in the generation of steam, and at the top of such tube putting one of the common whistles that are attached to the railway locomotive engines, a very efficient alarum, as we have said, is formed; for as soon as the water within the boiler has been consumed below the point where the pipe enters the boiler, the steam will rush up the pipe, and thence into the whistle, giving a timely warning of the deficiency of water in the boiler.

CLOSING OF THE NAVIGATION OF THE HUDSON RIVER. The following table shows the time, in each year, from 1831 to 1845, of the opening and closing of the Hudson river, and the number of days it remained closed:

OPENING AND CLOSING OF THE NEW YORK CANALS.

The following table shows the date of the opening and closing the canals, and the number of days of navigation in each year, for the last twenty-two years, from 1824 to 1845

inclusive:

Navigation

Navigation
closed.
Dec. 4

No. days

1825......

238

1836......

PRODUCE PASSED INWARD THROUGH THE DISMAL SWAMP CANAL, DURING THE YEAR ENDING 30TH SEPTEMBER, 1845.

MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.

COMMERCE A THEME FOR THE POET.*

We had the pleasure of attending the twenty-fifth anniversary meeting of the Mercantile Library Association of Boston, which took place on the evening of the 25th October, 1845. The address and poem were delivered at the "Odeon," formerly known as the Boston, or Federal-street Theatre. That spacious building, which will accommodate about three thousand persons, was densely crowded with the wealth, beauty, and fashion of the "Literary Emporium;" and the address of the Hon. ROBERT C. WINTHROP, which occupied nearly two hours in the delivery, as well as the poem of the Rev. R. C. Waterston, were listened to with all that interest and enthusiasm which characterises an assembly of Bostonians, particularly when they attempt a popular "notion." But Boston is a great city—and, as Mr. Winthrop said in his address, and very truly-a city set on a hill; yes, on three hills-and it cannot be hid. And, as he further modestly adds, "Let others praise us, and not our own mouths-strangers, and not our own lips," we will say what may, perhaps, be considered a work of supererogation, that Boston possesses, in an "eminent degree," all the resources of true greatness, in her noble men and women; in her unsurpassed system of free schools, and in the number and excellence of her philanthropic institutions. The blind, the lame, the deaf and the dumb, the widow and the orphan, find among the "notions" of that goodly city an asylum, where their wants are "supplied according to their several necessities." The truth is, the merchants and business men of Boston are industrious and enterprising; and "what their charity impairs, they save by prudence in their affairs." There is, perhaps, no city in the world with a population so large, in which there are so few destitute of the common every-day necessaries of life, or where there is less squalid poverty.

But our object was to introduce a few extracts of a commercial character from the poem of Mr. Waterston, in which are some fine passages; although, as a whole, it does not exhibit any very extraordinary marks of poetic fire or genius. The lines flow smoothly, but the "rhyming words," to quote from the Boston Transcript," are too often repeated, as if substitutes could not come when they were wanted." The sentiments of the poem are at once elevated and pure; and although some may think the allusion to PERKINS, APPLETON, and LAWRENCE-names as familiar as the pursuit in which they have amassed fortunes, which they so liberally impart to philanthropic objects-in bad taste, especially as two of those gentlemen were present, we cannot resist the temptation of quoting the pass ge, and also a happy allusion to the poet Charles Sprague, Cashier of the Globe Bank, in Boston:

"Here magic Art her mighty power reveals,

Moves the slow beam, and plies her thousand wheels;

Through ponderous looms the rapid shuttle flies,

And weaves the web which shines with varied dyes;

Here gliding cars, like shooting meteors run,

The mighty shuttles binding States in one!
And iron steam-ships, that make ocean seem
As if the sea had dwindled to a stream;
With smoke above, and weltering fires below,
That speed through calms as when tornadoes blow!
Here Commerce spreads on every sea her sail,

And ploughs the wave before each passing gale;

A poem, delivered before the Boston Mercantile Library Association, at their twenty-fifth anniversary, October 18th, 1845, by the Rev. R. C. Waterston.

May not our land be termed enchanted ground,
Where, on bank-bills, a Poet's* name is found?
Where Poet's notes may pass for notes of hand,
And valued good long as the Globe shall stand?
The world can never quench that kindling fire,
Or break one string of that immortal lyre.
Sweet and more sweet its melting strains shall rise,
Till his rapt spirit seeks its native skies!

And must the Merchant be a child of pelf,

With thoughts and feelings centered all in self?

Think ye of those whose honored names now stand

As merchant-princes-nobles of the land!

The poor blind boy seems gifted now with sight,
His darkened mind is radiant with light.
How many a sire will drop a grateful tear,
AS PERKINS' name shall fall upon the ear!
And orphans, too, shall breathe a grateful prayer,
For one whose bounty they are called to share;
How many a heart hath found long wished-for rest,
Whom APPLETON's munificence has blessed!
And last not least-like evening's brilliant star,
The name of LAWRENCE sheds its beams afar.
What word is adequate to speak their fame,
What marble white enough to bear that name!
In these true men was Thought and Toil combined,
Care could not cloud, nor business cramp the mind!
May those who mingle in this festive hour,

Catch from their honored names new hope and power!"

* Charles Sprague, Esq., Cashier of the Globe Bank, Boston.

COMMERCE AND RESOURCES OF ALABAMA.

We cheerfully give place to the following letter from J. J. Pleasants, Esq., of Huntsville, Alabama, correcting an error we committed, on what we considered the best authority, that of a gentleman whose circumstances and general information, in regard to the commercial affairs of the United States, would usually render any statements he might make almost semi-official:

TO THE EDITOR OF MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE:

Dear Sir,-In the November number of your excellent Magazine, I find you have committed a great error in your article "Trade and Commerce of Mobile, and the Resources of Alabama." You state that "the product of the northern district of the state finds a market chiefly in Savannah, Augusta, and Hamburg, Georgia, from which it is shipped to Europe, or northern ports."

Now, I think it quite improbable that there ever was a single bale of cotton forwarded from the northern district of Alabama to either of the markets designated. The cotton of North Alabama, is shipped, on the Tennessee river, to New Orleans. The receipts at that port for the commercial year, ending the 31st August, 1835, or as stated by you, viz: 984,616 bales; of which, 198,246 bales were from North Alabama, and Tennessee. Of this amount, it is probable that 60,000 or 70,000 bales went from North Alabama. The receipts at the port of Mobile we usually put down as the crop of the state of Alabama. That portion of Alabama cotton, which goes out of the Tennessee and Chattahooche rivers, being considered about equal in amount to the receipts from the Tombigby, from Mississippi, at Mobile.

Being in the habit of placing a high estimate on the accuracy of the contents of your valuable journal, I take the liberty, as one of your readers and subscribers, to call your attention to the error, lest its correction may escape your notice. Your Serv't. J. J. PLEASANTS.

Huntsville, November 27th, 1845.

We have also received a letter from Mr. Peter A. Remsen, dated, Baltimore, December 5th, 1845, correcting what he calls "a wide mistake" in our account of the "trade of Mobile and Resources of Alabama," in calling the Alabama River the west branch, as he says "it is the east," and in saying that there is only five or six feet in the west side, and eleven in the east passage of the bay. He says "there is from 17 to 19 feet on the outer bar, and an equal number of feet for some five miles up the bay, over a large extent of anchorage ground, and then some fourteen feet of water to the bar, in its upper part, in which is eleven feet water, called Dog River Bar,' all correct." Our correspondent, who, we infer, is a ship-master, adds, "I merely mention these facts to have you correct, as I take all you say for gospel, unless I know to the contrary, as I did in the above case." A very rational faith in our fallible infallibility. We can ask no more. Now, if we were incorrect in this matter, and we presume our correspondent is satisfied that we were, we can only say, that we derived our facts from the new American edition of McCulloch's Gazeteer, generally considered good authority, re-edited in this country by Daniel Haskel, A. M. late President of the University of Vermont, who, we are informed, re-wrote every article pertaining to the United States, and was at great pains to procure the most recent and correct information. We aim at the utmost accuracy in our statistical details, and we shall ever feel grateful to have our friends point out any errors that may be committed in the pages of the Merchants' Magazine, that we may be able, as we are desirous of rendering all our statements authoritative.

COAL, IRON, GOLD AND COPPER OF VIRGINIA. Bituminous coal occurs at intervals over the tract of 35 miles from South Anna river, near its mouth, to the Appomattox. In some places the coal seam is forty-one feet thick. It is found in abundance within fifteen miles of the Richmond, Henrico, in Chesterfield, in Goochland, in Powhatan, on James river, and on the Tuckahoe. At Midlothian pit, in Chesterfield county, a shaft has been sunk seven hundred and twenty feet below the surface, and a seam of fine coal has been penetrated eleven feet. Iron is found

in abundance in various parts of the state. There are seven mines of it in Spottsylvania, near the junction of the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers. Of gold mines, generally less valuable than iron, there are twelve in Goochland, fifteen in Orange, eleven in Culpepper, twenty-six in Spottsylvania, ten in Stafford, and six in Fauquier—total gold mines, eighty. There are also five copper mines in Fauquier. The mineral resources of Virginia are truly extensive and valuable, and we hope, ere long, that the intelligent citizens of that state will be aroused to an appreciation of the vast resources they possess, resources second to no state in the Union. We should be glad, if some one of her sons would furnish us with an article setting forth the vast resources of the "Old Dominion;" as we feel a deep interest in the social and industrial progress of every section of our wide spread Union.

WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES IN THE UNITED STATES.

William H. Graham, of New-York, has published a volume entitled the "Statistics of the Woollen Manufactures of the United States," prepared by the "Proprietor of the Condensing Cards." The information it embodies, though simple, will be useful to merchants and manufacturers generally, as a sort of directory. It commences with Maine, and proceeds with list of the establishments in each state engaged in Woollen Manufactures, with the names of the owner, firm or company; location; the number of condensing cards run by each, the kind and quality of the various fabrics made, etc. We only regret that the compiler has not given, at the close, a summary statistical view of the whole, as we should have been spared the trouble of running over nearly two-hundred pages for that purpose. On counting the names of factories in the several states, we find there are in Maine, 28; New Hampshire, 58; Vermont, 75; Rhode Island, 40; Connecticut, 109; New York, 313; Massachusetts, 141; New Jersey, 10; Pennsylvania, 101; Delaware, 4; Maryland, 16; Virginia, 18; Ohio, 79; Kentucky, 9; Indiana, 6; Michigan, 6; Illinois, 6; Wisconsin, 7; Missouri, 3; South Carolina, 1; Iowa, 2, North Carolina, 4; Tennessee, 2; Georgia, 3. According therefore to this volume, there are in the United States, 1,039 woollen manufactories.

WHALE FISHERY AT THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

There arrived at the various ports of the Hawaiian Islands, from Jan. 1st to Sept. 5th, 1845, 272 American whale ships; the whole number for the year will undoubtedly exceed 509 sail; of course some of the ships touch twice and a few three times, still the value of American capital visiting these islands is very great. During the year 1844, there were 459 sail reported at the Islands, manned by 13,200 seamen, and valued at $23,374,000. The great increase of this branch of our shipping at the Hawaiian Islands, is owing to the opening of the new fishing ground on the NW Coast. The service in that sea is very severe, however, as most of the whales are taken above the latitude of 60, where most of the time they are enveloped in dense fogs, or struggling against hard gales, yet our enterprising whalemen successfully overcome the great" Leviathan." In consequence of the density of the fogs, great numbers of whale are lost after being killed, for fear of losing the boats. The largest fare taken in 1844, was the Ontario, of Sag Harbor, 4,000 bbls, which, with the bone, was worth $52,000; and the most valuable, that of the California, Lawrence, N. B., 2,600 sperm, worth $78,000. This year the South America goes home with a two season cargo worth $95,000, undoubtedly the most valuable whale oil cargo that ever left the Pacific. The hardy and enterpising whalemen of the New England states seem to conquer all dificulties in their daring pursuits.