The Wanganui Chronicle "Nulla Dies Sine Linea." TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1912. ANOTHER MARKET.

Wanganui Chronicle, Issue 12856, 29 October 1912, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle "Nulla Dies Sine Linea." TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1912. ANOTHER MARKET.

New Zealanu s interest in tho approach- j ing completion of the Panama Canal j is evidenced by some statements sub- I mittcd by Mr. David B. Russell to tho : Prime Minister regarding a huge trade . which it is possible to open up between j this Dominion and Mexico and various ; parts of South America. Mr Russell, i who is a native of Auckland, has spent j about 30 years in various Marts of Am- , erica, i.s greatly interested in the '. s;;hemo for connecting Auckland, the Manukau -and the Waikato- by canal. Last week ho returned to Auckland from Wellington, where he saw the i Prime. Minister and several members } of tho Government in reference to the I canal .scheme. He found Mr Massey ; and h'.s colleagues greatly interested in ■ the propor-als, and very ready to give him all tho information he required, ! so that ho c.mld lay it before those - whom he intended to approach with ' tho busim^.s side of the scheme. Mr. j Russell also interested Mr M.assoy re- j gardiug the prospects of opening up j communication with the South Ameri- j can markets. This trade, he told an j Auckland interviewer, depended partly ! upon the- use. of the Panama Canal, ; because it would provide return freights ; for tho British, European and Ameri- , on>i vessels which would bring cargoes ! through tho canal to New Zealand, and : would l)u eager for cargoes to carry i back. Such vessels would easily bo sat- j isfied as to cargoes with coal, fire- I •bricks and cheese, not to mention any i other commodities. The ports of Man- j zanillo and Salina Cruz were, he said ! thoroughly up-to-date. They'had been ' built by English and American capital, ! with tho object of preparing for tho Panama Canal trade, and Manaaniilo

would almost certainly become the distributing centre for the trade from New Zealand to all South American countries, including Mexico, Guatema-

la, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Argentina. In these countries New Zealand would -find a large market for fruit and other commodities, but especially for cheese. Mexico, Mr Russell explained, was remarkable as a cheeseeating country, but it produced very little for itself. New Zealand produced a great deal and ate comparatively little-. Cheese was ia very favourite food in Mexico, and was eagerly sought after. Mr Russell is also of opinion that there is a great future before the production of fire clay in the Waikato district.- In Mexico, he .said, the smelting industry was of great importance. Hugo smelting works wore established there, because there was an abundant supply of fluxes and of cheap labour. Five of tho establishments were among tho largest smelting propositions in the world, and although they had fluxes and labour in plenty, they lacked fire clay, and their coal was poor. New Zealand could supply both these commodities. One of ithe smelters consumed a million dollars' worth of fire bricks and five million dollars' worth of coal in 1911. The only coal available locally was not only small in quantity, but very poor in quality as well, containing nearly 26 per cent, of ash. Yet it sold at the mines at from 20 to 25 dollars a ton. Imported coal from Virginia was sold at as much •a.s 35 dollars to 40 dollars per ton. Fire bricks sold in Mexico city as high as 125 dols. per thousand. In New Zealand they sold at £5 per thousand. At Taupiri, Huntly, Ngariuxwahia, and elsewhere in th 0 Waikato, Mr Russell said, were inexhaustible supplies of both coal and fire clay of the best kind for Mexican consumption. They were simply waiting for someone to start in tho trade, and the developments from it would bo almost incalculable.