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

COMMERCIAL de MONETARY NEWS

MONDAY NIGHT.
NOTWITHSTANDING the many conflicting reports
received by electric telegraph. from the seat of war,
and the doubt which still exists as to the policy
to be pursued by the German Powers, the public
funds have gradually improved in value, without
any very great fluctuation, during the week. No
official change has taken place in the rate of dis-
count, and for commercial purposes money has
been much in the same state as during the previous
week, but little having occurred to induce any
alteration. The returns of the Bank of England,
published on Friday, show some considerable
changes. The stock of bullion has diminished to
the extent of £309,119 ; but this is a very small
sum, arising from the payment of the dividends,
by which the Public Deposits were diminished
£1,762,034. The " other deposits" were increased
no less than 22,782,835, and " other securities"
diminished £802,455, so that it would appear that
ample provision had been made to meet anticipated
demands. There was also a large increase in the
active circulation, circumstances tending to main-
tain confidence in the security of commercial credit.
The season being
one of general cessation from
business, there is little that is worthy of comment,
and, indeed, the most favourable feature is the
absence of anything of a contrary tendency. Trade
generally has been dull, and little or nothing doing
of a speculative character, but prices have experi-
enced no great alteration, all parties seeming in-
clined to wait the turn of events rather than enter
into any new transactions. In the cotton manufac-
turing districts, however, there has been a slight
improvement, owing to the demand for Yarns and
goods for the India markets ; and the great number
of operatives out of employ must render it easier
for the mauufacturerB to reduce their stocks upon

Woor,.—We have again experienced a dulness in.
the Wool market this week, and the trade gene-
rally is quite inanimate ; the imports, however,
from all quarters have been very light for some
weeks past, which will keep stocks from accumu-
lating to any great extent and holders from forcing
sales, so that prices cannot be expected to go lower
unless some unforeseen event transpires to create a
prolonged state of the present stagnation. Imports
for the week, 768 bales, viz., 286 Portugal, 470
Mediterranean Ports, 10 Buenos Ayres, and 20
Irish.

PRESENTATION or PLATE.—On Saturday evening, a
deputation waited upon Mr. Humphreys, late Collector of
Inland Revenue, at his house,l3, Everton Crescent, Liver-
pool, for the purpose of presenting to him a piece of plate
as a mark of their regard as a high official, and as a uni-
formly consistent man in the discharge of very difficult
duties, during the long period of 34 years, in which he
displayed fidelity to the crown, and secured the confidence
of the Board of Inland Revenue, dispensing justice to all,
and alike charitable and sympathetic for his fellow-crea-
ture in every time of need. The following is the inscrip
tion :—" Presented to William Humphries, Esq., by his
friends and admirers in office, this memento of their re:
spect on his retirement from the Collectorship of Inland
Revenue at the port of Liverpool." The plate, which was
executed by Mr. Dismore, of Bold-street, was of very
superior style.
THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS were specially opened on
Good Friday, to gratify a number of parties from various
localities who visited this town. In addition to the highly-
improved attractions, the spirited proprietor has engaged
those singular human curiosities, the Lilliputian Aztecs,
with the particulars of whose appearance our readers have
been made familiar by the lengthened descripticeis which
have appeared in our own and the metropolitan papers.
These extraordinary children have, during the past year,
excited the astonishment of Her Majesty and m
most of
of
of the
the
nobility, together with many of learned
empire. They are descended, it is said, from an ancient
race, who were many centuries ago located in Mexico,
but whom the Spaniards endeavoured to exterminate in
1819, who destroyed their cities, and the few inhabitants
who escaped were compelled to fly to the interior of
central America, where they built the city of Iximaya—
a place unknown to the other portions of the earth until
very lately, and where these Aztecs have been, and are
still preserved as objects of adoration in the pagan tem-
ples. The Zoological Gardens will become more attractive
this season than formerly, in consequence of the various
improvements which Mr. Atkins has effected in every
department. The walks and shrubberies have been
carefully attended to, and a number of statues adorn
the different avenues, which will be brilliantly lighted
by a greatly increased number of lamps. The model of
the house in which ShakspearT was born is still preserved,
reminding those who have visited Stratford-on-Avon of
the careful exactness with which Mr. Atkins has followed
the resemblance of the birth-place of the immortal bard.
The pyrotechnic panorama of Mount Etna has been in-
creased in beauty, and whether viewed in the magnifi-
cence of volcanic eruption in the evening, or beneath the
sunny brightness of mid-day, the tout ensemble displays
the skill and taste of the artists, Messrs. Matthews and
NoHe, as well as the pyrotechnic resources and lavish pre-
paration of Mr. Atkins. It is not, as yet, quite complete,
but when the whole machinery is finished, it will afford
the most gratifying spectacle ever exhibited at these gar-
dens. The menagerie has somewhat increased, and many
beautiful specimens have also been added in ornithology,
the parrots and other birds displaying the most brilliant
plumage. The archery ground, gymnasium, and other
attractions of the place have been carefully attended to,
and will prove, this season, that the most vigilant and
spirited exertions have been used by Mr. Atkins in cater-
, ing to suit the taste of his patrons.