trenchment, when the purchases of goods are diminished, it shows a large inward current of specie. In 1851, California supplied a good deal of gold at that point, but changed direction after the establishment of a mint at San Francisco, and the receipts of specie were small at New Orleans in 1855-a speculative year. They became large with the panic year, and continued so till 1861, when the city, joining in the Rebellion, the branch mint was discontinued, and has not since been re-established. While New Orleans thus expanded its trade, and grew in wealth under the influence of western production, the proportion that it enjoyed was by no means the largest. Each Atlantic city had made efforts to obtain a share, and, with more or less success, Canada sought to attract it down the St. Lawrence. New York built two railroads to aid the canals in connecting the lakes with tide water. Boston formed a connection with the Hudson river, and another with the lakes at Ogdensburgh. Philadelphia improved its hold on Pittsburg. Baltimore thrust out its iron arm to Wheeling, and all these offered inducements to trade. The number of tons moved one mile during given years in each shows the progress of trade: Erie canal, 1840. New York canals, 1869. Tons. 919,153,611 New York Central railroad, 1869. .2,179,419.726 Increase in tonnage,...... Tons. a century later, viz.: in 1783, when its population was nearly 16,000. The commerce of Charleston is not extensive, but its facilities for internal communications are large, and enjoys the trade of the whole state, together with much of that of North Carolina and Georgia. A canal, twenty-two miles long, connects the Cooper with the Santee river. It has a fleet of steamboats that are running to the neighboring cities, and several lines of packets running to New York regularly. Its most important connection is, however, the South Carolina railroad, running 136 miles to Hamburg, on the Savannah river, opposite Augusta, Georgia. The population and business have been as follows: 1870, 48,956 The importations have decreased and the export also, in consequence of the business depression which followed the war, and from which the city is now slowly recovering. BALTIMORE was laid out as a town, by Roman Catholics, in 1729, and up to 1765 it contained but fifty houses. The persua sion of the founders still predominates. It 812,016,346 is situated on the Patapsco river, fourteen miles from Chesapeake bay, and two hundred 817,829,190 2.211,402,527 miles from the ocean. The harbor is a very 1,899,386,181 fine one. The city enjoys great facilities for commerce, and possesses the trade of MaryThe valuation of this tonnage is nearly land and part of Pennsylvania, while it has $350,000,000 per annum, and this affords an of late obtained a good share of that of the indication only of the wealth which has western states. It was the great tobacco passed eastward. Thus, in 1840, the value of market of the country, but Richmond now western produce, that found market by New rivals it in that respect. As a flour market, Orleans and the Erie canal, was $51,000,000; it has few equals. The building of railroads in 1858, it was nearly $400,000,000, or an to connect with the interior has greatly proincrease ten-fold, and on this mainly has moted the city trade, which has progressed the prosperity of the eastern cities depended. as follows:The exports of the southern ports have grown mostly with the direct export of cotton, and those at the north have added gradually food and manufactures thereto. The general course of trade has been to centralize imports in New York. CHARLESTON Owes its origin to a stock similar to that of New England, since a colony of French Huguenots, flying from persecution, settled there in 1690. It was Population. Imports. 1790, 13,503 $6,018,500 Exports. $2,239,691 1800, 26,514 12,264,331 1810, 46,555 6,489,018 The importations have been usually fol not chartered as a city, however, until nearly lowed with increase in exports, but 1870 was an exception in consequence of the the Union. The census of 1870 showed a Franco-German war, which cut off the Eu- population of 674,022. The manufacturing ropean demand for tobacco. industry of Philadelphia has increased in a PHILADELPHIA, at the close of the last cen- remarkable ratio. In 1845 the capital em.tury,was the first city of America, and though ployed in the city proper was $18,000,000, it has not ceased to expand since that time, the production $21,000,000, and of the yet New York, by force of natural advanta- neighborhood $33,000,000. ges, has come to exceed it as a commercial In 1870 the capital invested in the various city. Its resources for manufacturing are industries was given at $205,564,238,employsuch, however, as to have given it a high ing 119,532 hands, and producing $251,663,rank in the interior trade of the country. 921 of annual value. In the vicinity the amount The water-power of the neighborhood is very is $47,500,000 additional. These figures deimportant, and rails and canals give it com- note that Philadelphia is probably the greatmand of limitless supplies of raw materials, est manufacturing city of the Union, and coal and iron in particular. The position of will continue to grow in that direction by the city was early improved by the construc- the force of the same influences which tend tion of canals to the extent of 336 miles, at to give New York the commercial prepona cost of $24,000,000; and seven lines, com- derance. The trade of the city is on a grand posed of 12 railroads, of 567 miles in length, scale, and second to none in the world for radiated to every point of the compass, hav- magnitude of operations, or successful method ing cost $53,716,201. The canals and roads in conducting them. A leading store of that have swollen the coal receipts of Philadelphia city is a model of mercantile method. Each from 365 tons in 1820, to more than 10,000,- department in the store is alphabetically 000 tons in 1870, valued at $35,000,000 designated. The shelves and rows of goods per annum. The population and external in each department are numbered, and upon trade of Philadelphia have been as follows:- the tag attached to the goods is marked the Population. Imports. Exports. Total valuation, letter of the department, the number of the shelf, and row on that shelf to which such piece of goods belongs. The cashier receives a certain sum extra per week, and he is res ponsible for all worthless money received. Books are kept, in which the sales of each clerk are entered for the day, and the salary of the clerk cast, as a per-centage on cach day, week, and year, and, at the foot of the page, the aggregate of the sales appears, and the per-centage that it has cost to effect these sales is easily calculated for each day, month, or year. The counters are desig nated by an imaginary color, as the blue, green, brown, etc., counter. The yard-sticks and counter-brush belonging to it are painted to correspond with the imaginary color of the counter; so by a very simple arrangement, each of these necessaries is kept where it belongs; and should any be missing, the faulty clerks are easily known. 1684, 2,500 179), 42,520 $3,436,893 1820, 1840, 108,116 $8,158,922 5,748,549 8,841,599 1850, 408,762 12,066,154 4,501,606 $40,487,289 99,821,881 12,892,215 6,036,411 155,697,669 17,355,825 16,649,828 507,987,900 The city of Philadelphia was first settled in 1627 by the Swedes, but was regulated and laid out in 1682 according to the views of William Penn, and its population in 1684 was 2,500. The city is one hundred miles from the ocean, eighty-seven miles from New York, and 130 miles from Washington. It is five miles from the junction of the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers, extending from one to the other, and its harbor is on the Delaware, or eastern side. Vessels drawing more than twenty feet water cannot reach Philadelphia, and the navigation for large ships below is a little difficult. Pilots take inward bound ships at sea. These circumstances have aided to give Philadelphia, a moderate foreign commerce as compared with the commanding harbor of New York. But if the foreign commerce of Philadelphia is moderate, owing to physical difficulties, the internal commerce, from sales of manufactures and goods imported at New York, is very large-and the real growth of the city is indicated by her external trade less than that of, perhaps, any other city of All wrapping paper coming into the store is immediately taken to a counter in the basement, where a lad attends with a pair of shears, whose duty it is to cut the paper into pieces to correspond with the size of the parcels sold at the different departments, to which he sees that it is transferred. All pieces too small for this, even to the smallest scraps, are by him put into a sack, and what is usually thrown away by our merchants, |