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ure so great as to have last year converted Russia into an importing, instead of an exporting country. Mr. M'Culloch disparages the quality of Odessa wheat rather unneces sarily. That wheat is heavier than the best Dantzig, and makes quite as wholesome bread; indeed, when mixed with a little whiter flour, it is impossible to distinguish it from the best bread in Europe. Mr. McCulloch is, perhaps, nearer the truth in asserting that the export of wheat from Odessa cannot be materially increased without a previous addition to the facilities of conveying corn from the interior. The greater part of the produce shipped at that port has to be conveyed in land carriage, of the rudest and slowest description; in cumbrous and heavy wagons, drawn by oxen, over a trackless country. The trade which centres in Odessa is marked by the courses of the rivers Dnieper, Bug and Dniester, The navigation of the Lower Dnieper is interrupted by a series of falls and rapids above and near the river's mouth, which makes land transport often preferable, down this part of the stream, and indispensable in ascending it, and the Bug and the Dniester can only be navigated by small vessels, that cannot encounter the sea round the points to the port, and land carriage is thus again necessary. These obstacles to, and difficulties of land carriage, would, however, rapidly disappear, if the demand for wheat at Odessa were considerably increased. Certain it is, that Podolia, with the exception of the Theiss, in Hungary, produces the greatest amount of grain, at the least expense to the cultivator, of any district in Europe.

A compromise between the sliding scale and a fixed duty has been proposed under the signature which formerly conveyed to the public the useful opinions of Mr. Deacon Hume. It is a mixture of both schemes; and proposes to levy a fixed duty of 5s a quarter on all foreign wheat, besides a fluctuation impost of 20s, when the average price is 40s, which shall decrease gradually until it ceases altogether, when the price is 60s.

Ship Building in Maine.

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We understand that slip-building has never been carried on so extensively in Maine as during the present season.Many large and valuable ships have been recently launched, and many others are now on the stocks in most of the seaport towns. And these ships are generally built of the best seasoned white oak from the Middle States, of fine models, thoroughly fastened, and finished in beautiful style.

Among the ships now in the stocks, are two at Newcas tle-one of 750 tons, and another of 800 tons; these are both elegant specimens of merchant ships. At Bath, the ship Hannibal, of 650 tons, is almost ready for launching. The ship South Carolina, of 769 tons, was launched some days since, and the ship Rapahannock is almost ready for launching. This is the largest merchantman ever built in the United States. Her length on deck is 180 feet, her beam 37 feet, and her depth 23 feet 4 inches, and she measures about eleven hundred and forty tons! This ship is thoroughly built of Virginia white oak and Georgia pine. [Boston Mercantile Journal.

Prince De Joinville.

the steamboat Norwich from Baltimore. On Saturday he The Prince de Joinville arrived here on Friday night in took passage to Hampton Roads in the steamer Star, and visited the French frigate L'Armide, bearing the flag of Admiral Arnous, and returned to Norfolk at five o'clock in the

evening to dine at French's Hotel.

bor, was decked off with flags and saluted the Star, with The French merchant ship Ballochon, lying in our harcheers as she came out of the dock.

The French brig of war Bisson, lying off Town Point, was also decorated with national flags in compliment to the Prince, and as the Star passed on her way down, her yards were manned, three cheers given and a broadside salute fired. The Prince accompanied by his suite, and Admiral Arvisited yesterday the United States ship Pennsylvania, Capt. Skinner, and a salute of 21 guns was fired on his leaving, which was returned by the Bisson, with the American ensign at the foremast head. He then proceeded to the Navy Yard. We learn the Prince de Joinville was to leave in the Baltimore boat of last night.—Norfolk Beacon.

The last proposition is, that of the manufacturing interest; it is for a trade in corn wholly unobstructed by fiscal regu-nous, who came up in an open boat from Hampton Roads, lations or duties. And this appears to us-not ignorant or unmindful of the importance of the question, and the magnitude of the interests involved in any alteration, or of the want of information on many material parts of the subject, on which knowledge would be the most valuable-the wisest, and the safest plan.-London Journal of Commerce.

Price of Flour in Ohio, 1820 to 1840.

In the speech of Mr. Muller of that State, in Congress, upon the Fiscal Bank Bill, published in the Ohio Statesman we find the following statement of the price of flour in the eastern part of Ohio for 21 years viz: 1820 to 1840 inclu

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Death of Gen, Edward Paine.

A Mighty Chain of Railroad.

will be very soon completed. On the Rochester and AuWe learn from Batavia that the railroad thence to Buffalo burn line but seven or eight miles remain to be finished; the cars already cross the Cayuga lake on the new bridge erected for the purpose, and will in a few weeks run over the whole line. The Boston road to Albany is nearly completed; in a very short time therefore the "last link" will be completed in the great chain from Buffalo to Boston, a distance of near six hundred miles! The whole world cannot exhibit a specimen of railroad enterprise to equal this. The longest one in England is not more than one-third the length of this.

John C. Spencer, Secretary of State of New York, has been appointed Secretary of War, in the place of Judge McLean, declined.

Five Dollars per annum, payable on the 1st of January of each year. No subscription received for less than a year. Subscribers out of the principal cities to pay in advance.

The UNITED STATES COMMERCIAL AND STATISTICAL REGISTER, is published every WednesGeneral Edward Paine, one of the earliest settlers of day, at No. 76 Dock street. The price to subscribers is Northern Ohio, died at his residence in Painesville, on the 28th ult., at the advanced age of 96. General Paine was one of the first to engage in our glorious Revolutionary struggle. He led on the first company that broke ground on Dorchester heights, soon after which Gen. Gage evacuated Boston. He was stationed on Governor's Island when the American army retreated out of New York, and his company covered the retreating army.

PRINTED BY WILLIAM F. GEDDES,

No. 112 CHESNUT STREET,
Where, and at 76 Dock St., Subscriptions will be received.

COMMERCIAL AND STATISTICAL

REGISTER.

VOL. V.

EDITED BY SAMUEL HAZARD.

PHILADELPHIA, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1841. No. 16.

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. Fifteenth Annual Report of the President and Directors to the Stockholders of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company.

At a regular annual meeting of the Stockholders, held, pursuant to the charter, on the second Monday of October, 1811, in the city of Baltimore, the President and Directors of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company submitted the following report and statements of the affairs of the company:

FIGST. Of the Main Stem to its present termination at Harper's Ferry; and of the Washington Branch. The statement marked A, exhibits the affairs of the company on the 30th ultimo; and the revenue and expenses of the Main Stem, during the year, ending on the same day, are shown by the statement B.

The statements C and D exhibit the affairs of the Wash ington Road on the 3 th ultimo, and also the revenue and expenses on the same, for the year ending on that day.

The heaviest item of cost in the transportation upon works of this description is the expense of maintaining them in repair, and to diminish, as far as practicable, this source of expenditure has been the object of all the improvements in modern railways. While it must be admitted that a inore substantial construction, and with the heavy improved rail, than has been adopted on the road between Baltimore and Harper's Ferry, is indispensable to all that is practicable on this head, it is satisfactory to perceive that even with the light and imperfect plate rail, greater economy is attainable than the board have heretofore felt themselves at liberty to promise.

Owing to the dilapidated condition of the whole line of road, the expenses of repairs amounted in the year 1837, to upwards of $97,000. In the years 1838, and 1839, the board commenced their preparations for the renewal of part of the track with the heavy H rail, and for the renovation of the remainder upon the original plan of structure. In 1840 the cost of repairs was reduced to little more than $85,00, and in the year just closed, in which for the first time the effect of the previous improvements could be fully tested, it amounted to the sum of $69,095 44, being upwards of $26,000 less than that of 1837, and more than $16,000 less than the year immediately preceding. The repairs of the nineteen miles of the heavy H rail, not having as yet required any new material, have cost $180 per mile; while for the ninety-two miles of old plate rail, the cost for materials is $325 46, and for labor and superintendence $599 per mile. It may also be stated that during the past, com

The statements show that the general decline in the trade of the past year injuriously affected the transportation upon the, Main Stem; and that although, for the conveyance of passengers, the revenue somewhat increased, the receipts from the transportation of produce and merchandise decreased, as compared with the previous year, $11,312 18. This decrease will be found to consist principally in the article of flour, of which there have been transported during the past 136,831 barrels less than in the previous year; and it is be-pared with the previous year, the actual expenses for repairs lieved that so great a falling off in the transportation of this article may be accounted for by the partial failure in the crops, and the consequent diminished amount destined for market. It may also be observed, that, in consequence of the low rate continued to be charged for transportation upon the Canal, the boar have been unable to avail themselves, to much extent, of the increased rates authorized by the law of the last session of the Legislature.

The board have the satisfaction to state, however, that the expenses have been also considerably reduced, so that notwithstanding the falling off in the amount of transportation. the nett surplus of the present will be little less than that of the previous year.

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of locomotives and tenders, of passenger and burden cars, and of depots, and water stations, have been considerably reduced; and it will be seen that the aggregate reduction in the expenditure during the year for the foregoing objects, amounts to upwards of $40,554.

The capacity of the motive power has been much improved, and adapted, without additional cost for repairs, to a considerable augmentation of business. The condition of the passenger and burden cars has likewise been improved, so as to be more efficient than at any previous period: and in each of the above branches of the service, a further dim inution in the annual expenditure may be anticipated.

In addition to the above items, there has been expended during the year in the construction of new tracks, for the eight wheeled box cars, a sum exceeding $7000, in the construction of water stations east of Harper's Ferry nearly $8000, and for the erection of an engine house, the extension of the shop, and construction of fixed machinery at the Mount Clare depot, upwards of $2000.

In the same period, the company has been compelled to pay for certain improvements long since introduced into use, and without a knowledge that they were protected by any existing patent; for long standing claims for right of way, which had been left unsettled at the time of constructing the road, and from damages arising from other causes, up

It ought indeed to be observed, that the effects expected from the renovation of the road, and the reduction of the inclined planes; from the improvements in the moving power and machinery generally, in the passenger and burden cars, and in the department of transportation, and supervision: and from the economy introduced into the system of repairs, are only now beginning to be properly felt, and that the experience of the past year warrants the belief that the expectations entertained from these measures will be fully realized. The ten miles of road, which, at the date of the last annual report, were in process of re-adjustment, have been thoroughly renovated; and the entire line of road from Baltimore to Harper's Ferry, having been substantially renew-wards of $6000. ed, is now in a condition of greater efficiency and durability After these and all other expenditures, on every account, than at any previous period. In the opinion of the engi- since the last annual report, the operations of the road even neers, it will be capable of fully accommodating any in- to Harper's Ferry-and under the disadvantage of the ca creased transportation which may be expected from the ex-sual falling off in the transportation of the year-together tension of the road to Cumberland, for some years, without a greater expenditure for repairs than has been incurred during the year just ended.

VOL. V.-31

with the receipts from the Washington Branch, shows a nett annual profit of $135,458 86, being nearly three and Lone-half per cent. upon the original capital of $4,000,000,

It is taken for granted that no one supposed that the redemption of these orders in money forms any part of the company's obligation. Unlike bank paper they are issues from which the members of the board individually derive no profit nor any pecuniary advantage whatsoever, but on the contrary in common with their fellow-citizens must share eny depreciation in their par value.

a new importance from the fact that the loan of half a mil-' of the railroad, would, of itself, require a considerable inlion of doilers already obtained from the banks would re- crease beyond the ordinary eireciation, and that these orders, main a borthen and dead loss until the work could be car- safe as they are from the ordinary casualties attendant upon ried to its termination. Under these circumstances, a sus irresponside paper: might be advantageously allowed to take pension of the work could not be thought of, if it could be the place of the various individual issues which were prepossibly avoided. The only legitimate resource applicable viously in circulation. From all these causes, it was hoped, in this part of the road was the city subscription; and to apt at the present amount might be paid out without mateply this with the least possible loss, became an imperative rially, or if at all affecting their value; and at all times, down doty. In this crisis, to relieve the city authorities from the even to the present period, the contractors have not only dilemma, to avoid any loss upon the stock, to husband their bees willing, but anxious to receive even more than it has resources, and at the same time to push forward the work, leen deemed expedient to give them. the board resolved, to receive from the city, from time to time, if it should deem it expedient for its purposes, the 6 percent. stock at parin payment of her subscription. They also proposed to the contractors and others furnishing the company with the necessary labor and materials to receive payment in the funded debt of the city, at par, instead of money. To this they consented, provided adequate portions of the stock should be so divi ed as to meet their purposes in distributing They were issued to enable the City of Baltimore to pay it to pay the laborers and met demands growing out of their her subscription, and promptly finish the work to Cumberprivate engagements. To effect this end, the scheme of island, without a sacrifice of her stock, and at a considerable suing stock orders fundable in the six per cent stock, at par, saving of interest, and con-equent exemption from the newas devised, and was carried into effect accordingly; and by cessity of taxation. The obligation of the company is on these means, and, to some extent, by the direct payment of the face of the orders; and in each annual report, and in va the city stock, the work has been prosecuted-and in a short-rious ways, has always been distinctly announced; to fund er time than even the most sanguine could have anticipated, them in city stock at par; with the additional engagement -to its present termination. That the public at large have to receive them at par in all debts due to the company. derived and still do derive great benefit from these stock or- These promises will be complied with in good faith and ders, which the circumstances of the times have rendered a to the fullest extent; and though the orders may depreciate circulating medium, will be admitted. The banks having never so low, the company will continue to receive them at in 1859 for the second time in two years, suspended specie, par. Any loss which may, in this way, be sustained by the payments, these orders have supplied the necessary purposes company, it is not doubted will be cheerfully borne in conof the retail trade, of so much importance in the aggregate,sideration of the vast advantages which, by the early comwith an easy and secure currency, and at the same time mea-pletion of the work, will be conferred, not only upon the surably relieved the community from an amount of tax, which stockholders, but upon every citizen of this community. had the subscription of the city been paid in money, would If the board could now incur a new and farther obligation, have been imposed upon the citizens. And it is no more never at any time contemplated, and undertake to redeem than just to remark, that on these grounds the chief advan- the orders in money, they could not redeem a part only for taze in the extensive circulation of the orders must result to the benefit of a few without comprehending the whole; and the city and the community rather than to the company is for such purpose it is apparent that the company have no suing them, whose original design and purpose would have means at their disposal; neither the subscription by the city been better answered if they could have been speedily funded nor that by the State, under existing laws and ordinances, in the city debt. being applicable to that object. Even the amount of interest upon the stock, which has been saved by the issue, has accrued to the benefit of the city treasury, and not to the company.

Of these steck orders, of all denominations, there have been issued by the commissioners of stock up to this date the sum of $1,419,051—and of these, $13,712 have been funded. For the entire sum so issued, city stock has been transferred to the commissioners in trust for the holders of the orders.

It is understood, however, that in the minds of some, an apprehension is entertained that this amount is greater than the ordinary demands of circulation require, and appeals have been made to the board to stop any further issue, or to adopt some other means by which a depreciation in their par value may be prevented.

The ultimate security of the orders, based as they are upon the stock of the city, cannot be questioned; and the holders may at any time acquire their value, and six per cent. interest thereon, by funding them in the stock which they represent. The board, however, notwithstanding the importance they attach to the prompt completion of the railroad, now so far advanced, to Cumberland, and their just claim upon the cordial co-operation of all interests in the city of Baltimore to this end, are not insensible to the obligation of preventing as far as their intervention can prevent, any depreciation in the value of these orders, arising from any excessive i-sue.

It is understood that the regular circulation of bank paper, even under the specie standard, was not much short of $2,800,000, and that from various causes, it is now reduced to $1,000,000, and in fact for purposes of small circulation, the hanks can do nothing whatever. Indeed, to obviate this difficulty the board, upon the special application of the City Councils, were induced to increase their circulation by the issue of orders below the denomination of one dollar.

It has been supposed also that the enlarged trade which Laz. Leen brought to this city by the expenditure on account

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By an arrangement with the city authorities, these crders are receivable in payment of all taxes and other dues to the city, which are understood to amount annually to not less than $500,000. The revenue of the Railroad Company also daily amounts to upwards of $1,500, and in the year to upwards of $600,000.

It is confidently hoped that, by limiting the amount of the issues, even if the present sum shall by any be deemed too great, an amount will be constantly absorbed, sufficient to prevent any injurious depreciation.

The board have come to the determination not at present to increase the issue of the stock orders, beyond $1,500,000; and in future to act in conjunction with the city authorities in the adoption of any practicable means by which a lesɛ amount may be definitively limited, and thereafter gradually reduced, or for devising other means to sustain the value of the orders.

If, in these efforts the board be seconded,—as they have a right to expect, by the public authorities, and other institutions, and by their fellow-citizens generally, whose business and prosperity are so vitally interested in the great enterprise in which the board are engaged, they do not doubt that the present temporary cause of uneasiness will subside and the orders be maintained at their intrinsic value.

It cannot be doubted that the people of Baltimore may do much to sustain or depress the standard of these orders,

to quiet or spread alarm,-without regard to their real value; and it is not less doubtful that efforts which may succeed in bringing them into disrepute, will not only supply their place with a circulation less entitled to support, and more exposed to ultimate loss, but will also seriously retard

if they do not suspend the prosecution of a work upon which the trade of the city so much depends.

It will be at once perceived that to enable the board to carry on the work, and continue the limitation they now propose to assign to the amount of the issue of orders, and ultimately to reduce the circulation within a still more narrow limit, the application of the resources specially appropriated to the extension of the work from Harper's Ferry towards Cumberland must be essentially changed.

This great work has hitherto been pushed forward by the application of the city stock, in one form or other, at par; while most of the other principal works of internal improvement have been partially or altogether suspended. It is now within less than a twelvemonth,-and at a comparatively inconsiderable expenditure-of its completion to Cumberland, and within seven months of its extension to Hancock, and from either of these points, it is to yield a profit upon the capital, and greatly invigorate the trade of the city. Payment for much of the work remaining to be done, and for materials to be furnished may be made by the direct application of the city stock at its par value, and this mode as far as it can be done advantageously, may be continued, but it is at the same time obvious that, independently of this resource, to prevent a suspension of the work in its present unfinished state, a considerable amount of current funds will be needed.

In this emergency it becomes the duty of the board to continue to look to the subscription by the city as the only resource; not merely because it is specially pledged and appropriated to this part of the work, but because an attempt to make sale of the State bonds in the existing crisis, would be hopeless, unless at a sacrifice ruinous to the company and to the public. While, therefore, the board will hereafter,

as heretofore, consult the convenience of the city authorities, by continuing to receive the stock at par in such amounts as can be directly applied in payment, it will be necessary, nevertheless, to require in money, or some equivalent to it, such further instalments as may be required to prevent a suspension of the work.

Nor is it doubted that a requisition for this purpose may be made of the city, in such manner, and upon such terms as will reconcile it both to her inclination and ability to comply.

It appears in the foregoing report, that in addition to the amount of interest returned to her treasury, upon the stock represented by the orders and not funded, the city has claimed, and been allowed to share in the dividends of profits earned by the employment of the old capital, and by the operations of the present road. Her share of the dividend will amount to $60,000, and with the interest heretofore returned, will exceed the sum of $100,000. By these means she will possess the present ability to pay in money an instalment sufficient, within a few thousand dollars, to complete the unfinished graduation, masonry and bridging to Cumberland.

The board also entertain the hope that the amount annually collected to provide for interest upon her subscription of $3,000,000 but which will not be required for that purpose, may be conveniently contributed towards the payment of such further instalments in money as may be necessary to finish the road.

By order of the board, October 11th, 1841.

LOUIS MCLANE, President.

A.

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Statement of the Revenue and Expenses of the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad Company, on account of the Main
Stem of the Road, for the year ending the 30th of Sep-
tember, 1841.

The amount received for the transportation
of passengers and merchandise, for the

year ending the 30th of Sept. 1841, is.. $391,069 87

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, October 1, And the expenses for the same period are as

1841.
Dr.

Stock in the Washington

Branch Road.........

Cost of road to Harper's

....

follows, viz :

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.$3,465,048 79
266,156 86

Carried forward.....

Ferry.... Real Estate and Depots.... Locomotives, Horses, Mules, and Harness, Passenger and burden Cars...

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268,794 35

$107,207 64

69,095 44

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To this amount is to be added the dividend due the Main Stem from the Washington Branch Road, viz: $61,956, 4,000,000 00 and which will make the nett revenue $135,193 55.

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Office and incidental ex

23,796 48

penses, including salaries,

house rent, &c......

stations.....

10,966 35

435 62

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Repairs of passenger cars..

4,457 76

4,592 S7

7,972 91

750 00

6,872 C8

2,153 70

amounts to...... And the dividend to be received from said road....

56,328 00

Construction of new burden

cars...

1,100 CO

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1,075 50

5,628 00

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The difference is ....
Showing the nett revenue for the year to be $155,458 85

Office of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, Oc-
tober 1st, 1841.
J. J. ATKINSON, Secretary.

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Office of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, OctoShowing the nett revenue of the road to be

ber 1st, 1841.

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Something for Ornithologists.

We were yesterday shown one of the most singular and outre specimens of ornithology which we ever saw. It was a bird resembling in point of shape and color of plumage, an owl. The face, however, had an animal appearance, and too were foreign to the usual construction of those of an owl, looked much like that of a baboon; the claws, feet and legs resembling those of a hen. The bird was shot a few days ago on Petit's Island.-U. S. Gazette.

There is now in Wilmington, (N. C.) a strange bird of the owl species, which was disabled by a shot and taken alive on the sea shore, about eight miles from town. No one about here has ever seen an owl of the kind, nor does Audubon in his ornithological work give any account of such. Its face, like the one spoken of above, strikingly resembles that of a baboon, and its feet and legs have no feathers like our common owls, but have a few hairs only, and are in appearance very much like hens feet. Its back and the upper part of its wings are grey, spotted with white, the breast yellow, the face and under portion of the wings of a dirty white.-Wilmington (N. C.) Chronicle.

Snakes.

The editor of the Concordia (Louisiana) Intelligencer says: "Louisiana is a delightful country, but very snaky. be said to be inside of a cotton field. Every night on going Our office and sleeping room are so near to, that they may to rest we have to shake the snakes out of the bed; we consider it amusement to kill three or four before getting to just been disturbed by a long garter crawling over the table, sleep. What makes us write about snakes is that we have making rather free with our newspapers. We have an idea of setting up a snake museum.”

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