THE GREAT IRON WORKS, NEAR TROY, NEw York.

The Northern Budget, states that the largest water wheel in the world is that of H. Burden, at the Albany Nail Works, on Wyanskill Creek, near Troy. The fall is 75 feet, and the power of the wheel equal to 1,000 horses. It drives machinery which works up annually 10,000 tons of iron into horseshoes, spikes, nails, rivets, &c., in the different buildings into which the power is distributed, viz., iron foundry, horseshoe factory, rolling mill and puddling forge, cut-nail factory, machine shop, copper shop, &c., leaving a power equal to that of 400 horses, to be applied for additional purposes; 15,000 tons of coal are used annually, and 3,000,000 tons of ore. The business amounts to from $950,000 to $1,000,000 a year. The wheel is an overshot, built on what is called the "suspension principle." It is a noble piece of millwrighting, and does credit to those who put it up. On the same stream are the iron works of Corning, Winslow & Co., which has a fall of 75 feet distributed between three dams. A portion of the works-viz., a rolling mill and puddling forge-are worked by steam, while another rolling mill, a wagon, carriage, and car-axle factory, and spike and nail factory are run by water. This establishment employs on an average 500 hands, works up annually about 11,000 tons of iron, and uses from 16,000 to 17,000 tons of coal; also 1,500 tons of ore brought down from Port Henry on Lake Champlain. It does a business of a million a year, and pays out probably $180,000 a year for labor performed on the premises--or nearly $3,500 a week.

DECLINE OF THE WEAVING TRADE IN SCOTLAND,

According to the Glasgow Citizen, the weaving trade is rapidly on the decine. In the village of Neilston, some twenty-four years ago, there were 320 weavers ; at present, we are informed, there is only one. In the Barrhead district, including Dovecothill, Grahamstone, and the other places around Barrhead, there were formerly upwards of 400 weavers; at present, there are not three dozen. In the Burgh of Renfrew there were some 200; at present not half a dozen. In Fairly, Ayrshire, only ten years ago, there were 50 weavers; at present not one. In Dalry, formerly a village of weavers, since the mining and iron works have been established in that neighborhood, the weavers have become miners, or otherwise employed about these works." Alas, (says the Herald) for the poor weavers!

AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN MARBLES.

While the constituent elements of both the American and European marbles are identical, the proportions in which they occur, present a curious difference, the carbonate of magnesia being the prevalent material in the American, and the carbonate of lime in the European. In all other respects the two marbles are the same. This variation, slight as it is, being confined to the white veins of the two stones, is yet of positive advantage in several respects to the American. While the color, markings, and general appearance of both marbles are essentially the same, the American is decidedly the brighter and handsomer of the two; carbonate of magnesia being nearly imperishable, and preserving its luster under all circumstances, while that of carbonate of lime is more readily dimmed, and suffers from atmospheric exposure. The American has also been found to resist fire, frost, and mineral acids; they are unable to impair its strength or its beauty.

PAPER FROM REFUSE TANNED LEATHER.

If all the discoveries made within the year or two, in regard to materials not of value, to manufacture paper, should prove successful, there will be no lack of the article. It is now stated, that Lazare Ochs, of Belgium, has obtained a patent for making paper from the cuttings, waste leather, and scraps of tanned leather. The manufacture of paper from leather is an old story, as an American patent was obtained for such paper many years since; but M. Ochs' method of treating his leather to take out the tanning is worthy of attention for its simplicity. The scraps of tanned leather are placed in sieves on the ends of arms or spokes on a wheel, and are made to revolve in a stream of water, which operation, when continued long enough, washes out the tannin from the leather. After this, about 20 per cent of old hemp rope is mixed with the scraps, and the whole is cut up and reduced to pulp, from which the paper is made. A very strong coarse wrapping paper is made in this manner.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RARE GEMS.

Next to the diamond, the sapphire is the hardest of all minerals; it is generally small, and the finest of these pure, blue, oriental gems, are found in the beds of rivers in Pegu and Ceylon. Of equal value is the ruby, valuable according to the richness of its red color. The emerald has been found several inches in length; the most beautiful, clear green, of these stones are found in Ceylon and Egypt. The topaz is of various colors, but the most beautiful is of a deep yellow, and is found in Brazil, Saxony, and always in the ancient primary rocks. Besides these, the other most precious gems are the blue turquoise, the garnet, the opal, the purple amethyst, the green malachite, the yellow amber, the coral, and the pearl.

GREAT BRITAIN OPPOSED TO COTTON MANUFACTURES.

It is difficult at the present day (says Charles Knight) to realize the amount of opposition which attended the first attempts to introduce the manufacture of cotton into Great Britain. In order to protect woolen manufactures, laws were enacted forbidding the use of cotton garments, under the penalty of fine and imprisonment. The laboring classes, who considered cotton detrimental to their interests, frequently manifested their hostility to it by riot and bloodshed; vagabonds, too lazy to work, pretended that cotton had thrown them out of emloyment, and reduced them to pauperism; and felons accasionally pleaded cotton as an extenuation of their crimes; an amusing instance of which may be found in a letter, published in the “Gentleman's Intelligencer," for May, 1784.

MACHINE FOR PEGGING BOOTS AND SHOES.

A new machine for this purpose has been brought forward, The boot is placed on one part of the machine and a stick of wood on another; motion being given, one portion of the mechanism operates to pick the holes with an awl, another to make the pegs, another to feed the pegs to the mouth of the holes, and another to drive the pegs home. These various operations are performed with great rapidity, about two minutes only being required to double peg each boot.

NEW MACHINE FOR PICKING FIBROUS MATERIALS.

This invention, by Mr. R. Kitson, of Lowell, has a main cylinder, on which the picks are arranged, and the cylinder is both self-sharpening and self-cleaning. This is done by an ingenious mode of drawing air into the cylinder box, and then causing the air to impurge against the base of the teeth, pass away at their points and thus blow off the material. The teeth have a new and peculiar fastening, rendering them stronger, while their form greatly cheapens their cost.

STATISTICS OF POPULATION, &c.

PAST, PRESENT, AND PROSPECTIVE POPULATION OF WESTERN CITIES. J. W. SCOTT, Esq., an occasional contributor to the Merchants' Magazine, publishes in the Toledo Blade, the subjoined comparison and estimates of the future growth of Chicago and Toledo. We have "cut it out" of the Blade, as Mr. Scott recommends, and put it in our "scrap book " for future reference :—

66 WHAT HAS BEEN, WILL BE."

It will interest some of your readers to see the figures representing the probable progressive growth of our city. This I give below by the side of the growth of Chicago, for the past sixteen and the next five years. They are both estimated at twenty per cent compounded yearly. The computation is to the 20th of June each year.

There will be fluctuations in the yearly increase of these young cities, but the average growth, as above exhibited, will be verified by time, which proves all things. Cut it out of the paper, and put it in your scrap books, ladies and gentlemen readers! Yours,

J. W. SCOTT.

DECREASE OF THE POPULATION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. The Concord Conngregational Journal says that the population in the agricultural towns of New Hampshire is gradually decreasing. The fact appears from the last census, as compared with the census taken for the preceding decades up to

1800. By a careful examination of the chapter on County Officers in the New Hampshire Register, we learn that there are 107 towns in the State, whose population in 1850 amounted to 16,821 less than formerly. These towns are distributed among the several counties as follows:-In Rockingham, 14 towns, decrease of population, 1,439; in Strafford, 6 towns, decrease of population, 1,179; in Belknap, 4 towns, decrease 799; in Carroll, 4 towns, decrease 176; in Merrimack, 13 towns, decrease 1,767; in Hillsborough, 19 towns, decrease 3,908; in Cheshire, 12 towns, decrease 2,857; in Sullivan, 12 towns, decrease 1,864; in Grafton, 21 towns, decrease 2,510; and in Coos, 4 towns, decrease 102. The population of these towns in 1850, severally compared with the largest population reported in any one previous decade. In many of the agricultural towns the population was larger a half a century ago, than it is now. In all of them, as a class, it was probably the largest in 1830, and has diminished the most rapidly since 1840. The causes of this decrease are well understood to be emigration, both to the manufacturing villages and cities of New England and to the West. The tide of emigration is now flowing towards the setting sun, and will sweep off, we predict, by the time of the next census, a larger number of our rural population, than at any former period.

POPULATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

The Charleston Standard gives, from the census reports, the following table of the population of South Carolina, at different periods

The Standard, in reference to the preceding statistics of population, says :"The total white and free colored foreign inhabitants of South Carolina in 1850, amounted to but 8,662, while the number of white and free colored inhabitants of other States, returned as natives of South Carolina, was 186,479, a number which, though it does not fully represent the facts, is equal to more than half what remains in our State. When it is reflected that very many of those who leave our own State to settle in others take along with them their slaves, it is not easy to estimate what we have lost by emigration, or what we might have been had South Carolinians been satisfied to support only South Carolina. If this emigration is to continue, as doubtless it will continue in a greater or less degree, can our pros. perity be increased according to the measure of our wishes and hopes, without the advent of population to occupy the places that are made vacant? And can any one indicate the direction whence it is to come, except through the re-opening of the African slave trade."

IMMIGRATION AT QUEBEC, CANADA.

From the Report of A. C. BUCHANAN, the Chief Emigration Agent, for the year 1855, it appears that the number of immigrants landed at the port of Quebec in 1854 was 58,185. The diminution in 1855 was over 31,000, the arrivals num

bering only 21,274, viz.:-From England, 6,743; Ireland, 4,106; Scotland, 4,859; Germany, 3,597; Norway, 1,267; New Brunswick, Cape Breton, &c., 691. Mr. Buchanan classes the total emigration from Europe as follows:-Eng lish, 4,310; Irish, 5,962; Scotch, 5,348; German, 3,815; Norwegians, 1,288; Belgians, 143; Swiss, 99; Italians, 10; Danes, 8; French, 4.

The Montreal Transcript, remarking on the report referred to above, says :— "The diminution of immigrants is attributed to increased prosperity at home, as well as to the anti-foreign agitation of Know-Nothingism' in the States, the latter acting equally on Canada from the ignorance that prevails at home regarding this country."

MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.

THE LATE ABBOTT LAWRENCE.

FREEMAN HUNT, Esq., Editor of the Merchants' Magazine, etc :—

DEAR SIR-I read with much interest Mr. Appleton's Memoir of ABBOTT LAWRENCE, published in the June number of the Merchants' Magazine. Mr. Lawrence was a school-mate of mine, and was regarded as a bright scholar; he was within a few days of eighteen months older than myself. My home, while at Groton, was with a relative of his father, Deacon Lawrence. There was at that time a society, called the Society of Social Fraternity," formed among the scholars attending the Groton Academy. Abbott Lawrence was one of its officers. They wore at their meetings diamond-shape silver medals, having on one side the initials "S. S. F." Caleb Butler, a very competent instructor, was preceptor of the academy.

While at South Deerfield, New Hampshire, in 1850, at the residence of Judge Butler-a relative of our preceptor-he proposed, when I next visited South Deerfield, that we should pay a visit to our old preceptor, who was then living in one of the neighboring towns; but before that next visit, Caleb deceased, and his relative, the judge, soon followed him.

Deacon Lawrence was a well-off farmer, for those times, when a thousand dollars was regarded as more money-in the opinion of country people than ten thousand is now by the inhabitants of cities, and would probably go further in the expenses of a family; for at that time, economy and frugality were the order of the day. Abbott Lawrence was taught habits of industry and economy—a science little known at the present day. We both left the academy at the same time, in the autumn of the year 1808. Since then I had not the pleasure of meeting with him till the month of April, 1855-a lapse of more than forty-six years; and yet, long as the period was, I could still distinguish the countenance of my school-mate in the face of the ex-Minister to the Court of St. James.

It was on the 2d of April, 1855, that I called on Abbott Lawrence at Boston, on public business. I found him in his counting-room, in excellent health. On my return to New York that evening, and on each of the four days following, I had several interviews on the subject of my call on Mr. Lawrence, with the late VOL. XXXV.—ÑO. I.

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