Name and location. COTTON GOODS-CONTINUED. Thomas, S. & Co., New Bedford.... Troy Cot'n & Wool'n Mf., Fall River Name and location. .... Aldrich, C. C., Bonville, Palmer.... Amesbury Manuf. Co., Amesbury.. Ayers, Taylor & Co., Granby... Baldwin Co., North Chelmsford.... Barber & Co., Hancock.. Barker, J. & Brother, Pittsfield.. Blush, William D., Middlefield.. Crompton, William, Millbury.... Farnum, W. & D. D., Blackstone... Fitchburg Woolen Mill, Fitchburg.. Shirt'g and Umbrel. Cloths WOOLEN GOODS. Kind of goods. Flannels, Tweeds, Satinets Worsted & Carpet Filling Satinets. Satinets.... Name and location. WOOLEN GOODS-CONTINUED. Monson Woolen Manuf. Co., Monson N. England Worsted Co. Saxonville Name and location. MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. American Print Works, Fall River. Kind of goods. All kinds Cloth Printing.......yds. 12,480,000 Wrought and Cast Iron. Pig Iron. Pig Iron.. Pig Iron.. Railroad Rails. Nails ...casks 80,000 .kegs 28,000 60,000 FRANCIS HAY THOMAS, M. D., of England, has obtained a patent for some improvements in the smelting of copper ores: This invention relates to an improvement in the smelting of copper ores, by the use of an improved flux, which consists of stone, commonly known as whinstone, mixed with carbon, and with or without other materials; other stones, of the same nature as whinstone, may be employed, such as crap, basalt, seynite, &c., forming fusible silicates as a flux in the smelting of copper ores, whether such ores are in the state of sulphuret, carbonate, or oxide. In the case of sulphuret of copper, containing 20 per cent of copper, or upward-say, in smelting one ton, (which, after being calcined in the ordinary manner, is placed in an ordinary reverberatory furnace,) as a flux for that quantity of ore, Dr. Thomson employs four cwts. of whinstone, or other stone mentioned, broken into small pieces, and mixed with 70 lbs. of powdered coke, or other kind of carbon, such as charcoal or anthracite coal. As a further improvement, he adds to the materials of the flux 37 lbs. of barilla, in which case, half of the whinstone, or other stone, may be dispensed with, only two cwts, being used for the ton of ore, which will effect the desired object. With regard to the smelting of carbonate of oxide of copper ore, the same quantity of whinstone is employed, with the coke added to it; but with the addition of 56 lbs. of limestone, and 20 lbs. of oxide of iron, which are required to produce the improved result, and employed as a flux in the smelting of these ores, supposing the quantities of the first mentioned to be the same as in the previous example. Other matters may be used instead of the oxide of iron, such as calcined black-band iron stone, or carbonate of iron, as well as compounds of other matters, whose chemical properties are such as to produce the like effects, and which it would be an endless task to enumerate-as well as substitutes for several other matters mentioned, as, for barilla, common kelp may be used. Iron slag, which is easily obtained in any quantity, is also applicable, according to this invention. The patentee claims the smelting of copper ore by the use of whinstone, or other similar stone, broken into small pieces, or by the employment of iron slag, all of which must have carbon added, with or without an alkali. METHOD OF MANUFACTURING FLAX COTTON. A late London paper states that by completely robbing the fibre of all its gum, we get immediately a fine downy material like raw cotton, but somewhat stronger. The strength of the flax is a little diminished by this process, but still the fibre is superior to cotton, and it may be passed through all the present cotton machinery in the subsequent processes. This cannot fail to be highly interesting at this moment, when we are threatened with a scarce, and, consequently, dear and inferior supply of cotton; and since much flax stalk, both at home and in India, is thrown away, the plant being cultivated for the seed, it follows we have here, prima facie, a much less expensive raw material than cotton. THE CYTHEREAN CREAM OF SOAP. This soap, the invention of Mr. Isaac Babbitt, of Boston, is designed "to take the place of all other soaps, as a purifier of the skin; and by effecting that object perfectly, and without injury to the most delicate, it will supersede all cosmetics." Being applied," adds the inventor, "to the skin, before touching the water, it seizes the impuri 44 ties with a firmer grasp, and is subject to less waste than the ordinary soaps, which are first dissolved in water." The pretensions of the inventor, a most ingenious mechanic, and a very thorough practical chemist, have been tested by a number of our friends, who have used the article, and they all bear the most unequivocal testimony as to its great value. Indeed, they are quite enthusiastic in their commendation of its excellent properties. But with all this, we should not venture upon a recommendation of the article, had we not become convinced of the fact, by testing its virtues in our own family. Indeed, we are satisfied that it possesses all the valuable properties its inventor claims for it. INCREASE OF THE IRON BUSINESS OF WALES. The increase of the iron business is probably unexampled in the history of the world. The population during the 40 years from 1801 to 1841, increased in Newport from 1,423 to 13,766; in Trevethin from 1,742 to 14,942; Aberyswith from 805 to 11,272; Bedwelty from 619 to 22,413. In Glamorgan the increase has been, if not in the same proportion, still enormous in itself. Thus, during the same period, the increase at Merthyr has been 7,750 to 34,977; at Cardiff from 1,870 to 10,077; at Swansea, from 6,831 to 16,787. The progress in the actual trade is shown by the returns to be equally astonishing; in 1820 the iron sent from the worker for shipment to Newport was 45,462 tons; in 1847, 240,637. The quantity at Cardiff in 1820 was 50,157 tons; in 1847 it was 220,953 tons; and this is exclusive of a quantity of iron shipped from smaller ports, which owe their existence to the last twenty years. We scarcely believe that any other country could show a similar result in one branch of business. The quantity of coal sent in 1846 from the four ports of Cardiff, Swansea, Llanelly, and Newport, amounted to 1,847,348 tons. The value of the shipment of iron alone from the counties of Monmonth, Glamorgan, and Carmarthen, was estimated, in 1847, at four millions sterling. RAILROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT STATISTICS. A PASSAGE FROM NEW YORK TO BATAVIA. We published in the Merchants' Magazine for January, 1849, an extract from a letter addressed to an esteemed correspondent, a highly respectable merchant of Boston, who politely furnished us with the manuscript copy, giving an account of the condition of a bankrupt in Batavia, Island of Java; remarking, at the time, as the letter was received just as the last sheet of our Magazine was going to press, that “we could only find room for a few passages" on the subject referred to above. The writer of the letter had visited the place (Batavia) before, and "had now arrived there on the 14th of September, 1849, by what is called an overland passage." The following extract from the letter is interesting, as furnishing an account of an actual passage from New York to Batavia : "I give you below the different distances on the route, taken from the ship's logbooks, and the times: "This does not include stoppages. The only "overland" part of it was from Cairo to Suez, 89 miles; all the rest of it being performed by steamboat. To speak in the most unexaggerated manner, it was, for some part, downright suffering, as may be supposed, when the thermometer is 107° in the coolest place." THE OLD COLONY RAILROAD IN MASSACHUSETTS. The Superintendent, J. H. Moore, has furnished us with a copy of the Annual Report of the Directors of the Old Colony Railroad Corporation, to the Stockholders, made December 18th, 1849. In a former number of the Merchants' Magazine, (December, 1847, vol. xvii., page 627,) we gave some account of this road, embracing a statement of the business of the road, a tabular statement of distances, rates of fare, &c. From the official report referred to above, we proceed to exhibit a summary view of the present condition of the road, &c. It appears, from the report, that the revenue of the company, for the year ending November 30th, 1849, has been, from transportation of passengers, $184,669 50; freight, $55,632 23; gravel for Boston, $16,282 71; mails, rents, &c., $18,482 14; total, $275,066 58. The revenue, in 1848, was $227,350 27; and in 1847 it amounted to $171,153 75. The result for the current year, (1849,) although not realizing all the hopes of the directors, shows a gain of $47,716 on the income of 1848, and an increase of $103,912 on the receipts of 1847. The Old Colony Line and its branches, (the Dorchester and Milton, South Shore, extending from Braintree to Cohasset, and the Bridgewater branch, from Abington to Bridgewater,) now in their infancy, it is presumed by the directors, will open new prospects of business, and expand the revenue of the company. The great number of stations on this road, (thirty-four, in a distance of thirty-seven miles, the length of the road,) has tended to augment the population on its line, and during the year many new houses have been built near the line, in all the towns between Boston and Bridgewater. Besides, various manufactories are in progress, circumstances, it is fairly inferred, that will be favorably felt in the receipts of 1850. The expenses of the road, for the year 1849, have been $167,438 71. In 1848 they amounted to $122,709 21, showing an increase, in 1849, over 1848, of $44,729 50. The whole number of miles run in 1849, by passenger, freight, and gravel trains, was 234,918; and in 1848 the aggregate miles run amounted to 191,588. The cost of running these trains has been, for 1849, 71 2-10 cents per mile. The floating debt, which, for several years past, proved so serious an incumbrance to the company, is now funded. In the course of January last, an issue of $320,000 new stock, and the same amount in bonds were offered to the stockholders, the former at 75, and the latter at 90 per cent; nearly three-fourths of the stock, and about onethird of the bonds were taken by the stockholders, in proportion to their shares; the residue were sold to others, partly at the same rates, and partly at an advance. A slight addition was made, to meet necessary outlays, there being little or no demand for the surplus property. The capital of the company, as reported by the treasurer, is now represented by 19,651 shares, at par... Bonds at five years, from January 1, 1849, at par. Aggregate capital and funded debt...... A few outstanding claims for damages are still unascertained. $1,965,100 328,800 $2,293,900 The floating debt of the compan, amounts to $50,572 90, to provide for which we have, in cash on hand, $32,257 95, and other available assets, more than sufficient to meet the same. During the past year, the company have earned $4,830 58 by the transportation of 16 VOL. XXII.-NO. II. |