The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-07-31 00:00:00

A WORD TO THE COTTON TRADE.

Messrs. George Fraser, Son and Co., in their circular
for the India mail, which was issued on the 21st instant,
offer the following seasonable remarks on the present po-
sition of this market, and the rapid advance of the prices
of cloth which has recently taken place :
" A word of caution may not be unadvisable. As the
tendency of low prices is to encourage and extend con-
sumption, (and this very circumstance was one of the
main grounds of our hope during the extreme depression
last autumn that a return would soon be found by natural
increase of demand to prosperity,) so certainly is con-
sumption checked by advanced prices. That the present
advance is very considerable will at once be seen from the
following short table. It shows the prices ruling for a few
of our staples in October last, and at the present time,
with the rise in per tentage and per lb, in round numbers :
October, July 21, per ct. Adv.
Reeds. lb. 1848. 1849. advance pr lb.
•

s. d. s. d. d.
26in. Printers, 60 31 3 11 4 3 33 31
27 66 41T 3 8 4 9 30 21
32 Madras. 50 6 4 101- 6 3 28 21
32 ~ 60 8 7 0 8 3 19 2
36 Printers, 66 5+ 4 3 5 4 26 23
39 Shirtings, 50 6 4 9 6 0 26 23
39 1 f 56 7 5 6 6 9 28 2f
39 f I 64 8 6 6 8 3 22 24
39

11 72 84- 7 9 9 6 22 24-
6-4 Jaconnets 64 3 3 0 3 104 30 31
Good Sec. Water T. No. 12, 0 44 0 6 14
20, 0 6 0 7 1
40, 0 64 0 Bi. 14
91 11 11 50, 0 74 0 91 14
Thus it will be observed that the rise on the lighter fabrics,
of which the shove piece goods all consist, is generally
from 20 to 30 per cent., or 21d to 34d per lb. Yarns have
advanced ld. to lid., (or, if the extreme rates held for
this week are realized, kd to 4d. per lb. more still,) and
during the same period cotton may be stated to have ad-
vanced from Id. to lid. per lb. according to class. Do-
mestics alone, which we do not notice in the above table,
have improved in a less degree than the raw material, the
rise on them not generally reaching above id. per lb. as
yet; but as attention now appears to be gradually direct-
ing itself towards those as the cheapest goods in the mar-
ket, the probability is that their relative value to other
goods will, by degrees, improve hereafter. And the spin-
ner also may be expected gradually to improve his position ;
the extent to which new looms have been put down has
materially augmented the demand for yarn in the cop for
home consumption, in which an advance has been esta-
blished varying from 17d. to 24d. per lb., a feature which
will be more fully developed from month to month. and
especially so when the usual export demand becomes more
settled by the removal of the blockade of the Elbe. But
this very improvement in the home demand for yarn being
for the supply of new looms, must be anticipated to pro-
duce an opposite effect on the value of piece goods, by
augmenting their supply, and as it is well known that
domestic manufacturers have very largely turned from
heavy fabrics to finer goods, which, as seen above, have
risen so much in value, another ground for caution is eli-
cited from this circumstance also as to taking too san-
guine a view of the future prospects of such goods."

7,2/ 7,
„ „ Mule

EXAMINATION OF MASTERS AND MATES.—At a meet-
ing of the board held on Friday, the 27th instant, Mr.
Robert Spencer was examined and qualified for a second
class master's certificate.
IRISH WIT AND GALLANTRY.—:When our streets were
a perfect glare of ice a lady fell. As we ran to assist her
we encountered a son of the Green Isle, who, on assisting
her, exclaimed, " Faith an' ye must be a lovely good lady ;
for don't the blessed book tache us that it is the wicked
that stand on slippery places."—lndiana Sentinel, (U.S.)

ORIGIN OF LESS CONSEQUENCE THAN DESTINY.—
When Philip Henry, the father of the celebrated com-
mentator, sought the hand of the only daughter and
heiress of Mrs. Matthew in marriage, an objection wf a
made by her father, who admitted that he was a gentle-
man, a scholar, and an excellent preacher, but he was a
stranger, and " they did not even know where he came
from." " True," said the daughter, who had well
weighed the excellent qualities and graces of the stranger,
"but I know where he is going, and I should like to go
with him," and they walked life's pilgrimage together.
LONDON BANKERS.—The oldest banking-houses in
London are Child's, at Temple Bar ; Hoare's, in Fleet"
street; Strahan's (formerly snow's), in the Strand; and
Gosling's, in Fleet-street. None date 'earlier than the
restoration of Charles 11. The orir,inal bankers wire gold-
smiths—" goldsmiths that keep running cashes"—and
their shops were distinguished by signs. Child's was
known by "The Marygold"—still to be seen where the
cheques are cashed ; Hoare's by " The Golden Bottle"—
still remaining over the outer door; Snow's by " The
Golden Anchor"—to be seen inside; Gosling's by " The
Three Squirrels"—still prominent in the ironwork of their
windows towards the street. The founder of Child's house
was John Backwell, an alderman of the city of London,
ruined by the shutting up of the exchequer in the reign of
Charles 11. Stone and Martin's, in Lombard-street, is
said to have been founded by Sir Thomas Gresham ; and
the Grasshopper sign of the Gresham family was preserved
in the banking-house till late in the last century. Of the
West-end banking-houses, Drummond's, at Charing
Cross, is the oldest; and, next to Drummond's, Coutts's,
in the Strand. The founder of Drummond's obtained
his great position by advancing money to the Pretender,
and by the king's subsequent withdrawal of his account.
The king's withdrawal led to a rush of the Scottish no-
bility and gentry with their accounts, and to the ultimate
advancement of the bank to its present footing. Coutts's
house was founded by George Middleton, and originally
stood in St. Martin's-lane, near St. Martin's Church.
Coutts removed it to its present site. The great Lord
Clarendon, in the reign of Charles 11., kept an account at
Hoare's ; Dryden lodged his £5O for the discovery of the
bullies who waylaid and beat him, at Child's, at Temple
Bar ; Pope banked at Drummond's ; Lady Mary 'Wortley
Montague at Child's; Gay at Hoare's ; Dr. Johnson and
• Sir Walter Scott at Coutts's ; and Bishop Percy at Gos-
ling's. The Duke of Wellington banks at Coutts's; the
Duke of Sutherland at Drummond's ; the Duke of Devon-
shire at Snow's, or Strahan'a.—Cunningham's London
Guide Book.

IRELAND.

i

THE QUEEN'S VISIT.
A Gazette Extraordinary was issued last week from
the Lord Chamberlain's Office, Dublin Castle, announc-
ing that her Majesty will hold a full dress levee and draw-
ing-room at the Castle, in the course of the week begin-
ning on the sth August. The exact day will be named as
soon as possible.

The following may be said to be the programme of the
royal movements while in the Irish metropolis :
Monday, sth August—Public entree. Tuesday—Re-
ception of Addresses. Wednesday—Grand Review. Phoe-
nix Park. Thursday--Levee. Friday—Drawing-room.
Saturday—Dejeuner at Carton.
Further is not known of the royal intentions; but it is
said that her Majesty's arrival in Belfast will not be later
than Monday.