LAERY & CO , LTD.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1523, 28 February 1901, Page 50

LAERY & CO , LTD.

NEW PREMISES ON JERVOIS QUAY. Laery and Co., Ltd., auctioneers and general merchants, whose old rooms in Willis street were so long a familiar landmark in that busy thoroughfare, have lately removed into more spacious and convenient premises, built to meet the special requirements of their trade, on Jervois quay. The new twostoried building, which occupies a fine situation overlookng the harbour, presents a solid and imposing appearance. The front portion of the ground floor is occupied by a. series of offices —six of which are devoted to clerical work. Then there is the manager’s room, a handsome apartment, furnished with every requisite for the. despatch of business. Much space has been taken up in providing a suitable entrance for vehicles, and the arrangements made strike the visitor as being singularly convenient for the handling of produce. The Arm’s auction room occupies the entire space of the giound floor, wuli the exception of the offices mentioned, and covers something like 5000 square feet. Here almost any dlay of the week the lively scenes associated with the sale of fruit by auction may be witnessed. Mr Alfred Reid, the principal auctioneer, is credited with great popularity among the cosmopolitan crowd of buyers that gathers daily in this noted saleroom. Mr John Mitchell is another popular salesman with a high reputation as a knight of the hammer. A cool keeping-cellar, a feature of the arrangements on the ground floor, has been found to be of especial value in handling butter and eggs in warm weather. Laery and Go. are not middlemen, th,ose deA’ourers of the producers’ profits. They may be correctly described as being commission agents. Finns, run on similar lines to Laery’s. it is realised nowadays, offer the best medium by which the producer and consx<mei? can be brought together. It would be difficult to over-estimate, the value of the facilities which such firms as Laery and; Go. offer to the large and small country settler for the disposal of his produce. In a great measure the ready means of disposal such firms afford and the quick realisations on produce account for the prosperity of that most desirable class of colonists—the small producers. If a settler has a single hide tG sell, for instance, he has only to send word that it is at the railway station. • the company do everything else. The hide is held, if necessary, until a decent lot is made up, when it is sold to the tanners. Thef cash, less charges, is at once remitted to the- settler. A single bale of wool, skins, tallow, and produce of every description in tliel smallest lots, may be consigned to the company, wdio being in almost hourly touch with an enormous business connection, are in a position to at once find a market at the current rates. Tanners, wool scourers, and retail shop-keepers are among the firm’s daily customers. Of course there is a speculative element in the business. The firm have immense dealings in. flour, potatoes and oats, but at the same time the small producer receives equal attention for the smallest lots he may consign to the city. When it is mentioned that the storage capacity of their premises represents 3850 tons, some idea may be formed by the general reader of the quantity of off that the firm can handle. In fruit alone their transactions are enormous and diversified. The sale of the fruit is but a branch of the firm’s extensive business. The haze of romance wh Loix sursounded the fruit trade in the days when taper-masted schooners plied between the far-away Pacific isles and the colony has disappeared before the advent or the steamers which now monopolise the trade. A huge business is done in bananas, one of the most wholesome fruits in the world, and which cannot be sold at too cheap a rate. Arriving at Laery’s in countless bunches, the fruit is at once sold, although large quantities are kept back for sale to- regular country and coastal tradespeople. The bananas for these are placed in the ripening houses. Thebe houses or chambers (four in number) are kept perfectly dark, but at thd same time well ventilated. They are heated to a temperature of 70deg. Fah. In a few days the fruit ripens and is ready for distribution. Another interesting department in the upper floor is the arrangement for sorting out such perishable goods as oranges and lemons. The damaged! fruit technically known as “t pecked fruit” is picked; out, while the good fruit is left on the racks to dry. In passing, it may be mentioned that this “specked fruit” is now being manufactured into an excellent wine; there is apparently no waste nowadays. Shipments of fruit from Australia, Tasmania, and different parts of the colony are constantly arriving at Laery’s. In conclusion it may be stated that it would be a difficult matter to name any class of farm produce, from a pair of ducks to a bale of wool, which Laery and Co., Ltd., are not called upon to sell for some one or other of the enterprising and intelligent settlers peopling a wide extent of country of which Wellington is the centre, at one time or another. Such is the extent and variety of the conneotjpn that the firm

to find a ready customer.. It is patent, therefore, that firms like Laery’s render excellent service to tlie community and form an important factor in developing the resources of the colony.