OUR LONDON LETTER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5562, 9 March 1886, Page 2

OUR LONDON LETTER.

(Prom the "Star's" London I Correspondent.) [Pkr San Francisco Mail— Tklkqrapiu;i> FRoir Auckland.] ITEMS OP SPECIAL INTEREST. PERSONAL AND GENERAL GOSSIP. ' SOME SUCCESSFUL LOANS. \ THE CORN TRADE. London, Jan. 28. KHITPINU THE SALMON OVA. ! The Agent-General and Sir Gibson : Maitland, who came down for the purposo from Scotland, spent the greater part of yesterday on board the lonic, superin- ; tending the safe shipment, &c, of tho salmon ova. As this is incomparably tho finest lot ever packed for your Colony, • both Sir Francis and 'Sir Gibson are naturally very anxious it should get out all right.

THB NBW ZEALAND COURT AT THE COLONIAL EXHIBITION. Messrß Gillon, of Oxford street, the most famous decorators and furnishers in London, have been entrusted by Sir F. Dillon Bell with getting up the New Zealand court at South Kensington. The woodß sent from the Colony will be made up inte•how cases, Ac, and have been handed over to the farm for that purpose. THE PANAMA CANAL. M. do Leeseps and a number of expert* leave Southampton by the mail for Colon. The object of the trip i B to complete the arrangements for opening the Panama Canal, and to enablo the representatives of. various nationalities to inspect the progress of the works. The Chairman of the Peninsular and Oriental Company haß announced that the Panama Canal will notuffoctthe Australian trade, as the voyage from Plymouth to Sydney, via Panama, will be 515 miles longer than by Suez. The mail packets may possibly return homo via Panama, though even that is not likely, as the Canal dues will bo enormously heavy at first. SMALL FARMERS FOR NBW ZEALAND. New Zealand's bid foa small farmers and other fairly well off agriculturists (for this I take it is what your now departure in emigration means) seems not unlikely to be highly successful. Tho experiment is being watched with the keenest curiosity by the representatives of other Australasian Colonies, who are quite resolved to follow suit directly they observe symptoms of its answering. A LOAN RUMOUR. Sir F. D. Bell has had contradicted ast&tement in the Times, to the effect that New Zealand contemplated a £1 ,600,000 loan. He stated of course that a million loan wae a possibility, but even that was not certain. THB BABL OF BANTRY. I learn from Society that the Earl of Bantry has abandoned his pastoral pursuit* in New Zealand, and means hence-forward to reside amongßt hie own people. Hancock's oeallbngb. Hancock, who arrived the other day from New Zealand, offers to walk anyone fifty miles for from £50 to £200, or will join in a sweepstakes with other championship aspirants. It now seems likely tliat Hibberd and Littlewood will be induced to accept the challenge. THE OTAGO UNIVBRBITT RECTOR. A PRETTY COXPLIMBNT. The new Reotor of the Otago University has not been allowed to leave King's College without a substantial tribute being paid to his abilities as a scholar, and to his ?ood qualities as a master and colleague, 'he Governors of the Institute have marked their high appreciation of the former by conferring on him the honour of a Fellowship of the College; and on Thursday last the pupils and masters united to pay him a very pretty compliment. The ceremony took place before the whole school, amidst demonstrations of the friendliest description. First of all, Mr Belcher's pupils, with whom he has always been justly popular, presented him with a silver claret jug ; and then the masters (his ex-colleagues) stopped forward, and wishing himself and Mrs Beloher health, happiness, and prosperity in their new life, begged his acceptance of a handsome piece of silver plate. Seldom familiar with the "boys at King's College, Mr Belcher yet seems to have been generally liked by them, He was strict in enforcing discipline, but full of appreciation for honest work, even if not successful j and he could always be thoroughly relied upon to be unswervingly just. At least that is what his. ex-pupils say, fl ud boya have keen appreciation of justice. BOMB NBW ZEALAND LOANS. DETAILS OF THB TBNDBRINQ. The little room at the Colonial Bank of New Zealand was crowded to the verge of discomfort with Anglo-Colonists and City men, on the occasion of opening tenders for the balance of the Otago Harbour Board's Consolidation Five per cent Loan of £699,000, on the afternoon of Feb. 20. This balance amounted to £150,000, the loan being redeemable at par on Jan. 19, and being offered at a minimum of £101, purchasers having the advantage of accrued interest from the Ist to the 10th inst. The minimum, considering the rate of interest, nnißt be regarded as a very moderate one ; but, perhaps, after the damnatory couiiuoutaiy on New Zealand finance in Fronde's " Oceana," it was deemed only prudent to put this low reserve on the Otago harbour debentures.. In coutradistiuctiou to the last of the New Zealand requirements placed upon the markets, a large proportion of the Otago loan went to syndicates, of which thei'e seemed to be two; the class of email investors not even absorbing a third.The latter were, however, a very marked feature in the tendering. The number of small offers at a fair price was very large in proportion to the limited amount of the loau. The miuor| buyers were, however, utterly swamped by large speculators, one group offering for the whole loan in a single tender at £107 Ss. This, in conjunction with another group offering for £620,000 ou the same terms secured 73 per cent of tho total amount allotted. The next tender in amount tothe two noticed was one for £50,000 at £108 and another at £106 15s Cd. There was one for £30,000 at tho same figure; two each for £25,000 at £105 14s, and £101 Is 6d respectively ,• and five for £1000 each at £103 to £10G Is Gd. The total amount applied for was £763,000, or more than five times the total required The highest figure offered was £108, but that was only for single debentures, the average pricebeing a few pence over £107 6s, the figur* at which the syndicates swamped the market. Th« South Waimakariri River Board 6 per cent loan of £21,000 was successfully subscribed on Thursday last, tenders being opened at the Union Bank of Australia at a few minutes past 1 o'clock. The minimum was fixed at £101 ; and so sanguine were some speculators that it would be subscribed at par, that they put in tenders of £20,000 aud £10,000 at that figure, with the result that they did not, I believe, receive a penny. The total offers amounted to £51,200, which left a sufficient margin, of higher applications in email sums te completely exclude tho leviathans, wh# thought they would swallow the whole without much ado. The highest single application was for £500 at £110; but there was a long distance between this eccentric bid and the next highest. Th* average returns should be about £10G. THE ANQLO-AUBTUALASIAN CORN TRAOE. THE NEW FORM OP CONTRAOT. The London corn traders have just issued a new form of contract for the sale and purchase of Australasian wheat cargoes. The deficiency of lading weight is for the future to be paid for by the seller j and Rny excess over the bill of lading at sight ir to be paid for by tho buyer at the contract price. The weighing ia to be done at the port of discharge by publio sworn weighers, or weighers appointed or recognised by the local public or dock authorities ; or, where this is impracticable, according to the custom of tho port. Tho most important stipulation, as far as NovV Zealand it> concerned, is that sellers are to have the right of supervision over weighing and delivery