The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-07-24
MISCELLANEOUS CITY IOTTlEGS.

MIR. Piersol, the City Treasurer, has appointed
the following gentlemen collectors OF the out
standing mercantile tax for lS66:-IsaIah II.
Butler, for the First, second, Third, Fourth
Seventh, Eighth, and Twenty sixth Wards; Will
liam c. GIllngham, for the Fifth, Sixth, Ninth,
Tenth and Eleventh Wards; Samuel McCahsn
for the T8efth, Thirteenth, Four eeath, Fif-
teentb, and Twentieth Wards; John Huplet, for
the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nine.
teenth, and Twenty-tifth Wards; james Mahoney,
for the Twenty first, Twenty second, Twenty
third, and Twenty eighth Wards; John Mcneil,
for the Twenty-fourth and Twenty seventh
Wards.
Our streets are in filthy condition. espe.
cially y in the upper portion of the city. The
Board of Health is considering the proposition
OF declaring them preJudIcial to health, and
having them cleaned, II the contractors cannot
"A meeting of the Jourueymen Felt Hat
Fiuishers' Association will be held this evening,
at the northwest corner of Second aud Callow-
hill streets
"A handsome flag was presented to Samuel
Laird, of the Mansion House, Long Branch, by
Mr.. Horstmann, of this city last week.
The work on the new reservoir for the
Twenty fourth Ward Water Works is progressing
rapidly, and 1t is now about half completed.
: Quicksilver-The Market and the Mines.
Mr.. R. W. Raymond writes from California
to the American Journal of Mining:
GAS from time to time quicksilver mines are
offered for sale in New York, and many persons
large, prompt and sure profits, it will be worth
while for US, perhaps, to exhibit the CONNER
cial aspect of the question for the benefit of
the public. MIR. Butterworth very courteously
answered all our questions, and gave us every
Information concerning the operations of his
company. The facts we are about to give,
though partly derived from him, are not secret
but well known to those familiar with the
business, and quite within the reach of any
inquirer. Otherwise, we are far too deeply
indebted to Mr.. Butterworth and his pleasant
family circle to reward their hospitality with q
breach Of confidence.
"The quicksilver trade OF the world is an
armed truce between Spain and California.
The mine of Old Almaden, in Spain, supplies
the market of London, and large part of
Europe, and ships its product as far West as
the city of Mexico. Until recently it also con-
trolled the great Chinese market but Mr..
Butterworth, shipping ten thousand TASKS to
Hong Kong, and selling at far below the cost,
forced the reshipment to Spain of all the
Spanish quicksilver; and the market has since
been in his hands. The same tactics on the
part of Spain keep him from the London
market, and the two great producers are thus
forced to divide the world between them.
But the New Almaden Company is not the
only producer Of quicksilver in California, and
is obliged for self-preservstiOn to accede to q
combination with the New Idria Company and
which now controls the production OF quick
silver, and will probably, for long time tC
come, prevent the successful establishment O.
any rival enterprise.
"It must be borne in mind that the con
sumption of this metal is limited. A certain
amount for manufactures a certain amount
for metallurgical purposes, and the diminish
ing quantity required for calomel, with wha
the Chinese manufacture into vermiliOn, com
+ prise the principal demands. Now the quan
tity used in metsllurgY, which is the mos
considerable, is hardly affected by the price o
mercury. If it were dollar pound insteaC
Of sixty cents there would be no less con
sumed; If il were twenty five cents the demand
would scarcely increase. In fact, the cost o
quicksilver lost in amalgamstiOn is (to waste
full men like our millinery very trifling. Il
Mexico, where the patio process is employed
perhaps pound and half of quicksilver Il
lost for every pound of silver extracted; but il
Washoe the loss is (we are told) not more thar
third as much. The Pacific States and ter
ritores require altogether about 1900 TASKS
or 9l,500 pounds per month; Msxic
and South America, 1000 TASKS each; China
1000. The total annual demand does nc
exceed 90, 900 TASKS, the production of whic
is divided among different companies, as 70
lows:-New Almaden, "a, 900; New ldris
70,oCo, and Redington, 10000. These thre
companies have agreed to condne themsslve
90 .le above limited amounts (the works
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