COMMERCIAL.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16848, 31 May 1920, Page 9

COMMERCIAL.

English markets. T „ Picfs Association —Copyright.) *■ \ r'v.Z. Cable Association.) Jisv p.m.) !' LONDON, May 20. (Y.tton —June T.icsecd 'i'ii-ner.tn'.o T-bber—Para 25id, plantation 24 3 d. smoked "'"i'emp—Tbc> market is reflected. Febraarymarket i-=. quiet. May-June ship- j ') i'V? i.'o*S . j "' (.\>'ira. May-July shipment ,£SB 103 (nomiBRADFORD "WOOL SALES. 'lb.-coi-fl Mav .-.oth. 3.a n.m.) ' " ' LONDON, May 23. At foe Bradford -wool sales there was a n;*'c:'--?.te a'.t?r.dancc. Average Bradford jmmbirrs v/ci - "" irregular, but slightly auove 'Liverpool iv.'e=. Faulty -merinos end croest reds' wen mostly withdrawu. ?L\XCii::~TA XT) WOOL SALES. (United Service.) tKwivcd Mav "l?t. 12.25 a.m.) . LOXDOX, May 2a. The "Yorkshire Observer" states that an ftTort :' V'>™ v:n:le in Manchester to start -•■or". «. !--■ the dock warehouses at Old r<-T>bcir>g the Liverpool aucI- poict'-l out that Manchester r !Ter> v.'<>oi ?hips numerous chances of proi• t-.to buck 10..-:lri:'. Ar. experiment is a3•so i.eiraa.-i - nt present with iho establishin,' o: a and distributing centre at J'ul!. Whether it will be continued eftnr t;:.- Cl-jvernnvnt s«k-n are •■oiT'pleted depends on the- : <;i the L!r jd:o:d trade. JAPANESE FINANCIAL CRISIS. t TOKIO, May 27. T.volve branches of the Seventy-fourth Butti, Yokohama, :ir.d the Yokohama Savings Bank. have suspended payment. The former ir.ctj'ution is heavily interested in eilk and cotton transaction;;. BUTTER AND CHEESE. LOXDpX. May 28. There ii a crowing belief in the produce frndo that the Government will purchase n«-vt pea?on's output of Australian and X'ew Z';jii"nd butler and cheese. XEW SOUTH "WALES LOAX. <Kc'.er->:d Mav 30 tb, 5.5 p.m.) SYDNEY, May 30. T]> to date the subscriptions to the State Io:in of £2,000,000 total £513,600. IMPERIAL "WOOL CONTRACT. SYDNEY, May 29. Sir Arthur Goldfinch, Director of Raw Materials, in cabling to th> Graziers' Association a grateful acknowledgment of the i letter's approval of Iho Imperial wool con- ! Iracl. adds: "The English administrative charges aro less than one-fifth of olio per cent. The sales are a record of economy." TATTEHS ALL'S HORSE SALE. Messrs JL Matsou aud Co. it ad an entry cf ->S horses on Saturday, tho very inclement weather being responsible for a good many onirics not coming forward. The attendance was iar-c, and when any useful draughts were being 1 offered the demand was good, but aged and unsound horses Jacked competition. Among tho salt's made were:- For X. Cunningham (Auckland), trotting 1 gelding Trooper Dillon, £150: H. Cassidy (Springfield), thoroughbred gelding Plastic, £'37; E. E. Jenkins (Dunsandelj, aged marc.' £24 10s; A. Stewart (Kaikoura), 6-vear-old maro £41, 5-year-old mare £33 10s, aged gelding £18; 11. Painter (Sydenham), aged mare £3 10s; F. W. Priest (Papnnui), harness maro £8; F. -•I Vvi,iieheud (Auckland), trotting maro Lady Child £22, 'J-year-old gelding £23, yearliuir colt £23; T. Standon (Burwood), 6-year-old peldiug £12, dogcart £17, harness £6; H. Butcher (Broadfields). 6-vcar-old snare £13 10s: client, 7-year-old gelding £10. Aged harness horses sold at lato'" rates. PIGS AND POULTRY. At the As hour ton stock an* produco sale 01! Saturday heno made 4s, roosters 5s 9d, and ducks 83 7d per pair. Fat pigs made £G 10s, porkers 795, and weaners 295. THE PROPERTY MARKET. Pyne, Gould, Guiuncs3, Ltd., conductcd a | eale of rural land at Ashburton. on Saturday afternoon on behalf of Mr Robert McElhinaiey. The land offered comprised 878 acres, 1 subdivided into 14 lots, situated two miles from the Ashburton snleyards, and the same distance from tho Fairfield F'reezing Works. There was a very large attendance, but the prices offered did not reach tho reserve, except in one instance, which was for. the homestead block of 138 acre 3, which went at £31 per Mr D. Morgan, of Ashburton. The Xew Zealand Farmers' Co-op. Association, Ashburton, sold on behalf of tho Public Trustee in tho estate of the late George Thompson, 3 acroa 1 rood 21 perche3 at Tinivald, to Mrs G. Thom-pson, for £950.

Severol properties were disposed of at Leeslon on Friday. Tlie Farmers' Co-opera-tivo Association sold Mr John. Heslop's farm of 36 acres and dwelling, at Irwoll, to Mr A. Cjuigley, at £81 per acre. , The National Mortgage and Agency Co. sold a house belonging to Mr W. McVinney, jun., at £400, to Sir M. Slattery, and a half-acre section belonging 1 to Mrs Duffell at £100.to Mr G. H. Jones. Jones, McCrostio Company, Ltd., sold, by public auction, in their land sale rooms, on Saturday, on account of Mr Woods, section of 32 pcrcho a , situate in Sumner street, Sproydon, to Mr Pope, for £105; and_ section in Edinburgh street, Sprevdon, containing 28 parches, to-Mr G. E. Wood, for £90; on nccouut of Mr D. Hampton, full J-acre and residence, situated in Huxley street, Sydenham, for £700, to Mr Haigh. CANTERBURY PETROLEUM CO. An extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of the Canterbury Petroleum Prospecting Company was held at Ashburton on Saturday afternoon for the purpose of seriously considering the company's position, nnd to decide whether it should £0 into liquidation or continue the boring operations at Chcr*sey until it was clearly and definitely demonstrated whether there was payJvble oil or not -to be found in the Canterbury * Plains. A motion, to test the feeling of the meeting, .waa put, to the effect that tlie company go into 'liquidation, but it was lost on the voices. Mr Smith, the manager, gave an encouraging- xcport. It was stated that there was a sum of £600 in hand to go on with the work of boring, and shareholders had signed up to provide* an additional £750, 'vliich it was anticipated would shortly l>o increased to £1000. The opinion was expressed that the Government ehould be asked to subsidise this amonnt to the extent of another £1000, seeing- that the_ enterprise so far had not received financial assistance from the Government. The bore is now down about 1400 feet, and it is believed by the promoters that tv boring to a to til depth of 2000 feet it will be proved whether a flow of oil can be ob- . tained. TEA-MARKET. The following is an extract from a letter dated May 4th received from the Colombo Commercial Co.. Ltd., Colombo, by the Farmore' Federation of >"bw Zealand, Ltd.: "Tea market.—Owing to declining quality, pi ices for medium and common- grades have fallen considerably. Good tea, on the other hand, continues to receive strony support, and, generally speaking, Quotations arc being maintained. Heavy supplies of ah undesirable character are antifipatcd during the nest two months, and at present it looks as thousli such tea will prove practically caleablc.'*REGISTRATION* OF A TRADE MARK. v An application on behalf of the Lodge Sparking Plug Company, Lid., for leave to proceed .with the registration of the word "Lodge," as applicable to the Lodge sparking plug, as a trade mark under Section G4 of tho Patents, Designs, and Trademarks Act, was heard by his Honour Sir John Salmond in tho Supreme Court at Wellington on Satui-lav. Mr C. H. Treaiwell appeared for (he applicants, while Mr J. Prendeville, of the Crown Law Office, represented the Registrar of Patents. Tho case put forward by counsel was that the sparking-plug was th? invention cf Sir Oliver Lodge, and the manufacturers and vendors were the Lodge Sparking Plug Company, Ltd. The application was made on the ground of use in New Zealand over a period of tea years. Mr Prendeviile intimated that the Depart- • meat did not oppose the application. His Honour reserved his decision. SALE OF BIG ESTATE. (I'EESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) , NAPIER, May 29. Tii-! Ohurakura esiaie, '-hirty mile© from Napier, on the Taupo road, tho property of Mrs Pc-rry, daughter-of the late G. P. l)onaelly, wij st ,Ul ,it Miction to-day by Messrs Hoacilev, Son. :uid Stewart. The total aiva ia 13,220 acres, 12,230 acres beios sold tor £102,332 10s. The sxaaiiei-i section, which was subject to timber restrictions, was passed in. No. 1 block, of 2650 teres, was bought- by Mr C. J. I'aiker, Hastings, -+t £10 10s, total £37,; No, 2 ' block, of 2530 acres, was bought by Mr C. J. Parker, Hastings, at £7 10s, total £27.351 10s; No. 3 block, of 3160 acres, was bought by Mr P. Peattallo, Napier, at £7 10s. total £23,"C0; No. 4 block, of 2000 acres, \;m bought bv Mr F. Bouiks, Napier, at £7 3a. tatid £14.500.

DLTInEDIX'S RECORD CUSTOMS » FIGURES. tSPECIAL TO "tllß PRESS.") DL'XEDIX, May 29. The wmnl or Customs .luty ;-;)id at Dunedin tbi 1 ; month <,1 >: 11 y constitute a record for thi." ccr.tre. Up to to-aay tue revenue from this source amounts to ;*.bout £90,000, whereas the previous best figures for acy one montl: are in the vicinity of £60,000. XEW COMPAXIES. Registration of the following i-e-.v panies was announced in last week 3 Mercantile Gazette": — . Golden Bav C-cment Co., Ltd. Registered 3; iv 2:.". O-ffic?. Xathtin'" BuiMmss Grey street Wellington. Capital: f 230,000. into 250.fir,0 shares'of £1 e;tcb : 50,000 to be known aa "A issue" are alre-adv subscribed bv sic* ratoric-" to tho memo, ct eesociatiou: 10,000 shares to be known as "B Issue-' pre to bo issued a- fullv r.aid in as commissjon to the subscribers of thy "A fasuo": CO,OOO to be known as first Te<crve, and tho bruance, viz., j-20.000 sliaro*, in Known wor.i •Subscribers: Pulmerston ir Lou-hnan, 11. I). V. A. JxcHardv. Chris'church —F,. S. Luttrell. ;V. K. Luttrell, Sir George Cliffird. . McA. Duncan. "Wellington— Mip, all 7000 A shares and 1230 B share.?- taoil - ,9°" jecte: To acquire ajid carry nn -uno"i-?.n_.ng of the Golden Bav Cement L.d. Dobson C'cj-1 Company, Ltd. I.egiftered Mav 25th Office X'ational Mutual BuildWellington. Capital: £85,000, into go.'OOO chares of £1 each. Sub^-rioers: Greyrniuth—J. D. Lynch. 10,000; Ltly W. l.vnch, IO.OCO: Robert Alison, mine manager, 10,000; Joiin Weaver. 25; Stop, 25; Fra-n* I 25; C. IT. Rose. 25. Objects: To acquire coal mine rights at. Dobson,_ and carry on btitine-ss a3 coal mir.e proprietors. VACUUM OIL COMPAXY. It iu nr/lcrstcod (savs the "Xew Zealand Times") that the Vacuum Oil Company has purchased from threo to four acrr*; of land (.lie 'vharf (WelJington), It is stated to be the intention of the com,pany to erect very extensive r.nd thoroughly Ti]i-to-dato oil storage works on the site thus aconirc'l, which ailords facilities for trail--phipping the oil by meanj of pipe-lines direct from the oil-tank steamers to the company s stores. Tho new departure is held to presage a very considera-ble increase in the company's business in Wellington: r.nd hopes are exprc,s B ed that this will mean putting an end 1o the constantly recurring oil shortages which have considerably harassed 'nofor-car owners and other users of oil, not only for power ptupo£es, lut a'so for heating and lighting; I STOCK SALE. MACKKXZIE CATTLE. Pyne. Could, Guin;iess, Ltd.. report having held on May 27th, at the Temuka- Kaleyards, x highly successful sale of Mackenzie Country cattle. It is seldom ench a fine yarding of cattle is made, consequently there was a large attendance of buyers fyrm the whole .oi Canterbury and Ota-go. Everything sold well, and bidding was keen and spirited throughout. Tho first lot to be offered was a line of 140 3.Vyear-old Hereford fiid Shorthorn, steers, the quality and size of this line ■ being tho feature of the sale. These were sold on account of Glenlyon, Ltd.. and tho condition and breeding of the cattle reflected great credit on the owners. Jhe first pen of 25 started at £10. and was finally knocked down at £1?. The next lot of 32 realised the same price, and the remainder were taken in a line at £12. Twenty-nine smaller fleers on behalf of the same owners fetched £8 15s to £3. The last «.f tho annnal draft of Glenlyou cattle comprised 32 tiptop, well-bred cows, which were submitted in excellent order. These realised from £9 15s to £10 los. The general opinion was that these cattle represented the best draft seen in South Canterbury -for somo time. The next offer was eight Glentannex Station big well-bred four-year-old bullocks, in good condition. These finally brought £14. Four smaller and plainer steers' were knocked down at £11. Scire con-s averaged £7 Is, arid young £4 ss. Tli© auctioneers finally offered, on account of Mr li. L. Wigloy, of Huxley Gorge Station, tlw whole of his annual aurplus—a choice lot of Hereford cross cattle. The first of this lot were 4G 13 to 18-Aontli steers. The bidding started at £4, and rose rapidly to £8 7a', at which 7/rice they were knockcl down. Six bteers sold- at £11 7s Gd, three empty cows at £10 17« Gd, 25 Hereford cross 15 to 18-month heifers realised £4 Gs, and the 25 null 6teers and heifers of the same age and breed completed the sale by bringing £3 14s in » line. All the" cattle offered had "seen eight to ten days on the road, and had undoubtedly travelled exceedingly well. A f-urprisin" fact to many buyers was the ouietucss of station cattle, which undoubtedly helped rrratly to allow of their being drafted into such even. lots. 3GIG SATURDAY'S POULTRY MARKET. Messrs J. B. Merrett and Co. had a fair entry for thoir sale on Saturday. Table chickens realised Gs to 12s C*J, hens 53 to 7s 6d, pullets 7s Gd to 18s, chicks Ga to 12s, geese 83 to 10s, turkeys 16s to u7s, all per pair. EGG MARKET. continue to come forward Creiely, and there is a good demand. The market has hardened up a little. From next Monday's listings "Canterbury Egg Circle's first grades are 2s lOd, seconds 2s Bd, ducks 2s 3d per dozen. 6 MORTGAGES. "We have recently drawn attention to the heavy growth in mortgage business in the Dominion, and wo give below in fuller detail the amount „of tho transactions for tho year ended March 31st last (says tho current issuo of tho "N.Z. Trade Review"), Business for the month of March constituted a record, with £G,329,G19 registered, and £2,705,820 discharged. Following ar© dotails of the different districts for the year ended March 3lst: — Registered. Discharged. £ " £ Auckland .. .. 13,021,463 5.173,805 Poverty Bav .. 2,162,583 - 758,223 Hawkes Bay ... 4,074,566 2.206,891 Taranaki .. .. 4,343.985 ■ 1,832,983 Wellington " .. 10,727,214 5,215,454 Nelson .. .. 1,207,190 562,189 Marlborough •• 1,059,800 487,599. Canterbury .. 6,413,417 3,079,066 Otago .. .. 2,912.000 1,772,770 Southland .. .. 2,345,284 1,290,516 Westland .. .. 175,318 102,189 Totals .. ..£18,442,900 £23,986,747 Following ere tho -totals for the past seven years, showing the excess of registrations over discharges: — Excess of RegistraYear. Registered. Discharged, tions. 1919-20 .. 48,442,900 23,086,747 25,356,153 1918-19 .. 13,007,256 11,010,897 7,966,389 1917-18 .. 15,126,924 11,614,517 6,512,407 1916-17 .. 21,056,574 12,934,003 8,062,871 1915-16 .. 22,463,297 12,602,549 9,660,748 1914-15 .. 19,382,213 11,276,290 8,105,923 1913-14 .. 21,352,695 12,726,773 8,625,922. The total amount secured on mortgage at March 31st, 1918, was £132,875,722, and tho oxoess of registrations in tho past two years' would bring tho amount up to £166,198,264, or about 25 per cent, increase. There are no further details than the above available for the latest twelve-month, but tho annual volume of statistics gives the figures for tho year ended March 3let, 1919, iu full detail, and wo append some comparisons iaken from this: — Following ate rates of interest ct which the money w advanced during tho year:—• Rate per cent. Amount. £ Under 3 p.c. .. 1,000 2 and under 4 p.c. 13,050 4 and under 4J p.c. .. 52,564 4i and under. 5 p.c. .. 68,-106 5 and under 5J p.c. .. 2,776.677 5J and under 6 p.c. .. 5,448,836 0 and -under 7 p.c. .. 8,268,312 7 and under 8 p.c. .. 774,983 .8 ancl under 10 p.c. .. 640,807 10 p.c. .. .. 71,252 Over 10 p.c. •• 3,013 Unspecified .. •• 981,685 The following comparison of the amounts advanced at some of th'e principal rates shows tho movements in interest rates: — 1918-19. 1017-18. 1916-17. 1915-16.. 1914-15. p.c. £ £ £ £ £ 4J 56.452 105,798 83.562 274,249 112,043 5 2,554,734 2.493,079 3,443,095 4,732,362 4,684,226 5i 5.232,533 5,652.310 6,767,462 7,010,861 5^)79,70-0 6 7,129,575 5,777,932 6,281,749 5,823,824 4,633,633 6.J 1,C50,927 971,453 535.743 664,400 765.415 7 674.261 718,293 765,047 777,401 855,180 Thi3 comparison shows that the lower rates are dropping out, and probably the bulk of the 5 per cent, and 5J per cent, loans would be by Government Departments, while tho ordinary market rate is 6 per cent., with some increase in 6J per cent, business. There appears, however, to be plonty of money available at 6 per cent., and this is recognised as a standard rate for general first mortgagee. MONEY MARKET. The banks in Xew Zealand are more than amply supplied with funds, ha'ving an esoess of d-eposits over advances of over_lßi millions (says the current issue of the_ Xew Zealand Trad©"Review"). Money is undoubtedly plentiful here at present —lendmgs on mortgage show a large increase, business at the Stock Exchange i 3 fairly brisk, ana general expenditure is on a high ecale. Against this, however, it is to _ be observed that the Bank of Xew Zealand is calling up its unpaid capital and the Bank °f n tralasia has increased its capital by ~000,000. For . some time past the prompt payment for, or advance against our produc© by uie

Imperial Government lias been of very considerable benefit in casing tlie local money market. This ias> be«rn specially helpful 1o | tho producers when shipping was scarce and produce lui'd io l>c holt! in store for somo time. Ho'.vevcr, t!ie> cud of the Imperial commandcer is in view, find producers iviil have to arrange their own finance. Unless the present accumulations of j,\.e&t, etc., are moved and adequate- shipping becomes available for next season's produce, this financing' will causa gome- heavy calls on the banks, and considerable depletion of the present surplus of funds. It is noticeable a.lsoi that the scale of importation ;g growing, and for (he first four inoat!i3 of this year exports were only about a million in excess of imports. While not in any way anticipating any shortage of money, we cxpect to seo the cessation cf Imperial purchases cause a considerable reduction in the surplus of funds in the hands of the hanks', but thia may probably have a beneficial cffect generally. TRADE NOTES. (FROM OUR OW.N CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, April 15. SCIENTIFIC POULTRI'-KKEPIXG. County Committees have bson for somo

County Committees have baon for somo time occupied with the question! of scientific instruction in poultry-keeping; without which success is, nowadays., impossible. Tho -vork, 111 tho opinion o£ the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, while admirable so far as it has gone, now calls for extension. In a memorandum, issued to County Committees, the Ministry points out that tho rearing and selling of young stock ia a point to keep well before farm X'°ultry-keopers. Iu arable areas, tho upkeep of adult stock and methods of intensive and semi-intensive housing should receive particular attention. A model syllabus lias been suggested, including discussions of capital outlay and return, housing,' disposal of plant, brecd v aJid breeding, foods and feeding methods, hatching and rearing, prevention of disease, account keeping, marketing and tho management of labour, and also the combination of somo form of farming- or gardening with poultrykeeping. It is recommended that instructors should bo suitably,equipped with the minor accessories of the poultry run. They should also be able to give instruction in easy carpentry, 6uch as tlio making of chicken coops, food troughs, small poultrj"-houses, egg boxes, crates, and smaller articles necessary to poultry-farming. Visits to neighbouring poultry-farms arc strongly advised, n tlieso wtuld not onlv quicken the pupils' interest, but would afford most valuable opportunities of practical instruction on a larger 6Cale. HIGH PRICES AXID DELAYED DELIVERIES. Mr Lanchestcr, at a luncheon given by the motor manufacturers and traders, said tliat manufacturers were called upon, early in 1919, to decide on their future sales policy under entirely new conditions. As a result tho autumn of livst year found, them with prices based provisionally upon estimates of what raw materials were costing or likely tlo cost, and on wages that wero then current, but high enough to warrant a fall rather than a rise. Unfortunately, the anticipations of any fall in the costs of either material or wages, when 1 peace conditions wero obtained, were proved to be wrong. Instead of there being a fall wages, which hati risen by over 100 per cent, in 1919 as compared with 1914, increased in 1920 by 150 per cent, as compared with the pre-war period. It was the same with raw materials, only more so, the 1920 costs, as compared with 1914, being 150 per cent, up 011 the average on all types of steel, 120 per cent, on aluminium, and 250 per cent, on timber. It was clear that motor manufacturers were quite justified in increasing tho prices of their care to two and a half times the amount which they obtained before- the war. Yet, as a matter of fact, manufacturers' prices to-day averaged less than double prewar figures, the latest price li3ts of thirty representative British cars showing only 95 per cent, incroase over those of 1911. This was due to the introduction of improved machinery and plant, and tho consequent increased output. AT ALMOST ANY PRICE. Mr A. R. Atkey, M.P.. who spoke on behalf of the agents," said they wero powerless against the public, who were tumbling over each other to get cars at almost any price. Ho also commented upon the anomaly of the manufacturers limiting tho agents to their list nricos, while amateur dealers were allowed to buy cars frftn the agents at listed prices and re-sell them at big profits. A FAILURE. The shipbuilding firm of Swaji, Hunter, and Wi"ham-Richardson, who some timo ago began the construction of concrete vessols on Wearside, have' abandoned that enterprise. Sir G. B. Hunter, managing director, declares ' that concrete ships are a complete failure costing twice as much as those of steel and taking twice tho time to build.