The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-04-18 00:00:00

CUSTOMS ORDERS.—The Board of Customs have, with
reference to the 356th section of the Customs' Consolida-
tion Act of the last session of parliament, 16 and 17 Vic.,
cap. 107, caused the general orders and minutes issued by
them in the year 1853 for the regulation of trade, &c., to
be printed in collective form. Copies of these orders can
be had by merchants and others interested and concerned,
on application to the collectors and comptrollers of the
Customs, at the several outports throughout the United
Kingdom.
BILLS oa EXCHANGE BILL.—Lord Brougham's Bill for
the registration of dishonoured bills of exchange, and for
speedy execution thereon, proposes to provide that bills of
exchange and promissory notes may be protested by any
attorney or solicitor, and that the holder of any protested
bill or note, which is duly stamped and free from erasures
or alterations, may at any time within six months after
its becoming due, register it with the master of one of the
three superior courts of law, and shall thereupon be en-
titled to judgment and execution against the parties to the
bill or note, within six days after service of an order of the
court to that effect, to be given to him upon such registra-
tion ; and power isleft with the judge to direct execution with-
out personal service of the order, if it shall appear to him
that the order has come to the knowledge of the party, or
that he wilfully evades service of it. Such an order may
be served out of the jurisdiction, but the period for obtain-
ing execution is then to be extended beyond six days. The
party served with the order may apply to the court to stay
execution, the application to be supported by an affidavit
disclosing what would constitute a legal defence, and the
court may then stay execution, and direct a trial or a
special case for the opinion of the court ; but execution is
not to be stayed unless the party seeking to stay it give
security for the payment of the bill and costs, or satisfy
the court that his signature has been forged, or that the
title of the holder is affected with fraud, or that other cir-
cumstances exist to induce the court to dispense with such
security. Whe- e the amount of the bill or note does not
exceed £5O it m: y registered in the County Court with-
in the jurisdiction of which the acceptor or maker resides,
and the proceedings may be in that court. A judgment
order or a bill cr note accepted, made, or endorsed, within
two months of bankruptcy is to be void.
THE FALKLAND ISLES.—The following is the copy of
a letter from the commander of the steam-ship Great
Britain to the owners, on the advantages of the Falkland
Islands as a coaling station :—" Liverpool, Ist April, 1854.
Gentlemen,—l have . much pleasure in complying with
your request that I should lay before you a brief state-
ment of the advantages afforded by the Falkland
Islands as a place of call for ocean steamers. Captain
Grant, of the Sea Bird, in the very interesting letter
which he wrote to you from Stanley relative to the depo-
sit of coal for the Great Britain, has already made you
aware of the excellence of that harbour, and of its easy
access. lam able, from my own experience, to confirm,
in every particular, Captain Grant's remarks. The
Government charts are exceedingly correct ; the land, as
you approach it, is made out without any difficulty ; and
we saw Pembroke Point and its beacon (now to be super-
seded by a light-house) at the distance of seven miles. The
harbour itself is like a large dock, secure from all winds,
and with an entrance wide enough for a smart sailing vessel
to beat through with ease. All the dangerous points are
distinctly marked by the kelp, or sea-weed. The anchor-
age is excellent, varying from four to five fathoms at low
water, so that the Great Britain is everywhere in perfect
safety ; and, even were she to touch the ground, she
would not receive any injury, as the bottom is all soft
mud. The facility for watering ships is good ; a reser-
voir, holding about two hundred tons of water, communi-
cates by means of pipes with the end of a jetty, where,
even when the tide is out, there is always about three feet
of water, which is sufficient for a flat boat to float off ten
tons at a time. The tasks in the boat are filled by fasten-
ing a short hose to the pipes, and thus one ship can be
watered as rapidly as if she were in Liverpool. The
Governor, of whose courteous and obliging conduct I can-
not speak too highly, promised that, should Stanley
become a port of call for steamers, a floating tank shall be
built, so that water could be alongside the ship imme-
diately on her arrival, and pumped into the tanks or
casks, as the case may be. There are considerable herds
of cattle on the Wands, and when put up to feed (as was
the case with the great Britain) their beef is very good;
vegetables of the more ordinary kind, such as potatoes,
cabbages, and turnips, can be had when in season. Ship
chandlery and grocery stores can also be purchased to a
limited extent. Labour is scarce, as the population of
Stanley (the only settlement) is only about four hundred.
But every year, as the islands become better known, 'this
want will, no doubt, be less felt. I should add that the
hulk for coiling the Great Britain was placed in the most
convenient 'situation. I experienced not the slightest
difficulty in this or any other matter during the detention
of four days in these islands, owing chiefly to the good
management of Mr. Dale, the agent for the Falkland
Islands' Company, who was immediately in attendance on
arrival of the :ship, and continued until the hulk with coals
was alongside. The zealous attention and kindness "of
this gentleman to my passengers and myself, whenever
his services were required, Will always be remembered by
us. I remain, gentlemen, your obedient servant, (Signed,)
BAUXAED B. lii&TTllEWS.—Messrs. Gibbs, Bright and Co:"

A COKPA.NY is about to be formed for the purpose, as
the prospectus announces, of enabling the descendants of
Israel to obtain and to cultivate the Land of Pilestine.

DESTRUCTIVE CONFLAGRA.TION.—On Saturday morn-
ing, between twelve and one o'clock, a very serious fire
broke cut in Stockwell-street, Greenwich. It appears that ,
some of the police on duty discovered the fire raging on
the premises of Mr. G. Grove, wheelwright. .Immediely
behind the house are the workshops, and the materials,
once ignited, blazed up with great rapidity, illuminating
the surrounding neighbourhood. Several engines were
soon on the spot, but in spite of the utmost exertions the
flames communicated to Mr. B. Suffetin's, licensed
victudller, the roof of whose billiard-rooms was destroyed,
besides other damage. The house of Mrs. Hudson,
plumber, Busby-court, London-street, was also consider-
ably damaged. The cause of the fire is unknown.
I'III,RLBOROUGH-110usE.—There is at present submitted
to public inspection in the Museum of Art at Marlborough-
house a small but exceedingly curious and interesting col-
lection of models in clay and wax which are believed to be
original studies by Michael Angelo, Raffaelle, Donatello,
and ether celebrated Italian sculptors. The collection,
having been offered to the French Government and to the
trustees of the British Museum and the National Gallery
without finding a purchaser, is ,now exhibited at Marl-
borough-house, that it may undergo a careful examina-
tion by the best judges, and have :its value ascertained.
Should the result be considered favourable, the Board of
Trade may, perhaps, be induced to buy the collection,
which-undoubtedly would form an important addition to
the Museum. The specimens possessing the chief interest
are not more than half-a-dozen in number, and are such
as an uneducated eye would pass over with indifference ;
yet persons the most competent to judge declare that one
object alone—said to be the original study in terracotta,
by Raffaelle, for his Jonah—is worth £1,500, and that
the value of the whole cannot be stated at -less than £3OOO.
The collection, which was found in a house in Florence,
appears to be considered genuine by the cognoscenti, and
undoubtedly the best specimens contained in it have a
very highly instructive character stamped upon them. If
they serve -no other purpose than to show the extraor-
dinary care with which the great Italian masters prepared
themselves for the execution of their chefs creuvre, they
would be worth the price put upon them. The Bacchus
of Michael Angelo is seen, first brought out as a skeleton
figure, marvellously executed, and so also with his David,
the striking anatomical studies for the limbs of .which are
included in the collection. There are also the studies for
his Apollo, 'his Marsyas, the Hercules and Cacus, which
was subsequently,executed by inferior hands, and several
others of his greatest works, all possessing extreme
interest to the lovers of art. Some of the specimens
ascribed to Donatello are worthy of attentive examination
—among them a cow in terracotta, which excited an
immense sensation in Florence when first discovered, and
which is said to have occupied Bartolini, an eminent pro-
fessor, three entire lectures in discussing its merits. The
antiquarian interest of the collection is hardly inferior to
that which it possesses on the score of art, and it may be
noted as a curious circumstance connected therewith that
a marvellously-executed human hand in terracotta by
Michael Angelo, casts from which are in almost every
studio in Europe, is now for the first time produced, and
publicly exhibited.

THE-
CHIEF OFFICERS AGAINST Russia.—Of the five
who are to command divisions, all are of different birth,
a Scotchman, a Hanoverian, an Irishman, a Canadian, and
an Englishman—thus, Sir George Brown is a native of
Linkwood, near Elgin, the Duke of Cambridge was born
in Hanover, Sir De Lacy Evans in Ireland, Sir Richard
England in Upper Canada, the Earl of Lucan is the only
Englishman of that rank, and is a Londoner by birth,
though Irish by descent. With respect to the fleets, the
two highest in command are not Englishmen ; Sir Charles
Napier was born in Scotland, and Admiral Dundas at Cal-
cutta, though Scotch by descent. Among the eleven Bri-
gadiers-General, H. J. Bentinck (English ?) of Dutch
origin, Sir Colin and Sir John Campbell, Scotch, Colonel
Pennefather, a "Tipperary boy," Colonel- Yorke Scarlett,
of Jamaica descent, while J. B. B. Esteourt is a Londoner,
born near Portman-square, and Lord Cardigan, a native of
Hambledon, leaving only four unaccounted for, and of these
H. W.. Adams is probably a native of. Warwickshire, Wil-
liam Eyr is, probably, of Nottinghamshire birth, and
George Buller a Cornishman. Among the six Assistants
Adjutant-General, we notice the two Irish names of Doyle
and Sullivan, and two Scotch, Maule and Gordon. The
mixed nature of our population is here shadowed forth,
but Englishmen have not secured " the lion's share" of
the staff' appointments.— Civil Service Grizelte.
ICEBERGS.—lcebergs have been moving from the north
for several months. On referring to our memoranda of
the drift of Polar ice, we find as follows —Packet-ship
Yorkshire, from Liverpool, passed a large iceberg on the
14th of December, 1853, iu lat. 46 30, N., lon. 48 21, W.
On the 21st of the same month the barque Magnolia passed
an immense island of ice, one hundred feet high, in lat.
44 35, N., lon. 48 30, W. On the 14th of February, 1854,
ship Parliament, from Liverpool for Boston, lat. 46 50, N.,
lon. 48, W., saw three large islands of ice, and the same
day saw abundance of field ice. On the 15th of February,
1854, ship Nightingale, from London for Boston, in lat. 45
52, lon. 47 39, saw a great number of icebergs, and was
among the field ice twelve hours. On the 24th of Feb.-,
1854, the clipper-ship Lightning, in lat. 49 15, N., lon. 43
20, W., passed a large iceberg. On the 7th of March,
1854, British ship Julia, from London, in lat. 44 14, lon.
49 20, saw a field of ice stretching north and south as far
as the eye could reach. On the 11th of March, 1854,
steam-ship Washington, from Bremen, lat. 43, lon. 50 40,
passed four large icebergs and a field of ice. The vessels
now arriving report abundance of ice on the Atlantic. In
1842, 1845, and 1847 icebergs were met on the Atlantic
in the month of March. In 1850 icebergs were abundant
in January, February, March, and April. In December,
1850, icebergs commenced moving on the Atlantic, and
continued unusually abundant till the Ist of August, 1851,
when they ceased running. During this time our register
contains the names of one hundred vessels which reported
ice in crossing the Atlantic, and among these was a vessel
bound from Limerick to Quebec, which reported an' im-
mense body of ice upon which they saw two ships housed
in, which were, no doubt, the Erebus and Terror, compog-
ing the expedition of Sir John Franklin. In 1843 but
four vessels reported ice on the Atlantic, and in 1846 but
three vessels ; and in 1848 the Atlantic between the United
States and Europe was wholly free from ice. The atmos-
pheric changes converting fluids to solids, and in reducing
olids to fluids, are wonderful, but we have become so fami-
r with these wonders of nature that they almokt pass
noticed.—New York Journal of Commerce,