COMMERCIAL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16487, 28 February 1914, Page 12

COMMERCIAL.

LONDON MARKETS. MONEY AND STOCKS. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. LONDON, February 27. Bank return.—The weekly return of tho Bank of England is as follows: Gold coin and bullion in hand . £41,336,000 ■Reserve . . . £32,945,000 Proportion reserve to liabilities 61.41 Notes in circulation .' . . £28,210,000 Public deposits .... 20,367,000 Other deposits .... £43,438,000 Government securities . . . £11,253,000 Othor securities .... £37,986,000

Short loans If; three months’ bills 2 1-16; Paris 2s; Berlin 3]. Colonial securities are quoted as under

Copper—Forward delivery £64 12s 6d; electrolytic £67 ss. Tin—spot, £174; three months £176. Pig Iron—s4s. Lead—£l9 15s. Spelter—£2l 12s 6& WOOL. The Bradford wool market is active with a strong demand for crossbreds. Sixty-fours 28Jd; super, 28]d: common sixties, 27$d; fifty-sixes, 23d; fifties, 20]d; forty-sixes, 17}d; forties 16d. GRAIN AND FLOUR. • Wheat—An active Continental demand has been principally for costering purposes, but there is a good consumptive demand from British millers in view of the shortage in Argentina and India and the probability of the Russian crop being of inferior quality.' Australian cargoes are firm at threepence advance. Several have sold at 36s 6d to 36s 9d; also twelve thousand tons at tho latter price. Australian, spot, nominal 395. Stocks of New Zealand are exhausted. Flour—Good business is being done. Australian patents, Marck-Aprn shipment, 25s 6d. Oats—Stocks of old are exhausted and there is no business in new crop. Beans are neglected. Fair average quality New Zealand are offering at 35s 6d ex store with no buyers. Peas—-The market is firm. 45s has been paid for New Zealand Maples, Alarch-April shipment. DAIRY PRODUCE.

Butter—The market is firm with a steady demand for colonial. Choicest Australian, salted, 112 s to 114 s; unsalted 114 s to 116 s; exceptional lots, 118 s: New Zealand salted 115 s to 116 s; unsalted 118 s to 120 s.

Cheese—The market is firm. New Zealand white 64 s; coloured 665. LON'DON, February 26.

. SHARES. Waihi, 50s, 52s 6d. BANK OF AUSTRALASIA. The Bank of Australasia has declared a dividenu of 14 par cent and a bonus of £l2. Tho sum of £50,000 has been added to reserve, £20,000 to premises account and £30,168 carried forward. ANTWERP WOOL SALES. LONDON, February 26. The Antwerp wool sales opened with a large attendance. There was brisk competition with a general advance, special and fine sorts realising rancy figures. As compared with January, merino rose 5 to 7 per cent, fine crossbreds 10 per cent, ordinaries up to 12 per cent. Two thousand five hundred and forty-seven bales of La Plata wool were offered and 2007 were sold.

AUSTRALIAN MARKETS. GRAIN AND PRODUCE. MELBOURNE, February 27. Wheat, 3s lOd. Flour, £8 10s. Bran and pollard, £5. Barley, malting English 3s 3d to 3s 6d, Cape 2s 2-£d to 2s 4d. Oats, Algerian Is Bcl to Is 10}d. Maize, 3s 9d. Potatoes, £2 15s to £4 ss. Onions, £7. MARKET REPORTS. GRAIN AND PRODUCE. CHRISTCHURCH, February 27. During the last few days harvest operations have been hampered to some extent by wet weather, and those farmers whose harvesting has been delayed this season have been sufferers. Grain is still coming forward freely and steady business in wheat at quotations is reported. There is a slight advance in the quotations for Tuscan. Oats are coming forward in fair quantities, but the market is very dull and no sales worthy of note have been reported. Malting barley shows a decline of about 3d per bushel on late rates, while the chaff market continues on the same basis as last reported, 45s per ton on trucks being the rate most frequently quoted. Partridge peas of best quality show a slight upward tendency, other quotations remaining unchanged since iast report.

The following quotations are for purchases from farmers, net cash, sacks extra, delivered at country stations:— Wheat—New season’s Tuscan 3s 4d to 3s sd, Hunter’s 3s sd, Pearl 3s Gd.

Oats—Now Season’s Gartons Is 6d to ’« 7d, Algerians Is 4d to la Gd, Duns Is 4d to Is Gd, Danish la 4d to Is sd.

Barley—Malting 3s 3d to 3s 6d per bushel, according to quality. ' Partridge Peas—3s 4d to 3s Gd. Chaff—£2 ss. Onions—£4 to £4 ss. Flour—£9 per ton, 1001 b bags £9 10s, COlb bags £9 15s, 251 b bags £lO. Bran—Local £4 ss, f.o.b. £4. Pollard—£6 per ton. Oatmeal—£l4 per ton. Seeds—Ryegrass, Italian and peronnial machine-dressed parcels, 3s 3d to 3a 9d; cocksfoot, 18lb seed 3Jd to 3Jd; white clover, machine-dressed lid to 13d, farm-dressed 7d to lOd, cow grass 7d to Bd. Dairy Produce—Cheese, dairy largo 5Jd, loaf 6d; factory, largo 6Jd to 6d. Butter, fresh local factory printa Is Id, farmers’ separate 9d. farm dairy Bd. Hams Is, sides o»d. vo' I '> mid r Vsd hams lid; lard, pats Hid. Eggs la 3d per doz. RANGIORA. The fine weather experienced lately has allowed for the completion of tho bulk of tho harvesting in'the Northern district, and more grain has been offered in consequence during tho week at Rangiora. Good milling samples of wheat command up to 3s 5d per bushel on trucks, but a fair quantity of inferior grain has been on offer at prices ranging from 3s 3d upwards. Garten oats are quoted at Is 6d to Is 7d per bushel and Duns, Algerian and Danish from Is 4d to Is 6d. Oatsheaf chaff continues to be neglected the price per ton being nominally 455. Ryegrass seed has been bought at 2s for fair quality and inferior samples at Is 6d to Is 8d per bushel. Cocksfoot is worth up to 34d per lb. RANGIORA HORSE FAIR. There was a. good attendance at the monthly sale at Tattersall’s Horse Bazaar, Rangiora, yesterday. Fiftytwo horses were entered and there was a demand for staunch young stock. In the unbroken lots yearling fillies made £lO to £IG; three-year-old fillies £2O. £33 10s to £37 10s, four-year-old geldings £2l to £27. For heavy horse , pvmee were: five-ysar-clds to £33.

heavy mares to £33, geldings £32, six-year-old geldings £35, fair gig horses to £9 10s and lighter kinds £2 to £B. COALGATE. At Coalgate market yesterday the yarding of sheep and lambs totalled 4500, fats accounting for 2200, of which, 2000 were lambs, chiefly light and medium weights, only a few lots being prime. The balance of fats was made iup chiefly of ewes, only 40 -wethers being penned. In the store pens there I were 1009 cross-bred ewes, 1137 rape and store lambs, the balance being made up of wethers, and a few merino owes. The bulk of the lambs were good forward sorts, and the ewes were chiefly of a good class. There was a good attendance, and competition for 1 all fats and rape lambs was good, the bulk of the yarding changing hands either by auction or privately, but the majority of the ewes were passed. Prices were: Fat lambs 17s Id to 18s 6d, tegs to 19s, light and unfinished 15s to 16s 9d. A good few were taken at these figures by graziers. Fat crossbred ewes 16s Id to 18s 2d, inferior 13s 6d to 14s, rape lambs 14s lid to 15s lOd, two-tootli cross-bred wethers 17s, two-tooth half-bred wethers (small and backward) 14s, two-tooth cross-bred ewes 19s. A line of 752 mixed four, six and eight-tooth were withdrawn at 20s. Failing-mouth merino ewes made 6s Id. The principal sales were:—ll4 rape lambs 15s 2d, for J. Stone, 250 rape lambs 15s lOd; O. R. Church. 389 at 15s 6d; Miss Cordy, 354 at 14s lid. Fat lambs for N. Chapman, 129 at 19s, Kennedy Bros. 101 at 18s lOd, H. Prestidge 23 at 18s 6d, I. Hockridge 46 at 18s 4d, T. Kettie 41 at 18s Id, H. Thomas 37 at 18s lOd, W. Thwaik 136 at 17s 9d, W. Nelson 34 at 17s 3d, J. Kettie 48 at 17s sd, W. Maffey 56 at 17s Id, S. Dennis 134 at 17s Id, G. Hight 116 at 17s Id, J. N. Hartnell 100 at 17s, T. Bowron 51 at 17s, I. Atkinson 40 at 16s lOd, G. Derrett 61 at 16s 9d, James Deans 108 at 16s sd. About 63 head of cattle jrnrded (all kinds), the bulk selling at ruling rates. 18-month heifers made £3 15s to £3 16s, calves 22s to 355, and dry cows £6 17s 6d. LEESTOX STOCK SALE. Owing to the harvest still being in progress the attendance at yesterday’s market at Leeston was- again smaller than usual, though there were more present than at the previous sale. In some departments there were good entries of stock, but in others the yardings were poor. Store pigs were remarkably well represented, the supply being much in excess of the demand, and values eased a little in consequence. Fat pigs sold very well, there being no change to speak of in values. Fat sheep were rather easier in values and there was not a very keen demand for store sheep and store cattle.- The range of prices was as follows:—Fat ewes 13s 6d to 16s 7d, forward lambs 14s 6d, merino ewes 5s 2d, bacon pigs from 51s 6d to 725, equal to s£d per lb, stores from 14s, fat cows £6 7s 6d to £7 10s, springers £lO 10s, yearling cattle £l3 15s, three to six-months-old cattle 37s to 475, calves from 17s. BROOKDALE SALE. The annual sale at Brookdale. Parnassus, now one of the important fixtures of the year in the sheep world, took place yesterday in the presence of a large gathering of buyers, many of whom had wended their way from far afield. Last year the sale was inaugurated by Mr A. W. Rutherford, junr., the owner of the station, _in order to accommodate many adjoining sheep owners, who gladly, availed them-, selves of the oppoi-tunity thus afforded of offering their surplus stock before a representative assemblage of buyers. The sale on that occasion was an emphatic success, and consequently it was decided that the fixture should he an annual one. The second sale was scarcely as well patronised in the way of offerings as was the first the entries aggregating about 14.000, as against 16,600 at the sale held twelve months ago. The special train which left Christchurch for Parnassus shortly before eight o’clock conveyed a large number of prospective buyers to Parnassus, and when the sale opened the attendance was of considerable dimensions. Luncheon for all was provided by Mr Rutherford, and the arrangements for the sale were in every way worthy of the occasion. < Although the entries included a number of excellent sheep, the general average of quality was ■ somewhat below the level of last year, quite a- considerable proportion being indifferent quality. Shortly after one o’clock, the sale was opened by Mr Adam Smith, representing the National Mortgage and Agency Company, who in a complimentary speech, referred to the success which had attended last year’s sale and to the fine selection of sheep placed before buyers on the present occasion. The entry was a credit to the sheep breeders of the district, and he hoped the sale would eclipse even last year’s sale. The first lot was a pen of four-tooth half-bred wethers offered on account, of Mr A. W. Rutherford, senr., of Mendip Hills, and the sale opened briskly, the lino being knocked down to Mr J. M’Grath at 19s. The next line was one of four and six tooth wethers, which made 17s lid. These sales set the pace for the day, and thereafter the market went merrily, nearly all lines finding purchasers at rates which must be considered eminently satisfactory. The range of prices was as follow, last year’s figures in parentheses:— Wethers: Two-tooth 12s 9d to 15s lOd (11s); two and four-tooth halfbreds 16s lOd (14s 3d to 14s 7d); fourtooth 19s (17s lid); four-year meriuoes 15s 6d (10s 9d to 12s 3d); four and sixtooth wethers 17s to 17s lid; six and eight-tooth raerinoes 11s 4d to 12s; four, six and eight-tooth 20s 2d. Ewes: Two-tooth 18s to 24s (15s Id); two-tooth half-breds 26s 6d (13s 3d-2os 6d); two, four, six and cighttootli 16s Id; two and four-tooth 20s 6d; four and six-tooth 18s 6d; fouryear three-quarter-bred 21s 6d (15s 6dlos 7d); full-mouth half-bred 155.4 dto 15s 9d (13s); sound-mouth half-breds 11s 6d to 19s 4d (14s ld-14s lOd); stud meriuoes Ig to 2gs (21s-375); full-mouth meriuoes 12s 6d to 14s 2d (13s 7d-l-3s lid); sound-mouth merinoes 14s to los 4d (7s 9d to 14s). Lambs: Half-bred ewe 12s to 18s 6d (14s); half-bred wether 12s 2d to 12s *<i (10s 5d to 10s lOd), half-breds 14s 7d; culls 7s. The following were the sales:— The National Mortgage and Agency Company sold: —For A. W. Rutherford, sen. (Mendip Hills). 45 full-mouth merino stud ewes at Tfgs, 101 fourtooth half-bred wethers at 19s, 198 English Leicester-merino lambs at 12s, 16 "merino stud ewes at 2gs, 400 fullmouth merino ewes at 12s 6d (passed), 480 full-mouth merino ewes at 10s, 548 two-tooth half-bred wethers at 15s 10d; for Mrs Minnie Rutherford (Mount Beevor), 51 four and six-tooth three-quarter-bred ewes at 23s 6d, 250 Lincoln-merino ewe lambs at 18s 6d, 140 two-tooth English Leicester-merino ewes at 26s 6d, 600 sound-mouth merino ewes at 15s 4d; for A. W. Ruthei'ford, jun. (Brookdale), 100 four-tooth threc-quarter-brcd ewes at 21s 6d, 286 sound-mouth merino ewes at 14s (passed).

Messrs F. Pync aud Co. sold:—For C. T. Wilkinson (Spotswood), 260 fiveyear half-bred ewes at 14s lid; A. Robinson (Cheviot), 49 lambs at 7s; A. R. Barker (Lanercost), 55 three-quarter-bred sound-mouth ewes at 10s lOd, 221 four and six-tooth wethers at 17s lid, 200 eound-mouth half-bred owes at 14s 6d, 200 sound-mouth ewes at 14s id; J. Macpherson (Cheviot), 341 sound-mouth half-bred ewes at 16s 9d to 17s id; E. Rutherford (Inverness), 217 sound-mouth half-bred ewes at 19s 4d; T. Adair (Hundalee), 2/9 owe lambs at 15s 4d, 171 four and

six-tooth wethers at 17s, 246 wether lambs at 12s 2d. Hawkeswood Estate, 671 sound-mouth half-bred ewes at 16s 7d to 17s Id, 283 quarter-bred lambs at 13s 3d; Claverly Estate (Kaikoura), 375 four, six and ciglit-tooth half-bred wethers at 20s 2d, 124 prime merino wethers at 15s 6d, 676 six and eighttooth merino wethers at 11s 4d to 12s; T. H. Wilkinson (Spotswood), 282 twotooth wethers at 15s, 107 two-tooth ewes at 18s 4d; P. Adair (Kaikoura), 100 half-bred lambs at 14s 7d, 99 wether lambs at 12s sd; A. Robinson (Hundaleo), 199 sound-mouth ewes at 16s 2d; F. S. Rutherford (One Tree Hill), 336 sound-mouth ewes at 16s Id, 109 two-tooth wethers at 12s 9d; T. C. Robinson (Cheviot), 800 half-bred ewes at 17s 4d; F. S. Rutherford, 514 twotooth wethers at 14s Id. Messrs Dalgety and Co. sold: —For E. Vincent (Hundalee), 100 soundmouth ewes at los 9d, 94 sound-mouth ewes at los 4d; A. E. Evans (Spotswood), 180 two-tooth ewes at 245; W. A. Monk (Conway Flat), 57 two, four, six and eightrtooth ewes at 16s Id, 67 sound-mouth at 11s 6d; J. W. Bates (Glen Albyn), 220 full-mouth ewes at 14s 2d.

Messrs H. Matson and Co. soju : — For G. L. Rutherford (Connemara), 587 sound-mouth half-bred ewes at 18s 6d; J. Pow (Fernihurst), 324 two and fourtooth ewes at 20s 6d, 200 two and fourtooth wethers at 16s lOd.

The New Zealand Farmers’ Co-op Association offered:—For Jackson, 150 three-quarter-hred ewes at 13s 6d (passed). SHEEP SALES. FEILDING. TPeu Press Association. "J FEILDING, February 27. At the annual sheep fair to-day 26,000 sheep were penned. Prices were very high all round. Thirty-one shillings was given for a pen of twotooth Romney ewes. STOCK EXCHANGES. CHRISTCHURCH. The following are the latest quotations:— £ s. d.

AUCKLAND. [Pkr Tress Association.] AUCKLAND, February 27. Sales reported :—Wailii 51s 6d, Junction 26s 3d, Taupiri Coal 21s 6d, Wilson’s Cement (ord.) 29s 6d. Third call—Now Zealand Insurance, £5 15s; Grand Junction, 265; Saxon, 10}d. WELLINGTON. [Per Press Association.] WELLINGTON. February 27. Sales reported:—Talisman £2 3s 6d, Union Steam (pref.) £1 0s 3d; Westport Coal (cum rights) £1 10s 6d. Afternoon call—Now Big River, £5.

DUNEDIN. [Per Press Association.! DUNEDIN, February 27. Stock Exchange sale—Waihi Grand Junction, £1 6s 9d. Sale reported—Hercules, 12s. MINING. BROKEN HILL SOUTH COMPANY. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received February 27, 9.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, February 27. At the half-yearly meeting of the Broken Kill South Mining Company a dividend of 8s per share was declared. With the previous dividend of 6s the. total distributed for tho half-year is £140,000. MOUNTLYELL. MELBOURNE, February 27. The report of the Mount Lyell mine from January 22 4o February 18 inclusive states that 26,327 tons of ore were treated and yielded 530 tons of copper, 36,775 ounces of silver and 698 ounces of gold. BLUE CREEK COMPANY. ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the Blue Creek Gold, Silver and Lead Development Company, Ltd., was held , on Tuesday in the Chamber of Commerce. M>- J. B. Laurenson, chairman of directors, presided over an attendance of about forty shareholders. Tho chairman in moving the report

and balance-sheet referred to the road construction, stating that application would be made to the Public Worka Department for a further grant. Negotiations had been entered into with a London syndicate for the purchase of the property, but through samples of stone being held up on account of the strike arrangements had been delayed. The report and balancesheet were adopted. Mr R. S. Booth (Nelson) drew attention to the advisability of erecting mfi- , chinery and utilising water power foi the purpose of crushing and conceit* trating. Dr A. G. Maitland was elected (I director (Christchurch), and Mr W. BE. Phillips was re-elected a director (Nelson). Mr Harold Crane was re-elected auditor. . Votes of thanks were accorded the chairman, directors and acting-secre-tary.

Feb. 20. Feb. 27. New South Wales 4 per cent 103 103 New South Wales 81 per cent 994 99 i New South Wales 3 per cent 88 88 Victoria 4 per cent . 102 102 Victoria 3£ per cent . 96 96 Viotoria 3 per cent . 81 81 Queensland 4 per cent . 101 101 Queensland 3£ per cent . 96 96 Queensland 3 per cent . 81 81 South Australia 3J per cent 93 93 South Australia 3 per cent 75 75 New Zealand 4 per cent . 102 102 New Zealand 3$ per cent 92 92 New Zealand 3 per cent . 83 83 West Australia 3 per cent 85 85 Tasmania 3J per cent . 92 92 Tasmania 3 per cent METALS. . 87 87

BANKSNational of N.Z., Ltd. 5 7 9 Bank of New South Wales ■ 41 10 0 Australasia .... 124 0 0 New Zealand (elm rights) . 12 0 0 Union of Australia, Ltd. . 67 10 0 Commercial of Australia, Ltd. 1 4 0 Commercial of Australia (pref.) 6 15 0 BREWERIES— Crown .... 1 16 0 Manning . , . . . 4 2 6 Ward . t i i 6 0 0 COALTaupiri « , , . 1 1 3 Westport .... 1 10 6 Stockton .... 0 3 9 Westport-Stockton (preference) 0 10 0 FINANCIAL— Christchurch Building Society 11 15 0 Dalgety .... 7 5 0 Dalgety and Co. (pref.) 10 0 0 Mutual Benefit (Canterbury) 11 5 0 National Mortgage 3 18 6 N.Z. and River Plate Land 2 2 0 Permanent Investment, Cant. . , 9 2 6 GAS— Ashburton (£4 10s paid) . 5 15 0 Ashburton (£2 paid) 2 10 0 Auckland .... • 1 8 0 Christchurch . . . 6 13 6 Gisborne .... 2 2 0 Hokitika .... 5 15 0 Napier .... • 16 0 0 New Plymouth . . . 7 5 0 Palmerston North . 9 10 0 Timaru .... 8 0 0 Wellington (£10 paid) . 16 0 0 INSURANCE— Farmers' Co-ooerative (£5 paid) 5 15 0 Farmers’ Co-op. (£2 10s paid) 2 17 6 National of N.Z. . 2 11 3 Now Zealand . . . 6 15 0 South British . • . 4 7 0 Standard of N.Z. . . # 1 13 6 MEATBritish N.Z. Meat 1 0 0 British-N.Z. Meat (IBs paid) . 0 15 0 Canterbury Frozen 8 17 6 Canterbury Frozen Meat (pref.) 5 2 6 Christchurch (£10 paid),15 15 0 Christchurch Meat (£5 paid) 7 12 6 Christchurch Meat (£3 paid) 4 12 6 Christchurch Meat (£2 paid) 3 2 6 Gear (£4 paid) 14 7 0 Gear (£1 paid) 3 14 0 Wellington Meat Export (£5 paid) 6 0 0 We.tington Meat Export (£4 paid) 5 0 0 Wellington Meat Export (£2 12s 6d paid) 3 2 6 MISCELLANEOUS— Booth, Macdonald 1 0 0 Booth. Macdonald (preference) 1 0 ■o Bowron Bros. 0 5 6 D.I.C. (lOn paid) . 0 12 6 D.I.C. (5s paid) . 6 3 0 D.I.C- (preference) Cant. Farmers’ Co-op., Timaru 1 2 0 2 17 6 Cant. Farmers’ (pref.) . 5 0 0 Levland O’Brion Timber 1 5 0 M’Leod Bros., Ltd. 14 0 0 Mason, Struthers (£1 paid) . 1 2 9 Mason, Struthers (14s paid) . 0 15 6 Milburn Lime 1 11 9 N.Z. Drug ... 2 5 6 Golden Bav Cement 0 17 6 Glenmoro Brick 0 16 0 N.Z. Farmers’ Co-op. . 2 '5 0 N.Z. Farmers’ Co-op. (1st pref.) 5 3 6 N.Z. Portland Cement . 0 TO 0 N.Z. Paper -dills . 0 17 6 Taranaki (N.Z.) Oil Wells . 0 3 6 Trustees, Executors and Agency 3 0 0 Perpetual Trustees 1 2 0 Simpson and Williams . 1 1 0 Whitcombe and Tombs (ex rights) 5 17 6 Weeks, Ltd 5 0 0 SHIPPINGNew Zealand 16 10 0 Now Zealand (preference) 10 10 0 Union Steam 1 4 9 Union Steam (pref.) 1 0 3 Northern Steam 0 14 9 WOOLLEN— Kaiapoi .... 5 7 6 Kaiapoi (preference) . 5 7 6 Mosgiel 3 12 0 Oamaru 1 6 0 Wellington .... 4 1 0 Wellington (preference) . 3 1 0 MINING— Waihi . 2 12 0 Junction .... 1 6 6 Talisman . . . 2 3 6 Blackwater 1 0 3 Ross ..... 0 3 6 Mount Lyell 1 5 0 Hercules . . . . 0 12 0