FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19163, 21 November 1927, Page 10

FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

OIL FROM COAL, r

I FUEL RESEARCH BOARD. WORK IN ENGLAND. tmon oua own coaaESPOHDEjrr.) LONDON, October 4. Iho engineering section of the British Association had ah interesting ' discussion on our available coal supplies and their utilisation. Dr. 0. ii. Lander opened with a, paper in which he said that, in the past, Great Britain, a pioneer in coal production, had be«n in a very favourable position, owing to the early working, wide variety, and high quality of the enormous stores of coal in her t •obsession. Other fuels which had been exploited in recent, years were tending gradually to make that position less favourable and to put Great L'ritain at a disadvantage with competing nations. It was a mistako to assume that it "was fundamen tally uneconomical to use coal in the raw state, since the products obtained by pre-treatment were in the main themselves ultimately burned. If, however, it could be shown to be possible to split up the coal into such products as could be utilised with great commercial efficiency than could the raw materials, savings might be effected, but these savings must be sufficiently great to compensate for the inevitable loss of heat units involved in any process of pretreatment. If the remaining coal in Gre.it Britain could be taken as 180 thousand million tons, and' it was assumed that ten gallons of oil per ton could be extracted from this coal, we had actually in tho country 1,800,000 million gallons of oil, a supply far exceeding the estimated petroleum reserves of the whole of the United States. Looked at from the fundamental point of view, it was surely somewhat Gilbertian to import nearly 2000 million gallons of oil per year when such vast supplies lay dormant in the country. It was obvious that Britain's fuel utilisation was imperfect, and it must be emphasised that there were means available whereby great improvements could be made. While - it was of little use doing research work unless the results would be applied in practice, there was an enormous field still to- he explored. In a reference to the work of the Fuel Research Board, appointed in 1917, Dr. Lander said that some time ago a carbonisation process was suggested in which the coal was ground, heated up to a temperature at which it became plastic, and finally briquetted at this temperature. Using the most reliable information existent, it was concluded in the laboratories, and indeed was shown on a laboratory., scale, that if the coal was subjected to temperatures of 360deg. Centigrade robust briquettes should result from most coals at a pressure of two tons ]>er square inch. When, however, this was applied to large scale working incipient decomposition was found to occur long before this temperature was reached, and this caused grave difficulties in the large-scale plant. Ou this account further work was instituted in the laboratory, and it was discovered that the decomposition point of coal started, and indeed became serious, at temperatures more than 100 dec. lower than had previously been behoved. It was apparent that this information had bearings in many other cases thr.n that of. the particular process concerned. Recent work at the Fuel Research Station had shown the possibility of conferring by hydrogenation marked coking properties on coals otherwise absolutely devoid of cooking power. Coke had been made at the station from non-coking coal without the addition of any substance other tb3n an extremely small proportion of hydrogen. The importance of the field opened up for investigation in this direction could not be over-estimated. Were the investigation of all the problems so far touohed upon far more advanced than was tho case, Dr. Lander added, they would still be unable to apply their knowledge satisfactorily without a detailed knowledge of the individual coals. It was the object of the physical and chemical survey of the national coal resources to provide information on this side. The survey formed one of the most important activities on the Fuel Research Board, and was being pushed on as rapidly as the provision of the necessary staff and the frequent difficulties of the mining industry admitted. Mr J. W. Cobb said that the ideal utilisation of the coal supplies would necessitate the complete realisation of the potential thermal ( and chemical values of coal without the emission of smoke. Burning raw coal was an obvious failure to realise the ideal. BRITISH TOBACCO. RECONSTRUCTION SCHEME. Director! of British Tobacco Company (Australia), Ltd., are asking shareholders to approve of a scheme for the reconstruction of the company. There is a fairly large holding of shares in this company in New Zealand. The directors propose that the company, which Is an English company, although it has always been managed by directors' sitting in Australia should be wound up and its assets distributed. These asset?, •with the exception of certain small cash balances, the circular to shareholders explains, consist of 8,134,459 ordinary shares of £1 each, and the right to an allotment of 1,484,727 61 per cent, cumulative preference shares of XI each in the Consolidated . Investment Company, Ltd., a company incorporated in Australia. Should the motions, of which notice has been given, be carried the effect of them will be a payment off et the preference shareholders in" British Tobacco Company (Australia), Ltd., at par, plus any accruals of dividend (6 per cent.) to the date of payment. The direc- . tors consider that the preference shareholders should be given an opportunity of using the cash they so receive to take up the 61 per cent, preference shares in Consolidated Investment Company, Ltd. There would then remain for distribution among holders of ordinary shares in the present company ordinary shares in Consolidated Investment Company, Ltd., in the proportion of •even ordinary shares for every five shares held in the present company. In effect, holders of 6 per cent, preference shares are to change their holdings jn British Tobacco into preference shares Cf Consolidated Investment Company, Ltd., carrying a 61 per cent, dividend, and ordinary shareholders are to receive in the Consolidated Investment Company seven shares for every five shares held in the British Tobacco Company (Australia), Ltd. Should the old company be wound up it is proposed that Consolidated Investment Company should change its name to British Tobacco Company (Australia), Ltd., which would then be a company incorporated in Australia. Tho reason given for the liquidation and reconstructon of the old company is stated to be owing to recent decisions of English Courts as to the incidence of taxation. The circular states that the company was formed in England in 1904 for the sole purpose of being interested directly or indirectly in the business of manufacturing and selling tobacco in Australia and the South Sea Islands, out that as a fact the company has never been directly interested in the manufacturing or selling of tobacco. It has always been considered that British tobacco is a holding company, and that it is the holder of the shares of W. D. . . H ; ?• WiIU (Australia), Ltd., British o. ÜB . m ,an T oba«o Company, Ltd., and Mates Tobacco Company (Proprietary), Ltd. rrom the information furnished in the cirJ u Jf. r - ">« British Tobacco Company (Australia). Ltd., is the holding company of ne Consolidated Investment Company, Ltd., and presumably the latter company ia the holding company of the other tobacco com--I>an,e» "keady r^med.

DAIRY PRODUCE.

CANTERBURY ALLOTMENTS OF SPACE. [THE PKESS SpecUl Service.] WELLINGTON, November 18. Canterbury's dairy produce allotments, made for steamers sailing between November 10th and December loth are announced by the Dairy Produce Control Board. The Rotorua, which sailed from New Zealand on November 10th included in her»cargo 3200 boxes of butter from Lvttelton, and the Kia Ora, which left Auckland on November .6th took a small quantity of butter and cheese from Tiruaru. The allotments for tho remainder of the term are as follows, butter being mentioned first and cheese second in each instance:— Sails from PomSteamer. X.Z.' Lyttn. Timaru. Total. Kuapehu No, ,3 - WOO 82,840 Port Darwin Nov. 25 2500 1000 Corinthia Nov. 26 3000 350 Port Hardy Dec. 14 8000 2000 92,000 1000 Mahia Dec. 15 5000 Turakina Dec. 15 (London) 2080 Turakina (West Coast The Dominion shipments for the period mentioned are 622,295 boxes of butter, and 183.963 crates of cheese. The Porty Hardy allocation covers New York and Halifax. GOLD. IS CENTRE MOVING ? (31 CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COFYBIGHT.) (AUSTRALIAN AND N.Z. CABLE ASSOCIATION.) (Received November 20th, 11.5 p.m.) NEW YORK, November 19. Sterling cable transfers advanced to 4.87 13-16 dollars, the. highest since 1914. With the extremely heavy turnover, the demand originating chiefly from London, the belief that gold will shortly move from New York to London has been strengthened.

N.Z. AND SOUTH AFRICA.

TRADE RELATIONS. (FROM OUR- OWN COKBESPOHDENT.) LONDON, October 4. The Cape Town correspondent of the "Manchester Guardian" reports that trade relations between South Africa and New Zealand have recently come under review as a result of a report that the latter country is contemplating denoiftieing the trade agreement with South Airica. The position is more interesting than serious, he says. Favourable reciprocal tariff arrangements between boutb, Africa and Australia were entered into in 1905, and the principle which originally inspired these was maintained until 1925, when the Nationalist Government decided to revise the fiscal policy of the Union. I The Australian Government was ac- ' cordingly notified that preferential rebates would be granted in future only on certain specified commodities which, in the opinion of the Union Government, were in need of special protection against competition from foreign countries. Negotiations followed, but. eventually the Commonwealth Government decided to apply their general tariff to' South African goods, and | shortly afterwards South Africa with- j drew its preference on Australian pro- i dticts. ' ] "The converse situation has now arisen in respect of trade relations between South Africa and New Zealand. | The latter buys more from us than we do from her. What New Zealand j wishes to export to South Africa is mostly agricultural produce, implying competition with our own farmers. Our , exports to New Zealand are mainly wines and dried fruit, which she may be able to obtain from Australia. So it is probable that New Zealand will not think it necessary to maintain her trade agreement with South Africa. It is not anticipated, however, that any renunciation of agreements will materially affect trade relations. The denunciation of our treaty with Australia has not affected commercial intercourse seriously, and there is unlikely to be any serious effect from New Zealand's action now After all, the figures relating to trade with those countries are not largj. In 1919 South Africa exported to Australia commodities to the value of £350,000, and to New Zealand £40.386, and in 1926 to the value of £569,000 and £72,968. In 1919 South African imports from Australia were valued at £1,613,000, and from New Zealand £3453, and in 1926 £1,399,000 and £26,661." CANADIAN HOGS. SHIPPED TO NEW ZEALAND. From a Special Cobbbspoitoent. VANCOUVER, October 19. The 5.9. Waitemata, which left last week, had on board for New Zealand a valuable shipment of purebred hogs from Canada,, consisting of two Yorkshire boars and four sows of the same breed, and two Tamworth boars and four sows. The Tamworths were shipped by William Gilbert, of Murrayville. The Yorks were consigned to Colin Anderson, of Auckland, and were both British Columbia and Ontario stock. The eastern stock, a boar and two sows, was supplied by Brethour and Son, wellknown Ontario breeders. The British Columbia order was received by the Dominion Experimental Farm on the Fraser river. The 8.C.-bred animals are said to be exceptionally fine hogs, and, while the eastern pigß were also of fine quality, they were of the extreme razorback bacon type, and did not appeal so much to coast breeders. By the time the shipment reaches New Zealand they will be expensive animals. The steamship freight is said to be £1 a head, and the rail freight from Toronto, on the eastern animals, £lO each. POULTRY PRODUCERS, LTD. The Canterbury Co-op. Poultry Producers, Ltd., report that limited numbers of poultry came forward last week. - The following ' prices were realised per pair: Table chickens, • light 7s to 9s, heavy 10s to 13s; hens, light ' 6s to Bs, heavy 9s to lis; geese, 7s to Ss; ducks, 7s to 9s Cd; ducklings, 9s to 12s; turkeys, hens 18s to 225, gobblers 30s to 425. « TALLOW. Messrs A. H. Turnbull .and Co. report having received the following cable from their principals, Messrs W. Weddel and Co., Ltd., dated London, 16th instant: — "At tallow auctions to-day 600 casks were offered of which 120 were sold. Tallow market unchanged. Inactive."

CHRISTCHURCH STOCK ; , EXCHANGE.

Markets were again firm on call on Saturday morning, with buyers predominating. There were no eales recorded in the stxxk and bond section, prices being on parity with Friday' 3 closing quotes. In the banking section, fifteen Bank of *.ew South Wales were turned over at £io, bein a rise of 5s on last wcorded *««•»;«"£? being wanted at that price, and the rket doaeci JMS buyers, £45 2s 6d "Uen>. A dividend is expected m he next few dajs, and it is at this quarter that the bank have usually paid a bonus ol 2 per cent. Union Bank were wanted at £l4 ia Gd, without sellers offering. Twenty new shares. pa.d to 55s in this bank changed hands »ti 13a Cd, whilst for the new fully-paid shares m 17s 6d was offered, no sellers ottering. Bank of Xcw Zealand were not quoted. In the miscellaneous investment section National Insurance entered the selling list at 7ft3 cum dividend, the stock displaying an easier tendency. Goldsbrough Alort were wanted at 47s 3d, sailers 47s 8d; new shares in this company were quoted, buyers 46s 3d, sellers offered at 46s 3d. Loan and Mercantile Agency ordinary JEIOO stock was fractionally firmer, with buyers £9i, sellers £93 cum dividend of 4£ per cent. jSew Zealand Kefrigerating Company fully-paid shares were firm at buyers 16s. sellers 16s 9d, and fo' the 10s paid shares 100 were bought at 8s Id, market closing buyers 8s Id, sellers 8s 2d. Christchurch Gas were firmer, with declared buyers at 23s 9d, sellers 24s 3d, and for the new 5s paid shares 6s 4d was offered by buyers, sellers asking 6s 6d. The market for brewery shares in New Zealand companies was dull, buyers being scare. Colonial Sugars were slightly firmer on recent quotes, and buyers offered £53 12s 6d, sellers £o4 ss. Holden's Motors displayed a further weakening, with sellers 32s 6d, no buyers. New Zealand Drug Co.'s are firm, with buyers G4s 9d. sellers 65s Pd. There has been a fair number of these shares changing hands, and tho price has bean gradually firming. SATURDAY'S TRANSACTIONS. Sales on 'Change—Bank of T ew South Wales, £45; X.Z. Eefrig. (oo.atr.), 8s Id; t'nion Bank of Aust. (new, first instalment paid), £5 12s 6d. LATEST QUOTATIONS. Buyers. Sellers. £ "s. d. £3. d. N.Z. GOVT. DEBENTURES—--4j per cent Inscribed and Bonds, 1938 .. 96 5 0 51 per cent. Inscribed, 1937-41 .. .. 98 12 6 5i per cent. Inscribed, 193s .. •• 101 2 6 101 7 6 & per cent. Bonds, "1933 .. .. 101 2 6 101 10 0 5\ per cent. Inscribed and Bonds, 1936 .. 101 5 0 6 per cent. Inscribed, 1930 .. - .. COMPANY DEBENTURES— N.Z. Breweries, Bonds BANKSAust. of Commerce .. 112 7 112 10 Australasia .. .. Comm. of Aust. .. 1 9 1 19 2 Comm. of Aust. (prei.) Comm. of Sydney .. 24 5 0 24 12 6 E., S., and A. .. 711 0 National of Australasia (,£lO paid cum div.) 17 9 0 National of Australasia • (£5 paid cum' div.) 813 0 National of N.Z. .. 616 3 Cl 7 0 New South Wales .. 45 0 0 45 2 6 New Zealand (Mortgage Shares, £1 paid cum div.) .. .. 1 6 S New Zealand (Mortgage Shares, 10s paid cum div.) .. .. 016 8 Union of Aust., .. It 2 C Union of Aust. (new, let instalment paid) 512 6 Union of Aust (fullypaid) .. .. 13 17 6 INSURANCENational (cum div.) .. New Zealand .. .. 119 1 South British .. 216 3 217 0 Standard .. ..206 LOAN AND AGENCY— Goldsbrough, Mort .. 2 7 3 2 7 8 Goldsbrough, Mort (new) .. ..263268 N.Z. Loan and Mercantile (ord. stock cum div.) .. .. 94 0 0 98 0 0 Permanent Investment 917 6 SHIPPING— Huddart-Parker (pref.) 10 6 Union (pref.) .. 10 1 FKOZEN MEAT— Canterbury (pref.) .. N.Z. Re-frig. (£1 paid) 016 0 016 9 N.Z. Refrig. (contr.) .. 0 8 1 0 8 2 WOOLLENSKaiapoi (17s paid) .. 0 S 6 0 9 3 Kaiapoi (pref.) .. 013 3 . COAL— Westport (cum div.) .. 1 15 0 GASChrislchurch .. 13 9 14 3 Christchurch (new, 5s paid) .. 0 6 4 0 6 6 Tim&vu .. .. BREWERIES— Carlton .. .. 2 6 0 2 7 1 Crown ~ ..01-29 Monteith'g .. ... New Zealand .. .. Staples .. .. - - • 118 3 Ward .. .. 1 18 0 Tooths .. ~ CEMENTS-

Wilson's (cum div.)" .. 11G li 117 3 MIBCELLANEOTJSAust. Glass (cum div.) 2 10 Beath and Co. .. 112 0 113 0 British Tobacco .. Colonial Sugar .. 53 12 <3 51 5 0 Electro Zinc (ord.) .. 110 11 111 2 Electro. Zinc (prof.) .. 111 11 112 0 Henry Jones Co-op. (cum div.) .. 116 3 117 3 Holden'a Motora .. 1 12 6 Hume Pipe .. 0 15 3 Mason, Struthers (14a paid) .. .. _ 0 14 8 Mason, Struthers (10s paid) .. .. 0 9 S 0 911 N.Z. Drug Co. .. 3 4 9 3 5 6 N.Z. Farmers' Co-op. (pref. re div only) ] 17 o*■ KZ. Guarantee Corpn. 0 8 8 0 9 0 Taranaki Oilfields .. 010 0 Quill, Morris .. 116 12 3 mtningKawarau .. .. 0 n i 6. 0 10 Mt. Lyell (cum div.) 18 2 18 5' OTHER EXCHANGES. (PBISSS iSBOCtmoN tslzqrams.)'' AUCKLAND, November 20. Sales —Bank of New Zealand, 59s 3d; Alburma Goldmining Co., 2s; Lucky Shot Goldmining Co. (2s paid), Is 5d (two parcels): Commercial Bank of Australia, 29s 2d. WELLINGTON, November 20. Bales Reported—4J per cent. Stock, 1938, at £96 10s; 4J per cent. Stock, 1939, at £96 10s. DUNEDIN, November 20. Sales reported—Commercial Bank, 29s 2d; Bank of New Zealand, 59s 3d. LONDON MARKETS. (bt cable— press ASSOCIATION—COPTIUGHT.I (AUSTBALIAS AND 3T.Z. CABLB ASSOCIATION.) (Received November 20th, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, November 20": Cotton—Liverpool quotation for American Middling Upland, December delivery, is 10.43 d per lb. Rubber —Pine, hard Para 15d per lb; plantation first latex crepe 18Jd per lb; smoked ribbed sheet, 18Jd per lb. Jute—lndian native, first marks, Novem-ber-December shipment, £3O per ton. New Zealand hemp, January-March shipment, £34 per ton. Copra, bagged South Sea, November-De-cember shipment, £27 per ton. Linseed Oil —£29 10s per ton, equal to 2s 4 l-3d per gallen. Turpentine—3ss 9d per cvrt, equal to 2s 8 l-3d per gallon. WHEAT. NEW YORK, November 19. The Chicago wheat quotations are:—December 127 i cents a bushel, March 131J cents, May 134 cents. CHICAGO QUOTATIONS. (Received November 20th, 5.5 p.m.) NEW YORK, November 19. The quotations of the Chicago wheat markets are:—December 126£, March 130S, May 133J cents per bushel. EGGS. (Received November 20th, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, November 19. The shipment of Australian eggs carried splendidly, and the market was firm, the eggs realising from 17s to 235, and «cep. tionally good lots 24a.

MEAT. (BT CABLt— PKSBS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT.) (ACSTBALIAH AND S./.- CABLI ABSOCIATIOS.) (Received November 20th, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, November 19. Sheep—Canterbury medium 6d per lb, heavy sld, North Island medium sgd, heavy sgd. Lombs —Canterbury medium 9§d per lb. heavy 9d, seconds B|d, Australian seconds, Victorian 7Jd, other States 7Jd, thirds 71<3. Argentine firsts, light 7Jd per lb, medium 7Jd, seconds 7d. Frozen Beef—Australian hinds 5 l-16d per lb. Argentine hinds 5Jd, chilled Argentine fores 4id, hinds 63d, other meats unchanged. BRITISH CONTRACTS. LONDON, November 13. Thoirias Borthwick and Sons obtained upwards of 90 per cent, of the recent Army meat contract. They state they do not anticipate any difficulty in commanding adequate supplies. The contract permits Australian or New Zealand meat. If the contractors run short of one they can supply the other. NEW ZEALAND FROZEN MEAT. The following are the killings for export at all works during the 1927-28 season, commencing October Ist, 1927, to October 31st, 1927. (The figures for the corresponding period of the 1926-27 season are shown in the second column.): — Beef (quarters) .. 3.870 29 Wether mutton (Ccs.) .. 4,609 4,915 Ewe mutton (Ccs.) .. 932 Lamb (Ccs.) .. 3,583 1.076 Pork (porkers) (Ccs.) .. 3,608 6,876 Pork (baconers) (Ccs.) .. 3,254 3,878 Boneless beef (frt. Ccs.) 2,373 4,023 Sundries (frt. Ccs.) .. 4,365 844 Stocks on hand in stores in New Zealand 31/10/27. (The stocks on hand 31/10/26 are shown in the second column.): — Beef (quarters) ... 8,934 11,144 Wether mutton (Ccs.) .. 12,029 22,200 Ewe mutton (Ccs.) . . 19,049 39,182 Lamb (Ccs.) .. 10,420 13,608 Pork (porkers) (Ccs.) .. 3,691 4,957 Pork (baconers) (Ccs.) .. 4,692 4,686 Boneless beef (frt. Ccs.) .. 16,564 10,599 Sundries (frt. Ccs.) .. 11,007 1,998 Stocks of frozen meat loaded into steamers not departed from New Zealand as at 31/10/27 and at 31/10/26: Beef (quarters) .. 347 52 Wether mutton (Ccs.) .. 7,635 667 Ewe mutton (Ccs.) .. 13,603 3,143 Lamb (Ccs.) .. .. 18.817 25,323 Pork (porkers) (Ccs.) .. 185 1,189 Pork (baconers) (Ccs.) .. The New Zealand Meat Producers' Board reports the following shipments of frozen meat from New Zealand to the United Kingdom and Continent of Europe:— 1907. — Beef. Mutton. Lamb. Pork. Qrs. Ccs. Ccs. Ccs. . October 3,026 123,789 119,176 1,635f Total for same period last year viz. , ~ Oct. 1926 4,033 119,782 109,380 2,644f •;• London. SOUTH AMERICAN MEAT. j The New Zealand Meat Producers' Board has received a cable from its representatives at Buenos Aires, South America, advising the following shipments to the United Kingdom for the fortnight ended November 10th, 1927, from Argentine and Uruguay:—2l4,750 quarters chilled beef, 17,657 quarters frozen beef, 79,885 carcases frozen mutton, 120,740 carcases frozen lamb. The quantity shipped to the Continent of Europe during the same period was as folloWs: —78,699 quarters frozen beof, 12,590 carcases frozen mutton.