The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-13 00:00:00

IRO..VMASTERS QUARTERLY MEETING.

WOLVERHAMPTON, April 11.—Tne usual quarterly
meeting of the ironrnasters of this district for the current
quarter commenced at Walsall yesterday ; the second
assembly took place at the Swan Hotel in this town this
afternoon,. there being a very large attendance of manu-
, factur era ae well as merchants, and others, interested in
the trade.- Co the part of the large ironmasters, no dis-
position whatever was manifested to depart from the re-
solution adopted at the preliminary meeting, although
the orders for all descriptions of iron are enormous, espe-
cially so for America end our home purposes ; perhaps
for bars the pressure is not q, ite so great, as for sheets,
at least they are not command:lig so stiff a price (propor-
tionately) as coniyared.with pigs: for the latter the de-
mand is ,said to exceed all precedent ; there are heavy
contracts on hand, with the certainty that further orders
would not be accepted at this time to; any extent at the
quotations of the day ; indeed, this morning half-a-crown
higher price was asked, and many persons were of
opinion that by tomorrow night the actual price of
Staffordshire pigs (best quality) will be f.)s. higher than
the recognised trade price, Which stands—for hot-blast
rniue.pigs,.s/. 10s., cinder pigs being from 4/. 15s. to
5/. Of course, manufacturers are very. reluctant to buy
at such Trices, but trade is so good, that they have little
or no alternative. The best informed members of the
trade speak very confidently of the fair prospect that
exists for the continued healthy condition of the trade ;
there are rib stocks of iron of any kind, even the stocks
nt Mr. Attovoocl and Mr, George Hudson, bad as they
were'iu quality, 'are being gradually worked up, and if
the war sPreads, itl Europe there is apparently very
little. probability of the demand for America falling off.
.The price of Staffordshire ironstone is as high as 21s.
per ton, notwithstanding the Northamptonshire sup-
ply, bet _truth to tell, experience has shown that
the ore froui that district produces but an inferior
quality of iron, in fact consumers of bars have
in many instances made it a condition that they shall not
be made from pigs smelted from the Northamptonshire
ore. At the present time the make of iron is large (larger
than it will be as the warm weather approaches), the ge-
istroirctsoism leleatlitmhye,ptsdt. of
As
sa l there is
an
. lessnera
of
t scarcitytrade of the d)
i f
th a
excep-
tion to this must be noticed the tinplate manufaCture,
which is still in a languid state ; indeed, there is scarcely
any demand for the commodity ; the make has been re-
duced at least one-half, but the price-335. per box—is
about the same as when tallow and everything else en-
tering into the manufacture was not more than half what
it now is. There are reports that the United States' tariff
is to be revised in respect of this commodity, and that
the duty will be all but abolished. Should this be cor-
rect, it will operate materially towards the revival of the
prosperity of this branch of industry.

• ---
THE FORTHCOMING EASTER TERM.—Yesterday the
lists of arrears of the common law courts for the forth-
coming Easter Term were exhibited. According to
the days fixed by act of Parliament, term would com-
mence on Saturday, the 15th inst., but this year the
day being one of the holidays, term will not in reality
begin•until Wednesday, the 19th.- inst. The arrears of
the three common law courts are inconsiderable, amount-
ing, to .only DO rules. In the Queen's Bench there are
57 ; in- the Common Pleas, 11 ; and -in the Exchequer
82. The. number of rules for new trial in the Court of
Queen's Bench is 15 for argument, and it is expected
that the cause.'.` Lumley v. Gye" will he again mentioned
lin that court. In the same court are 33 special cases,
demurrers and county court appeals, whilst of enlarged
rules there ore. 9in the paper. In the Common Pleas,
-2 -demurrers are entered ; 3 enlarged rules ; 4 rules for
new trials, and 2 matters standing for the judgment of
the court. • In tha Exchequer there are two new trial
rules for judgment, and 16 fur argument and arrange-
ment, and 14 rules in the new trial paper, Mr. Justice
Crow,!er, will :take . his seat, for the first time, in the
Court of Common Pleas, in the place of the lamented
Judge-F.:Howl!. In the Court of Chancery, there are
few, if any arrears, the learned. judges having cleared
the: lii:ts, but, many matters are progreseingi!: , offices
L.O
of the several courts. The expression Dela.)
Chnnuery,7 _has. not become obsolete.
• NEWLY TNVI:NTED SIWRIOUS COIN.-\-Viti'i
few days Mr. WeEster, the Inspector-General
some 'counterfeit
of Cuina
to -her 'Majesty's Mint,
has
receiveded in 1852, and which
shillirgs, bearing
genuine coin than anything
errliV.eir difference ft-inn the
more perfectly-repdgeenitlrr g
.ever 70t, DUt in circulation.
vis, that theyare struck with nean.
orai.nary .a
istitrtuheiks
I'm"' a hard white metal, which is
tifuiry executed die from t
Btlliuqueiltlycsiterrosntghleyuelteoelrdol
appplatee4dr.arTieehevirebrieeicttg
min) is catquite rfr
erpecdit7thraetn the rim and ..g • sharp and
complete, whereas ii:itth,„einßrreitaTittna metal base coin,
hitherto circulated, t .a in moulds and poured
in from the. edge of the. mould, the outer rhn of the coin
is always faulty, and a very curory inspection of that
}fart woelasuince to detect it. The component parts of
the metal from which they are struck are copper, ni',kel,
and zinc, in the following proportions :—Copper, 64.26
per cent., nickel 15'71, and the rest zinc, which is in
reality German silver. The shillings weigh 5 grains
light of a genuine one of the same year, and 3 grains
heavy of a Geo. 111. of 1822. The metal being so hard
the coin detectors will not expose the fraud, but they
I! maybe known by the . ring, which is very bad. It is
believed that they came from Birmingham.