sary for the convenient dispatch of the duties of his office, he is hereby empowered to 367 appoint a deputy, to act for him during such sickness, absence, or such time as he may think proper, who shall also be made liable to the same penalties, and shall take the oath hereinafter prescribed.

SEC. 10. That the inspector of flour and meal, under this Act, shall, before he proceeds to perform the duties, make oath or affirmation, as the case may be, before the clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, that, without fear, favor, or affection, malice, partiality, or respect of persons, he will diligently and carefully examine and inspect, to the best of his skill and ability, all flour or meal offered to him for inspection, and that he will brand, or cause to be branded as merchantable, all barrels, half-barrels, or bags of flour or meal that do appear sufficiently sweet and sound, and no other, according to the best of his knowledge and judgment.

SEC. 11. That all fines and forfeitures incurred under the provisions of this Act, shall be recovered by indictment, and appropriated, one-half to the informer, aud the other half to the use of the State.

OF DUTIES ON PATENT-LEATHER, VERMILION, SEEDS, ETC.

The following Circular of Instructions has been issued by the Treasury Department of the United States, in consequence of certain decisions recently made in the Circuit Court of the United States, for the Southern Dristrict of New York:

CIRCULAR TO THE COLLECTORS AND OTHER OFFICERS OF THE CUSTOMS.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, February, 4, 1851.

The attention of this department has been directed to the reports submitted of certain cases recently tried in the Circuit Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York, in which the following decisions have been made :

That an article of commerce, imported under the denomination of patent-leather, heretofore charged, under the Tariff Act of 1846, with a duty of 30 per cent, ad valorem, as a manufacture of leather is, by that act, entitled to entry at a duty of 20 per cent, ad valorem, as provided in schedule E, on "upper leather of all kinds," or in the 3d section of the act, as an unenumerated article.

That certain seeds, as mustard seed, cardamum seed, caraway seed, fenugreek seed, charged under the said tariff act, with a duty of 20 per cent, ad valorem, as "medicinal drugs, in a crude state," provided for in schedule E, or as unenumerated articles provided for in the 3d section of the act, are exempted from the payment of duty, being comprehended in the provision in schedule I, for "garden seeds and all other seeds not otherwise provided for."

That vermilion, charged under the said act with a duty of 25 per cent ad valorem, as a "mercurial preparation," provided for in schedule D, is entitled to entry a duty of 20 per cent ad valorem, as specified in schedule E.

In view of these decisions, and the reports submitted to the department, affording no reasonable ground to expect any advantage to the revenue from further litigation in reference to the articles above mentioned, I have to advise you that, by the modifications which it is deemed expedient to make in the instructions of my predecessors, under which the duties have been levied on the said articles, their admission to entry is in future to be regulated as follows:

Glazed Calf-skins, known in Commerce at the time of the passage of the tariff act of 1846 as patent-leather, and generally used for the upper leather of shoes aad boots, to be admitted at a duty of 20 per cent ad valorem.

Seeds, as mustard seed, cardamum seed, cummin seed, caraway seed, canary seed, fenugreek seed, and other seeds not otherwise provided for, to be exempted on entry from the payment of duty. Vermilion, although composed in part of mercury, to be admitted at a duty of 20 per cent ad

valorem.

In cases where an excess of duty over the rates above mentioned has been exacted and paid under protest on the importation of either of the articles referred to, under the tariff act of 1846, you are authorized and directed to issue the usual certified statements for return of the said excess. THOS. CORWIN, Secretary of the Treasury.

THE AUSTRIAN TOBACCO MONOPOLY IN HUNGARY.

The Vienna Gazette, of January the 4th, 1851, contains a memorial, signed by the ministers, recommending the extension of the government monopoly of tobacco into Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia, Sclavonia, Servia, and the Banat; and also a royal

decree in which the emperor gives to this recommendation the force of law. The main ground alleged for this innovation, which follows close upon a similar extension of the salt monopoly, is the necessity of giving unity to the fiscal system of the empire. The abolition of the customs frontier, which, until lately, separated the kingdoms and crown lands above mentioned from the other portion of the empire, has further made the operation of the tobacco monopoly unfruitful and impracticable in those provinces in which it has long existed. It is thus fiscally as well as politically necessary either to extend the monopoly to the whole empire, or to abolish it altogether, and the former course has been adopted. The new system is to commence in May, 1851.

NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.

NEW LIGHT-HOUSE IN THE GULF OF POZZNOLI.

It will be seen from the following letter of Mr. WEBSTER, Secretary of State, that the information embraced in a previous communication from that Department, and published in the Merchants' Magazine, (vol. xxxiii., page 473,) was incorrect, at least in so far as the latitude and longitude of the new light-house in the Gulf of Pozznoli are concerned:

DEPARTMENT of State, WASHINGTON, February 14th, 1851.

FREEMAN HUNT, ESQ., New York:

SIR:-The Charge d'Affairs of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies has informed this Department that the new light-house in the Gulf of Pozzuoli, is, according to the calculations of the Topographical Commission, situated in longitude 11° 44′ 34′′ east of the meridian of Paris, and in latitude 40° 48′ 41′′.

The first information respecting this light-house, which was communicated to you on the 22d of August last, was erroneous.

I am, sir, respectfully your obedient servant,

DANIEL WEBSTER.

WRECKS AT KEY WEST, FLORIDA, IN 1850.

KEY WEST, December 31st, 1850.

The number of vessels which have put into this port in distress, and been ashore on the reef in the past year, is thirty.

Condensed report for six years.....

Number of vessels, under the head of marine disasters, that have been re

ported by me, 209-value of vessels and cargoes, (low estimate,)....

Amount of salvage.

Amount of expenses..

$929,000

122,831

77,169

$1,129,000

6,602,000

647,775

259,637

$7,509,412

The light on Carysford Reef will not be finished for some time.
Government is building a light-house on Sand Key, near this place.

Fort Taylor is now safe from hurricanes, as the foundation is finished, and it is now being filled up.

The government works at the Tortugas are progressing.

This port is a very important point, and when the Tehuantepec Canal or Railroad, and other connections are completed to the Pacific, with the increase of commerce that must follow, Key West, the only port of safety for vessels of a heavy draft from Pensacola to Cape Henry-should be protected.

Respectfully your obedient servant,

JOHN C. HOYT.

THE COAST SURYEY OF THE UNITED STATES.

The Secretary of the Treasury, in his report to Congress, dated December 18th, 1850, thus describes the present condition, character, and progress, of this important branch of the public service:

"The Coast Survey was reorganized in 1843, and placed upon its present footing by legislative authority. By that organization, the land operations, constituting four-fifths of the whole, were assigned to civilians, and officers of the Army, and the hydrography, to officers of the Navy.

"The distinguished and scientific gentleman who has so long, and so well, superintended the work, with this temporary corps, were placed under the supervision and control of the Treasury Department, to which all works affecting commerce and navigation, it was believed, should be properly committed. It was also thought, that officers of the Army and Navy could not be brought to act harmoniously together, under the control of either the War or Navy Department.

"This organization was the result of the experience of the work, up to that time. It has proved eminently successful in its operations; the rapidity of its progress, as well as the accuracy, and the magnitude of its results, have commanded the applause of those most distinguished for scientific attainments in Europe and America.

"This department has from time to time, as the work demanded, called for as many officers of the Army and Navy as could be spared from their appropriate duties. "An application for an additional number of officers of the Army is now pending before the War Department, and will, it is expected, receive a favorable consideration. "When the recent war with Mexico was declared, there were five officers of the corps of Topographical Engineers, and nine of the line of the Army, employed in the Coast Survey.

The survey thus becomes an admirable school of practice for such of the graduates of West Point, and the officers of the Navy, as had a predilection for the science called into practice by the work, each being engaged in his appropriate sphere.

"While the scientific character of the survey is such as to reflect lasting credit upon our country, it is also eminently practical in its results; the highest branches of scientific knowledge are made subservient to the most useful purposes.

"The economy of the work deserves commendation. It will be found that as much useful work is done, and as much advantage to the country and mankind obtained for the same amount of expenditure, as in any other department of the Government. In this respect, the last seven years have shown a gain in economy of one and three-quarters to one over the expenditures, before that time, for the same work. This may be ascribed to the enlargement of the scale on which the work proceeds, which also greatly tends to hasten its final completion.

"The trigonometrical portion of this survey now extends unbroken from Portland, in Maine, to within fifty miles of the Capes of the Chesapeake, and, with an interval of about one hundred miles, which is rapidly filling up, to a point beyond Cape Hatteras.

"It has been commenced in South Carlonia, Georgia and Florida; is complete in Alabama, and nearly so in Mississippi; and has been commenced in Louisiana and Texas. The other operations follow closely in their order, and the publication of the maps and charts keeps pace with the field-work. Nearly one-half of the coast of the Atlantic and of the Gulf of Mexico has been surveyed. Since our recent acquisitions of territory on the Pacific, parties attached to the survey have been actively employed on that coast, and have contributed important information to this Department in regard to the proper sites for light-houses and other aids to navigation."

IMPROVEMENT ON THE SHIP-WINCH.

We learn from the Journal of Commerce, that Thomas G. Boone, of Brooklyn has invented an improved ship-winch which must, in the opinions of many experienced seacaptains who have witnessed its performances, supercede to a greater or less extent, the variety now in use. It consists of two windlasses, to which are attached two falls, passing through single blocks; and these are so combined by means of a simple castiron geering, and when a load is attached to each fall, the full power of the downward tendency of one, as it passes into the hold of a vessel, is employed to assist in the elevation, (or in overcoming the gravity,) of the other. These two powers are so invested in 24

VOL. XXIV.-NO. III.

each other, that where the distances and weights are equal, the force required to put them in motion is about equal to the resistance caused by the friction of the machine, which is but trifling. So perfectly are the mechanical powers of the pulley and wheel had in control, that two men have been found fully competent to perform the labor usually required of from one to four horses. At Pier No. 8, N. R., where one of the machines alluded to is in operation, on board the ship Anstiss, fourteen barrels of flour were raised to an elevation of about eight feet, and then deposited in the hold, in the space of five minutes, without extra exertion. Capt. Steel, of the Anstiss, a first class ship, is highly pleased with the efficiency of this machine, and immediately purchased the first one of the kind made, after a fair trial. He says that "for ships that lay at anchor to discharge or load cargo, he would unhesitatingly recommend it, as he thinks it a saving of at least two-thirds of the labor usually required."

JOURNAL OF MINING AND MANUFACTURES.

OF THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS.

In 1849 we prepared, with considerable care and research, an article relating to the production of hats, briefly sketching their early history, with reference to the improvements made in the manufacture, particularly in this country.* The French hat has ever been regarded as an improvement upon the English; but the American hat, extraordinary as it may appear, excels, both in elegance, lightness, elasticity, and even in durability. Although we are too much imbued with the spirit of cosmopolitism not to see and appreciate the substantial skill and industry of England, and to admire what is elegant and beautiful in France, the home of taste and refinement, we must claim for American art superior success in perfecting the manufacture of the hat; and this claim is not made without satisfactory evidence of its validity. We know that it has been allowed by leading manufacturers of the article in Paris and London, by those who would not readily yield to our superiority in this respect, were it not a fact too apparent to be denied. To show that we are not alone in this view of the subject, we may be allowed to quote an authority, who, in all matters of taste and fashion will be regarded by the cultivated and refined classes of society, as entirely orthodox. We allude to our accomplished cotemporary, Mr. Willis, of the Home Journal, who, in one of his polished editorials, on the "Coming Revolution of Hats," thus confirms our position. Mr. Willis says:

"Our country, as all travelers know, has "beaten the world," by a long distancing, in this article of manufacture. Packet captains can scarce keep a New York hat on their heads, when they get to England; and we know one who had two guineas offered him for one of Beebe's last year, in London. We shall see, at the " World's Fair," how American hats will take the lead—or, you may foresee it by a look at the hats worn by English and continental travelers, in New York, the first day or two after their landing. BEEBE, we fancy, is the prince of this trade. He is a man of great natural ingenuity and enterprise, and his hat factory is worth a visit, if it were only to see the many admirable contrivances, mechanical and artistical, of his own unaided invention."

In treating of the superiority of American hats, we have especial reference to those produced in New York; a remark made without any disposition to question the skill of manufacturers in other cities and towns of the United States. Other cities may excel in the manufacture of other articles. That is undoubtedly the case. Illustrations of this distribution of skill, throughout the industrial world, in the production, in one place, of superior shawls; in another, gloves; in another, carpets; in another, boots or shoes; in another, watches; and so on, almost ad infinitum, could easily be cited, but

• See Merchants' Magazine for May, 1849, vol. xx., piges 560–562.

they will suggest themselves to the most superficial observer. Even in places thus famed for some particular manufactures, there will generally be found some one who has attained a pre-eminence in the branch of production which has distinguished his city or country-a mechanic or artisan who goes a "leetle" ahead of his competing neighbors.

So much for the best hat of the nineteenth century. Improvements will be made in its fashion; for the best made now, is, after all, an uncomely affair. To quote again from our cotemporary of the Home Journal, we look for the "coming revolution in hats;" for the time when hats shall take a form that will at once combine comliness and comfort; but as this is partly a matter of taste, or fashion, we must adopt another paragraph from Mr. Willis' aptly pointed pen:

"Lord Bacon's advice was to 'keep in advance of the age, but not so far as to dwarf yourself by the distance,' An instructive hit of this nice medium, (between staying behind and going too far ahead,) is the invariable sign of the smartest man' in every trade, business, art, and profession of life. When a man, in these days, is put up for admiration, we invariably apply this criterion to him:-What has he done which was not imitation; or has he presumed so much upon his own opinion and originality as to be conceited and absurd? We gave Beebe, the hatter, a mental diploma on this point, a day or two ago, on seeing his moderate and yet sufficient foreshadowing of the great revolution in hats which is proposed to be made at the coming World's Fair. Our readers will remember that the present 'segment of stove-pipe' which we wear upon our heads was formally made war upon, at the late Convention in London. There is every prospect that its angles and un-statue-like inelegance of shape will gradually give way before the spirit of essential beauty which is now aroused. Feeling and seeing this, Beebe has taken the first step. His spring model of hat has no right angles. The top of the crown is rounded as a sculptor's eye would do it, and in all other portions of the hat, it is shaped with a proportionate and exquisite outline, which quite changes the expression of the article. Beebe's spring fashion, we say, is a most judicious first step in a reform. We recommend to artists to go and look at it."

Although not exactly germain to our present purpose, a few statements of the locale, extent, &c., of this branch of manufacture in London, will not, perhaps, just on the eve of the World's Exhibition, be without interest. The hat manufactories of London, as we gather from a recent English publication, are to be found in the district to the left of the Blackfriars road, (as the bridge is crossed from the Middlesex side,) stretching towards and beyond the Southwark bridge road to the High-street, Borough, and to Tooley-street. There are, moreover, no inconsiderable number of hat factories in Bermondsey. Hat making is almost entirely confined to the Surry side of the Thames, and, until the last twenty years, or thereabouts, it was carried on chiefly in Bermondsey; however, there are still many large “hatteries;" one of them, the property of a wealthy Quaker firm, ranks amongst the largest in London, rarely employing, in the slackest seasons, fewer than ninety or a hundred men, and sometimes as many as three hundred, with, of course, a proportionate number of women, who are employed in the trade. Although hat making has experienced a migration, the tradesmen who supply the hatters with the materials of manufacture, are still more thickly congregated in Bermondsey than elsewhere. These tradesmen comprise wool staplers, hat furriers, hat curriers, hat block makers, hat druggists, hat dyers, hat lining makers, hat bowstring makers, hat trimming and buckle makers, hat calico makers, hat box makers, and hat brush makers. The hat furriery business, as regards beaver skins, is now little more than a twentieth of what it was twelve years ago. The hat furriers remove the fur of the beaver, the hare, or the rabbit from the skin-which, when thus denuded, is called a pelt-and they prepare this fur for the use of the hatter. An intelligent man calculated that from fifteen to twenty years ago, and for some years preceding, four millions of beavers were killed annually for the supply of the hat makers of the United Kingdom. The estimated yearly value of the hat trade (exclusive of straw hats or cloth caps) has been stated