COMMERCIAL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5303, 17 February 1879, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

Daily Times Office, Saturday evening. The amount of Customs Revenue receivod to-day oh goods entered for consumption wm a3 follows :— £ n. d. £ s d. Brandy ~ . 22 14 It Tea .. 8 8 4 Whiiky .. .. 73 18 4 Sugar.. .. 47 111 Rum .. .. 19 6 5 Drapery .. 461 7 1 Wine .. .. 5 010 Sundries ..291 511 looacco.. .. 112 10 0 Tola! . .. .. £1031 8 8

As we published on Friday our usual Summary for the Suez rn-iJ, containing a detailed account of the present position of tho maiket, and nothing has occurred since requiring special notice.'we refer our readers for any information as to quotations to our fcsue of that date. ■ ' !

Messrs Baetixos, Leary, and Co. report the fale of the Fitzroy EsUteon Siturdny, beinjf the remaining unsold original sections in the borough (f South Duuedin. The land was surveyed into 114 sections, each haying a frontage of 83 ft. 4 in. by a depth ol itO it 1£ in. Tho two main roeds fronted were Cargill and Hacandrtw stnets, With a street running through the centre of CO ft. wide. The attendance was very la-ge. The total amount revised—every section being sold— was £6680, being an average- of £49 17s for each section.

Mr J. B. Bradsbaw reports as follows for the week ending Saturday, lfith inst., viz. :—

Colonial Bank of New Zealand shares, 47s ; National Bank of New Zealand shares, Css ; National Insurance Co shares, £1 3a Gd; standard Insurance Co shares, 17a; Uuion Insurance Co shares, 158 ; New Zealand Insurarico Co shares, 76a; South British Insurance Co Blu:rcs, 62a Gd; Morgiel Woollen Factory (Jo shares, 68s; Union Steam Ship Co shares, £8; A'cw Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co shiroip, £5; New Zealand Shipping Co shares, £4; Scottish and Now Zealand Investment Co Bhaiea. 17a.

.Money secured ou froehold property, 9 per cent, per annum.

Messrs WnrrKkAw asb Co. report sales of shares during the past week as follows:—

Insurance. —National, 23s Cd; New Zealand, 76a; South British, 60s; Standard, 18s; Union, ]sj; Colonial, 6s. Banks — Colonial, 483, cum div; National, 70s; New Zealand, £18 53. Other Companies—Mount Ida Pastoral Investment, £9 ; New Zealand shipping Co., 78s; 'Union Steamship Co., i£B ss; Walton Park Coal Co , 15s; National Mortgage and Agency Co., Limited, 21s; Kaitangata Bailway and Coal Co , £8; Mosgiel Woollen Factory Co, 68a; Koep-it-Uark, Reefton, 203. Money secured on freehold property, 9 and 10 per cent.

Mr J. A. Mackknzik reports for the week ended 16th Fobruary, as follews :—

Bank o! New Zealand (new issue), £19; Colonial Bank of Now Zealand, £2 Bs, cum div ; New Zealand Insurance Company, £4; National Insurance Company, £1 3s fid ; Standard Insurance Company, 18s ; Uiiion Insurance Co, 12* Oil; Colonial Insuranco Company, C< ; South British Insuranco Company, £8; New Zealand Shipping Company, i£4; Iklosulel Woolloa factory Company (Limited), £'i 9s; Cromwell Q'larlz mining Co, £2 6s; Keep-it-Dark Quartz-mining Go (Keefton), £1 is 6cl.

Messrs Black, Quick, and Co, report for the week ending Saturday, 15th February : —

Colonial Bank of Now Zealand shares, 403 to 493 6d, cum div; South British It,surance Co Bharcc, 60b; National Insurance Co shares, 23s to 233 6d; New Zealand Insurance Co shares, £4; Cromwell Quartzmining Co stares, £2 6s.

Messrs Babratx and Co. report for the week ending' 15th February: The demand for all classes still edntlnues good. We cannot supply halt the demand. Mar rled couples, £65 to £100; ploughmen, £65 to £70; shepherds, same; harvesters, 803 to 50s par week ; day labour, 8s to 10s per day; blacksmiths, 403 to 70s per week, and found; carpenters, 10s to 14s per day; grooms, 20a to 80s per week ; gardeners, £0) to £75, und found; waiterp, 20s to 453 per week; boot?, 20s to 265; billiard-markers, 20s to 303 per week;girls for country hotels, 16a to 28s; ditto for town hotels, 12s to 18s; general servants, 12) to 16s; nurseglrls, 5s to 103; housekeepers, 15s to 203; sheep-drivers, 10s to 12s 6d per day and found.

DEVOE'S BRILLIANT KEROSENE.

The following letter has been sent to us for publication:- ; ■; " Sear Sirs,—Complaints have reached us from je.ur Colony respecting the quality of Devoe's ' Brilliant/ and statements made which assert' that on account of the condition of this kerosene latterly, your Government has interfered, you 'have been subjected to loss, inconvenienced, and worried in conducting your oil business.

'■"VVe further learn la detail from you, and in letters received, it is said: 1. ' Devoe's Brilliant has deteriorated in quality. It is different from what the company used to ship. 3he quality of the article is very different from what it was believed to be. For aomo tin c pait Devoe's oil has been very inferior »nd irregular in quality. We are positive it is below Davo'a • ■tandard, and not what it unce was, and always understood by us to be,' &a, &c. ",2nd. This brand has been scientifically tested by competent experts in our Colony. The result is unquestioned here, aud unquestionable, though very surprising and unsatisfactory.' "3. Government interference and legislation was absolutely necessary, on account of the dangerous character of this oil.' As your agents and representatives such a report from you has called for our most careful attention, and we have felt it our duty to lay your complaints fully before Messrs Devoe, with whom we have discussed them frankly and thoroughly on your behalf. " The result of our discussion with the refiners is the following : - "Messrs Devoe and Co, assert: 11 let. ' The Brilliant shipped by them to you latterly is in every respect exactly the same in quality as, and up to the standard of the past. •' 2nd. 'AH kerosene exported to your market during; these years, and up to the present time, is t*Bted by independent U. 8. Government inspectors, and found to be 110 dog. Fahrenheit. "3rd. «That kerosane of exactly similar quality and test is shipped by them to all parts of Europe, Asia, and South Africa, and in immense quantities. In iheia countries it passes their Government examination satisfactorily.

" 4th.' From no quarter of the world, excepting your own, has a single complaint respecting the quality of this oil roacued them.' " In addition to these c.v parte statements of Messrs Devoe, numerous American oil brokers tell us : "That no firm of refiners are so particular as to the quality of kerosene they buy, or so frequently cancel contracts, because oil is not up to their (Uevoe'a) standard.' " Tho U. S. Government inspectors certify to us 1 that Brilliant, now and always, has fulfilled the conditions of the Act of Congress requiring it to be 110 der. Fahrenheit.' ''This Bama oil has again and again pasied the examination of the English Board of Trade, and been certified as up to the requirements of the Explosive Act, which requires ' that kerosene shall not give off an infl imrnable vapour under 100 deg Fahrenheit.' "In the Colony your scientific experts examining Brilliant reverse the position taken by their American and English brethren.

" We give no opinion upon this want ef agreement, nor can we assume a reason for it.

" You may, however, be informed that Professor Redwood, the scientific referee of the English Petroleum Association, asserts strongly in a report we have seen, 'that he entirely disagrees with the results of analyses made in Melbourne by the chemists appointed by the Victorian Government to test and report upon kerosene of every kind imported into that colony.'

"Please note that this is not our statement, but Professor Redwood's.

" As concisely as poseible we have endeavoured to place the opposite sides of this subject before you, in order that our position may bo apparent. As your representatives, our sympathies are entirely with you, and we have taken up the side demanded of us in representation of your case to Messrs Devoe. But their manner of meeting it, and the strong rebutting arguments they offer, perp ex and stagger ug. We may, however, here add, It is not a question to be settled by mere argument, nor one of Belt-interest or veracity merely that has to be decided, but one which appears dep' ndent upon the accuracy or inaccuracy of scientific expens. It seems to us that the "tett" question is the crucial one, but the difference of opinion here being so marked, all wo can do is to set the subject before you clearly and leave you to make your own inference.

" We address you thus at lengtk and fully, that you may see we understand and feel the importance of your complaints. Having by your direction purchased a certain class of kerosene, and since learned that it is believed by you to be different from your expectation, it is our duty to explain and give reasons for or against the position you maintain. You will thereby realise the difficulty we have to overcome in order io accompliih the various desires of our clients.

" We are keenly alive to the seriousness of the position, and most anxious to efficiently protect your interests. Whatever the trouble or expense we may be put to, we assure you, when your position is fully manifest, every energy we posseia shall be exercised for your benefit.—We are, &c , " Aiikilli, Touts, and Co."