COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7343, 2 June 1885, Page 4

COMMERCIAL.

■♦ New Zealand Hkbald Office, Monday evening. The Customs receipts on Saturday were £387 16s 3d ; and to-day, £1833 12s Id. The duties collected at the Customs during last week amounted to :— Duties _ •.. .. - £8,115 3 2 Beer duty 176 1 8 - Light dues.. _ .. .. 78 16 2 Forms and fees - .. .. 6 9 2 Pilotage and port charges .. 65 3 6 Other receipts .. -- 11 16 6 £8.447 10 3 Messsrs. Samuel Cochrane and Son sold this day, at their, rooms, Queen-street, an acre at Hamilton, with buildings theron, for £650. LONDON. Our dates from London are to April 341b. From the Now Zealand Loan and Mercantile Association's circular of that date we take the following :— Woot. -The second seties of tales, whieb o 'ened on 17th March, was brought to a close on 18th April. The series recently concluded naturally divides itself into two periods; the first ex>end ng from 17th March to Ist April, and the second from Bth to 18th April. Of the former it may be said that it) leading characteristics were—(a) a feeling of uncertainty engendered by the then existing political situation ;(b) a constant irregularity in the biddings; and (c) a weakness in the demand for faulty and superfine merino growih* in contrast to the eager competition of home and .foreign buyers for coarse cross br-d descriptions. The changes in values produced on certain representative types by these varied features was at the close of this period, as compared with February rates, as follows :— Scoured combing merino, sound, Jd per lb decline ; wished ditto, Jd per lb decline ; greasy ditto, par to id per lb decline; superfine washed ditto, fully 10 per cent decline : faulty combiner and clothing merino, tenured, washed, or greasy, $<1 to Id per lb decline; crois-breds fine, scoured, washed or grea>y, par to id per lb advance ; ditto, coarse, ditto, fully Jd to Id per lb advance; lambs' free and well-grown merino, unchanged; ditto, eross-brsd, Jd to Id per lb advance ; lambs* faulty, par to Jd per lb decline The long interval which will elapse between the close of the second and the opening of the third series will afford ample opportunity for supplies recently purchased to pas's Into consumption. As at the former period, the political situation between England and Russia was less strained than it was some weeks ago; if peace become assured, and if with the advance of the season there be also good prospect of a fair harvest in this country, with a consequent improvement in the position of the agricultural interests, these favourable features will be quickly reflected in the woollen manufacturing centres, on which a cloud of depression has rested for so long a time. Having regard to the moderate level at which values at! 1 remain, subject to the foregoing considerations, there exists no reason why at least current 'prices should not be maintained throughout the remainder of this year. It must' not, however, be forgotten that as the season advances the proportion of faulty wools to the aggregate offering will be sensibly Increased, and while for realy sound descriptions an active enquiry may ensue, It will be matter of much difficulty to establish any tangible recovery in the prices of defective growths. The question of prospective supplies of strong wools, notably those of New Zealand origin, will assume a more prominent position as the commencing date of the third series draws nigh. An exceptional demand, coincident with a marked rise in value, has recently been witnessed in such growths. This, as we have shown above, was in part due to available supplies being within very moderate compa<s at a time when coarse wools were required to supply pressing requirement! It remains to be seen whether these will prove the advent of a change in fashion sufficiently permanent to warrant the absorption of the yearly iocreaslng receipts of coarse-haired produce. Leather, Hides, *c—Leather: At the publlo suctions held on the 17th instant, 7220 sides were offered, and of these 8116 found purchasers, nnderithe hammer. For th» portion sold late rates were obtained, but a slight concessit would have been necessary in orde' to have effected clearances, and to this holders would not agree. We quote:—Fair to good sides, heavy, 13} to lSlbs average, lOd to lid per lb ; do., light, fit to lljlbs average. 9Jd to lid per lb ; do., extra heavy, 19} to 26lbs average, 9}d to IOJd per lb; do., seconds, 12 to ldglbs average, t-Jd to lOd per lb.

Basil*.—At the public salsa held on the 17th instant, 74.592 skins were brought forward and 53,760 wero disposed of. The demand was chiefly confined to the prime tannages of light average weirbt. which sold slowly at about last sales' tates, although the tendency was downwards. The common qualities were quite neglected and only a few transactions were recorded. We quote :—Best strained skins, averaging 7 to 102 lbs par dozen, lid to 16Jtl per lb: seconds, averaging Sid to lS}lb* per dozen, 7Jd to lod per lb; unsir«ined,averaglng 8? to 22J1 t>s per dozen, 5J.1 to IOJd per lb. New Zealand Hemp.—At the public, sales held on the 15th instant 280 bales of New Zealand were offered, but onlv 90 of these Were gold under the hammer. The demand wa» weak, but an improvement has since taken place, and by private contract from 200 to 300 bal«s of fair, medium quality have been disposed of at £19 per ton. The<e is still an enquiry for well dressed qualities, and these, if available, would meet with a ready sale. We quote :— Fine soft, clean and bright. £26 to £28 per ton ; good, clean and bright, £23 to £26 ; fair to good medium, £19 to £21; common, coarse and strawy, £16 10s to £17. Kauri Gum.—There have been no public sales during the fortnight, and, pending the offering of recent arrivals at auction, buyers have shown no disposition to operate. Quotations, bated upon most recent sales, are as follows :—Fine pole selec'ed, £7 to £12 per cwt; clean, fine, good to fine, chiefly amber, 100s to 127s 6d; good to fine, clean, hard scraped, 88* to 97s 6d ; turd, half to three parts scraped, G2i to 82s 6d; rough sorts, ordinary to good, 40* to. 575; black and brown hard, scraped, No. 1. fine to superfine, 6)3 to 75s ; ditto, chiefly scraped, No, 1, 46* to 66i: pickings, ordinary to fine, 22s to 35s fid; chips, low and ordinary to fine and superior, 12s to 66s ; dust, low to fine, pale, chippy. 4s to 28«. Copra.—A steady feeling has prevailed during the past fortnight, and prices are unaltered. We quote :— Sydney sun-dried, £16 15s per ton ; ditto, kiln-dried, £14 to £11158 ; Singapore, £16 to £16 10s. SAN FRANCISCO.-May 9. Whsat—No. 1 shipping, 1 dollar 42$ cents, 1 dollar 45 cents. Flock.—l dollars, to i doll'rs 62} cents ; superfine, 2 dollars 70 cent, to 3 dollars 50 cents. Barley. -1 dollar 27 J cents; brewing, 1 dollar 35 cents to 1 dollar 45 cents. Oats.—Extra choice, 1 dollar 50 cents to 1 dollir 55 cents. Hops.—4 to 7 cents per pound. Salmon.—Columbia River, 1 dollar 5 c*nts, to 1 dollar 15 rents per dozen for lib tins ; salt salmon, barrels, 5 dollars 50 cents to 7 dollars 50 cents; half barrels, 3 dollars 50 cents to 4 dollars SO cents. Quic'khilvkr.—3l dollars to 81 dollars 50 cents per flask. Coal.—Australian, per ton, to arrive, C dollars 62} cents to 6 dollar* 75 cents per ton. Spot rate, 6 dollar* 75 cents. Timber.—Nothing doing in cargo lots, and prices remain stationary.

CALL AND DIVIDEND LIST. HAIL*. & i. d. Date. Bismarck G.M.Co. .. ..050 — May SO Old Caledonian O.K. Co. ..010 — Juae 2 Auck. PJumpton Coursing Co. 0 2 6 — June 6 Ka no Colliery Co 0 10 — Juno 7 Humphrey's Gully United 0. M. Co. 0 0 6 — June 8 Auckland Brick and Tile Co. 0 5 0 — June 13 DIVIDENDS. Keleasville Timber Co. .. lOp.c. — June 1