ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10482, 21 October 1899, Page 4

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

(FROM OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, September 1. Trom the report of the Government Laboratory for the year ended March 31st, 1899, it appears that of the 1083 samples of butter examined only two were found to be adulterated, as against twenty-five last year and forty-six tbe year before. One important point brought out by these careful analyses is tbat the supposed adulteration in some cases is traceable to the cow herself! Not that tbat patient animal purposely attempts to evade the law on the subject, but it is now shown tbat the milk of cattle fed on cotton cake contains the characteristic constituents j of cotton-seed oil The Danish and Scandinavian butter examined was entirely free from boric preservatives, but that from France, Holland, New Zealand and Australia contained these. The use of colouring matter derived from coal tar seems to be most prevalent in the United States, but it is also met with in samples from Holland. Most of the margarine contained cotton-seed oil, boric preservative, and aniline colouring' matters. Samples of cream imported from Holland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden were examined at the instance of the Local Government Board, and all found to be genuine. Penny postage was extended to the Capo of Good Hope in time for this week's mail. A Postmaster-General's notice, dated last Tuesday says: On and after tbe Ist September next the postage to foe prepaid on letters from this country for the Cape of Good Hope will be Id per £oz, instead of 2_d as at present. The postage on letters for the Australian colonies, New Zealand and Rhodesia, the Postmaster-General adds, however, will continue to be 2_d per £oz. These, he says, are now the only British possessions of importance which have not adopted the penny postage scheme. "When will they be brought into line?' asks the j "Daily News." Recently when I was looking at the workshops of one of our great railways, I was j told by the Locomotive Engineer-in-Chief that he used a large quantity of New Zea- j land kauri timber now for the sides and ' backs of the new carriages he built. He; found the kauri wood peculiarly adapted to that kind of use, as it was easily worked, and looked well, either merely dressed, or varnished, or French polished. He said ulso that he experienced no difficulty at all in obtaining an abundant supply of the kauri timber at a very reasonable price- He

intended to extend "further the employment of kauri in the construction of railway carriages, waggons, etc. While the importation of stud sheep, cattle and horses from this country to New Zealand and Australia has been undoubtedly Targe, that to the Argentine has been far in excess of it. I spoke of this fact a few chy-agotoadtyfreendwho has had a great deal to do with -ending out cattle to the Argentine and South Africa, as well as to New Zealand and Australia. He in turn gave mc some interesting reasons for this, and as he has just completed a'shipment of stud stock to South Africa he was in a ■*ood position to speak on the subject. My Triead informed mc that the present freight for cattle to Australasia is about 33 guineas par head, plus fodder and .the erection of „H necessary boxes on tbe ship. The latter costing from £7 to £10, would bring the total charge from £40 to £.5 per head. To Sooth Africa, this week, cat _kj>were •hipped at an inclusive charge of 25 guineas/ I pointed out the difference in the length »f the journeys, but my friend maintained that the Au-tralasian charge was still altogether out of proportion, seeing that the 25 guineas included everything. The cattle referred to were sent to Natal by the s.s. Umvoti, which took out horses at 31 guineas, ond sheep at 5£ guineas per head, inclusive of all charges. . On Wednesday last an inaugural luncheon 1 waa given by _t_e__rs Ismay, Imrie and Co., of the White Star Line, on board their magnificent new steamship. Oceanic, which leaves for New York to-morrow on her maiden trip across the Atlantic. Messrs Ismay, Imrie and Company courteously sent! mc an invitation to ba present as manager j of the New Zealand Associated Press. Although I could not spare the time to attend in perßon I had a very efficient substitute who _ac sent mc ail particular-. As, however, I sent you a full account of tbe Oceanic on the occasion of her launching, and as the proceedings co_-i_tod virtually in a length- : ened inspection oi tbe vessel and a capital luncheon on board, the two speeches being j limited to a few words each, it is not neces-: sary to occupy your space with this topic. : I may just add that although it is pointedly stated that the Oceanic has not been designed to break any speed . records, but simply to furnish a record in the way of comfcit, capacity and punctuality, competent judges assure mc tbat she possesses capabili-: ties in the way of speed far greater than; outsiders have any idea of," and'those who ■ should know best tell mc that when the rime j arrive- to put forth her f uH. powers, that I la to say -when she gets into thorough work- * tag order by making two or three voyages, j and «o testing herself by degrees, she will I ba able, should this be desired, to ______ j .at f_lly 25 kaota, if not ____•. It may give j

I New Zealanders soma idea of her colossal j size when I mention that she is considerably' more than double the tonnage of either the' t Gothic or the Delphic. In fact, she is two-' and-a-haif times the size of the Gothic. An attempt is being made by the/Rev.! Isaa«;.Zachari__i, who is now on a visit to' LondonTto introduce into this country frozen "koshejr" meat £pm New Zealand. He has already. coiilerred with Dr. Adler, Chief Rabbi of the London Synagogue, on this subject, but so far has not met with much success, Dr. Adler declaring that there was in abundance oi "kosher" me.t to bo ob- | tamed in this city. In reply to this Mr Zachariah pointed out that while that might be the case, the fact remained that its price was so high as to be out of reach of the poorer members of their community, and his idea was to introduce the cheaper priced New Zealand meat, which might be available for those who were not in a position to afford the high priced English "kosher" mutton. The matter is now under consideration. j