claimed, we cannot see by what right and propriety the Philadelphia company could refuse our demand for arbitration.

The case cited as found in Pickering's Reps., vol. vi., p. 182, in which a court treated a case of fire insurance as a general average in marine insurance, is not analogous with ours. The expenses incurred there were to save the property from fire in ours it was to restore goods, after the fire was extinguished, to their former value; but the above decision appears to us contrary to established custom in this country.

We have sent a statement of our claim, after the Delaware Mutual Safety Insurance Company refused to acknowledge it, to Boston and New York, and C. W. Cartwright, Esq., of the former, and J. T. Talman, Esq., President of the Empire City Insurance Company, and Mr. Tucker, President of the Jefferson Insurance Company, of the latter city, all considered good authorities, pronounced it correct in principle; and that was the view of the St. Louis Insurance Company, which paid the loss in full. The facts and comments as given in your article only show that Philadelphia settles such fire losses differently from New York, Boston, and other places; but we cannot see by anything contained in it that our claim was not correct and just, according to the words of the policy and estab lished usage, and other arguments must be produced to change our conviction. ST. LOUIS, April, 1857.

ADOLPHUS MEIER & CO.

MEANS OF ARRESTING FIRES.

Mr. B. J. MURPHY, of the Cork Chamber of Commerce, in a letter to the secretary, describes a plan for arresting fires, which he submitted to the Board of Admiralty above a dozen years since. The process proposed is stated by the author to be simple and effectual, and not to interfere much with the machinery employed at present. It is simply saturating the water discharged from fireengines with a certain proportion of chloride of sodium (common salt) and potash, both cheap articles, and indeed the former alone will be found quite effectual in all ordinary cases. The proportion of those ingredients to be employed may vary from one-tenth to one thirteenth of the weight of the water so discharged, of which it will be found that a considerable less quantity shall be required from being so saturated.

In low elevations, and where the flame has not reached to a great height, the stronger impregnation may be used to advantage; but when the flame has arrived at a considerable elevation, the weaker impregnation can only be employed, arising from the greater resistance of the air, the increased weight of the materials, and the augmented difficulty of the stronger impregnation passing through the valves of the fire-engine-though even then it can be successfully discharged to attack the flame at its root or base, which is, perhaps, the best course to adopt in all such cases.

A fireman, in his ordinary dress, simply armed with an elastic tube conveying this stronger impregnation, may boldly and securely face the strongest and fiercest flame, and make himself a passage through it by commencing cautiously at first to discharge the impregration on each side of him-for, where it falls, it not only subdues the flame, but, by leaving a coating of the materials, it prevents it from readily catching again the substance on which it previously fed-the result being that the muriatic acid becomes volatized and flies off, while the soda, which is indestructible, is converted into a glaze on the surface. The root or base of the flame is, therefore, the point to which the force, power, and efficacy of the impregnation, ought always to be directed.

The author also states:-That he considers it possible to extinguish fires, more especially at the commencement, and of low elevation, without the employment of either water or fire-engines, merely by discharging, by means of a simple machine, finely powdered clay, lime, chalk, etc., assisted by the air through a tube on a blaze of flame.

THE UNDERWRITERS AT LLOYD'S, LONDON.

We have in former years given some account in the Merchants' Magazine of that excellent institution-London Lloyd's; the object of which is to make the insurance business less perilsome for the underwriter and more safe for the merchant. This object, which has been briefly stated by a correspondent of the Boston Transcript, is accomplished by limiting the interest of every individual underwriter to a very moderate amount, say £50, £100, £150-rarely exceeding £200—so that, in case of casualties, the loss, instead of falling upon one, is divided between hundreds of the underwriters.

Of course, in case of the private companies here, as well as in England, the large numbers of partners in the company, or stockholders, are a most powerful guaranty to the public, but in England, at least, the confidence in their stability is, for obvious reasons, less strong than in that of Lloyd's.

The advantages of seeing so much of the insurance business concentrated, as it were, in one room, are also very great; and all those among us who have had opportunities to visit the London Lloyd's, must have been struck with the simplifying process which this concentration has effected for the quicker and safer dispatch of the business.

Lloyd's Underwriters' Room is on the first floor of the Royal Exchange, and presents, especially towards the close of the day, a most picturesque appearance; hundreds of underwriters, insurance brokers, merchants, and merchants' clerks, rushing to and from the room to fix one or the other matter before they hurry away to their suburban residences.

But let it not be imagined that such a mass of business, all transacted in one little spot, produces anything like confusion. On the contrary, with exception perhaps of the closing hour, the gentlemen attending to the insurance business at Lloyd's might, from their quiet and decorous demeanor, be as well taken for gentlemanly undertakers as for dashing underwriters. With most unruffled composure they listen, year out, year in, to the terrible tales of the horrors of the deep; only when the death of some pet captain is reported something like emotion becomes apparent, and the benevolent solicitude of the underwriter for the surviving family of the victims fully equals the daring of his spirit in the transaction of his business.

But another striking feature of Lloyd's is the gathering point which it presents to the London merchant. Opposite the Underwriters' Room is the Merchants' Room, where newspapers from all parts of the globe are eagerly perused by the merchants and underwriters, and, in fact, infuse into the London business spirit that peculiar cosmopolitan tone, which distinguishes the London merchant above all other merchants.

The adjoining Captains' Room is used by the merchants and underwriters as a lunch-room, and frequently, while in one part of the room a vessel is sold at auction, in the other, merchants and underwriters are freely mingling among the

jolly tars who crowd the room, and seen friendly discussing, over a sandwich and a glass of ale, the bombardment of Canton or the last news from Switzerland. So this vast concentration of business upon one spot has immense intellectual and social advantages, besides the economical and prudential features.

IMPORTANT TO UNDERWRITERS AND FACTORS.

Among the decisions of the Supreme Court in New Orleans is one of much importance to the mercantile community, and especially to commission merchants. The principle of the decision is, that the factor who charges his principal a rate of insurance different from that which he himself pays the underwriters, becomes himself the insurer of his principal. It was the case of W. D. Miller vs. C. & G. B. Tate, which we subjoin as follows:

William D. Miller. appellee, vs. C. & G. B. Tate, appellants-Buchanan, J.— The plaintiff, a tobacco manufacturer in Lynchburg, Virginia, sues defendants, commission merchants in New Orleans, for the value of certain tobacco, shipped by the former at various times to the latter, for sale on commission, and which was greatly damaged or destroyed by a fire which consumed the store of defendants, March 16th, 1854. In effecting insurance upon the tobacco in the manner they did, by charging one quarter of one per cent per month, a rate different from that which they paid the underwriters, defendants are not to be considered the agents of plaintiff, but they themselves become his insurers, and must be held liable to him as such. Judgment reversed, and judgment rendered in favor of plaintiff. Two other cases against the same defendants and involving the same principle, were similarly decided.

JOURNAL OF MINING AND MANUFACTURES.

COPPER MINING AROUND LAKE SUPERIOR DURING 1856.

We are indebted to JAMES A. DUPEE, Esq., of the firm of Dupee, Perkins & Sayles, stock and bill brokers, Boston, for the subjoined account of the mining operations in the Lake Superior region for the year 1856. It is nearly thirteen years since the commencement of mining operations by organized companies at Lake Superior. Notwithstanding but two mines have as yet paid dividends, public interest in the adventures in that region is constantly increasing, so that skill in the economical management of every department of mining is sure to follow year by year. But while it is quite probable the mistakes in American mining have been, relatively, as few as those made in other countries, we have neglected means within our reach which, rightly used, would have placed us much sooner on the road to remunerative results. It was ascertained, for instance, long since, that many of the mines must depend for profits on stamp-work; and yet, up to this very time, but a single mining agent ascertains, monthly, the exact proportion of copper in a ton of stamp-stuff, and knows to a grain, by accurate analysis, the value of the material he sends to market. There has been, in the aggregate, no deficiency in capital, but a waste of it in distributing it over districts remote from navigation, and almost inaccessible for transportation, except in the winter season. In a word, there has been, in an eminent degree, the same lack of good judgment and good management that proverbially characterizes the operations of joint-stock companies.

The former success of the leading manufacturing corporations of New England

may be, in a good measure, attributed to a mutual acknowledgment of a harmony of interests. Discoveries, inventions, and improvements, made by one, were for the benefit of all. The mining adventures of Lake Superior require, on the part of every man interested, a similar acknowledgment. Every discovery in the geology of the district, every improvement in machinery, and every new method in details of mining, should be communicated without delay to every location. Uniformity of wages, freights, and prices of supplies, as far as the nature of such matters permits, should everywhere prevail. To this end, shareholders should insist on periodical meetings of the managers of the mines, and they should allow no man to hold a responsible position who is not willing to be taught by the experience of others.

The amount of copper raised from the mines at Lake Superior, during the year 1856, has not been ascertained, nor can it be exactly estimated. Many of the mines allow their stamp-stuff to accumulate during the winter, undressed, being satisfied that the delay of preparation for market is more than compensated by the saving of fuel, and by devoting the same amount of labor to the opening of the mine for stopping in warmer weather.

The figures below are partially estimated, but are probably less than the truth. They do not show the relative increase of product, but only the increase of shipments in 1856 over 1855. One hundred and seventy-eight tons shipped from Ontonagon in 1856, were known to have been left over at that port in 1855; and, undoubtedly, more or less of the shipments from the other districts in 1856, were indebted to 1855. The navigation last year was prolonged to a later period than usual-allowing, up to November 15th, at least the clearing out of all the copper prepared for market.

The following tables are digests, with slight corrections, from more elaborate ones prepared for the Lake Superior Miner, by Mr. Brunschweiler, of Ontonagon, and Capt. Paull, of the North American Mine, and from official statements :SHIPMENT OF ROUGH COPPER, IN TONS, FOR 1856.

TONS OF COPPER RAISED FROM THE MINNESOTA, CLIFF, AND ROCKLAND MINES,

1859 1647 245

MINING MACHINERY AT THE MINES OF LAKE SUPERIOR, JANUARY 1, 1857.

Keweenaw Point. gines.

The aggregate cost of the steam-engines is estimated at $308,700. Of the twenty-six at Keweenaw Point, three are portable engines. At Copper Falls the stamp-heads are put down as fifty, while two of them, (Ball's machinery,) are actually equal to fifty of the old style. Each stamp-head should pulverize 2,000 pounds of rock in twenty-four hours; so that, reckoning Ball's stamps equal to fifty heads, the aggregate machinery at the lake should crush 392 tons, of 2,000 pounds, per diem-equal, at onc-and-a-half per cent, to nearly six tons of fine copper. The Phoenix Company's stamps are run by water-power.

The total product shipped from Lake Superior in 1856, reduced to ingot copper, results in not less than 3,600 tons, of 2,000 pounds-worth, at twenty-five cents, $1,800,000.

FACTORIES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

In a return just published, it appears that the grand total number of the factories in the United Kingdom amounts to 5,177-viz., 4,432 in England and Wales, 530 in Scotland, and 155 in Ireland. The total number of spindles is 33,503,580, and of power looms 369,205. The amount of moving-power is 137,711 by steam, and 23,724 by water. The total number employed includes 273,137 males, and 409,360 females, making together 683,497. There are 24,537 males, and 21,534 females, under 13 years of age, attending school; 1,253 males, and 4,448 females, between 11 and 13 years of age, in silk-throwing mills; 70,247 males, between 13 and 18 years of age; 383,378 females, above 13 years of age; and 176,400 males, above 11 years of age. There are in the United Kingdom 460 silk factories, 417 flax factories, 525 worsted factories, 1,505 woolen factories, and 2,210 cotton factories. Of the cotton factories, 986 are employed in spinning, 460 in weaving, and 652 in both spinning and weaving. The cotton factories employ 379,213 hands; the woolen, 79,091; the worsted, 87,794; the flax, 80,262; and the silk factories, 56,137 hands.