POST AND TELEGRAPH REVENUE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 335, 23 October 1908, Page 8

POST AND TELEGRAPH REVENUE.

« QUARTERLY RETURNS. The postal revenue collected nt the General Post Office and at the various postal districts in New Zealand for the quarter elided September 30 amounted to .£111,300 lis. 3d., as against .£103,793 os. lOd. for tho corresponding period of last year. The tolcgniphic revonuo for tho same period amounted to ,£1G8,731< 13s. 6d., as against ,£158,330 lis. 3d. for the third quarter of last year. Tho following are the returns for tho four centres: — Postal. Telegraphic. £ s. d. £. s. d. Auckland 21,120 15 6 11,011 10 9 Wellington ... 30,1!U 12 7 12,215 13 3 Cliristclmrch ... 12,728 8 11 5,826 8 G Uunedin 7,511 11 3 5,068 2 7

PAYING FOR MOISTURE. We all know, that if those very bale's are left in a dry' room, where the temperature is very high, that in a week's time the moisture will very largely have evaporated, consequently wool in London docks and elsewhere is always stored in as cool a place as possible: Now the fact of wool, tops, noils, and yarns being sold in' the past with too much condition upon them, a standard of' "regain" has been established which js- accepted by all consumers throughout the world. It was no joke for men buying these , commodities to find, that-they were , purchasing 25 per cent, of moisture. This meant to the man who was fortunate enough to be able to palm off such goods so. heavily conditioned that he couUl either under-sell his competitor, or else obtain a thumping good profit. The result is that conditioning houses have been established in Bradford, and at several Continental centres, it being their work to test samples, to find out the amount of moisture in them, and then upon the official certificate published the seller either allows or' receives according to the standard of regain allowed by the trade. Just as showing readers the extent of the business at the Bradford Conditioning House, the following is the return of the weights of goods passed' through during the last two months. , The figures also throw a lurid light upon the quietness of the trade, for it will be seen there lias been a great falling off in the tests made:— 1908. . 1908. . July. August, lb. lb.' Tops 5,273,777 3,755,184 Wools ... 483,576 . . 571,126 Noils, wastes, etc 721,258 713,553 Worsted yarns 323,149 185,30G Cotton yarns 9,881 3,720 Silk yarns 895 3,121 0,812,836 5,232,019 Goods weighed only ... 207,139 157,637 7,019,975 5,389,656 Tests. Tests. Condition 14,973 11,fJ97 Scours ••• 211 134 Counts iJO 332 Miscellaneous 776 524 16,430 12,887

STANDARD ALLOWANCE AND REGAIN , PER CENT. Readers will be very much interested to know the standard allowance and regain which is in vogue, not simply in Bradford, but throughout the Continent, the following table is agreed upon as an equitable basis on which all tests are made:— ' Wools and waste, for moisture, 2oz. 3Jdr. per 1b.,-or a regain of 1G per cent. Tops combed in oil, for moisture, 2oz. 9dr. per lb., or a regain of 19 per cent. Tops combed without oil, for moisture, 2oz. 7idr. per lb., or a regain of 18} per cent. 'Noils, for moisture, loz. lojdr. per lb., or a regain of 14 per cent. Yarns, worsted, for moisture, 20z.: 7Jdr. per lb., or a regain of iBJ per cent. Yarns, cotton, for moisture, loz. 4Jdr. per lb., or a regain of SJ per cent. Yarns, silk, for' moisture, loz. 9Jdr. per lb., or a regain of 11 per' cent. The above table is supposed to represent the various commodities as containing moisture when in a perfectly natural condition, and anything above is regarded as an excess. When wool is being combed the foreman can regulate the amount of "condition" in the tops to a nicety. The operation at tlie conditioning houso for testing purposes is a very simple, yet effective one. A sample of the material is taken out of the bulk anywhere that the officer in charge thinks, it is weighed to a decimal immediately on being drawn out, then put into a cylindrical oven, heated by gas, all the moisture is driven oft, then it is reweighed, and by a simple calculation the amount of moisture driven off is ascertained, that determining the condition of the bulk. Oftentimes several samples are drawn to arrive correctly at the condition of the bulk. The charge usually made for testing each lot is one shilling per test, and the official certificate published is always taken without being questioned.