WELLINGTON NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 29 December 1924, Page 1

WELLINGTON NOTES.

(Speeiul to ‘‘Guardian’’.) UNS A TISFA CTO 11Y MEAT M A KELT. WELLINGTON. Dee. 23. The freezing companies here have resumed operations, but the meat market is in a very unsatisfaetoi v condition, for although prices are high business is difficult. for high priecs are checking speculation. The meat business is essentially speculative, anil someone lias got to take the risks. If a farmer chooses to consign on his own account lie must accept the risks of the market, for no one can guess v.liat prices will he eight or ten weeks hence. Exporters who look for a profit on turn-over are naturally acting cautiously, and a.s a mutter of fact c.i.f. business is extremely dillicult. Those who can buy and wish to hoy are unwilling to give current prices, knowing that values will drop in the near future, and these who wish to fell are unable to accept current offers because of the loss involved. The freezing companies doing a purely eonim.is.sion business, that is freezing on owners’ account, will probably find their business shrinking, while the companies operating on their own account are accumulating stocks, which they may Ik; forced to sell, or in the alternative they may he obliged to curtail operations, and in either ease it would mean loss. There are two or three privately-owned works, ami these may keep going, as the proprietors must have the supplies for their Home trade. The strong companies will he able to lace the position, but some of the smaller companies may find the strain a little too much. High prices are not altogether a blessing, and there are many who would he glad to see the meat prices lower and more stabilised. Perhaps when the comm it Ice appointed by the British Government to cnrplirc into the costs of bread and meat send in their report we may know a little more about the position. Due local authority on the meat trade has expressed the opinion that it would be a good thing if the cold meat stores in Britain were compelled by law to send in returns of meal in store. If this were furnished nine a week there would he little chance of exploiting the market. Cl 11!IST.MAS SHOPPING. The wet weather of last week played havoc with Christmas shopping in Wellington. It was an unprecedented storm that struck the city and surrounding district, and raged for three daws, raining almost incessantly. D was impossible lo take the children out and Christmas shopping without the children would he a lane. Ihe shops had made special preparations for a big trade, the several business streets making concerted plans for decorations, and for attracting the shoppers. 'I he toys this year appear to have been the best seen in the city since the war. and this is attributed to ttie fact that a good many of the toys, and particularly the mechanical ones, were ol German origin. But with three consecutive days Wet. and the fourth a lialQ -i.-iv. business was haly knocked on theliead. One missed the noise associated with Christmas time, the u-.iise that children make with the trumpets and squeakers and drums and their shrill voices. Eat her Christmas was unalie to do the city in his taxi, but those most disappoint'd were the children. However, great efforts were made in the three da's to retrieve the position, hut it is doubtful whcth'T tic shopkiel els "ill ho uhle t" sloe.', a , good ictiil us a - hi I \ear. and they expected so much as “ wool is up." The small shopkeeper is the biggest sull'erer. HOLIDAYS SPOILT.

The vicious storm ol lasi week spoiled the Christinas holidays for a very

great number ol residents in Wellington’s suburbs. As a matter ol lad there were very few homes that escaped some sort of damage. Leaks weio common, houses that would have been guaranteed not to leak did leak, bill this was nothing. Helices were blown down, window panes knocked out. gardens wrecked and embankments collapsed. At the seaside suburbs of Easthoiiine. some houses on the hill started to toboggan and falls of earth were everywhere to he seen. Heine suburbanites will he forced to work through the Christmas holidays cleaning away debris and making pathways, gardens, yards, etc., pnVsentaMe again. The year having been a prosperous one many families have gone to the seaside, huf as most of these seaside results lace the south there is little prospect of enjoyment for the visitors for the weather continuer, unpromising.

HEAVY DAMAGE AND LOSS. WELLINGTON. Dec. 21. A survey of the loss and damage occasioned hy hisL week’s storm shows tliat a l<>t- of monoy will liaw to »»«' spent in cleaning up. Whenever there is a phenomenal raiiihdl hu-nlli tnsteep hill-sides of the Hull road have seldom failed to contribute towards Ihe list of mishaps. Early on Saturday morning a big slice ol the line of ilu hill about 2llt> yards on the city side ol Ngahniirnnga slid down on to the llutt ,-oad and blocked Iralih. The face of the hill at this point is about SO or 00 l’eet ill height, and the slip took a big bite out of the lace, from the top alm. St to the road level, it is estimated that about 10,000 tons of earth <•' more, had to he shifted, and the City Council’s steam shovel was requisitioned for the purpose and . .miniem <'d operations on Monday morning loading the spoil into a Meet oi motor trucks. The slip, for which ihe lories of nature alone can he held responsible, opens out a new and uiithuught ol responsibility for the Wellington City and Suburban Highways Board ol Control, and it is understood that the beats cost of removing the spoil will devolve upon the finances of that board. Nor is that liability likely to be a light one. The edge of the cliff above the slip still looks dangerous, and when seen yesterday afternoon a minor fall of earth could still be observed taking place high up the precipitous faro, so there is every reason to fear that with the next heavy downpour of rain there will be further earth falls at this spot. The Citv Council's working gang have been kept very busy clearing away slips til various suburban areas, and some of these slips involved many hours or labour before they were finally cleared.

ixi' wrii.E PAU.vr.vsis. Sovcnil discs «.f infantile paralysis have 1.00.1 reported in the nearby R»il»ur l,s of l’otono. and the homes in whirl, the eases occurred were ii.iinodiatclv isolated and it is believed tin, the authorities have the epidemic wo 1 in hand. Tn connection with this matter a correspondent wntii.R from Auckland to a local paper says: .1" 1010 after tl.e reappearance of ’'ifantd paralysis in the YTcllinptn,, district „ > reported to the Health Hepartmont o„e of your papers reported that He health authorities were watching disease with special care, but they re,L«l «„■ i» «» *>* TS i„p its distribution. I ■ wrote to the

Auckland papers pointing out that Dr Mark RichnnKon, a distinguished Boston physician, in a paper read by him before thi> Association of American Physicians, and embodied in the “ \iiim'ieaii Journal of Public Health,” .■Jafed that the rat is the great cause, if not the only cause, of the dreadful disease called infantile paralysis. Dr ■Richardson's conclusions are based upon very wide experimentation since the terrifying New York City epidemic of 19l(>. The investigations of Dr Itic-li-ardsoii. which cost a tremendous amount of money, wore very definite in Ibis regard, and I think in view of the fact that rats are the sole, if not the only cause, "f infection, then it Behoves every parent ill New /calami to 1 11 sisI that the rat crusade should mil lie spasmodic, hut eoiitiiinoits. I miniiieiul this to your paler and trust that you will give it wide publicity on account of its great importance to the infant life of the Dominion." DECEMBER WOOL SALKS. ‘Pile December wool .‘.ales have finished without any sensational deveh'l'nieiil.s. Thole were five sahs in all. and the total ollenn::, approximat'd to | )Ii. DM;) hales, of which over 80.000 hales wore oll'ered ill the North Island. The udo of the offering was in itself sufficient to a (feet the . market just now. because ol tin* financial sliiugelicy and the difficultlex surrounding exchange. There was a drop ill values ai the Napier sales, this was confirmed at the Wellington sale, and there was a further drop at the Timaru sale, huf ai the Dunedin sale, which was the concluding sale of the month, values appeared to have recovered slightly. 'PI',,, true reason lor the decline in prices at Napier. Wellington, and Timucannot be known, for when one looks around for a reason there is nothing that can he fixed upon. The statistical position is still as strong as ever, and line wools, as shown hy the -ales in Sydney, maintained their high level, and there was. therefore, no reason for a recession in prices. The Poll was probably due lo the absence "f that keen compel it ion which iollows upon American operations. However. Ihe outlook for the January sales, when a ,'i-eat. volume of wool will he submit led. appears very good. 1 lf ‘ I IOOnO hales offered iu December nboi.l St-, cent tafid. if net more, which means that about 8.',.000 hales were sold, and this expressed m £ s. « •• means nearly C3.000.01i0. for Hie average per bale would b- about C 3 ~