The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-08-05

! fruit, live and dressed stock, and oil other ar
ticles Of produce that are dealt In on the Tx
change. with freights and storage thereon,
shall be- exclusively on the basis OF weight;
the INIT of transactions to be the pound
avojrd,rpois, and the multiple thereof to be
the GENITAL or 100 pounds avoirdnpos.
| A large and valuable shipment of tea, silk
and Chinese merchandise has been In transit
eastward, via the Chicago, Rock Island and
Pacific Railroad since Sunday Of last week
There are 15s cars OF tea alone. This freight
| Is being transported In trains Of twenty and
thirty cars each. The market value Of tho tea
and silk liz about two millions Of dollars.
About thirty car loads Of this article are con
signed to Chicago dealers. The remainder Is
consigned to merchants In Detroit Montreal,
Toronto, Boston and New York.
According to Poer's Manual, just published,
the total miles Of railroad In the United
States on December 81, 1878, was 81 ,s41. Of
which 1904 miles were opened during tho last
year. The groes earnings Of 1890 miles Of
road were S490, LOB, 361- increase of St7 1g4.-
0S9 as compared with the previous year. It Is
| the first increase since the panic Of 1873, and
| 1t marks the beginning Of tho now era of pro-
ductive industry upon which we havo en-
tered. This increase was due entirely to the
gain in freight earnings, there being slight
| decrease In passenger earnings. Theaverage
gross earnings per mile of all the railroads in
the United States In 1878 were S621O, and of
net earnings St276; while the dividends paid
were equal to 2,34 per cent Of the total capital
stock. No dividends were paid on any roads
in West Virginia. South Carolina Mississippi.
Kansas, Colorado, Arkansas, Texas, Cali
fornia or Oregon. The largest amount of
dividends on the roads Of any one State were
IN New York, aggregating 40, 956, 436, and the
smallest in Missouri $4,000.
The cutlery trade Of this country has grown
more rapidly, perhaps. and established itself
| upon d more solid basis than any other SINH
lar industry. It has not only gained entire
control of the retail business In the United
States, manufacturing all the goods of the
sort which we consume, fine US well as coarse
except pocket knives, but 1t IL also reaching
over to Europe and establishing Itself on that
continent. The annual value of the articles
produced In this manufacture In PsnnsyI-
vania and Connecticut exceeds 50 900, 600, and
| 1t employs great many hands. A cutl ny
| company Of Bridgeport, Conn, has recently
| turned Its attention to tho manufacture Of
pen-kniyes, has imported hundred skile
mechanics from Sheffield, England and Is
going to test the question whether ~ good q
pocket, knife cannot bo turned out In this
country az those which boar the Sheffield
trade mark Of Rodgers Wolstenholm and
others who have 50 long been famous In this
| trade.
The returns of the commerce of the United
States are stated to be ready up to July [.
From an abstract We find telegraphed to tho
| Courier-Journa, WI gather some interesting
| facts. The statistics for the month OF June
show n continuation OF tho gain in imports
and decrease in exports. The Imports OF
merchandise for the month were valued at
$3s, 300 Gi5, against $50 5GG,28s for June, 1878,
showing an increase OF 50. i03.457, while the
compared with SAG, 734, 1893 In June, 1873. show
Ing o decrease Of 81 ,f72, 525. The imports Of
goods for the whole fiscal year amounted to
$i15, 800. 600, against $4,000, 900 for the year
1877 9, showing an Increase OF Sa, 100000. The
value Of domestic produce and foreign NOR
chandise exported was $40 100, 900, against
1864, 100000, an increase o'0Sl5, 600, 900. Our
merchants hive thus sent out 1924 ,GoO, 600
value OF goods In excess of tho value of i'm
ports while last year the surplus of exports
amounted to S257, 100000. The average yearly
excess OF the Imports over the exports during
the nine years ending June 80, 1873, was $685.
100000 In the six years succeeding the plnic
the exports have, on the contrary, exceeded
the imports on an average u S12J, 100000 d
year. In nine years preceding the panic the
merchants imported $3oo0OoOo0 more Of
goods than was paid for with goods, while
| FOR six years they have exported goods valued
ut 50,o00,O0O more than the goods imported.
| Some interesting statistics are had from
| the commissioners of the general land office
showing the volume and direction OF home
stead pre- emptions. The amount OF public
| land entered for settlement under the home
stead act In the year ending June 30, 1879, was
something over 900 acres, an area larger
| than that of New Hampshire. The average
number or acres taken by each homestead
settler IS 100. On this basis the number of
families erecting their roof tree on the public
domain was some 10000 The whole number
| Of homestead entries from the time the home
| Sbedu INV Welt INTO oD5ldlIou w v hi5 oV, 1910.
a period of sixteen years, was 3S4, 8l8. Alloy
/ ing 100 acres to each settler the whole amount
Of land thus occupied would be az, 181, $50
acres. This immense domain would make
fifteen States as large as Connecticut 1t
is larger by nearly three million acres than
all New England, and it exceeds the combined
areas Of Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York by
an area about equal to that Of Delaware. In
the number of homestead entries Kansas
takes the lead with 61,034, Minnesota stands
next with 51,575, and Nebraska third with
1852 In the rate Of increase from 1877 to
| 1873 Dakota took the lead. The number Of
| homestead entries in that Territory In 1877
| was 1854, and In 1878 1t was 1923. Ii the
States Of Kansas, Minnesota and Nebraska
opd tho Tarrjtorv Of Dakota tho homestead