ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXVI, Issue 9494, 17 August 1891, Page 2

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

London, Juno/26. ’ , ROYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE'S CONVERSAZIONE. The eighteenth annual conversazione in connection with the Royal Colonial Insti-il tute was most successfully celebrated ati the Natural History Museum, South ] Kensington, on Wednesday evening last.' Aa anticipated, it waa the biggest and' smartest affair of the kind yet hold. Soma, three thousand guests were invited, and apparently the major portion of those bidden put in an appearance. The function commenced at nine and lasted till; twelve o’clock. The guests were received in the centre ball by Sir F. Young and, other members of the Council, including Sir F. W. D. Jervois and Sir C, Clifford. Afi about half-past ten, when the rooms were at their fullest, the scene viewed 1 from the upper galleries was brilliant in the extreme. The heat, however, was very trying, and detracted much from one’s enjoyment. The half-hour I spent in the building may be best described as a succession of “ melting moments.” The dresses at the gathering were not remarkable as a rule, but there were one or two extremely pretty ones. Of New Zealanders a goodly number were in evidence, and amongst others I saw Mr and Mrs Percy Brown, Mr J. Ashbury, Mr Alexander, Messrs A. S. and S. B. Browning, Mr J. P. Campbell, Mr and Mrs G. Cowie, Mr Frank Clifford, Mr N, W. Edwards, The Rev Thomas and Mrs Flavell, Mr and Mrs R. E. Hunt, Dr and Mrs Maunsell, Miss M’Kellar, Mr and Mrs J. Nairn, Mr P. Nairn, Mr and Mrs J. E. Nathan, Mr A. N. and Mrs Louis Nathan, Mr C. Perry, Mrs Phatazyn, Miss Sievwright, Mr and Mrs Sclanders, Mr T. M. Stewart, Mrs P. Somerville, Mr John Tinline, Mr T. Teschmeyer, Miss Amy Tolhurst and Mr and Mrs Williams and Miss Williams, Captain Ashby and his wife were of course; present. During the evening the bands of the Ist Life Guards and the Coldstream. Guards, and the Ladies’ Pompadour Baud performed attractive musical selections, which were fully appreciated by the assembly. In all respects the arrangements were distinctly in advance of former years, and the genial Secretary of the Institute, Mr J. S. O’Halloran, is to be congratulated on the success of the gathering. SPECIAL SETTLERS. By the way, I may mention that the Eimutaka takes out a very full complement of second and third-class passengers. Mr W. L. Courtney returns by this steamer, having some thirty immigrants under his charge. I do not know whether Mr Courtney views his last trip Home as a success, but he certainly worked hard to make it one. In all his lectures he extolled New Zealand as a poor man's paradise, a rich man’s elysium, and “ the finest country in the world.” He no'doubt exaggerated a good deal at times in speaking of the wealth and prosperity of the Colony, but in that he did no harm. Better far to speak highly of the Colony in which you have made your home than to (as so many Colonists who come to England on a holiday apparently delight in doing) cry “stinking fish” about it. THE BIMUTAKA’S CARGO. A farther survey of the Eimutaka was held this week, with the result that the consignees and their lawyers are satisfied they have a good case to put before the Courts. It is hoped, however, that the Shipping Company will find it possible to settle the matter equitably without the consignees having to proceed further. The “toasted cheese” affair occupied the attention of the Provision Section of the London Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday evening. Mr Grey, who attended the meeting in company with the principals of his firm (Messrs Coey and Co.), gave particulars of the matter. A suggestion was made that representations should be made to the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce with a view to securing a more satisfactory form of bill of lading for the carriage of dairy produce. The following are the latest prices of New Zealand batter and cheese. I give the American figures simply for the sake of comparisonCheese.—-Pine New Zealand 525, fine old American 54s to 565; slow sales. Butter. —Finest New Zealand 80s, other sorts New Zealand 60s to 70s. The market is very depressed, and all butters are down in price. PERSONAL AND GENERAL. The Rev David Bruce, in company with Mr and Mrs Honeyman, left London this week for a prolonged stay at Brighton. Mr Bruce, I hear, is still very ill. The Rev D. K. Fisher, a Congregational Minister, who has for the past seven years laboured in Shetland, has terminated his ministry at Sullom, and sails for New Zealand immediately. Sir William Jervois lectures to-day (Friday) at the United Service Institution on “ The Supremacy of the Navy for Imperial Defence.” Tour ex-Govemor's views on the subject of defence were lately promulgated through the medium of the Nineteenth Century, under the somewhat infelicitous title of “ Home Rule for the Navy,” and his lecture will probably run on the same lines. There is little doubt that Mr Henry Irving will ere long follow in the wake of “Genial Johnnie,” and pay a visit to the Australian Colonies. Mr Irving has long entertained the idea, but it lay dormant until Mr Toole returned home, vfhen, on dit, over a little dinner at the Garrick the two had a long talk over the matter. Mr Toole made a good deal of money in the Antipodes, and he is of opinion that there is still plenty of gold and silver to be picked up if you only go the right way about it. That Irving will “go down” with the Australasian public is, however, by no means certain. I have spoken to a great many Colonials in London on the subject of English actors and acting, but have very seldom come across one who would honestly declare that he liked the great tragedian’s stage eccentricities. The Rev Thomas Flavell, of Canterbury, who with his wife and family arrived in London last week, has accepted, as locum tenens, the pastorate of a parish near Windsor. He will remain there _ till October, in which month he commences to tour Great Britain, under the auspices of the S.P.G. Both Mr and Mrs Flavell were present at the R.C.I. conversazione on Wednesday evening. Mr John Hay has postponed his proposed Continental trip indefinitely. On Monday he goes to Edinburgh. Whilst there he will be the guest of the Provost of St Andrew’s. This Institution, you may remember, benefited to the extent of .£IOO,OOO by the will of the late David Berry, Mr Hay’s uncle. Mr Charles Gillies, who is studying for the bar at Caius College, Cambridge, secured a Third-class Scholarship in Law at the recent Tripos examination. His cousin, Mr Sinclair Gillies, has recently obtained a .£4O scholarship at St Bartholomew’s, where ho is preparing himself to take an M.D., London. German manufacturers are beginning to make preparations for a large and representative display of their manufactures at the Chicago World’s Fair. A Government official is organising a Committee to visit America later in the year for the purpose of making arrangements for the German section, which it is expected will help to materially extend trade with Australasia and South America.

From the report of the Comptroller

General of Patents for the .year 1890, it would appear that the inventive genius of Australasia is pretty well confined to Victoria and New South Wales. Sixtyeight applications for patents came from the former and fifty-seven from the latter Colony, against eleven from South Australia* seven from Queensland* am* two from Western Australia. TBBATY- ENGAGEMENTS. On Friday afternoon last a deputation from the United Empire Trade League waited upon Lord ; Salisbury, for the pur* pose of urging upon the Government the necessity of freeing, the Mother Country and the Empire from the engagements which prevent the Colonies giving preference to British trade, and that an Imperial Conference should be summoned to consider the most practical plan whereby the various portions of the British dominions may be drawn into closer commercial Union. Mr Howard Vincent, Mr James Lowfcher, General Laurie, and others endeavoured to impress upon the Premier the views of the League. # Lord Salisbury was rather discoursing in his reply. He said the subjects raised by the deputation were engaging more than any other political, or perhaps, social _ question, the. attention of every nation in the world. The matter would receive the most careful attention of the Government. With respect to those unlucky treaties that were ; made by Lord Palmerston’s Government some thirty years ago, he had not been', able to discover that they at all realised! the importance of the engagements into; which they were entering; and bethought; that he could, with the greatest confidence,' give an assurance to the deputation that not only this Government but no future; Government would ever be disposed to, enter into any such engagements again. However, these treaties contained pro- . visions which, in other respects, were very, valuable to the trade of this country, especially at a time when, as they knew, the current of Protection was running very high in every country except onr owns Therefore they must not ask aim to give any pledges upon this matter. He had no doubt that before a very long time had elapsed some means of mitigating the evil would be found. PRODUCE TRADE. Mr Henry Reynolds returned from the .'north yesterday, and sails for the Colony by the Eimutaka to-day. _Mr Reynolds has every reason to be gratified with the results of his stay in England. He has successfully nursed to thriving point the business which he opened in the Borough, and has, moreover, gained avast amount of useful knowledge concerning the London markets, &c., not only as regards the dairy produce business, but also with reference to the fruit and meat trades. Mrs Reynolds'does not accompany her husband back to the Colony. _ _ , The cargo steamer Maori, having a quantity of butter and cheese aboard, arrived in the Albert Dock last Sunday, but will not commence to discharge till to-morrow (Saturday). Shippers in New Zealand of dairy produce should note this fact. It often happens that a cargo steamer, gets into the Dock a week before an unloading berth can he assigned to her, and consequently there is a serious loss of .time before thebutter,cheese,&o., are ready for the retailers. This delay may, and often does, mean the loss of many shillings per bwt. If possible, , dairy produce—butter at all events—should be sent by mail steamers.

“ WHITE CLOVER HONEY.” When Mr J. C. Firth was in England ha often impressed upon me the pecuniary benefit that might accrue to New Zealand farmers if they could only be persuaded to supply the English market with honey—"white clover honey.” of thi* agreeable product has lately arrived here. It will, unless I am much mistaken, command a very ready sale when it becomes known. A pound pot was given me the other day to try. As, by force of circumstances, I am prejudiced in favour of all things eatable hailing from New Zealand# I gave the honey to some friends and asked them to give me an honest opinion of its merits. They praised the stuff highly, and, like Oliver Twist, asked for more. The'retail price of ordinary English honey, or perhaps I should say, the mixture which is sold as such, is about 6£d per pound. The "white clover honey” cannot be sold by retailers under or a shilling. This fact alone will prevent the poorer classes from indulging in the New Zealand article, but there is no reason why a large sale should not be found for the luxury in the West End. The middle-class Englishman is always ready to pay a decent price for a good article. FRUIT AND WINE. The success of Australia and New Zealand in the London fruit market and in the wine business is causing some uneasiness to Cape agriculturists. Australasia now occupies the position that the Cape might have claimed many years ago had it not earned a had name by the indifferent quality of the wines it exported. An improvement has taken place in this respect, but Cape merchants are doing nothing to retrieve .their lost position. So with the fruit trade. The Cape can. produce excellent fruit, but,the farmers do nothing to promote its exportation. They say the Steamship Companies make no provision for carrying it. The Companies retort that they will find room when the fruit is produced. There is a market here for all that both Colonies are likely to grow for some time to come. The Cape, which is only half the distance to Australia, ought certainly to take the lead, but in this as in other enterprises it lags sadly behind: Cape jams, I may mention, are sold in moat of the West End provision stores, but, like New Zealand honey, suffer from the fact that the English article is much cheaper.