ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10838, 23 August 1898, Page 6

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

[feosi odb OWN correspondent.] London, July 15. MEAT FROM AUSTRALIA. Incalculable mischief may be done to the export trade of the whole of the Australasian colonies by one piece of work such as has been brought to light by Dr. Sedgwick Saunders, the medical officer of health for the city of London. He reports that last month 884 carcases of Australian sheep were seized at the Central markets out of a consignment of 1500 sent there for sale. Further daily arrivals occurred until 3040 sheep were stored, which represented a total consignment from Queensland by the s.s. Buteshire. In all 1657 sheep were seized. They were small, emaciated sheep averaging 351b each. The flesh was of a pale brown colour and there was no bloom on the bark or outside. There was great deficiency of fat, and the small quantity present had a peculiar white or pallid appearance, indicating a low condition of nourishment, and resembling fat not infrequently seen in animals that had suffered from fluke disease. The flesh generally was aniemjc and dropsical, which later on was very apparent when the carcases were thawed. The owner, it was said, gave no directions for the sheep to be shipped from Queensland, intending intm only to be slaughtered and Lotted down there. It appears astonishing that such a shipment could find its way from Queensland to London by accident. The average Britisher has a sublime ignorance of Antipodean distances, and looks upon New Zealand as being separated from the other colonies by little more than a post and rail fence. Here he is apt to confuse the produce of one colony with another. The trade representatives of New Zealand have had a hard task to break down prejudice in regard to our frozen mutton and lamb. It is therefore a great pity that an authority like Dr. Saunders should have reason to make such a report as that given above, to which it is scarcely necessary to add considerable publicity has been given by commercial competitors. NEW ZEALAND SEAMEN. Some New Zealand seamen, according to the Shipping Gazette, must have had a " high old time" in London. Mr. J. H. Wilson, M.P., speaking on the question of the alleged desertion of British seamen in colonial ports, has caused a sensation by reading extracts from letters alleged to have been sent by owners, with the object of forcing men to leave their duty and so lose what they had earned on an outward voyage. No names were given, and this fact was held to detract from the value of the information. Most people will agreb with this. The paper I have named, however, quotes a case instanced by a correspondent to show the inconveniences from which shipmasters suffer by reason of men running away or refusing duty. The case is that of the barque Norman McLeod, of Lyttelton, New Zealand. "The owner shipped," says this " sufferer with no protection, " a crew at £7 a month to go to London and back to New Zealand, and be discharged there. As soon as the vessel arrived in London, the men were told to scrub the vessel round, but they refused to do the work and wanted their discharge. They were discharged, and after staying six weeks in London, worked their passage out to New Zealand at one shilling per month, in the same vessel. Here is a case apparently in which the men shipped at high wages, were looked after, and had no complaint to make as to provisions— they practically acknowledged by working their way homo by the same ship—and were content to lose good pay for the sake of a freak ashore." 1 should imagine that these seamen, at the end of their six weeks' spree, wnuiu not have complained to the Seamen's Union, had they been given sardines and a bottle of beer for dinner, a circumstance- that formed a matter for investigation by Mr. Justice Williams a few months ago. SALMON OVA.

Mr. Fryer, of the Fisheries Department, under whose notice the matter was brought by Mr. Kennaway, of the Agent-General's staff, devotes an interesting section of his report to the despatch of salmon ova to New Zealand. Advice was asked at the end of last year. 'It was then too late for adequate arrangements for procuring any considerable supply of eggs, and for properly developing them to a stage in which they could be shipped with safety. Through the kind offices of the Duke of Richmond, however, and by the authority of the respective District Boards, 140,000 ova were collected from the Spey, and 17,000 from the Toilh. Those were shipped in February. In referring to this matter, Mr. Fryer suggests that the very natural desire of the colonial authorities to follow up the acclimatisation of English trout by the introduction of salmon, would, be more likely to be realised if thev were to authorise the adoption of a scheme for continuing the necessary operations for the collection and consignment of ova during a number of consecutive years. He, therefore, advises that instead of distributing the ova or fry in small quantities, among a number of different streams, the fry of any one season should be liberated only in two or three of such rivers as might be selected on account of their offering the most favourable prospects of success. The Field emphasises the caution as to the danger which may attend the unconsidered introduction of fish into waters, and the remarkable change in habits and rate of growth among English brown trout in Antipodean waters is advanced by way of illustration.

FROZEN RABBITS. It is expected that the export of frozen rabbits to this country from New Zealand will be larger this season than ever. Several of the higher class papers in London and the provinces quote figures from the Otago Daily Times, the New Zealand Herald, and other papers in proof of this. The figures given are rather large, and have caused some comment. But from inquiries I have made from those connected with the New Zealand produce trade, to which trade, ol course, rabbits come as a sort of fringe, I gather that the number is nothing to the possibilities. There is here practically an unlimited market all the year round, for what used toT)e the pest and plague of a station. But shippers must be most careful in their packing arrangements. The boxes used by the people of Australia are held to be far and away the best. They keep the animals separate one from another, let a free current of cold air pass between each while in the refrigerating chambers, and, what is as important as anything, the shape of the rabbit is not distorted. Some of a recent consignment from New Zealand presented somewhat the appearance of having been run over by a brewer's dray. Of course such are unmarketable. But to the demand for good flesh and fur there is scarcely bounds.

NEW 'STEAMERS. By last mail I advised you that the Mokoia, the latest addition to the U.S.S. Company's fleet, would, so far as present arrangements go sail from Messrs. Denny's yard at Dumbarton, for New Zealand) about September. Some further particulars as to this vessel have now readied me, and it is evident that sbe will be in every way up to the latest date. Her dimensions will be 330 ft in length, 43ft beam, and 33ft in depth. She is being built of steel, under British corporation yules, will be fore-and-aft schoonerrigged, has three complete decks, a shade deck aft, a light bridge deck, a forecastle deck, and straight stem and elliptical stem. Hydraulic gear is being fitted throughout, so that the discharge of cargo will not interfere with the comfort or rest of passengers. As I before stated, her tonnage will be about 3500 tons, her carrying capacity will be about 2350 tons dead weight. Her engines are to be triple expansion, and capable of propelling the Mokoia at an average speed of about 15J knots, though she will be able to do more. The motive power will be derived from three cylindrical, single-ended tubular boilers, with 12 cockscomb furnaces, the working pressue being 1701b per square inch. Accommodation will be provided for 240 first, and 130 second-class passengers, and her saloon, I hear, will be quite a work of art of its kind. All the framing will be in polished hardwoods, artistically arranged, with all appropriate mouldings and cornices; an organ will be placed in the music saloon, which will be on the upper deck, above the dining saloon. Mr. Peter Young who is in Scotland, is superintending the arrangements for the steward's department, and is likely to sail in the vessel- when she leaves, a couple of months hence. , • ■ ■'...',..»■. A NEW SxEAMER,, • From the builders, Messrs. John Fullerton and Co., of Paisley, Scotland; I learn that the new steamer which they are constructing for Messrs.; Levin and Co., of Wellington, New Zealand, has been begun, and is ex-, pected to be completed by tie end of the year. She is to be a steel screw steamer of

about '300 tons, with triple expansion Racine* of 400 indicated horse-power. Her appliances are largely in excess of Lloyds rTuirements, and of the Board of Trade rules for passenger steamships. She will; have accommodation for a large number of < saloon passengers, and also especially com- j modious provision for the captain and 'officers. Sue will be supplied with all the most modern appliances for working the ship and cargo, including steam winches, steam windlass, and steam steering gear, j surf boats, water-ballast trimming tanks, I etc. The steamer is also specially adapted ■ and constructed for trading to ports having bar harbours, and will therefore have a small draught of water. Particular provision is being made for the ventilation of saloons and cabins. THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE. In their report to the London City Corporation, the Markets Committee Recommend the utilisation of the old fish market for the accommodation of the frozen meat trade. To show the value of that industry, comparative figures are given:— first shipment of American meat arrived in 1876, when it was 5513 tons; last year it was 73,905 tons. The trade with Australia and New Zealand began in 1881, when 565 tons arrived; last year 79,500 tons arrived. So, with five years' start, and a better start at that, America has been outdistanced. THE TONGARIRO. Two or three months ago I mentioned that the New Zealand Shipping Company were trying to get rid of their steamer Tongariro, either by sale or by charter. They have at last succeeded in respect of the latter, the Tongariro having been chartered for trading between Liverpool and Canada. THE ADMINISTRATION OF RAROTONGA. In the House of Commons, last Friday, Sir James itergusson asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he had had brought to his notice the report of the Chief Justice of New Zealand, as Commissioner sent to inquire into the position of the British Resident in the island of Rarotonga; and, if so, whether Her Majesty's Government had arrived at any decision in regard to Sir James Prcndcrgast's recommendations. Mr. Chamberlain replied: "Yes; I have considered the report of Sir James Premiergast. It has been decided that the existing arrangements shall continue, but that Mr. Moss, the British Resident, shall retire, and that, on the appointment of his successor, provision shall be made for the constitution of a court for the trial of cases in which persons other than natives are concerned.' NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE. Mr. Charles R. Valentine, who has been dairy pioduce manager to the C.C. and D. Co. from its inception, has taken over the company's premises and staff at 64 and 66, Toolcy ■ street, London, and Lancaster Avenue, Manchester; also the produce agency at Liverpool. He will carry on the business on his own account, as Valentine and Co., produce commission merchants, but will also continue to act as broker for the C.C. and D. Co. Mr. Valentine is so long and favourably known to New Zealand producers and shippers of produce, having been Chief Government Dairy Expert in New Zealand and subsequently Produce Commissioner in London to the New Zealand and New South Wales Governments, that he is expected soon to gather round him an excellent business even apart from his continued connection with the C.C. and D. Co. THE VANCOUVER MAIL SERVICE. I hear on what appears to be good authority that the varying fortunes of the Vancouver mail sen-ice are being watched with keen interest by the governing powers of the Canadian-Pacific Railway, who do not consider that the class of steamers at present employed, and intended to be employed, between' Vancouver and New Zealand, are adequate to the requirements and potentialities of the seitice as they wish it to become. Accordingly the- are prepared, directly the opportunity may offer, to put into the servico three splendid 10,000 ton steamers, and to run at very high speed with every possible inducement to passengers. It is rumoured, but I have not had time to ascertain the truth of the report, that the terms of the contract made by the New Zealand Government with the Vancouver mail contractors, are such as to give Mr. James Huddart what is vulgarly called the long end of the stick, and that important new developments may possibly be impending in this connection. MISCELLANEOUS. j Mr. Percival H. Horner, of Pukiore, Tai- ! ma, has r. long letter on the Auckland gold and gum fields in the Bristol Times. ! "There is no more inviting or promising ; British colony on earth for English families ! seeking a permanent home so far away from England. It will never probably form an Australian Federation, but is naturally destined to bo the British Islands of the South," says the Illustrated London News referring to New Zealand. Some time ago I mentioned that the two steamers specially built in 1884 for the New Zealand direct service of the S.S.A. Company, the Arawa and Tainui, had been chartered to the Spanish Government for the transport of troops, stores, etc., to Cuba. They are still employed in that service under i new' names, the former as the Colon and I the latter as the Covadonga. I At a banquet given by the Edinburgh j City Corporation to the officers of the AusI trian ship of war the uonau, one of the ! toasts was the health of Mr. John Holmes, J Trade Commissioner, from New Zealand, who was one of the guests present. Mr. Holmes suitably acknowledged the compliment. Poultry raising in New Zealand is already attracting attention here,'and inquiries are being made as to possible shipments to the Home market. On Monday last the matter of the Midland Railway Company of New Zealand came again before Mr. Justice Kekewich, in chambers. As I informed you some time ago, it is contempt of Court here to report chamber proceedings. To know a place one must live away from it. Mr. Michael Myers, shoemaker, has just published a book on a trip through the South Sea Islands. In this he states that "In New Zealand there is no native tree, in the North Island, save the (kauri) pine; all the other shrubs and trees are imported."