COMMERCIAL TELEGRAMS. London, March 15.

Otago Witness, Issue 2299, 24 March 1898, Page 15

COMMERCIAL TELEGRAMS. London, March 15.

I The American visible wheat supply is i estimated at 4&,167,000 bushels. ' The total quantity of wheat and flour afloat for the United Kingdom is estimated at 3,280,000 i quarters, and for the Continent at 510,000 | quarters. National Bank shares, £2. Bank of New Zealand 4 per cents., 103. New ' Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency I Company prior lieu 4 per cents.i 98. March 17. | At the weekly auctions of Australasian j tallow 1175 casks were offered and 775 sold. 1 Fine mutton brought 225"91; medium, 20i | Gd; fice beef, 21»; medium, 203. Stiver, 2s lfl The Bank ot Er. gland reserve is L 23,717,000, the proportion cf reserve to liabilities being 42 84. • - Three momhs 1 bxlte,- 3,jr per oen-t. Consols, 111J Quotations fur coloaial stocks :—: —

The English wheat market, is qniet, but steady. The Continental is steady, and the American changing a little for the worse. Oalifornian No. I milling, 35s 6d ; Russian cargoes, 37s 6d. London quotation for hard Dalutb, 42a. Sngar is steady. Java, 11s 3d; German, 9s. I Iron, 46 i 4£3. The Bradford wool market is lifeless. Butter is dull and the market weaker. Colonial, 100s to 104s; Danish, 106s to 108s. R\bbits (hardening), lOd, March 20. Crossbred wethers and maiden ewes : Canterbury, 3* 3-8 d per lb; Danedin and •Southland, 3 l-8d; North Island, 2 1 83. Lamb. — Prime Canterbury, 4£i ; a fair average, including Dunedin, Southland, Wellington, and secondary Canterbury, f River Plate crossbreds or merino wethers — heavy, 2|d ; light, 2|<3. Silver is quoted at 2s 9-163. Rabbitskin Sales. — The supply is the smallest on record, and there is the keenest competition at Id to 2d advance. „/£be wool sales show a slight advance. The Tekoa clip brought 93. Anomalies in the Frozen Meat Trade. TO THE EDITOK. t . Sir, — I enclose a cutting from Northern ' Whig, Belfasb, which I think must prove to the densest that cue frozen meat trade is not receiving fair play. When we read of. sheep bringing from 28s to 56s per head — say, an average of 42s — surely there is a margin " to ship live sheep." We freeze the very choicest of our sheep and Jambs and ship them Home. After the very heavy expenses of slaughtering, freezing, packing, railage, shipping, freight, insurance, landing and dock charges, cartage, i storage, cost of inspection, gmding, &<?., we get for our choicest the beggarly price of from 2£d to 3£d per lb, and hay« to take it or leave it. Some particulars of shipments of live cattle from America acrossthe stormy Atlantic showthatlive stcck can be safely carried in suitably-constructed steamers. In some cases not a single head was lost, and the percentage was infinitesimal in a year's trading. Why we should have to put up with and pay for old gummies and culls and of second-rate beef, and continue to ship the 'pick of our nocks and herds to a rotten market, Js ■& puzzle to me. Assuming the average sheep to be 601b net dressed, and fetching 425, I reckon this to be equal to B^d per lb ; while our •best frozen realises only from 2^d to 3£d, and must be prime at that. At 56s it means lid pec lb alive. There's something rotten in the state of the frozen meat trade. It the sheep were 701b net dreseed, as I think moat crosisbred Home sheep weigh, of course the price per lb would be less. But the Scotch and Weisb light weights about 451b net commaud the highest prices in proportion.

i When I was at Home last, my brother was ■ t paying Is Id per lb for his muttqp. A family of 12, with some half-dozen servants (who would not look at frozen meat on any pretence) ; meant a big butcher's bill. — I am, &0., Lynx. [The clipping forwarded by our correspondent supports his figures. Afc the Bslfast fat cattle market first-quality beef is quoted at s^d to 5Jd per lb and mutton 6d to 74; d per lb ; Newcastle quotations were 5j to 7s 6 J per stone for beef and 5d to 8d per lb for mutton ; Salford quotations were 6i;d per lb for prime beef and 7id to 7£d for mutton.— Ed.]

Price. Variations compared with last week 4 % N.S.W 34 *; N.S.W 3 % N.S.W 4 % Victorian 'i\ % Victorian 3jr X South A ustraliaa 3 7, South Australian 4 % Queensland 3£ % Queensland 4 % New Zealand ... 3* % New Zealand ... 3 % New Zealand Si % Tasman'an '■ih % West Australian I .. .1 j :::i £ 8 dl 119 0 0! 105 0 (4 98 5 0 110 15 0 10i 0 0 110 0 0 S9 0 0 110 0 0 104 10 0 115 0 ( 106 J5 0 99 5 0 104 5 0 107 0 01 ! 10s higher^ I unchanged 5 4 lower 10s lower unchanged unchanged unchanged 50s higher 5s lower as lower 5s lower 5» higher 5> liigher I unchang d