COMMERCIAL.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15463, 16 December 1915, Page 9

COMMERCIAL.

(By Cable.—Press Association.—Copyright.) SHARES. LONDON, December 14. Bank of Australasia. £103 3s; Bank of New South "Wales. £35 12s 6d ; Bank of Pictoria. '"3s 9d: Union Bank of Australia. £13 10s; National Hank of New Zealand. Pis 3d: Bank of Now Zealand. 192s 0d ; N.Z. Loan debentures, i.70; ordinary, £~S 10s. g* MBTALS. Conpoi—Snot, £7GJ2s Gd to £76 17s (3d: three months. £77 os to £77 10s. Tin—Cash, £103 3 S to £108 13s; three' months. £107 13s to £103 os. Pig-iron—73s fid. .. l^^ui—£2B 2* Gs to £27 10s. • .Spelter—£S3 to £73. - ARGENTINE MEAT SHIPMENTS. Argentine meat shioments during November wore: —Mutton. .'II,OOO earcases; laral). 11.030 carcases; frozen heei 192,009 quarters; chilled beef,; • (S.OJOO quarter--LONDON WOOL SALES. The wool sales are very animated at the recent advance. WHEAT. (lU-ccired December IGtli. 12.10 a.m.) LONDON. Decemlwr L"5. The visible supplies are 123,043.000 bushel". Chicago December options - arc quoted at 1181 to Hoi ecuts. and . jiay at 119 ito lloi cents. Australian wheat-sellers liavo withdrawn from the market for a reason not •;iven. Considerable astonishment has been expressed at their action in view ©f tho excellent prices obtained now and the prospect of heavy competition shortly with the Argentine, which is wepected to have sixteen million quarters for export. The general market is firm, and there is a /rood enquiry for wheat and flour for the Mediterranean, jrhich North America, is filling. LAND SALES. " WALMAKAMA ESTATE. METHVEN. Tho Waintarama Estate at Me.thven, containing 3310 acres, the property oi' the Deans family, was submitted' for sale by auction yesterday at Dalgcty's . land room, Mr W. D. "Stewart being the auctioneer. Tho property was divided into seven lots, and every Jot wes fold at very good prices. The total purrhase monev obtained for the cs- • tato -fas £70.330 lon. Tho terms oft fcred were: —Fire per cent cash, 10 per . cent, on March Ist. when possession is „ given, and the balance on March Ist, "JO2l. interest at 3 per cent. Details of , the sale are as"follows:— Price Total jirr purchas* «er<>. money 'Lot. Arrv. £ n. £ Purchaser. 1 FOO ;>.'? !0 IS.SOO J. F. Siono 2 S.r. 24 10 6,1*31 -T. Harrison 3 r'u 22 0 7,0*3 J.- Dowiiu-T - * XX •-'• 10 7,57-: i 11. W. Wight-nan . 5 ;3.> CO 0 10,100 J. Geddos 6 4P.> 1* 15 0.093J J. 11. .Slowart 7 745 2J 0 11.020 ilrg K. Fit=siaimons Tola! r-urclasc , money .. £76,3Cti 13a \ STROYVAN ESTATE. Toe woll-known Strowan estate on Papanui road, the property of the trustees of the late. Mr Geo. C. Stead, \ wag submitted for sale by auction by Mr. Charles Clark yesterday afternoon. Tie property, which contains 29 acres, on Papanni and Norman's .' roads, with n largo hbu.se- and outbuild- . ings. was submitted first as a whole,

"'■■'.'. and then in two lots, the residence and ■>'.; autbuildinss. with the garden grounds, and the balance of tho land. There were not inany present at the sale, and nobody seemed inclined' to buy. for no ; jffers wore received. ; , , XEW SOUTH WALES. HALT-YEARLY MEETING. The half-yearly meeting of the Bank si -»«*". csjuiu Wales was held at Syilusr.y on I'iiaay, .Norember iotn, iao I'-csiucut ot ii,o bank, tn© Hon. t>ir ciiiirlos K. Alaekeltar, At., M.L.C., m i«>i cbair. j no" director' report for ■ UK six months ended ■ ftJeptemucr 3(ttu boowed act profit of to , vhich, being audod, £105,133 brought ■ j torwiud, made £30(j,060 available lor olnributiout The directors had already paid a quarterly dividend at the rate or 10 per cent, per annum, ab- , eorbing £67,(500, aud leaving £24t*,5uC. is 'ilifey recommended another quarterly dividend at the same rate, absorbing a further £57,000, tho augmentation of. ' the reserve iund by £50,0C0, and the ~ carrying forward of £111,U6G. In moving the adoption of tho report and • balance-sheet, tho chairman said there • -had been a very large general in-.-trcase iu the sum total of tne liabilities - ; l «id assets. That, for the most part, '•arose cither directly or indirectly from the financial operations of the war, and was to a largo cxtent_ of a temporary ;' nature. There had "Been a conipara- , tircly small increase of about £82,000 m tho noto circulation in New Zealand, r vaero the note issues of the ordinary > banks still survived as a- tegular poison of Iho currency of tho Dominion, * aiuf were doing useful work in connexion with tho financial needs of that ,W«atry arising out of tho war. Tho deposits were nearly £3,500,000 higher . than last year. Of that increase, £3,000,000 accrued between Septcrnbei, 1814, and March, 1915. and the rest bo tweeu last half year and the present date. The Government deposits 'were - higher Chan usual. The local advances showed a decrease in tho year of ~ £1,473,000. Tho bank had met, and > * "would continue to meet, all legitimate trade and country requirements, but tho fact was that those requirements nad been curtailed owing to the war. - ,• The practical outeomo, however, of tho H feat's operations had been to transfer o«r lending, from ordinary business to , «[ar purposes in tho shapo of Government \V7ir Loans, with tho Tcsult that t toe earning power remained unimpaired. The Board had decided to - again bring before shareholders proposals for a further increase of tho \-anital t<> £4,000,000, by tho issue of £500,000 of new shares, to be distributed to shareholders on u pro rata « basis at par. It was iptended that the *e*" capiui should be invested in tho . Federal War. Loan. While Australia t had been divided between good and bad seasons, New Zealand had hod a very * prosperous time, and her exports showed a Tery large surplus over her imports. Speaking generally so far as the bank i«elf was concerned, the bank's busiiww was so well spread throughout ' Anitralasia arid London that the average, of the whole, even under adverse * seasonal conditions, worked out satis- ' factorily. The staff of the bank, in common with those of other banks, had T«porided very fully to tho tall for serT i« in the forces which had been sent to the seat of war. Already 333 of the bank's staff had enlisted, and it *as probable that when applications in hand could be dealt with, the numbers would reach 400. A certain amount ~, "f •, extra work fell on thosA who remained behind. but all were lovally resoondinfr to the °iu s wnirn naf l keen made upon tbern. He regretted to state that of • Jus or-n str.ff. num-s of twenty au- " T£ arftr *. among the killed, one. • anions tho -nixing, and eleven among the wounded. NAPIER WOOL SALE?. r <>tSEBS' ASSOCIATION' TELECBAM.I • . - NAPIER. December 13. ;.. Bidding was very spirited at the. De- • won ' sa^es ' ' lo 'd to-dsy. Ameri- " *»rryind Bradford buyers operated uxtonsVely. tho latter bidding more freely «, than at the November sales, while the v /former were not so keen. The cata-

'°Suc comprised 15.683 bales, as against i»,J64 last year, the drop being due to showers and private sales. Taken all round, the woll was not quite equal in condition to that offered last rear, the drought having had an effect upon the Maple. Many well-known clips were not included in the catalogue, owners baying taken advantage of the high prices offering privatclv. In some cases wool realised Jd to Id above brokers' reserves, whereas pieces and bellies brought from ]d to 2»d above reserves. Competition was vcrv limited, but the major portion of tho catalogue was disposed of, although some lots that did not reach vendors' reserves were passed in. Prices were practicallv on a par with the November rates, "but pieces and bellies sold at an advance. *On account of the lack of keenness in tho American demand, there was a drop of 2d in the finer wools, but in Bradford classes there was a slight rise. Continental buyers operated freelv for the descriptions they required. Fine crossbreds ranged from l.jjd to 17£ d and there was keen competition up to' 1/d. These prices arc id to Id below the November sales, but Gd to 6sd above last December sale rates. Medium cios<breds sold at 14id to 16d, Jd to i<\ above November rates, and 3d to o\d above those ruling in las't. Coarse crossbreds sold to. 13Jd. a halfpenny advance on November, and 4d to 4Jd on last December rates. There was a drop in inferior crossbreds compared with November, but pieces and bellies averaged appreciably. Locks made up to 81d. an<! lambs' wool to 13Jd. A record price of lGd per ib wus obtained for three bales of nieces. BU RNSIDE~M Att KET. (t'KESS ASSOCIATION* TELKCIUIr.) DUNEDIN, Dec-ember 13. At Burr.side, 130 fat tattle wero yarded. Tho demand was slow, and prices were 13s below last week's rates] Host bullocks made £13 10s to £17, extra to £13 2« Gd, medium JUI2 10s to £13 10s, others to £11 10s; best cows and heifers £9 13s to £11, extra t'» £13 12s td, medium £7 .13* to £3 10?. Eat iShccp.—22o7 were yarded, including a few pens of extra heavy wothcr«. The yarding was in excess of. trade requirements. Prices for primo sheep wore 2s lower, and for medium 3s lower. Best shorn wethers made 2I» Gd to 26s Gd, extra to 33s 3d. medium 20s to 235, light and unfinished 17s Gd to 10s, best shorn ewes 21s to 235, extra to 31s Gd, medium IGs to ISs. best woolly wethers to 2os, best woolly ewes to 275, extra to 37b 3d.

1 at, Lanibs.—Thcro was a fair'yarding, 22/ being penned. . Prices were firm. Best mado 22> to 21s, medium 18s to IDs, others to 10s 6d.

JOHNSONVILLE STOCK SALE. (r-RESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) "WELLINGTON, December 13. At tho Johnsonville stock sales, a fair entry of prime cattle and sheep sold at tho following rates:—Prim© bullocks £10 15.5, lighter £13 1,5s to £10 2s Od. vcalers 21 s to 31s, prime heavy wethers 275, lighter 2fs 3d plain light 225, prime ewes 23s Gd, prime lambs l<s to 17s Gd, lighter IGs. NATIONAL BANK OF NEW ZEALAND. (rUC'S ASSOCIATION T*fXSCBAM.) WELLINGTON, December 13. The general manager of the National Bank of New Zoaland has received a cable message from London advising that the board of directors has declared an interim dividend for the half-vear, to September 30th, at a rate of 12 per cent, per annum, which trill be paid in the Dominion on January 4th.

GEAII MEAT COMPANY. (press association telegram.) WELLINGTON, December 13 Tho annual meeting of the Gear Meat Company approved the directors' recommendations for the payment of a 10 per cent, dividend for the year (5 per # rent. -was paid in June), and a special dividend of 5 per cent. These absorbed £6900. The contribution of •£2OOO to the Wounded Soldier*' Fund was also confirmed, and £19.->lO carried forward. Mr TV. H. S. Moorhouse was re-elected to tho directorate, and Mr Allan Strang was appointed in the ylaco of tho late Mr Nicholas Herd CHKISTCHUBCII STOCK EXCHANGE. YESTERDAY'S TRANSACTIONS. Sale reported:—Kuiapoi Woollens, £5 5». QUOTATIONS. Buyer*. Sellers. is. d. £e. d. EANKS-- ! national"of N.Z. .. • 2 0 — IBHEAVEKIESMamiinc .. .. — 4 14 0 COAlrStockton .. ..053 — ; Stockton (S per cent. nrelcrenci;) .. 0 10 1 — TINANCIAI--Nationu] Mortsago .. 017 0 — MEATS— Canterbury (6 per cent. preference) .. 5 2 6 — JCI Chriatchurcb (i' 2 paid) .. ..326 — iirSCEI.LANEOUS— Mason, Strutters (Hs paid) .. .. — 0 11 6 ■ N.Z- Farmer*' Cooperatire 2 3 C 3 6 6 - Whitcombe and Tom'o* 515 0 — MIXING — . Waiht Grand Junction — I 0" 0 CAS— ■ Christchurch .. — 7 12 6 YESTEBDAY'S BUSINESS ON OTHER EXCHANGES. (PBIiSS ASSOCIATION TEI.EGSJLMS.) WELLINGTON. " Clo*inp miningrquotationa:—MurTav CreeV. buye-ri -'iSs: Murray CrecV, new, buyers 15s T>r?niiun>; Ross, buyers 7d : Succ* m b'iyer« 21« 3^: Talisman, buyers 16s, sellers 17s 6d; Waihi, buyers C€s 9d. DUNEDIN. Sn!* renorted:—New Z?a!and Drug Co., He Cd. 3IINI>vG. i ROSS GOLDFIELDS. (ritESS ASSOCIATION TKLECHiM.) • WELLINGTON, December 13. The Robs mine- manager reports for tba fortnisht ending Dei.«mber Otli, as follows:— Jfo. 2 East drive advanced 43 feet ir> wash payable for 2 feet below tho back laths. At the iac-s of No. 16 sotitli drive, on tbo £ar side o: tho clay Idrmntion, a rise was startfd, ar.d extended 12 leet in lov,* grado wash. At 655 feet. No. 17 north was commenced and extended 25 feet, the wgib varyin? from fair g-ade to parable at a depth of 3 feet. j |