AIRCRAFT CONTRACT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22603, 16 December 1936, Page 9

AIRCRAFT CONTRACT

MOVU IN AUSTRALIA VALUE OF ABOUT £IOO,OOO FILLIP TO METAL INDUSTRY Following its intention of strengthening Australia's Air Force, the Commonwealth Government is negotiating •with Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Proprietary, Limited. lor the supply of 10 lighting machines to ho manufaci ujvd in Melbourne. The value of the contract is expected to be about £IOO.OOO and it is anticipated that this venture will provide a further fillip to the metal industry, shares in which have been at high levels both in New Zealand and Australia.

If the contract is signed, it will be the first step in the manufacture of military aircraft on a large scale in Australia. The new aircraft company, it is expected, would be able to fill the Government's order within two vears.

The machines to lie built under the proposed contract will he advanced training aeroplanes capable of a speed of about 200 miles an hour. It. is understood that they will be built to plans obtained from an American company and adapted for Australian requirements. The proposal is that the new machines should he of tho stress-skin type, in which the wings and fuselage have a smooth covering of a light alloy, thus obviating the need for internal bracing. The stresses of flight are taken by the smooth alloy coverings, and aeroplanes constructed to this design arc capable of higher speeds than those covered with fabric. They have greater

strength and a larger carrying capacity. The new aeroplanes would be faster than any fighting machine at present possessed by the Royal Australian Air Force.

lIEMP AND TOW

NEW ZEALAND INDUSTRY GOVERNMENT AID UNCERTAIN "It is evident that the hemp and tow industry in New Zealand is still uncertain of Government support as the new season's production is not yet in full swing," states a report from Wigglcsworth and Company, Limited, London. The market otherwise was exciting little interest. Discussing Fast African sisal, a fibre competing with New Zealand hemp, the report states that there was again remarkable stability iti price, fluctuations being confined to about 10s a ton. Turnover is recorded on a considerable scale, largely reflecting tho anticipated trade buying for new season's requirements. Spot and afloat material is not abundant and has been in good demand, while forward engagements were freely entered into for shipments extending throughout 1937 at £27 a ton and over. This activity is the more noteworthy when considering the adverse conditions of the past season in America and Canada, where the carry-over of twine is still estimated to be in the neighbourhood of 70.000 tons. In addition, the market withstood the uncertainty resulting from currency devaluations.

DAIRYING AND SHEEP

ASSETS OF DOMINION ARGENTINE VISITOR'S VIEWS [nv TKIiECRAPH —OWN COJIREBPONDBNT] CHRISTCHURCH, Tuesday The view that while there would undoubtedly bo a great improvement in the quality of frozen lamb exported from the Argentine, New Zealand need not fear strong competition in this direction, was expressed by Mr. A. A. Cameron, a visitor from Buenos Aires. Mr. Cameron was born in Otago, but has spent the greater part of his lifo in the Argentine. Mr. Cameron said that on his present tour of New Zealand he had purchased Corriedale and Eyeland rams. He intended also to buy some Southdown ewes. Professor Hammond, the noted English authority, had recently visited the Argentine, presumably at the request of the Agricultural Department, to advise farmers on fat lamb production for export. Concerning foot-and-mouth disease Mr. Cameron said that if by any chance it was introduced to New Zealand it would mean ruination of the dairy industry. "1 have not seen a steer in New Zealand that would bo described as a firstclass 'chiller' in the Argentine," he said, in criticising New Zealand beef production. "The beef breeds at the Christchurch show were definitely inferior. In fact, I can only say that they were phenomenally bad. The Shorthorns were notoriously inferior." Mr. Cameron wont on to say that he thought New Zealand should not concern itself with the chilled beef trade, as there were relatively so few beef cattle, and concentrate on its dairy produce and sheep. CANCELLED CARGOES LOSS TO SHIPOWNERS BETTER FORECASTS URGED The opinion that it was vitally necessary that boards and other bodies representing producers and shippers of Australian products should be able to provide shipowners with more accurate forecasts of their cargo space requirements, was expressed bv Mr. John Macmillan, managing director of Shaw, Savill and Albion Company, Limited, who reached Sydney last week in the ojurse of a business visit to Australia. Mr. Macinillan will later visit New Zealand. It, had not been uncommon, said Mr. Macinillan, for a shipowner to send a vessel to Australia, to find that the cargo space booked by the shippers had been cancelled owing to the operation of the meat quota system, the decision of graziers not to oiler wool at a particular sale, or some other cause. The result was a reduction of the vessel's earnings on the return trip and a substantial loss on the voyage. It was obviously in the interests of the producers themselves that shipments should be regulated to provide, an even flow of arrivals into the United Kingdom. BRADFORD TOPS MARKET (Received December 15, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. H The Bradford tops market is firmer and consumption is well maintained. Yarns are very firm.