IMPORTATIONS INTO GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND OF FOREIGN AND COLONIAL GRAIN AND FLOUR for fourteEN YEARS SINCE 1847. 1852,.. 1853, 1854,. 1855, 1856,. 1857,... 2,477,366 930,265 1,577,023 1,731,974 3,872,568 1,281,517 2,189,161 3,483,294 .. 3,754,592 1,165,876 1,286,263 3,855,058 3,831,836 1,209,844 1,821,513 5,363,478 3,068,892 995,479.. 1,479,890.. 3,921,634 4,949,314 1,035,072 1,554,434 4,662,898 3,468,605 1,029,304 .. 1,356,379 3,739,167 2,686,188 1,044,192 1,224,281 1,940,237 .. 1858,. 4,101,829 4,023,578 1,709,197 1,321,632 3,354,796 5,906,181 2,308,284 1,543,321 3,147,603 3,665,078 JOURNAL OF MINING, MANUFACTURES AND ART. I. IRON MANUFACTURE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. II. LAW RELATING TO DEALERS IN OLD METALS IN GREAT BRITAIN. III. ANTHRACITE COAL TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. IV. ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE LAKE SUPERIOR COPPER MINES. THE IRON MANUFACTURE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. THE following tables, which we take from the Ironmonger of London, will be found to contain much reliable information. In deducing conclusions from the facts which they reveal, the writer remarks: That it will be seen that there are now fewer blast furnaces in operation, than during any of the five preceding years. As compared with last year, there are thirty-two less-seventy-nine fewer than in January, 1860; a decrease of eighty-four from the number in 1859; of ninety-four, as compared with 1858; and eighty-nine less than in 1857. This is, undoubtedly, a great falling off; and though from the increased make per furnace, the diminution in the pig iron made, is of less amount than the decrease in the number of furnaces in blast, the production of iron must still be considerably less than in previous years. Looking at the districts from which the decrease arose, we find that it is mainly due to two-South Staffordshire and Worcestershire, and South Wales. Comparing 1862, the year of the least, with 1858, that of the greatest number of furnaces in operation, we find a decline, in the case of South Staffordshire and Worcestershire, of forty-five furnaces, or 30 per cent. In South Wales, the decline in the same periods was forty furnaces, or more than 24 per cent. In Scotland there is a decline, as compared with 1859 and 1861, but of not nearly so large an amount; and Shropshire, Derbyshire and the Forest of Dean, also show a slight dimi nution. The decreased production of South Staffordshire is easily accounted for. The scarcity and consequent cost of its iron ores, and its distance from any port, incapacitate that district from successfully competing with other iron-producing localities, in the production of the cheaper kinds of iron, in which the raw material (the pig iron) forms a very large proportional element, as compared with the cost of manufacture. Hence, its mills and forges being mainly employed to produce iron of better quality and more expensive manufacture, the quantity of pig iron used, in proportion to the value of the finished iron produced, is less. Again, the hematite pig iron of the Lancashire and Cumberland district forms a most valuable mixture with South Staffordshire iron, and is very largely consumed in that district. It will be seen below, that there is a very large increase in the number of furnaces making this iron; and the new The Ironmonger is a very valuable monthly trade circular, published at 24 Bow Lane, Cannon-street West, London, by JAMES FIRTH, publisher. furnaces in the Lancashire and Yorkshire district are of extraordinary capacity, some yielding as much as four hundred tons per week. The decrease in the make of South Wales is mainly due to the growing competition of the Cleveland district in the production of railway and other kinds of iron. It is true, that the number of blast furnaces in the northeastern counties does not show an increase, but these include the smaller furnaces in Yorkshire; and there has been an undoubted increase in the production of iron on the Tees, whilst its improved quality has made that district a very powerful rival to South Wales. SYNOPSIS OF BLAST FURNACES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT YIELD OF BLAST FURNACES IN GREAT BRITAIN, 1861. FURNACES IN BLAST IN GREAT BRITAIN AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING YEARS: An important increase has taken place in the shipments of pig iron from the Middlesborough or Cleveland district. BROWNE's export list gives the following returns of the shipment of pig iron, foreign, from Middlesborough, the Hartlepools and Stockton, during the year 1861: The yield of pig iron for the year 1861, and the quantity of coal, iron ore and limestone employed in its production, form a question of no little interest. Applying to the above figures, the most trustworthy estimates that can be formed, will make the pig iron produced last year in Great Britain 3,972,280 tons, or, in round numbers, four millions of tons. Of this aggregate yield, England produced 2,046,720 tons, Wales, 958,360 tons, and Scotland, 967,200 tons. Taking the separate districts, the year's make of Staffordshire and Worcestershire may be estimated at 919,620 tons, of which North Staffordshire contributed 161,460, Northumberland, Durham and the Stockton and Darlington district, 527,100, Cumberland and Lancashire, (on the hematite district,) 167,440 tons, Shropshire, 148,720 tons, Derbyshire, 114,440 tons, Forest of Dean, 23,400 tons, Northamptonshire, 27,300 tons, and Wiltshire, 14,040 tons. To make this immense quantity of iron, there would be consumed by the blast furnaces about 12,000,000 tons of coal, 9,000,000 tons of ironstone, and about 3,000,000 tons of limestone. Supposing the whole of the furnaces now erected to have been in blast, the produce for a year would be nearly 6,500,000 tons of pig iron, which would require for its production nearly 20,000,000 tons of coal, 14,000,000 tons of ironstone, and near 5,000,000 tons of limestone. THE LAW RELATING TO DEALERS IN OLD METALS IN GREAT BRITAIN. We learn from the Ironmonger that very great satisfaction is being expressed by the manufacturers of Birmingham, Sheffield and Wolverhampton, at the existence of the new law relating to dealers in old metals. For many years past employers have been seriously plundered by their work-people, in consequence of the facilities which the marine-store dealer enjoyed of purchasing the proceeds of such plunder, and on account, further, of the many difficulties which were in the way of successfully punishing either the thief or the receiver. By the new law, however, which came into operation with the new year, many of those difficulties are overcome. Steps to improve upon the existing law were first taken by the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, efficiently aided by Mr. KYNNERSLEY, the stipendiary magistrate of that town. By these it was felt, that what was wanted was a provision which, in the case of goods reasonably supposed to be stolen, would cast upon the person in whose possession they were found the onus of proving that he had acted honestly and with due caution in purchasing them. Although, in the opinion of its originators, the existing bill was "greatly mutilated and defaced" in passing though Parliament, yet they agree that it will be found to be a vast improvement upon the previously-existing laws. The leading provisions of the measure are the following: A "dealer in old metals" is defined to mean any person dealing in, buying or selling old metal, scrap metal, broken metal or partly-manufactured metal goods, whether he deals in such articles only, or together with second-hand goods and marine stores. A complaint being made to a justice, that the complainant believes old metal to be kept or secreted in the shop or house of a dealer in old metals, the justice may empower a constable, by special warrant, to search for and seize all such metals; a summons is to be then issued to the metal dealer, and if he cannot satisfactorily account to the justice for his possession of the articles in question, he may be fined £5 for the first offence, and £20, or three months' imprisonment, for the second offence; or, as at present, he may be proceeded against by indictment at Quarter Sessions. When a dealer in old metals has been convicted under the section just mentioned, the justices may order him to be registered for three years in the police-books; and on every subsequent conviction, the period of registration may be extended for three additional years. When any such registered dealer removes to any other town, he must give notice to the police of the town to which he has removed, in order that the unexpired period of registration may be completed, notwithstanding the removal. A metal dealer who has subjected himself to registration is placed under the direct supervision of the police, who may search his premises at any time, without special warrant. The dealer must keep a book, in which he must enter an account of all old metals in his possession, specifying the names, addresses and occupations of the purchaser, the vendor and the persons to whom the goods may have been afterwards disposed of. He must not purchase old metal before nine in the morning or after six in the evening, or from any person under sixteen years of age; nor shall any person under that age be employed upon his premises. He must keep every article purchased by him, and "without changing the form in which it was when so purchased, or disposing of the same in any way, for a period of |