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ledge of the manner in which business is usually conducted about those parts; and to a community suffering as much as this does, I think a statement of facts may prove useful. The commercial world need, then, no longer remain inactive in seeking a redress of grievances, consequence of an ignorance of their existence.

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"The whole coast, from near Cape Carnaveral to the Tortuga, is strewed with small wrecking vessels, either sloops or schooners, that anchor inside of the reef, out of sight from vessels at sea, because, if they were seen by the unfortunate vessel who is making unconsciously too near an approach to the shore, they would apprise her of her danger, so that she would stand off to sea, and thus the victim would not be sacrificed. That the wrecker hails with delight the wreck of a vessel, is not to be wondered at. His gains are enormous; it is his business, and his interests are so much at stake, that all the softer feelings of humanity soon die away in his bosom, and he hails the stranding of the unfortunate vessel with delight. It is not to be supposed, then, that he will, seeing a vessel coming ashore, sail for her, and make known to her the danger she is encountering, but rather that he will endeavour, by every means in his power, if not to allure her, at least not to caution her. To the praise of the wreckers be it said, that they never have refused to listen to the calls of humanity, even when doing so has often been to their loss. The cases are numerous where they have left their wrecking ground, and carried wrecked passengers upwards of 100 miles, furnishing the passengers with food and passage free of charge. The wreckers have been accused of raising false lights to deceive vessels at sea. As a general rule, I do not believe this charge is true, and the strongest reason I have for disbelieving it is, that it is not to their interest to do so. As soon as a vessel sees a light on Florida shore, she knows she is as near to land, if not nearer than she ought to be, and of course would immediately haul off from the danger. The practice of the wreckers is quite the reverse. No lights are allowed to be burning in their vessels except in the binnacle, and this light is most cautiously guarded, lest vessels at sea should descry it, and thereby discover their proximity to land. Every morning, at break of day, the whole of the reef is scoured by some one or the other of the vessels, in search of a prize,' that may have come on the rocks at night. If a vessel is discovered on shore, and two wreckers descry her at the same time, every stitch of canvass is set, in order to be the first to board her and relieve her; if it is calm, the small boats are manned, and they pull as if for life. This looks charitable, but the charity begins at home. The captain of the wrecker jumps on board the unfortunate vessel, and inquires for her captain; and now commences a series of impositions upon the underwriters. Captain,' says the wrecker, are you insured?' 'Yes; well-to the full amount.' 'I suppose you know,' says the wrecker, 'that if you go into Key West to get repaired, the expenses are enormous, and your owners will be obliged, according to the rules of the underwriters, to pay one-third of the repairs; whereas if the vessel should be so unfortunate as to be a total loss, the insurers pay all, and that makes a clean and short business of it.' Certainly,' says the wrecked captain, that is very true, but I am bound to do the best I can.' 'All right, sir, but what can you do? you are hard and fast-the tide is at its height' (probably it is then dead low water), and you had better let me take full charge, for if not got off this tide, she'll bilge the next. I am a licensed wrecker.' The licence is produced, signed by the judge of the admiralty court, at Key West. But,' continues the unfortunate captain, 'if my vessel earns no freight, I earn no wages.' Very true,' answers the complacent wrecker, and I pity your unfortunate case; it is truly deplorable that such injustice is done to such a worthy class of men, and, as I shall make something handsome by saving this property, if you give me and my consorts the full business of wrecking the vessel, I could afford to pay you your wages, and make you a handsome present of three or four thousand dollars.' But will this all be right?' asks the wrecked captain. Certainly; you can, if you please, hand the three or four thousand dollars to the underwriters—that is left to yourself; if you say nothing about it, of course I shan't—I dare not—I should lose my salvage if I did.' Enough. The bargain is fixed, the captain has an order on the merchant for the cash, the stranded vessel is in the command of the wrecker, and there need not now be any fear that the owners will have to pay one-third for repairs-the vessel will soon be beyond repair. As to the underwriters, they have seen all they will of the bonus *Consorting is for several vessels to go shares, and station themselves on different parts of the reef, and when one gets a wreck, he sends to the others to come and help.

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paid the captain. An appearance of an effort to get the vessel off, must be kept up among the passengers and the crew, who have heard none of the foregoing conversation, which generally takes place in the captain's private state-room. The hatches are opened, and the articles taken out till she lightens. By this process she is driven still further on the reef ; and when, by lightening her, she has got so far on that it is impossible to back her off, an attempt is made to pull her over.' To this effect, an anchor or two is carried off from her bows, and dropped on the reef; the windlass is then manned, and all hands put to work to drag her over, aided by her sails. It is soon found that is impossible, and she is now in the middle of the reef, beyond hope of getting forward or backward, and here she bilges.

"In unloading, one would suppose it was to the interest of all parties to save the property in as good a condition as possible-but it is not; the wreckers' interest is to have it a little wetted, inasmuch as a very large per centage as salvage is given on property saved wet, compared to that on the dry-fifty per cent, sometimes, on wet, and seven to ten on dry. And although the property is taken dry from the stranded vessel, some of it gets damaged on board the wrecker; a great quantity being put upon the decks of these small vessels, for each puts on board as much as he can, as they are paid by the quantity of goods saved and their value, and not by the number of loads. The passage from the wrecked vessel to Key West, is frequently boisterous, and always dangerous.

"The goods when they are landed at Key West, are consigned to some merchantprobably, as before stated, the owner of the wrecker. The captains of the wrecked and the wrecker are now, of course, hail fellows, well met.' The latter recommends his own merchant to the former, as his consignee, the merchant invites the captain to his house, makes no charge for his stay, and the captain, in the next paper, publishes a card of thanks for the merchant's 'disinterested hospitality.'

"All now is going on swimmingly. The marshal advertises the goods, (and here let me say, that the present marshal discharges his duty like a man and a Christian), the auction sale comes on, and 30,000 dollars' to 40,000 dollars' worth of goods are sold on an island containing about five or six merchants, nearly 100 miles from any inhabited land. Who is to blame? Not the marshal-the law points out his duty, and he pursues it. The advertisement generally consists of publication in a paper, the subscribers of which number about 300, nearly all wreckers, owned and supported by the merchants of the Key; and a few written advertisements stuck up around the island, added to this, completes the publication. The marshal can do no better; it is not that it is an unfair sale that is to be complained of, but the whole system is to be reprobated.

"The day of sale arrives. Who are the bidders? The aforesaid five merchants! How easily might these merchants agree not to run the one the other on his bid, and thus a whole cargo, worth 30,000 dollars, might be divided among them at the cost of about 2000 dollars each, or less. It is true, sometimes, advertisements are sent to the Havanna; but sometimes, also, the sales take place before the merchants from there have a chance to get over to Key West, and sometimes this may be known when the advertisement is sent; but then the sending to Havanna will have a good appearance when represented to underwriters and absent owners.

"The whole system from beginning to end is manifestly wrong, and ought to be changed. Underwriters are imposed upon by their own agents, the captains, and then they blame the wreckers and people of Key West. The latter, living as they do upon wrecks, and every one on the island being dependent upon them more or less as a means of subsistence, naturally work for their own interests in preference to that of others.

"He who censures a law or practice ought to be prepared to point out some mode of redress. I will conclude this article by doing so.

"In the first place, the underwriters should have a vessel or two on the reef, or a small steamboat would answer better. These crafts should be constantly going from one end of the reef to the other, and while one was scouring the lower portion, the other should be on the upper. They should all have lights at night at their mast-heads, which could be distinguished from the lighthouses, when not under way; their moving when sailing would be a sufficient notice that they were other lights than that of the beacon; in cases of fog, let them toll a bell or fire guns occasionally. objection to its employment. This is, indeed, many a noble ship would not now be lying in

The expense of a steamboat is raised as an penny wise and pound foolish. The ribs of Rotten Row,' at Key West, could a steam

boat have been procured to haul her off when she was but slightly on the rocks. Nine times out of ten, ships and cargoes that are made total losses might be saved by a steamboat taking off her deck load, and hauling her off by her steam-power. Again, in cases of wrecks, the steamboat, if strongly constructed, could lay alongside as well as a sloop or schooner, if not better, and she might take off her cargo and carry it on shore six times where a wrecker could once; and in case a vessel was ashore in a calm, then the steamboat could go when no sail vessel could. Small warehouses might be built on the islands, about five miles apart, where the goods could be safely stowed till all were out of the vessel, and then it need not be carried to Key West, as there is no necessity of adjudicating upon it; thus all this expense and sacrifice of property, which is very great, might be saved. A steamboat, or two, would save in this way to the underwriters annually from 200,000 to 300,000 or 400,000 dollars, and the cost would be a mere trifle compared with the expense of others, as the best of wood all along the coast is to be had for the cutting.

"Another remedy I would point out for the existing evils, is to make more ports of entry along the reef, and thus break up the Key West monopoly. One port might be made at Cayo Biscayno, and another at Indian Key. This would create competition, and one would watch the other with a jealous eye, and expose any improper conduct.

"Again, the judge of the court of admiralty should not be selected from among the lawyers of Key West, who have been for years acting for the wreckers, and received large fees from them. The connexion is too close between them, and the underwriters do not stand quite so good a chance.

"Never let your captains leave cases to arbitration on Key West; for ten to one the persons selected will be part secret owners of the wrecking vessels to whom they are going to award salvage; if not, then probably they have the supply of them, or they are otherwise too much interested to decide impartially.

"Establish an honest agent at Key West-send him there with a good salary, or else allow him a good per centage on the amount of all goods saved, after expenses are deducted; this will make it to his interest as well as his duty to oppose unnecessary expenses. Let there be established a board of underwriters, in case he has a salary to pay him, and let each insurance office pay the board in proportion to the losses they suffer.

"There is annually paid by the insurance offices about 6000 dollars for proctors' fees among the several lawyers. Concentrate this in one, and make him act as agent, then you will have an agent, and no additional expense.

"Have no property sold in Key West except perishable. Have it shipped to Havanna, Mobile, New Orleans, Texas, Charleston, Savannah, or wherever it may bring the most by a fair competition.

"Let the judge of the admiralty court reverse his practice, and give high salvage where a vessel is got off without damage to her and her goods, and low in proportion to the bad state they are saved in. This will make it to the interest of the wreckers to save vessel and cargo in as sound a condition as possible.

"Let the underwriters abolish the system of making owners pay for one-third repairs— this loses many a noble vessel that would otherwise be saved. Pay captains their wages, wreck or no wreck, where they have done their duty. Do not leave them to choose between starvation of their family and the wrecker's 'bonus.' So also with the sailors, do not cut off their wages, and so lose their services when most wanted. This is most miserable policy."

FOREIGN Trade of Florida from 1821 to 1843.

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VIII. ALABAMA.

ALABAMA is bounded on the north by Tennessee; east by Georgia; south by Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico; and west by Mississippi. It is between 30 deg. 10 min. and 35 deg. north latitude, and between 85 deg. and 88 deg. 30 min. west longitude, and between 8 deg. and 11 deg. 30 min. west longitude from Washington. It is 317 miles long from north to south, and 174 miles broad from east to west. Its area comprises about 46,000 square miles, or 28,160,000 British statute acres. The population, in 1810, was less than 10,000; in 1816, 29,683; in 1818, 70,544; in 1820, 127,901; in 1827, 244,041; in 1830, 308,997; in 1840, 590,756, of whom 253,532 were slaves. Free white males, 176,692; free white females, 158,493; free coloured males, 1030; free coloured females, 1009. Employed in agriculture, 177,439; in commerce, 2212; in manufactures and trades, 7195; navigating the ocean, 256; navigating canals, rivers, &c., 758; mining, 96; learned professions, 1514. It is divided into forty-nine counties, which, with their population, in 1840, and their capitals, were as follows: Northern District-Benton, 14,260, C. Jacksonville; Blount, 5570, C. Blountsville; Cherokee, 8773, C. Jefferson; De Kalb, 5929, C. Lebanon; Fayette, 6942, C. Fayette; Franklin, 14,270, C. Russellville; Jackson, 15,715, C. Bellefonte; Lauderdale, 14,485, C. Florence; Lawrence, 13,313, C. Moulton; Limestone, 14,374, C. Athens; Madison, 25,706, C. Huntsville; Marion, 5847, C. Pikeville; Marshall, 7553, C. Warrenton; Morgan, 9841, C. Somerville; Randolph, 4973, C. M'Donald; St. Clair, 5638, C. Ashville; Talladega, 12,587, C. Talladega. Southern District-Autauga, 14,342, C. Kingston; Baldwin, 2951, C. Blakeley; Barbour, 12,024, C. Clayton; Bibb, 8284, C. Centreville; Butler, 8685, C. Greenville; Chambers, 17,333, C. Lafayette; Clarke, 8640, C. Macon; Conecuh, 8197, C. Sparta; Coosa, 6995, C. Rockford; Covington, 2425, C. Montezuma; Dale, 7397, C. Daleville; Dallas, 25,199, C. Cahawba; Greene, 24,024, C. Erie; Henry, 5787, C. Abbeville; Jefferson, 7131, C. Elyton; Lowndes, 19,539, C. Haynesville; Macon, 11,247, C. Tuskegee; Marengo, 17,264, C. Linden; Mobile, 18,741, C. Mobile; Monroe, 10,680, C. Monroeville; Montgomery, 24,574, C. Montgomery; Perry, 19,086, C. Marion; Pickens, 17,118, C. Carrolton; Pike, 10,108, C. Troy; Russell, 13,513, C. Crocketsville; Shelby, 6112, C. Columbiana; Sumter, 29,937, Č. Livingston; Tallapoosa, 6444, C. Dadeville; Tuscaloosa, 16,583, C. Tuscaloosa; Walker, 4032, C. Jasper; Washington, 5300, C. Barryton; Wilcox, 15,278, C. Barboursville.

Soil. The southern part of this state which borders on the Gulf of Mexico, for the space of fifty or sixty miles, is low and level, covered with pine, cypress, loblolly, and other trees. In the middle it is hilly, interspersed with prairies; in the north it is broken and somewhat mountainous. The soil in the southern part of the state is generally sandy and barren, but throughout a large part it is excellent. In the northern and middle sections, the natural growth is post, black and white oak, hickory, poplar, cedar, chesnut, pine, mulberry, &c. The Alleghany mountains terminate in the north-eastern section of Alabama, descending gradually from mountains to elevated hills which are succeeded by a low country. The climate in the southern part, and in the vicinity of the bottom land on the rivers, and near the muscle shoals in the Tennessee river, is unhealthy; but in the more elevated portions it is salubrious. The winters are mild, the streams being rarely frozen, and the heat of summer is tempered by refreshing breezes from the Gulf of Mexico. -U. S. Gaz.

Productions.-Cotton is the staple production of the state; but Indian corn, rice, wheat, oats, &c., are produced. Iron ore is found in various parts of the state, and coal abounds on the Black Warrior and Cahawba rivers.

Live Stock and Produce.-There were in this state, in 1840, 143,147 horses and mules; 668,018 neat cattle; 163,243 sheep; 1,423,873 swine; poultry to the value of 404,994 dollars. There were produced 828,052 bushels of wheat; 7692 bushels of barley; 1,406,353 bushels of oats; 51,008 bushels of rye; 30,947,004 bushels of Indian corn; 220,353 lbs. of wool; 25,226 lbs. of wax; 1,708,356 bushels of potatoes; 12,718 tons of hay; 273,302 lbs. of tobacco; 149,019 lbs. of rice; 117,138,823 lbs. of cotton; 1592 lbs. of silk cocoons; 10,143 lbs. of sugar. The products of the dairy were valued at 265,200 dollars; and of the orchard at 55,240 dollars; of lumber at 169,008 dollars. There were made 117 gallons of wine.-Official Returns.

Trades.-There were fifty-one commercial and 101 commission houses engaged in foreign trade, with a capital of 3,355,012 dollars; 899 retail dry-goods and other stores, with a capital of 5,642,885 dollars; seventy-three persons employed in the lumber trade, and a capital of 1800 dollars; forty-nine persons engaged in internal transportation, who, with fifty-seven butchers, packers, and employed a capital of 93,370 dollars.-Official Returns.

Home-made, or family manufactures amounted in value to 1,656,119 dollars. There were fourteen cotton manufactories, with 1502 spindles, employing eighty-two persons, producing articles to the value of 17,547 dollars, and employing a capital of 35,575 dollars; one furnace producing thirty tons of cast iron, and five forges producing seventy-five tons of bar iron, the whole employing thirty persons, and a capital of 9500 dollars; thirty-one persons manufactured hats and caps to the value of 8210 dollars; 142 tanneries employed 300 persons, and a capital of 147,463 dollars; 137 manufactories of leather, as saddleries, &c., produced articles to the value of 180,152 dollars, and employed a capital of 58,332 dollars; fifteen persons produced confectionary to the value of 13,800 dollars, with a capital of 6120 dollars; forty-seven persons produced gold to the value of 61,230 dollars, with a capital of 1000 dollars; four persons produced drugs and paints to the value of 16,600 dollars, with a capital of 16,000 dollars; ninety-six persons produced machinery to the value of 131,825 dollars; forty-one persons produced hardware and cutlery to the value of 13,875 dollars; twenty persons manufactured four cannon, and 428 small-arms; seven persons manufactured the precious metals to the value of 1650 dollars; seventeen persons manufactured granite and marble to the value of 7311 dollars; 264 persons produced bricks and lime to the value of 91,326 dollars, with a capital of 95,370 dollars; 235 persons manufactured carriages and waggons to the value of 88,891 dollars, employing a capital of 49,074 dollars; 188 distilleries produced 127,230 gallons, and seven breweries produced 200 gallons, employing 220 persons, and a capital of 34,212 dollars; fifty-one flouring mills produced 23,664 barrels of flour, and with other mills, employed 1386 persons, manufacturing articles to the value of 1,225,425 dollars, and employing a capital of 1,413,107 dollars; fifty-three persons produced furniture to the value of 41,671 dollars, and employed a capital of 18,430 dollars; sixty-seven brick or stone houses, and 472 wooden houses employed 882 persons, and cost 739,871 dollars; twenty-two printing-offices, one bindery, three daily, one semi-weekly, and twenty-four weekly newspapers, employed 105 persons, and a capital of 98,100 dollars. The whole amount of capital employed in manufactures was 2,130,064 dollars.-Official Returns.

Rivers. The Mobile is the principal river in the state. It is formed by the union of the Tombigbee and the Alabama, forty miles above the city of Mobile. The Alabama is a large river, and is navigable for vessels drawing six feet of water to Claiborne, sixty miles above its junction; 150 miles further to the mouth of the Cahawba, it has four or five feet of water; and to the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa, of which it is formed, it has, in its shallowest places, three feet of water. The Tombigbee is navigable for schooners 120 miles to St. Stephens, and for steamboats to Columbus, Mississippi. It is 450 miles long, and boatable for a greater part of its course. The Black Warrior forms a large branch of it, and is navigable to Tuscaloosa. The Chatahoochee river forms a part of the eastern boundary of the state; and the Tennessee runs through the northern part. Alabama has only sixty miles of sea coast. But this includes Mobile bay, which is thirty miles long, and from three to eighteen miles broad.-U. S. Gaz.

Mobile, on the west side of Mobile bay, is the most commercial place in the state, and has an extensive trade, particularly in cotton. The other principal places are St. Stephens. Tuscaloosa, Cahawba, Montgomery, Wetumpka, Florence, and Huntsville.

Education. The University of Alabama, at Tuscaloosa, was founded in 1820, has been liberally endowed by the state, and is a flourishing institution. La Grange college, in the county of Franklin, was founded in 1830. In these institutions there were, in 1840, 152 students. There were in the state 114 academies and grammar schools, with 5018 students; and 639 common and primary schools, with 16,243 scholars. There were 22,592 free white persons over twenty years of age, who could neither read nor write.-U. S. Gaz.

Religion.-In 1835, the Baptists had 250 churches, 109 ministers, and 11,445 communicants; the Methodists had sixty ministers and 13,845 communicants; the Presbyterians had forty-five churches, twenty-nine ministers, and 2268 communicants. The Roman Catholics had one bishop and five ministers; and the Episcopalians had seven ministers.

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