SURVEYING MARKS ON THE FLORIDA REEF. The Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey has addressed the following official communication, containing some important information relating to surveying marks on the Florida Reef: COAST SURVEY OFFICE, WASHINGTON, May 16th, 1850. SIR:-In surveying the Florida coast, it has been found desirable and practicable to place signals upon the reefs, as they will serve as important marks to show these dangers, and unless removed by accident or design, are likely to be permanent for some considerable time. I am of opinion that it would subserve the interests of navigators to give notice of their position and character, and I would respectfully request authority to give publicity to the notice. Assistant Gerdes informs me that the steamers "Ohio" and "Georgia" have both already found these marks useful to them. 1. Á signal pole on “Turtle Reef,” bearing S. E. from Cæsar's Creek, 12 feet above the water, with braces 6 feet from the base, on the top, a thin cone-the upper half painted red, the lower white. 2. A signal on the "Pacific Reef," E. S. E. from Cæsar's Creek, of the same dimensions-the upper part of the cone painted white, the lower part red. 3. On "Ajax Reef," (commonly called the " Hay Jack Reef,”") bearing E. by N. from Cæsar's Creek, of the same dimensions-the upper part of the cone painted red, the lower white. 4. On “ Long Reef,” bearing E. of Elliott's Key, also of the same dimensions—the upper part of the cone painted white, the lower part red. Two beacons of similar dimensions were also put up on the "Triumph Reef," and of the "Flowey Rocks," but by some accident or design they were lately removed. Arrangements, however, have been made to have them replaced during the first calm weather, and their barings and character will be as follows: "Triumph Reef "-E. of Ragged Keys, painted red above, white below. Flowey Rocks"-S. W. from Soldier's Key, white above, and red below. It was attempted to place a signal or beacon on “Ledbury Reef,” but it was found impracticable. The following large signals and beacons were put up last year and recently :— "Sombrero Key"—36 feet high, barrel, braces 25 feet long. Looe Key"-38 feet high, barrel, braces 22 feet long; leans somewhat to the east. "West Sambo"-35 feet high, barrel, braces 25 feet long. "Sand Key-(astronomical station) 36 feet high, barrel, braces 26 feet long; the sides recently boarded up by Lieutenant Rodgers. "Eastern Dry Rocks"-near Sand Key; triangle, 18 feet poles. "Western Dry Rocks"-near Sand Key; 18 feet poles. "Middle Ground"-also near Sand Key; triangle, 22 feet poles; the E. and W. sides boarded up. Very respectfully, yours, A. D. BACHE, Superintendent of United States Coast Survey. Hon. W. M. MEREDITH, Secretary of the Treasury. LIGHT-HOUSE AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE OLD BAHAMA CHANNEL. From and after the 1st of May, 1850, a light will be exhibited at the entrance of the old Bahama Channel, at Cape Maternillos, Island of Cuba, from sunset to sunrise. The said light is situated in lat. 21° 39′ 39" N., lon. 70° 53′ 17′′ W., meridian of Cadiz, of the first-class of Fresnell," dioptrico," with rotary movement, eclipsing in alternate minutes. The light will be of natural color, elevated 190 feet above the level of the sea, giving 15 miles of tangent, so that it may be seen at greater or less distance, according to the state of the atmosphere and the elevation of the observer. SHOAL IN MOZAMBIQUE CHANNEL. Mr. White, of the bark “Pilot," at Salem, furnishes the following extract from his journal:-"Saturday, January 5th, at 74 A. M, passed over the end of a shoal, with not more than three fathoms on it-could see the bottom very distinctly, and at the same time saw several patches to windward, which looked much shoaler-should think the whole extent of the shoal to be 1 to 2 miles. It bears from Bassa de India N. W. by W. W., by compass, distance 35 miles, lies in lat. 21° 10' S., lon. 38° 57′ 30′′ E., and should consider it dangerous. JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE. CONDITION OF THE BANKS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. In the Merchants' Magazine for January, 1850, we published a table showing the condition of the banking institutions of the State of New York on the 1st of September, 1849; and in the April Lumber a similar table of their condition on the 29th of December, 1849, compiled from the Controller's usual quarterly statement. We now subjoin a similar statement, carefully compiled from the same official document, showing the condition of the same banks on the 30th of March, 1850:— Loans & Disco'nts, except to RESOURCES. Other Other $33,885,877 $17,488,110 $22,286,971 $10,273,656 $2,001,963 Grand Total. $85,936,577 5,181,591 Bonds and mortgages.. 150,022 34,311 528,577 326,921 109,650 2,423,717 59,902 3,745,579 2,913,184 Promissory notes, other than for loans and discounts... 12,931 23.207 257,265 293,403 553,568 Overdrafts. 21,567 3,965 73,834 55.527 Specie.... 5,091,580 1,763,833 558,263 267,825 Total resources......... $53,522,086 $28,707,288 $32,831,664 $21,284,985 $6,606,828 $142,952,851 Capital... LIABILITIES. $16,251,200 $10,489,145 $11.365,260 $7,754,859 $1,500,861 $47,361,325 131 Notes in cir'la'n, not regist'd 2,212,432 338,756 1,944,478 9,079,873 743,351 403,352 293,465 418,932 Total liabilities....................... $53,532,086 $28,707,288 $32,831,664 $21,284,985 $6,606,828 $142,952,851 SUMMARY OF THE ITEMS OF CAPITAL, CIRCULATION, AND DEPOSITS-SPECIE AND CASH ITEMS--PUBLIC SECURITIES, AND PRIVATE SECURITIES, OF THE BANKS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, ON THE MORNING OF THE 30TH DAY OF MARCH, 1850. No report was received from the Bank of Bainbridge. The Franklin County Bank and Warren County Bank have closed their affairs. CALIFORNIA GOLD AT THE UNITED STATES MINT. George W. Edelman, Accountant of the United States Mint, Philadelphia, has prepared a brief treatise, designed to answer the frequent inquiries made at the Mint respecting the general character of California gold, and its value per ounce Troy. It appears from Edelman that since December 8th, 1848, when the first deposit of gold from California was made at the Mint at Philadelphia, there have been presented for coinage 3,845 deposits, of the value of $11,420,000, the product of that country; 1,842 deposits, worth $5,550,000, during the first thirteen months, and the remainder, or 2,003 deposits, worth $5,870,000, since the first year. The following table shows the number of deposits of California gold presented at. the Mint for coinage from December 8th, 1848, to April 30th, 1850, with the fineness of each deposit:— Besides which, there were of a lower fineness than in the above list. And of a higher fineness Total...... It appears by the above table that seven-eights of all the deposits made in the Mint, from the commencement of the California business to the present period, show a variation in quality of only fifty cents per ounce Troy, the fineness ranging between 873+ thousandths and 898 thousandths. The average fineness of nearly all the California gold brought to the Mint is 886 thousandths: the flat spangles of the rivers, which bear a small proportion to the mass, average 895 thousandths. "The alloy of California gold, ordinarily, is wholly silver with a little iron." The iron and dirt or sand are removed by melting, occasioning an average loss in weight of about 3 per cent. If the grains have been cleansed by the magnet, the loss is reduced 3,814 19 12 3,845 to about 24 per cent; but if the grains are dampened or wet, the loss may rise to 4 per cent, or even higher. California gold is regarded as consisting of 995 parts of gold and silver in every 1,000 parts by weight, which renders it necessary to separate these metals before they are converted into coin. An allowance for the silver is made to the depositor, providing the quantity deposited is sufficiently large to yield five dollars, after paying the expenses of parting, as estimated according to the tariff of Mint charges fixed by the Director of the Mint, with the concurrence of the Secretary of the Treasury. According to law the standard gold of the United States is so constituted that in 1,000 parts by weight 900 shall be of pure gold, and 100 of an alloy composed of copper and silver: 387 ounces of pure gold are worth $8,000, and 99 ounces of pure silver are worth $128. THE BANK OF HAMBURG. The confusion arising out of the state and nature of the coinage throughout Germany, which prevailed at the commencement of the seventeenth century, was the cause of the establishment of the Bank of Hamburg. From the low value of some of the coins, and from the superabundance of others which were of no value at all, the imperial dollars, coined according to the standard fixed by the constitution of the German empire, grew every year more scarce, and the actual value of them became more fluctuating and uncertain; and, therefore, as these dollars were the money especially used in wholesale business and in the trade in bills of exchange, the merchants were thereby exposed to the greatest inconvenience, and experienced extreme difficulty in the proper transaction of their affairs. In order to obviate or remove a similar state of circumstances attending the coinage of the low countries, a bank has been established at Amsterdam in the year 1609, and the Committee of Merchants at Hamburg, being desirous of following such an example, addressed themselves to the Senate of that city about the year 1615, praying for the establishment of a Bank of Exchange, for the accommodation and benefit of the commercial interest. The Senate, without hesitation, acknowledged the propriety and suitableness of the proposal, and about four years subsequently, when the assembly of the citizens had definitívely given their consent to it, the Bank of Hamburg was es tablished. The principle upon which it was founded was, that a person who might deposit in the bank a thousand specie dollars of the empire, should be credited with the sum of a thousand and one dollars Banco; and further, that a person, who might be disposed to withdraw his deposits from the bank, should be paid at any time without reserve or delay, at the rate of one thousand imperial dollars in cash for 1,001 dollars Banco. The actual difference in the value set by the bank between the dollars deposited and withdrawn was, therefore, at the commencement absolutely inconsiderable, being only fiveeighths of a dollar per $1,000; and this margin arose simply in this way: that, inasmuch as the rate paid at the Bank of Amsterdam for the charges consequent on the deposit and withdrawal was one stiver for 1,000 florins, that to be paid at the Bank of Hamburg should be fixed at 1s. for 100 marks, which is also the same as 1-16 per centum or five-eighths per 1,000. According to the comprehensive and highly interesting work, " Ueber Hamburgs Handel, und Statistik des Hambergischen Handels"-by Adolph Soetbeer, published at Hamburg in 1846-the following appear to be the leading features in the constitution and regulations of the Hamburg Bank, at the present time: The Bank of Hamburg is a transfer deposit bank, the capital of which is composed of bars of fine silver. All Hamburg citizens who have been admitted to the superior grade of citizenship, and those members of the Jewish guilds who have paid to the City Chamber a sum of money corresponding in amount with the expenses of admission to that grade of citizenships, are privileged to become depositors in the bank. The capital of the bank is composed of the bullion which is deposited by the depositors, and which must consist of bars of silver of at least 15 ounces and 12 grains to the fine mark of the standard of Cologne. Any person who may be privileged to become a depositor in the bank, and who deposits silver in bars, has an account opened to his credit in the books of the bank, and every fine mark of the standard of Cologne deposited by him is estimated at the rate of 27 marks 10s. Hamburg Banco. An account may also be opened to the credit of a person privileged to become, by the transfer into his name by another person of the capital which the latter may have deposited in the bank; so that, however numerous the depositors' accounts in the books of the bank may be, the total amount of the silver bullion in the custody of the bank is equal to the total amount of the accounts of all the depositors. Whenever a depositor has to make a payment to another depositor, he has only to direct that the sum to be paid to him be written off or transferred from his own account, and be posted to the account of such other depositor, in the books of the bank. The peculiar expressions used for this purpose are "abschreiben," (to write off,) and "zuschreiben," (to write or post to.) This transfer from the account of one depositor to that of another is effected simply by the person who makes the transfer filling up a form called "Bankzettel,” (bank ticket,) which he delivers in person. The bank takes no concern respecting the genuineness of the depositors' signatures; the only thing it attends to is, that the depositors deliver in their bank tickets either in person or by an attorney especially appointed for the purpose. A person so appointed to act as an attorney cannot depute another person to act for him; indeed, it is requisite in his case, that, at the commencement of every year, the power by which he has been appointed to act be renewed personally at the bank by the depositor who has appointed him. It is a rule that no transfer shall be made from the account of one depositor to that of another for a smaller sum than 100 marks Hamburg Banco. No depositor is privileged to transfer more than the amount which stands to his credit, nor can he transfer any sum which has not stood to his credit at least for one day. Early every morning, except on Sundays and holidays, depositors may send to the bank to inquire whether any and what sums have been posted to their accounts on the day previous, and for a small consideration, to be paid to the book-keepers, they may receive that information every evening. By this simple process of writing off or transferring an amount of money from the account of depositor to that of another, Hamburg possesses the safest and easiest currency; for as long as any silver bullion remains in the custody of the bank to the credit of any depositor, so long can payments, corresponding thereto in amount, be made from the account of that depositor to the account of another depositor, according to the will of the owner. Sums, which it would be tedious to calculate, are thus transferred by means of a few strokes of the pen; and, as the bank is responsible for the correctness of the payments which are made by it, there need be no fear respecting error, counterfeit coins, or spurious notes; and all receipts for bills and accounts referring to payments which have been made by the bank are, therefore, rendered unnecessary. Depositors who are desirous of withdrawing, in silver bullion, the whole or any part of the amount standing to their credit, may do so at any time, when they will receive the sum in bars of silver, estimated at the rate of 27 marks and 12 schillings banco for the fine mark at Cologne. The amount of the balance standing to the credit of each depositor, and the sums I written off from and carried to his account from time to time, are never divulged. Not only the superintendent of the bank, but also the clerks and book-keepers, are sworn to the most scrupulous secrecy; so that a depositor cannot obtain any information respecting the account of another depositor, but only respecting his own. The Government of Hamburg is never allowed, under any circumstances whatever, to interfere with, or make any disposition of, the whole or any portion of the funds of the bank, as the administration of them is altogether independent of the Goverment, the establishment being subject only to the supervision of the State. The above are the leading features in the constitution and regulations of the Hamburg Bank, and the following are the fundamental principles on which it is based :— 1. The funds of the bank being composed of fine silver, the immutability of those funds is secured. 2. The regulation requiring the personal attendance of a depositor, or his attorney, specially appointed, for the purpose of transferring sums from one account to another in the bank's books, ensures correctness in effecting such transfers. 3. As a depositor is not allowed to transfer any sum which has not stood at least twenty-four hours to his account, great regularity and accuracy are secured. 4. By the state of each depositor's account, and the operations effected in it, being entirely confidential, the unrestricted use of the bank is furthered and encouraged; and |