MARKETS.

Patea Mail, 23 November 1880, Page 4

MARKETS.

HEW ZEALAND WOOL. The coarse sorting of wool sent from this colony to the London market is thus referred to in a late circular Growers (especially those in New Zealand,) of coaxse wool would do well to cultivate greater regularity in classsification and packing of their produce, as also by careful celling of sheep to produce fleeces more uniform in character. Wools continue to be received from that colony so mixed as to quality and condition in the bales, that buyers must in self defence so regulate the prices bid for them as to admit of ample margin being left to compensate for the labor of reassortment, and the disposal thereafter of those portions ■which may prove unsuitable to their wants. The competition for lambs wool has been throughout the past series disappointing. The groat steadiness in demand, after the recovery from the decline established at the outset, must be regarded as a hopeful feature for the London market during the remaining months- of the present year.

WELLINGTON COMMERCIAL. (From N.Z. Mail.') Commercial matters are -without any alteration, trade generally is very quiet for this time of the year. Stocks are in fair supply, and prices vary very littleWe are sorry to have to x'cport the stoppage of payment of Mr S. S. Griffiths, manufacturing confectioner of this city. The liabilities were put down at about £6,200, and his assets about the same. AUCKLAND RETAIL PRICES. (Corrected by latest report.)

Tallow wholesale, mutton 275, mixed, 20s to 2os. NEW PLYMOUTH HE TAIL PRICES. (Corrected by latest report),

Butchers’ Meat. —Beef, 3d_ to fid ; mutton, 2£d to fid ; pork, fid to 7d. Mill Prices. —Taranaki flour, 13s 6d per lOOIob ; silk-dressed (Star brand), 14s fid ; wheat meal, 12s fis; chick’s wheat, 4s fid per bushel ; sharps, 8s per lOOlbs, or sack 10s ; bran, 4s per sack ; oats, 3s per bushel ; oatmeal, 4s fid per bag (251bs); maize (best screened), fis Od per bushel.

DUNEDIN PRICES. Prime beef, 25s per lOOlbs ; mutton, shorn, IJd ; unshorn, 2£d per lb.

WELLINGTON PRICES. (Corrected by latest report,) Farm ami Pain/ Produce — Wholesale.

Uay and Corn 3far7cet.

Flour Market—Wholesale.

CHRISTCHURCH RETAIL PRICES. (Corrected by Latest Report.) Fresh butter 8d to KM per lb Eggs Is per doz Cheese (id to lOd per lb Milk td per quart Beef 2d to Gd per lb Mutton 2d to 4d per lb Pork 7d per lb Ham Is per lb Bacon lOd and Is per lb

NEW WEST COAST COMMISSION.

It has been decided to appoint a now Royal Commission on Native West Coast Affairs. The first Commission, it will be remembered, consisted of Sir William Fox, Sir Francis Dillon Bell, and Mr Mold Tawhai, it being provided that any two of those should be a quorum. Mr Tawhai’s subsequent refusal to act left the whole matter in the hands of his two European colleagues, but his resignation was not accepted or a successor appointed. Sir W. Fox and Sir F. D. Bell carried through their arduous mission, and it was decided to retain their services for the completion of the task which they had performed up to a certain point. The appointment of Sir F. D. Bell to the Agency-General, however, rendered it impossible to carry out the previous plan, and it became necessary either to appoint a new commissioner in his place or else to revoke the existing Commission and issue a new one. After a lengthened conference with Sir W. Fox, Sir F. D. Bell, and Mr Parris, the Government

have decided to take the latter course. The Commission to Sir W. Fox, Sir F. D. Bell, ami Mr Tawbai will therefore be revoked, and a new Commission issued to Sir W. Fox alone, who will thus become sole Royal Commissioner for West Coast Native Affairs, Mr Parris’s services, however, being retained to assist in the executive part of the mission. This has been arranged with the entire occurrence of Sir F. D. Bell, whose views are wholly in accoi’d with those of the Government in this matter. The Parihaka survey will be completed before any definite steps arc taken under the new Commission. — Post.

The gi’eater part of the village of Yessy (Switzerland) has been destroyed by fire.

The Panama Canal Syndicate has not yet beenjperfccted, and no definite progress has been made towards that end.

Canon O’Reilly, in one of Ins recent deliverances, averred that if bookmakers went to heaven, he would not go. About the Canon’s going, bookmakers ask “what’s the odds ?”

A Colony of Catholic Connemara peasants has been settled by the Rev. Father Nugent in Minnesota. Each family basl6o acres, and a horse and cow. Man)'of these colonists left Ireland last spring shoeless While drinking in a saloon iu SauFrancisco, a sudden madness seized a man named Barrington, who killed his friend, named M'Donald, on the spot, and shooting him three times. Both men were connected with respectable business bouses.

Bismarck proposes the formation of a State Working Man’s Assurance and Mutual Assistance Society, to which laborers and employers will bo bound to contribute, The system will be first tried in Prussia. The workmen’s strike is spreading, and now embraces the carpenters, turners, weavers, and other trades.

Here is a sample of Taranaki humor, as elegant as it is sweet : —“ When a Patea man gets very drunk, he sits down on the sidewalk, pulls off his clothes, lies down on his back, and swears unreservedly to burst the head of the woman who leaves open the window so that the air comes upon him.

The art of dressing in the commonest materials, and yet looking superior to other women, is being studied by fashionable Parisienncs. Fourteen ladies roccntlj' entered into competition, and the prize was awarded to a dress made of that coarse sacking used for packing purposes, trimmed somewhat incongruously with Valenciennes lace and floral embroidery on a gold ground, parasol and sleeves to match. The experiment, however, was decidedly expensive, for though the dress itself cost a mere nothing, the lace was worth £6O, the handle of the parasol cost £24, and the embroidery £32.

Theodore Glauci.y, editor of the Santa Barbara (California) Press, was shot on the Ist by Clarence Cray and killed, for stating in his paper that Gray was unfit for an office to which he had been nominated. Railavay Smash. —A frightful accident has occurred on the Pennsylvania Central Railroad. In a collision between two trains, 24 passengers were killed and 30 or 40 wounded. A mistake in the signals was the cause. Coercing Turkey. — Punch's comment is the best that lias yet appeared on the situation. The combined fleet of ironclads is represented in the guise of geese, each with a great gun comically doing duty for a beak. The fleet is making a demonstration against the shore, after the fashion of geese, swimming independently. On the shore is a swelling Turkey-cock with a hooked nose, a fez, and a long pipe, who, out of his immovability, softly warbles “ Goosey, goosey, gander, whither do you wander ?” Mysterious Island. —Captain Foreman of the British ship Adieu, arriving at San Francisco, from Newcastle, New South Wales, on 9th October, reports that on the loth September he passed Christmas Island, said to uninhabited, and from the deck discovered the wreck of a vessel well up on the sand in South-East Bay. Close to the wreck he made out a small hut, but there were no indications of life about it. Owing to the very rough weather, he was unable to land, so the wreck and hut remain a mystery. It has been decided to appoint Mr Thomas Calcutt—who is the Government agent for the purchase of land required under the Public Works Act—to investigate and report on the present plan of providing Government work for the “ unemployed,” and, in fact, to undertake to a large extent the superintendence of that department. No extra expense will be involved b}' this step, as under present arrangements Sir Calcutt can perform these duties as well as his others. The present system under which the “ unemployed ” are engaged is strongly condemned by practical men, and is considered to need a thorough reformation.— Post. Expensive Minister. —Somewhere about a quarter of a century ago, Mr Hugh Childers, a recently arrived aristocrat from England, managed to get into the then recently formed Parliamentunder responsible Government in Victoria. The young legislator was not long to exhibit abilities. The Government of which he was a member retained office for a little over a year, and Hugh Childers, on the strength of his fifteen months service—during which ho drew a largo salary—claimed and obtained his pension, shortly afterwards leaving the colony. Since that time to the present day, he has drawn about £22,000 out of the Victorian Treasury, as a recompense for his services during his short Ministerial career.

Boasting Beef 5d to 7d Boiling Beef •Id to 5d Mutton, hind-quarter •Id to 5d „ fore-quarter ... 3d to — Lamb, hind-quarter ... ... 3sGd to r>» „ fore-quarter ... 3s Gd to uS Pork and Veal Gd to Od Steaks... Gd to Sd Chops and Sausages ... ... 5d to Gd

Buying. Scllng, s. cl. s. cl. Butter (per lb,) ••• ... 0 « 0 S Cheese (Colonial) ... 0 7 0 10 Eggs (per cloz.) ,.. ... 0 10 1 0

s. cl. s. cl. Milk, quart ... 0 4 to 0 0 Butter, salt, lb ... 0 J1 to 0 0 Butter, fresh ... 0 4.‘ to 0 6S Cheese, Colonial ... ... 0 4 to 0 5 Egrtfs. dozen ... 0 n to 1 0 Larch lb ... 0 G to 0 -1 oa Ham, lb ... 0 7 to 0 9 Bacon,lb ... 0 G to 0 7 Fowls, pair ... 1 G to 0 0 Ducks, pair ... 4 6 to 0 0 Geese, pair ... 5 0 to 0 0 Turkeys, pair ... 0 0 to 0 0

£ s. d. jj s. d. Maize, Sydney 0 :i 0 to 6 0 0 Maize. Poverty Bay 0 ii 0 to 0 0 0 Oats 0 o 2 to 0 2 •> Oats, feed 0 1 !) to 0 1 10 Wheat 0 3 0 to 0 3 ;> Wheat, chick 0 2 <) to 0 0 0 Potatoes 1 10 0 to 2 0 0 Carrots 1 10 0 to 0 0 0 Hay, ton 4 15 0 to 0 0 0 Oaten, ton 5 0 0 to 0 0 0 Straw, ton a 10 0 to 0 0 0 Chaff, ton 5 0 0 to 5 10 0 Onions •I 10 0 to 0 0 0

£ S, cl. ■SI s. d. Sharps, per ton . i 10 0 to 1 15 0 Adelaide, per ton .. . 14 0 0 to 14 10 0 Bran, per ton , 5 0 0 to H 10 0 Colonial Flour . n 0 0 to 11 10 0 Oatmeal . 10 10 0 to 11 0 0