual experience and well-attested history o f the principal manufacturing towns
o f the United States show a very different result from what many anticipated. It has
been proved that such enterprises may be carried on successfully on the largest scale, not
only without any deterioration in the morals and general intelligence o f the operatives, hut
consistently with a system o f means carried on at the same time for the improvement o f
the workers in virtue and intelligence.
f o r the evidence o f this we might mention numerous manufacturing places in the Uni
ted States, and quote from their history a large body o f refreshing facts. But it may
suffice to refer to Lowell, Massachusetts, the character o f which place, and especially of
its operatives, is generally known. And we say that here is an irresistible demonstration
o f the practicability o f separating manufacturing enterprises from any special tendency to
moral corruption and ignorance, and not only so, but o f maintaining a high standard of
moral and intellectual advancement.
W e do not propose at this time to enter upon any detail o f the system pursued by the
managers o f the Lowell factories. It is enough for our purpose to say that they have pro
ceeded upon the simple, but often disregarded principle, that the usefulness, fidelity, and
industry o f any set o f operatives will be in proportion to their intelligence and morals,
and, therefore, if employers merely consult their own interest, they would take special
care o f the minds and moral characters o f those in their service. W e do not doubt that
higher motives have had their influence with the Lowell proprietors, motives of benevo
lence and gpod will to the thousands in their mills, but we say, as a mere business calcu
lation, it was a wise one, in the very outset o f their enterprise to provide for a careful
moral supervision, and guarantee ample sources o f improvement for the minds under their
control.
>*
Under the operation o f the wise and wholesome care and watchfulness which in L ow
ell and most o f the New England manufacturing towns are brought to hear, results nro
achieved which strike the minds o f Europeans as partaking o f the marvellous and incred
ible. And it is a fact full o f interest that there is probably not a town in the United
States which enjoys a greater European celebrity than Lowell, nor is there one which
foreigners o f intelligence are more anxious to visit when they arrive on our shores.
A t the same time the training which the operatives in such places receive qualifies them
far better than any merely theoretical school for eminent enterprise and usefulness in fu-
662
Journal o f Mining and Manufactures,
ture life. Thousands o f young women who leave the parental roof to spend one, two, o r
three years in the factories, return to their homes or enter upon married life with enlarged
views, with a knowledge o f the world, and with a self-relying and enterprising spirit,,
which enables them to maintain an elevated position and a commanding influence through
life.
The manufacturing interest is destined to increase and multiply to a vast extent in this
country. W e trust it will be considered and understood also, that the true and only wise
policy is to adhere faithfully to the Lowell plan o f making every manufacturing neighbor
hood a school o f sound morals and intelligence, as a means o f success as well as a meas
ure o f benevolence. The manufacturers who have led the way are worthy o f all honor
and are sure o f their reward.
O R IG IN OF D A Y A N D M A R T IN ’ S BLAC K IN G .
A late London paper furnishes the following curious history o f Day and Martin’s Black
ing, by the manufacture o f which, the late Mr. Day amassed nearly £500,000.
read with interest:—
It will be
“ Mr. Martin was a native o f Doncaster, and served his apprenticeship to a barber at
Gainsborough, which place he quitted for the great metropolis, where he became a jour
neyman to the father o f Mr. Charles Day, his late partner, and who carried on business*
some fifty or sixty years since as a perfumer, in Tavistock-street, Covent Garden. Mr.
C. Day was also a f r i s e u r , but born in London, and they both cut their way for a few
years over the heads o f their superiors, till the following circumstance happened:—
“ Doncaster races have always been attractive, and Mr. Martin resolved to visit not only
this scene o f sport, but all his relatives. He accordingly arrived there, and sojourned at
the house o f his brother-in-law, Mr. Anthony Moore, who kept the Kings Arms, in Sep
ulchre-gate. A t the same house a soldier was quartered, named Thomas Florry, who
was a servant to Captain Wilson, then on the recruiting service in that tow n; the beauti
ful polish o f Florry’s shoes caused the landlord not only to admire them, but eventually to
obtain the blacking recipe for a quart o f ale, which was readily granted. This valuable
document, as it afterwards proved to be, was presented to young Martin on his return to
London, and hence the magnificent edifice, No. 97 High Holborn, and its valuable appur
tenances. The ‘ black diamond’ receipt was proffered to young Mr. Day, he having more?
o f the ‘ readj^’ than Mr. Martin, and soon after commenced business in a small w a y .
Schemes, o f course, were easily resorted to, in the absence o f ‘ puffs,’ prosaical and poeti
cal, to bring this s h i n i n g liquid into notice, and among them, the following:— ‘ Nearly one
hundred suits o f let-off liveries were purchased in the purlieus of Petticoat Lane, London,
and having engaged as many bodies as suits, they were despatched alternately to all parts
o f London to inquire for Day & Martin’s.blacking.’ The trick told; an article so much
in request must be valuable, and the perfumers, oil men, grocers, & c., soon laid in a stock,
and thus laid the foundation for an immense fortune. All went on prosperously for many
years; nothing w e n t d o w n but ‘ Day & Martin,’ and they got up as rapidly, till at length
Day, who originally had ‘ de monish,’ made a proffer that himself or Martin should quit
the concern on the receipt o f £10,000. Martin being minus that sum, thought it ad
visable to accept, and he accordingly withdrew on a handsome income, which amounted
to nearly £1 ,000 per annum. He built two houses at Doncaster, in one o f which he re
sided for some time, and then removed with his family to Sheffield or its neighborhood,
where he expired. The poor soldier has been dead many years, but his only reward was
a quart o f ale.”
A N T I-P U T R ID D IS IN F E C T IN G A G E N T .
Dr. Lewis Feuchtwanger, a skillful chemist o f New Y ork, has invented a new disinfect
ing agent for purifying and ventilating ships, hospitals, prisons, sick rooms, sinks, cispools,
& c., which we understand has been tested in most o f the hospitals in N ew York, as well
as in the prisons, hotels, and other public places, and “ everywhere,” we are assured,
“ with the most decided and unqualified approbation,” as may be seen by reference to cer
tificates which Dr. F. has received from Bellevue, Emigrant and Quarantine Hospitals,
Coroner, City Prisons, Astor House, and from eminent chemists, as Drs. Chilton, Reese,
Geer, Bait, Doane, & c., which have been published in a pamphlet form.
Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.
663
A N C I E N T M IN IN G ON L A K E SU PERIOR.
The last Lake Superior News gives a further account o f the discovery of evidences of
the working o f the copper mines o f that region by a people now extinct, a notice of which
was published some time since. It says that the indication which led to the discovery is
a sunken trench upon the line o f vein, which, being drifted into, disclosed a mass of native
copper lying in this vein estimated to weigh about seven tons. The remains o f large
timbers were found by which this had evidently been propped, and beneath it were several
cart loads o f ashes and cinders, showing that the miners had endeavored to reduce the
mass by fire. Several o f the implements used in the mining operations were found, con
sisting o f stone hammers, a chisel, and a gad o f copper. The perfect state o f the point
of the latter would seem to indicate a process o f hardening the metal was known, for the
hammer end was most battered. W ith the copper o f this were some large particles of
silver. The chisel is ingeniously constructed so as to admit a handle. N o iron instru
ment was discovered. That the mining operations were conducted to a greater extent
than is practised by any existing tribe o f Indians is apparent from the fact that the trench
sunk upon the vein extends more than a mile in length. The accumulation o f earth in
the trench concealed the depth o f the workings, except in the small part re-opened; but
here the depth was found to be twenty feet, and the widih of eight feet. Similar trenches
exist in the neighborhood, which were traced for several miles.
N ot the least interesting part o f the discovery is the evidence o f the great antiquity of
the workings. Large trees were growing upon the earth that had accumulated in the
diggings—one o f which, directly over the large mass o f copper, proved to be four hundred
years old ! Beneath it were trunks o f trees that had previously decayed or fallen in, and
the whole depth o f soil that, by the process o f time, had accumulated upon this antique
furnace was eighteen feet.
This mine is about four miles east o f the large mass o f copper, which was removed
from its place some years since, and is now in the National Cabinet at Washington.
These mementoes o f ancient aboriginal industry are deserving of more than a mere
passing notice. They may be considered as adding to the proof that, long before the dis
covery o f America, a race existed on this continent among whom the arts had reached a
higher grade than with the wandering tribes that have succeeded. The Indians now liv
ing in this region know nothing o f the people by whom, or the time when, these opera
tions were undertaken. They evince a concerted effort which does not characterize their
present feeble effort in the art. It is somewhat singular that among a people so observant
and persevering the use o f iron remained so wholly unknown, since some o f the ores
which exist in vast abundance, and upon the surface in the Carp River region, are found
to be easily reduced to a valuable steel by the heat o f a common forge. A knowledge of
the use o f iron might have changed the destiny o f that people, as it may be said to have
done that race who now triumph, in the pride o f art and power over their almost perished
memorials.
A R T IF IC IA L M IN E R A L S A N D P R E C IO U S ST O N E S.
A process has been explained to the Paris Academy o f Sciences, and a patent obtained
for it, whereby a r t i f i c i a l s t o n e o f every quality may be produced, from artificial granite to
statuary marble.
This invention is, it is said, from its cheapness, a great advantage for all the purposes
of architectural decoration, and from its plastic nature before it becomes hard, o f great
service to sculptors in taking casts o f statuettes, busts, & c., and even o f figures o f the size
o f life. The cost, in all cases where carving is required in stone, in which this composi
tion is substituted, is less by nine-tenths. The invention is founded on the chemical analy
sis o f the natural varieties o f stone, and the manufacture is capable o f such modifications
as are requisite to produce all the varieties— “ stones manufactured to order.”
The artificial stone produced is less absorbent than natural stone, and is superior in
compactness o f texture, and will resist frost, damp, and the chemical acids. It is made of
flints, and siliceous grit, sand, &c., rendered fluid by heat, and poured into moulds, as re
quired, till cool and hardened. Its strength and solidity enable it to resist more blows
than real stone.
Specimens o f the invention have been forwarded to London, and their appearance is
pronounced exceedingly curious. They consist o f many varieties, some being plain pieces
o f coping-stones for variegated pavements for halls and rooms, stone ornaments, such as
mouldings for friezes, finials, and some more elaborate, having flowers and devices appa
rently cut with a chisel.
664
Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.
A N E W PROCESS F O R P R E S E R V IN G B R E A D S T U F F S .
Several notices o f this invention have appeared in the eastern papers, all o f them speak
ing highly o f the invention. W e have deferred any extended notice o f it, untfl its merits
should be to some extent tested. Mr. E . W . Andrews, o f the Empire Mills, in this town,
has had one o f these machines in operation about one year, upon corn meal. About fif
teen hundred barrels o f this meal, manufactured last spring, was shipped for Europe. It
not only performed the voyage o f the lakes, canals, and rivers o f our own country, but,
after remaining during some o f the hottest months in store, it was sold in Liverpool for
froln 3s. to 3s. 6d. sterling per barrel more than the current quotations o f the market for
corn meal. The enhanced price is understood to have been realized in consequence o f
the superiority o f this process o f expelling the moisture, over all others; meal prepared
by this process being devoid o f any other taste or smell than that which pertains to the
natural meal. Heretofore it has been deemed necessary to destroy the germinating prin
ciples o f grain, to enable it to withstand the vicissitudes o f climate, and hence the parched,
ill-flavored meal that is usually sent abroad. Being divested o f much o f its nutrition, it
is rendered unfit for the use o f man. Mr. Stafford’s theory is, that without the presence
o f moisture, nothing in nature can change. Upon this theory is his machine made to
operate. It is simplicity itself. A cylinder, armed with flanches on the exterior, is made
to revolve in a trough— the inclination o f the cylinder and trough moves the substance
to be dried gradually to the opposite side from which it was received. The interior of the
cylinder is heated by steam. By this simple process, Mr. Stafford is enabled to obtain all
that is requisite for preserving grain, flour, meal, & c., for an indefinite time. The heat is
uniform, the motion o f the article drying is constant, and the ventilation perfect.
So far as we are able to judge o f this invention, from the tests already made o f its
utility, we are inclined to regard it o f very great importance, particularly to the grain
growing regions o f the West. The amount saved to the government would be large if
they would supply the ships o f the navy with flour and meal sufficient for a long voyage,
with a perfect assurance that they would remain good for any length of time. So o f
whale ships, & c. Mr. Stafford richly deserves not only the large pecuniary benefit which
is already made sure to him, but also the gratitude o f the world.
The Cleveland Herald says:— “ Flour from Ohio, wheat dried by Mr. Stafford’s process,
loses 8 per cent o f its weight.” This fact has been recently tested in Elyria. W hen,
therefore, dried flour is exported, the miller will save transportation upon 16| pounds o f
water to each barrel, the consumer paying at the same rate for 196 pounds of dried
flour that he would for 212 pounds o f undried. The consumer, then, has the certainty o f
purchasing and having flour always sweet and fresh, instead o f running the risk o f buy
ing flour which is stale, musty, or sour.— E l y r i a { O h i o ) C o u r i e r .
B A M F O R D ’S IM PR O V E D S T O C K IN G F R A M E .
Mr. W . Bamford, o f Ipswich, Mass., has recently patented a valuable improvement in
the Stocking Frame, consisting in the application and use of a conductor to each o f the
plain-stitch and lib-stitch needles, in such manner as to enable any one to carry on the
process o f knitting either plain or ribbed work, without the use o f needles with beards or
points, and a presser or pressers, such as are generally used in the common plain and
ribbed, hand or power looms. His improvement is also applicable to what are denomina
ted Warp Net Machines, whether automatic or moved by hand, and will perform onethird more work than any hand frame worked in the ordinary way with pressers. Mr. B.
has expended a large amount in this invention, and performed the constant labor o f nearly
three years in bringing it to its present state o f perfection.
The first application o f the invention was in connection with a new Warp Frame and
afterwards a common hand Plain Stocking Frame. The inventor then applied the “ Rib,”
and succeeded in making ribbed work with the same motions that made plain work. This
improvement, with a little expense, can be appended to every kind of stocking and warp
frame now in use and save the p r e s s e r m o t i o n , which has always been the most difficult
and destructive one to every kind o f frame.
This machine is capable o f making one-third more p l a i n work, and double the quantity
o f r i b b e d over one stocking frame that works with p r e s s e r s . Mr. B.’s ribbed machine
can be built at two-thirds the expense o f the old D e r b y r i b machine, which in fact is en
tirely superseded by this improvement, which saves two p r e s s e r and one h e e l p a d d l e mo
tion to every b o u t or c o u r s e , in which it must come into general use.
I
665
Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.
B R IT IS H S A L E S OF C O PPER O R E .
The sales o f copper ore in Cornwall during the last quarter have been 39,206 tons,
realizing £175,609 16s. 6d., against 40,018 tons, which realized £187,770 14s. 6d. during
the quarter ending June last.
A t Swansea the sales o f copper ore during the same period have been much greater
than during the preceding three months. The quantity sold has been 15,143 tons, real
izing £161,583 16s., averaging £ 1 0 13s. 4d. per ton, against 9,895 tons and £84,454 7s.,
average £ 8 10s. 8d. The great increase in the sales at Swansea during the period men
tioned is attributed to the extended imports o f foreign ores, principally from Australia and
Cuba. The subjoined table o f the respective quantities sold o f each description, with the
amount o f purchase money, during the two last quarters, will doubtless be found interesting :
QUARTER ENDED JUNE 24.
Australian....................
Cobre...........................
Cuba.............................
Chili............................
Santiago....................
New Zealand..............
T on s.
Amount.
565
3,206
1,863
95
363
71
.£7,723 9
33,544 12
15,489 0
1,451 5
4,587 15
534 3
0
0
6
0
6
0
QUARTER ENDED SEPT. 29.
Tons.
Amount.
2,719
5,910
2,230
1,001
£41,387 19
60,081 1
20,200 14
23,628 12
8
46
0
6
6
0
6
6
Total....................
£145,344 7 6
11,868
6,163
£63,330 5 0
The produce o f the mines in Ireland has been on a diminished scale during the last
quarter. The return is—
Berehaven.........tons 1,G12 £ 9 5 9 9 1 1 0 1 Cronebane.
1
£25 0 0
Knock mahon........... 1,279
1
25 0 0
5,220 19 0 |Tigrono....
Ballymurtagh..........
486
1,190 2 61
Lackam ore..............
10 6
30
255 18 0
T otal....
Against 3,540 tons and £19,304 Is. 6d. during the quarter ending June last.
E X P E R IM E N T S W I T H G A L V A N IZ E D W IR E A N D IIE M P ROPES.
An experiment was recently tried in W oolw ich Dockyard, to ascertain the compara
tive strength o f wire and hemp ropes. A wire rope, three inches round, and a hemp
rope o f three strands, hawser laid, common make, seven inches round, were spliced to
gether and placed in the testing machine, and on the hydraulic power being applied,
the hemp rope broke in the middle on the strain reaching I l f tons, the wire rope re
maining apparently as strong as when the experiment commenced. A wire rope, 3^
inches round, was then spliced with an eight inch hemp shroud rope, and on the power
being applied, the hemp rope broke in the middle with a strain of 10$ tons, the wire rope
continuing apparently uninjured.
E L E C T R IC D E C O M PO SIT IO N S O F M E T A L S .
T he magnetic process o f the late Mr. W oolrich, says the London Mechanics* Maga
zine, which was patented about five years ago, is, we believe, now universally allowed to
be superior to every other. Mr. J. S. Woolrich, the son o f the patentee, carries on an ex
tensive business in plating for the trade at St. James-street, St. Paul’s, Birmingham. The
advantages o f the magnecto plating are briefly these:— The metal deposited is perfectly
smooth, and the adhesion between it and its base so firm as to be capable o f standing a
red heat without any injury. T he silver may be deposited o f any required degree of soft
ness or hardness. And so also the quantity o f silver put on the goods may be ascertained
to the greatest nicety.
R A S P B E R R Y V IN E G A R OR S Y R U P .
Put one quart o f best white wine vinegar to two quarts o f raspberries, not over ripe.
Let them steep in the vinegar twenty-four hours; then strain them through a sieve, with
out pressing the fruit, and pour the liquor so strained on two quarts more o f raspberries.
In twenty-four hours more strain it o ff again, and to a pint o f juice put one pound and a
half o f very fine loaf sugar. Put the above into a jar, and the jar into a pan o f warm
water, and let it stand till all the sugar is melted, taking off the scum as it rises; then
take the jar from the warm water, and, when cold, bottle o ff for use. These directions
are given from a correspondent o f the Gardener’s Chronicle.
666
Journal o f Mining and Manufactures,
Q U IC K S IL V E R M IN E S IN C A L IF O R N IA .
A gentleman, whose letter we have seen, and from which we are permitted to make an
extract, says the A m e r i c a n M i n i n g J o u r n a l , dating from “ Rancho de la Prussima Con
ception,” in California, thus writes to a friend o f his in Connecticut, o f a quicksilver mine,
owned by Alexander Forbes, E3q., British Consul at Tepsic. “ Mr. Forbes is the owner
of, perhaps, the richest quicksilver mine in the world, situated about 13 miles from this
place. The mine has been worked but a few months, but the ore is extremely rich, and
very abundant. T he bed o f ore is 42 feet thick, and o f extent unknown. T he only ap
paratus at present used for extracting the metal consists o f three or four old potash kettles
— very imperfect— yet, with these, over a thousand pounds, or $2,000 worth are obtained
weekly. With suitable apparatus, it could clear easily half a million a year. Several
other mines o f quicksilver have been found in the neighborhood, o f more or less promise,
but none o f them apparently so rich as this. They are mostly, with the exception of that
o f Mr. Forbes, in the hands o f Americans. Mines o f silver and gold have also been dis
covered ; but what they will amount to remains to be seen. Mr. Forbes owns a tract
pertaining to his mine o f fourteen square miles.”
T H E B R IT IS H IR O N A N D S T E E L T R A D E .
I m p o r t s a n d E x p o r t s o f I r o n a n d U n w r o t t g h t S t e e l . — The total quantity o f foreign
iron ore imported in the year ending April 5, 1848, was 21 tons ; chromate o f iron, 1,797
tons; pig iron, 473 tons; iron bars unwrought, 33,371 tons; bloom iron, 904 tons; rod
iron, 3 tons; broken iron, 310 tons; iron hoops, 12 tons; cast iron, 41 tons; unwrought
steel, 654 tons; and steel scraps, 36 tons. The declared value o f wrought iron and steel
imported amounted to ,£23,510. The total quantity o f foreign bar iron exported was
5,053 tons; unwrought steel, 667 tons. The total quantity <s? British pig iron exported
within the same period was 176,086 tons; bar iron, 214,874 tons; bolt and rod iron,
13,419 tons; cast iron, 26,311 tons; wire, 1,972tons ; anchprs,grapnels, &c., 4,561 tons;
hoops, 17,163 tons; nails, 5,735 tons; other sorts o f wrought iron, 74,036 tons; old iron,
5,751 tons; unvvrought steel, 9,776 tons. Our principal customers for British iron and
steel are Prussia, Holland, France, and the United States o f America, the latter more es
pecially. The total quantity o f British hardwares and cutlery exported from the United
Kingdom in the year 1847 amounted to 20,614 tons, the declared value of which was
£2,341,980 11s. Id. The British machinery and mill work exported within the same pe
riod amounted in value to £1,263,015 10s. 4 d .; o f this amount Russia paid £226,635
19s.; the Hanseatic Towns, £151,665 2 s .; Spain, £ 9 7 ,5 2 7 ; Italy, £108,888 19s. 2 d .;
British territories in the East Indies, £148,645 15s.; the British W est Indies, £52,290 4s. 6d.
D A V ID ’S IM P R O V E D R A Z O R .
Mr. David, cutler, o f Leadenhall-street, London, has recently registered under the Util
ity Designs A ct, a razor o f highly improved configuration, which consists in giving a
curvilinear form, lengthwise, to the edge o f the blade, and leaving more room for obtain
ing a good purchase on it when shaving. The handle also is bevelled within-side, to allow
more space for the entry o f the blade when shutting to— thus preventing the injury to its
edge, that frequently occurs from catching on the sides o f the handle. These improve
ments, combined with the improved principle adopted in grinding the blade, produce an
instrument having every advantage over those hitherto made.
C U L T IV A T IO N O F C O T T O N IN IN D IA .
T he experiments which have been making in Manchester by the Commercial Associa
tion, recently, under the superintendence o f Dr. Royle, to test the small cottage gin pro
posed to be sent out among the small cultivators o f cotton in India, show the following
results as contrasted with the large hand gin and the churka, at present used there. The
cottage gin, made o f iron, is found to clean 20 lb. per man per hour; made of wood, it
turns out 17 lb. per man per hour. T he average quantity cleaned by the large hand gins
o f India per man per hour is only 10 lb. and a fraction, and the churka cleans only 3 lb.
This result is decidedly more favorable than that detailed by the chairman at the late
meeting, a fact which, we are informed, is owing to a further improvement in the ma
chine
The saving in cost would be in proportion.
Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
667
JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY AND FINANCE.
T H E R E V E N U E OF F R A N C E IN 1847 A N D 1848.
T he return just made by the French Minister o f Finances o f the amount o f the receipts
received by the Treasury, under the head o f “ Imposts and Indirect Revenues,” during the
first nine months o f 1848, as compared with the receipts for the same period o f 1846 and
1847, presents some curious though not very gratifying results. They show a fearful dim.
inution since February in the aggregate trade o f the country, and, unfortunately, they
also show very clearly, notwithstanding the rumors industriously spread o f a gradual re
sumption in the trade and manufactures o f France, that there is not the slightest ground
for that statement. By the receipts for July, August, and September, 1848, as compared
with the same months o f 1847, it appears that in July there is a diminution in the receipts
o f 12,796,000 francs; in August a diminution o f 13,807,000 francs; and in September
a diminution o f 13,761,000 francs. On the whole three months there is an aggregate
falling o ff o f 37,203,000 francs as compared with 1846, and o f 40,544,000 francs as com
pared with 1847. It also appears that while the falling off for the quarter just past o f the
present year is upwards o f forty millions and a half, the falling off for the two previous
quarters was under sixty-two millions. This surely shows no symptoms o f a resumption
o f trade.
The following is a detailed table o f the receipts o f indirect taxes, for the first nine
months o f 1848, as compared with 1847:—
1818.
Designation o f the taxes.
Registration duties, hypotheques, &c.
Stamp duties.........................................
Corn.................................
Miscellaneous g ood s....
Custom-house import duties.
French colonial sugar...
Foreign do.......................
Export duties.........................................................................
Navigation duties..................................................................
Duties and products at customs..........................................
Salt duties within bounds o f customs...............................
Duty on potable liquors........................................................
Salt tax beyond bounds o f customs...................................
T ax on home-made sugar..................................................
Miscellaneous duties............................................................
Produce o f the sale o f tobacco........................ ..................
“
“
gunpowder.................. ..................
“
“
letters, sending o f money, & c ...
“
“
places in the “ malle-poste.” .......
“
“
“
packet-boats..................
{
Total-
Francs.
1847.
Francs.
129,812,000
22.577.000
449.000
41.760.000
15.909.000
5.157.000
1.523.000
1.552.000
1.377.000
34.288.000
65.120.000
8.525.000
15.685.000
21.992.000
86.004.000
4.865.000
37.439.000
1.159.000
911.000
165.916,000
30.297.000
2.776.000
61.679.000
31.836.000
5.320.000
1.478.000
2.138.000
2.129.000
37.064.000
72.700.000
9.260.000
16.398.000
29.345.000
86.440.000
5.175.000
36.788.000
1.540.000
786,000
496,412,000
518,774,000
This shows an aggregate falling o ff on the present year o f 102,362,000 francs. There
is a diminution under every head excepting three, and these are significant. The export
duties have increased to the amount o f 45,000 francs, in consequence o f the vast quan
tity o f property removed from France. The post-office revenue has increased 651,000
francs, in consequence o f the enormous quantity o f newspapers and correspondence o c
casioned by the revolution o f February; and the produce o f places in the packet-boats
has increased, in consequence o f the vast number o f persons who have fled from France.
This species o f improvement will hardly be a matter o f congratulation to the Minister o f
Finances. On the other hand, it will be seen that the import duties have fallen o ff to a
frightful extent. Take, for instance, the duties on French colonial sugars, which have
diminished from 31,836,000 francs to 15,909,000, or rather more than one-half; and the
custom-house duties on miscellaneous merchandise, which have diminished one-third.
T he only article producing a large revenue, upon which there is not a heavy falling off,
is tobacco. It still returns nearly as much as it did in the flourishing times of the mon
archy. Even the misery produced by a revolution does not affect the consumption o f that
66S
Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
pernicious weed. On the contrary, it must have considerably increased, as it has been
ascertained that a large quantity was surreptitiously introduced into France during the
confusion produced by the first days o f the revolution.
T he return o f the direct taxes collected has also been published. The total amount o f
these taxes is— ordinary direct contribulions 4311,437,000 francs, and the 45 centime tax,
191,780,000 francs, making in all 622,217,000 francs. O f this sum, the amount collect
ed up to the 30th o f September was 375,744,000 francs ; so that there remains 246,473,000
francs o f arrears still to be collected, and out o f that sum 65,695,000 francs is o f the 45
centime tax.
REVENU E O F G R E A T B R IT A IN .
AN ABSTRACT OR THE NETT PRODUCE OF THE REVENUE OF GREAT BRITAIN, IN THE YEARS AND
QUARTERS ENDED JULY 5 , 1 8 4 7 AND 1 8 4 8 , SHOWING THE INCREASE OR DECREASE THEREOF.
YEARS ENDED JULY 5.
1847.
1848.
Customs.................................... .
Excise.......................................
Stamps......................................
Taxes........................................
Property tax.............................
Post office.................................
Crown lands.............................
Miscellaneous..........................
£18,792,348
12,733,998
7,201,797
4,325,732
5,491,936
854,000
112,000
307,621
£17,888,988
12,263,233
6,449,108
4,306,703
5,411,253
787,000
71,000
230,201
Total ordinary revenue.......... .
China m oney...........................
Imprest and other m oneys__
Repayment o f advances........
£49,819,432
227,644
208,190
804,843
£47,407,486
455,021
187,408
422,485
Total incom e................... .
Deduct increase.
£51,060,109
£48,472,400
Increase.
Decrease.
£903,360
470,765
752,689
19,029
80,683
67.000
41.000
77,420
£2,411,946
£227,377
20,782
382,358
£227,377
Decrease on the year.
£2,815,086
227,377
£2,587,709
QUARTERS ENDED JULY 5.
1847.
1848.
Increase.
Customs.....................................
Excise.........................................
Stamps........................................
Taxes..........................................
Property tax...............................
Post office...................................
Crown lands..............................
Miscellaneous............................
£4,519,119
3,291,052
1,869,464
2,075,001
1,036,517
215,000
................
7,461
£4,447,832
3,473,803
1,557,640
2,034,133
988,401
136,000
10,000
89,022
Total ordinary revenue............
China m oney.............................
Imprest and other moneys......
Repayment o f advances.........
£13,013,614
................
88,632
137,944
£12,736,831
£274,312
88,805
86,813
173
Total income...................;. £13,240,190
Deduct increase...............'....................................
£12,912,449
£274,485
Decrease.
£71,287
£182,751
\ ..............
311,824
40,868
48,116
79,000
10,000
81,561
£551,095
51,131
Decrease on the quarter.
£602.226
274,485
£327,741
F IN A N C E S OF T H E C R O T O N A Q U E D U C T B O A R D .
The annual report of" the Croton Aqueduct Board shows that the receipts for the year
commencing the 1st May, 1847, and ending the 30th April, 1848, have been $226,551 83,
an increase o f $32,000 49 over the receipts o f the preceding year. The expenditures
for the same period o f time have been $71,565 74, which is $17,162 74 more than the
outlay o f the previous year, but o f the items which contribute to the total o f these expen
669
Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance,
ditures, the large sum o f $34,519 16 has been paid for water pipes and branches. The
line o f pipe laid down in the city has been extended nearly five m iles; the whole length
of pipe with this addition is now about 175 miles. The report for the last quarter com
mencing May 1st and terminating July 31st o f the present year, exhibits receipts amount
ing to $189,917 03, being an increase o f $14,866 98 over the receipts o f the correspond
ing quarter o f the last year. The-expenditures for the same time were $20,310 69, of
which more than half was for new pipes and branches. The opinion is expressed that
the revenue will, in a few years, pay the entire interest on the debt, and, with good man
agement, in time contribute to the discharge o f its principal. The aqueduct, reservoirs,
and lines o f pipe throughout the city, are represented to be in good condition. The enor
mous waste o f the water is complained of, resulting from the practice in some tenements
o f letting it run day and night for the purpose o f purification in summer, and to prevent
its freezing in winter.
T H E W E A L T H OF N E W Y O R K C IT Y .
W e give below a tabular statement o f the relative value o f the real and personal estate
in the city and county o f N ew York, as assessed in 1847 and 1848, as made up at the
Comptroller’s Office, city o f New Y ork, October 6th, 1848:—
Wards.
i .............
2.............
3.............
4.............
5.............
6.............
7.............
8.............
9.............
10.............
11.............
12.............
13.............
14.............
15.............
16...-........
178...........
18.............
Assessments o f 1847.
Real estate.
$28,124,700 00
14,386,850 00
12,112,350 00
7,910,550 00
9,107,050 00
7,299,750 00
10,869,912 00
11,366,250 00
10,158,400 00
6,335,500 00
4,965,600 00
5,914,544 00
4,196,000 00
7,011,400 00
16,563,950 00
8,665,050 00
10,789,900 00
11,537,630 00
T ota l... . $18,7,315,385 00
Assessments o f 1848.
Real estate.
$27,732,350 00
14,547,350 00
12,385,600 00
7,953,220 00
9,425,000 00
7,510,960 00
10,871,205 00
11,436,100 00
10,506,800 00
6,375,400 00
5,249,400 00
6,721,311 00
4,246.050 00
7,000,200 00
17,048,500 00
9,559,159 00
11,100,150 00
13,358,820 00
Personal estate.
$24,677,851 84
1,754,447 46
4,665,739 74
1,188,937 00
1,945,400 00
587,300 00
2,311,522 00
1,687,699 00
1,620,114 20
844,337 00
153,450 00
674.850 00
395,905 73
1,793,127 40
12,373,305 55
473,014 20
2,316,870 00
1,700,580 00
$59,837,917 06 $193,027,576 00
$61,164,451 12
Personal estate.
$24,881,892 00
1,961,371 65
4,544,500 37
1,410,137 00
1,901,354 00
893,250 00
2,635,700 00
2,702,935 90
1,628,605 54
566,250 00
168,700 00
646,850 00
403.389 83
2,029,725 33
9,684,431 20
316,514 20
2,171,930 00
1,290,380 00
Total valuation in county............................................................................. $254,192,027 12
“
water district.............................
243,595,411 12
“
“
lamp
«
..................................................................
247,030,726 12
244,964,686 12
“
“
south o f centre o f Thirty-fourth-street........................
Total increase o f real estate.........................................................................
“
“
personal estate.........................................................
$5,712,190 00
1,326,534 06
Total increase........................................................................................
$7,038,724 06
T A X A T I O N O F IR E LA N D .
It would seem from the following statement, which we find# in W i l m e r
Smith's
T i m e s , that Ireland is one o f the least taxed portions o f the British empire.
Out of
.£52,000,000 levied in the, United Kingdom, scarce £4,500,000 is raised in Ireland, from
a population equal to half the population o f England. The total nett revenue o f Ireland
in 1846 was only £4,333.933, a sum barely more than sufficient to provide the interest o f
the portion o f the national debt assigned to Ireland. Taking the annual revenue in round
numbers o f Ireland at present os £4,600,000, the expenditure as £3,600,000, and the in
terest on debt at £4,200,000, the deficiency is £3,200,000. Ireland, therefore, costs the
British Exchequer at least this sum. Estimating the annual deficiency of Ireland at
£3,000,000 sterling, the cost o f Ireland to England since the union amounts to
£141,000,000.
670
Mercantile Miscellanies.
MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.
T H E L IT E R A T U R E A N D S T A T IS T IC S 'O F COM M ERCE.
[FROM TH E DRY-GOODS REPORTER AND MERCHANTS’ G A ZE T T E .]
D r. J o h n s o n , in writing the preface for a Commercial Dictionary, remarked that there
was no man who was not in some degree a merchant, who had not something to buy and
something to sell, and who did not, therefore, want such instructions as would teach him
the true value o f possessions or commodities. This remark o f the learned Doctor applies
with peculiar force to the citizens o f the United States, the descendants of a people who
were denominated by Napoleon a nation o f Shopkeepers. The description o f ports and
cities may instruct the geographer as well as if they were found in books appropriated to
his own science; and the doctrine o f funds, the laws o f trade, insurance, coinage and
currency, monopolies, exchanges, and duties, is so necessary to the politician, that without
it he can be o f no use either in the council or in the Senate, nor can he think or speak
justly either on war or trade.
A brief notice o f some o f the most celebrated Commercial Dictionaries may here be
referred to as an evidence o f the early attention paid to the literature and statistics o f
Commerce. The G r a n d D ic t io n n a i r e d u C o m m e r c e was published at Paris in 1723, in
two volumes fo lio ; a supplemental volume being added in 1730. This was the first work
o f the kind that appeared in modern Europe, and has furnished the principal part o f the
materials for most o f those by which it has been followed. This work was liberally pa
tronized by the French government. In 1769, the Abbe Morellitt projected a Commercial
Dictionary in six volumes; but for want o f sufficient encouragement but one was ever
completed. Another Commercial Dictionary was published in Paris in 1783, in three
volumes quarto, forming part o f the Encyclopedia xMethodique. The editors borrowed
largely from M. Savary, and added but little to the stock of commercial information col
lected by that laborious statician.
The earliest Commercial Dictionary published in Europe was compiled by Pcstlethwait,
a diligent and indefatigable writer. The first part o f the first edition appeared in 1751.
The last edition, in two enormous folio volumes, was published in 1774. It was little more,
however, than a translation o f the French Dictionary published in 1730. In 1761, R ich
ard Rolt published a similar work in one pretty large volume. McCulloch considers the
preface the best part o f the work, and that was contributed by Dr. Johnson. It is for the
most part an abridgment o f Posilethwait. Thomas Mortimer, at that time consul at the
Netherlands, published a Dictionary o f Commerce in 1766. McCulloch’s Dictionary was
published, we believe, in 1825-30. The first impression o f 2,000 copies was entirely sold
off in less than nine months from the date o f its publication. It has undergone various
modifications, and many additions and alterations have been made, as new editions have
been called for. It is now in general use, and was made, perhaps, at the time o f its pub
lication, the best work o f the kind; but the compiler is far advanced in life, and in the
new editions that have been published has scarcely succeeded in keeping pace with the
progressive developments o f commerce. The best work o f the kind, in our opinion, is the
“ Dictionnaire du Commerce et des Marchandises,” published at Paris in 1837, prepared
by a great number o f competent hands. W e should be glad to see an English translation
o f it, with such emendations as would adapt it particularly to the United States.
Passing from the “ Dictionnaire du Commerce,” the series o f papers prepared and pre
sented to the British Parliament by John Macgregor, by command of Her Majesty, are
worthy o f notice. They bear the general title o f “ Commercial Statistics; a Digest of
the productive resources, commercial legislation, customs, tariffs, navigation, port and
quarantine laws and cha%es, shipping imports and exports, and the moneys, weights, and
measures o f all nations, including all British Commercial Treaties with Foreign States,
collected from authentic records, and consolidated with special reference to British and
foreign products, trade and navigation.” The first two volumes, which were laid before
Parliament in parts, contain about 2,300 pages, and embrace most o f the countries o f Eu
rope, Asia, and Africa. The third part is devoted entirely to the United States, and of
itself occupies a volume o f 1,427 royal octavo pages, equal to one-half the space devoted
to all the parts o f the world included in the two first volumes; a fact showing, we think,
most conclusively, how large a share we hold in the rank o f industrial nations, and we
may add to the abundant materials furnished and sources indicated by that unique period
ical, the “ Merchants’ Magazine and Commercial Review,” which deserves and shall re-
/
Mercantile Miscellanies.
671
ceive, before we have done with the subject, more than a mere passing notice. Indeed,
nearly one-half o f Mr. Macgregor’s large volume pertaining to the United States is de
rived from Hunt.
The importance o f statistical and commercial information can scarcely be too highly
appreciated. There is no man engaged in the pursuits o f active life, no matter what his
profession, who does not frequently feel the need o f some comprehensive book o f refer
ence to which he may look for accurate statistics o f every thing connected with his own
country, and records o f the prominent transactions and commercial progress o f all the
principal nations o f the earth.
But most urgently o f all is this need felt by the merchant, whose property is identified
with the welfare o f the commerce o f the country, and who, from the necessity o f his po
sition, must feel an interest in promoting information on all subjects connected with the
wealth, greatness, and happiness o f the land. The day has long gone by when an igno
rant man can be a successful merchant. As the extent and influence of commercial pur
suits have increased, the necessity for a wider and more thorough mercantile education
has increased also. A mere tact for accumulating dollars and cents, an ingenuity for
over-reaching the honest and unwary, though it may even yet occasionally (though by no
means surely) make a man wealthy, cannot confer upon him the character o f an honora
ble, intelligent merchant. For this a thorough cultivation, a wide knowledge, and a stern
adherence to principle, are o f absolute necessity. The profession now embraces a more
varied knowledge, a more general information o f the soil, climate, and productions o f all
lands, o f the history, political complexion, laws, language, and customs o f the world, than
has ever before been considered necessary. There is every reason why the merchants o f
the United States should especially aim at this nobler development o f mercantile charac
ter. Our commerce, though already most widely extended, is yet in the full vigor o f its
youth, and is rapidly and surely progressing in the field o f its conquests and achievements.
It should not, therefore, be suffered to depend* for its extension and character upon men
o f narrow minds and o f limited intelligence; but all engaged in its multifarious pursuits
should aim to make themselves familiar with its principles, with the laws which govern its
development, with the provisions o f law for its security, with the extent o f its relations,
and all the facts in any way connected with its operations. A great portion o f the Civil
Law is framed with a distinct reference to the interests o f commerce, and in a thousand
ways it continually connects itself with other departments o f human industry.
W e come now to speak o f a work in our own country o f equal excellence, in a scien
tific point o f view, with either o f ihe works alluded to in the former part o f this article;
and as a practical exposition o f the doings o f the commercial world and statistics con
stantly changing with the growth and change o f cities and countries, it is evidently supe
rior. Even on topics where the statements must be more or less permanent, the articles
in the compilations o f McCulloch and Macgregor will not be found more com plete; but,
in respect to the current transactions o f commerce, and the multitude o f new facts coming
to our knowledge, the “ M e r c h a n t s ’ M a g a z in e ,” the several volumes o f which we have
been perusing with great interest, is the most useful o f the three. The Merchants’ M a
gazine was, we understand, projected in 1838, but the first number did not make its ap
pearance until July, 1839. The idea was, as we have been informed, suggested to the
mind o f Mr. Hunt by the fact that there were in existence at that time, magazines or
journals devoted to the interests o f farmers, mechanics, lawyers, medical men, and almost
every art and science. The suggestion thus presented was very natural, and it is matter
o f surprise to many that it had occurred to no one before. It has now been extended to
eighteen semi-annual volumes, each embracing about six hundred closely printed octavo
pages, and it has been uniformly sustained with promptitude, and the papers marked with
more than ordinary ability. During the period when it was commenced, such a 'work in
this country was peculiarly required. Although the development of the various physical
interests o f the country had been almost unexampled, the precise character and amount
o f the interests were but partially known. It is true that occasional acts had been passed
by the national and some o f our State legislatures, particularly N ew York and Massachu
setts, for the purpose o f collecting the statistics o f different branches o f industry and pro
duction, and documents had occasionally been published, under their authority, embodying
information respecting our commercial relations, but the statistical matter thus collected
was not comprehensive, nor always correct, and it was, moreover, necessarily fragmentary
in its character. Such English statistical works as McCulloch, & c., treated but slightly
o f our commerce, and by no means supplied the deficiency, because o f the limited circu
lation to which they had attained, their republication among us not having been com
menced, to say nothing o f their being less satisfactory on our country than upon the coun
tries o f Europe, or o f the disadvantages o f their statements being constantly rendered
672
Mercantile Miscellanies.
somewhat obsolete by current changes. The Merchants’ Magazine was started for the
express purpose o f furnishing to the merchants throughout the United States a work which
should present to them, conveniently arranged and carefully digested, all the information
upon commerce and the various departments connected more or less directly with it which
their position and profession demanded. It addressed itself to the labor o f reviewing the
progress o f commercial history, and exhibiting in a classified form the existing facts con
nected with the subject which lay scattered in a confused mass, or buried amid the rubbish
o f official papers throughout the various parts o f the Union, as well as abroad. This the
Merchants’ Magazine has done in a manner we feel warranted in pronouncing far superior
to anything o f the kind ever published in this country or Europe.
T he success which has attended its publication in this respect has been all that its warm
est friends could desire. Prior to the establishment o f this Magazine, the merchants of
the nation, if they found it necessary to consult records bearing upon their interests, were
obliged to have recourse either to the necessarily ephemeral productions o f the day, or to
Congressional and Parliamentary speeches and documents from time to time, from the
absence o f any permanent journal embracing that particular and wide range o f topics. It
contains all the details and matter in any way bearing upon the commerce and resources
o f the country and the world, and constitutes for the merchant, political economist, and
statesman, a permanent record to which they can severally resort for the information most
required. It has been encouraged by a satisfactory measure o f the public confidence, which
it has, beyond question, deserved. In looking over the volumes we have been surprised
to see the great number and importance o f the topics which, somewhere in its course, it
has embraced. The classification o f the various departments o f the Merchants’ Maga
zin e is adapted to embrace the most interesting information in the most convenient and
accessible form, so that the enquirer may find, in the several departments, conveniently
arranged for present and future reference, whatever may be sought regarding the subjects
o f which they treat. Each monthly issue has contained several elaborate papers, inclu
ding historical, descriptive, or argumentative sketches o f some important topic connected
with commercial literature or law. Many o f these papers have been contributed by able
writers in various parts o f the country. They refer to subjects not only o f immediate and
practical, but o f permanent interest— a department o f literature which, although it bears
most directly upon the pecuniary prosperity, and even subsistence o f men, has been much
neglected in the search after that which appeals merely to the taste and imagination.
Most o f the topics have been heretofore discussed only in the Halls o f Legislation; and it
is somewhat singular that, notwithstanding we have attained to the rank of the second
commercial and industrial power upon the globe, there was no work extant illustrating
the multiform operations, or exhibiting a history o f the causes and consequences bearing
upon the commercial interests.
Succeeding the department in the Merchants’ Magazine embracing the more elaborate
articles, is that which includes the Mercantile Law Cases. This is one o f great value,
not only to the merchant, but to the. legal profession, particularly in commercial cities,
where the connection between the merchant and the lawyer is so intimate. Not that the
merchant, who looks at law cases thus recorded, is necessarily to become his own lawyer,
or consider himself competent to depend upon his own judgment in the exercise o f all his
commercial transactions. Still,'the record is valuable, as far as it extends, in informing
him respecting recent decisions which have been made upon topics relating to the evervarying exigencies o f trade and commercial operations. They are a guide to the merchant
in a similar train o f circumstances which may occur in his own case.
The Commercial Chronicle and Review, embracing a financial review o f the United
States, and, indeed, o f Europe, illustrated with tabular statements, comprises a most in
teresting and compendious digest o f the various causes which have borne upon the state
o f trade during the previous month, the probable changes which are to take place in the
commercial world, and all those facts o f a practical character bearing upon the state o f
the markets at home and abroad. This may be considered practically as constituting one
o f the most important features o f Hunt’s Magazine.
The department especially occupied by Commercial Statistics embraces a great variety
o f tabular statements touching the various topics within the scope of the Merchants’ Mag
azine, relating to the various countries with which we have commercial intercourse, prices
current, the production and consumption o f merchandise, and all those other facts which
tend to exhibit the trade and commerce o f our own and other countries. Succeeding this
is another department embodying an account o f Commercial Regulations o f all nations,
including treaties o f commerce and navigation, tariffs o f imports and exports, port charges,
and all other matters pertaining to this important branch o f commercial legislation. A n
other department o f the Magazine is devoted to Nautical Intelligence, in which are re
Mercantile Miscellanies.
673
corded all discoveries upon the ocean, the establishment o f new light-houses, and similar
facts bearing materially upon the interests o f navigation. There is, also, a department
devoted to Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics; another to Manufa Tures and Mi
ning; another to Finance, Banking, and Currency, and another to Merc mtile Miscella
nies. This classification o f subjects is regularly preserved in each monthly issue, and the
information on all these subjects fresh and full.
The general character o f the Merchants’ Magazine is broad and liberal; avoiding every
thing o f a partizan or sectional tendency, and aiming at the diffusion o f accurate and use
ful commercial information o f every species within the very comprehensive range o f its
plan. The success that has marked its progress, as well as the reputation it has acquired
at home and abroad, must be gratifying to its proprietor. It has been frequently quoted in
the public documents emanating from the various departments o f the American govern
ment ; referred to in ouf courts o f law ; and is regularly taken by the British Board of
Trade, the French Administration o f Commerce, and regarded by them all as authority
o f undoubted correctness and entitled to the utmost confidence. By other governments
o f Europe it is treated with the same respect, and its rank, as an authority o f the highest
character in all matters relating to statistics, may be deemed permanently setiled. The
establishment o f two works, one in London, and another at New Orleans, ostensibly on a
similar basis, during the last year or two, though by no means comparable with this, af
fords pretty good evidence o f the popularity of the plan.
But time and space admonish us to close; which, however, we cannot do without re
commending the work to the attention o f every merchant, who has any taste for the theory
and details o f his profession, and who aspires to be something more than a mere shopman
or a mere book-keeper. The perusal o f works like this— and we are glad to see that the
theory o f commerce is beginning to attract some attention among us— is calculated, far
more than anything else, to give to our merchants that comprehensiveness o f view and
vigor o f judgment in which can alone be found any security against those seasons o f wild
speculation with which we are now periodically visited, and which, after a year or two of
apparent prosperity, overwhelm the country with long seasons o f suffering and distress.
B O ST O N M E R C A N T IL E L IB R A R Y A S S O C IA T IO N .
The anniversary o f this Association was celebrated on Wednesday evening, November
15th, by an address from the Hon. D a n ie l W e b s t e r , and a poem by J a m e s T . F ie l d s ,
E9q. The great hall o f the Tremont Temple was filled from floor to ceiling on the oc
casion, by the largest and most brilliant audience ever crammed into it. All the magnates
o f the city and the adjoining towns were present. There, on the platform (not the Buf
falo and Baltimore one) were the prominent politicians in the late political contest. There
was Robert C. Winthrop, looking Boston Atlases at the audience, and there, a few feet
from him, was his rival for Congressional honors, Charles Sumner, looking Boston Repub
licans. Governor Briggs was thdre, not exactly certain whether he was elected by the
people, or to be elected by the legislature, but as smiling, as collarless, as compact, and as
resigned as ever. There was President Everett, the incarnation of the spirit of all the
world’s universities, calm, cool, classic, with that indescribable sadness in his countenance,
which makes his face linger longer in the memory than that o f any other man, except, it
may be, Choate. There was Mayor Quincy, smooth, clear, and white, as his own Long
Pond water ; and there was his father, Josiah Quincy, the representative o f a past age,
though seemingly as active as the most bustling man o f the present. There, also, were
the “ merchant princes” o f Boston, with faces full o f benevolence and pockets full of
money, every wrinkle and white hair a hieroglyphic o f a prosperous adventure,— men who
have given away more money than most traders have ever made. And there was Oliver
Wendell Holmes, with a face expressing every mood and alteration o f his infinitely sensi
tive intellect, always charged with the electric fluid, always keen and sparkling, always
over-informed and running over with mind. In short, to use the expression o f a gentle
man, the pertinence o f whose remark must excuse its inelegance, “ There was more brain
and ‘ tin * on that platform, than ever he see.”
W hen Mr. Webster appeared, the pent up voices o f the audience exploded in a series
o f earthquake cheers. The subject o f his address was the history o f the formation o f the
Constitution. The rigid logic, the close analysis, the firm hold upon principles, the rigor
ous method o f the great expounder, were more displayed than his power of impassioned
argumentation, or his power o f fierce, sharp, overwhelming declamation. He was evi
dently suffering from recent illness, and only occasionally were heard the deep, or the
high and ringing tones o f his almost matchless voice. It is a curious peculiarity o f Mr.
Webster, that he can only be excited by his subject, never by his audience. There is no
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X I X .----- N O .
V I.
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074
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other living orator who would not have seized the occasion o f Wednesday evening for
making a display, and straining his faculties to the utmost to charm and dazzle his vast
audience. As it was, with the exception o f a passage on the importance o f the Union,
and another on the revolutions o f Europe, there was little in the address to impress-his
hearers with the fact that the greatest man living was speaking. With the majority, it
probably passed as a good historical lecture, which any person of talent and education
might have written. The sagacity and sureness with which the vital points were seized,
and the luminous style in which they were presented,— everything, in short, which indi
cated strength and comprehension o f understanding in sifting out the leading ideas from
the vast mass o f documents which the address covered,— could not be appreciated. It
was curious, however, to notice the stillness and almost breathless attention o f the audi
ence, and the eagerness with which they seemed to wrait for the burst o f eloquence which
was to lift them from their feet. But alas! “ man never is but always is to b e” — the
proverb is somewhat musty.
After the address followed a poem, racy and polished, full of sparkling points, yet with
a broad basis o f truth, and o f a singular unity o f design— by James T . Fields, a gentle
man whose fine and fertile genius too seldom find public expression. His subject was the
Post o f Honor, and he illustrated a happily chosen theme with marked originality, beauty,
and brilliancy. Avoiding somewhat the beaten track, and neglecting comparatively the
more dazzling lights o f fame, he penetrated, with a fancy lithe, vigorous, and teeming
with invention, into untrodden ways, and elicited the fine essence of honor which lies in
humbler life. The poem was veined with a kindly satire, and surrounded with a genial
warmth o f humor ; and both in bright, flashing, and palpable wit, and in sly, demure, elu
sive strokes and allusions— which just peeped out for a moment from the text, and were
then as immediately withdrawn— it was eminently successful in giving the poetry o f the
ludicrous. The allusions to Lamb, Gray, and the Sisters o f Charity, were touches of
genuine pathos, as those to Nelson, Lawrence, and Jerome, were o f energetic and im
passioned expression. The diction was full o f apt and expressive words, original verbal
combinations, and felicitous epithets; and in managing the heroic couplet, Mr. Fields
made it flexible to every variation in thought and sentiment, and finely harmonious
throughout. The poem was delivered with force and elegance, and won upon the in
creasing attention o f a delighted and enthusiastic audience. It closed with a magnificent
tribute to Webster, every couplet o f which was loudly applauded; and at the end three
cheers were given for Webster, three for the poet— and as the audience were in the vein
— some person who had not extinguished the political fires lighted up in the late campaign,
suggested three for “ Old Zack,” which were partially given .— L i t e r a r y W o r l d .
T H E S T U R G E O N : IT S C O M M E R C IA L V A LU E .
W e give below the substance o f a lecture recently delivered by Professor B. Jaeger,
which will perhaps serve to direct the attention o f enterprising men to this important
branch o f commerce:—
Among the great varieties o f the natural productions o f the United States are many
which could considerably increase the wealth o f the nation, but which have until now
entirely escaped the attention o f the mercantile world. It is indeed singular that we neg
lect to make use o f an article which we have in abundance before our eyes, and by the
commerce o f which other nations gain millions every year.
I speak here o f the Sturgeon, a fish o f large size, which enters our rivers in numberless
quantities, like shad and herring, as in the Potomac, Delaware, Hudson, and above all,
the Kennebec, and o f which very little use is made in this country.
This fish is found not only in North America but also in the rivers which empty into
the Black and Caspian Seas, as well as in the Oby and other streams o f Siberia.
The principal Sturgeon fisheries are, without doubt, those on the Volga, near Astracan,
and those on the Don, which are carried on chiefly by the Cossacks of that country, who
find their occupation much more lucrative than agriculture, which they neglect entirely,
in spite o f the very fertile soil o f their lands.
This fish forms an important object o f fishery and commerce to many nations, as well
for its flesh as for the caviar, prepared from its roe, and the isinglass from its swimming
bladder. The city o f Astracan exports every year several thousand tons of pickled Stur
geon and caviar for consumption in the Russian Empire, and Odessa much larger quanti
ties for Greece, Italy, France, and the other parts o f Europe.
The Sturgeon ascends the rivers sometimes four hundred miles from their mouth. Its
length is generally eight feet, and its weight over two hundred pounds, but it is sometimes
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675
the case that some.are found which weigh five hundred pounds, and in Norway one was
caught which weighed one thousand pounds. When the catching o f the Sturgeons on
the Oby, the Volga, Jaik, and Don begins, there arrive at those places from the remotest
parts o f the Russian Empire a considerable number o f merchants, who purchase the fish
and prepare them for transportation. The average price o f one fish, without the roe and
swimming bladder, is generally $ 4 . A large one which weighs over two hundred pounds
is sold at from $ 4 to $ 6 , and contains forty pounds caviar, or prepared roe, which is sold
for $ 1 50.
The flesh is fat, very palatable, and much better in the summer, after the fish has been
‘ some time in fresh water. That which is not eaten fresh is cut into large slices, salted,
peppered, broiled, and put in barrels, where it is preserved in vinegar, and fit for transport.
A considerable quantity o f their flesh is smoked. The wholesale price o f pickled Stur
geon is from $ 6 to $ 1 2 a hundred weight. T he caviar is prepared in three different man
ners, namely:—
1. T w o pounds o f salt are added to forty pounds o f roe, and dried upon mats in the
sun. The price o f forty pounds is $1 .
2. Eight-tenths o f a pound o f -Salt are mixed with forty pounds o f roe, then dried upon
nets or sieves, and pressed into barrels. This is sold for a little more.
3. The best caviar is that when the roe is put into sacks made o f tow cloth, and left
for some time, in a strong pickle. These sacks are then suspended in order to let the salt,
watery substance run off, and finally squeezed, after which the roe is dried during twelve
hours and pressed into barrels. This roe, o f which forty pounds are sold for $ 1 50 at the
place, is that which is sent all over Asia and Europe as a considerable article o f commerce,
and known by the name of'Caviar, and is eaten with bread like cheese.
Another very profitable part o f the Sturgeon is the swimming bladder, o f which isin
glass is made. For this purpose it is cut open, washed, and the silvery glutinous skin ex
posed to the air for some hours, by which process it can easily be separated from the ex
ternal skin, which is o f no use. This glutinous skin is placed between wet cloths, and"
shortly after each piece is rolled up and fastened in a serpentine form on a board; after
they are partly dry they are hung up on strings in a shady place.
This valuable and extensive article o f commerce is the isinglass o f our shops, and it is
sold the're for about $ 5 0 a hundred weight.
There is made isinglass also from the swimming bladder o f the catfish, and o f some
others, but as this is very inferior to that from the Sturgeon, it brings scarcely $ 1 0 a hun
dred weight.
The Sturgeon is found in immense quantities in the United States and North America,
from Virginia up to the highest habitable northern latitudes, where they ascend the rivers
from 300 to 500 miles up. The Potomac, Delaware, Hudson, and principally the Ken
nebec, as well as many other rivers, contain such a quantity o f Sturgeons, that from those
rivers alone, without counting those farther north o f Maine, according to my calculation,
the annual export o f pickled Sturgeon, caviar, and isinglass alone, would be worth nearly
half a million o f dollars. Pickled Sturgeon and caviar is a favorite food o f the descend
ants o f Spain and Portugal in South America, as well as o f the inhabitants o f the W est
India Islands, principally during L e n t; and isinglass would be an article o f home con
sumption as well as for the European market.
But the Sturgeon is not a very favorite dish in our country ; it brings scarcely five cents
•a pound in the market, and the roe and swimming bladder are always thrown away. Our
fishermen are, therefore, not much encouraged in catching those fishes, though, according
to careful observations, from 30,000 to 40,000 Sturgeons could be annually caught in the
rivers o f the United States.
There are found two species o f Sturgeons in our rivers, namely: 1st. The round nosed
Sturgeon, which is generally eight feet or more long, and weighs over two hundred pounds.
2d. The sharp nosed Sturgeon, which is seldom more than five feet long, and weighs about
one hundred and fifty pounds, or more.
The Sturgeon was highly appreciated by the ancient Romans and Greeks. It was the
principal dish at all great dinner parties, and Cicero reproached epicures on account o f
their spending so much money for this fish. Pliny says that this fish was served at the
most sumptuous tables, and always carried by servants crowned with garlands of flowers,
and accompanied by a band o f musicians. A nd even at this time one pound o f fresh
Sturgeon cost $ 4 in Rome, where this fish is very rare.
I leave this subject to the judgment o f our intelligent merchants, to profit by an oppor
tunity to increase their own wealth and that o f the community, by introducing this new
article o f commerce.
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676
T H E SHIP C A N A L FROM TH E A T L A N T IC T O T H E PACIFIC.
BY FRANCIS LIEBER.
jin Ode to the American People and their Congress, on reading the M essage o f the United States
President in December, 1847.
R e n d America asunder
And unite the Binding Sea
That emboldens Man and tempers—
Make the ocean free.
Break the bolt which bars the passage,
That our River richly pours
Western wealth to western nations;
Let that sea be ours—
Ours by all the hardy whalers,
By the pointing Oregon,
By the west impelled and working
Unthralled Saxon son.
Long indeed they have been wooing,
The Pacific and his bride;
N ow ’tis time for holy wedding—
Join them by the tide.
Have the snowy surfs not struggled
Many centuries in vain.
That their lips might seal the union 7
L ock them Main to Main.
W hen the mighty God o f nature
Made his favored continent,
He allowed it yet unsevered,
That a race be sent,
Able, mindful o f his purpose,
Prone to people, to subdue,
And to bind the lands with iron,
Or to force them through.
W hat the prophet-navigntor,
Seeking straits to his Catais,
But began, now consummate it—
Make the strait and pass.
Blessed eyes, that shall behold it,
W hen the pointing boom shall veer,
Leading through the parted Andes,
W h ile the nations cheer!
There at Suez, Europe’ s mattock
Cuts the briny road with skill,
And must Darien bid defiance
T o the pilot still"?
Do w e breathe this breath o f knowledge
Purely to enjoy its zest ?
Shall the iron arm o f science
Like a sluggard rest ?
Up then, at i t ! earnest People!
Bravely wrought thy scorning blade,
But there’s fresher fame in store yet,
Glory for the spade.
W h at w e want is naught in envy,
But for all we pioneer;
Let the keels o f every nation
Through the isthmus steer.
Must the globe be always girded
Ere we get to Bramah’ s priest'?
Take the tissues o f your Lowells
Westward to the East.
Ye, that vanquish pain and distance,
Ye, enmeshing Tim e with wire,
Court ye patiently forever
Y on antartic ire 1
Shall the mariner forever
Double the impeding capes,
W hile his longsome and retracing
Needless course he shapes 1
W hat was daring for our fathers,
T o defy those billows fierce,
Is but tame for their descendants;
W e are bid to pierce.
W e that fight with printing armies,
Settle sons on forlorn track
As the Romans flung their eagles,
But to win them back ;
W ho, undoubting, worship boldness,
And, if baffled, bolder rise,
Should we lag when Grandeur beckons
T o this good enterprise 1
Let the vastness not appal u s;
Greatness is thy destiny ;
Let the doubters not recall us;
Venture suits the free.
Like a seer, I see her throning,
W inland, strong in f-eed&n’s health,
W arding peace on both the waters,
W idest C om m onw ealth Crowned with wreaths that, still grow greener,
Guerdon for untiring pain,
For the wise, the stout and steadfast:
Rend the land in twain !
Cleave America asunder,
This is worthy work for th ee;
Hark ! T he seas roll up imploring—
“ Make the ocean free.”
T H E T H IE F A N D T H E D E F A U L T E R .
Stealing a loaf o f bread or a string o f onions, is called p e t i t l a r c e n y ; but the defaulter,
or fraudulent official, in starched collar and broadcloth coat, who makes away with fifty,
seventy-five, or an hundred thousand dollars o f other people’s hard earnings and hard
dollars, is politely adjudged to be simply guilty o f a p e c c a d i l l o ! T he former is locked
Mercantile Miscellanies.
677
up in jail, and the latter is admitted to a free and easy bail. T he one is hustled out of
the way as a graceless thief, but the other escapes punishment generally, by the liberal
use o f the money he has filched from those who put their trust in him. The ragged
and penniless wretch who steals a shilling’s worth o f food, stands no chance at all of
escape; but your well dressed and respectably connected scamp, whose purse is as heavy
as his conscience is elastic, has nine chances out o f every ten in his favor, and seldom
fails, even when closely pressed and warmly hugged, to wire out somewhere, escape con
viction and justice, and run his face for such loose sympathy as the world may have at
its disposal, for such as are deserving only o f condemnation for gross dishonesty.
M E R C H A N T PRIN CES.
The Sunday
Atlas
is introducing into its Portrait Gallery a miscellaneous collection of
notabilities. The last number contains a well-engraved head o f Joseph McMurray, Esq.,
with the following sketch o f his life:—
“ A native o f the Emerald Isle, he left the land o f his birth to become an adventurer
in the western world, and many years ago selected New York as the field o f his future
enterprise. After successfully battling with the obstacles and difficulties which always
beset the path o f a young stranger in a crowded mart, he ultimately became connected
with a shipping agency and commission establishment, in which he gave proof o f an ap
titude for business that at once rendered him a favorite with all that he had transactions
with. Prompt, faithful, industrious, courteous, and obliging, he rapidly ingratiated him
self into the confidence and esteem o f all classes o f m en ; and when, at length, he be
came established in the business he now pursues, favors poured in upon him so plentifully,
as to lay a solid and substantial foundation for the exalted position he has since attained.
“ Never losing sight o f his humble origin, or forgetting the thorny path he had to tread
on entering the threshold o f mercantile life, he has ever been ready to lend a helping hand
to the deserving ; and, in his intercourse with the most indigent and obscure, is as affable
and kind as with persons o f more fortunate condition and elevated rank. Charitable,
without being ostentatious ; philanthropic, without pretension ; scrupulously correct in all
his dealings; o f irreproachable uprightness and integrity, as a merchant; o f warm and
generous feelings, as a man ; endowed with a fine personal appearance, and a herculean
frame ; and with the most pleasing and agreeable social qualities, it is not surprising that
he should be generally beloved, and an universal favorite wherever he is known. I f he
were a politician, and desirous o f political distinction, we doubt not he could, with much
facility, gratify his most ambitious aims; but he is content to remain in the sphere he now
occupies— o f advantage to himself and usefulness to others. W e are glad to add to our
gallery the portrait o f such a man, and we are certain that our readers will thank us for
the selection.”
L E C T U R E S ON B R IT IS H E M IG R A T IO N .
Mr. J. C. Byrne, (author o f “ Twelve Years’ Wanderings in the British Colonies,” and
many other works on emigration,) recently delivered a course o f two lectures on emigra
tion in London. The lecturer, after some general comments upon the magnitude o f Great
Britain’s colonial empire, and the advantageous outlet thereby afforded her for her redun
dant home population, asserted it as his opinion that no comprehensive national system of
colonization could be effectively carried out which did not embrace these two great points,
viz: the application o f colonial waste lands as premiums to emigrants; and the bestowment o f representative institutions upon them to enable them to govern themselves, instead
o f being subjected to the fatal incubus o f centralization.
T H E H O N E S T B O Y A SU CCESSFU L M E R C H A N T .
That “ honesty is the best policy,” was illustrated, some years since, under the follow
ing circumstances. A lad was proceeding to an uncle’s, to petition him for aid for a sick
sister and her children, when he found a wallet containing fifty dollars. The aid was re
fused, and the distressed family were pinched for want. The boy revealed the fortune to
his mother, but expressed a doubt about using any portion o f the money. His mother con
firmed the good resolution— the pocket-book was advertised, and the owner found. Being
a man o f wealth, upon learning the history o f the family, he presented the fifty dollars to
the sick mother, and took the hoy into his service, and he is now one o f the most suc
cessful merchants. Honesty always brings its reward— to the mind if not to the pccket.
678
Mercantile Miscellanies.
“ N A T U R E A N D USES O F M O N E Y .”
.
'
W e have been favored by the author with a series o f Lectures on this subject. They
were “ delivered before the members o f the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution during
the months o f February and March, 1848, by John Grey, author o f the ‘ Social System,
a Treatise on the Principle o f Exchange.’ ”
The work covers three hundred and forty-four
pages, octavo. The author has distributed twelve hundred copies gratuitously, as follows :
T o Prince Albert, 1 ; select members o f the House o f Peers, 4 0 ; members o f the House
o f Commons, 65 0; London daily papers, 1 0 ; London weekly papers, 5 0 ; English coun
try papers, 2 2 4 ; Scottish papers, 5 8 ; Irish papers, 7 8 ; Welsh papers, 1 0 ; Channel Isl
and papers, 1 4 ; French papers, 12; monthly periodicals, 1 8 ; quarterly periodicals, 10 ;
miscellaneous, 2 5 ; total, 1200.
Mr. Grey, the author, offers “ a premium of one hundred
guineas to whomsoever may be able to refute its contents.” W e have not yet found time
to examine the work, but shall refer to it in a future number o f the Merchants’ Magazine.
It bears the imprint “ Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, Booksellers to the Queen,
L ondon: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longman.”
T H E N E W E N G L IS H L A W OF B A N K R U P T C Y .
The new act o f Parliament, to empower the Commissioners o f the Court o f Bank
ruptcy to order the release o f bankrupts from prison in certain cases, which took effect on
the 31st ult., has just been printed, 11 and 12 Viet., cap. 86. By this act it is provided,
that where any person has been adjudged bankrupt, and has surrendered to the fiat and
obtained his protection from arrest pursuant to the practice in bankruptcy, if such person
shall be in prison at the time o f his obtaining such protection, any commissioner acting
under such fiat may order his immediate release, either absolutely or upon such condition
as such commissioner shall think fit, which release is not to affect the rights o f creditors
detaining him in prison. The second clause is a very important one, namely, “ A n d b e
it e n a c t e d , that if any bankrupt, whose last examination shall have been adjourned s i n e
d i e , or whose certificate shall have been suspended or refused, shall be in execution or be
taken in execution under a c a p i a s a d s a t i s f a c i e n d u m , at the suit o f any creditor who
might have proved under the fiat, and detained in prison, any commissioner acting under
his fiat may order his release after he shall have undergone such term o f imprisonment
not exceeding two years, as to such commissioner may seem a sufficient punishment for
such offence as he may appear to such commissioner to have been guilty of.”
D O L L A R S A N D C E N T S , SH IL L IN G S A N D P E N C E .
Some o f the principal dealers in breadstuff's, says the J o u r n a l o f C o m m e r c e , are agree
ing with each other to sell only for dollars and cents, and leave shillings and pence to
small grocers and market women, who make a part o f their profits by retaining the frac
tions in giving change. It is rather remarkable that such an awkward mode o f computa
tion as the old continental, and varying so much in different parts of the country, should
have held so long and strong a competition with the uniform and simple method which
the federal currency offers. A n Englishman bought some flour the other day at five dol
lars three and sixpence a barrel; and after much tabor with paper and pencil, figured out
the price at what he thought the very odd sum o f five dollars forty-three and three-quarter
cents. His correspondents on the other side will think that he drove a close bargain. A
day or two ago a New Bedford captain contracted to take some flour there at a shilling a
barrel freight. The flour was sent down, and the bills o f lading made out, and then arose
t!io mighty question o f what a shilling is. In a N ew York merchant’s store it is 12$
cents, but on board a Yankee coaster it is 16§.
IM P O R T A T IO N O F R U M IN E N G L A N D .
Arrivals o f rum are now taking place from foreign parts at the port o f Dublin’, it being
comparatively a new branch o f import trade at the Irish metropolis, which has taken place
since the reduction o f duty upon the article. This is no doubt caused in an important
degree by the act last passed, altering the duties on foreign and colonial rums and shrubs,
by which the amount o f duty levied on those articles when imported direct into Ireland is
very considerably less than when imported into the other portion o f the United Kingdom.
679
The Book Trade.
THE BOOK TRADE.
1.
—
History
of
the P r e s e n t
,
(R i v e r s ,
Congress
nal Improvements
Time;
Biographical a n d
Harbors,
Political:
etc.) f r o m
the
comprising a
Foundation of
e m b r a c i n g also His t o r i c a l N o t i c e s o f
various
History of Inter
the G o v e r n m e n t
to
political e v e n t s —
of
o f the T e a a n d
Coffee T a x ;
together w i t h Bi o g r a p h i e s,
, etc. By H e n r y G. W h e e l e r . Illustrated with steel portraits and
Fac.Simile Autographs. Vol. II. 8vo., pp. 563. N ew Y ork: Harper & Brothers.
The second volume o f this important work, though not more interesting than that which
preceded it, will be found more valuable to the statesman and politician, as it embodies a
complete history o f internal improvements in the States and Territories o f the United
States from the earliest to the present time. Besides, recent occurrences, legislative and
political, have imparted to the subject a higher degree o f importance than has probably
ever before attached to it. The public mind is directed towards it with an earnestness
which has had no parallel in any former period, thus indicating in the clearest manner the
serious and permanent character o f the interest it has created. W e are not, therefore,
surprised that Mr. Wheeler, impressed with the vast importance o f the subject, has devoted
so large a part o f this volume (three-fourths) to its consideration or history. With a per
fect familiarity, and free access to all the sources o f information, he has succeeded in gath
ering up the facts and documents, weaving together or grouping them in a clear and con
nected whole, thus forming a concise but full and comprehensive historical view o f the
whole subject, including the votes, reports, and indeed the entire action o f Congress, as
well as the resolutions o f the several conventions that have from time to time discussed
the subject. The opinions o f all our statesmen, from Washington down to James K. Polk,
are very properly included. W e shall refer to this work again; in the meantime, we
heartily commend it to all who desire to become familiar with the subject.
2. — T h e T h o u s a n d a n d O n e N i g h t s ; o r t h e A r a b i a n N i g h t s ' 1 E n t e r t a i n m e n t s . 2 vols.
8vo., pp. 586 and 569. New Y ork: Harper & Brothers.
Ocean
Steam Navigation—
Personal Histories
This old favorite o f our own and o f everybody’s childhood and youth, appears not only
in the admirable translation o f E. W . Lane, but in an elegant typographical dress, embel
lished with six hundred wood-cuts that “ are wood-cuts,” by Harvey, and an illuminated
title-page. It is, in fine, the most perfect and artistically beautiful edition of the work that
has been produced in this country, designed, we presume, by the publishers'as a gift book
for the approaching Christmas and N ew Y e a r; and as such we cordially commend it to
all who indulge in the luxury o f distributing their favors on these interesting occasions.
3.
— P o e m s : b y W i l l i a m C o w p e r . With a Biographical and Critical Introduction, by
the Rev. T h o m a s D a l e ; and seventy-five illustrations, engraved by J o h n S. and T u d o r
H o r t o n , from drawings by J o h n G i l b e r t . 2 vols. 8vo., pp. 342 and 344. New Y ork:
Harper & Brothers.
O f Cowper it has been well and recently said, that so far from having experienced the
slightest abatement, in consequence o f the increased number o f competitors in the wide
field o f ethical and didactic verse, his popularity is rather on the increase, for it is founded
on the most enduring basis— the union o f Christian morals with the most animated poetry.
T he present edition o f his poems is beautifully illustrated with engravings in the best style
o f the art, and altogether forms the richest and most attractive edition that has yet been
produced in the United States.
4. — H i s t o r y o f M a r y , Q u e e n o f S c o t s . By J a c o b A b b o t t . With Engravings. 16mo.
New Y ork : Harper &. Brothers.
The present history o f Mary, Queen o f Scots, was written for the two among the twenty
millions o f people in the United States, “ between the ages o f fifteen and twenty-five, who
wish to become acquainted in general with the leading events in the history of the Old
W orld.” Few persons have enjoyed a better opportunity than the author o f becoming
acquainted with the position and the intellectual wants o f those whom he addresses.
5.
— T h r e e S i s t e r s a n d T h r e e F o r t u n e s ; o r R o s e , B l a n c h e , a n d Vi o l e t .
By G. H.
L e w i s , Esq., author o f “ Ranthorpe,” “ A Biographical History o f Philosophy,” etc.
8vo., pp. 163. N ew Y o rk : Harpers’ Library o f Select Novels.
This story is not shaped to suit a purpose by falsifying human nature, or coercing it
within the sharply defined limits o f some small dogma. The great lesson, however, which
his intensely interesting story teaches is, that “ Will is the central force which gives strength
and greatness to character.”
680
6 .—
The Book Trade.
The
and
A r c h i t e c t , a series
o f O r i g i n a l D e s i g n s for D o m e s t i c a n d O r n a m e n t a l C o t t a g e s
Villas, c o nnected w i t h L a n d s c a p e
lustrated
by
original
tions a n d
Details.
drawings of
Vol. I.
By W
Gardening,
Ground
il l ia m
adapted
to t h e
U n i t e d States;
Plots, P l a n s , P erspective
H. R a n l e t t .
il
Views, Eleva
New Y ork : Dewitt & D a
venport.
W e have, in several former numbers o f our journal, taken occasion to notice the parts
o f this important architectural work as they appeared. Our opinion o f its merits have
been so frequently expressed, that it would seem almost unnecessary to refer to it in this
place. But the completion of'a large and beautiful quarto volume, combining the several
parts which have been issued at intervals, seems to offer another opportunity to express
more decidedly and understandingly our appreciation o f the labors of Mr. Ranlett in this
elegant'and useful department o f art. In no work heretofore published have we been able
to discover so rare a collection o f architectural specimens o f buildings, designed for “ all
sorts and conditions o f men,” at least all who possess the smallest degree o f taste for the
Beautiful in things material. There is surely no individual of a correct Natural, or a re
fined and cultivated taste, who could fail to find in Mr. Ranlett’s series o f designs a rural
residence in a palace, villa, or cottage, in accordance with the highest ideal o f his refined
or most fastidious condition. On the whole, we do not hesitate to commend it to all
who contemplate building a residence in any part o f our beautiful and picturesque coun
try, as they will not only find in this work complete and appropriate designs, but accurate
estimates o f the cost o f materials, labor, and all “ requisite and necessary specifications.”
The numbers o f a second volume are passing through the press, and when completed, will,
in connection with the present volume, form the most extensive as well as the most splen
did architectural work produced in this country.
7—
Fr a n k
Forrester's
Field
Sports
of
the
United
States,
a n d
British
Provinces
of
By W il l ia m H e n r y H e r b e r t , author o f “ M y Shooting Box,” “ T he
W arwick Woodlands,” “ Marmaduke W yvil,” “ Cromwell,” “ The Brothers,” “ T h e
Roman Traitor,” etc., etc. 2 vols. 8vo., pp. 360 and 367. N ew Y o rk : Stringer &
Townsend.
North America.
This is doubtless the most elaborate and complete work o f the kind that has ever been
produced, in this country at least. The author’s r e a s o n s for producing it are not, however,
discussed at any great length in his brief and simple preface ; these, he says, will be found
in the body o f the book itself. The best place, perhaps ; but once for all, he tells us it ap
peared to him that such a work was needed at this juncture, and that its publication will
tend in some degree to avert the impending doom which seems “ to have gone forth from
the democracy o f the land against game o f all sorts.” The illustrations for the work were
designed by Mr. Herbert from living or stufled specimens in the cabinet o f Mr. Bell, the
eminent taxidermist and naturalist. The information relating to the various kinds of sport
ing, the natural history o f game, and the sports peculiar to every region o f our wide-spread
territory, is full and complete. It seems to us, from the examination we have been able
to make, that the work cannot fail o f meeting the wants of sportsmen, while it will not
be without interest to persons o f taste and general intelligence. The publishers have made
a liberal outlay in the getting up o f the w ork ; the engraving, printing, and indeed the
whole mechanical composition o f these two volumes is every way creditable to all con
cerned. W e shall endeavor to notice more at length in a future number of our journal,
after a more critical examination.
8 .—
The
G e m
of
the
Season,
for
1849.
W i t h
twenty
Splendid
Engravings.
N ew
Y o rk : Leavitt, Trow & Co.
“ W e are aware,” says the editor o f this elegant book, “ that annuals are often only
for the ‘ g e m s o f art,’ and the letter-press too often aggregated, merely to become
the matrix o f these jewels.” It seems, however, to have been the aim o f all concerned
in the “ getting up” o f this compilation, to redeem it from this “ soft impeachment,” and
to furnish the readers with a literary mirror “ that shall reflect all the lustre shed upon it
by the garnitures o f art.” Among the contributors we notice the name o l General W . O
Butler, the late democratic candidate for Vice-President o f the United States. In his
“ Lines to a L ad y” he has certainly been more successful than in his political aspirations.
L. Maria Childs’ “ She waits in the Spirit Land,” w'e scarcely need say, is w'orthy o f her
gifted pen. W ith the exception o f a few military pieces, the contributions are o f an ele
vated tone, and “ calculated not only to interest and entertain, but usefully instruct.” The
twenty engravings which illustrate the volume, though not all equally excellent, possess merit.
Many o f them are beautiful, and none below mediocrity. The snow white paper, the
beautiful printing, and the richly gilded binding, each and all contribute to render it o n »
o f the most costly and beautiful gift-books o f the season.
settings
681
The Book Trade.
9. — T h e
Sucred
Poets of E n g l a n d a n d
W . G riswold , D. D .
D. Appleton & Co.
A m e r i c a for
Three
Illustrated wdth Steel Engravings.
Centuries.
Edited by Rufus
8vo., pp. 552. N ew Y o rk :
This work is based on " Gems o f the British Sacred Poets,” a work recently published
in England by a member o f Oxford. It not only combines the materials o f that work,
but those furnished in the critical and very interesting “ Lives o f the English Sacred
Poets,” by Robert Aris Wilmott, o f Trinity College, Cambridge, which appeared under
the direction o f a committee o f the “ Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.” Mr.
Griswold has, however, added pieces from some thirty authors not quoted in either o f
those works, among whom are Shirley, Baxter, Toplady, W esley, Williams, Moultrie,
and Mrs. Steele ; and o f our own country, President Dwight, John Quincy A dam ^ Bishop
Doane, Mr. Hillhouse, W ilcox, Croswell, Norton, Whittier, and Coxe. Nearly one hun
dred poets who have flourished, from Gascoigne, in 1540, down to several of our own
living poets, have contributed to the rare collection o f .sacred gems included in this beau
tiful volume. Poetry, it has been well said, is the expression o f beauty, and every thing
truly good is beautiful. N o single work in our language is better calculated to elevate the
taste and deepen the religious sentiments. The thoughts it breathes, and the feelings it
inspires, are as immortal as the souls o f the departed poets who gave them birth. T he
volume is published in the style o f the annuals, the best o f them ; which suggests to our
mind the idea, which we presume was present with the publishers, that it is a most suita
ble gift-book for the season.
10.
—
The
R e p u b l i c of the
United
R e s p o n s i b l e R e l a t i o n s to o t h e r
States of N o r t h
Countries;
America ;
embracing
also
a
its D u t i e s to I t s e l f
Review
of
,
the late
a n d
its
W a r
U n i t e d S t a t e s a n d M e x i c o , its C a u s e s a n d R e s u l t s , a n d o f t h o s e M e a s
h a v e C h a r a c t e r i z e d the D e m o c r a c y o f the U n i o n .
l2m o.,
pp. 324. New Y o rk : D. Appleton.
T he importance o f the subjects discussed in the present work will be generally admitted,
and although we are not able to perceive the force o f all the arguments adduced by the
author in support o f his views, we are willing to concede to him the merit o f ability, and
cheerfully commend his work to all who are seeking for information on the topics falling
within its scope.
b e t w e e n the
ures of G o v e r n m e n t w h i c h
11. — P o e m s . By O l i v e r W e n d e l l H o l m e s . N ew and enlarged edition. 18mo., pp.
272. Boston: William D. Ticknor &, Co.
This is the third edition o f Dr. Holmes’ poem s; that is, the first one hundred and fifty
pages o f the volume contain all that were printed in the edition o f 1837, the next thirtytwo pages were embraced in that o f 1846. The poems added to this new edition cover
some eighty pages, including “ Urania,” “ The Pilgrim’s Vision,” “ A Modest Request,”
and several shorter pieces. The author o f a “ Fable for Critics” (just published) thus ad
mirably hits our poet:—
“ There’s Holmes, who is matchless among you for w it ;
A Leyden-jar always full-charged, from which flit
The electrical tingles o f hit after h it;
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
His are just the fine hands, too, to weave you a lyric
Full o f fancy, fun, feeling, or spiced with satiric
In so kindly a measure that nobody knows
W hat to do but e’en join in the laugh, friends and foes.”
12. — M e m o i r
D u n c a n , D . D., M i n i s t e r o f R a t h n e l l , F o u n d e r o f the
author o f “ Sacred Philosophy o f the Seasons,” etc. By his Son, the
J o h n C. D u n c a n , North Shields. l2mo. New Y ork : Robert Carter.
of
the R e v . H e n r y
Savings Banks,
Rev. G e o r g e
Biographies o f men whose lives have been devoted to the cause o f humanity, may not
in our time find so many admirers as men who face the cannon’s mouth, or distinguish
themselves in the army or navy; but they leave behind them memorials of their wisdom
and their worth for all coming time. Scattered over the whole o f the biography there will
be seen such traits o f sympathy with human nature, in its joys and sorrows, its hopes and
desires, its wonts and its tendencies, that wherever the history of Henry Duncan is read,
if there exist intelligence and a love o f our kind, it cannot fail to awaken an interest.
T he work conclusively establishes Mr. Duncan’s claim as founder o f savings banks, alr
though not the first to suggest it as possible for a laborer or mechanic, under the ordinary
circumstances o f that class in England, to make an important saving out o f their weekly
earnings. W e hope to have leisure to refer to this subject at some future time.
S82
The Book Trade.
13. — P ile ’s
Illustrated
phical Instruments
affixed at
Colleges
,
which
,
Descriptive
Manufactured
they are
Teachers
, and
offered
,
Optical, M a t h e m a t i c a l , a n d Philoso
, and SoZd fcy ZAe A u t h o r ; w i t h t h e P r i c e s
1848, eZc., etc. D e s i g n e d t o a i d P r o f e s s o r s o f
Catalogue of
Imported
in
others, i n the
selection a n d
use of
Illustrative A p p a r a t u s in
By B e n j a m i n P i k e , Optician. 2 v o ls . 12mo., pp. 346
and 282. N ew Y o rk : Published and sold by the Author.
Mr. Pike, the author, is well known as an ingenious optician, and manufacturer of
mathematical and philosophical instruments. The work before us embraces nearly eight
hundred engravings, mostly original designs from the instruments o f his extensive esta
blishment, in the various departments o f electricity, galvanism, magnetism, electro-mag
netism, pneumatics, hydrostatics, mechanics, optics, astronomy, surveying, navigation*
meteorology, chemistry, etc. Mr. Pike has received a number o f diplomas and silver
medals for his air-pumps, galvanic batteries, magnetic machines, barometers, theodolites,
magic lanterns, sliders, etc., at various fairs o f different institutes, as well as commenda
tory letters o f professors in our most popular colleges and other educational institutions.
The information embodied in this work must prove valuable, if not indispensable, to men
o f science and skill, to the manufacturer and mechanic, and indeed to all who take an in
terest in the experimental operations o f natural philosophy and the progressive advance
ment o f science. It will interest the curious in such matters, while it becomes a v a d e
m e c u m to the man o f science.
every
department
of
Science.
— G r e c i a n a n d R o m a n M y t h o l o g y . By M. A . D w i g h t . With an Introductory N o
tice, by Professor T a v l e r L e w i s , and a series o f Illustrations in Outline. 8vo., p p .
437. N ew Y o rk : George P. Putnam.
In compiling this work, the author has referred to Heeren, Muller, Moritz, Millin,
Wordsworth, Elmes, Anthon, and others, who have treated the subject either directly or
indirectly. The information thus gathered and brought together in a symmetrical style
forms a most valuable work, and one that is much needed. The mythology of Hesiod,
and his genealogical lists, are taken as a chart or guide in the structurial outlines of the
work. T he principal physical theories that have been worked out by German learning
and ingenuity, are presented in a clear and concise manner; and “ although many o f these
are doubtless fanciful and ungrounded, they are nevertheless valuable as illustrating the
exuberant suggestiveness o f the Hesiodean system.” The work is appropriately illustra
ted with line engravings, and altogether forms a very valuable addition to the classical
literature o f the ancients. Greek and Latin names o f the deities are introduced, for the
purpose o f rendering the work equally familiar to the scholar.
14.
15.
—
The
W o r k s
of
W a s h i n g t o n Irving.
V o y a g e s of Columbus.
l2m o., pp. 437.
N ew Edition, Revised. Vol. III.
N ew Y o rk : George P. Putnam.
Life a n d
This, the first volume o f Irving’s Columbus, is the third o f the new and revised edition
o f his works already published ; and, when completed, will form thirteen volumes, more
beautiful in all that pertains to the material o f book making than any collection o f the
writings o f an American author yet produced in this country. That the intellectual la
bors o f our Irving are worthy o f such a liberal outlay on the part o f the publisher, we
readily adm it; but that does not detract from the generous enterprise o f Mr. Putnam, the
publisher. It, moreover, affords us great pleasure to learn, what we ventured to pre
dict when the plan was first mooted, that the undertaking has thus far been crowned
with the most substantial tokens o f appreciation, in a sale that will amply reward all con
cerned in the enterprise.
16.
—
late
T h e
Salamander: a
Ernest
Helfenstein.
L e g e n d
for
Christmas.
F o u n d
amongst
Edited by Mrs. E. O a k e s S mith.
the P a p e r s o f
l2m o., pp. 149.
the
N ew
Y o rk : George P. Putnam.
W e honestly believe that the fair lady whose name is prefixed to the title-page with the
modest s o b r i q u e t o f editor, and “ the late Ernest Helfenstein,” are one and the same
person. Her description o f that individual, at all events, is, if we mistake not, a faithful
portrait o f herself. T he story is full of*fancy and o f feeling, and furnishes additional evi
dence o f that versatility o f talent, we should say o f genius, our fair countrywoman pos
sesses in so remarkable a degree. The illustrations by Darley are in his happiest v ein ;
and the volume appears in a style o f typographical beauty, not inferior to the best gift
books o f the season.
17. — M o d e l M e n .
Modelled by H o r a c e M a y h e w .
Sculptured by K. G. H i n e . New
Y ork : Harper & Brothers.
The pen o f the author and the pencil o f the artist have contributed to make this one
o f the most graphic and humorous books o f the day. It is brimfull o f fun.
683
The Book Trade.
18.
—Pioneer
a n d
H i s t o r y : being
the E a r l y
an
Account of
Settlement of the N o r t h - W e s t
uscripts, c o n t a i n i n g the p a p e r s o f
Discourses of
Joseph Buell a n d
First
Settlement of
Territory.
the
Chiefly f r o m
Col. G e o r g e M o r g a n ;
John
M a t t h e w s ;
the
those o f J u d g e
the R e c o r d s o f
Ohio
Valley,
Original M a n
Barker;
the O h i o
the
Company,
etc., etc. By S. P. H i l d r e t h . 8 v o . , pp. 525. Cincinnati: H. W . Derby. New Y ork :
A . S. Barnes & Co.
The discussion o f the ordinance 1787, relating to the North-West Territory, and the
question o f the introduction o f slavery into the territory belonging to the United States,
now free, imparts additional interest to the present volume, although the work itself does
not bear directly on either o f these questions. This volume furnishes us with a full account
o f all that took place in Washington county, where the first settlement in the present State
o f Ohio took place, from 1788 to 1803, or during the existence of the territorial govern
ments. It also exhibits, in a clear and comprehensive form, the leading events in the Ohio
Valley before 1788. The work is published under, the superintendence o f the Historical
Society o f Cincinnati, and forms the first volume o f its transactions. Prepared, as we are
informed it was, almost entirely from original papers o f unquestionable authority by a gentleman o f integrity after a long residence in the country, possessed of attainments and la
borious habits o f investigation, we are led to the conviction that the work is, in the main,
accurate and reliable. On the whole, we consider this work as affording one o f the most
valuable contributions that have been made o f late to the national literature or historical
researches o f the country.
19. — E l e m e n t s o f Z o o l o g y ; o r t h e N a t u r a l H i s t o r y o f A n i m a l s . From the last Edin
burgh Edition. C h a m b e r s ' E d u c a t i o n a l C o u r s e . Revised and Improved, by D. M.
R e e s e , M. D., L L . D.
N ew Y o r k : A . S. Barnes & Co.
Adopting, in its leading divisions, the classification o f Cuvier, the work “ comprises a
complete and comprehensive system o f Zoology, rudimental as compared with voluminous
works, but not less systematic or thorough.” This is the first o f a series o f books o f an
educational character prepared by Mr. Chambers, whose contributions to useful and en
tertaining literature have secured for him a high, but well-earned reputation. No publi
cations enjoy a wider popularity, or are more intrinsically valuable.
20.
—Elements
of
D r a w i n g
a n d
Perspective;
embracing
Exercises
for
the
Slate
and
By J o h n C l a r k . Chambers’ Educational Course. Edited by D. M.
R e e s e , M. D., LL. D.
N ew Y o r k ; A . S. Barnes & Co.
This little work appears to possess all the requisites o f a good elementary treatise on
the subject.
Black Board.
21. — E l e m e n t s o f
S. Barnes & Co.
P h y s i o l o g y , in
T w o
Parts.
By Dr. G.
H
a m il t o n
.
N ew Y ork : A .
This school book has been enlarged and improved from Chambers’ Educational Course.
It treats in a clear, concise, and systematic form , the subjects o f animal and vegetable econ
omy, and is well adapted to the capacity o f the young student.
22. — T h e W a l d o r f F a m i l y , o r G r a n d f a t h e r ' s l e g e n d s . By Mrs. E m m a C. E m b u r y .
New Y o rk : John C. Riker.
Mrs. Embury is not only a popular writer, but a sensible woman ; she does not believe
in converting “ little children into precocious men and women.” Hence she believes “ that
an attractive fairy tale, so thoroughly pervaded by a fine moral truth that the youthful
mind cannot but imbibe its influence, is o f far more effective benefit than an overstrained
moral tale, whose improbable incidents and exaggerated ideas o f excellence tend to give
false views o f life and its duties.” She is righ t; and hence we find, that taking up the
fine moral which runs through the legends o f Brittany, “ and the quaint simplicity o f their
details,” she has, omitting the trappings o f superstition, arrayed them in a garb, that, with
out depriving them o f their original Breton costume, rendered them presentable to our
American children. The illustrations are pretty, and the whole external appearance o f
the volume, with its gilded covering, well calculated to gratify the taste o f the juvenile
reader.
23.
—
The
original
Lady's Annu al;
contributions
a
Souvenir of Friendship a n d
by Female
b y t w e n t y - s i x Engravings.
Writers.
R e m e m b r a n c e for
1849.
W i t h
E d i t e d b y E m il y M a r s h a l l . I ll u s tr a te d
N e w Y o rk : D. Appleton & Co.
18mo., pp. 216.
Though less pretending, in some respects, than several o f the gift books of the season,
this little volume contains many really excellent articles in prose and verse, nearly all o f
which were contributed by lady writers o f eminence. T he engravings are generally pret-^
ty, if not all the best specimens o f the art.
684
24.
The Book Trade.
—A
of
F a b l e f o r Critics;
Diogenes.
By a W
or a
G l a n c e at a f e w o f o u r L i t e r a r y P r o g e n i e s f r o m the
o nd erfu l
T u b
Set forth by George P. Putnam, Broadway,
Q u iz .
N ew York.
“ All the characters sketched in this slight j e u d ' e s p r i t , ” says the author, “ though it
may be they seem, here and there, rather free, and drawn from a Mephistophelian stand
point, are m e a n t to be faithful.” That they are so, all who are acquainted with the genius
and character o f the “ literary progenies” whom our critic poet touches with his masterly
hand, will, we think, freely admit. Our friends Bryant, Halieck, Willis, Whittier, Poe,
and last, but not least, Harry Franco, (Briggs,) are, in our judgment, as genuine life pic
tures as were ever sketched with pen or pencil, in prose or verse. The severity, if any,
is lost in the general fidelity o f the delineations, and the kindly spirit o f the poet, whose
feelings, we presume, have never been disturbed by the envy or the hostility o f rivals.
25. — C h i l d o f t h e S e a , a n d o t h e r P o e m s . By Mrs. S. A n n a L e w i s , author o f “ Records
o f the Heart,” etc., etc. 12mo., pp. 179. New Y o rk : George P. Putnam.
“ The Child o f the Sea,” the longest poem o f the collection, covers nearly one hundred
pages; “ Isabel, or the Broken Heart,” the second in the volume ; the remaining twentyfive pages are occupied with a few miscellaneous poems. The poems, though not perhaps
o f the highest order o f merit, possess many o f the requisites of true poetry; not the least
o f which is feeling, purity o f conception, and a chaste and graceful form o f expression.
The volume is worthily dedicated to “ William Cullen Bryant, with true respect for his
genius, and the purity o f his public and private character.”
26. — T h e F i r s t o f t h e
George P. Putnam.
Knickerbockers
,
a
Talc
of
1673. 12mo., pp. 221.
N ew York :
A story o f considerable interest, designed to illustrate, with reasonable fidelity, that in
teresting line o f our earliest colonial history to which public attention has o f late been par
ticularly directed. The volume is appropriately “ inscribed, by permission, to Washington
Irving,” the well known author o f Knickerbocker’s History o f N ew Y ork, recently repub
lished in the new and uniform edition o f his complete works.
27.
— L e c t u r e s to Y o u n g M e n
, a n d the C o n d u c t o f Life.
John Murphy.
ter
on
, the F o r m a t i o n o f C h a r a c
12mo., pp. 350. Baltimore:
the Cultivation o f the M i n d
By G
eorge
W . B u rn ap.
T he first edition o f this work made its appearance in 1840, and a second edition in the
following year. T he present edition, the third, contains six additional lectures. The sub
jects embraced in the series are, the cultivation o f the m ind; the means and method of
intellectual culture; character defined; faults o f character; the relations o f the sexes;
intemperance; importance o f early habits; duties o f an American citizen; social influ
ence o f trade ; American society; the benefits o f machinery, and the destiny o f the E ng
lish language. T he character and tendency o f the lectures is eminently practical, and their
circulation among the young men o f our country will, we believe, be attended with the
best results.
28.
— S h a n d y M c G u i r e , or Tricks u p o n Trave l l e r s ; b e i n g a story o f the N o r t h o f Ire
By P a u l P e p p e r g r a s s , Esq. l2m o., pp. 354. New Y o rk : Edward Dunigan
& Brother.
The national character of thisstory will at once be inferred from its title, and, like every
thing almost in Irish literature, it abounds with specimens o f rich and rare wit and humor.
Those who do not sympathize with the theology o f the author, must appreciate his faithful
delineations o f character, and his graphic pictures o f travel. It affords us pleasure to no
tice the neat and beautiful style in which this, and indeed all the works emanating from
the Brother Dunigan’s press make their appearance.
land.
29. — T h e A m e r i c a n A l m a n a c a n d R e p o s i t o r y o f U s e f u l K n o w l e d g e f o r t h e y e a r 1849.
12mo., pp. 370. Boston: Charles C. Little & James Brown.
This work has reached its twentieth annual volume, with profit, we trust, to editors and
publishers, as no work o f the kind is more deserving o f support, or has been more service
able to the public. The present volume appears to be considerably enlarged, and contains
a multitude o f “ facts and figures,” that must be useful as matter o f reference to all “ or
ders and conditions o f men.” It is as reliable in its statements as could be expected, and
has long since become a standard authority in all matters embraced within its broad and
comprehensive design. It appears to be the best issue o f a uniformly excellent and
valuable work.
The Book Trade.
30.
—Poems
by
William
W o r d s w o r t h ;
with
an
685
Introductory
Essay
on
his
Life
a n d
12mo., pp. 356. N ew Y ork: C. S. Francis & Co.
A collection o f Wordsworth’s poems in a form accessible to the general reader in this
country has long seemed desirable, and we have no doubt but that the present selection
will be acceptable to the public and profitable to the publishers. It contains the author’s
most characteristic and beautiful pieces, and we feel quite sure that the poet’s admirers
will be glad to recognize their favorites in a form so convenient, and at the same time so
elegant in all that pertains to its m a t e r i a l production. Its value is somewhat enhanced
by the pertinent and appreciating essay o f H. T . Tuckerman, Esq., on the life and writings
o f the poet.
Writings.
31.
—Mrs.
H o f a n d ’s T a l e s .
N ew Y ork : Charles S. Francis.
W e have here three handsome volumes, each covering nearly two hundred pages, and
each embracing one o f her most pleasing and instructive tales, v iz : “ The Officer’s W idow
and her Young F a m i l y “ T he Merchant’s W idow and her F a m i l y a n d “ The Clergy
man’s W idow and her Family.” Few writers have enjoyed, and deservedly, a wider pop
ularity in this department o f literature. Her books may be put into the hands of our sons
and daughters without the fear o f any vitiating influence from their perusal, and parents
may read them with pleasure and advantage.
3*2.— H a n s A n d e r s e n ’s
C. S. Francis.
Story Book.
W ith a Memoir, by M
ary
H o w it t .
N ew Y ork :
Hans Christian Andersen, the author o f these stories, is unquestionably “ one o f the
most remarkable men o f his day.” “ Like most men o f great original talent, he is em
phatically one o f the people ; and writing, as he has done, principally o f popular life, he
describes what he himself has suffered and seen.” Those who have read the “ True Story
o f his Own Life,” for a translation o f which we are indebted to Mrs. Howitt, will need
no other recommendation for the present volume. It is filled with stories for little chil
dren, emanating from an intellect and a heart as pure as were ever embodied in human
form. Indeed, we should in vain look for a collection o f stories so simple in construction,
and yet so ingeniously fraught with all that can charm and instruct the minds o f children.
33.— W r e a t h s o f F r i e n d s h i p . By T . S. A r t h u r and F. C. W o o d w o r t h . 12mo., pp.
240. N ew Y o rk : Baker & Scribner.
A more appropriate “ gift book for the young at the approaching Christmas and New
Y e a r ” has not, to our knowledge, been published this season. But its handsome covering,
gilded pages, and tasty embellishments by no means constitute its principal value, which
will be found in its varied, agreeable, and instructive contents; in its pleasing and welltold tale, anecdote, or fable; its graphic sketch and its easy and flowing verse, harmoni
ously blending intellectual delights with the teachings o f a pure and hearty morality.
34— T h e L i f e , L e t t e r s , a n d R e m a i n s o f t h e R e v . R o b e r t P o l l u k , A . M . , author o f “ The
Course o f T im e,” and “ Tales o f the Covenanters.” By J a m e s S c o t t , D. D., Pastor
o f the First Reformed Dutch Church, Newark, N. J. 18mo., pp. 364. N ew Y o r k :
Robert Carter.
The author o f this memoir spent some time in Scotland in the society o f an intimate
friend o f Robert Pollok, a gentleman who had watched over the poet’s progress with some
thing akin to parental solicitude, and who knew well his struggles, successes, and history.
Availing himself o f this a l m o s t personal acquaintance with Pollok, and-a life o f him by
his brother, the Rev. David Pollok, he has succeeded in preparing an apparently truthful
memoir o f his life, enriched with many o f his private letters, and a number o f his
lighter poetical productions. Dr. Scott seems to have formed a correct estimate o f the
character and genius o f his subject, and we think his labors will be properly appreciated
by a large class o f the more serious readers.
35.— S e r m o n s b y H e n r y E d w a r d M a n n i n g ,
303. New Y o rk : Stanford & Swords.
M .
A., A r c h d e a c o n o f
Chichester.
8vo., pp.
This volume contains twenty sermons, prepared, we presume, by the author in the ordi
nary course o f his ministerial labors. The sermons are, for the most part, practical, re
ferring to the spirit o f Christianity, and inculcating the graces and virtues o f a Christian
life, rather than the dogmas or doctrines o f any o f the different sects o f Christendom. The
author is considered one o f the ablest sermonizers in the established Church o f England,
and belongs, we believe, to that branch o f it designated as high church. The preacher
dedicates this collection o f discourses “ to all who, in an age o f controversy, are walking
in the path wherein *the wayfarers, though fools, shall not err.* ”
.686
The Booh Trade.
36. — T h e W e s t ; a M e t r i c a l E p i s t l e . By F r a n c is L i e b e r . N ew Y ork : G .P . Putnam.
This is one o f the t h i n n e s t bound books" we have ever met with. It contains fifteen
leaves, or thirty pages, with gilded edges; eihbracing “ The West,” a metrical epistle,
which covers fifteen o f its pages, and the remainder o f the volume is occupied with a
poem, “ The Ship Canal,” in eighteen four line stanzas, a “ Festive S on g ” of twelve, and
the “ Son’s Departure from N ew Y ork,” o f twelve more ; closing with a sonnet on “ The
Ship Jamestown.” A s an evidence o f our appreciation, of Dr. Lieber’s poetical works,
we have transferred “ The Ship Canal” *to the “ Mercantile Miscellanies” o f the present
number o f this Magazine.
37. — E u t h a n a s y ; o r H a p p y T a l k t o w a r d s t h e E n d o f L i f e . By W il l ia m M o u n t f o r d ,
author .of “ Marty ria,” “ Christianity the Deliverance o f the Soul and its Life,” etc.
18mo., pp. 466. Boston: William Crosby & H. P. Nichols.
The author o f this work is an Englishman, but o f a spirit quite different from that which
prompted a British reviewer to ask, “ W ho reads an American book?” A British author
o f deep spiritual insight finds in this country a class o f intelligent and cultivated persons
o f the purest literary taste and justest moral discernment, and therefore causes his
to be published in America, rather than in his own country. The favor extejafog to*
“ Martyria” by some o f the best minds here, is a presage o f the cordial welafeVfhfot
will be given to the present volume. It is replete with noble sentiments, and irKaJcat^sL\
pure and elevated spirit o f devotion, in perfect harmony with the teachings o f ClBBfianftv.
I 50*
""L
38. — H a r t m a n n ' s T h e o r y o f A c u t e D i s e a s e s , a n d H o m o e o p a t h i c T r e a t m e n t . T jA ;d G erman Edition. Revised and considerably enlarged by the Author. Translated, \Vith .
additions, and adapted to the use o f the American Profession, by C harles
_
^ )
M. D, Vol. II. N ew Y o rk : William Radde.
*
W e noticed the first volume o f this work, which was published last year. TheY*espnL.'
volume relates to two classes o f inflammatory diseases, v iz: Fevers characterized
flammatory eruptions having a definite shape, and fevers with definite inflammatory affect
tions, etc. The causes, character, and treatment o f these diseases are treated with great
minuteness and remarkable clearness. Indeed, the work seems designed for private as
well as professional practice.
39.
Edited by Drs. S c h m it z and Z u m p t . P . V i r g i l i i M a r i n i s C a r Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard.
This is the second volume o f a classical series o f school-books on a uniform plan, de
signed to constitute, within a definite number, a complete Latin Curriculum. The testi
monials in favor o f this series from eminent teachers, as well as the high reputation o f the
learned editors, Drs. Schmitz and Zumpt, will be considered by all as a sufficient guaranty
o f its value as aids to the classical student.
—
C l a s s i c a l Series.
mina.
— A d v e n t u r e s o f a M e d i c a l S t u d e n t . By R o b e r t D o u g l a s , Surgeon Royal Navy.
W ith a Memoir o f the Life o f the Author. N ew Y o rk : Burgess, Stringer, & Co.
The production o f a talented young man, whose career was brought to a sudden and
premature close. It is a production o f great originality o f conception, power o f delinea
tion, and possesses a deep and absorbing interest.
T h e A m e r ic a n S t a t e s m a n .— This is the title o f a new weekly paper, which will be
commenced in a few days. It will be edited by Abijah Ingraham and William J. T en
ney, and published in the city o f N ew York. T he plan o f the S t a t e s m a n is an admira
ble one, and in some o f its essential features it will differ from any other journal publish
ed in this country. In its editorial department it will discuss fearlessly every great ques
tion o f reform, political or social, that agitates the public mind, or engages the attention
o f the thoughtful in all countries. Having an acquaintance with the gentlemen who are
to control its columns, we have no hesitation in saying that it will be no ordinary publi
cation, but will supply, in newspaper literature, a d e s i d e r a t u m which now exists; and
from the varied and useful character o f its contents* and the ability with which it will be
conducted, it will force itself into a large circulation.
40.
C h il d r e n ’s I l l u s t r a t e d B o o k s . — J. C. R i k e r has recently published a fine collection
o f books for children, among which are “ Sayings and D oings; or, the Proverbs and Prac
tice,” by J a n e S t r i c k l a n d ; “ Pebbles from Jordan; or, Bible Examples o f Every Day
Truth,” by Miss G r a h a m ; and a “ New-Hieroglyphical Bible ; with Devotional Pieces for
Youth.” The two first named are illustrated with beautiful colored engravings, and the
Bible contains four hundred cuts, all by Adams, one o f the best wood engravers in the
United States. They are among the prettiest and best books o f the season for children
o f all ages, from five to fifteen
--^ i
@FedFRASER