COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1842, 9 December 1869, Page 3

COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Hjtkald Office, "Wednesday afternoon. Customs riEVESTE.—Duties, £887 lis lid • light dues, £1 3s lOd ; arms fees, Gs.—Total' £889 Is Od. Mr. Robert Vaile reports a good attendance at his sale yards of furniture yesterday. The following are some of the prices realised :— Hair-seat eoueh, £5 2s 6d ; hair-seat chairs, 16s to £1 ; rirmi cheffonier, £A 15s ; rimu chest of drawers, £3 19s ; pier glass, £2 17s ; 100 table, 21s to 435; rocking chairs, 30s: couches, 38s to 575.

Mr. S. >T mes hold n. trade sale of wine, spirits, &c., at his mart to-day. There was a good attendance of the trade, and the following prices wore realised :—Spirits in bulk— Hcnncssy's pale brandy, 7s 9d ; rum, Lemon Karl;, 'Is 3d ; Ditnville's whisky, 5s 6d ; Campbellton's ditto, 5s Gd. Spirits in case— 3 fart ell's brandy, 2Gs Gd ; Ucnnessv's ditto, 27s Gd -, Dunville's whiskey, 17s ; Geneva, half cases, anchor brand, 9s. Wines, in bulk —port wine, Gs lOd ; Cousen's sherry, Gs 9d. Wines, in case—Sparkling hock, 50s ; .Tacqucsson'- champagne, 40s to 41s. WOOL MARKET. From the date of our last advice to the close of the August-September Series on the 21st ultimo, we have no change of moment, to record in the ]sosition of the Wool Market. The French competition, though of somewhat. tardy accession, when once initiated was well maintained, and being as regards New Zealand wools particularly directed upon greasy descriptions, secured for them relatively much better prices than for fleece-washed and scoured parcels, a comparison with the latter, which throughout the sales were more or less neglected, being especially favourable. The result of the series then has been to establish an advance in prices for grease wool, Id. to lid. per lb. ; fleece-washed clothing, Id. to lid. per lb. -, tleece-washed combing, I'd. to 2d. per lb. ; tleece-waslicd scoured, id. to Id. per lb. ; as compared with the quotations current in June for similar classcs. The general character of the New Zealand clips of this season's shipment has proved fully up to the average, and the only defect of importance we have had reason to uoticc— and that confined to particular instances— has been a tendency to weakness in the staple, in the case of some well-grown flocks so marked as to deprive them to a great extent of their combing properties. The adoption of the practice of hot-water washing, though not so general as ill Australia, has constituted this season a new feature in tile New Zealand shipments, and the manner in which mauy clips so treated have been sent to market deserves all praise. It. may not, however, be inopportune to warn tloekmasters that the use of this method, when carried to the extent of purging all the yolky secretions from the fleece, deprives the staple of many of those properties most valued by consumers, and that the i-.rcessire application of alkaline matter is becoming a subject of increasing complaint by manufacturers. It is satisfactory to observe a general increase of attention to the all-important points of skirting and classification, which if persevered in will ensure increasing favour with buyers. The prospects of the woollen industry promise a steadier and more profitable condition of that trade than for a long time past; a generally favourable harvest and some increase in the demand for manufacturs,

both in the home and foreign markets, combined with an abundant and exceptionally moderate money market, have together begotten a more confident feeling in commercial circ'es ; while tho fact that the supplies of wool for the current year show little or no increase on those of the previous twelve months, and promise to remain again stationary at all events for another year, has dispelled all fear of any furtherdepreeiatiou from a glut of the raw material, which has been a frequent cause of disorganisation and embarrassment in the woollen industry during tho past two or three years. The arrivals of wool during the twelve months ending December 31st, ! -S(>S. amounted to 633,512 bales, while those for the current year to da'.e are stated at 537,360 bales, which added to say 50,000 bales Cape wool, and 40,000 Australasian, give a total of 637,360 bales. The imports from New Zealand during ISGS were SI,6SS bales against 51,497 bales for the current year to the present date. There are further about 3,500 bales to arrive. The arrivals of wool for the August-Septem-ber sales amounted to 180,674 bales, to which must be added about 30,000 bales held over from previous sales in first, and about 0,000 bales in second hands, thus giving a total of 216,67' i bales. Of these 194,000 bales were catalogued, and about 18S.000 bales sold, thus leaving a stock in hand for November in addition to new arrivals of about 29,130 bales. QUOTATIONS OP XEW ZEALAXD WOOL. Very superior fleece, Is lid to 2s 2d; Ist fleece, Is 7d to Is lOd ; medium fleece, Is 2d to Is 6d ; inferior fleece, 9d to lid ; superior lambs, is 3d to Is lid; medium lambs, Is 3d to Is 7d ; inferior lambs, lid to Is 2d ; broken and pieces, Is Id to Is 5d ; inferior pieces and j locks, 7d to lid; superior secured, Is 9d to 2s ; medium scoured, Is 3d to Is Sd; inferior j scoured, lid to Is 2d ; skin, 9d to Is Id -, in [ grease, good, 9d to lid ; in grease, medium [ and inferior, 6d to 8d; in grease, pieces and locks, 3d :o 6d. —]S/cw Zealand Loan and j Mercantile Aycncy Company's Circular, Oct. 8.