COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 784, 6 April 1910, Page 10

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

' : . ■, "INVESTMENT' shares. No sales were recorded Testerday, National Bank; right-3 to new .issue, buyers £1 10s., sellers £l 12s. 6d.; Bank of New Zealand, buyers. £9 125.; Wellington Trust and Loan, buyers £7 2s. 6d., sellers £7 45.; Wellington Gas, £6 15s. paid, sellers £13 12s. 6d.,new issue, sellers £2-7s. 6d.; Gear Jlcati£l paid, buyers £2 13s.:. Wellington Moat Export, £2 12s. 6(1. .paid, sellers £2- 15s. 6d.; New Zealand' Shipping,' buyers £7 195.; TJnion Steam, buyers £1 125.. sellers £1 12s. 3d.; Wellington Woollen, ordinary, buyers £3 25.; Wcstport Coal, buyers £6 45., sellers £6 65.; Westport-Stockton. sellers. 7s. 6d.;- Leyland-O'Brien Timber, buyers £1 25., sellers £1 35.: Sharland'a preference, buyers £1 25...3d.; Taranaki Petroleum, buyers 'Bs., sellers 9s. 3d.

NATIONAL BANK, NEW ISSUE. The new issne of 50,000 shares ol £7 10s. each now being made by ;. the National Bank is evidently regarded as a good investment, for buyers are offering 30s. for the right to apply for the issue. The sum of .£2 10s. is to bb called, which will make them rank with the existing shares. The new issue is under offer to the shareholders of the bank, in the .proportion of one new share for every three shares held, and the price is fixed at £3 155.. of which £1 ss. is the premium. This premium is to be carried to the reserve fund, and the whole amount must bo paid up by September 30. Applications close, on Saturday, April 9, and th'o payments must be made as f ollows:—3ss. on application,' 30s. .on July 1, and 10s. on- September 30, and the new shares will' rank pari passu with the existing shares .as from October 1. Interest at' tile rate of 5 per cent, per annum will be paid on all instalments of capital from the dates of payment above mentioned .until September 30. No interest is to be allowed on any payments made in anticipation of the duo dates, and apparently no interest is to be paid on the premium instalments. The success of this is assured, by'the fact that the prico leaves a fair margin of profit, for at present the new Bhares arc assessed at £5 ss. on the market. The bank will obtain £125,000 of additional capital, and tho reserve fund will be augmented by £62,5C0.

OIL VEBSUS COAL. . Special attention has been directed to the. Question of. oil versus coa! as fuel' for steamships by the announcement that tho Admiralty has, after exhaustive experiments,, decided to. adopt liQuid fuel in the Navy. Orders for warships to use liijuid fuel have already been placed by the Admiralty, contracts have been entered into with Scotch producers for about 200,000 tons of crude oil, and it is known that several immense reservoirs for the Btotage of oil have already been crecwd tfoe Admiralty, and this is regarded as strong proof-that the uso of liquid fuel on an extensive scale is contemplated. Tho oxample of the British Admiralty is bound to be followed by other nations, and n seems likely, therefore, that the riemand for orudo petroleum ' in , the near future will be very active. It'is also likely that efforts will be made to obtain the "liquid fuel within tho Empire, which will render practicable many of the oil propositions in Australia and Now Zealand.

Although tho use of oil in-place cf coal for steamers is no recent innovatin, its adoption has been so slow . that probaMv not one per cent, of steamers aro pro'pelled by this means, and, as far as can be ascertained, the use of oil was first decided upon some years ago .by tho owners of the "Shell" line of steamers, all of which have been specially couipped f O , burning it. Among several advantages claimed for oil over coal, cleanliness, ana economy of working are tho most important. For instance, the feeding of the furnaces with oil can be performed by one man, the system of spraying tho fires being . , operated automatically, whereas where coal is used, the employment of a number of stokers is imperative. Tbus a substantial saving in labour is effected whilst the absence of smoke and a-*hes is' of course, also a great advantage o-i vessels propelled by this means the oil is stored in compartments built into the shin like water-balast tanks in ordinary vessels nnd thus; also, thero is a • considerable economy in tho space devoted for bun'kcri where coal is used. Experts sav that while the cost of oil is greater than that of coal, there is so much gained in efli ciency that tho difference in the price is not important. It is, for instance, estimated that a ton of oi! is onual to at least double that quantity of" coal p or marine propulsion what is known as residual oil is employed—that is, oil which having had benzine, naptha, etc., extracted from it, is practically unfit for other purposes.

land possesses its fair quota. The "Directory of Directors," published in London, gives the names of, 21,300 directors, tho greater number, perhaps two-thirds, being directors of single companies. Of the remainder a large number are d'rectors of two to four companies, and 22 are directors of 16 companies and upwards. Ot theso one is on tho board of no fewer than 32 different concerns, one on 30, one on 26, two on 20, 21, and 22 respectively, while six are on the boards of 16 undertakings, and seven are directors of from 17 to 19 different companies. Of course, this is nothing to the number of directorships held by some Americans.

SOUTH AFRICAN' WOOL. Recently the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth, at the request of the Premier of the Transvaal, and with the assistance of a committee of experts, appointed a (lockmaster. whose duties, in addition to managing the Government stud flocks, were to visit the various districts and instruct farmers in improved methods of Jh''<nfarming, with the object of bettering their flocks, and also the general get-up of their wool for market. Apropos of this movement, it is interesting to read the following extract from the "Yorkshire Post" on South African wool in 1909:—"It is vcrv satisfactory to state that wools in general are now much better made up, and that more care is taken with tho clip and nip'i ing than was formerly the case. This refers especially, to the Free State farmers who have essentially improved their wool' and there are somo lots- which compare favourably with • the better wools of the East Cape province. Surprise was felt at the smaller quantity of Transkei native wool during last season, which was 15 to 20 per. cent, less than the previous season. One reason for this is that toe natives have this year sold part of their sheep into the Orange River Colony, and an'jthor is that the larger towns, as .'.iliannesburg, Pretoria, etc., most now buy living animals for their food supply, instead of frozen meat from Australia, etc. Otherwise the wool production in all the other wool centres of South Africa has,improved, notwithstanding. the great an continued drought last winter in some districts. The export of wool from all the South African ports amounts, this year, to 400,000. bales against 270,000 bales in 1908, •

CUSTOMS REVENUE. Customs revenue collected at Wellington yesterday amounted to £2272 14s. 7d. ' TRADE IN ALLEN STREET. . Hams—The demand continues active;and it is a difficult matter to meet all requirements. . , Bacon is in full supply and without alteration in price. Fresh Eggs—The Easter glut is now over, and prices have advanced, the quotation now being Is. Bd. to Is. 9d. Preserved eggs are selling at Is. 3d., and meet with an" active demand. .Butter.—Prices continue firm, but the supply is fully equal to the demand. Poultry.—The demand.has improved considerably, and there is active inquiry for pullets . and turkeys. . , Potaloes.-Tho bulk of the supplies reaching this market are coming from Oamaru Timaru, and Ohristchurch. There is no alteration in values, aud th 6 demand 'continues good.

Onions.—Owing to the low prices ruling a good trade is, doing in this line. Maizc.-Prices have declined a penny ner bushel, which has stimulated the demand. Pollard and bran are without alteration. split peas have advanced. £1 per ton Oats.—A fairly good business is' beinrr' done at 25.. sd. to 2s. 7d.,- according to saniFowl Whcat.-Thero is a good demand for whole fowl, wheat, aud prices rango from 3s. lid to 4s. Id. A large proportion of the samples coming from the south consist of sprouted wheat. ' _Flour continues to' rule at ' £10 f.o.b bouth Island ports, for best brands. Oatmeal is quoted at £10 to £11. Bananas.-The bulk of the Fiji shipment last week came to hand in bad condition WM «?' 10 - V rates: eood fruit sold well, and the prices ranged from 2s. to 9s per case. ■■~ .. ~ . -

Mandarines'from Fiji were'in small sunVnU 1 p ?.l' lo il % l as condemned, bem- ™ °, Uit lly, '.'' md ™sdV Tomatocs.-Those have advanced in price Supplies from-the,Hutt are realising 3s! to 4s. per half-ease. ■ • Cape gooseberries are in' good demand and make from 6d. to 7d. per lb ; . Vegetables.-Tberc is.a.good demand for .French beans, .which now make from 4s green ■ oarr6ts - P«snip°™and ■green peas are making satisfactory rates. METAL ' MARKETS. By Telegraph-Press Association-Copyright. (Koc. April 5, 10.25 p.m.) ' ■ 'i r, „ London, • April 5 ■ £5 C 9 0 ?s Per p 7r°L tho EPOt ' £53; threo months- " Lead, £12 15s. per ton. .

GKAIN MARKET. <By Telegraph-Press Association.) ■' m w i■i '■ • "hrlstchuroh, April 5. •«,?)«? J, 0 / 1 F raln market is in a very quiet .state at. present.' and no sales of ' h fV ake , n Pl«» since ' Friday last Most of the wheat that is offering