THE FOREIGN EXCHANGES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18453, 14 January 1922, Page 10

THE FOREIGN EXCHANGES.

CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT STANDARDS. “ The following table .showing the standards used for the assessment of duties W. the Customs Department in respect of the rate of exchange in foreign oountneawill be of interest to the mercantile community:— . .. ’ Swit- DenDate. U.S.A. Canada. France. Belgium. Italy. zerland. mark. 1921. Dollars Dollars Francs . . Francs Lire Francs Kr. Dec. to £ to £ to £ to £ to £ to £’ to £ 1 4.08 4.43 56.90 60.55 98.12 20.97 , 21.64 2 4.05 4.42 55.90 60.55 * 98.12 20.97 21.64 3 ... 4.05 , 4.42 55.90 60.55 ’ 98.12 20.97 21.64 5 4.07 4.42 55.16 60.55. ' 98.12 20.97 : 2L65 6 .... 4.07 4.42 55.15 60.55 98.12 21.03 21.60,. 7 .; 4.07 4.42 , 63.95 56.05 . 94.65 , 21.03 21:60 8 ... 4.10 4.47 53.85 56'0S 94.55 21.03 21.60 9 ... ... ... 4.10 4.47 53.85 56.05 94.55 21.03 : 21.60 10 ... 4.15 4.61 53.85 56.05 94:55 21:03’ , 21.60 12 4.21 4.58 51.80 . 56.05 94.65 21.03 . \ 21.85 13 i ... 4.16 4.54 • 61.80 56 05 94.65 .21.03. .- 21.85.■ 14 ... 4.19 4,54 52.00 . 54.15 91.15 21.65 , , 22.18 15 4.19 4.54 51.70 54.15 91.15, 21.65 21.79. 16 -.. 4.19 4.54 51.70 ■ : c'64.15 V.-' 91.15 21.65 . 21.79 ' 17 4.19 4.54 51.70 64.15 91.15 - 21.65 21.79' 19 ...; 4.21 4.51 52.00 54.15 91.15 21.65 20.35 20 ... 4.21 4.51 52.00 54.15 : 91.15 - 21.65 20.55 21 ...' 4.21 4.51 52.35 54 10 91.62 21.63 19.90 22 4.21 4.51 52.35 54.10 91.62 . 21.63 19.90 23 .../ 4.19 - 4.48 53.00 5410 91.62 21.55 • 21.55 24 ... ... ... 4.19 4.48 53.00 54.10 91.62 ' 21.53 21.55 26 ... ... ... 4.19 . 4.48 63.00 64.10 91.62 v 21.53 21.55 27 ... 4.21 4.46 53:00 54.10 91.62 21.53 21.55 28 ... ... ... , v 4.21, ■ 4i46 51.90 54.37 95.00 .21.43 20.50 29 ... “ 4.21 . 4.46 52.47- 54.57 : ,93.00 ' 21.43 21.20! 30... ... ... 4.21 4.46 - 52.47 . 54.37 93.00 v 21.43 21.20 31 ... ...... 4.21 . 4,46 52.47 ’ 54.37 98.<X) 21.43 21:00; Nor- ’ ■■ Date. way. Sweden. Holland. Sphin. Portugal. * India. Japan.Kr. Kr. FI. .Pence to Pence, . Bence to £ to £ to £ . Pesetas. , Escudo •' to fto Deo. to £ (or Milreis) rupee. yen. 1 ... ... ... 28.40 16.88 11.26 28.95 416-16 16A 2822 ... 28.40 16.88 1 11.26 28.95 415-16"' 164 28» 3 ... 28.40 16.88 11.26 . 28,95 415:16 16*. SS|•5 ... ... 28,09 ■ 16.97“<-v • 11.26 '28.95 . 415-16 16 288 6 ... 28.02 16.95 11.33 28.83 4| 16 t 28f 7 . ... 28.02 -.16.95. 11.35 28.83 ... 4| 15 13-16, 2S| 8 28.17 17.01 11.33 28.83 ' 4| 15| , . 284 9 28.17 ,17.01 11.33 28.83 M .151' 284 10 23.17 17.01, 11.35 28!83 45 ' 155 284 12 28.03 17.05 11.33 28:83’ 4S is| 27| 13 ... „. _. 28.03 17.05 H. 33 28.83 '4| 15| 27| 14 23.05 ’17.04 11.56 27.98 ’ . 4|, ,15.9-10' Z7| 15 ... .... ... 27.37 17.04 11.56 27.98 41 153 27J 16 ... 27.37 ’ 17.04 11.56 27.98 4| - , , 15| 27| 17 ... .27.37 17.04 11.56 ’,27.98. 4| • -15 g 27| 19 ■ ... 27.03 16.95 11.56 27.98 41 16 278 20 ... 27.03- 16.95 11.56 27.98 4g 16 27| 21 ... 26.70 16.83 11.49 23.30 , 4 9-16 15 15-16 ,271 22 26.70 16.83 11.49 ’ 28.30 4, 9-16 ,1515-16 271 25 26.75 16.90 11.49 28.30 4 9-16 153 : 272 24 26.75 16.90, 11.49 28130 4 ,9-16 153 27| .26 26.75 16.90 11.49 28.30 4 9-16 : 153 273 27 26.75 16,90 H. 49 28.30 4 9-16 . 153 ’ 273 28 26.10 . 16.85 • 11.45 28.08 4 9-16 151 38 1 29 ... 26,35 16.80 11.45 28.08 ' 4- 9-16 16 27|' 30 ... ... ... 26.35 16.80 11.45 28.08 4'9-16 16 272 i 31 .. 26.55 16.£0 11.45 28.08 4 9-16 16 ■ 2?|

with great energy, and the rest of the audience " followed their example. Iho next demonstration came when Mr Hughes, after outlining the failure 1 of previous efforts to secure international agree-ment-.with, regard to, limitation of armament, »aid: “The" time has come'and this conference has been called not for general or advice) but -or action, ” -: This time the sehators and'others seated in the galleries stood ujpto .clieer and • dap. ■-A still- greater* manifestation < f the public feeling in America, in favour of reducing armaments was displayed when Mr Hughes came to his practical proposal) and declared that in -the interests of immediate limitation' of armaments the United States was willing to. scrap 15 capital ships now being built, on which .over . 330,000,000 dollars'have already been spent. The cheerpig lasted .for a comparatively long time. Demonstrations of applause at international assemblages of statesmen ‘ and diplomats are unknown in Europe’; 1 As a rule spectators, oven privileged ones, are not admitted to international gatherings of the kind in Europe, but it must be confessed that at such gatherings there has not been much to evoke enthusiasm. But the applause at the Washington Conference was suggestive of an orderly publio Weting, and this suggestion was emphasised towards the end of i the session, when the senators ini-tho gallery virtually took control of the proceedings out of the hands of the Chairman. The-latter-was about to adjourn 1 the, conference in,a,formal way, after two oom- ; inittcos. had .been appointed-—one to’ r deal: with limitation of. armaments and the other tp deal. with Far Eastern questions —when an insistent cry of. “Briand” oame from the gallery. Americans ' pos-. sess the , remarkable faculty •of • enjoying listening to speeches, and the senators had made up,their minds that they must have .-speeches 1 from .the - distinguished foreigners' who ; sat at the ’ table below. M.yßrioiid, the Prime Minister of France, delivered' in French a short speech, which was rapidly interpreted into English by M. Camerlynbk, the official interpreter. ■ ,M. Camerlytick is a wonderful man, who, after taking a few notes to assist his phenomenal memory, oan interpret a long French speech into English, a Jong English speech into French. He officiated as interpreter at the Peace Conference at Paris, and also at the Assembly of the League of Nations at Geneva. It is said that he oan interpret into. French the cajoling note of n speech by Mr Lloyd George, with the same imitative' art; that, he interprets into English the brusquoness of ,M. ClemenccojU, After M. Briand eat down the senators .called successively for speeches from Admiral Koto, representing Japan; Signor Sobanzer, representing Italy; Baron de Oartirn. de Marohienne, nepmentinig Belgium; Df.Wellington Koo, representing China; Jonkheer van Kamabeek,. representing the Netherlands: and Viscount d’Alte, representing Portugal; „ It is notable that, though th'e conference has agreed that both English and French shall be its official languages (rendering it necessary for all English speeches to be interpreted into French, and all. French speeches to be ihtefpreted into English), all the speakers except M.’’ Briand, spoke in English. From an oratorical point of view Mr Balfbur is the ablest, speaker among the delegates to whom English is their native tongue. Neither President Harding nor Mr Hughes compare with him. Although he is an old man in ■ the seventies he speaks with more animation than Mr Hughes or President Harding, and he is a far more -attractive, speaker to- listen to. The caressing note in his voice when he is saying a graceful thinv is very pleasing to the ear. His accomplishments as a speaker indicate that there is no better finishing school for publio speakers than the House of Common*.

parts of South America lizard eggs are a delicacy.. The eggs of tjie unlovely iguana especially ar|e eaten. A {peculiarity of lizard eggs is that ithe yolk remains soft after several minutes’ homing'' West Indian alligator eggs are recommended by Joseph, the Trinidad authority. Those of the various ' 'Kinds of Amazon alligator, although like the flesh, they often - have a musky taste, are . commonly eaten by the natives. The eggs of crocodiles are frequently eaten by - black and by brown men. ~ ' ' Curry of. ants’ , eggs, is popular in Siam, the eggs being mixed with scraps of fat pork, and . served rolled in ' green leaves. Of locust eggs the Kaffirs and the Hottentots of South Africa make a soup. ' The eggs of terrapin, tortoise, and. turtla are - ekten a good'deal. ’ Carolinan terrapin eggs have considerable vogue in that state. The South Sesa isles > and parte of the’ South American coast, notably Brazil, are regions in which .turtle eggs are a.normal article of dietary. They are inclined to be oily,-and please a civilised palate best when made into an omelette. ' The Indiana like them raw. One eats only the yolk, as the white never hardens on cooking. 1 The shell, like that of all reptilian eggs, is tough and par.chmenty, not calcareous. In some South American regions turtle eggs are salted for sending long ; distances to market.. The annuli' Orinoco turtle-egg harvest ia ■an important affair, : occupying thousands of Indians.. . An Acte .of nesting sand in which the eggs arc laid will yield 100 jars of egg-oil. Ab the eggs arc dug up they are thrown into pools of water, 1 and mashed up by being, stirred with poles and beaten with the diggers’ shovels; The oily yolk, which Abate! is scooped up and boiled,’ after which it leaves e slightly yellowish limpid oih This is equally useful for dressing or filling tamps, but it often has a nhsty smejl, as rotten eggs are beaten and boiled in discriminatory with the fresh. The eggs of, the green turtle make the best eating. / Eggs of certain flies and- hemipterous, watorbugs are even now a -favourite diet of the less sophisticated Mexicans. On.thq Lake of Texcoco “I saw men occupied iii collecting the eggs of flies from the surface of plants, and cloths arrlnged in long rows as places of resort for ,the insects,” says Brantz Mayer. These eggs, called agayacat-h, formed a favourite food of the Indians long before the conquest. When made into cakes they resemble the roe of a fish, and taste like. it. Mayer found that they were eaten even by fashionable families in Mexico City. Coming to birds’ eggs, we find that the Eskimo, the Chinaman, ?nd the Australian ‘‘black * fellow” are their least finicky eaters, age and advanced incubation detracting not a whit from their enjoyment. Beaks m a Greenlanders’s omelette, or ia Cantonese- ceufs, sur le plat, are no con-tretemps—-on the contrary! It is Curious that in many places the Scandinavian peasantry freely eat woodcock eggs, while refusing to touch the bird itself, holding it to be unclean, 'as it has no crop. When we were boys we used: to boil and enjoy hedge-sparrow Jhd thrush eggs! The eggs bL water-hens and i bald-headed coots make Excellent , eating, as I have ascertained. „ ‘ ' , . It is rather odd that civilised white folks dwelling inland refuse to eat sea-, Birds’ eggs, and coast dwellers to eat in-land-water fish. Some vears ago San Francisco used to consume and distribute annually, for food, half a million eggs of Hrunnich’s guillemot, collected from one ?art of the rocky Fallarones de los Fravies sles, 20 miles west of the bay. A company exploited them with great financial success. The eggs are about half the size of those of the goose. Here are some useful' suggestions for collecting penguin eggs from Tristan d’Acunha, that lonely islet out in thelonely South Atlantic, In case you get. a hankering for this occupation. * ‘‘This is the time for penguin eggs,” wrote a woman who did. “There are two rookeries, one on the east and one on the west of us. .... • . Fancy the'scene l —a, long, very narrow strip of land at the foot of a great rock, covered with the thick tussock grass, far higher than my head; the whole place swarming with: these penguins—pretty to look at ; but the most ungainly creatures iu their movements that I ever saw. They are about as big and twice as noisy as a duck. Fancy going into the midst of thick grass higher than your head, with thousands of them round you, all croaking in a harsh, loud, quick note, “Cover up! Cover up!” and then kicking them right And left, quickly, taking care they do not get hold of you—-• seizing their great eggs until you have some hundreds of them in your bosom. The men Wear a large shirt tied round their waist so as to form a big loose bag iu front, and them in as fast as theycan pick them up.- The men will gather two or three hundred in this way, and the boys from one to two hundred. The egga vary much in size, from a large hen’s egg to a goose’s. The birds mostly lay two at once. Their nests-are sometimes close together, so you can soon- pick, up a lot. They stand in pairs, each'couple'at their : nest to defehd it, and some will not give up until they have been; kicked away twoor three times. They can give you a good sharp bite if they get hold of you. . . . Fancy what work—to stand amid 'hundreds of the birds, all {screaming round you, so as almost to deafen you, tumbling thenqhere, and there, and picking up their eggs as fast as you can gather, them i I must! remind yoq jthat kicking them over with-', our soft mocassins does not hurt them- in the least, and next day they will havejust as many Aggs. ” .......