OUR LONDON LETTER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CI, Issue 11898, 23 May 1899, Page 6

OUR LONDON LETTER.

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES. [From Our Correspondent.] LONDON, April 14,

HERBERT'S BRAND. Some of the sheep branded by Mr C. W. Herbert's patent brand at the beginning of the year were taken out of the freezing chamber this week and hung for inspection in the Colonial Comsigirment and Distributing Company's, stall at bmitnfield, where I had a look at them last Wednesday. The brand " foreign meat on the red skin of the flank was as clear as the day on which ■it was impressed, and had in no way injured or disfigured the meat. On the shoulders and legs, however, where the brand had been impressed on thick fat, the result was not so satisfactory. In some places the letters were so faint as to be almost obliterated, in others they were just visible, and on a spot or two where the brand had been firmly'pressed down, the skin was burnt through, and a rather unsightly sore, had been left behind. The chief difficulty to be solved is clearly that of leaving a clear mark on the fat -parts of the carcase with; out burning into the skin. "Undecided must be the verdict as to the result oi the experiment, which certainly was made under circumstances the reverse of iavourable to the inventor of the brand. It was heated by. gas (instead of electricity), heated at some distance from the carcase, so that the tenrcerature of the brand varied on different applications of it, and in order to make several of the impressions of a couple of letters only, the brand—which was circular in form and intended to roll''along 'until the words " meat" were impressed—has to be fixed and used as a stationary stamper of two letters. I can see no reason why eventually Mr Herbert should not be able to so modify his brand as to stamp on the meat the letters "N.Z." quite clearly and without injuring or'disfiguring the'carcase. Whether ■the meat companies of the market or the purchasers will "have a use for the brand, when it is completely successful, is, of course, another story. . The remainder of the sheep Mr Cameron is reserving as a treat for the Hon John MTKenzie. THE MEAT COMPANY'S SHOP. I hear that Mr Calloway is verv well satisfied with the results obtained by the Christchurch Meat Company's shop at Cardiff, which he finds attracts a large number of high-class, customers. No doubt this will be another of the many little treats in store for the Hon John M'Kenzie. NEW ZEALAND TROUT. The New Zealand trout forwarded by the Waitaki and Waimate Acclimatisation So; ciety-to the Royal Aquarium only arrived at their destination at,the end of last week. Unfortunately too: many: trout had been placed in -each block of ice, and between Saturday evening and Monday morning the and as the Aquarium authorities have no refrigerating appliances on hand, and signs of decomposition began to appear in some of the fish, the remainder were at once distributed among the employees. On Saturday the fish were viewed by'a number of piscators, who'agreed that the New Zealand trout certainly partook more of .the characteristics of salmon than of the fish we recognise as trout at home. , ■ PERSONAL AND GENERAL. Mr Robert Malcolm, 'of Christchurch, who came Home by way of Australia, and travelled as far as Marseilles in the Himalaya, arrived inEngland toward the end of March, haying spent a week or so on the Continent, doing the lions of Naples, Rome, Venice, Milan, Lucerne and Pans. Since setting foot in the Old Country Mr Malcolm has spent an enjoyable week awheel in Worcester and Warwickshire, and has now gone to the Emerald Isle for a brief spell. Thence he goes on to Scotland, and after visiting the principal centres of trade will work his way south to London, where he has business which will occupy him a week or so. Later he intends to make a tour in Germany,, and on his way back to the Metropolis will sojourn a while in Paris. E* m July be proposes to turn Ms face !New /lealaßdward, and will travel thither by way of America, visiting New York, Buffalo, Chicago, Yellowstone, Calgary, .and Vancouver, en route to San Francisco. Business is Mr Malcolm's mission, and he found the transacting thereof the reverse of unpleasant. On all hands he has met with the greatest kindness and attention, and everywhere he goes finds that people take a lively interest in the colony. .„.„,.. Mr E. J. Greenstreet is still in Pretoria, and, when last he wrote, was on the point Of issuing a summons against the Koelkaers Company for the balance of commission due to him. Ex-Chief Justice Kotz, who has been retained by him, advises him that .he has a strong case, and Mr Greenstreet contemplates applying for a commission to take evidence in Australia, as the company, has. trumped up a number of ridiculous reasons for the termination of his contract. All those concerned in the Australasian frozen meat trade are sure to sympathise with Mr Green-street's endeavour to obtain some measure of fair play for the Britisher in the Transvaal. _ I regret to hear that Mr W. C. Robison (of Gardiner and R'obisoi| is in a very critical condition. He.caught a .slight chill after getting influenza, and as so often happens, pneumonia supervened. On Saturday his condition was so critical that Mrs Reeves was telegraphed for, but was unable to leave Paris before Sunday owing to the gale prevailing in the Channel. On her arrival she found her brother's life, despaired of, but since then he has taken a turn for the better, although the doctor is still very anxious about him, and will be unable for a few days to say whether he is out of danger or not. The Agent-General, thanks to his quiet week in Paris with Mrs Reeves, has quite recovered from influenza, and his letter in the "Times" last Wednesday, defending the action of the Government in connection with the Midland Railway, shows that he has once more got into Harness, and is wielding as keen a blade a? ever for New Zealand., He. devoted himself chiefly during his stay .in the French capital to a thorough inspection of the art treasures in the Louvre and Luxembourg, and at Versailles. An instructive little article from his pen on "Protective Tariffs in Australia and New Zealand" appears in the " Economic Journal."

The " Echo," referring to the Hon J. Carroll's offer to raise a Maori contingent for service in Samoa, says: "If it should ever happen that a Maori regiment were landed in Samoa to take part in any fighting operations, it would be an extremely unlucky day for whatever Samoan faction they had to tackle." .After recapitulating at some length the recent eccentricities of Admiral Pearson at H'obart, "Truth" remarks :—"Unless one is to assume that the journalists of New Zealand, Australia and Tasmania are conspiring to misrepresent or malign Admiral Pearson, 'it would seem almost time his vagaries were noticed by his superiors at Home." Mr Sidney Webb has arranged to give three lectures to the London School of .Economics on " Constitutional Problems in Australasia." His first is to be delivered next Friday.