The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-03-16
CONSULAR CURIOsITIEs.
Odd Facts Concerning England's
Foreign Commerce.
silks Weighted With Flour. aud Wines
Worth Moe Cents II Hottie Sold for
Ono Dollar-CIovor Tricks
of Trade.

which merchants and shippers should
be grateful to our foreign Office, saws
Caisclls Saturday Journal Some of
thOm are, If we accept the cynical def
milton that gratitude is Il lively sense of
favors to come; for in the latest batch
of reports several conSuls complain
that cntc"pri3ing tradcsmcn have sent
them PATTERNS of cloth goods, cts. with
prices for prompt cash and asked
them to obtain orders. But these an
nual returns from our representatives
abroad arc Of interest and value to
others beside. those engaged in trade.
lhcy contain lot of out-of-thu-w:y
facts on imports and exports, the social
condition of various peoples, the curl
Gus industries of the world and Il thou
sand Other subjects. Last year, it ap-
pears, there was II decrease in the i'm
portaton of s;Ln,lal-wood into IIankow,
China. The product is used in incense.
burnt mostly by women, and our con-
sui remarks that 'hCrc'-and, surely,
elsewhere t)O-'onc of the natural
economies of the working classes is IL
reduction of the religious expenses of
the family
Similarly. the statistics of imports
and exports bring to light many facts
about adultcration. Ladies' being great
on pongce silk just now, will he inter
estcd 10 know that that material is
weighted with n size made from bean
flour, and that. when Il bale of inferior
pongcc is opened, the starch in it raises
dust which Ellis the room. On opium
we learn that it is not only faxed in
various ways, but largely Struggled
into Tainan, China, by being squeezed
into large bamboo pipes. In Morocco
IT is customary to adultcratc bccswaX
with composite candles, considerable
quantities of which arc imported for
this special purpose. We seem to do IL
little i'll this line ourselves, or how is il
that in Madagascar they can tell Lam
cashirc from American calico from the
smell?
Prom La Rochelle comes Il startling
fact about wine, of which no fewer
than 25.5Sd tons were imported seward
last year from Spain. Italy and Africa.
This enormous quantity, after hcnr
mixed and blended with natural or nrti-
fetal French wine is consumed in this
country Q'ranccl. or exported as French
wines To other countries Thus does art
assist nature Which is the better
natural or artificial grape i,iicc?' 1t
seems hard to tell. Oar consul al Cndiz
relates that lac and Il friend visited one
of the native sherry cellars, and tested
two samples which appeared to be of
the same wine. They were ST. much
alike that it was with difficulty they de-
:idcd which they preferred. One of the
partners in the firm then told them that
one wine was sold ut $50 Il butt and the
other manufactured for one of the
largest mail steamship companies in
the world ut the rate of I'D per bottle,
and rctailed to their passengers mt is a
bottle
Among the suggestions made for
opening our trade is one from Dantziy
with regard to Newfoundland fish, a
great deal of which, our consul thinks.
might be sold in the inland towns. lie
thoughtfully adds, however, that trav-
elers would have to be furnished with
printed directions in two languages
German and Polish), showing how the
fish should be dressed for table or the
people would cat it raw, as they do her
rings, and then they might not like it.
hint is thrown out, too, that some
English houses might do business with
the ivory carvcrs of Dieppc, where the
handicraft of carving, established two
centuries ago still tlourishcs. The
work is said to be far superior to that
of the Japanese, Chinese and Indians.
Ten or twelve worllmcn do nothing all
the year round but carve crucifxes,
some of which are worth ESQ or $40
''Quitc a new industry is that of Jap
ancsc floor mating. as made at Pogo
and Osaka. The body of the fabric is Il
kind of native grass intcrwovcn with
fine thread, sometimes 500 to the yard,
and the result of this combination is
said to be rs soft and pliablc as cloth
Prices for n roll forty yards long by one
yard wide are from Sl3 to S15 An as
tonishing fact, considering that the
trade is in its infancy, is that one firm
has sent away more than 4 900 patterns
Flrearm making. carried on at Legc. in
Belgium, is another industry touched
on. Forty thousand men are employed
in this trade. Like the English nail
and chain makers, these work at home
at their domestic FORCES. The various
pieces are put together at the factories
The output of the town in guns. etc,
may family be imagined from the fact
that from 100000 to 1000 600 car
tridges and forty tons of powder are
consumed annually in testing them.
BY the way. there are only five houses
for this purpose in Europe-Licge
(where there is the largest in the
world), birmingham, London, st.
Etienne, in France, and Fcllah, in
Austria, are the places which possess
them"
What Pomps Are
&c IL