The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-05-07 00:00:00

LATEST BETTIVG AT THE ALBION HOTEL.

11 to 1 agst Miss Anne (tkn) ; 11 to 1 agst Roland (tkn);
11 to 1 agst Glauca (tkn) ; 12 to 1 agst Chantrey (tkn) ;
8 to 1 agst Essadarius (tkn) ; 20 to I agst Fdlerdale (off.d);
25 to 1 agst Priestess• (offrd) ; 13 to 1 agst Osterley (tkn( ;
20 to 1 agst John Cesser (offrd); 200 to 3 agst Westow
(offrd) ; 100 to 3 agst St. George (offrd) ; 100 fo 7 agst
Fugleinan (offrd) : 9 to 1 agst Peep-o'-Day Boy (offrd,
no takers); 1000 to 10 agst Vesta (offrn).

Prizes in the Art Union of London have been won by
Mr. Edward Lichfield, of this town, who gained a paint-
ing valued at £l5O, and by Miss Swift, who received a
similar prize valued at £lO.
Captain Austin's expvdition, consisting of the Pioneer,
the Resolute, the Assistance, and the Intrepid, which has
been fully equipped and provisioned for three years, at
an expense of £9OOO, sailed on Saturday morning at day-
break from Greenhithe to prosecute a rigorous search for
the missing ships of Sir John Franklin.
SOIREE AT BIRKENHEAD.—The young men who con-
stitute the Literary Society connected with the Presby-
terian congregation who assemble at the chapel in Grange-
lane, had a literary and social reunion in the school-room,
under the chapel, on Thursday evening last. The soiree
was well conducted, and the refreshment department was
on a scale of elegance and liberality which gave the highest
satisfaction to the partakers of the feast, while it reflected
crediton those on whom the duty of catering moreespecially
devolved. Besides other entertainments, a portion of the
evening was taken up by the delivery of short addresses
or lectures. The following are some of the subjects se-
lected :—" On the Anglo-Saxon Race," " On Old Pro-
verbs," " A few Sketches about Town ;" even the diffi-
cult subject " Love" had its exponent. The persons
present were extremely gratified with the various addresses.
TRADE RETURNS.—The Board of Trade returns for the
month ending the sth of April were issued on Saturday.
They show an increase in the declared value of exporta-
tions of £418,089 as compared with the corresponding
month of last year, and of £1,371,457 as compared with
April, 1848. Notwithstanding the rise in the price of the
staple, cotton manufactures furnish scarcely any part of
the increase, and in cotton yarn, owing to the depressed
state of industry on the Continent, there is a heavy falling
off. The total augmentation, therefore, large as it is, has
been caused by the healthful condition of all other general
branches of trade. Amongst the".articlee which show the
most striking improvement are haberdashery and milli-
nery. In the present month the increase on these items
has been not less than £53,610, and for the quarter
it has been nearly .£loo,ooo—a feet which augurs
well for some of the most depressed classes of the work-
ing population. With regard to imports, the only point
calling for notice is the continued economy that they
indicate, on the part of the general population, the
consumption of articles of luxury, such as spirits,
wines, tobacco, fruits, and spices, being nearly sta-
tionary, and in each case rather below that of April last
year. Tea shows an increase, and sugar also, but only to
a slight extent. In the use of coffee the diminution is ex-
tremely great, but this, owing to unjust legislation, must
be regarded as an exceptional article.