The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-05-19 00:00:00

months

In the Mincing-lane market this week a mode-
rate business has been done, and at steady prices.
For sugar there has been a good general demand
at an advance of fully Gd. per cwt. The stock of
this article in London at the end of last week was
49,776 tons against 42 373. Coffee has been in fair
demand at rather firmer quotations. Cocoa has
been taken freely at an improvement of 3s. to 4s.
per cwt. Tea has been dull, rum heavy, and salt-
petre rather flatter. Spices have been generally
lower, but African- ginger may be given as an
exception, having been rather dearer. 'Callow was
in request early in the week, but the market has
since become quieter. In indigo sales, for which
9,262 chests are declared, have proceeded heavily,
fine shipping Bengal being 61 to 8d , and middling
to good 4d. to Gd, per lb. lower than at the last
sales. The wool auctions have progressed with
animation, and the advanced quotations realised at
the commencement of the series have been slightly
exceeded.

The following are the Gazette average prices of
Muscovado sugar, for the week ending May 13,
1856, exclusive of customs' duties payable thereon,
on the importation thereof into Great Britain :
From the West Indies, 28s Oid per cwt ; from the
Mauritius, 29s 84(1; from the East Indies, 29s 8d
per cwt ; average price of the three foregoing
descriptions, 28s 53;d
_per cwt.

Of the London Stock Market,, v, o quote the
following report for the week from the circular of
Mr. W. Avens :
The Money Market has on the whole been somewhat
easier, so far as regards the mercantile demand, cases having
occurred of discounts having been obtained slightly under
the bank minimum. But in the general market owing to
the requirement of a deposit of £lO per cent upon all
applications for allotments in the new loan, and to the demand
upon the Stock Exchange in connection with the Railway
and Foreign Settlements, there has been great tightness.
In fact, the demand in these respects has been very heavy.
At the same time there is something like a general anticipa-
tion that the continued arrivals of specie, both from Australia
and the United States, the expected cessation of exports to
the East, and the return of the surplus deposits upon the
loan applications, will lead to an easy market for the next
two or three weeks. The explanations at the Treasury by
the Chancellor of the Exchequer respecting the financial
position of the government in relation to the loan on
Tuesday, proved highly satisfactory. No more Consols
beyond £5,000,000 are to be created, whilst with an
issue of Exchequer bonds or bills to the amount of
£2,000,000, either at the end of this year or in the first
quarter of the next, the receipts and (xpenditure of the
country will he balanced. These assurances, made officially,
have streogtbened all descriptions of public securities.
The subscriptions to the new loan closed yesterday. They
far exceeded the amount required. The biddings are to be
made on Monday morning. Consols which closed on
Saturday at 53k to :1-, advanced immediately after the state-
ment on the part of the government; and the market has
sinceleen buoyant, with an improving tendency. Last night
they closed at 948 to for the account, having opened at
g3l-to ; and the tone generally has been favourable to the
operations of those who hare had transactions in anticipa-
Pailway shares have also improved, some to
and the market remains firm at the
—.ek. ,Joint stock banks and
to some extent, but the
scarc3y been maintained in all cases.

e eaten

niiseell

have advance

improver
To-day Consols 4.ave lic.Tn steady, and the
advance which took place yesterday has been toler-
ably well maintained, notwithstanding several
fluctuations. They opened at 9-1 to 1, but upon

1E flOl

course,

servant,

some considerable sales they drooped to 931 to 94.
Afterwards they recovered to the opening price,
partly in consequence of purchases, and partly in
consequence of the arrival of a considerable amount
of specie by the Arest India steamer. Subse-
quently an influential dealer sold largely, and
quotations again declined; but before the close
the market rallied, and they finally left off at 9-1 to
4-. It is considered that the prices of this day will
regulate the biddings for the loan on Monday.
The scrip of the new loan is 1-1 to Z- prem. Ex-
chequer bills have again declined; The June
descriptions are lOs to 5s discount. The
Railway Market is weaker than yesterday,
in consequence of a pressure of sales. The
principal decline has been in Midland, Great
Western, South Eastern, and Sambre and Meuse.
The market for all other descriptions of securities
is generally weaker, and business has been very
languid, owing probably to the thin attendance of
members. The West- India mail steamer has
brought 180,0001. in specie. This raises the im-
ports since yesterday week to an aggregate of
827,0001. The noon quotations of the French
Three per Cents upon the Paris Bourse to day was
75f 45e; the market exhibited great steadiness.

THE ACCUMULATION OF SMALL COMPASS
ERRORS IN WOODEN SHIPS.

Liverpool Compass Committee, 40, Tower-buildings East,
• May 15, 1856.

THO3IAS COURT, Esq.,
Secretary to the Liverpool Underwriters'Association.
Dear Sir,—Some months since I ventured to call your
attention to the fact, that while the " variation " in the
Irish Channel between Wales and Ireland was slightly less
than two and a quarter points of the compass, the general
practice with shipmasters and pilots was to allow two and
a half points. I find, by inquiry, that in many cases this
allowance is still made, and, in some instances, even as
much as two points and three-quarters. It will be easy to
show that though on some courses such an allowance for
compass error may be quite correct, it is most unsafe to
attribute so much to " variation," and allow it on every

That the remarks I am about to make in elucidation
of this and some associated topics may be generally
intelligible, allow me to explain that though some per-
sons use the terms variation of the compass and deviation of
the compass as if they were of the same meaning, the
well-informed seaman makes a great distinction between
the two, and for the following reasons : The error from
variation arises from the magnetic north not coinciding
with the true north ; and, as this affects every point of
the compass to the same extent, the allowance for it,
whatever be the direction of the ship's bead, is always
the same at the same place and time. It is quite
independent of the position of the ship. Not so with
deviation, which is caused by iron on board the ship,
and which varies in amount with her position, but in so
regular and simple a manner that its changes may easily
he understood. On whichever side of the compass the
disturbing cause is situated, it will be seen that, as the
ship turns round, the compass and it alter their relative
bearings. Let it be supposed that the disturbing piece
or pieces of iron are towards the stern, aft of the compass,
then when the ship's head is north the disturbing cause
will be south, when her head is east the iron will be
west, and so on throughout the whole circuit—taking in
succession every possible horizontal direction. Now,
though we may conceive the disturbing cause to exercise
the same energy in each of these directions, it does not act
with the same leverage, with the same mechanical advan-
tage in each, and therefore does not produce the same effect
on the compass needle. When its attraction is in the
same direction as the needle, or when it is north or south
of the compass card, no deflection of the needle is pr s-
duced. When it acts at right angles to the observed
direction of the needle, it causes the greatet deviation.
The general effect of iron, aft and below the compass,
(the case we are contemplating,) is this :—When the
ship's head bears north, there is no error; as it turns
easterly, the iron efts turns westerly, and, in north lati-
tudes, attracting the north end of the needle, causes
westerly deviation, producing its greatest effect when
the ship's head bears east. The deviation then decreases,
slowly at first, afterwards more and more rapidly, till
her head is south, when again there is no error. The
ship still turning round to the westward, the disturbing
iron is carried eastward, and draws the north end of the
needle :0 the east, now producing easterly deviation ;
arriving at its greatest, when the ship's head shows west,
and again decreasing, until she regains her original
position.
In few words, we see that iron aft and below the level
of the compa s produces westerly deviation, that is, takes
a vessel to the left of her course when her head is easterly ;
and produces easterly deviation, causing a vessel to trend
to the right of her course when her head is westerly.
To state the result yet snore briefly, its effect is always
to take the ship to the north of her course and to the
greatest extent when her head hears due east or west.
A walk round our docks will show that many ships have
a considerable amount of iron in the position we have
supposed. Without venturing at present to estimate the
amount of its action, I merely ask you to remember that
with the ship's head westerly, its tendency, like too
large an allowance for variation, is to take a vessel to
the right of her course. •
But it will also be seen by any one who visits our
shipping, that nine out of ten ships have long and more
or less massive horizontal iron spindles connected with
the steering apparatus : in some cases at a higher and
some at a lower level than the compass card ; and I pro-
ceed to draw your attention to the action of such bars
upon the compass. Now these bars, and in fact the
fore and aft horizontal portion of all the iron in the
ship, produces an effect which has been aptly termed
" quadrantal" (for the reason that it changes its char-
acter in each quadrant of the compass), and produces
easterly deviation when the ship's head is between N.
and E. ; westerly deviation when between E. and S. ;
easterly diviation again when the ships head is between
S. and W. ; and again westerly in the remaining quad-
rant. It is worthy of remark that this deviation is
independent of locality, and has the same effect at the
equator as at the pole.
As before, I will not attempt to estimate the amount
of this kind of error, but only direct your attention to
the fact, that in two quadrants of the compass it will
tend to decrease, and in the other two to aggravate,
those deviations which arise from iron situated aft and
below the compass.
There is another cause of error which must be men-
tioned here, though it does not affect so large a number
of ships as the preceding. I allude to the double binnacle.
In many cases where these are used the compasses are
placed so close as to disturb each other, and the result is
a quadrantal error of precisely the opposite kind to that
arising fr,m fore and aft i-on ; but, like it, alternately
increasing and decreasing the errors due to that cause of
deviation which was first discussed.
These remarks convey but a very imperfeet idea of the
" compass question," they should be taken in the re
stricted sense in which they are given, and as illustrating
the possible accumulation of small errors ; but I would
protest against their being received as merely theoretical,
for they are the result of ample and practical experience.
My desire is to briefly state as much as may enable any
one, who will give the subject a little attention, to un-
derstand the nature of the deviations likely to arise
from the iron fittings about the rudder and steering
apparatus on board wooden ships. When deviations
occur in our merchant ships, which do not arise from
iro cargo. the cause is almost invariably found in this
direction, and the errors are consequently of the opposite
kind to those observed in men-of-war. [ This should be
borne in mind by persons reading different works which
have been published on compass deviations, in which the
observations have been mostly derived from officers of
the royal navy.]
The recent loss of a noble vessel, happily without the
horrors which usually attend the wreck of an emigrant
ship, will, no doubt, give some interest to the discussion
of those compass errors which are usual on board
woolen ships. I hope the few remarks I have made may
be sufficient to enable most persons to rightly estimate
any facts bearing on this subject, which may be ascer-
tained in relation to the ship in question, and that they
may induce those seamen who have not yet fully con-
sidered the matter, to give it the attention its importance
demands.

I am aware of the contempt the seaman has for small
compass errors, and the general belief that no course
can be depended upon within " a quarter of a point or
so." This belief is a good reason why the greatest
accuracy should, at the least, be attempted. True, small
errors frequently compensate each other ; but when this
is not the case—when they all fall in the same direc-
tion (as must unfortunately be the case sometimes, and
nowhere with worse results than in the Irish Channel)
—when to a" quarter point " easterly deviation, arising
from wrong allowance for variation, and another "quar-
ter point" or more of easterly deviation, from iron aft'and
below the compass, is added a trifle of easterly deviation,
from the spindle of the steering wheel being within
eighteen inches or so of the compass card, these small
deviations may not be safely neglected. In fact, a full
acquaintance with those compass errors which are pro-
bable or even possible, cannot be too soon or perfectly
acquired by those whose business is upon the sea. Cer-
tain it is that casualties often occur to ships while
steering courses on which these small errors accumulate ;
and we not unfreauently hear of cases in which a fatal
catastrophe was imminent, and only averted by the
merest accident—a timely look-out, the appearance of a
light in an unusuat direction, a change of wind, or the
opportune break of day.
My letter has extended to greater length than I
anticipated, but I trust the subject and its occasion will
be sufficient excuse.—Believe me, dear sir, your obedient
W. W. RUNDELL,
Secretary Liverpool Compass Committe.

FRANCE.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT)

T Ft N TIMES.-..LIVISRPOOL, MONDAY, MAY 19, 1883

PARIS FRIDAY EVENING

A decree in the Moniteur re-establishes pensions
for the performers of the Grand Opera who, it is
known, are in the pay of the Civil List, that is of
the Emperor. These pensions are on a very
liberal scale, aril the Emperor is to contribute
£BOO a year to the fund for them, besides granting
that fund other advantages.
I am told that M. Uzuelli, the well known banker
of London, proposed very recently to grant a prize
of £5O for the best essay on the advantages of
peace, and asked the French ecademy (Academie
Francaise) in this city to undertake to judge the
essays sent in ; but, if I am correctly informed, the
Academy has, through M. Villemain, politely
declined to comply with his request, on the ground
that the late peace is not of such a nature as is likely
to be of long duration, and that, consequently, it
would be rather ludicrous to preach up the advan-
tages of peace. This reply is meant as a covert
attack on the government
In consequence of the representations made to
it, the government, I am assured, seriously con-
templates closing all the private telegraphic
offices, and also those which supply lithographic
correspondence to the provincial papers. This
would be another blow at the press, and would
deprive more French journalists of their means of
livelihood.

M. Thiers, I am told, is as bitterly opposed as
ever to the fusion of the two branches of the
Bourbon family.
The Constitutionnel announces to-day the retire-
ment of its prine,ipal editor, M. Cucheval Clarigny.
111-health is the pretext put forward, but the real
reason is that he failed to satisfy the government,
and so the proprietors were obliged to pay him
1,200 to get him to resign. His successor is M.
Renee, a gentleman not heretofore connected with
the press, but a writer in reviews, and author of a
continuation of Sismonde. He has held for some
time the post of Secretary to ono of the great
Court dignataries, and is said to have extensive
political relations.
I have heard tho- t:te correspondent of one of
the London morning papers, sent off yester-
day, in hot haste, an account of a sort of attack
having been made on the Emperor on the
Boulevards, a man having thrown his hat at him,
and been, of course, immediately hauled off to
prison by the police. Your cotemporary's corres-
pondent has fallen into a terrible mistake--the
Emperor was, I believe, not on the Boulevards at
all yesterday, and, therefore, the personage he took
for the Emperor was the Archduke Maximillian of
Austria, who descended the Boulevards, in one of
the Emperor's carriages, accompanied by the
Prince Napoleon, and escorted by guides, between
six and seven o'clock. I, myself, saw him just
after sending my letter to the post-office.
The presence of the Archduke affords great
pleasure in courtly circles. Courtiers, of course,
admire him immenseley; but from what I hear he
belongs to the class vulgarly called " spoony." He
has a long lank face,:and wears a flaunting uniform
with tremendous epaulettes. The young man is,
it soems, in his own country, nothing less than
Lord High Admiral.

The German papers confirm what was said a
few days ago as to Lord Clarendon having issued
a circular to English diplomatic agents,
explaining the views the English Govern,
ment takes of the treaty of peace, and insisting
earnestly on something being done for the relief
of Italy. These papers add that the Austrian
government is about to issue a diplomatic circular,
declaring that it is in perfect accord with France
as to all that is/to be done for that unfortunate
country.