THE GRAIN SEASON.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5325, 14 March 1879, Page 3

THE GRAIN SEASON.

As giving some idea of the quick accumulatioi •«£ grain this season at the various stations _oi ■the Christchurcli section of railway, notwith -standing the special daily grain train, tho fol lowing was the number of bags on Thursday evening, March 6th, at each station : — Bags. I Ba-r Albury .. .. 166 Rakaia .. ..168! Ashburton .. 680 1 Hanjiora .. .. 8 Boaley'fl road .. 264 Raogitata south .. IS Bonnett's junction 103 St. Andrew .. 751 Burnbato. .. .. 120 Sefton .. .. 531 •Cave .. .. 211 Selwyn .. ~ M 6 Chertsey .. .. 1418 Sheffiold .. .. 0 Boyleston .. .. 26* Southbridga .. 281 Dunsanciel .. .. 713 Spripgston .. 5' Ellesmere ~ .. 800 Styx .. .. 43 Hinds .. .. 640 TempUton .. 63l Hornby .. .. 60 Temufca .. .. 6* Horndon junction 1770 Tinwald .. .. 161! Kaiapoi .. .. 340 Wai ß ho .. .. Bt< Kirwee .. .. 62 Wainiite .. .. 77 Lincoln .. .. 230 Waitaki north .. 1371 Mooraki north .. 144 Winchester .. 317 Oxford east .. £0 Winslow .. .. 24! .Papauui .. .. 220 Plaasant Point .. 1365 Total .. .. 22,45 Prebbleton.. ..330 The grain carried during- the week endec Saturday on the Chrktclnuch section frrm al ■ stations amounted to 112,538 bags. A ppeeia 'train had to be run on Monday on the Opawr ■ fcranch line to prevent a block. STANDARD FIRS AND MARINE INSURANCE COMPANY. » — The half-yearly meetiu? of sharehoklers in the above Company was held in the Temperance Hall on the 10th instant There was but •a small numb-r of shareholders present. Mi - John Reid (Rtid and Duncans) presided. EEI'ORT AND BALANCE-SHEET. The ien'li half yearly report and balancesheet wero laid upon the table, and taken a,i read. nEPOOT The Director.) htve much pleasura in submitting the annexed statement of accounts t<r the half-ye<r ending 31st December last, which thows a baiauce of £23.010 2s lid to cred.t o! profit and loss account, and which they recommend should be applied as follows, viz.:—To pay a dividend at the rate of 10 pn cent, per annum on the paid-up capital, which will ■ absorb £3750, and to curry the ba'anco, amounting to £19,260 2s 11.!, to ths credit of profit and lo:s now account. The Directors regret not being able t> recommend tho distribution of'n bcnu3 in addition to the 10 per ■ cent., but in the jr sent depressed state of irjsiiiMnco business they do not feel watranted in so cV in;;, telieving that trie interests of tho Company will be beat conserved by fcllowing tha course they propose. Should tho me ting adopt thii report, the dividend will be payable nt the head office and bran.lies on and aftsr Moi day, 24th M»rch. Messrs David Bixt<r and ffra. Eoyse rstire from the directory by r.itation, and Mr Begg's appointment as auditor will expire )•}■ efflixion of time 'Ihese .: gentlemen a-c eligible and offer themselves for reelection. (Signed) Jons Eeid, Chairmtn. BaI(ANCE-SHBKT For tho half-year ending SOth December, 1873. LIABILIII'S. Dr. £ s. d. £ b. d. ''Xo capital account .. 75,000 0 0 Less calls unpaid ~ 4,771 18 0 70 2^5 p 0 Reserve fund .. .. .. £6,000 0 0 Sundry credits as per ledger .. 990 14 7 Bank overdraft .. '.. .. 75 3 11 JPiilanco .. .. .. 23,010 211 £119,310 3 5 ASSETS. Cr. £ ». d. 3y investments .. .. .. 03.944 12 0 Premises and office furnit'ire .. 4,633 2 8 Cash at agencies and outit.vndiDg .. 16,8:27 8 9 £110,310. 3 5 PItOHT AXD LOSS ACC.'UXT. Dr. £ s. d To fire and marine lossoi .. .. 25,75)5 0 4 Commission, saiatica, and elnrgcs 9 659 1 (i Balance .. .. .. 23,010 211 £55.404 4 9 Cr. £ s. d. £ s. d. By balance, Jr.no IS7B .. 21,25S 5 2 les3 dividdiidi then declared.. .. 3,11117 3 18,140 , 7 11 Net premiums rccaived .. .. 37,09(i 6 3 Interest i-n 1 transferees .. .. 3,25110 7 £58,434 4 9 I have exnmiiiul the above balance-shett ar d profit and los^ it .tciii ut, together with the vouchers and account*, is *-Ir> tlio books of the Cou.puiy and securities, sui! lie-eby state that ihe above is ac rcec: statement of tiio ullairj of the Company. (Mgntd) AhtX. C. Beoo, Auditcr Dunedii), 20th F.hruiry, 1879. The Chairman moved the adoption of the report, and said: GentlemeD, the directors are pleased to meet you, and to submit the balancesheet now before you fcr your cousHeration and adoption. You will observe that the balance to ovedit of profit and 1038 account is L 23.010 2s lid, from which we propjse to take a dividend of 10 pa1 cent, on the paid-up capital, which will absorb nearly L 3750 (the actufll figures will be fouaethirjg under this amount, but the calculations were not completed when the report was sent to press), and tO CUT.y- the mia»:.i:»g £.10,000-MHaiil — <~-- credit of profit pnd loss new account. The directors wore most anxious to add a bonus of 3d per phaiv, but looking at the long l: st of heavy m<ritime disasters which have been reported, and numerous serious conflagrations ■which have occurred of late, they cotisidrrad it best; in the intertsts of the Conipjny toforbfar paying more than 10 per cent, on the present ■occasion. So far as ad\i< es ara yet to hand, the Standard hfs rot been s> rittisly affected by the shipwrecks r ported j l-ut the casualties having been of a very general nature, it is scarcely to be expected that it can have altogether escaped, and the directors, therefore, for prudential reasons, have decided to follow the course now proposed. Since I last had the pleasure of meeting you here, the Company; has established a branch office in San Francisco, under the control of an experienced and careful manager, and I am pleased to say that it gives promise of being highly successful. There has .also a change been made in the nature of the London office, which we ?re hopeful may lead to good results. With the great competition now going on between offices in this and the sister Colonies, it is gratifying to know that the Standard continues to hold its own, and that, too, notwithstanding that it has been gradually reducing the amount of its lines in all large centres of business. The Company has now ■enteredirpon the sixth year of its existence, and I have culled the following figures from balance- . sheets to show the annual income and expenditure from its commencement, omitting shillings and pence, Net Losses ar.d Net Income. Ch-rgea Pr fit. £ £ £ Jflntyear .. 23,C6t 13 718 9,040 Second year .. 50 925 37,905 13.020 Third year .. 57,310 45,924 11,425 Fourth yoi.r .. 82,230 G5493 16 738 Tilth year .. 85,503 78,110 7 433 Totals ..£299,707 £242,156 £58,611 .showing a net rrjfit cf L 58,611, which has been applied as follows, viz.:—Payments of divi- ■ dends to sh:-rjholdera, Llß.lll (of which 1/12,500 has I oen capitalized); earned 1o reserve fund, L1'2,500; laid bournes to insurers, L 4990 ; and the balance now to credit of pr >fit and lo.'s aeoi unt cf L 23.010 give, as before •stated, L58,G11, which, all things considered, is a pretty satisfactory state of affairs, although I hi] c on future occasions we shall be able to report a considerable improvement even on ihis. Mr David Baxter and Mr William Royse now retire from the directory by rotation. Both gentleman are eligible, and now offer ih'Hustlves for re-election. Mrßegg's appointment as auditor also expire? by effluxion of time. Mr Begg is also eligible for reappointment. Should any shareholder require further expinnation with respect to tho balancesheet I shall be happy tosupply it. Meantime I beg to move the adoption of the report and balance-sheet. Mr Alex. Hexnie, in rising to second the motion for tbe adnption of the report, thought, ■ considering all things, the shareholders were in a position to congratulate the directors upon -the report fchoy presented. Taking into con- . sideration tho keen competition which existed amongst insurance companies, particularly •during the last year, the very low—indeed, remarkably low —ratos at which business was done, and tho large fires which had occurred throughout the country, and by which the -Standard had suffered to its full share, he was of opinion the shareholders bad no room whatever ftr complaint. The motion was carried unanimously. DIRECTOB3 AND AUDITOR. In mentioning that the next business was the election of two directors and an auditor, The Chairman stated that Mr Baxtsr had been a director of the Company from its days, and Mr Eoysa had also held office for two or three yeir.->. Mr Johnston proposed the re-election of Mes.n-3 Baxtt r and Royse. Seconded by Mr Cuele, and carried unanimously. On tbe motion of Mr Eennir, seconded by Mr R. R. Jones, Mr A. C. Begg was reappointod auditor. VOTE OP THANKS. Mr E. E. Jones had much pleasure in ■ moving a vote of thank 3to the d'rsctcr', manager, and officers, for their very succes-tful 'inanngemept of the Corny any'a business during the past nix months. The position in which tho Standard Company stood might be very favourably c unpared with that of other fire ■insurance coin nar is started at the same time. He was vsry gl .d indeed fen learn that a btanch Tnninefß had been established in California, and that it wa* likely to be successful in it* operation*. That fact showed that it was the intention of the director.* to spread the business of tha Company ns widely as possible, and he was confident that in doing so they Btndinu^ly eons-lilted and forwarded tho interests of tha shareholdeis. He had, therefore, very great pleasure in proposing the motion. Mr B, M'Glaskan seconded the proposition, which was carried. The Chaiiiman returned thanks on behalf of ifaimself and co-directors, the manager, and officers. He firmly believed that each and a]l

in their respective spheres did their utmost for the success of the Company. He would be delighted, however, to sea the shareholders taking a more active and personal interest in the success of tbe Company, the want of which, hewas convinced, was a weak point in connection with all our companies. On the whole, perhars, the Standard's shareholders supported tho Company fairly, and it was gratifying to the directors to find that their efforts were appro ciated. A vote of thankß to the chairman concluded the business.