DOMINION NEWS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 10, 10 January 1913, Page 2

DOMINION NEWS.

o the boot trade busy. A BUSY SEASON. (Per Press Association.) Wellington, January 9. Some interesting remarks on the subject of the price of leather, and consequently of the price of boots, were made to a pressman by Mr. Robert Hannah, who has just returned from a trip to England. As an instance of the great demand that exists, he stated that he knew of a case in which one of the leading tanners in England received three consignments of hides for his own special use, but before he landed them he was offered per lb. for the raw material, a price never heard of before. Naturally he accented the offer. All over the world the rise in the price of leather was taking place. There were large stocks in the Balkans, but they could not get them away on account of the war. Apart from that, however, the demand for leather was so great and the production was not increasing, that it could not be complied with, and the natural result was an increase in price. The price of leather had gone up o per cent, on three different occasions during the last three months. That meant, of course, that the price of boots had gone up correspondingly, and manufacturers would not accept forward orders, even at the last quotations. England, he added, had never been so busy as at present. Manufacturers are chary on accepting immediate orders. They would prefer them at four or six iwoths. THE NORMANBY FATALITY. Hawera, January 9. At the adjourned inquest this afternoon on the death of John Young, who was killed in the motor car collision with a train at.Normanby, the jury returned a verdict cf accidental death, and added a recommendation that engine drivers should give more warning when approaching crossings. Frederick Butterworth, the injured driver of the car, is still in the hospital. A doctor’s certificate was produced showing that he was unable to give evidence and that his memory was an absolute blank as to the occurrence.