The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-12-21 00:00:00

ing to which the purchase, sa
of stock and shares are effected by the bro-

"'Stock Exchange," we p-roceed, in
;quest, to lay before our readers the in-
as clear and concise a form as possible.

This curious and complicated subject may be explained
and discussed under three different heads—viz., first the pu-
tted in stock transactions, whether brokers or job-
ad time bargains ; thirdly, the rules

,
and regulation's by which these operations are conducted.
The clearing-house in Lombard-street affords the greatest
facilities to the transactions of the Stock-Exchange, inas-
much as, without its intervention, difficulties and embarrass-
ments would present themselves in the final settlement or
adjustment of those transactions, of an almost insurmounta-
ble character. By means of this clearing-house, all the great
monetary transactions of the day are brought to a close by
five o'clock in the'afternoon, whereas, in the ordinary mode
of paying or receiving money, whether in notes or hard cash,
their settlement might not be finally effected for several days

afterwards, to say nothing of the security afforded to all par-
ties concerned by the operation of the clearing-house.
The members of the Stock-Exchange are divided into two

distinct classes—viz., the brokers and the jobbers. It is the
business of the brokers to receive and to execute the orders
of merchants, bankers, capitalists, and private individuals,
who are " out of the house ;" the Stock-Exchange being
amongst its own members honoured with that dignified ap-
pellation !
The jobbers remain stationary in the " house," and ready
to act upon the orderi thus received by the brokers. And
here it may be as well to explain the nature and character of
the business transacted by these jobbers, who being men pos-

sessed of more or less capital, endeavour to turn itto account
in the manner we are about to explain. It is their business
to be always prepared to make a price to the brokers when-
ever the latter present themselves ; the readiness which they
display in offering to-do business to large amounts at the ap-
parently small difference of one-eighth per cent. would ap-
pear extraordinary, were it not that they are so numerous
that an eager competition is excited amongst them for the
favours of the brokers. When one of the latter appears in
the market, he is surrounded by a knot of jobbers, who an-
nounce themselves ready to buy or sell whatever amount of
stock he has to deal in at a price varying only one-eighth per
cent. For instance, if a broker has to do business in £5,000'
Consols, (the market-price being about 90,) the jobbers offer
to buy his £5,000 at 90, or to sell him that amount at 90k,
without being in the slightest degree aware whether the
orders of the broker are to buy or sell, and thus taking upon
' himself the risk of selling that which he does not possess, or

of buying what he does not intend to keep; his only object
being to undo his bargain at a difference of ith per cent. (or
even less) with another broker, who may have to effect an
operation the very reverse of the other, which *th, or even
1-16th constitutes his profit.
The business of the jobber is one of loss as well as profit ;
he would soon grow rich were he sure of realising his ith per
cent. on all his transactions. He runs, howevel, considerable
risk, inasmuch as, after having concluded a bargain, and whilst

endeavouring to obtain a profit thereon, the market may sud-
denly change, either in consequence of extended sales or of
continued purchases by other individuals ; he is thus exposed
to a loss. A clever and experienced jobber will, however,
often extricate himself from his unpleasant and awkward
situation, either by borrowing stock to deliver to the broker,
or money wherewith to pay for the stock (as the case may be) ;
and thus wait for a more favourable opportunity of undoing
his bargain. He may also have recourse to an " option," a
transaction, however, which, besides being illegal and not re-
cognised by the Committee of the Stock Exchange, is chiefly
confined to the speculators within the house, and is, more-
over, so intricate and complicated, and at the same time de-
pends so much upon the opinion and caprice of the parties
who deal in them, that any explanation respecting it would be
extremely difficult, if not utterly superfluous.

Withoitt the intervention of the•jobber, therefore, it will
be seen that there would exist a vast difficulty in effecting the
transactions which daily take place : the jobbers are, in fact,
the " middle-men," wbo stand in the house in the character
of dealers, always ready to buy or sell, thus obviating the
necessity of the broker's going in quest of a second broker,
with whom he might transact business ; or in other words,
whom it might suit to bny what the other broker had to sell,
or vice versa. Again, even if one were at hand, he might
not be able to concur in the actual amount of stock which
the other wished to deal in, whereas the jobber is always ready
to do business to any amount, even to the smallest fraction,
and hence a great deal of time is saved. It often happens
that a broker who has to dispose of shares not currently dealt
in, is frequently obliged to wait for months before he can find
a purchaser ; whereas, in case of stock, the jobbers offer them-
selves as buyers and sellers at a moment's notice, and thus
offer facilities for transactions in the public funds which could
not be effected without them.

LIiNEOUg

By an.oAler in council, published in Tuesday night's Ga.
ette, the duty upon olive oil, the produce of the dominions
of the king of the two Sicilies, has been reduced, when im-
ported in British ships, to £4 4s. per tun, and when imported
I j in Sicilian ships £6 6s. The former duties were £8 Bs. and

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIANITY AMONGST

£lO lus
THE !
rHE JEWS

—We :We just been informed, that in addition
donations of the Archbishops of Canterbury and
N ork, and the Bishop of London, of £2OO each, her illajesty
the Queen Dowager has, within the last few days, remitted
the sum of 200 guineas, in furtherance of the objects of the
above society.—Cheltenham Chronicle.

STATISTICS or SUICIDE.—In the course of an inquest
held on Friday night, Mr. Higgs, the coroner, stated that
for the last 30 years, the ratio of suicides never varied, as
far as regarded the population of Westminster. They were
as one to 8,000 of the population. With respect to the sexes,

there were, during the same period, three suicides of males to
one female.—London paper.

FARMERS' INSURANCE INSTITUTION.—His Royal High-
ness Prince Albert evinces a disposition to become a farmer
in real earnest. On the Bth instant he was elected governor
of the Royal Agricultural Society of England • on the 11th
he was elected a member of the Smithfield Club ' • and he has
insured his stock on the farms in Windsor Park, which he
has taken into his occupation, in " The Farmers' Insurance
Institution."

FOUR VESSELS RUN DOWN AT SEA.—Within the last
two or three days the underwriters at Lloyd's have received
intelligence of four vessels having been run down during the
late dreadful gales from the north-west, unhappily attended
with loss of life. The vessels in question are the schooner
Eliza, belonging to Ipswich, the Defiance, of Greenwich,
the schooner Nancy, belonging to Yarmouth, and the brig
Queen, of Newcastle.

IMPORTANT JUDGMENT.—The Irish Chief Baron of the
Exchequer gave an elaborate judgment on Monday last, in
support of his decision that the minority of the judges in
chamber were not bound by the majority. He was sup-
ported, he said, by his brother Richards, Lord Plunket,
Judges-Perrin and Hall, and the late Chief Baron Woulfe.
He maintained the contrary to be a dangerous doctrine, and
one that had no sanction in recorded practice. He did not
mean to undervalue the opinions of others, but he denied
their conclusiveness.

WIND AND STEAM.—Some idea of the force of the wind,
and its effect on railway travelling, may be formed from the
fact, that, in consequence of the boisterous weather on Mon-
day week, one of the down trains did not arrive at the ter-
minus, at Southampton, till two hours after its regular time.
The greatest detention was experienced between the Farn-
borough and NVoking stations, where, notwithstanding the
engine was put at its full power, it took nearly an hour to
perform the distance of half a mile.

RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION OF WATERMEN.—We under-
stand that the Rev. Frank Howson has given notice of the
following motion for consideration at the next meeting of the
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge :—" That it
being a well-known fact that there exists in this country a
large body of persons employed on canals and rivers, and
who from certain causes are deplorably ignorant of Christian
knowledge, and consequently depraved in mind and body, it
is expedient that this society, formed for the purpose of
promoting Christian knowledge, to take some steps to re-
medy the evil."

FALLING OF A HOUSE.-Au accident happened about nine
o'clock on Friday, by the falling of a house, in this town,
which had nearly been attended by a frightful loss of life. It
appears that one of four very old houses, towards the bottom
of Friargate, had been pulled down, for the purpose of being
rebuilt, and the houses on each side of it bad been propped
up to prevent their giving way. These supports, however,
had been removed, and in consequence of the unsoundness of
the foundation, (it being nothing but sand,) and the great
age of the houses themselves, the accident, which seems to
have been partly anticipated, really happened, by the house
on the north side of that which had been taken down, sud-
denly falling in. The house in question is in the occupation
of a Mr. Barton, a tailor, and he informed us that on hear-
ing the crash, he and his family made their escape out of a
back window, in the best way they could.—Preeton Pilot.
On Tuesday morning last, a large crowd collected in
Buchanan-street, in consequence of a report having become
current that a poor sweep had stuck in the vent of a house
which he was employed in sweeping. The report proved but
too true ; and, as it was ascertained that the boy bad gone a
considerable way, great reluctance was felt at sending another
person after him, lest he should he subjected to the same
fate. It was discovered that a horizontal pipe, extremely
narrow, ran across a close, and the idea was naturally enough
entertained that in this small aperture the poor creature was
jammed. An opening was immediately made in the build-
ing, and the pipe examined; but the boy could not be found,
andi a feeling of disappointment was generally experienced,
and it was feared that the unfortunate boy might be confined
in some part of the vent, where no assistance could be ex-
tended to him. Some time after, however, the boy ap-
peared at the top in a very exhausted state, and flourished
his brush, after having been in the vent struggling for life
for about two hours. He is not seven years of age; and the
chief difficulty he had to contend with was pushing his way
through the narrow pipe to which we have referred.

A SCENE IN LIFE.—On Wednesday last, a woman of the
iname of Caroline Macdonald, was charged before the Hal-

humble a proud amen is to take no notice

A lady, who§e fondness for generous living had given her
a flushed face and carbuncled nose, consulted Dr. Cheyne.
Upon surveying herself in the glass, she exclaimed, " Where,
in the name of wonder, doctor, did 1 get such a nose as
this?" " Out of the decanter, madam, out of the decan-
ter," replied the doctor.

MODESTY.—Madatne de Geniis, says somebody reproved
her librarian for placing books written by male and female
authors upon the same shelf. " Never do it," said she,
without placing a prayer-book between them."
A NICE DISTINCTION.—It once happened to me to be
present in a school where the pedagogue thus addressed a
rebellious pupil :—" At your age, and with your abilities,
you ought to be a pattern to the other boys, instead of which
I am obliged to make an example of you;" and thereupon
he thrashed him soundly.

ALWAYS " POORLY.."—" I. feel quite unwell, and will

take a little brandy and water," said a member of a temper-
ance society, who had promised to use no ardent spirits, ex-
cept as medicine. " lam very unwell, my dear; hand me a
little more brandy." " Here is the brandy," says the wife;
" and I wish the society further off, for you have not had a
well day since you joined it."

EXTORTION Or AMERICAN SHOPKEEPERS.—Let me in-
dulge in a few groans as to the exorbitant charges that are
inflicted upon you. The hackney coachmen are a race of
extortioners. A ride to the capitol is fifty cents ; to Mr.
Fox's, another fifty. They have no idea of any thing under
half a dollar ; whilst a London cabman, honest man ! will
take you half over London for the sum. Ask for a bottle of
humble port, " Two dollars ;" a bottle of sour yin ordinaire
of France, which would be dear at three sous, " One dollar."
I entered a shop, at New York, and bought the smallest pos-
sible bottle of lavender-water, " One dollar, if you please ;"
at Baltimore, fora pair of gloves, " One dollar, if you please."
It really becomes perfectly dolorous.---Colonel Maxwell's
Run through the United States.

GWYDIR CASTLE.—I chose my way to Bettws y Coed
by the road on the right side of the river, because it contains
many objects of great interest, and is besides in its retired
sylvan character more to my taste. The road skirts the or-
chard grounds belonging to Gwydir Castle, and in less than
half a mile turns sharply to the left, and between grove and
mountain brings the traveller to this mansion, which is
.mainly interesting from its connection with the national and
local events of the country. The entrance to the castle is
through a court-yard, not now, as formerly, thronged with
armed retainers, ready to engage in the broils and bloody
strife of its tumultuous history, but adorned with gay paterres
of flowers, disclosing their peaceful beauties, and perfuming
the atmosphere with their aroma. This mansion is irregular
in its form, from the frequent alterations which have been
made in its architectural arrangements. The apartments,
however, contain many subjects of taste in the antique
carvings with which they arc enriched, representing sub-
jects connected with the ~Roman conquest under Julius
Caesar. They contain, also, two elaborate specimens of
tapestry and needle-work, and several fine pictures from
the pencils of Wouvermans and Borgognone and other
eminent masters ; besides these there is to be seen the
ancient manuscript, fairly written by the hand of that
learned antiquary, Sir John Wynne, which has been
found so essential in authenticating many passages in the
history of Wales. The original structure was raised by John
Wynne ab Meredydd, and the date of its erection was in
the year 1555. Its present possessor is Lord Willoughby
d'Eresby, who is spoken of as a kind landlord and a bene-
volent man. My courteous cicerone took considerable pains
to show me the curiosities of the place, and when I bestowed
at parting the small gratuity which a wayfarer's pocket would
afford, she did not regard it with the supercilious air with
which; I well remember, a much larger one was contempla-
ted by the stately dame of Penrhyn Castle, after the hasty
survey I was enabled to take of that magnificent pile.—
From. Roscoe's North Wales, new edition.