PRECIOUS CARGOES FOR LONDON.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 15836, 5 June 1919, Page 5

PRECIOUS CARGOES FOR LONDON.

GLAD SCENES AT THE DOCKS. LONDON, April 12. Goods of every description , are now pouring into London from all parts of the world through the docks, wharves, and barges of the Thames. From the old docks up-river within sight of Tower Bridge down to the great Victoria and Albert Docks come reports of full warehouses and great trade. Happily both transport and labour are working smoothly and goods are being moved out again almost as quickly as they enter. Trade, as shown by the port rate returns, is undoubtedly looking up and returning to normal. If tbe export trade were only moving at the same pace, all would be well. “Meat is a bit short,” said Sir Joseph Broadbank.. one of the representatives of the Board of Trade on the Port of London Authority, “hut there are 1,000,000 carcases from New Zealand on the way. Wool is coming to hand at a great rate. The first sales are now being held at the London Docks. We have 22,000 tons of tobacco in bond and 5,000 hogsheads in craft on the river. As for port wine—well, you had better go to the London Docks and see the pipes and the new schooners the Portuguese have built for the trade.” Port makes a wonderful show. It lies iu “pipes”—barrels which swell in the centre and narrow to the ends —everywhere. One square is full of it. The lanes are full, and every minute another pipe is swung out of the hold of the schooner to the dockside. NEVER SO MUCH PORT. “We never had so much port at one time,” said an official. “It is said that there were 80,000 pipes at Oporto waiting to be Shipped. We must have had 20,000 already. Brandy came right through the war and is still coming. We have a great stock of whisky also.” Wool is another remarkable feature of the London Docks at the moment and will he all through the year. It is believed that at least 2,000,000 bales will come to the Thames this year. Much wool has come on the hide. The large*- warehouses where the British Industries Fair was held are covered with thousands of hales, and the buyers are busy every day gauging the worth of each bale to a farthing the pound. So much wool is arriving and due to come that there will be no “seasonal” wool sales this year. They will be held monthly. There arc great days in store for the textile and tanning trades. In adjoining warehouses are great stacks of boxes containing currants and sultanas. The Port of London Authority has no fear that Britain is going to lose