expense of publishing the quarterly reports. And if any bank, banking association, or individual banker, shall neglect or refuse to make the quarterly report required by the third section of this act, for two successive quarters, it shall forfeit its charter, (if an incorporated bank,) and its privileges as a banking association or individual banker, if organized or doing business under the act of April 18th, 1838, in this section before referred to; and every such bank, banking association, and individual banker may be proceeded against, and its affairs closed in any manner now required by law in case of an insolvent bank or banking association.

§ 3. Whenever, in the opinion of the Comptroller, there shall be good cause to report that any bank, banking association, or individual banker, has made an incorrect or imperfect quarterly return, or is in an unsound or unsafe condition to do banking business, it shall be his duty to have the books, papers, and affairs of such banks, banking associa tions, or individual banker, examined by some competent person to be designated by him, who shall examine fully into his books, papers, and affairs forthwith, and report to the Comptroller on oath the result of such examination; a copy of which report shall be forthwith published in the manner prescribed in the first and second sections of this act, in respect to the publication of quarterly returns. The reasonable costs and expenses of every examination shall be defrayed in the manner prescribed in the second section of this act, for paying the expenses for publishing quarterly returns.

§ 4. All individual bankers and all banking associations, which are now or shall be hereafter engaged in the business of banking, under the provisions of the act entitled “ An act to authorize the business of banking," shall be subject to taxation on the full amount of capital actually paid in, or secured to be paid in, as such capital by them severally, at the actual market value of such securities, to be estimated by the Comptroller, without any reduction for the debts of such individual banker, or banking association; but in no case shall the capital of any such banking association, or individual banker, be estimated at a less sum than the amount of circulating notes delivered to such banking association, or individual banker, and not returned to the Comptroller; and, in case the capital of such banking association has been reduced by the surrender of any securities to the stockholders thereof, and the certificates of stock held on account of such securities being surrendered to such banking association and cancelled, such banking association shall not be subject to taxation upon such part of its capital.

§ 5. Nothing in this act contained shall apply to any bank or banking association which has reduced its capital stock in violation of the 28th section of an act entitled " An act to authorize the business of banking," passed April 18th, 1838.

BANKS, AND BANK DIRECTORS:

WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE DRY-GOODS TRADE.

The suggestions put forth by the editors of the " DRY-GOODS REPORTER," the able advocate of that interest, in the following paragraph, are certainly worthy of consideration: The ignorance existing among bank officers and directors, in reference to the securities offered them in the regular way, in the shape of business paper for discount, is, in our opinion, all but criminal. It is difficult to account for it. The general idea is, that banks were created to go hand in hand with the safe business of the day; to "give and take," in the daily transactions which legitimately transpire between their customers and themselves; and it is presumed that their relations, kept up with a proper knowledge and spirit, would enable the depositor to establish a sort of reciprocal intercourse, which would at times be of advantage to him. So far as dry-goods merchants go, we can see no realization of these anticipations; so far as they are concerned, we may easily account for it, by reference to the board of directors. There are, it seems, in all the banks of New York, but thirty-nine dry-goods merchants that may be considered in business, out of three hundred and forty directors. On reference to the names, it will at once be discovered that the gentlemen who compose this number, do not consider themselves charged with this peculiar interest, and are, in their associations and sympathies, as strongly connected with other interests, in various ways, as with dry-goods. We have no doubt, if called upon to keep a special eye to the particular accounts, they would render essential service; but we do not believe they particularly interest themselves in obtaining information which would serve those with whom they have no business connection, and in whom they have no special interest.

We have no hesitation in saying, that a fair representation, in our banks, of intelligent, unprejudiced dry-goods men, placed in them, with an understanding that they would at

tend to the duties of the office they assume, would do much for the interest and welfare of the institutions, as well as the great body of dry-goods merchants, who are now, and ever have been, cast aside in all the facilities bestowed by our banks.

CONDITION OF THE BANKS IN MASSACHUSETTS.

The following statement exhibits the condition of one hundred and nine banks in Massachusetts near the close of 1847:

Cash deposited, including all sums whatsoever due from banks not bear

ing interest, its bills in circulation, profits and balances due to other banks excepted.......

14,719,422 00

2,476,940 25

3,499,582 77

7,263,202 08

10,265,555 13

Cash deposited bearing interest........

Total amount due from banks....

RESOURCES OF THE BANKS.

764,715 76

71,102,647 10

Gold, silver, and other coined metals in their banking houses...
Real estate....

Bills of other banks incorporated in this State......

Balances due from other banks.......

Amount of all debts due, including notes, bills of exchange, and all stocks and funded debts, except balances due from other banks...... Total amount of resources of the banks......

Amount of dividends since the last annual returns, viz: In April, 1847 reserved profits at the time of declaring the last dividend. debts due each bank, secured by pledge of its stock........ and unpaid, and considered doubtful.........

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3,943,973 58

1,062,950 21

3,030,765 20

232,698 24

5,571,240 79

57,260,938 97

71,102,567 99

1,059,345 00

2,035,108 93

730,613 56

213,605 59

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Average dividends of banks in Boston, in April last, a fraction less than 3 44-100 per cent. out of Boston, in April last, a fraction over 3 32-100 all the banks, in April last, a fraction less than 3 39-100

DISCOVERY OF A GOLD MINE IN MICHIGAN.

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A gold mine has just been found near Tecumseh, Michigan. A correspondent of the Buffalo Courier says the mine is situated in the east bank of the river, but a few feet above the water, the bank rising to the height of twenty-five or thirty feet, and so precipitously that the mine cannot be reached from above, but only by crossing the river. The gold is found principally in ore mixed, though it is said to be very rich, and many suppose it will yield 35 per cent of the pure article. A few lumps have been found, weighing from half an ounce to an ounce and a half, which has been pronounced pure. It is stated that a company has been organized to work it, Messrs. Blanchard, Hewit, and Blood, acting as directors, and that quite a gold mania has sprung up in that section of country.

COINAGE OF THE UNITED STATES MINT.

It will be seen by the following passage from the President's message, that he repeats the recommendation contained in his annual message of 1846, for the establishment of a branch mint of the United States in the city of New York; a measure which we have advocated for several years, as will be seen by reference to former volumes of the Merchants' Magazine.

"During the past year, the coinage at the mint and its branches has exceeded twenty millions of dollars. This has consisted chiefly in converting the coins of foreign countries into American coin.

"The largest amount of foreign coin imported has been received at New York; and if a branch mint were established at that city, all the foreign coin received at that port could at once be converted into our own coin, without the expense, risk, and delay of transporting it to the mint for that purpose; and the amount re-coined would be much larger.

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Experience has proved that foreign coin, and especially foreign gold coin, will not circulate extensively as a currency among the people. The important measure of extending our specie circulation, both of gold and silver, and of diffusing it among the people, can only be effected by converting such foreign coin into American coin."

JOURNAL OF MINING AND MANUFACTURES.

QUICKSILVER MINES OF IDRIA.

THE "Harbinger," a paper devoted to the interests of the Associative Movement in this country, publishes an interesting account of an excursion from Trieste to the quicksilver mines of Idria, which the editors of that journal translate from the "Weser-Zeitung," an excellent journal, published in the city of Bremen. The account, says the Harbinger, gives a painful, though true idea of the condition of the laboring classes in the present age; the extremest instance anywhere to be found. "Even the needle-grinders of England, and the laborers in the white lead manufactories of our own country, in one of which, as we know, the established practice is to kill off an Irishman a month, are not subjected to influences so horribly destructive of life as these poor workmen in the quicksilver mines of Idria.

Wilt thou ever rove and wander,

When all is beauty at thy home?"

We regret that we cannot find room for the entire article. From it, we learn that the entrance to the mines is in the centre of the town, hewn in the rocks, and 216 feet in length; when this is passed, you descend into the apparently bottomless abyss. The entire depth is 816 feet; there are 900 stone steps and a few hundred ladder-rounds which lead to it; 270 persons labor there by day, and by night about 100; in the whole establishment 640 workmen are employed. The total product annually is 4,000 cwt. of pure quicksilver, 1,000 of which are used in the manufacture of vermilion, an establishment of which is also in Idria. Formerly, the yield of the mines was greater, but then the price was much lower than now; the product has been decreased with the express design of raising the price to its present high rate. It is now 200 gilders-delivered free of charge in Trieste.

"The smelting is kept up during the six winter months; in the summer it is suspended, as in the warm season it produces diseases through the whole place, among both men and animals. The ore which is excavated yields from to 80 per cent of pure quicksilver. The common yield in other mines is about 20 per cent. After the pure quicksilver has been taken from the furnace, it is washed, poured into bottles of double sheepskin, containing usually forty-one pounds each, and two such bottles are put in one wicker flask.

"The wages of the laborers are divided into three classes, and amount to from 8 to 17 kreuzer (4 to 84 cents) a day. Besides this, what vegetables and grain they want are supplied to them at a moderate fixed price, which, in years of scarcity, offers an advantage. The third class, at 8 kreuzer, is the most numerous; and the first, at 17, the least so, as it contains only one hundred laborers.

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During the time of smelting, the furnaces are cleansed twice a week. It takes a single workman a whole night to clean one furnace, and for this he receives four to five gilders, ($2 00 to $2 50.) From this high pay, in comparison with the 8 to 17 kreuzer, for eight hours' labor in the shafts, we can judge the nature of the work and its consequences.

"To marry, is only permitted to laborers of the first class, a permission which is almost

always made use of. The brides usually bring with them a bit of land, and a few cows, as dowry, which contributes to the support of the family, as the 17 kreuzer alone are of course not sufficient. They live chiefly on a milk diet, as this is both the cheapest and most wholesome against the influence of the quicksilver. The emaciation of the father does not seem to be inherited by the children; at least, I saw among them no very ill-looking ones. The women have also a very healthy appearance, being quite handsome. But the workmen, on the other hand, all look very ill, and can be told from other men at the first glance. Their cheeks are all fallen in, their complexion sickly and yellow, and sometimes a yellow-green-their gate tottering-and their hands tremble; from this they never recover."

METAL PLATE FOR SHEATHING SHIPS.

PATENT GRANTED TO GEORGE FREDERICK MUNTZ, ESQ., M. P., FOR AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF METAL PLATES FOR SHEATHING THE BOTTOMS OF SHIPS OR OTHER VESSELS.

This invention relates to the sheathing metal described in the specification of a patent granted to the present patentee, October 22, 1832, which metal is composed of copper and zinc, in such proportions, that, whilst the copper is to a considerable extent preserved, sufficient oxidation is produced, by the action of the sea-water on the metal, to keep the ship's bottom clean; 69 parts of copper are used in this mixture to 40 parts of zine; and it has been found that this proportion of copper could not be reduced without exposing the alloy to injury, from the zinc being separately acted on. The present improvements consist in combining a suitable metal or metals with the copper and zinc, so that the mixture may contain a less proportion of copper than that above named; and at the same time a sufficient degree of oxidation may be produced, and a separate action on the zinc prevented.

The patentee describes an alloy of copper and zinc with another metal, which he has found to possess the same power of oxidation as the metal described in his former specification, and yet with an important reduction in the quantity of copper employed, and consequently in the cost of producing the metal. The alloy consists of 56 parts copper, 40 parts of zinc, and 34 of lead; and, in making the alloy, the patentee uses an additional quantity of zinc, on account of the loss of that material which occurs during the operation, so as to obtain an alloy containing the different metals in the above proportions. The lead is said to act a very important part in the alloy, as, without it, the combination of 56 parts of copper with 404 of zinc, would not produce an alloy which would oxidize sufficiently to keep the ship's bottom clean.. The alloy, after being cast into ingots, is rolled into sheets (by preference, at a red heat,) which are then to be annealed; and, if desired, the sheets may be cleaned with a mixture of sulphuric and nitric acids, properly diluted. The patentee does not confine himself strictly to the above proportions, for the quantity of copper may be increased (which will, however, increase the cost of the sheathing metal,) or it may be decreased to a slight extent; but it must not be reduced to 50 per cent of the alloy produced. Although lead is mentioned in the above description, any other suitable metal may be used in place of it, but not with equal advantage.

MANUFACTURE OF WHISKEY FROM CORN IN OHIO.

The Courier, of Batavia, has an interesting article in relation to the amount of flour and whiskey made in Clermont county, and the amount of corn and wheat consumed in their manufacture, the cost, &c. In the county, it states there are nine distilleries in active operation, consuming about twenty-seven hundred and fifty bushels of corn per day! The average price at which this corn was purchased, during the past year, may be set down at 25 cents per bushel. The cost of the daily consumption of corn at these distilleries would be a trifle less than six hundred dollars, or one hundred and eighty-one thousand dollars per year!

The whiskey manufactured at these establishments amounts to about ten thousand gallons per day, or three million gallons per year! the value of which, at 18 cents per gallonwhich has been, perhaps, about the average price for a year past-would amount to the sum of five hundred and forty thousand dollars.

These establishments feed and fatten, in the course of a year, not less than thirty thousand hogs, averaging 250 pounds each, which, at four dollars per hundred, would amount to three hundred thousand dollars.

The consumption of wheat, at these establishments, is set down at about one hundred

and fifty thousand bushels per annum, making about thirty thousand barrels of flour yearly. In order to give a clearer conception of the business these immense establishments carry on, both as regards the labor performed and the money expended, a few of the leading items that enter into the account current of these nine manufactories is thus presented :—

The cash realized may be set down in round numbers as follows:

It is not claimed that accuracy is arrived at in the above statement, but that it approximates the truth. The cost of hands, fuel, &c., &c., is not included above; but, allowing one-third of the product for the use of capital, land, machinery, and profit, and valuing labor at 50 cents per day, the result would show that about four thousand persons are daily employed, in some way or other, immediately and remotely, with the business created by the nine distilleries of this county.

It is worthy of remark, says the Courier, that with the immense quantity of liquor manufactured in Clermont county, there is not a licensed retailer of spirits within its borders.

PASSAIC MINING COMPANY.

One of the editors of the American "Mining Journal, and Railroad Gazette," recently visited the works of this company, in New Jersey, near the city of New York. This company, it appears from the Journal, are "working on the same ridge, and near the old Schuyler mines of the New Jersey company. The Passaic mine was worked to considerable extent before the Revolutionary war, and from appearances, we are led to suppose, with no inconsiderable success. The water level was driven nine hundred feet through the solid rock, and several shafts were sunk, but the prosecution of the work was abandoned on the breaking out of the war. The present company proceeded to work with an ample capital in the beginning of the month of August of the year 1847, and have, since that time, cleared out the old works, and erected the proper buildings and machinery for mining. The steam-engine is of the kind called the "beam-engine," of forty horse-power, with flue boilers, and works cast iron lifting-pumps nine inches in diameter. The building enclosing the works, is sixty feet square, and there is also a blacksmithshop, office, etc., on the ground, the whole being surrounded by a fence-wall twelve feet in height. The main shaft is heavily timbered with white oak, both for frame-work and planking. The indications below, so far as we were enabled to judge, are of a very satisfactory character; much ore, containing a low per centage of copper, having been left by the former miners after it had been raised. The gentlemen interested in this mine, are making large outlays, with evident good management, and a thorough knowledge of the business in which they are engaged."

NEW LOOM FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF COTTON.

Mr. Edward Norfolk, of Salem, Mass., has invented a loom, simple in its mechanism, noiseless in its operation, and capable, he says, of causing a saving of 15 per cent in the manufacture of cotton. The motion of the shuttle is derived directly from the lathe with a positive accelerated motion, and moves, therefore, directly at the speed of the lathe without noise. A girl can tend six of these lathes as easily as four of the common move

ment.