The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1876-01-12
COMMERCIAL MATTERS, Etc.

CVA4EkClAL MATTEkS, ETC.
c A bill has been introduced in Congress
granting protection to propagators Of new
fruits, ETC., similar to that enjoyed by in
ventors under the patent laws.
There are IS merchant mills in operation
in Minneapolis, and 80 counties in Minnesota
report POI -four mills with a grinding capac-
i,y Of rs, COG, 600 bushels of wheat year.
Leaves of the pineapple, now being extern
sively cultivated in the East Indies, are
turned to account by being converted into
kind of wadding, which is used for upnol-
STEERING instead Of hair. sort OF flannel IL
also manufactured from them, from which
substantial waistcoats and shirts can be made.
mammoth dry dock is being erected on
the Delaware, at Philadelphia. at o cost, in
Guiding the land, of 100000. 1t has a lar
ger pun ping capacity than that of any other
IN the United States, being l2O, 900 gallons a
minute.
It is estimated that the California wool clip
of mex. year will be 1900, 900 pounds, and
that, with good seasons, In two years it will
amount to go O0O, 900 pounds annually, and IN
i've years to rs, 900, O00
An annual review OF mining stocks dealt in
at the San Francisco exchanges presents some
startling results. Consolidated Virginia, with
a capital Of $40, 800, 900. and SAIL 200 of as
sessu ents, divided $1,000, 900 among the
stockholders; Belcber made dividends OF $14,
90l, 600 on $40. 400, 900 of capital; Crown Point
made dividends amounting to $ll, 5SS, 600 on
$4,000, 900 capital; Gould l. Curry (since alb
sorbed with Virginia Consolidated) made
dividends Of SO 826 500 on $40 800, 600 of cap
ita!, etc. To offset this, various mines made
smaller profits, and some none at all. Twenty
fonr mines, including the above, divided S62-
500 400 on an aggregate capital of 1918 Co.,
M tho a aSsa m n III.
O24, 742.
In the United States SO, 600 men are en-
ployed IN mining, and SO, 1000 900 tons OF coal
are mined yearly. In Pennsylvania the death
rate exceeds that Of Great Britain. The deat
rate of Ohio was also greater last year than
that of England, but this year 1t will be less.
The most dangerous mines in the United
States are in Schuvlkill county, Pa, one man
being killed there for every $4,000 tons
minei. One man is killed in England for
every 1873 600 tons mined one in Pennsyl-
vania tor every $4,000 tons and one in Ohio
for every 1888 600 tons. The destruction Of
human life ought always to be considered
when making complaints about dear fuel.
Liability of Banks for Checks Deposited.
In an article under the above heading, the
New York journal Of Commerce says:
"For many years the courts hell bank
liable to depositor for the amount OF check
on itself drawn by another and placed by tn
bank to his credit. The theory of this rule
was clearly stated. The cashier of bank
was formerly charged with the duty OF re-
ceiving and paving money, and was the repre-
sentative of the bank to the public If
check was to be paid, the cashier paid it; if it
was to be certified, the cashier M lrked it
good; if it was to be deposited with him, the
cashier examined it and entered it in The de-
positors pass-book.
Whenever check on that bank was thus
accepted by the cashier and placed to the
credit of one who was not the drawer Of it,
the bank was very properly held to have
vouched for it, and was forbidden afterwards
to discredit it. If the cashier himself, who
was the officer deputed by the bank to ex-
anime and certify to checks, or to pay them if
payment was requested, took the check Of one
customer thus presented and passed it to the
credit OF another, he was held to have passed
judgment on it and to have accepted it as q
cash deposit.
"But custom has changed all this method
of business. The receiving teller performs
merely the clerical duty OF accepting and
counting the offered deposit, and does not
pass upon the genuineness OF any part of it.
Indeed, if large roll Of small bills forms
part OF the deposit, the custom during busy
hours is to place q strap around it, with the
initials of the depositor thereon, enter the
assumed total in his pass-book, and afterward
to count it in a more leisure moment. II it
falls short, the deficiency is deducted from
the assumed amount of the deposit and the
net sum is placed to the proper credit in the
books of the bank.
SIN the same way all checks that appear TO
be genuine and in proper form are received
by this teller and counted, without in any way
binding the bank to hold as good all these
items of the deposit If check on the bank
itse is among the rest, the teller does not
keep the line of customers waiting while he
'goes to the other side of the room to see if it
Us then good, but accepts it, as he does the
checks on other banks, upon the assumption
THAT it is good or will BE- made good before
eshe close Of the day. If such check proves
lhalot to be good when the doors are closed, it
.Cs deducted from the account and returned to
rehe depositor"
r. Referring to case in California carried to
he Supreme Court, the highest legal tribunal
I'm that State. the Journal of commerce re-
r,narks: "The decision affirms that q deposit
abt cheek drawn upon the bank in which the
p npposit is made is not to be taken as q cash
deposit, but one made for the purpose of col
lecting the same, and that the bank by re- |
ceiving it and entering it in the depositors
pass-book does not thereby deprive itself OF
the right to return it if is not good, and is
uOI 1T any tuc uhuo b5OOu UclOIo IA0 ClOSo VI
business at 3 o'clock"
Home Consumption of Cotton in 1878.
The report of the consumption of cotton by
all of the mills in the United States during
the year ending July l, 1875, compiled by the
Financial Chronicle and published last Satur-
day, is exhaustive and complete, but it is too
long tor our columns. The report shows that
the consumption of cotton, contrary to the
general impression, exceeded that OF the pre-
cedipg year. The number of mills in opera
ton is SIS, of which 18l are in the South and
694 are in the Northern States. Massachu-
sets las the largest number (2O6) in the
North, and Georgia (4O in the South. The