COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1612, 2 December 1912, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

- INVESTMENT SHAKES. . On Saturday the only transaction in the investment share market was a 6ale of Wellington Woollen preference shares at 575. 3d. The quotations were as under:— Buyere. Sellers. ■ £ a. d. £ a. d. National Bank — 6 0 0 Well. Trust and Loan ... — 7 10 0 Feilding Qae — 10 3 Well. Gas (pr«f.) - , 10 9 K.li. Insurance - 3 14 0 Standard Insurance 11l ! , 112 6 Gear Meat (£4) — 1217 6 Meat Export (£4) — ■ 5 a 0 Meat Export (525. 6d.) .... — 218 6 N.Z. Shipping 14 0 0 - Union Steam 2 7 0 — Well. Woollen (ord.) 3 15 0 — Well. Woollon (pref.) ..... 2 17 0 — Tariugamutu Totara 2 6 0 — Golden Day Cement — 110 Manning and Co — 4 2 0 N.Z. Drug - . 210 0 Sharland's ordinary — 116 Ward and Co 5 10 5 2 6 W.F.O.A - 7 2 6 Tho course of sales during the past monUi was aa under i— National Bank, £0,

N.Z. and JUver Hate, £2 Is. Wellington Investment, Uβ. 9d. Auckland Gas, £3 3s. 6d. Christchureh Gas, £8 4s. 9d., £8. Fcilding Gas, 21e. Palinerston North Gas, £9. ■ , Wellington Ga 3 (second issue), £15 15s. I Wellington Gas (third issue). £14, £14, £14, £14 12s. 6d. National Insurance, 40b. 6d. South British'lnsurance, £3 14b. Goar Jleat (E4), £12 15s. N.Z. Shipping, £14. Union Steam, 455. 6d., 465. 3d., 465. 6d., 51a. 3d., 50s. .9d., 48s. Ud. Wellington Woollen (ord.), £3 16b. Wellington Woollen (pref.), £2 175., £2 17e. Hikurangi Coal, 18s. Taupiri Coal. 21s. 4Jd.. 225. Ud., ZZa. Leyland-O'Brien Timber, 285., 28s. C. M. Banks, Ltd., 20s. Golden Bay Cement, 20s. 9d., 215., 21a. N.Z. Drus, 495. 9d. Sharland s urefcrencu, 225. 3d., lie. 3d. .W.F.C.A., £7 2s. 6d. PRODUCTION OP PIG IEON. A German paper gives a comparison of the output of pig Iron of the three leading producing countries, a-s returned in'l9o2 and 1911 respectively. According to this .the figures are as follow:— 1902. 1911. Tons. Tons. United Status 18.107,000 24,029,000 Germany 8,550,000. ",572,000 Great Britain ....'. 8,819,000 10,415,000 Or, in other words, on the nine yeaie the output of the United State 3 increased by, approximately 3J vet cent., that ot Germany by nearly 83 per cent., and that of Great , Britain by about 18 per cent. CUSTOMS. The Customs duties collected at the port of Wollington on Saturday totalled £601 3s. Id., the amount for the week being £10,008 123. 7d. Tho returns for each of the past eight weeks, compared with the figures for the corresponding periods of last year show as .under -.— . 1912. 1911. £ £ October 12 :.. 11,713 9.9C8 October 19 '. 8,748 9.340 \ October 26 .." 23,997 21,738 November 2 22,188 27,552November 9 11,324 15.689 November 16 ..' "... 17,954 21,392 November 23 '..... 11,083 10,176 November 30 10,008 20,482 Hiiii "itoi" The beer duty collected, for the week totalled £38, as compared with £289 12e. 3d. for. the' corresponding week of last year. The collodions for each of the eleven months of the year, compared with the figures of last year, are as under:— 1912. 1911. £ • £ - . January 84.460 70,809 February i 72,741 68.223 March 74,484 70,067 ■ April -67.986 - 62.891 May .'.;. 61.667 63,203 June' 65,237 51,514 July 59.633 86,342 August 69,492' 77,402 : September 76.990 69.C09 October ...: 92,385 60,710 November- 55,537 82,393 ■ .-, 780,512 762,563 The beer duty- collected last month amounted to £1130 oa. 2d., as against £1124 165., ' collected during November of laet ydar.' . AUCKLAND ELBCTKIC TRAMWAYS.' The accounts of the Auckland Electric Tramways Oompany, Ltd.," for the year ended June 30 last, show that traffic receipts amounted to £229,142, again Bt £210,167 for the previous year; and the total revenue to :£232,J51, against £212,624. After providing for debenture interest, and carrying £20,000 to the renewals and .depreciation account, the surplus' for the year ie £51,608,..t0 which is. added £7148 brought forward, making together £58,756. Dividend of 6 per cent. ■ on preference shares at>sorbs £6CCO, thb dividend for the year on ordinary shares is la. 6d. per share or 7Jper. cenit., absorbing £26,250; the sum o» ; £18,238 isv transferred to reserve, which is thus raised to £85,000; and the■ balance, £8268, is carried forward. The ehare capital consists of £100,000 in preference -and £350,000 in ordinary shares. The first mortgage debenture stock is £368,044. It is proposed to make a , further "'issue of £50,000 In 6 per cent, shares. "■ Capital expenditure during the year on electrical con struetion amounted, to £85.352; and the freehold of the land' on which .tie"power station in erected has been acquircd'at a cost of £6,568. OAKARU WOOLLEN FACTORY CO. The annual report of.the- Oamaru Woollen Factory Company says:—"Your directors have pleasure in presenting their, annual report, a!eo ■ the attached: balance-, sheet and profit and-loss account, from' which you will eee the vea.r'e remits. ha,ve been fairly satisfactory. |iTho! factory'- -: hasj been, well supplied-with 'orders'; bait the output for the .-earlier part of the year was considerably reduced- owing to scarcity of labour; that difficulty has been somewhat overcome, and the output is now quite Eat-, isfactory. . ' ■ ' , '. "Tho net profit for the year, after providing for reasonable depreciation, amounts to £2262 4s. 9d.; to which has to be added tho sum brought forward from last year, £1150 13s. lid.;, making a total to bo dealt with of £3412 18s. Bd. An interim dividend was paid in Juno at the , rate of 8 per cent. Tier annum, absorbing £8?8 65. '5d.; it isvriow recommended.to pay a further dividend at the'same rate, £888 6s. 5d.; and your. directors recommend also that a bonus of 1 per cent, bo paid to ordinary shareholders (they regret that.they cannot legally extend this to preference shareholders) amounting to £178 IBs.;'-leav-ing'a~ balance ..to be-cniriod forward to. next year-of £1457 7s. 10d. "Tom , , directors have to record with regret that during the year one of the oldest members, of the board passed away in the person of the late Mr. .James Craig, who always -took a keen interest in the company's affairs. Mr. ,James Martin was appointed to fill the; vacancy. During the year your directors placed before you a .proposal by which the company would be materially strengthened. This proposal was accepted with practical unanimity. Before the date arrived for giving effect to the scheme, however, the company's solicitor brought'under their notice a case recently dv.ided. by the British Court of Appeal, which raised the ouestion as to the legality of the proposed allotment ofshares to' preferential shareholders. Ho' advised that it would Iμ prudent therefore to go to the SppreTre Court for direction, on the. matter. Th'e has b&sn donn and until the Judge's d«3ision ir obtained the proposal cannot,.be , completed." Th» annual meeting is to. bo hold on Monday next. :: FEILDING- MARKET REPORT. Messrs. A. E.' Atkinson .and Co., Ltd., of FeildinE, report on Friday's sale as follows:—There was only a small yarding of pigs and poultry owing largely to weather conditions. There was practically unlimited demand for pigs had any quantity come forward. We had a brisk sale in general merchandise ,, and other lines.. Quotations:—Weaner pigs, 13s. 6d., 14s. 6d., 155.; slips, 16s. 6d., 17e.; stores, 17s. 6d., 18s. 6d. to 235. 'Poultry, per pair: Hens, 30., 3s. 3d.. 3s. 6d.. 3s. 9d., 45.. fe. 3d.: purebred, to 63.; half-grown cockerels, 2s. 6d., 2s. 9d.. 35.-3d.; ducks, 4s. 3d.; wheat, 3s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. bushel; pollard, 12s. 6d. bag; bran, 4s. 6d.; peas, 25.. 6d.; ryegrass, Iβ. Id. bushel; bacoii, lOJd.; hams, 10d. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Ageney Co., Ltd.. and Reduced, reports for week ending November 29," as follows: —At Fcilding on Friday wo had a. good entry of sheen and. a heavy yarding 01 cattle. We effected a total clearance of sheep at late rates.. The cattle, which consisted mostly of dairy stock, made a very good clearance. Shorn wether hoggets (small), Us. Id.; B.F. wether hougets, 12s. 2d.; other wether hoggets, 13s. 3d. to 13a. 6d.; woolly ewes with lambs at foot, 245.; small yearling steers, £2 145.; twentymonth 'steers, £3 Ba. 6d. j twenty-month heifers. £3 11s.; well-bred , yearling steers, £3 63. 6d.; Jereoy-cross heifers, £5 25.; twentymonth dairy heifers, £4 Hβ.; two-year Holstein heifers. £5 155.; backward springing heifers, £3 16s. 6d.; smn.l! yearling heifers. £2 03. 6d.: empty heifers, £3 Jβ.; small Jersey heifer?, £4 95.; store cows, £3; better do. to £3 155.: cowb, with calves at foot. £5 Is.: light fa,t cowb, £5 65.; heavier, to £6 12s. 6d.; one vealer, 205.; discoloured yearling steers. 315.; springing cows, £7 7b. 6d.; bulls at all prices from £3 4s. to S3 l«s.'6d. , ' ' Messrs. Da.lgety and Co., Ltd. (Palmerston North branch), reporit having held thetr weekly sale at Feilding on November 29, when there was a fair yardin? of sh-eeo p-nd a good yarding of wbic.il realiFed the following prices:—Cattle—Ve»rliig heifTOS, dairy sorts. £3 10s. to £4 12s. 6d.; yearling steers, £3 10s. to £3 145.; twoyear =teora, £4 10s.: tliree-year steers, £5 155.; fa.t. heifers,-£5 to £6; bulls. £3 Kβ. Rheen—Two-tooth wethers, to 15s. Id.; ewes Mid lambs. 21s. 4d.: fot. shorn wethsrs, 17s. 10d.; fat shorn ewes, 15s. Id. NORTH OTAGO MARKETS. ■ (By Telegraph—Press Association.) ! Oamaru, December 1. There ie lltUo doing in the wheat market. Millers are fairly well supplied, and only buy when the price suits them. The largest sales recorded were 500 Eacke of Velvet at 35.. ?d. and 550 sacks of Tuscan at 3s. ssd., both ox store, and subject to commission. Sales have also been mada subject to brokerage, as at country fitations Velvet, at 3s. Bd.. Redchaff at 3s. 6id.. and Tuscan at 3s. 6d., while a line of Red Tusoan sold at a oountry station at 3s. 7il. Oats are in short supply, and are flraiev. A-grado Gartons have been sold at 2s. to 2s. Id., and B-grade at 25., all not on trucks. A line of Dani.ih sold at Is. lCd. net' at a country station. Prime oat-on-sheaf chaff is very scarce, but medium quality is more plentiful .and sells at sfo. on trucks. The stores are bare of pomtoes, and very few are offering from the country. They ar» now quoted nominally at £10 net on trucks at coratry stations. FROZEN MEAT. By Telegraph—Press Association—Cop.TtEht (Rec. December 1, 5.25 p.m.) . London, November 50. Tho Incorporated Society of Meat Importers' Bmlthfleld market quotations lor tho ,j^4fflm J^fliic44gffl«a , oj fjojaa a&s/ksia

based on actual sales of not less than one hundred carcasses of mutton: or lamb, or twenty-five quarters of beef, of fair average quality. The quotations are. not for selected lines, but for parcels fairly, representative of the bulk of the' sh'ipihents now on the market. The prices which" follow are on the average a farthing per: lb. more than the values ex ship, 'this \ difference representing an average cost in expense, handling, conveyance, and.' selling the meat :— ■ , Nov. 23.:' Nov. 30. Mutton— 1 d. ■ d. Canterbury, light 4|. . 48 Canterbury, medium ' 4J ; 41 • . Canterbury,. heavy ;, • * Southland '. '4i r ,41 North Island, best 4j.\ ... 41 : North Island, ordinary 47-16 .47-16 " Australian, light 4 1 " 41-16. Australian, heavy .., 41 41 River Plate, light.... , " * •River Plate, heavy 41-16 . ■ 41-16 New Zealand ewes 4.. . 41-16 . Australian ewes 33 .. 4 • River Plate ewes * ; Lamb— „ ' • Canterbury, light 51 — Canterbury, medium ....;. 6a- - . • — Canterbury, heavy. 5 . - . — ' Southland 5 5-16 5 3-8 North Island, ordinary ... 5J ,53-16 : North Island, ..: 5" 5-16 53-8 , Australian, best * 51 ' Australian, .fair '...: M Australian, inferior . * . .5 River Plate, flrst \ ' * River Plate, ee.cond ........ ■ - ' 'Beef— \ V '■ New Zealand,'ox fores ... 215-16 3_ ■ New Zealand, ox hinds. 3M 3 7-16 Australia*!, ox fores - 213-16 213-16 Australian, ox hinds 31.. 3i :. River Plate, frozen fores 25 ' 3 River Plate, frozen hinds 3 3-8 3 3-8 River Plato, chilled fores 31 31 River Plate, chilled hinds 4J .43-8 •None offering, : • RABBITS. Cold weather is stimulating tJw rabbit trade New South Wales, blues, 195., ex .store. :; The jNe'w Zealand Loan and Mercantile 'Agemoy 'Compaiy.- Ltd., and Reduced, have rooeived the following cablegram from their London house, under date November 29The market has slightly improved for beef, is firmer for .mutton, but the inquiry for lamb is limited. . LONDON WOOL SALES. By Telegraph—Press Association—Oopyigght London, November 29. ■At the wool sales, there. was keen Continental and Yorkshire demand for fine inerin )s. : Prices are hardening. Orossbreds are unchanged. SILVER..' v London, November 29.' : Bar. diver is quoted at 29 3-16 d. per.oz. standard. . : . DREI/GING. Dunedin,' November-30. Dredging returns:—Sandy Point, 23oz;' 3 dwt., for 118 hours; Worksop. 50oz. sdwt. for 120 hours; Blaclnvater, 30oz. for 216 hours: Waikaka United: No. 1, 170z.. 6dwt.. for 132 hours; Rising Sun, 430z. lldwt. for 155 hours. i v