The Sun.
London, England, 1848-01-13 00:00:00

THE (.30RN TRADE.

'Tile most serious evil which has hitherto resulted
som the unusually -warm and damp weather has been
t lie injurious effect it has had on the condition of the
Qom of last year's growth. The accounts from all
parts of the kingaam complain of the bad order in
winich the grain ha' slitherto come to market; and there
c an be no doubt th rat this has bad a material influence
(es the tone of the trade. Merchants and millers are
naturally unwillir ig to buy largely of an article scarcely
available for imp iediate use, for in many cases the
wheat has been r eridered so rough as not to be in a
fit state to grindt without a large mixture of old.
Buyers have, cmsequently, contracted their opera-
deals ; and the raiticipations of higher prices gene-
rally indulged in by holders at the close of last
month do not alone remain unfulfilled, but the
'tendency has lately been decidedly downwards.
Meanwhile farmers do not bring forward supplies
freely, ard, as the quantity held by other par-
ties is (excepting in the port of London) small, it
is; not likely that the value of bread-stuffs will,
for some time as least, give way to any
I,'i-eat extent. To enter into predictions as to the
•pi:obable range of prices in spring would be wholly
absurd, as that will depend on matters of which
m othing can be now known, viz., the then appearance
o f the crops, thc, probable extent of the shipments from
tibread, Hitaerto the actual fall in prices has not
?en important, indeed, we doubt whether, if due allo-w-
a :ace be made fir the deterioration which the quality
h us undergone, the article can be quoted at all cheaper.
At Liverpool, on Tuesday, really fine parcels of
w heat, whether old or new, were held at the advance
o' f the preceding market-day, or 2d. per 701bs. above
tl se currency of that day se iinight ; and though the
ordinary kinds were offered at lower terms; the in-
trinsic value was quite as much less as the difference
in -price. On Friday business was excessively dull ;
lvt.eat was quoted from Id. to 3d. per 701b5., and flour
ha. per barrel lower.
The reports from other large consuming markets
ins the north are on the whale dull ; an effort appears
a have been made to obtain former terms, which
brd had the effect of checking business, and the
t ransactions at Hull and Leeds were, on Tuesday.
stl quite a retail scale. From Wakefield we learn
that goad supplies had been received; and, on Fri-
day, wheat was offered at a reduction of Is. per qr.
without exciting much attention.
The advices from the western and north-western
-parts of the kingdom are generally of a very dull tone.
At Birmingham, on Thursday, there was but little
wheat on sale ; notwithstanding which, an abatement
of is. to 2s. per quarter had to he submitted to on all
but picked samples. This was also the case at Bristol
and neighbouring markets. The accounts from
-nearly all the places above referred to ascribe the fall
mainly to the want of condition in which the wheat
has come to hand.
The advices from Ireland in regard to potatoes are
unfavourable, but prices of other articles of food do
not appear to have been much influenced thereby ;
indeed, Indian corn, the great substitute for potatoes
with the poorer classes, had receded in value, owing
to the belief that larger supplies would be received
from America than had been previously reckoned on.
The arrivals of wheat coastwise into London have
been on the same moderate scale this week as for some
tame past ; indeed, there was hardly anything exhi-
bited either on Wednesday or Friday from Essex or
,Suffolk, and the few runs displayed on the Kent
stands consisted mostly of parcels left over from the
previous receipts. 1%, ith so scanty a supply the ope-
rations have necessarily been on a restricted scale ;
but though the millers have acted with the utmost
caution, factors have remained firm, and the little
business done has been at previous prices. Further
supplies of wheat have arrived from abroad—this was
hardly expected ; still very little effect has been pro-
duced by the late receipts, as importers have refrained
from pressing sales from on board ship. The country
demand for foreign wheat has not been by any
paeans active since our last, and the local inquiry has
also been slow. Fine qualities (particularly Dantzic)
have, nevertheless, been held for fully as much, and
needy buyers have been obliged to pay Monday's
currency for what they required for immediate use.
In secondary and inferior sorts scarcely anything has
been done, and quotations have, therefore, remained
nominally unaltered.
The value of home manufactured flour has under-
gone no change requiring notice, though the turn
may, perhaps, in some cases, have been rather in
favour of the purchaser. Of American very little
has come to hand ; but as the latest advices from
the United States intimated that the stocks of
the ports on the seaboard had increased, it is
deemed probable that some small lots may drop in
from time to time. Choice brands, being very scarce,
have been held firmly at former terms ; and, though
the inquiry for secondary sorts has been languid,
prices have not suffered arty abatement.
The arrivals, of home grown barley have been
small since Monday, nor has much been brought
forward by land, eizrriage samples from the neigh-
bouring counties. This grain has, nevertheless, been
very difficult of disposal, the nr.lsters and distillers
having manifested a decided objection to buy more
than absolutely necessary for their immediate wants.
In this position of affairs prices have continued to tend
downwards, and secondary sorts might in some
instances have been bought a trifle lower on Friday
than at the beginning of the week. Foreign barley
has not excited any particular attention ; still prices
of good heavy grinding sorts have bean about main-
taMed.
Malt has hung on hand very heavily, but no quo-
table change has occurred in its value.
The supplies of oats from our own coast have
amounted to 3,360 quarters, and from Scotland 8-,0
quarters have come to he nd. In the Irish arrivals there
is a slight increase, 5,820 quarters having been re-
ported. On the other hand, the foreign supply has
fallen off, and, taking the total, the arrival is
small. The leading dealers have, throughout the
week, acted on the reserve ; nor have consumers been
inclined to take more than is required for present use.
The trade has, therefore, been dull ; but factors have
insisted on previous rates, and the business done on
Wednesday and Friday, though trifling in extent,
was at full terms.
Beans have been rather more inquired for, and
neither English nor foreign have been sold at all
cheaper than on Monday.
The transactions in peas have not been very exten-
sive, and quotations have remained much the same as
previously.
Indian corn has been neglected, in consequence of
dull advices from some of the principal Irish markets.
Owing to the non-arrival of Tuesday's Hamburgh
mail our news from the Baltic is not so complete as
usual. We have Dantzic advices of the Ist instant,
and accounts of corresponding_ dates from some of the
other principal ports. The navigation having become
closed, and the inquiry for spring shipment having been
comparatively trifling, but little business seems to have
been done either in wheat or spring corn. Our Dantzic
letters state that prices of wheat were nominally 455.
to 495. per quarter. Stocks were very short,
and holders had remained exceedingly firm. During
the year 1847 there had been exported from Dantzic
38,706 lasts of wheat, and the quantity remaining in
warehouse on the Ist instant amounted to only 3,338
lasts, about two-thirds of which consisted of old, and
the other third of new. The weight of the new
Wheat which had come forward had varied from 581bs.
to 601bs. per bushel.
,_,The news from the south of Europe is not of much
interest. From Marseilles we have advices of very
recent dates viz., 4th instant ; prices of wheat
baddem atneadafeord upwar there, in consequence of a
wards
44Languedoc ; for really fine Polish as
much as
6d. per quarter had been paid, and
other England
sor t hues( i7r:alised corresponding rates. Fright to
per quarter, and 10 per cent. In
Indian corn andt?,l;
Sag ; both articles 115
there has not been much
werepass-
ing; relatively higher there than in
s our markets, "Y Galatz Indian corn 285., and
Egzptian beans 295, I)"
quarter free on board.
1 rom Leghorn we leunder the date of 30th of
of
December, that a cargo sine Polish wheat had been
bought there, for Ireland, ists, price equal to 475. 6d.
per quarter,, including freight,ark-lane Express.

DREADFUL ACCIDENT.—It is our
Ai
_Painful duty to
record the death of Mr. William
in
that,it effects as
"'worth, solicitor,
of Higher Bank, by an accident as fatal
it was sudden in occurring. It appears
shot
the
course of NVednesday morning, Mr. Ainsworthlaidn
a sparrow, and given it to one of his little boys.
In the
afternoon, about half-past four or a quarter to five 0,600!
he was in the kitchen playing with his children, when
his youngest little girl asked him to shoot a bird for her.
Ile replied be was afraid he could not, as they would all
be gone to roost, but ho would try. He then took down
a gun, and having loaded it he went into the plantation
beside the house. He had been absent but a few mi-
nutes, when a female servant heard a person moan as if
in pain; and on going out she saw her master, who had
last. come through a small gate leading to the plantation,
on his act of falling to the ground, his coat and waistcoat
ins left side being on fire. She ran to support him,
when he ejaculated, "Oh Ellen !" to the servant • and as-
sistance having been procured he w "
the house, where he died -
'
uatbtiernd
seem that, being unableas
rtolentfienT minutes.
to shoot, It would
un .
fortunate gentleman w
the undischarged gun
in
his left
through the gate with
must have caught some part hand, when the trigger
immediately exploding, the contentste gate, and, the gun
left side. The gun was lying on the were lodged in his
of the gate, when the servant ran up ground' by the side
reached the back door, which he i to him; and he had
distance of fifteen yards from the g:about to enter, a
situa-
tion was discovered. Mr. Ainsworth' when
big
36 years of age, has left a widow and fou who was about
lament his untimely fate, and a large circlerchildren to
o
by whom he was greatly esteemed, to sympathise friends.,
this most painful bereavement of his family.
with
The Berlin journals announce that Prince Albert
of Prussia is about to imitate his cousin,
Prince Walde-
mar, by visiting the East Indies and other parts of Asia.