The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1845-03-25 00:00:00

arc of their whole earnings; besides

unable. from their

general personal priva-

heir work in a proper manner, or with
All have felt the greater plea-
eland temperature
Arits and a spring to

li as it were to exertion, than when
p, and are paralysed by cold. On
,ther viewed as t:tYcting the health,

community, there is no art

hid) it is of more im-

kiifully than that of producing and
generally.—Sanatory Report.

" Who bade them
It from its holy secrecy
The Lord had corn-
` the sec et place
- their earthly pur-

PROFANED THE ARR.-'

Shiloh for it, and tat

there into the tumult of a camp ?
manded Moses that it should be t

of his tab,-rnac

omo,and of God is to be set aside ; the s;rred-
aesi of the Holy of Holies is to be violated, a battle-field
ark of God. And the
The two sons of Eli,
m to have carried it to the camp
. If, therefore, a time should
our people or rulers should

wiests of God consented to this
silo had

withou

care less for the Gospel than tney care for their own
glory or power; when God's church in England shall be
given up into the hands, of those who hate it; when. mets
who ought to shield it from harm, and are pledged by
their office and solemn oaths to do so, &hall cast it to any
who will take it, and allow them to do with it whatsoever
they will—let such a time come.

nd then there will• in-
deed be cause to tremble for the ark of God. It is under-
valued; it is profaned ; and God will not bear this. It is

n danger of bein.

'—Bradley's Sermony

CHESS PLAYING AMONG THE MOORS.—Those who are
,clously disposed, spend the day either in con-
versing with one another, at the bazaars, coffee-houses,
haf-ells. or bathers' shops, and other public places, where
they drink coffee or sherbet, and play at chess, in which
very skilful, and sometimes are so wellrnatched as
game, by adjournment, for several days,
,e it is finished, when it is their custom to put a fea-
rin the turban of the conqueror. Although very fond
. the came, I never played with any of them, as their mode
s different to ours. Norden derives the name of chess
from Shecque or Xeque. a Moorish word for king, prince,
or lord. A Moorish prince was once playing this game,
when an order game to put him to death. The prince
begged for permission to finish the game first, which was
granted him ; but before it was finished, a messenger ar-
rived with the news that the king, who had sentenced him
to death, was killed by his subjects, who had now chosen
this chess-loving prince for their sovereign. I once.saw
an old Moor who was unexpectedly checkmated by his
son, Catch up the chess-board (which was fortunately made
of thin wood), and hit his undutiful offspring a violent
thump upon the head—a mode of concluding the game
not mentioned in " Hoy le. "—Blofield's Algeria Past and
Present. •

to continue the

under a mat awning, with a long jasmine pipe in my m Juth.
I sat down, puffing clouds of fragrant smoke towards my
Arabs, squatted in indolent groups upon the deck, smok-
ing like myself, or listening to some delightful story out of
the " Thousand-and-One Nights." The moon, almost in
its plenitude of power, gave us a paler day in lieu of that
which had just died away in the west. Every object in
the landscape was invested with indescribable beauty.
We sailed. as it were, between two firmaments ; for the
Nile mimicked heaven so gloriously, that it. was difficult to
say whether the stars below or the stars above were the
brighter. I got up in that sort of rapture of delight, and
looked down upon the constellations that, deep set in the

. .
liquid element, seemed to float away through the abysses
of space at an infinite distance beneath. The river passed
down with a calm flow like the blood of a healthy man in
his sleep. The very ripple caused by the boat's bows, as
the imperceptible upper current of the air urged us along,
broke with a drowsy sound. As we moved right before
the breeze, the huge distended sail, swelling gently under
the impulse of the wind, if wind it could be called that
filled it, looked like the mere phantasm of a sail flitting
athwart the waters of a dream. The whole scene brought
to my mind Leigh Hunt's noble sonnet on the Nile, in
which, with wonderful felicity, he says—
.. It flows through old hushed Ezypt and its sands,
Like some grave mighty thought threadi g a dream."
Hushed indeed ! and never more hushed than on that pre-
theban night. Yet our little boat was full of life, so full
that we seemed like the crew of some merry ark floating
bodily through the regions of the dead. Ahmed, perched
aloft upon the cabin, at the helm, beyond earshot of the
story-tellers, hummed a boat-song for his own especial
entertainment. The Arabs on the deck roared with
laughter at the exploits of Shater Mansour, or the Sleeper
Awakened ; while, half unconscious of their merriment, I
suffered my thoughts to busy themselves with those long
past days in which the mighty ruins we were approaching
overflowed with a noisy multitude nowconveredinto mum-
mies, and extorted, like merchandise, to all parts of the
civilised world.—Library of Travel.

RIDING TIIE STANG.—About noon, when labour-daily
and usually refreshes itself an uncommon stir was ob-
servable among the lower classes of the town population
--something like what precedes the swarming of a bee-
hive. By and by appearances took a more definite form,
and a number of women and children were seen crowding
together, shouting and clamouring, and rattling with
sticks and pans, arid, in short, raising a most intolerable
din : in the midst of which, the name of one obnoxious
individual was ominously heard. The characteristics of
a Scotch mob are pretty generally known, before and since
the fate of Captain Porteous. They are furious and for-
midable ; and when once the pas-ions of a generally calm
and prudent race are exci.ed, be it to lower the price of
meal, or to carry any other popular purpose, it requires
no small force to resist or modify the purpose. On the
present occasion, rough-looking men began to mix with
the screeching multitude, and soon were visible a stout
posse of them, armed with a pitchfork. The idea that
murder was about to be committed thrilled the blood of
the uninformed spectators, and their terror increased when
they witnessed a fierce assault made on a low tenement
inhabited by the person (a shoemaker) so dreadfully de-
nounced, who had barely time to lock and barricade him-
self from the threatened vengeance. In vain. The win-
dows and doors were smashed and battered in, and a vio-
lent tumult took place in the interior. Wi. bin two mi-
nutes the culprit was dragged out, pale and trembling,
and supplicating for mercy. But he had shown little to
his wretched partner, who, with a blackened eye, weeping
bitterly, and also begging them to spare her unwor by
spouse, who she was sure would never strike her again,
joined her pitiful entreaties to his. The ministers of
public justice were inexorable—his sentence was pro-
nounced, his doom sealed. The portentous pitchfork was
immediately laid horizontally from the shoulder of one to
the shoulder of another of the ablest of the executioners,
who thus stood, front and rear, with Me stony (the shaft)
between them. Upon this narrow-backed horse the
offender was lifted by others, and held on by supporters
• on either side, so that dismounting was completely cut of
the question ; and there he sat elevated above the rest, in
his most uncomfortable and unenviable wooden saddle.
The air rung with yells of triumph and vituperation.
Very slight arrangements were necessary, and the proces-
iion moved on. The wife, surrounded by a party of her
gossips, was compelled to accompany it; and it bent its
course toward the river-side. The unmanly fellow who
had provoked this fate, showed by his terrors that he was
just one of those cowards who could ill-treat the creature
who had a right to his protection. and had not fortitude
to endure an evil himself. He howled for compassion,
appealed by name to his indignant escort, and prayed and
promised ; but they got to the brink of that clear and
deep pool which mirrored the glittering sun above the
mill wear (or could. Scottice), and there the bearers
marched boldly in before they tumbled their burthen from
his uneasy seat. Into the water he went over head and
ears, and rose again, by no means " like a giant refreshed ;"
and no sooner did he re-appear, than a powerful grasp
was laid upon him, and down again he was plunged, and
replunged, with unrelenting perseverance. The screams
of his distracted wife fortunately attracted the attention
of a magistrate (my revered father) whose garden shelved
to the edge of the stream where this scene was enacting,
and he hastened to interfe.e. Had he not done so, life
might probably have been lost; for the ruffian was exe-
crated by his fellow men for his continued abuse of late a
pretty, sweet, and healthful maiden, now a pale-faced,
bruised, and sickly matron, and one, too, of meek and
unresisting temper, suffering cruelty without offence. As
it was, the populace listened to the magistrate's voice, for
, he was much beloved by them ; and giving the rascal one
I dash more, allowed him to crawl to the bank of the
silver, now polluted, Tweed. From thence he was hooted
the whole way to his home; and so salutary was the effect
of 'the day's proceedings on the half-drowned rat, that he
never more misbehaved in such a manner as to render
himself liable to ride the slang.—Archtelogiecil Album.

I TOWN EDITION.

FOLLY OF CHURCH INNOVATIONS.—With the present
manifest indisposition which exists everywhere to admit
the slightest change into the manner of performing divine
service, we cannot conceive a more hazardous and need-
less experiment upon the Church principles of a congre-
gation thap the wanton intrusion of ceremonies which it
is well known they will repudiate with abhorrence. It is
late t.
tryina their patience and tasking their forbearance most
the unjustly. It is a most absurd notion that the religious
habits of a whole community can be remodelled on a sud-
Dun- den, at the will of one or two young clergymen, aed that
in a their devotional feelings would submit in one moment to
Well alterations which till then had been unheard of. Surely.
, amid the mass of guilt and misery that has to be remedied,
some higher qualification than a mere pretence to su-
' perior rubrical information is needed; and something
more efficient must he employed than a few changes in
the ritual of the Church, before the responsibilities of
the clergy, and their duties to the laity, can be thoroughly
answered and fulfilled.— Times.
THE TITLE OF ESQUIRE.—ReaI esquires are of seven
sorts: 1. E-quires of the king's body, whose number is
limited to four. 2. The eldest sons of knights, and their
eldest sons born during their lifetime. It would seem that,
in the days of ancient warfare, the knight often took his
eldest son into the wars for the purpose of giving him a
practical military education, employing him meanwhile
as his esquire. 3. The eldest sons of the younger sons of
peers of the realm. 4. Such as the king invests with the
collar of SS, including the kings of arms, heralds, &c.
The dignity of esquire was conferred by Henry IV. and
his successors, by the investiture of the collar and the gift
of a pair of silver spurs. Gower the poet was such an
esquire by creation. 5. Esquires to the knights of the
Bath, for life, and their eldest sons. 6. Sheriffs of coon-
tied, for life, coroners and justices of the peace, and gen-
tlemen of the royal household, while they continue in
their respective offices. 7. Barristers at-law, doctors of
divinity, law, and medicine, mayors of towns, and some
others, are said to be of scutarial dignity, but not actual
esquires. Supposing this enumeration to comprise all
Rho are entitled to esquireship, it will be evident that
thousands of persons styled esquires are not so in reality.
It is a prevailing error that persons possessed of £3OO a
year in land are esquires, but an estate of £50,000 would Wheat, Dantzic
not confer the dignity. Ncthing but one or other of the
Hamburg
conditions above mentioned is sufficient.—Curiosities of Barley
Herald, y. Oats, new
Feed
GUANO.—Besides supplying the home demand, guano Beans
is now sent to Jamaica and Barbadoes, in order to invi- Peas
gorate the sugar plantations, exhausted by successive Flour, American
crops. It is asked for in Germany, and shipments have Baltic
already been made to France for the vineyards, where the
SMITHFIELD CATTLE MARKET
vine growers have, at length, borrowed a lesson from the
The arrivals of Beasts. fresh up from our grazing counties,
Peruvians. The importance of this article, therefore,
were somewhat extensive, for the time of year, as to number;
continues to increase, both here and abroad, and appre- but the r general quality was inferior. 1.4 e much regret to ob-
bensions already begin to be entertained that, with the serve that at least a fourth of them were suffering severely from
growing demand, the usual sources of supply will, in the disease. The Beef trade was again excessively heavy, and
course of a few years, be dried up. From the eagerness Friday's depression in the currencies of ad. per 81b. w)s bare y
of our navigators it may, however, confidently be expected supported—the very highest figure for the best Scots not exceed.
that other deposits will be found out in regions hitherto oinf:h3ust.
numbers
Sol bf .the inferior
Ferri
re
ki.ds Beasts
left
er emnaeraircel yt aulnlsdlosed
unexplored. Till within the last six years, bird-drop- Fortunately for most parties the numbers of Sheep were
pings have been considered of little or no value in Europe. rather limited, which caused the mutton trade to rule tolerably
Accumulations of them, however, are known to exist in steady.
Spain, in the elevated crags and caverns frequented by No Lambs came to hand from the Isle of Wight, while from
vultures, crows, and bats. The habitations of sea-gulls other quarters the receipts of that description of stock, arising
It; fromite thep Down
uai
ti currencieses
sold
s obtainedslowly
yonatFflodmaysisa.stl,ed wereto
and other marine birds along our own northern shores,
rather u
might equally be worth exploring. In the N. Pacific, 6s. Other breeds from L. to ss. Bd. per sib., being about sta.
guano deposits have already been visited : and already is I tionary figures.
this article shipped from the coast of Labrador to our With Calves we were but moderately supplied.
American colonies. Numerous flocks of sea fowls, as Per Bibs. to sink the offal.
well as large congregations of seals and penguins, have s. d. s. d.f s. d. s. d.
also been seen by navigators pursuing their course to the Inferior Beasts 2 6 2 101 Second quality do. 3 8— 3 to
Arctic regions. Let their haunts then be searched. Second quality do 3 0— 3 2lCoarse do. 4 0— 4 2
Guano, we are assured, was recently discovered in the Prime laree Oxen 3 4 3 CRouthdownWelhers 4 4 4 6
Prime Scots, /kc 3 8— 3 10 Do. out of the wool --
turrets of Notre Dame, in Paris, and why shall it not be Coarse Calves
found in those of cur own old churches ? Professor Small do.
Buckland, at a late scientific meeting, and while disenurs- Suckling do. each.; 8 0-30 niQr. old Pigs, each t 6 0-20 0
ing on spontaneous combustion, stated to his audience Inferior Sheep 2 10— 3 &Lambs
that two churches, the names of which he had in his pos- SUPPLY AT MARKET.
session, had been destroyed by fire through the accumu- Beasts, 3,r04.... Sheep, 20,300.... Calves, 44 . Pigs, 3:5
lations of guano in the steeples and towers. The learned
professor took occasion to remark that pigeons, crows,
dawn, and other birds were in the habit of congregating
in the upper parts of our old churches, and that on visit-
ing the venerable cathedral of Canterbury, he had him-
self counted fifty winged contributors flyir', through the
broken lattices of the windows—expressing his apprehen-
sion that, if their droppings were allowed to accumulate,
and a strong wind during a thunder-storm should arise
and cause a strong current of air to pass through the
tower, that noble edifice might be destroyed by fire. If
the danger of spontaneous combustion is not sufficient to
induce those who have charge of our old churches, to
keep the steeples and towers clean, perhaps the price of
guano hereafter will.—Polytechnic Review.
A MOONLIGHT NIGHT ON THE NILE.—The wind re-
fused to second my impatience. I should have welcomed
a hurricane, provided it would have blown from the north ;
but Boreas was that day not in the humour to be gentle.
It must have been the anniversary of the rape of Orithyia,
when, sporting on the cliffs of Attica, the god bare her
away in Elysian breezes. Towards evening I made ar-
rangements with Suleiman for sitting up all nicht. Our
little furnace was lighted, and our largest coffee-pot, in
order to supply both master and crew, set to simmer upon
-

LONDON MARKETS OF YESTERDAY.

MARK-LANE CORN EXCHANGE

At this day's market the supply of English Wheat was only
moderate. The improvement which we noted this day week
w s supported for fine qualities, but there was less firmness for
other d scriptions. Free foreign in limited request, without
change in value There was an inquiry for bonded for exporta-
tion, but no actual sales were spoken of. This completely pa-
ralysed the market. Ths offers received were fully Is. per
quarter under last Monday's rates, whicl, factors generally re-
fused. and only retail sales could be mad?, at prfces in favour
of the buyer.

CURRENCY PER IMPERIAL MEASURE.
Wheat, Essex and Kent. s. d. s. d
Red 46 0 52 0
White 4B 0 56 0
Norfolk and Lincoln, red
White .
Irish, led
White —

Rye, old .
New

Barley, Grinding
Malting
Chevalier
Malt, Suffolk and Norfolk
Brown

Kingstcn and Ware

Chevalier
Oats, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, feed
Potatoe
Youghall and Cork, black
Cork, white
Scotch, feed
Beans, tick

Pigeons
Pease, Grey .
Maple .
White ..
Boilers..

30 0-34 0

Flour, town made
Suffolk
Stockton and Norfolk

35 o-36 0
27 0-0. 0
33 0 35 0
36 0-- 00 0
58 0-63 0
s 6 o —6o 0
6o 0— 00 0
S 4 0 65 0
22 0 -- 23 0
23 0 -- 24 0
20 0-22 0
21 0-23 0
2l 0-23 0
31 0-36 0
38 0-39 0
34 0 -- 36 0

35 0-36 0
33 0 -- 35 0
36 0 - 38 0
42 0 - 00 0
:-!3 0 - 35 0
33 0-35 0

FOREIGN GRAIN AND FLOUR IN BOND

30 0 -

20 0-24 0
•17 0 - 18 0
15 0-17 0
24 . 0 - 29 0
28 0-32 0
19 0 -

18 0 -

LONDON SHARE MARKET

Birmingham and Glouc ster shares have been last sold at
1334. Caledonian 104, Cambridge and Lincoln 62. Churnet Val-
ley 74, Direct Northern 43, Eastern Counties 2 Great Southern
and Western (Ireland) 11. Great North of England 192, Bir-
mingham 234. Brighton 622, London and York 33, Manchester
an,l Leeds 14-4, Midland 14q1, Northern and Eastern 66, North
Wales 24. Rugby 44, South Devon 20. South Wales 6, Trent Val-
ley 17. Boulogne and Amiens 1 4, Toulouse and Cette 23, Great
Northern of France 6, Orleans and B urdeaux 114. Paris and
Lyons, Ganneron's, 2i, Paris and Orleans 52, Tours and
Nantes 3.

A FRONT FOR A WORKHOUSE.—The guardians of the
Highworth and Swindon Union, Wiltshire, have adver-
tised for tenders for the erection of a new workhouse.
There is much wit in this announcement ; for the word
" tender," in connexion with the word " workhouse,"
is an apt association of incongruous ideas. Anybody who
can build a gaol can also build a workhouse ; but Punch,
not having devoted his attention to prison architecture,
is afraid that be could hardly plan one that would be suf.
fic ently uncomfortable. As far, however, as a façade
goes, of a fanciful and ornamental character, he has a few
hints, available in the erection of any such edifice, which
are quite at the advertisers' service. Let the facade be
of the plainest Doric pillars supporting an entablature.
Instead of ox-skulls, let the frieze be decorated with
sheep-skulls—to express the richest order of broth to be
expected within. Above these let there be certain sculp-
tures, emblematical of the nature and internal economy—
which is very strict—of the building. For conspicuous-
ness' sake, these might be carved in high relief ; notwith-
standing the objection that the relief given to the inmates
is the reverse of high. As to the subjects, those which
present themselves most strongly to the mind of Punch,
are,—Discipline as a beadle, allowancing Poverty with
gruel; Mercy shaving a pauper's head; and Political
Economy, in the form of the Home Secretary, separating
man and wife.—Punch.

THE RAILWAY TELEGRAPH.—RaiIways are messen-
gers of civilization, peaceful links tending to bind coun-
tries in ties of closer intercourse : as guarantees of peace,
they protect from war. The electric telegraph will ac-
company them. They are now covering the continent—
extending across the desert—about to span India from
Calcutta to Bombay. Where will they stop? There is
a railway now on its way from Petersburgh towards Mos-
cow? Will it stop there? The direction of that line, if
prolongled, leads to China. Between Petersburg and
Pekin there is scarcely a hill ; Moscow is, therefore, but
a first-class station on the way to Pekin. We willl not
speculate on the date of the completion of such a linejust
yet, but return to what is imminent and in sight. From
London to Southampton there is now an electric telegraph.
Mr. Wheatstone is on his way to Paris for the arrange-
ment of a telegraph in France. It may soon be com-
pleted from Havre to Paris ; from Paris to Marseilles
there will be a continuous line of railway, and a telegraph
on it : thus we reach the Mediterranean : thence Egypt,
across the desert, and so to Bombay and Calcutta. We
may cross to Belgium, where an electric telegraph already
exits. We shall soon have one continuous line to
Venice ; then across the desert, and finally from Calcutta
to Bombay as before. Does such a prospect, so clear,
so certain of bringing so near home our many friends and
brothers now in the other hemisphere not bring home to
our hearts the conviction that we are just entering a ca-
reer of social improvement, based on scientific discovery,
the beneficial effects of which it is difficult to foretell.—
Athenceunr.

REMISSION OF THE GLASS DuTIES.—AII lovers of or-
namer,tal art, and of its combination with the useful arts,
must have been highly gratified .vith the total abolition of
the excise on glass, announced by the Premier as part of
his financial arrangements for the present year. In the
whole range of fiscal duties, it would be scarcely possible
to discover an impost every way so objectionable as that
which is about to be abolished; it imposed restritaions on
the manufacture which most directly added to the nati-
onal wealth, and which is surpassed by les in its power
of contributing to the health, the comfort, and the conve-
nience of the community. The materials of which glass
is composed are, for the most part, worthless for any
other purpose; the value added to them by the skill, the
labour, and the ingenuity of manufacturers may conse-
quently he regarded as the creation of so much new capi-
tal to be added to the general stock of national wealth.
Hitherto our manufacturers have been actually prohibited
from making any improvement in their products, not
only because their experiments were rendered costly by
being subjected to taxation, but also their processes were
stringently regulated by the Board of Excise—a body far
more interested in facilitating the collection of duty by
its officers, and prwiding for their convenience. than in
consulting the exigencies of manufacturers, or even the
ultimate advantage of the public. It was obviously im-
possible that any manufacture should flourish when per-
sons utterly ignorant of the business had the power of
prescribing the routine that was to be observed in every
part and process of the fabrication. So far are the En-
glish glassmakers from deserving blame because they
have in some branches of the art allowed foreigners to
outstrip them, that it is highly creditable to their inge-
nuity-and ability that they have been able to maintain
the struggle at all. The fact that they have borne up
against competition under such disadvantages may be re-
ceived as a ground for confidence that their liberated
powers will give to this manufacture a variety, an exten-
sion, and an excellence such as it has not attained, in any
b
other country. On g,ancintr over the list of the four
hundred and thirty articles which are to be admitted for
the future free of all duties on import, we are glad to find
among the enfranchised substances the alkalies and seve-
ral other articles- important to glass manufacturers; and
we more readily notice this gratifying fact, because the
Premier did not take credit for this additional boon when
explaining his fiscal arrangements. The purposes of or-
nament and utility to which glass may advantageously be
applied are far more numerous than is generally known or
even suspected. Sir It. Peel has mentioned that glass is
used to form the delicate balance-spring of a watch, and
the draining-pipes which may be used as a substitute for
tiles. We way be permitted to notice that, in horticul-
ture, the use of glass for regulating temperature opens a
very cheering prospect to a class of men often exposed to
severe vicissitudes—we mean the market gardeners.
Should the science of agriculture make such progress as
to assimilate its processes to horticulture, of which there
appears to be a very reasonable prospect, we should not
be surprised to find conservatories regarded as an essen-
tial part cf fixed farm-stock, and the number of farinace-
ous plants cultivated for food increased to an almost in-
definite extent. The importance of the subject has forced
theorced
us to say a few words upon it in our present nnniber, but
we have not space to discuss it in anything like
length which the subject deserves ; we shall, however,
resume it, probably in our next number, and we shall
then point out some uses and applications of glass, which
are not generally known to the public, but which are
likely to prove of great advantage to the nation.—Art
Union. . .

MODESTY.—There is a young man in Cincinnati who
is so modest, that he will not'' embrace an opportunity."
He would make a good mate for the lady who fainted
when she heard of the " naked truth."

THE IRON TRADE.

(From the Mining .Tournal.)

There never was, perhaps, a Period, since the manufar-
ture of iron assumed any degree of importance in this
country, in which the prospects of long-continued pros-
perity in this great branch of our staple trade, are based
on such certain anticipations as at the present moment.
The years of high prices and consequent prosperity were
1817, 1818, 1825, and 183 G, in which the prices of pig-
iron were upon an average £9 13s, and £7 10s, respec-
tively ; but the uses to which iron was put at those periods,
do not appear to have borne out a sufficient cause for the
great advances in price which were then obtained. Until
1836, railways, for which so many thousands of tons are
required, were almost unknown in this or any other coun-
try, and the many uses to which it is applied, were either
little understood or very sparingly alopted. Thus fire-
proof buildings, and the general introduction of iron into
both public edifices, and private houses and mansions,
which carry off so large a quantity of our present supply,
were little known a few years ago ; but the great feature
at present is the employment of iron in ship-building—
that is, constructing both steam and sailing• vessels entirely
of iron. On a careful examination, the building of iron
vessels does not appear likely to be of a temporary nature,
from tl e following facts, which came under the writer's
own observation. Seven years ago, four sailing vessels
were built for a company .trading from an out-port to
London. Three of them were built of wood, and one
was constructed of iron. At the dissolu►ion of the com-
pany last year, these vessels were sold—the three wood
ones bringing one-half of their original cost, while the
iron one was found to have suffered so little, and to have
cost so small a sum in repairs, that she was sold for very
nearly the precise sum of her first cost. These facts,
among many others of a similar character, give such a
character to iron vessels, and are beginning to be so well
understood and appreciated, that there is hardly an iron
ship building yard in the kingdom that is not fully em-
ployed, and where inquiries for iron vessels are not daily
made, and they justify our opinion, that in a few years there
will be no vessels constructed of any other material. Go-
vernment seems so fully convinced of their superiority over
timber frigates, that many are now being constructed of
iron in London, Liverpool, Birkenhead, and Glasgow, for
public service, and the late increase in the navy estimates
seems to point out still further additions to our war steam-
vessels. The cotton trade under ordinary circumstances,
takes about 1-6 of the iron made in this country annually
in machinery arising from the ordinary wear and tear of
steam engines, boilers, new mills, and the substitution of
new and improved looms, &c., &c., for the old. But the
number of new mills at present in course of erection ex-
ceeds any former per od ; and of course, must increase
the average quantity of iron to be consumed in this
branch of our trade. Agriculture also requires consider-
able supplies, which must this year, and for many suc-
ceeding ones, be greatly increased, from the improve-
ments that are taking place in agricultural machinery.
If to these circumstances be added, the extra demands for
an increasing population, not only in point of numbers,
but in wealth and general prosperity, it must be admitted,
that a greater amount of iron will be required, both in
this and other countries, than has ever yet been known.
It has been urged, that high prices of any article will
soon have the effect of increasing the production of that
commodity. This, in most cases, is true; but it will not
fully. and at all events, will not immediately, apply to
iron, for the erection of new furnaces, and machinery,
the sinking of new coal mines, and the forming of rail-
ways to bring the minerals to the point at which they are
required, involve so large a quantity of iron, as to render
it even scarcer for the time. Another cause which tends
to diminish the production of iron while high prices pre-
is the advance of wages to workmen always incident
to prosperous times, for a miner will work six days a
week when he earns only 2s a day ; but only three or four
days when he gets 4s or 5s a day. The great demand for
labour in the forming of the new lines of railway, in tun-
neling and embanking, will also draw from the iron dis-
tricts a large amount of population, which would other-
wise have been employed in the kindred branch of min-
ing.

It may be a matter of some interest in the present state
of the iron trade, to attempt to reduce to figures the
amount of iron likely to be made and consumed in the
present year, and with some labour, assisted by practical
men, the following table has been drawn up

Pig-iron produced in England and Wales in

Iron produced in Scotland, 1811

Tons 856,000
.. .. 354,000

Total for Great Britain, 1844 ..... 1,210,000
Add for increase induced by high prices in 1845 120,000

Tons 1,830,000

Total for 1845
Estimated Consumption for 1845

2,000 miles of railways, to be made in 1845 and
1816—say, half in 1845 contracted for-
-1000 miles of railway, 250 tons per mile for

rails ...
Add for loss of one-fifth, in converting pig-iron

250,000

to rails
1000 miles of railway require, if chairs
Add loss in manufacture, 5 per cent
Iron required for railways in progress. and
passed in 1844
Iron for waggons, stations, engines, tanks, &c ,
computed from inspection of railway compa-
nies accounts, that each mile of railway re-
quires 300 tons per mile above the weight of
permanent rails and chairs-1000 miles will

50,000
70,000
3,500

150,000

• then give
Export in 1844, 460,000 tons—say,• from the in-
crease of railways abroad, and the remission
of duties on iron by some of the continental
states, it will be .. .
General consumption of iron in Great Britain
(exclusive of railways,) in bar-iron, castings,
water and gas-pipes, in steam-engines, and
the whole hardware of the country,

300,000

500,000

480,000

Tons 1,803,500

If this statement, in any way, is near the truth, we
shall have a deficiency of nearly 500,000 tons of iron,
which must cause the suspension of many great public
works. It is possible, that from the exertions of our
iron masters, a greater quantity may be produced tha❑
1,330,000 tons : but it cannot be materially greater than
what has been computed. Under any circumstances,
however, it cannot be denied that the iron trade is more
prosperous, and that its present flourishing state is not
oily certain of being permanent for some years, but more
likely to increase than at any former period.
The following are the present prices of iron :
Rails, £l3 per ton, bars, £9 10s., pigs, £s 12s. 6d.