The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-05 00:00:00

TEE SUN, LONDON. SATURDAY EVENING; SEPTEMBER 5, ism

many adventitious circumstances have assisted in
depreciating the value of new experiments. The
difficulties attending its transit through the in-
terior, the rough modes of conveyance, and the cha-
racteristic Eastern dishonesty which packed dirt
and rubbish in the bales, all conspired to disgust
English manufacturers of cotton of Indian growth.
Matters are now mending. Roads, railways, and
canals are opening the means of intercourse between
the ports and the interior, and affording cheap,
easy, and careful methods of conveyance, while
due precautions are taken to avoid the tricks
practised by the packers. In consequence of these
changes, and of the increasing confidence felt in the
prospects of this branch of the trade, the cultivation
of cotton in India is assuming new features. The
new crop is considerably greater than that of pre-
vious seasons ; and, although that which has
hitherto been brought to the markets is only of
average quality, large quantities of superior quality
are said to be now en route. A gentleman residing
at Lucknow has sent some beautiful specimens
grown from New Orleans seed, and expresses his
desire of sowing 200 acres with it in the Oude dis-
trict. At the Calcutta Agricultural Exhibition, to
be held next year, it is proposed
various implements required in cotton
te exhibit
cultivationthe
free of charge, and we may hope that this will con-
duce to the employment of the best mechanical ap-
pliances in future.
The West Indies and Southern
a Cottonda,
America also furnish enco-araging us. r
I was formerly grown to a great extenteee G e
Grenada.,
•
West Indies, and in some of the small islands
of the group it is still cultivated. It may
therefore be expected to resume its old impor-
tance in this locality, and as a proof that the West
Indian cotton must not be despised, we may men-
tion that cotton grown in Trinidad has been valued
in Liverpool at 4s. per lb. Buenos Ayres and the
neighbourhood of the River Plate also promise well.
From the latter district great things may be ex-
pected. The conditions of soil and climate are all
in favour of the crop, and the native quality is ex-
pected to rival the cotton of New Orleans and Mo-
bile growth. The inhabitants have not been slow
to perceive the favourable opening for the exten-
sion of their trade and commerce. They have
manifested a warm interest in the question which
is rroved by the great number of persons embark-
ing in cotton plantations. It has been proposed to
form a Cotton Plantation Company, with the Go-
vernment of the State at its head. As the planting
takes place between August and October, and the
crop is gathered at the opening of the year.
we may hope before the terrible winter is over
to receive a considerable supply from this quar-
ter. Another source of supply is also opening
which may entail important consequences. The
Executive Committee of the Cotton Supply Asso-
ciation have received a letter from a gentleman
residing at Havannah, who stated that, after tra-
velling through the United States, he resolved on
his return to Cuba to commence the cultivation
of cotton, and to demonstrate that free labour
might be introduced with great advantage to the
country. Could such a fact be established in the
very stronghold of the slave trade, it would be,
indeed, a triumph, and there is no natural reason
to the contrary. There is nothing in the situation
or climate of Cuba which excludes it from com-
petition with the American products. Tobacco is
common to both countries, why should not cotton
be the same. If Havannah and Virginia are both
dear to smokers, why should not Cuba rival the
Southern States in the value of her cotton plan-
tations. The experiment as yet promises well.
The enterprising projector of the scheme has
planted 100 acres, selecting different varieties of
soil. The plants are bearing luxurionsly, having
an average of 50 pods on each stalk, and pro-
mising to produce three times that number.
Cotton has been planted in Cuba before, and pre-
vious Planters say that the first year does not
pay, but that as the plant is perennial, the second
year repays the planters. Th© first season or
two is seldom a fair test of the ultimate success
of the experiment, and it is this that has dis-
heartened so many persons with regard to cur Lan-
cashire prospects. Because all our efforts have failed
to supply the full amount required of equal value
to the American cotton they lament over the ruin
of one of our staple manufactures and the hopeless
impoverishment of our mill hands. A little patience
will show a different state of things. Even now
the state of things is different from what it was at
this time last year, and another winter, under
Providence, will have seen us through the worst.
At the opening of the next year we may hope for
increasing supplies, which will gradually go on
growing in number and value until the American
war, if it last so long, will only affect as as a ques-
tion of humanity. It is our own fault if the mis-
takes of a long series of years cannot be remedied
in a day. We have suffered fertile lands to lie
idle, glowing suns and softening dews to shine and
fall unheeded, while all our fortunes were resting
on one stay which might fail us at any moment.
Even if the bloodiest civil war of modern times had
been averted, there was no security that the pride
and insolence of American statesmen might not any
day have drawn
no into a war which would at least
have suspended our cotton supply. The attempt to
t t
introduce free labour into Cuba points another
moral to our Manchester philanthropists. We
hear a great deal about the duty our Government
owes to Abolitionists, and the horror with which
we ought to regard the rebellious South
• We are
told that the sympathies of English men and
women should be exclusively on the Northern side,
and that every Federal success should be looked
on as a triumph of right over wrong.
How comes it that the conscience of
Manchester has grown so suddenly sensitive p
How comes it that the gentlemen who did not
scruple to employ slave-grown cotton, nay, would
use nothing else, when they might have encouraged
free labour in the colonies, are now so indignant at
any countenance being afforded to the South.
COWPER'S fable of the boy and the stolen apples is
as apposite to slave-grown cotton as it was to slave-
grown sugar—

"He blamed and protested, but shared in the plan,
He joined in the plunder, but pitied the man."
If the Manchester school are so ready in their de-
nunciations they should at least be consistent.
Meantime let our manufacturers remedy as far as
possible the errors of the past by affording every
encouragement
and
ragemeennttetroprie
thse.new fields now opening to in-

The letter on "Small Birds," addressed to the
good
dy
czsauNsvee,ll-ifdeisteri
Ti
may serve a
Times of yester
tpievreulysadl,waenldt
upon by those who have hithersvtionagtgcteaornfried on their
predatory attacks against the feathered tribe. It
refers to the display in the French department of
the International Exhibition of small birds. To
this collection was appended a paper with a written
description of the contents found in the stomachs of
birds, the time of the year in which the bird was
taken, and other particulars. This was the -work
of M. FLORENT PREVOST, the celebrated French
naturalist. This gentleman has- been engaged
during the last thirty years in the praiseworthy
endeavour to persuade his countrymen of the mis-
chief they are doing and the injuries they are in-
flicting. in the persistent slaughter of these little sni-

maIs.IMr.EDIVARDWILSON has put himself in com-
munication with the French philosopher, and with
his assistance has made a computation of the quan-
tity of food eaten by these birds during each month
of the year. This has been done more especially
for the instruction of the young people in Australia,
that they. may learn the harm they do by their in-
discriminate slaughter of the little creatures that
aro being introduced among them with so much
trouble. Mr. WILSON truly says that the list is
worth studying at home, and its necessity
is certainly made manifest by the facts
laid before Parliament of the wholesale de-
struction of small birds by poison and other
ewahn
es e
rha ee
tps uebfl cf
ehr
easvte
laa lnsdo
abreee nn l a d for me
waste,
t
d thatand
whole countries reduced to famine by the thought-
less removal of the only effective check upon the
ravages of the insect tribe." MICHELET has for-
cibly pat the question in its true bearings in these
words :—" The bird can live without the man, but
I the man cannot live without the bird." These several
experiences and various testimonies serve to esta-
blish the validity of the assertion here made that
the little bird is our only safeguard against a pest
that would become overwhelming in its effects but
for the agency of the diminutive tribes of the air.
" Were we all to resolve ourselves into one great
sparrow club we should all in a few years pezish
from famine." It seems almost incredible at first
sight that for wanton mischief in most cases the
indiscriminate slaughter is so largely carried on
that provinces are wasted, and serious and irrepa-
rable losses are inflicted on many. Some act from
mistaken notions of preserving their property and
that of others from harm, but their ill-advised
caution and mischievous zeal in reality creates to a
fuller extent the imaginary ills that they dreaded.
Taking advantage of this delusive opinion of the
harm occasioned by the feathered tribe, a great
number signalise themselves by their destructive
feats, and the exterminating warfare is thus so per-
tinaciously pursued by augmenting auxiliaries that
no time must be lost in checking its ravages, or
pains spared to show its wrong and its evil. Mr,
WILSON has rendered good service in his long list
of the objects destroyed each month. It must be
truly amazing to all but those who are intimately
acquainted with the subject to note the extent and
variety contained in this summary. The wonders
of natural history may well engage the atten-
tion of all ranks and ages. There are
lessons to be learned, and marvels to be exhibited
in its researches, that may confound the wisdom of
the wise and show scholars their ignorance. Those
who cannot comprehend these things should at
least be humble and not self-sufficient. It is not
consistent with the scheme of creation that so many
creatures should be formed, and by stultifying their
careers and eutting short their brief tenure of exist-
ence, we virtually ignore the solemn fact that the
" Hand that made them is divine." It was to fulfil
a mission that they were sent upon this earth, not
only that its groves should hear sweet songs, and
its woods resound with melody, but that special
services should be rendered, and some good works
effected. Like all finite works of Providence, they
seek to perform their appointed tasks, and are then
ruthlessly cut off and cruelly destroyed. Bat the
laws of Nature cannot be perverted, nor the laws of
Nature's GOD violated without serious results en-
suing, and grievous disasters bearing witness to
the wrong. Wasted lands, blighted fields, and
ruined harvests, have attested the crime and its
consequences. Still, there are some who will not
learn, bat, like the deaf adder, shut their ears to
the language of entreaty and the warnings of re-
monstrance. Sentiment touches them not, so it
is useless to appeal to their sense of beauty or sus-
ceptibility to harmony. Let them, then, learn the
sober truth in practical terms, from the terse infor-
mation Mr. WILSON has afforded. In presenting
the public with this very valuable ;information, he
has rendered an important service to society, and
enabled the advocates for. the protection of small
birds to refer to the examples of scientific in-
quiry to plead their cause, and summon as their
auxiliaries the wise and learned of the profession,
that is intimately acquainted with the subject
under discussion. These words are from one who
speaks what he does know, and cannot there-
fore he set aside as idle vagaries of enthusiasm or
delusive notions of philanthropy. The real suf-
ferers in this cruel warfare are the men who do it.
When the little victims of their wanton propensities
are freed from suffering, mankind will be mourning
in cities and provinces the famine that has fallen on
fairy lands. 'Where once bloomed pastures green and
sunny vines, will be spots arid as the desert and waste
as the sandy shore. All this to satisfy the prejudices
o
their
ande
itnh influence
at suitl
cl
et
whaehned
h interposea have
e destructivethe
as
should
etohnf
lo
dor
itethxyeertrso:
It
eisso time
i
those
ht aeys
et heirsu
emischievousr
nc
eo
tui see ,
pannr ds
ipt
su. t arrpruerlyiodhatos
Mr. Wilson called it " suicidal folly," and no pains
should be spared to prevent his words being ratified
to the fullest extent. The cause of science and the
claims of self-interest alike call for the adoption of
his suggestions, and the sooner his precepts are put
into practice the better for the utility and beauty of
the world. These feathered tribes that fill the air
with song, do good service to the vital interests of
the community, and their extermination is a serious
evil.

MARGATE AND RAMSGATE—contrasted by a cor-
respondent of The Queen ; or, Lady's Newspaper:—
Ramsgate, in her heart, looks down upon Margate, and
Margate thinks that she is better looking than her sister ;
but as in all such cases there aro distinct attractions in
each. Margate, I suppose, will be considered a little fast
as compared with her sister .Ramsgate, and doubtless she
is so, which a little surprises me. I mean that I am rather
surprised that she is faster than Ramsgate. Margate has
a theatre—Ramsgate hasn't. Margate has an assembly-
room—there is no such thing in Ramsgate, which again I
am surprised at. Then Margate considers that her jetty is
far superior to the pier at Ramsgate—which opinion I cer-
tainly share. It is scarcely necessary for me, perhaps, to
admit that I am doing a little flirtation with these two at-
tractive sisters. I can hardly exclaim with Machcath—

How happy could I be with either
Were Vother dear charmer away ;
because undoubtedly a visit to the one snakes me enjoy a
sojourn with the other, and so I run backwards and for-
wards to each, and enjoy the charms of both. I have spent
nearly the whole of the past week in Margate, and she has,
I can assure you, been holding up her head quito loftily,
for she has had some distinguished visitors with her. She
has had a prince in her visitors' list—ono of your romantic
princes, too—a prince whom young ladies associate with
palaces on the Lake of Como, such as that which Claude
Iklelnotte, when he leads Pauline up and down the stage,
so vividly
of
the
depicts in words, and then looking lovingly into
the eyes young lady who plays the part, says—
Dost like the picture ?

at which Pauline repl
My own sweet lovel
which shows that she Was not born within the sound of
Bow bells, because in all probability a young lady from the
neighbourhood of Holton, in answer to a oirailar question,
would exclaim, " Oh, don't I just !"—('The Italian prince
here referred to, as a recent visitor to Margate, being the
Prince Doria Pamphilii.)
STUCK IN THE MUD !—a la Charivari.—The
Charivari publishes a woodcut which possesses a
certain interest for the present state of affairs relative to the
Germanic Confederation. In the centre of a broad, strong
stream, the Emperor of Austria is represented with a gay
and jaunty air rowing a boat with great ease and rapidity,
apparently engaged in quite a party of pleasure; at some
distance, another boat is perceived, entangled in the shal-
-1 get cries
into
deep out
water, the o tihf e
you other :
d, og
shal-
lows, and the King of Prussia is making desperate, but in-
effectualA.
efforts to extricate it. The Austrian boatman
good-naturedlycurrent,
• interestdeeper the pteceedu in the mud!"
Re Germanyoft
hßon ootnot you
yosaoltruiadywonlyoa,low
the
get deeper and distance
regVd wall

LA. `IST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

RUSSIA.
ST. PETERSBURG, SEPT. 5.
An Imperial Decree, dated Aug. 12, orders that
from the 13th inst. the peasants of the Ukraine
shall income proprietors of their land, and shall
pay a certain amount as purchase money to the
State.

PARIS, SEPT. 5.

The Courrier du Dimanche says :—" Baron do
Budberg will not return to Paris before Sunday or
Monday."
The same journal explains in what respect Art.
8 of the Federal Reform Project, regulating the de-
claration of war, has modified the former situation,
and that it will bring about negotiations between
Prussia and France.

No positive indication of the Russian Reforms
spoken of by the journals has yet transpired,

SAXONY.

DRESDEN, SEPT. 4.

The King of Saxony has returned to this capital,
accompanied by
King Ferdinand of Portugal. The
latter is about to visit the Duke of Coburg, at the
Castle of Rosenau, where Queen Victoria is at pre-
sent residing.

P RUSSIA.

BERLIN, SEPT. 4,

An aide• de-camp of the Emperor of Austria has
arrived here with the protocol of the deliberations
of the Congress, signed by the Princes, and an
invitation to the King of Prussia to favour it with
his approval.

CHINA.
SIIANGIIAE, JULY 22.
Political affairs in China are generally quiet.
Cholera is raging at Shan ghae.
A civil war has commenced in Japan.
The relations with foreigners are stated to be

ANERIGA.

(REU T ER' S EXP RES S.)

QUEENSTOWN, SEPT. 4.

The Royal Mail steamer China, from New York
on the 26th ult., arrived here at 7 p.m. She brings
60 passengers and 219,241 in spccie. She landed
the mails, consisting of 102 sacks, and proccded at
7.20 p.m.; all well.

(Per the China.)

NEW YORK, AUG. 24 (Evening).

The advance guard of General Raecrans's army
appeared before Chattanooga on the 21st inst., and
opened fire upon the city, where General Joseph
Johnstone is commanding, having superseded Gene-
ral Bragg, who had gone to Atlanta. The Confe-
derates opened fire from 19 guns, which did little
damage, and were disabled by the Federal fire.
The Federals disabled two steamers moored at the
wharf, but were unsuccessful in their attempt to
destroy the pontoon bridge opposite the city.
The Confederate works upon the river are very
strong, the parapets being 15ft. wide. There are
several water batteries on a level with the river.
Two Confederate divisions are at Chattanooga, and
there is a large Confederate force in the neighbour-
hood.

General Wilder crossed the Tennessee river on
the 22d inst_ and destroyed a small railway bridge
which, it is said, severs the communication between
the right and the left of the Confederate army.
Immense numbers of deserters are reported to be
in the mountain, awaiting the Federal advance.
The military force now concentrated in New York
is estimated to number 30,000 men, infantry and
cavalry. The artillery occupy Madison, Tompkins,
and other public squares.

The draughting continues in this city. There id
more excitement, but there is no disturbance.

During the bombardment of Charleston, a shot
from Fort Wagner broke a piece of the interior
lining of the iron-clad Catskill, and struck the
heads of Commander Rogers and Paymaster Wood-
bury, killing them instantly.

Charleston harbour and Stone_river are full of
torpedoes.

Qqantrell has entirely destroyed Lawrence. Ka-
nsas. The attack was made at midnight. Fifty
prominent citizens, including the Mayor, were
killed, it is said, in their houses, surrounded by
their families. Over 100 citizens were wounded, and
25 negro recruits shot. See ator Lane has escaped.

Lawrence is principally inhabited by New Eng-
land emigrants, between whom and their Missouri
neighbours there were strong antagonistic feelings.
It is supposed that the Lawrence massacre will lead
to sanguinary border warfare.

It is asserted that Lee, largely reinforced, is pre-
paring to invade Maryland.
The conscription of all men between 16 and 60
was rigidly enforced in Richmond.

Beauregard officially states that all negroes cap-
tured are held in military custody, subject to orders
of the Governor of South Carolina, to be dealt with
according to the State law.

The Richmond TVhig thinks there are but two
means of preventing a long continuance of the war ;
these are either foreign intervention, or successful
resistance by the Northern Conservatives to the
Abolition inaction (faction ?) in Washington.

The TVldg says ;—" We want French aid. We
are able to pay for it. Let us do it. We shall then
have peace, or power to wreak vengeance on our
foe."

The desertions of substitutes for draughted men
having become so frequent in the Federal army, it
is officially announced that in all such cases the
extreme penalty of martial law will be administered.
The report that General Grant had opened the
Mississippi trade to all loyal citizens was untrue.
The New York herald says there are now 30,000
troops in New York, and that as the rebellion is
nearly crushed these troops should be sent to take
possession of Vera Cruz.

The Florida has captured and bonded the ship
Francis B. Cutting.

AUG. 25, EVENINGS

The bombardment of Forts Sumter, Wagner, and
Gregg by the land and naval batteries commenced
on the 17th inst., and was kept up continuously till
the 23d. The Southern journals of the latter date
say :

" Fort Sumter is now a ruin ; the north-west
wall, with its arches, has fallen in. The guns are
all dismounted. The east wall is cracked and
breached, and the enemy's shot sweep through the
fort. Colonel What, commanding at Fort Sum-
ter, is ordered to hold his outposts even as a for-
lorn hope until he is released or Fort Sumter cap-
tured."
Lien. Gilmore demanded the surrender of Morris
Island and Fort Sumter on the 22d, threatening to
shell Charleston in four hours if they were not sur-
rendered.
Oen. Beauregard replied, charging Gen. Gilmore
with inhumanity and violation of the laws of war,
and affirming that if the offence were repeated he
would employ stringent measures of retaliation.
Upon the morning of the 23d Gen. Gilmore gave
notice that he would open fire upon Charleston on
the following day, and that in the meantime non,
combatants could leave the city.
Twenty-three Federal vessels, including the iron-
sides and Monitors, are inside the bar of Charles-
ton, and there are 13 more outside.
The Southern journals assert that Gen. Rosecrans
shelled Chattanooga on the 21st without giving
notice of his intention to do so.

AUG. 20, MORNING.

Fort Sumter is in ruins.
The city of Charleston was shelled on the 24th
inst.

General Rosecrans has shelled Chattanooga.
The Southern press calls for French aid.
Southern (Charleston) despatches of th© 25th
inst. say :

si At 12 o'clock last night the enemy opened fire
upon the city, firing 15 8-inch Parrot shells. Non-
combatants are leaving the city in continuous
streams. 600 shots were fired at Fort Sumter on
the 22d, 419 taking effect."

The Richmond Examiner says
the Federals captured the whole of Morris
Island they might close Charleston as a port of
en►ry. But it would not enable them to take the
city, as General Beauregard can maintain himself
against any force sent, or likely to be sent, against
hire."

A Federal expedition has proceeded to Granada,
Mississippi, forcing the Confederates to destroy a
large amount of railroad stock,
General Lee's army, estimated at 60,000 men, is
around Culpepper Courthouse. General Long-
street holds Fredericksburg, and General Stuart is
guarding the fords of the Rappahannock.
The North Carolina troops have passed resolu-
tions denouncing the peace party in that State.
Quantrell's guerillas have been disbanded. The
Federals are still pursuing them.
Major Opdyke, of New York, has vetoed the mu-
nicipal appropriation for draughted men.

The Common Council of New York has resolved
to pass an appropriation over the Mayor's veto.
The firemen and the city militia have cent com-

mittee to the mayor requesting an appropriation
for their exemption.

The blockading squadron has destroyed the
British steamer Hebe cif New Inlet.

Vessels arriving here report a violent hurricane
along the American coast line from the 18th to the
22d inst.

The Federal brig Bainbridge has foundered; one
man only was saved.

Noon.

The centre of General Bragg's army in Tennessee
is at Chattanooga, and the left wing at Bolton,
General Buckner has 10,000 men at Cleveland.
Bragg's army numbers 30,000 men.
An explosion has occurred on board a steamer at
Vicksburg, killing 130 men.
Gold, 23 per cent. prem.
(By Telegraph to Cape Race.)
NEW YORK, AUG. 28 (Morning).
News from Charleston to Aug. 24 (evening) states
that Fort Sumter had been entirely destroyed, but
had not surrendered. The Federal fleet was prepar•
ing to move up the harbour. Great dissatisfaction
prevails at the slowness of the operations of the fleet.
Forts Moulton, Gregg, and Johnston, as well as
the batteries on Sullivan and James Islands, have
kept up a steady fire upon the Federals on Morris
Island, doing, however, little damage.

During the night of the 21st inst. Gen. Gilmore
threw 5 shells charged with txreek fire into Charles-
ton. Gen. Beauregard protested against the short
time allowed for the removal of women and chil-
dren. The British, French, and Spanish Consuls
demanded more time for the removal of their sub-
jects.

General Gilmore replied by again demanding the
surrender of the forts and public property. General
Beauregard then demanded a trues or 40 hours,
which was refused by General Gilmore, who recom-
menced shelling the city upon the night of the 22d.
The Richmond Examiner says :

" The shelling of the city and the destruction of
empty houses are of minor importance if the forti-
fications and the harbour can be held,"

Two blockade runners entered Charleston on the
23d.

The negotiations for an exchange of prisoners are
progressing.

The refusal of the Confederates to regard negroes
as prisoners of war causes some difficulty.
It is reported that the Confederates will now re-
gard Colonel Strengths as a prisoner of war. The
Federals will place Morgan on the same footing.
The Confederates have handed General Neale Dow
over to the civil authorities. The Federals, in conse-
quence, will place a Confederate brigadier-general in
close confinement.

An excited meeting of draughted Germans has
been held in New York, at which the conscription
was denounced as a cruel and inhuman measure,
and organizations were urged against its conse-
quences. A committee has been appointed to con-
fer with Governor Seymour and test the legality of
the Act.

The Confederate steamer Ever;lav© has been
sunk near Tybee Island. A privateer crew in uni-
form were on board. Several of them were cap-
tured.

Twelve steamers entered Wilmington in five
days. One of them was of 1,500 tons, and pierced
for six guns.

(VERY LATEST.)
NEW YORK, Aug. 28, Noon.

A Federal gunboat arrived at Fortress Monroe,
from•off Wilmington, reports that the steamer
Florida had arrived at the latter place with intelli-
gence that the Federa:s occupied Forts Sumter
and Wagner on the 24th,

CANADA.

NEW YORK, Aug. 26.

The omto Leader of to-day announces that a
treasonable plot has been discovered to betray
Canada into the hands of President Lincoln's Ad-
ministration. The British Consul at New York is
stated to have communicated the fact to his Govern-
ment.

1 p.m.

It is ascertained from authentic sources that Bri-
tish official circles here have no knowledge of the
report contained in the Toronto Leader. it is
doubtless a canard.

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.
NEW Yorx, Aug. 25, Evening.
Money easy. Gold, 221 premium.
Exchange on London, 136. Stocks tending down-
wards.
New York Central, 1351 ; Illinois, 134,1 ; Erie,
1193.
Cotton heavy; middling upland 653 c.
Flour heavy, and 10c. lower. Wheat dull, and
2c. lower. Corn very firm. Provisions dull. Coffee
steady. Sugar very firm. Molasses in good in-
quiry.