1799. | eee bi 
Monthly Commercial Report. 
ARLY inthe month arrived two of the company’s fhips from China, with the following 


cargoes: 
1. chefts. f. chefts. Tea, Hyfon fkin —— 35F 235325 
Tea, Bohea - 975 500 © yee 676 Hyfon a 1,006 65,425 
Congou =e 16,702 1,488,697 —— ——_—_— 
Souchong 620 51,120 975. 23,F3% 25,341,522 
Singlo —— 738 58,040 | Raw Silk, three bales - - 2991b° 

Twankay ——~— 4,214 252,948 | Nankeen ‘cloth re iy 17,400 pieces. 
Alfo ten thips from Bengal, one from Bencoolen, and three whalers from the Cape of 
Good Hope, with part of the cargo of the fhip Lion from Bengal; the particulars of the 
cargo as follows: 
Piece Goods, Muflins pieces 215,825 | Ditto, White _ tons 78 
Callicoes — 232,792 | Pepper, bags 250, — Ibs. 18,500 
Prohibired  — 98,027 | Indigo, boxes go, chefts 51, Ibs. 23,934 
Raw Silk - bales 2870 and bundles 5 | Ginger, bags 627 — ewt. 646 
Lack Lake, bags 8, boxes 9, Ibs. 3,561 | Tumerick, bags 1687 — cwt. 1,966 
Saltpetre, bags 27,710, cwt. 36,949 | Sugar, *hags 23,246 and cafks 5, cwt. 32,762 
Cotton, bales 808, lbs. 257,100 } Shellack, boxes 13, chefts 12, cwt. 133 
Pepper, Black —_— tons 555 
Befide privileged goods, confifting chiefly of fugar, indigo, gum, cotton, mother of pearl 
thells, ginger, &c. 
The continuance of fevere froft, during almoft the whole month, has again produced a 
great interruption of mercantile cor refpondence, by the detention of the Hamburgh mails, 
and the orders from the continent being thus kept back, has caufed a heavy market for the 
principal articles of export, though there has been no confiderable decline of price. The 
average price of raw fugars for the week, ending the 2oth, was 7es. rd. exclufive of duty. 
The Eait India company’s fale of fiJk, which commenced the 26th, confifts of only 
4°8 bales of China raw, 498 bales of Bengal raw, 44 bales of Bengal organzine, and 5 bales 
of wafte ; but the company referve to themfelves the liberty of felling a further quantity of 
the Bengal filk lately arrived, not exceeding 1200 bales, which, it is fuppefed, will be fold 
in June. The China filk has fold higher than the lait fale, the average price of fuperfine 
being 30s. 4d. The Bengal organzine is fuperior in quality to any they have before fold, 
five bales were particularly curious, but have pot fold at the price it was expected they 
would fetch; the average price of the whole was 27s. 34. There has been a very {mall 
import of Italian fillk during the prefent month, and little alteration in the market. 
‘The fhazol manufactory which we noticed in a former report being at preient a branch of 
much importance to the Norwich manufacturers, we fhould be glad to receive fome further 
account of it, efpecially from the intelligent correfpondent who favoured us with the former 
particulars, to whom the readers of the Monthly Magazine are indebted for a more extenfive 
and valuable article. 
The following particulars relative to the manufaétures of iron and ffeel in Great Britain 
thew how greatly they have increafed in value, though the annual produce in crude iron 
appears to have diminithed. 
About the year 1620, charcoal pig iron fold for se 
= £: &. © per ton, 
In the year 1792, carbonated pig iron — — 3 io 
In the year 1798, _ ditto ditto _ = 10 @ 
Coak pig iron when invented fold at a — — 4 0 
In the year 1792, melting pig iron fold for _ ap ce) 
In the year 1798, ditto -- — ~~ 712 
Mallable iron made with charcoal fold for — — spa: 
The fame in «792, to be drawn into wire, for -~ at 'G 
Ditto in 1798 © -- -~ — £27 or 28 © 
The firft bar iron made (1620) with pit coal, fold for 2S 
The fame irpnin 1792, fold for ~~ — _ 13 © 
Ditto in 1798, for — os _ 22-9 
This ftaterment ftrongly fhews the effeét of the depreciation of the value of money on the 
current price of commodities, but it will be feen that all along there has been preferved an 
analogy between the value of the refpective ftates of the metal. We cannot however but 
be aftonifhed at the great advance of iron within the laft fix years, nearly and in fome cafes 
more than equal to the advance of a period of 170 years before. The total produce of pig 
iron in Britain, at the beginning of the laft century, has becn eftimated at 140,0c0 tons, 
but at prefent does not exceed 100,000 tons; and reckoning on an average that 33 cwt. of 
crude iron produces one ton of bars, and that the manufa¢ture of malleable iron amounts 
£2 35,900 tons per annum, 
