The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-06 00:00:00

COMMERCIAL NEWS.

Le Mauricien, of the 4th of August, furnishes the
annexed intelligence on general commercial matters :
" Exchange on England has not varied ; the large
supplies of specie which have continued to arrive,
principally from India, and the little business doing
in shipping for the present, will keep the rates with-
out alteration ; 3 to 4 per cent. discount is the rate
for six months' bills. Local discounts are effected at
from 10 to 12 per cent. Treasury bills have ruled at
2 to 21 per cent. premium.
" Sugar—Nothing worth notice has been doing in
purchases. None of the new crop has come to
market, but a few hundred bags have arrived for
shipment. The last crop may now be said to have
been brought to a close, although some trifling ship-
ments may remain. The total of the quantity shipped
to the end of July is 132,906,8161 b., against
102,168,1681 b. last year. Of this quantity of
132,906,8161 b., 124,582,4891 b. were destined for the
United,Kingdom; 4,131,3531 b. for the Cape of Good
Hope; 3,856,8801 b. for the Australian colonies; and
the chief portion of the remainder for Zanzibar.
" Rice—This article in consequence of short arrivals
has advanceckto 4 dolls. 50c., with a prospect of going
still hizher. _

Provisions in generat are neuvi..iiis
good prices have been obtained. In piece goods little
is doing.
"Freights—The Eleanor is loading for London,
and takes freight at 51. As there will in another
month be a demand for tonnage, it is possible that it
will become scarce and high rates be obtained.
" Prospects of present Crop—The very favourable
weather during the last month will tend to increase
the quantity of the present crop, and competent judges
in the different quarters assert that it will surpass that
which has preceded it. Some parties estimate it as
high as 146,000,0001 b., which, less about 6,000,0001 b.
for local consumption, would leave 140,000,0001 b. for
shipment."

SERIOUS ACCIDENT AT ANDOVER.—Mr. W. Earle,
the second son of Henry Earle, Esq., of this town, sus
tained a very serious accident on Tuesday, the sth inst.,
whilst in the fields for the purpose of shooting game.
Having loaded his double-barrelled gun with a cart-
ridge, upon presenting and firing at a hare, the gun
burst and most severely injured his left hand ; fortu-
nately being near his home, medical assistance was
promptly obtained, and we regret to state that ampu-
tation of the left thumb was found necessary. It is
hoped he is in a fair way of recovery. Mr. George W.
Leeke accompanied the young gentleman, and at about
twenty yards' distance heard the whizzing noise of the
fragments, which passed very near him, but fortunately
without his sustaining any injury.

PENDING DIVORCE OF PRINCE ALBERT OF PRUSSIA.

—BERLIN, SEPTEMBER 16.—The President of the Royal
Court has been charged with instructions to demand the
divorce of Prince Albert Henry Frederick of Prussia,
brother of King Frederick William IV., from his wife
the Princess Wilhelmina Frederika Louis Charlotte
Marianne, sister of the King of Holland. These high
personages have lived asunder for the last five years, and
have always most carefully avoided being simultaneously
in the same city.

ADYBRTISEMENT DUTY ON PARACRAPIIS.—A de-
putation from the Provincial Newspaper Society, com-
prising Mr. James Swinnerton, the Mayor of Maccles-
field, Mr. Gedge, of the Bury Post, and others, has
waited on the secretary of the Board of Stamps and
Taxes, and had a satisfactory interview with him in
reference to the recent order of the Stamps and Taxes
for charging every paragraph relating to medicine with
duty. Mr. Keogh stated that the order in question was
not only intended to apply to paragraphs of quack medi-
cines, but also to include "other matters,"such as dentists'
preparations, &c. It would not, however, apply to any-
thing which could be supposed to be really volunteered
by the editor; such as notices referring to advertisements
of concerts, sermons, or meetings for charitable objects,
reviews of books, or notices of inventions of public
utility, which appeared to be the genuine expression of
the editor. But if the officer whose business it was t
tax the advertisements observed the same paragraph in
different papers, he would conclude it to be supplied by
the advertiser, and charge it with duty. The line could
not be drawn between such paragraphs as were paid for
and such as were not, as it was well known that some
journals were sufficiently independent to require payment
for the same paragraphs which others would insert gra-
tuitously, and the Stamp-office could not distinguish
between papers charging and papers not charging. Any
announcement made by a private party to promote pri •
vats interests was chargeable as an advertisement,
whether paid for or not Free Press.
STATISTICS Or CLERSS.—It is estimated, on a fair
calculation, that there are no less than 200,000 clerks in
this country alone. Out of 47,218 persons employed on
74 railways in actual operation no less than 3,756 come
under this definition. On a fair computation it is
believed that there are 100,000 Assistant Drapers : the
aggregate earnings of all must, therefore, amount to up-
wards of 250,0004 a year—a small sum for the services
of so important and numerous a body.—Civil and Mer-
cantile Journal.
ALARMING FIRE AT GLASGOW.—On Saturday
morning, about half-past two o'clock, a fire was dis-
covered in a wood yard in Mame-street, occupied by
Mr. John Toshack, cabinet maker and upholsterer, and
Messrs. William M‘Farlane and Co., joiners. The
alarm was given immediately after the discovery of the
fire, but so rapid was the spread of the flames, that in
little more than a quarter of an hour after it was ob-
served, the roofs of the wright's shops had fallen in, and
the entire stock of wood in the yard was one mass of
livid flame. In about an hour the premises presented
but the blackened ashes and burning embers of theil
materials. We are sorry to learn that not an article ha.
been saved in either of the establishments, and that the
whole of the workmen's tools have also been destroyed.
It is not even conjectured how the fire originated. We
understand, as far as we can learn, that the amount of
property destroyed will be somewhere about-1,0001., and
we regret to learn that the whole is but very inade
quately insure d.—North British Mail.
i Dispatches were received yesterday, at the Colonial-
office, from the Governor of the Mauritius. •

The Lord Chancellor has aypointed Richard Engl: nd,
of the t ,wn or borough of iiingstori•upon--Hull, iii thc
county, of the saaae town or 'borough,. Gout., to bo a
Master Extraordinary in the 1-ijgh,Court of Chancel.