COMMERCIAL NEWS.

Hokitika Guardian, 25 August 1921, Page 4

COMMERCIAL NEWS.

ADJINGTON STOCK MARKET. • SMALL YARDINGS. 1 1 ■ j: (By Telegraph.—Speoial to Guardian.) j ■ CHRISTCHURCH, This Hay. Messrs Matson and Co. report as follows regarding their slock sale yesterday:— Store sheep.—A smaller entry t.'ian last week and all classes of sheep were easier. Best sound mouth ewes Bis to 15s, a few extra good 18s, best wethers lls fid to 11s; hoggets from fis to Os; others from 4s. The market was lifeless. Store cattle.—A small yarding, mostly nondescript lots, and no quotable lines offering. Prices were about on a par with last sale. Beef.—A larger yarding and the ■ quality was very mixed. The market I opened easier, but afterwards improved slightly and was practically the same as last week. Prime, steers, £ls to £l9; extra good to £22; medium £lO 5s to ! £l4 ss; others £6 to £9 15s; prime heifers CO 10s to £l2 10s; extra good to £l4 7s fid; others £5 10s to £9. Prime cows. £9 to £l2s; others £5 to £8 ss. Mutton.—The smallest yarding for weeks. Owing to the works re-opening till September 3rd, many farmers are evidently freezing on their own account and others are holding hack anticipating smaller entries at Addington after the works close again. The market was considerably firmer co-day, showing an advance of anything from 3s to 5s per bead. Prime wethers, 19s fid to 25s fid: extra good to 345; medium 17s to 19s. Not many ewes w-oe yarded, but they showed a proportionate rise. The rise is entirely due to the small yarding. OIL FI'HI, IN THE NAVY. With the view to conserving the rn.no fluid descriptions of oil luol, and those which do not increase greatly in viscosity under conditions of prolonged storage, an important Admiralty order has been issued. It has been decid I that a mixture of 50 per cent Persian and 50 per cent .Mexican oil fuel i- t' l he issued to the Fleet during the sniniiH'rl' months, whenever such kinds ol fuel arc available. The mixture, it i; stilted, will have priority in supply oyer a!! other mixtures during the period lord Ist to September 30tli. except in ' e case of supplies foi use in Diesel or semi-Diesel engines, or to vessels pro-

; ceding to an area where -ea teni]Kwatitrcs of oOdog. E. or hclou are likely t - be encountered, or to battleships and h'lttle-ciiiiseis which burn .Mexican fuel unmixed so tar as heating coils admit. The Persian-Alexiean mixture is to he utilised before any other stocks on hoard ship. Any quantity remaining on hoard vessels due to pass into the Reserve Fleet is to he returned to store helore the ships pass into reserve. U.S.A. TARIFF. A special dispatch from New York upon the new t .S. tariff tells us state, a Canadian paper) tinst. while it would fie tin exaggeration to state that importers are bordering upon a state of panic due to the radical changes proposed in the permanent tariff hill. iL is safe to assert, based upon opinions from lepresontativo importers, that a feeling of ; 1 \l l eilie pessimism has. taken hold ot many lines of business. Phis has le to the situation, in some instance, where talk of suspending business is not uncommon, while all plans for development. have been abandoned, for the time being at least. On the other hand, enquiry among many of the larger !.ottses revealed that a conservative and most cautious policy was being pursued and that, in numerous instances, orders for future delivery had actually been cancelled. One ol the largest importers of general merchandise in ' United States stilted that he had instructed all of his buyers abroad to cease buying at once and to cancel a’! outstanding orders pending further advices. This policy, it is understood, is being adopted pretty generally among the larger houses, and it is expected that the smaller concerns "ill follow within a short time. GRADING OK HONEY. Representatives, of the New Zealand Honey Producers’ Association a"d the Government apiary inspectors met in conference in Wellington last week, to consider the question ol revising the mailing regulations covering the export of honey. The present colour standaids adopted for grading purposes, while giving general satisfaction, have been found to he at variance with the standards in vogue in America, to which country a quantity of New Zealand lionev lias been exported during the past two years. The conference drew 111 > suggestions which, "lieu adopted, should bring the New Zealand system of.grading—which is by colours —into conformity with those in operation in England and America. It is also intended to revise the system of graders’ rates, so as 1(1 convey more clearly to purchasers the actual quality ot honey. When the revision ol standards is completed replicas of the apparatus used will he made available to those commercially interested overseas, with a view to enabling them to satisly ll ““ selves that the grade of the New Zealand honey they purchase is correct ly described. STOCK SALE. Alessrs AlcAlahon and Bee repot t on the stock stile on .Monday at the Inan galitia Junction sale.vards, as follows: The voiding tit the above market comprised 52 fat cattle, 4(5 springers and 241 sheep. Alessrs Walker Bros, again yarded some very prime cattle and also a couple of pens of sheep were ol very good quality. There was a lull attendance of buyers, and competition was very animated throughout this sale, there being a distinct rise in prices lor both lat cattle and sheep. The majority of the springers yarded were in a backward condition, and consequently met with a poor demand, sales being hard to make. Sales were as follows:—! tat bullock at £l9 12s fid, 3at £l(s 17s (id, Gat £(> 17s Gd, 3 at £ls 15s, I at £ls ss, 5 at £ls, G at £l4 Ills, G at £l3 17s (id, 5 at £l3 7s fid, 5 at fill, 3 fat heifers :it Cl l 10s, 5 fat cows at £8 os, 2 springers at £lO, 1 at £9 10s, 1 at LJ ss. 2 at CD, 1 at £B, l cow and calf at £lO, 3 yearling heifers at £4 3s Gd. A further line of 9 fat was sold privately after the sale at £ls 10s. Sixteen fat wethers were sold at 30s, 70 at 28s 3d, 24 at 255, 101 mixed ewes and wethers at 2fis fid,3o hoggets at 14s Gd. _______