The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-04-05 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY DES PATO lI.—SiT James SCarICII in his address on
the late trial of the Liverpool town dues, emphatically called the
attention of the Court to the remarkable cases of despatch in dis-
charging and reloading vessels, which so frequently take place at
this port. Such instances of energy and promptitude as the following
are of no uncommon occurrence. The Frances, 413 tons, belonging
to Messrs, Barton, Irlam and 11i=inson, arrived at this port on
Friday last, from Barbadoes. She has discharged a large cargo con-
sisting of upwards of 649 hogsheads of sugar, Sze. and reloaded, and is
to put to sea again this day. The Gratitude, 221 tons, owned by
Messrs. Hayes, Litherland, and Co. arrived on the same day from the
same port. Her cargo consisted of 302 hhds. 42 tes. 42 brls. of sugar,
90 boxes of arrowroot and 16 bales of cotton. It is intended that she
also shall sail to-day. Even supposing the business of reporting these
vessels at the Custom-house to have been got through, on k riday,
only four days are left for unloading and taking in a fresh cargo.

A PIRATE.—The ship Cassander, Davenport, which arrived at
Boston, on Sunday, from New Orleans, on the 6th inst. in sight of
Cuba, was fired at and brought to by an armed ship. Capt. 1. was
ordered on board with his papers, his manifest was doubted, and sent
on board with an officer, with orders to remove her hatches and
examine cargo, to which Capt. D. objected, and informed the officer
that if he insisted on taking off the hatches he must send for men
from his ship to do it ; he then demanded payment for the shot fired.
Capt, D. refused, and he finally left the ship, first endorsing the mani-
fest that the Cassander had been' boarded by 11. B. M. ship Tweed.
Capt. D. is, however, of opinion that it was a piratical vessel, and not
a British sloop of war.—New York Gazette, Feb. 27.

DESTRUCTION OF A VESSEL IN THE RIVER.—In the course
of Sunday, a sloop in the River, at Dumbarton, heavily laden
with lime shells, was discovered to be on fire, at least smoke
was observed to issue copiously from all parts of it. It had be-
come leaky, and the'water acting on the lime, had the effect of
swelling it to such a degree, that, after the sides of the vessel
had been considerably charred, it ultimately burst and went
down. There is something so singular in the history of this
vessel, that, we dare say, it is worthy of being shortly related.
On being first built, it was known by the name of " The
Comet;" and, for a long while, sailed the Clyde as a steamer,
till, with its passengers, crew, and other contents, it was so dis-
tressingly sunk opposite Kempoch Point, in the mouth of Octo-
ber, It:s23—a catastrophe attended with so many heart-rending
circumstances that it will not soon be forgotten. It is well
known, that "The Comet" after that remained under water
many months; but on its being raised, it was purchased. by a
shipper in Dumbarton, and converted into the sloop in ques-
tion, whose Comet-like fate is narrated above.—Glasgow Courier.
FOREIGN HEMP TRADE.—Hemp forms a very important
article of export from Petersburgh. It is assorted, according
to its quality, into clean hemp, or firsts ; out-shot hemp, or
seconds; haY--clean hemp, or thirds; and hemp codilla. Of the
first three sorts, there are annually exported about 2,000,000
poods, the greatest part in English and American bottoms. It
is brought to Petersburgh, from the interior beyond Moscow,
by water; and its quality depends very much on the country in
which it is produced. As soon as the hemp is brought down in
the spring, or in the course of the summer, it is selected and
made up in bundles; both'operations being performed by sworn
selectors. A bundle of clean hemp weighs from 55 to 65 ponds;
ditto nut-shot, 413 to 55 ditto; ditto, half-clean, 40 to 45 ditto.
(1 pood=36 lb avoirdupois.) To every bundle of assorted
hemp is attached a ticket with the names of the selector, binder,
and owner, and the date and year. Every bundle has also
affixed to it a piece of lead, stamped on one side with the name
of the selector, and on the other with the sort of hemp and the
time when it was selected. The external marks of good hemp
are, its being of an equal green colour and free from spills; but
its good quality is proved by the strength of the fibre, which
should be fine, thin, and long. The first so should be quite
clean and free froM spills; the out-shot is less so • and the half.
clean contains a still greater portion of spills, and is moreover of
mixed qualities and colours. Particular care must be taken to
ship hemp and flax in fine dry weather; if it get wet, it heats
and is totally spoiled. For this reason every vessel taking in
hemp or flax is furnished with mats to prevent its getting d mp.
Two large warehouses, called ambares, are built in Peters rgh
for the special purpose of housing hemp, where the gr atest
order is observed.