The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-05-17 00:00:00

FOREIGN MISCELLANY.

THE JEWS OF STOCKHOLM have lately commenced
using the Swedish language, in place of the Hebrew, in
the performance of their religious services.
A NEW INVENTION for producing beer in a stone like
mass has been discovered in Bohemia. On infusion in
water it dissolves, and froths up into a palatable beverage.
Several English houses have turned their attention to it.

AMERICAN BANKS.—The bank capital of the New
England States amounts to .B'Bo,7oo,ooo:—namely,
Maine, .8'4,100,000 •, Massachusetts, .8'43,200,000 ; New
Hampshire. .82,600,000 • Rhode Island, 814,000,000 ;
Vermont, -8'2,800,000 ; donnecticut, 8'14,000,000.
A WEEPING WILLOW, of large size, grown from a cut-
ting of the willow which overhangs Napoleon's tomb at
St. Helena, has been presented to the Emperor of the
French, by a nursery man, and has been placed in the
garden of the palace of St. Cloud.
STOLEN Inoi.s.—The silver image of the Madonna
della Consolazione at Turin, presented in 1833 by Queen
Maria Christina, relict of Charles Felix, of the value of
40,000 francs, has been stolen. At Casal a golden urn,
containing the ashes of St. Evasus, has likewise been
made away with.

RELIC OF COLUMBUS.—The Espana announces that
the general autograph chart of the pilot Juan de la Cossa,
the companion of Columbus in his discovery of the New
World, has been purchased in Paris, by order of the
Spanish government, for the sum of 40001. It lately be-
longed to Baron Walkenaer, whose library was sold some
weeks ago in Paris.

THUNDER-STORMS IN AMERICA.—By letters just re-
ceived we learn that severe thunder-storms had been
experienced in many parts in the vicinity of Philadelphia,
and some telegraph offices had been rendered useless.
One at Buffalo had been set on fire by the electric fluid,
and the instruments destroyed and the gas-pipes melted.
Hailstones as large as musket-balls are said to have fallen
during the storm.
THE CZAR AND THE EMPEROR OF CHINA.—A letter
from St. Petersburg, of April 25, says :—" There is much
talk in the best-informed circles of a secret mission of a
Russian envoy, sent to China overland, and who, it is
said, has already arrived at Kiatha, a town belonging
jointly to the two governments. It is confidently reported
that the object of his mission is to offer to the sovereign
of the Celestial Empire the aid of Russia for the purpose
of quelling the insurrection in his dominions."
THE AlaniAr have been residing at Hyeres for three
weeks, with a friend. They live in strict seclusion, seeing
only three or four Christians of the reformed faith, and
seeking in solitude and repose to recover that health and
strength which their long detention and mental sufferings
greatly injured. When they arrived, Rosa was suffering
considerably from supposed pleurisy, accompanied with
fever. Thanks to the enlightened care of the physician,
she is better. Her husband, Francesco, is apparently,
judging from his exterior, stronger and more robust ;
but he suffers in his head, and there lies all his illness.

LIABILITY OF SHIPOWNERS IN CASES OF COLLISION.
—The United States Supreme Court at Washington has
recently reversed the decisions of Judge Story, of the
Massachusetts Supreme Court, on the question of the
liabilities of shipowners in cases of collision. The old
doctrine was, that Underwriters were " liable to repay to
the insured damages paid by him to the owners of another
vessel and cargo, suffered in a collision occasioned by the
negligence of the master or mariners of the vessel in-
sured." Judge Curtis has recently delivered the opinion
of the Supreme Court of the United States, that Under-
writers are not thus liable.
STEAMERS BETWEEN GENOA AND NEW YORK.—A
correspondent writing from Genoa, under date of April
11th, says, " The long-talked-of line of steamers be-
tween this port and New York is at length made secure
by a contract between the transatlantic Company and the
royal government, which was duly signed at Turin, last
week. The company, which is chartered for twenty
years, with a capital of two millions of dollars, is required
to establish two lines of monthly steamers ; namely, one
between Genoa and New York, and another between
Monte Video and Genoa ; and the Government guarantees
to each line a sum equal, at least, to 4'6,000 per voyage
for carrying the mails, and accords to the company cer-
tain other important privileges and resources. The res.
sels are to stop at Madeira, and other intermediate ports ;
and are to be of, at least, 1,500 tons and 250 horse-power.
Some large English houses have taken stock to the
amount of $600,000."

•
THE NEW YORK EXHIBITION.—The Crystal Palace
at New York is rapidly rising to completion. With the
exception of the floor, it is entirely constructed of iron
and glass. The general idea of the edifice is a Greek
cross, surmounted by a dome at the intersection. Each
diameter of the cross will be 365 feet 5 inches long. Each
arm of the cross on the ground plan 149 feet broad. This
is divided into a central nave and two aisles, one on each
side. The central portion or nave is carried up to the
heighth of 67 feet, and the semi-circular arch by which it
is spanned is 41 feet broad. There are thus in effect two
arched naves crossing each other at right angles, 41 feet
broad, 67 feet high to the crown of the earch, and 365
feet long ; and on each side of these naves is an aisle 54
feet broad, and 45 feet high. At each angle is an octagonal
tower 8 feet in diameter, and 65 feet high. The building
contains on the ground-floor 111,000 square feet of space,
and in its galleries, which are 51 feet wide, 62,000 square
feet more, making a total area of 173,000 square feet for
the purposes of exhibition. The roof will cover an area
of 111,000 square feet. The glass for the building will
amount to 39,000 square feet. The applications from
Europe are principally as follows :—Great Britain about
700 ; Germany not far from 800 ; France over 500 ; the
Netherlands about 200 ; Switgerland near 100 ; many
from Italy, and some from other countries. It was in-
tended to open the Exhibition on the lgt of May, but the
event is postponed for a lime,