Daily Circulation, 1500. The Oamaru Mail SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1888.

Oamaru Mail, Volume X, Issue 4281, 1 December 1888, Page 2

Daily Circulation, 1500. The Oamaru Mail SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1888.

The announcement issued by the bakerß of Oamara that the puce cf the 41b loaf is to be raised to 7d will be unwelcome to the citizens, more especially to those of tbem who have large families. We do not question that the Oamara bakers have been compelled to increase the price of bread in order that they may be able to realise a fair profit;, because we are not acquainted with the ins and outs of the bakery business. But we are entitled to Bay that it dee* seem extra, ordinary that, though we are at the very doors of a distriot that supplies wheat and flour to the rest of the colony, we have invariably to pay more for our bread than anyone else. The reason given for this ia that Oamarn flour Is usually dearer In Oamara itself than it is almost anywhere else in the colony, though freight and other charges have to be added to Its oost at the Oamaru mills. We are, moreover, told that the Oamara pablia objsot to bread made from anything but floor of the finest quality, and that the vendo r s of that article have refused to tell it to the local bakers except at an advanae on the prices ruling for the same article. Bay, in Dunedin. It is also raid that vendors have met all expostulations from the takers with the response that the quantity of their flour sold here is so inconsiderable that it is Immaterial to them whether the bakers patronise them or not. This appears to be a singular line of argument, It coßts no more to produce the flour med in Oamaru than it does to produoe that used in other places, and the attitude of certain of the Oamsru millers savora of monopoly. There appears, however, to bo noway of esoaplng from what one is justified in viewing as an Imposition, unless the publio will be satisfied to eat bread m*de from less pretentious flour. So long as the publ'o tarn up their noses at bread made from the ordinary flour, and insist npon having that made from the refined article, so loog will the bakers—we may suppose—have to charge prlceß for bread that are high In oomparison with those ruling elsewhere. It wonld, however, not be surprising if the present abnormal rise in flour were to reßnlt in ah equalisation throughout the colony of the prices of that article, for with first quality Oamara flour at Ll2 in Dnnedin, it is scarcely likely that the Oamarn millers will ba able to exact anything more for it in Oamaru, Notwithstanding the public's infatuation for the super-refined article, there is, we believe, a limit beyond which they will not and cannot go, and that limit has probably now been reached. Ll2 for a ton of flour is an outside prioe, however excellent the flour may be in quality. Of coarse, we are aware that the reason that the millers give for the increase in the price of flour is that wheat prices have risen. For the increase in the price cf wheat we are, or should be, thankful, for it means that the farming Industry in this district, and throughout the Colony will receive a fillip that will be felt in every department of oar trade, and that the tettlement of the country will grow apace. Low prices for oar products may bring about low prices for onr bread and other necessaries of life ; bat we -all know that when the prices for our products are low times are so bad and money so scarce that it is difficult to live, however cheap necessaries may be. No one ought to objeot, therefore, to pay a price for bread in proportion to any increase that may take place In the price of the raw materials out of. which it is made; though they certainly have gooi cause to object, if competition being ! stifled through combination, thß prices of any of

the neceßscrlea of life are raised artificially. Whether the prioes of the finest quality of floor are unjustifiably high, or not, we do not know, for we are as little acquainted with the milling aa we ate with the bakery business, It may even be that the higher prices that have been charged for superfine flour in Oamarn were legitimate and that the lower prices charged in Dunedin and else- | where were made low through intense comj petition, and did not leave the millers a fair | margin of profit. But, whatever may be the ! truth of the matter, the revival in produce | prioes has not yet effected an improvement in the condition of the masses that will enable them to enjoy the luxury of a highprloed loaf, however sapeiior it may be in quality. Bread made fi om flour produced by the ordinary process is not only cheaper thai the superfine, it is also more wholesome. It people were to eat ooarser wheaten bread they would feel the advantage both in health and pouket, and if they cannot get the bakers to make it, they ought to make it themselves, This, it appears t j u>, would effect economy which, though apparently immaterial, might ooinmend itself to the heads of large families. We have heard it said, when bread has been uneatable; that its inferiority was consequent on the ooarseneas of the fl >ur, but that excuse was not reasonable. Bread, we all know, may be made from the coarsest flour, and yet not be sour, heavy, or indigestible. The baker who would supply sweet, wholesome bread made from ordinary flour at a reasonable price would do a large buaioe s, and the rest of the trade would Boon find It to their benefit to follow his example. Bread made from such material would be far preferable to bread made from unsound and other inferior fljur, which it is said, some of our bakers, for the sake of economy, mix with that of the better quality, for, iu addition to its greater wholesomeness, it would be slightly cheaper. It would be difficult to prove that the price chargid by our bakerß for bread has been higher than it ought to have bean, or that the inorease n«w announced in bread is unreasonable. We miy oompnt9 the price of a ton of flour and the number of loaves that may be produced from that quantity. We may also take into consideration the wages paid and the coßt of delivery, and so forth. But eveu then, if we were to start in the bakery line ourselves on the basis of such a calculation, we wou'd probably Boon flad the balance on the wrong aide of the ledger. The bakery trade has its drawbacks like many other trades, and many of these, such as longwinded customers and bad debts, are known only to those who embark in the business. Bread Is the last thing that 1b or can be stopped either by the oonscmer or the baker, and this fast we can readily understand, is the cause of very considerable loss to the vendor. But the announcement of the bakers that they intend to oharge a certain pticefor their bread is a thing upon which we m*y offer an opinion. If 7d per loaf is a legitimate price to oharge for bread made from superior flour, and if that prioe will stand the test of competition, then what need was there for the bakers to coma to an arrangement to oharge that prioe ?

The Wellington pacers record some remarkably pood shooting by the Wel'ington Navals In a ootnpany competition of s ven shots at 200, 300, and 500 yirda, fired two days prfor to the roa'oh against the Navals of Oamara and other plaoeß, the ten highest men, who included nine of those who took part in Saturday's match, made the grand total of 789 points, or all but an average of 79 per man. "'wo made 82 eaoh, two 81 each, and one made 80, while the lowest score of the ten was 75. climatic conditions under which the men fired were highly favorable, but even nnder the moat favorable conditi. ns the scoring was remarkably good. On Saturday when the match with the ot'.er corps was fired the weather was very bad, but the corps f ucoeeded in beating all the other oorpe, the Oamaru Navals being third on the list.

We are Informed that a very large number of tickets for the North Sohool prize fund entertainment have already been dispo'ed of, and that there is every prospect of the Public W1 belne well filed on Friday evening next, when the entertainment will take place The programme will mainly c n?li«t of Boot's cantata of "The Flower Qu°en." one of the best things of the k'nd ever composed. This will be given by 120 pupils, and great preparations have been for presenting it npon an elaborate eoale. The I Battery will fire a match against the Oamsru Navals nex 1- . Wednesday mornIng, 10 men aside, and the Batteiy team will be picked from the following Captain Creagb, Lieutenant Smith, Sergeant-Major Brown, Pergeat White, forpo-al Sinclair, Gunners G-eenfi Id, Hardine. Gla?s, Every, Grant, Collet, Sico'air, and Taylor. A large number of settlers In the Awamoko distriot met at the schoolhonse last evening to consider steps for holding the annual spor'-s. Friday. 21st Deoember. was ,the date fixed npon, and a strong comrni't<"e formed to make arrangements and to do what Is necessary for the success of the gathering. I Mr Duncan, M.H.R , had received a telegram from the Premier, stating that he, accompanied by Mr Mltchelson, purposes coming through by the express on r uesday en route for Tnveroargill. From the latter place thev will go to Queenstowa and on to fcake Hawea, returning by the Otigo Central to Dunedin. Nothing is said about inspecting the proposed route for a road to Na°eby, so that it will be necessary for the C mmittee to arrange for a deputation to wait npon tbem npon their arrival in Oamara on Tnesday,

A mee'ing of all those Interested ia the road will be held in Mr Sum iter's offica on * next at 10 a.m. As this is a matter wh'ch affaots the in. terests of all the residents in the district, it is hoped that there will be a large attendan e.

The terrible drought which haß proved no destructive In Australia, and more especially in New South Wales, has at last broken up, and most welcome rains have fallen. Unfortunately for thOße colonies, the rain oannot do any good so far as the grain crop is concerned, a? harvest time is at hand. Still, the rain is of priceless value to both mas and beast, an! will save the lives of thousands of the latter, and in a measure avert ruin from their owners.

Usually this time of the year the port Is slack, but owing to the large export! of wheat for Australia the railway authorities at the port a'e kept actively at work. Yev terday 169 trucks of produce wero hauled to Lyttelton, equal to about 845 tons of freight; they came down in three lots of one of 53, one of 66, and another of 50 trucks.— Chrißtohuroh Press.

The Property Tax Department (says a writer in the Auckland Herald) cuts it fine. The other day an Auckland firm in the eleventh hour paid their property tax, whiah runs into a large sum. In the hurry of the moment of drawing out the cheque they omitted the odd 19a 6d. Next morning they received a note requesting payment of the 19s 6d, with interest added, Is lid, as balance of their property tax. They are men of peace, though tanners, or they wonld have said, " Pat np yonr props 1" We regret to hear (says the Wanganui Herald) that Mr Brace, M.H.8., has found it necessary to undergo an operation for the comp'aint from whlcih he was Buffering This was Bucaes;fully owned out yesterday by Dr' Sorley. Mr Bruce is now progressing favorably, and we trust soon to see him about again as usual. The team to represent the Oamara Navalß in the match against the Thames Navals, Nelson Navals, and I Battery, to be fi-ed on Wednesday morning, will be piokel from the following: -Lieuts. Taylor and Farley, Q -M. Symons, First P.O.'a Richardson, Urenfeli, and Thomas, Second P.O. Swinird, Gunners Butt, Casey, France, Mahan, and Bnle. The conditions are 200 and 500 yards, with seven shots,

The longer some of oar oitizenslaokjat the property-tax the leas they like it. One or two who have been hard hit by having to pay on preposterously inflated valuations, have allowed the properties to be BO'd In the open market to get a quotation. These figures will probably adorn the proparty-tax returns, valuations, and sales, whioh Mr Monk delights to move for in hiß place in the General Assembly,—Auckland Herald. The appointment of Mr Shannon as inspector and vainer of s >fo goods for the Cos-t-jma department, at a salary of LBOO, Ib, it Is said, creating muoh comment in Wellington. We venture to say that it will bs repr bated throughout the colony. Even il the appointment of suoh an offioer were a necessity, the salary -eema to be'extravagant. It appears to us that if the new tariff U so complicated th.it it neodß an army of ministers, lawyers, and officers to interpret it and to watoh night and diy to detect fraud, then It should be immediately amended or abolished. Bat how Mr shannon is to ba of service beyond Wellington it is d'ffi nit to conceive ; or is it contemplated to appoint a similar offiflir at every port in the colony? Wonld it not have been better to have appointed Mr Shannon the ! o itical or cffioial bead of the ' ustoms department ?

Messrß Wright, Stephenson, and Co. offered for sale yesterday a Ire quantity cf show stock, when the following wjre so d on acoount of exhibitors from thia di->t* ct : ■»n account if Mr K. Menlove : Jiummirton Dake, carried off first hcnois in the yearling olass—to Mr D. T Shand, at 90gs Alvie's D ike of Berrimut 11, second in ths yearling olass—to Messrs Murray. Ko'iert", aud Co., Napier, at Ssgs. On account ot Mr A. Murdoch : 15 stud Leicester ewes privately at a satisfactory figure. Privately, on acoount of the on. K, Campb 11, Benm ire : One beau-tifully-ma ohed bug y pair of Bilver greys at 140 tho pair, to file srs Hastie for the In iian market. Priva ely, oa account uf Mr G. Barclay. Wataki North : One very handsome bay oarrlage gelding—at a very high figure, to Messrs Bacon » n account of !Mr Hickman, Waimate: 2nd prizs Uown wetherß, pen of 7 —IG3 3d. fach Mr Rippin Mr GUeon Rutherford, Maheno, parohased M'John Pean«' Ganterstone's Florist, oalved 30th t;ct., 1885, by Duke of Gante stone, »nd secoud-p >za bull in the olass for rhree-yoar-olls aod upwards, piice 51gs, The f llowing stouk we-e eold b/ Me srs Reid and Maclean : -On acoount of Mr John eid—l 4-tooth Romney ram sgs, 12 t >oth do sgs 1 Leio-ster ram 20gs, and 1 2-tooth Romney ram 10 £ s ; on account of Mr Alex. Murdooh—l 4- oorh Leicester ram 1 do do 4£ga, 1 do do 4g3, 1 do do 20gs, and 1 do do 4gß; on aocount of Hon, M. holmes—--1 Lido-In ram 14ga ;on acoount of Mssrs Little Bros.—l ceioester ram 12Jgs, Ido do sgs, 2 do do 7i?s 1 do do 12gs ; on aocount of Mr John eid—lo crossbred wethers at 15a, 10 at 17s, 6 at 17s 9d, and 5 do sheep at 16s; on acoount of the NZ. a dAL, 'o--5 crossbred wethers at 235, 5 do do at 25s 5 lambs at 8s 9d, 5 do at lis 3d, 1 horae LIS, and 1 chestnut horse 18 3d; on account of Mrs W. Barr—l yearling filly L4O A meeting of the Protestant AllUnoe Friendly So iety will be held at 7.30 on Monday evening next:, when nominations for the various offices will be reoeived, including those of doctor atd chemist. At 8 30 a social >eawill beheld, when a number of song?, reoitations, etc., will b9 supplied. In addition to the prizes already mentioned whioh Mr Gemmeli secured for his > yrohirea at the ! 'uneain c-how, ho was awarded first for the best pair of cows, la full milk, any breed. This made the score five firsts and one second with three animals, the total value cf awards beiasj Ll9 101 There was a good prizi off red for the best th ee Ayrshire ciwb, wh eh Mr Gemmeli was unaware of until the ani rials were called into the ring Had he been aware of this he would have taken another cow down and secured thia award also.

A disorepincy orept into our report of the awards for Leicester sheep at the Dunedin Show. In pair of ewes 2-tnoth or under the report read " A. Murdoch 1, Little Bros. 2 and 3," whereas Messrs Little Bros. Baoared all three prizes. We ar l ) glad to notice that these b-eeders obtained more justice at the Dunedin Show than at Timaru, as at the latter place their first pen at Dunedin was overlooked entirely.

TheFev. G. W. J. Spence is announoed to preach a tempera oe sermon in Wesley Church to-morrow evening.