COMMERCIAL TELEGRAMS. London, December 8.

Otago Witness, Issue 2285, 16 December 1897, Page 40

COMMERCIAL TELEGRAMS. London, December 8.

At the tallow auctions 1559 casks were offered, and. 775 sold. Fine mutton realised 21s 9d ; medium, £03 ; fine beef, 20s 6d ; medium, 18s 6d. The total quantity of wheat and flour afloat for the United Kingdom is 2,710,000 quarters, and for the Continent 1,520,000 quartern. National Bank of New Zealand shares, £2 ss. Bank of New Zealand 4 per cent, guaranteed stock, 103. New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company 4 per cent, prior lien stock, 94J. The New Zealaud Trust and Loau Investment Compiny declare an interim dividend of 5 per cent. The value of machinery exports for November decreased by £207,953, and during 11 months show a decrease of £351,693. The German export of machinery for the past nine months increased by £175,000. December 10. The weekly returns of the Bank of FiQgland show the total reserve to be £21,854,000, and the proportion of reserve to liabilities 5002. The American visible supply of wheat is 50,112,000 bushels.

Silver, 2s 2 2-16 d per oz Butter is slow of sale. Colonial, 98^ to 100s per cwt. A few choice parcel* brought l?4a. Danish is quoted at from 106>j to 112s. Rabbits are- dull at 91 each. Three months' bills are discounted at 2 15-16 per cent. Consolir, 112 J. Quotations for colonial stocks :—

The English wheat n arket is quiet but steady, the Continental changing a little for the worse, and the American dull. Calif ornian No. 1 milling, 37s 9-1 ; Russiau cargoes, 37s ; London quotations : Hard Duluth, 39s 3d. Sug»r, quiet. Java, 10s 9d : German beet, J)s. No. 1 best Scotch pig iron (f.o.b. on Clyde), 45?. The Bradford wool market is lifeless. Colonial oats : Fine, 26j 3d. Beans, 30a 6d. December 12. - Mutton. — Crossbred wethers anil maiden ewes : Canterbury, 3 3-161 per lb ; Dunediii and Southland, 2 1316 1 ; North Island, 2 11-16 d. L'xmb is not quoted. River Pl->te.cro.?sbreds or merino wethers, heavy and light, 2Jd each. ' Australian rabbilskin3 are weak. The bulk sold at from Jd to Id decline. Eye Diseases Among 1 Horses. TO THE BDITOK. Sir, — Through an opportune circumitance I obtain* d po'session of an instrument lately by which I have examined the eyes of many horses within the last week, snd found seven out of every ten to bo affected y, r \th oiaeapo Now it i»no wonder the Indian Uemouiit department should exclude Australian horses under these circumstauces. A'kw me, please, a* a practical man to tell Ih3 producers— or, rather, would* be producers — that lour out of every five are unsound from defective eyes'ght alone, to say nothing of the results of congenital tendencies such as ring and fide b^nes aud other peculUritits. To rectify such a great defect is an extensive order, but a beginning must be made. Allow me to tell you, farmers, or otherwise producers of stock, that you are foolish in the extreme to cover your mares — or at all 6veut3 the f emblacce of what should be mares— with a thing called an •♦entire" for tho sake of paving a miserable pound or two. You arc perfectly justified in expecting » reward from the weed — jof » nature, bnfc pro rota. Remember that you ! cannot improve on nature— you can only anfisb. To improve the'brecd of our horses is a bard question. It can't; be done until a higher standard of dams is kept. lb is all right to advocate perfection in sires, but — and there is a •• but " there — where is the other economy to come from P Owners have had to sell their best horses Io meet other engagements, aud that has had a good say in the matter. I'll gladly give buyers a hint as to horses they wish to secure. Cover the eye you are looking at with your hat to 6hade it from tho light ; look well into the hollow of. the eye, and if you see a little whita spec either up or down, do nob, have anything to da with the animal. — I am, &c, Nkil Marquis, V.S. Timaru, December 7. . ' j THE MEAT MARKET. | Nelson Bros., of Napier, received tho following ! cable from London on Thursday night :— " Frazeu me*t market: To-day's quotations — BeetCuitorbury mutton, 3Jd ; best Dunedin and Southland, 2J.1 ; Napier and North Island, 2gd." | WOOL FREIGHTS. ! Advice 3 received from Sydney, under date November 27, regarding wool freights are as fol- ! low :—": — " Berth freights are much firmer by both steam and sail. Steamers are now getting Jd and £d, with 5 per cent, primage. We expect to see ■ 9-lCd and id some time next month. Wool rateß by sailer are 5-16 d and 7-16 d, with 5 per cent. primage."

DUNEDIN MARKETS. ■" WHOLESALE PRODUCE REPORTS. .* Mr J. Fleming, Princes street south, reports under date the 14th inst. :— Wheat tier bushel. * per ton Best milling ... 4/6 Oaten hay -60/o—7o/0 Medium do ... 4/0 Oatmeal, in 25's 220/0 Fowls' ... 3/3-3/fi Oaten chaff ' 60/0-67/6 Milling oats 1/10 -l/ll Ryegrass hay 6°/0-65/0 Feed oats ... 1/B—l/9 Straw S7/« Malt barley 4/o—4/6 Pearl barky ... 310/O Feed barley 2/&— 3/0 per cwt Cape barley ... 3/0 Onions 10/0 Maize ... ... 3/3 per lb. per ton. Rolled bacon ... O/BJ Mour, in 200*3 ... 240/0 Side bacon ... 0/7 Flour, in 50's ...250/0 Smoked hams ... 0/8 Pollard 70/0 Cheese ... O/?.J-O/ti Bran fiO/0 Good salt butter, Barley dust ... 70/0 6d to 7d por lb, according to quality. Old Derwent potatoes easiei this week, £1 par ton (plentiful). New Peninsula potatoes are coming to hand ; a first-class cample selling at IJd per lb. Auckland kidneys lOu to Us per cwt. FARM AND DAIRY PRODUCE. Messrs Irvine and Stevenson, George street, report paying for produce during the week ending th- 14th inst. as follows :— B.icon (roll), GJd p. lb Fresh butter, 9d Ilsim, 7Jd p. lb p. lb Fresh eggs, BJd iloz Salt butter, 7d Fresh butter, good ordinary (in lib and Jib prints), Cd to 8d p. lb. COUNTRY SALE. Messrs Macusan and Co. report having held a clearing sale at Wangaloaon Thursday on account of Mr IC. B. Taylor, who has given up farming. The attendance vim fair and competition for everything offered was exceptionally keen — so much so that very full value wa« obtained for everything. Caws realised up to £6 ss, steers to£3 13i GI. Horses, harness, implements, Ac, most satisfactory prices. " " "" '

BRUCE COUNTY COUNCIL. The ordinary meeting of the Bruce County Council, he\d at Milton on the 7th, -wras attended by Mr H. Clark (chairman), Crs Mtcpherson, H«witoon, Noble, Crane, Murray, Haggard, and R«6berfgc«L Ad apology for the ebsenco of Of Smith rras leoeived. Mr Saoith-Btated that had fee been preaent ha would have had much pleMare in proposing Mr dark for chairman.He trpald al*o be inclined to lot the Orichton ratepayers take any action they think proper. EEECTION OF CHAT KHAN. The Coanty Cltfrk (Mr Alex. £7el«ou) intim«kfced that tie election of chairman for the e&caiog year';%sß the firit business of -tbe meeting. Cr Noblh moved that. Cr Macpheraon be elected to the posittun. He •toted that the { rebiiiog ehftiromn (Mr Clarb) had requested ] that be should be relieved ot the duties per- | taining to the office this year. He had long filled tbe position of chairman, and he devoted » let of time «nad work to it, bat, as he had himself Mid, he iras now getting up in years, and wished to retire. Cr Alacpherson, the speaker said, would make a worthy successor. Cr Ruthekfobd fieconded the motion. Cr , Macpherton had always taken an active part in public matter?, and he had no doubt he would make a good chairman. Mr Clark roae to support the motion. It was Mew 20 years, he paid, since he was appointed «h»irman of the Bruce County CtJWEcil. It waa a long time to look back epos, for he had occupied tho chair uninterruptedly ] durjng all those years. As councillors would -' remombtr, he expressed a wish at l«st mectiog that he should be relieved of tbe duties of cbairmen. He thought that the council oould not de better than select Cr Macpherson, and ho wi-uld be ouly too glad to support him and assist him in every way. — (Applause.) There being no other nominations, Cr Macpherson was declared elected. On taking tbe ohair, Mr Macpherson endorsed all that had been said of the way in which Mr Clark had discharged bis dulie* m ohairaaan, and stated that he ■would endeavour to officiate in his new capacity to the best-of his ability. , - inspkctoh's report. The Inspector .reported that the recent wet weather had made the unmetalled roads sloppy, and it had delayed the surfacing on them, as ns good results could be obtained till the weather cleared up. Qood progress had been Made with the works on hand sincg lest meeting. The two formation contract? ab Taieri B*ach under Government vote were completed, and also the bush-clearing contract at the Gums place. One of the spans of the Ma^ou bridge was completed. The grader was at work on the road at North Branch, and had re-formed the road up towards M'Leod's for a distance ef 60 chains. The works on the road to W. E. Moore's were not tendered for, Mr Moore preferred to have the road graded infitead of portions of it being cleared and levelled. The grader commenced work on the road on Monday. Tne work of repairing Clnrksville bridge was commenced, and the building of the walls at the approaches was being proceeded with. The. bridge at Berwick had been replanked, and some repairs were tffected to the bridge at M'Bride's. Some slight repairs had been effected to other bridges and culverts. A start had been made to lit up the timber for the lock on the canal, but the work had been stopped by the high state of the water on the cansl. Flood on the Clutha River. — The Clutha River on the 28th November rose to a height of 12ft tin above normal at Matau bridge, and kept up t» that height for several days. The embankments at Hermitage and Stirling were leaking through some rabbit burrows, bub tho settlers turned out and made them secure, or some serious damage would have occurred -to the low lands between the Hermitage and K«itangata. These banks, the inspector said, ought to be constantly watched and the rabbit bnrrows filled, as serious results would occur if they w«b bunt with the weight of water on them. At the highest state of the flood the water rose on the Hermitage bank to a height •f 4ft 6in, which would show the volume of water that would com* over the land if tho bank gave way. On tbe Lakes oanal the water from the river flowed up into the lakes, and in tome places it was so high as to flow over the banks of the canal opposite Mr M'Ginnig's

land. The box on the Mataa drain prevented the river water from flawing up the Matau drain. Mr Aitchesou's l*nd was covered to a -great depth by the water coming down the Mafcau drain and BpxM.ding out on to the laud, and he would get no relief till the river fell again. • ' Tenders had been called for the works authoiised at last meeting. ; Mr James M'Kiuley, Stirling, repotted that he went down to Kaitangata on December 6 and found that the water from the lake was still rising. It w*s spreading over Mrs Monaghau's paddocks on both aides of tho Crescent ditch, su<l wa3 up on both aides of the Swamp road at Kelly's slaughteryards. The Matau culvert was all right. Mosb of the timber f« • the new lock was under water. He was told some of it had gone up the canal into the lakes. The tunt was still tied up. He heard that one of the b >al6 of tbe punt ou the Ko*u branch, getting damaged, filled and sitik on the Incholutha nide. A statement of the level of tbe river at Matau bridge during flvod was also attached. It showed that at noon of November 29 it was 12ft above normal, and ab 5 a.m. on , ltt December lift 6i« above normal. Ib steadily j decreased till yesterday it stood at 9fb 3in above ! normal, and the river was still falling. — Cr | Haggart eaid th*t the council had nothing to do with tbe bank. The settlers wished the council to take ib over, bub the council declined, although it -agreed to assist the s.ttlers. — The report was adopted. ' JUBILEE OF THE PROVINCE. The chairman and Sir Clark were appointed to attend the meetings in connection with the proposals to celebrate the Jubilee of the province. CORRESPONDENCE. Mr Allan Holmes, solicitor, wrote, on behalf of the Criohton Riding ratepayers, asking what authority the council had in charging the cosi of the case Aitcheson v. Bruce County Council against that riding. U. I-jss ctear justification could be shown for tho couise that had been taken he was instructed to instvtuto proceeding* against the council fco put the matter right and have the costs charged to the county's fund account. — The matter was difonssed in : cortimittee at length, and it was evenbu lly decided to charge the costi to the funds of the county as a whole. > The Secretary to ihe School Commissioners wrote that the latter would be prepared to assist the council to the extent of £10 to make a practical road fro-m the south-east corner of section 8, block V, Akatore district, to the north-west corner of the said s? obion, and that the occupier of section 45, block IV, was provided with a rond as aforesaid fib for traffic. — Received. Mr J»rnes Alien wrote that he had communicated with tbe Minister for Lsn^s re £1 for £1 subsidy towards the bridge at Waipori, but he questioned if he would be able to get anything on the E-stinMtcp, as Bruce was looked upon as a council fairly will provided for. i GENERAL. The committee appointed with regard to the Kaitangaia pant reported that they met the Kaitangat» Borough Council to deal with the tenders for working Ihe pant, and it was thtsn decided not to accept any of the tender?, but to call for freah tenders for the work. — The committee's action was approved. On the motion of Cr KurHEBFOHD, seconded of Cr Haggart, ib was reeolvtid— " That the box ab tho lower end of Inohclutha be cleared oub, and that tenders be called for the cleaning out of the ditch on the said road." The inspector was also instrucbed to vepair the culvert ab K&itangaba pu-ib. On the motion of Cr Haqgart, it w*s resolved — " That a portion of the road down the river to Coombe Hay be formed, and that the work be done by the grader." The tender of James Lockhart for the supply of dog collars at 5d each was accepted. TENDERS. The following tenders were accepted :—: — Metalling on'Begg'a track, J. Beattie, £183 ; formation at Banbar, W. Wilkinson, £24 2« ; metalling ab North Bianeb, R. C. Hutton, £32 153 ; formation at Mac's Valley (WaihoU), J. Oilaweki, 19d 6d per chain. 20,000 Beddikg Plants, including Asters, Phlox, Cosmos, Stock*, Lobelia, Coreopsis, Marigolds, Dianthas, G&illardia — Is dozen. Orders for 5s post free to country. — Nuimo and Blair, Dunedin.

Price. Variations compared vrith last week I I I % N.S.W \} \ N.S.W ! '/. N.S.W I Y. Victorian !i '/. Victofian !£ '/. Soutb A ustralicra I % Queensland \h X Queensland !£ % \Ve*t Australian !| % Tasmauiau I % New Zealand ... ti '/. New ZeaUnd ... J */. New Zealand ... ... £ 8 d 122 0 0 108 5 (i 103 35 0 112 0 0 106 10 0 112 0 0 114 « 0 10(5 10 0 107 0 0 110 0 0 116 5 0 103 10 0 101 15 0 15i higher unchanged 5s higher 10a lower unchanged i>* higher 30s higher 5* lower unchanged 15=i higher 5i higher ucchnnged i.ncbangcd