ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES. London, December 21.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 38, 23 February 1884, Page 5

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES. London, December 21.

There has not been much going on in Anglo -Colonial circles since I wrote last Friday. The great topic for conversation now is the competition between the two great companies which send steamers to New Zealand. The New Zealand Shipping Company talk in a rather unpleasant manner about the " smartness " the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company displayed in snapping up the White Star liners as soon as tlie contract with the Shipping Company expired. But at the same time they say that they have no fear oi being cut out by tho amalgamated Company, and laugh at the steam Company, whose pioneer vessel takes G3 days to get to Auckland, then runs on a rock and breaks up. As regards the new steamers Tainui and Arawa, Mr Coster and his friends have no doubt that they are far too big for the trade, and this seems to be the opinion of every broker who knows anything of the Now Zealand shipping trade. Shaw, Savill's chartered steamer Florida is now in the Docks being fitted. She is a sister ship to the Bombay. The Floada and the Buapehu will have a race out, as both are advertised to leave on January 12th. At the last meeting of the Colonial Institute, Sir John Hall and Mr Peter Cunningham, ot New Zealand, were elected Fellows. The New Zealand Thames Valley Land Company have issued a chcular imiting farmers, tradesmen, and others to fettle in their freehold estate known as the Selwyn Block, in tho Province of Auckland. Among tho London directors is Mr E. I*. W. Miles, of Miles Bros. Sir John Hall, who lias been .staying in London lately, has left ior Dresden, where lie will spend the Christmas holidays. The Agent-tleueral informs mo that he is sending out 220 nominated emigrants in the British Queen to Wellington on the 20th December. Tho Florida, lea\ing for Otago on the 12th January, takes out about 200. Arrangements* arc now being made for shipping the tour torpedo boats to Nev Zealand before the end ot the year. Mr Kenntiway goes down to Oxford tomoirow (22nd December) to make the final arrangements for tho selection of the Headmaster for Chris-tchureh High School. Mr H. Wilcox, of Wellington, New Zealand, sent tho Birmingham " Post *' a scries of extracts from a letter he had reeehed from an octogenarian named Job Freeth, who died last September at Masteri on, New Zealand. This Mr Job Freeth was a grandnephew of the Birmingham " poet " Freeth. Messrs Shaw, Savill and Company's ship Auckland arrived in London, all well, on the 14th of December. Captain MacDou^all reports leaving Port Chalmers on the Sth of September. Cape Horn was reached on tho oth of October, the line crossed on tho 14th of November, and land was frighted on the 1 2th. Length of passage, 97 days. The wheat on board the Auckland is in rather a bad condition ; it seems to lnvo got w et and then sprouted. j The New Zealand Shipping Company's Waimate (Captain Mosey), from Timaru, arrived on the 14th. all well, alter a run of 90 days. In an article on " Farming in Austialia, ' the " Globe " says : — " % The growing prospeiity of our colonial dependencies is again strikingly illustrated by the tables | relating to them included in agricultural return 1 ?. Among them New Zealand and Queensland offer, a& usual, tho most maikcd appearance of progress. ... In New Zealand theie was an addition of 25, 000 acres to the wheat-yielding area, and the number of bushels obtained w as nearly 200,000 more than it had ever been before. "' Speaking of horned cattle, the "Globe" says "in New South Wales the number has been steadily declining for the last <=evon years, and is now only three-fifths of what it was in 1875. On the other hand, in New Zealand it was in the last mentioned year only about three-fifths of what it is at present." At the last meeting ot the Chamber of Commerce at Derby, it was ie(jietted that New Zealand continued to hold itself aloof from the other Australasian colonies in the matter of their being included in the Postal Union, and it was " hoped that the island colony will not exclude itself from the advantages which its neighbours will enjoy.'' On Monday last the Rev. A. B. Council crave a lecture in Dundee, entitled '* A Tour in New Zealand and Tasmania." The Rev. gentleman began by pointing out the differences between Australia and New Zealand. Ho then proceeded to describe in turn the chief cities in the colony, dealing first A\ith Auckland, which he said was charmingly situated among green hills, which enclose the finest harbour in the world. Mr Connell next gave his audience a description of some Southern cities, among them being Nelson, Napier, Wellington, Christchurch, Timaru, Oamaru, and Dunedin. His opinion of the whole colony was a very favourable one. Last week's "Society 1 ' contained an excellent little sketch describing some of the natural beauties of New Zealand in connection with the adventures of Mr William Henry llaworth in the colony. The " Wolverhampton Star" announces that cats are now being shipped to Australia and New Zealand to help clear them of rabbits. On the 18th of December Sir James 1 Hannen granted the application of Mr ! Naylor to presume tho death of his two daughters Mary Ann and Alice, who, itj will be remembered, were lost in the Waitara in June last. The object of Mr Naylor's application was to be able to recover compensation from the N.Z. Shipping Company. Mr W. Spotswood Green's new book, "The High Alps of New Zealand," or a| " Trip to tho Glaciers of the Antipodes with : an Ascent of Mount Cook," has just been published. I have not yet had time to read it, but it is well spoken of in some of the papers. It is a nice looking, well-bound volume, price 7s Cd.

A Shipping Case. On the same day, Mr Justice Denman, sitting in the Queen's Bench Division, tried the action of Shaw, Savill and Co. v. Aitken, Lilburn, and Co. The plaintiffs are the charterers of the ship Loch Ryan, Al, 1,207 tons, of which the defendants are tho owners. By a charter party made on January 13, 1882, the vessel was to proceed from Sydney to Wellington, and there load a full and complete cargo of lawful produce or merchandise, and thonce proceed to the East India Docks, in London, freight to be paid in a lump sum— £4,250. This sho did ; but the agents in Australia thought it a pity that the cabin space should be lost, and they agreed that passengers should be shipped on the homeward voyage for the benefit of whom it might concern, But both parties olaimed the passage money, which oame to £480 10s, and this sum was now paid into Court under order, The jearnbd Judge was of opinion that the owners— the defendants— were entitled to claim the passenger money as not being cargo of lawful produce or merchandise," and he gave judgment for the defendants for a sum of £115 12s, the balance of the | £480 10s to be paid to the plaintiffs.

New Zealand Loan Companies. After all that tho London newspapers have been saying against New Zealand loans and companies, tho following paragraph from the " Pall Mali Gazetto " is very pleasing to New Zealand financiers. The writer of the money article in "P.M.U. " remarks: — "Joint stock ventures in New Zealand appear to bo giving good leturns. A list emanating from a broker in Dunedin contains six local banks, of which four pay 15 per cent, per annum or upwards, and the othor two 7 per cent. Then follow eight insurance companies, of which one pays J2£ per cent., another 10^ per con i., three more over S per cent., and two more than 7 per cent. The miscellaneous companies return neai'ly always more than 6 per cent., and one as much as 13^ per cent. Most of tho shares can be bought at prices which return much more than 0' per cent, to the investor, those of the Bank of New South Wales alone paying as little as 5^ per cent., and that is, of course, because tho said bank is known to British as well as to Australian investors. The return on New Zo dand investments, provided only some good local knowledge can be obtained, is therefore a good one.

The British Queen's argo. The s.H. British Queen, with 10,000 carcases of mutton, and ii largo quantity of cheese and buttei", from Lyttelton, arrived at Plymouth on tho 14th of December, and was safely berthed in the Koyal Albert Docks on Saturday afternoon, the Joth of December. She made a somewhat blower passage than her last, the total time from port to port being 4(5 days, 3 hours, and !>u' minutes. Captain Now ell reports that lie left Lyttelton on the '27th of October, arrived at llio on the 22nd of November, coaled there, and proceeded towards London on the 23rd. Madeira, was reached on the Bth of December, and Plymouth on the 14th. The British Queen brought over 30 passengers; among them was Mr Wm. I/aid, a banister letiuning fiom Lyttelton to London. The mutton by tho Queen seems to be of iir&l-ratc quality, and is in very good condition. Mr Kennedy, the engineer who had charge ot the cargo, tells me that the aveiage temperaliue of the chambers was? about 14" jb\, the highot.t e\er leached being 20", and the lowe&tK>me degrees below o'. The tempoi.ituio ol the SO" in the tropics and 08" at Madeira; alter leaving Madeira the water v.'us much cooler, A small quantity of Ihe mutton has been oflored tor tale at Smithlicld. The piice realised was poor, only .lUi. The market at tho time, however, was very bad. The cheese and butter are in good condition but no sales have as yet been effected.

The Frozen Meat Trade. WniiN I was at the Bunk of New Zealand the other day making inquiries about the freezing apparatus to be sent to Auckland, Mr Laikworfchy showed mo a letter -which the New Zealand Loan and Meicantile Agency had received from Messrs Ward and Stimpson in answer to an inquiry as to the kind of mutton most suited for the London market. At, this subject is one 01 great importance to meat shipper, I append the I substance of the letter. Messrs* Ward and Stimpson, who are acknowledged to be the ( greatest authorities in London on frozen meat, hay: — "With icgaid to the be^t style of sheep {i.e., as to carcase) for our market, //' reared hi A'aa Zealand wo should decidedly bay that a cross between a Hampshire Down ram and a merino j or cross-biod ewe would realise the be>t j price at this centre. Such a sheep should j weigh about Q\ stone. The ewe might be a cioss between a Lincoln and a merino, and even though much ncaier to the former than the latter, we are of opinion that the progeny Mould command the highest piice foi colonial sheep in this marker. Merino or cross-bred ewe's, if crossed with Shropshire or Sussex Down rams, would certainly give nice quality, but -when made up to the weight most sought for here, viz., 0 to l .)\ .stone, they would bo toe fat, and would lack 1 the flesh and muscle ol the former breed." The " Tyneside Echo " recently contained the following article on the introduction ot N.Z. meat into Newcastle : — "The first endeavour to introduce New Zealand fed and bred mutton into Newcastle is an event worth}' of passing notice. The success of the American lresh meat tiade ysith this countiy lias led to many an experiment, and to the outlay of much unvemunei ative capital in the hope of discovering away to preserve and import Australian and New Zealand fresh mutton into our market. More than one company of speculators have loudly proclaimed a solution of the problem, but till now, from a commercial point of view, the schemes have resulted in heavy losses. Whether or no we are on the eve of a successful solution remains to be seen, but we gladly note that fresh frozen New Zealand mutton is on sale this day (15th December) for the first time in Newcastle, at the shop of Mr Blcnkinsop, in the Butcher Market. We Iliac not had an opportunity of testing the flavour of the mutton, but so far as looks go, there seems little difference petween the fro/en carcases and the English-fed. By the free/.ing process, the juices of the meat are prevented from permeating the carcases and giving to them the high colour to which so many good house Hives object in American fresh meat. The flesh displayed by Mr Blenkin»op this morning is good in colour, and in perfect condition. The fat is nicely assimilated, and we are informed that when i cooked the flavour is unimpeachable. In some of these points the NewZealand meat has decided advantages over the American. But what about the price ? Mutton can be obtained in large quantities and at nominal prices in New Zealand, but the cost of carriage and the other costs necessary for the preservation of the carcasses total a sum which we are informed precludes the idea of competition so far as price goes w ith the American. In fact, in the present development of the New Zealand trade the dealers must ask something 1 like the prices charged by other butchers of English fresh meat, and so long as that is the case, we are afraid the New Zealand business will languish. The success achieved, however, ought to make speculators hopeful of a speedy solution of the problem which has been so energetically worked at since, and even before, the advent of the American fresh meat trade into England." I paid a visit the other day to what some of the London papers call the " newlyopened depot for the sale of New Zealand mutton," at London Bridge. The "depot" is, however, only a poulterer's shop, and when I was there the stock of NNcrw r Zealand mutton consisted, as far as I could see, of three or four hind-quarters, which looked stale, dirty, and far from prepossessing. After this sight, I was not surprised when the shopman told me the meat did not have a very ready sale. The prices were 7£d per lb. for fore-quarters, and S.^d for hindquarters. A firm of engineers at Stockport are now preparing a freezing-engine which will be capable of freezing 1,200 tons space, and which can also be used for the manufacture of ice. It is a new engine, patented by a Mr Chambers. Xlf the machine turn out a success, a similar one will probably be ordered for the Auckland Refrigerating Company.

Canterbury Land Board has a "dum myism " case under consideration.