The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-02 00:00:00

The Shenandoak—Great Destruction of

American Whalers.

•
LIVERPOOL, Wednesday.
Notwithstanding the cessation of hostilities in the
United States, and the disbanding of the Confede-
rate forces, the officers in command of the .cruiser
Shenandoah seem determined to continue the de-
struction of American merchant ships. By the
arrival here to-day of the City of Boston from New
York we have San Francisco advices to July 21.
The latest accounts received at that place from
the Shenandoah were to the afternoon of the• 23d of
June, when she was near Cape Thaddeus, steaming
N.W., toward where a fleet of 60 whalers were
known to be previeusly. Capt. Nye, of the French
whaling barque Milo; on learning of the intentions
of the captain of the Shenandoah, left his vessel in
a small boat during a fog for the purpose of
warning the whalers of their danger. The Milo also
spoke a French whaler, which at once made all sail
towards the fleet, and having a considerable start
of the Shenandoah it was just possible she might be
in time to save the vessels from destruction. While
the Shenandoah was at the Island of Ascension,
some time since, she burned the new London barque
Pearl, and the New Bedford ship Young Hector,
besides a San Francisco and a Hawaian whaler.
She next burned the New Bedford barque Abigail,
in the Ochotsk Sea ; then the Thompson, in the
Kamtschatka sea ; and then several New
Bedford whalers in the Anadir Sea, where she ar-
rived on the 20th June. It is feared that, unless the
French ship's open whale boat could succeed in
warning the fleet, all would be captured, as the
Shenandoah knew exactly where to find them. They
were hovering along the southern edge of the ice-
fields, drawing closer together as the ice drifted to-
wardsß ehrin g's Straits,through which they were seek-
ing, a passage to the Arctic zone, as the ice permits.
There were no efficient Government vessels at San
Francisco, and the merchants at that place had ap-
pealed to the Commandant of the Navy-yard to
charter the steamer Colorado, arm her, and send
her in pursuit of the Shenandoah. As instructions,
however, had to be obtained from Washington be-
fore the commandant could act, the. fate of the
whaling fleet looks rather gloomy. Should they
have managed to get into Behring's Straits, the
Shenandoah would hardly dare to follow them.

A meeting of the creditors of Messrs. Scott, Bell,
and. Co., East India merchants, whose suspension was
recently announced, was held yesterday under the
presidency of Mr. Finlay, who called upon Mr.
Coleman, of the firm of Coleman, Turquand,
Youngs, and Co., to lay a statement before the
meeting relative to the affairs of Messrs. Scott. Mr.
Coleman said he had gone over the books of the
firm, and made out a: separate statement, which
he called a balance statement, as shown by the
books of the firm, which would be in the hands of
all gentlemen present ; and also a second, which
he called a statement of affairs. The balance state-
ment showed a total liability or indebtedness of
£1,487,592, and on the contra side there was
£1,515,329. That was the true state of affairs as
shown by their books. Their affairs stood thus :-
To creditors onundrawn accounts, £67,985 13s. Bd. ;
creditors on bills payable, £970,230 9s. 10d., from
which must be deducted securities held on
amounts to be provided for by the drawers, &c.,
£743,228 Bs. 2d., leaving £227,002 ls. Bd. to rank
upon the estate. Creditors partially secured claim
£2,286 7s. 3d., and there was security to the
amount of £1,493, ss. 3d., leaving a claim of
£793 2s. Creditors fully secured had a security
amounting to £75,751 17s. 10d., with a claim of
£72,547 3s. 11d., so that on that item there would
be a surplus to be carried to contra account of
£3,204 13s. 11d. There were liabilities on bills
£374,182 19s. 7d., all of which were expected to
be duly met at maturity, so that the total liabili-
ties were £295,780 17s. 4d. On the other side
there were-Cash at the Bank of England, £53 ;
bills on hand, £8,676 16s. 9d. ; property share in
sugar estate, &c., £14,250; debtors, good,
£29,101 lls ; debtors, doubtful, £10,058 6s. 6d. ;
do., bad, £959 12s 10d. ; balances on shipments
inwards, £6,154 12s. for advances ; surplus secu-
rities in hands of creditors as per contra, £3,204
13s. 11d., making a total of £61,349 13s. 10d. ;
from that, however, must be deducted cre-
ditors under £lO to be paid in full, such as salaries
and so forth, £350 12s. ld ; leaving a balance of
available assets of £60,990 ls. 9d. There werebalances
on shipments outwards, £9,789105. 9d. for shipments
which had gone out to the various foreign correspon-
dents. There was an amount due from Messrs. Dow
and Co., on old account, of £81,984 11s. 10d. ; and
£33,034 7s. 3d. on new account, the difference in
which arose from Mr. Dow some time since taking
‘a. partner into his business, and the item of new
account represented the sum due on transactions
since that time. Mr. Dow was quite confident that
if time were allowed him his estate is perfectly
solvent. Immediately upon hearing of the sus-
pension of Messrs. Scott, Bell, and Co., Mr. Dow
sent out instructions to his agents abroad to sus-
pend immediately, so that the creditors should have
a preference. Then there was an amount of
£137,719 6s. 3d., due from Watson, Bogle, and
Co., in respect to whose affairs they had every in-
formation. The goods had been selected and sent
out to the Bombay market. In making out that
account he had deducted 33 and one-third per
cent., and the result gave £137,000. Those items
gave a total of assets of £323,517 17s. 10d. If he
had committed an error it was in under-estimating
the value of the estate. It had been the wish of
the firm that the creditors should be in no wise
misled, and having gone over the various items
he could assure gentlemen that there was true
value for the amount stated. £172,000 of the ac-
ceptances had been cancelled, and they had in
hand remittances to the extent of £42,000, only
awaiting the appointment of inspectors to be dis-
tributed amongst the shareholders. The firm now
asked the metting to allow them to liquidate
under inspection. Some discussion ensued, and
in reply to a question put by Mr. Argles, Mr. Cole-
man said that in his examination of the estate he
found nothing inconsistent with fair, open, and
thoroughly legitimate trading. Eventually resolu-
tions were unanimously adopted that the estate
should be liquidated under inspection, and appoint-
ing Messrs. J. P. Sweetland, F. W. Lawrence, and
Richard Spooner, inspectors,