(VlA Suez and Brindisi.) London, March 14.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 48, 3 May 1884, Page 5

(VIA Suez and Brindisi. ) London, March 14.

The Direct Steam Service. The New Zealand Shipping Company's steamship British King sails from Plymouth to-day with 20 second cabin passengers and 299 emigrants. The former are accommodated in what used to be the first cabin, and ought to be very comfortable. This voyage will (as I think I mentioned in my letter of a few days ago) be the last which the British King is likely to make to N.Z. The lonic and the Doric will not be handed over to Shaw, Savill, and Co. until next November. Meanwhile the N.Z.S. Co. have ordered two splendid steamers to take their ' places. Messrs John Elder and Co. have the building contract, and they are to be called the Taranaki and the Kaikoura. Surely, as the fleet are supposed to be christened after the mountains *bf N.Z., Bgmont would be a more suitable name than Taranaki,

Retail Trade in N.Z, Frozen Mutton. , The depdt for the sale of New Zealand mutton at London Bridge is (partly owing to its confined eharactei', and partly to the way in which the meat is piled up) not specially inviting, but the salesman does a roaring business. The beneficial effect which these dep6ts have on the market cannot be over estimated. I have all along urged that tho establishment of dep6ts would induce retail butchers to acknowledge the position of frozen meat, and this is just what seems to be happening. A depOt was opened at Forrest (a London suburb) some weeks back, and now all the butchers in the neighbourhood display show cards bearing the legend, "New Zealand mutton sold here." Of course they have had it for some time past, but used to sell the meat as Scotch mutton.

The Demand for New Zealand Meat— Its Position Secure. On Monday last I had a good conversation ■with Mr Larkwortby, of the Bank of New Zealand and New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company. This gentleman is a firm believer in the future of the frozen meat trade. • He says the demand for New Zeaj land mutton is increasing daily ; in fact, the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency ] Company can sell as much as they can get. Prices rule now from 6^d per lb (wholesale) for mutton, 8d for lamb, and there seems every prospect of these rates harden- ! ing still more. One reason why some of the New Zealand mutton to hand by recent steamers did not fetch I good prices was because the carcases were miserable second-rate meat ; in fact, meat that would not sell in the colony, " New Zealanders," said Mr Larkworthy, " must not suppose that they can send us over fifthrate stuff and get tiptop prices for it. Above everything, a high standard of quality should be maintained. Our mutton has a good name now, but a few lots of indifferent meat would destroy it." That this is strictly true, none can doubt, after the disastrous effect which the Mataura jftosco had on the market for weeks afterwards. Mr Larkworthy feels annoyed that just as everything promised so fair the consignments of meat from New Zealand should have been checked. " Here," he said, "is the Doric coming home without a carcase on board, and do you know, I blame some of you London correspondents for it. You have talked nonsense about glutting the market till you have scared shippers." Mr Larkworthy pooh-poohs the idea of American, "Russian, or River Plate mutton rivalling the New Zealand meat, or even havings the smallest chance against it. The sheep are too little, and lack fat. A River Plate carcase looks puny and discoloured beside an animal fed on the luscious herbage of Otago.

Passengers for the Colony. The P. and 0. steamer Shannon, which left London yesterday (March 14), has on board a number of through passengers for New Zealand, viz., Mr Dyinock, Inspector of the National Bank, and his wife, Mr S. Brough, Mr P. Kearns, and Mr J. M. Jefferson for Port Chalmers, and Miss Grace Master Norris, and Mr and Mrs Robertson | for Wellington. The following are passengers booked to date per steamer Aorangi, ' which will leave at the end of this month :— For Lyttelton : Mr J. T. Carmichael and Mr L. 0. Mitchell. For Otago : Mr and Mrs Atkinß and family. For Wellington : Mr W. Jackson and Mr Mitchelson. For i Auckland : Mr Good. The Zealandia , (sailing vessel), advertised as leaving for! Port Nicholson on April sth, is already full | of second - class passengers and emigrants. Mr Coster, who intended to return to the colony in the Tongariro, will now, I am informed, go either by the Aorangi or early P. and 0. steamer. ;

Arrival of the Aorangi. The s.s. Aorangi arrived at Plymouth | from New Zealand this morning, having made the run Home in 49 days. She was j detained two days at Teneriffe, where she i put in for coal. Full particulars of the voyage in my next. The meat is said to be , in good condition.

Various Items. Sir John Hall is in London, and was at i the Agenb-General's office this morning. He has resolved to be presented at the drawing-room next Friday. The Trisco mails of February 4th were delivered in London this morning. A splendid oil painting of Messrs Shaw, Savill, and Co.'s s.s. Arawa has just been hung up in their London office. She will be a very fine vessel.

Growth of the Frozen Meat Trade. Mr Miller, of Portsmouth, who in December last commenced the sale of N.Z. frozen mutton with two carcases a-week, now finds he can easily get through 500 between Monday morning and Saturday night. A meeting, over which Mr W. Roy, junr., presided, was held at Tratton Bridge, Hampshire, on March 3, to consider the desirability of encouraging the trade in New Zealand frozen meat. A dinner, with a saddle of prime mutton as the principal dish followed. The " Queen " has been publishing a series of articles showing the enormous saving that may be effected by housekeepers who make a point of using American beef and New Zealand mutton. Mr and Mrs R. Laishley, of Auckland, leave for the Continent at the end of this month. They intend to sjpend Easter at Rome.

The Passenger Trade to the ColoniesFare* Still Falling. The competition in the passenger trade becomes keener every day. The Gulf line now take, passengers to Sydney for £12 per adult, and offer to book people going through to any of the New Zealand ports for £15, or £1 leas than' tfee direct steamers of the New Zealand Shipping Co. and Shaw-Sayill ask. ,To, .show -the way even small reductions like 4 this out, I may mention that %he Gulf of- St.' -Vincent, s., whioh' sails on the 27th instant,-/ will take out' a large fftipily of "Wotlpier^^with-their^vives, ''Ol^ldreni^mothefsan-law,' etc. (thirty souls jjCall)^o'Auoldahd; * They at first meant 1 t6- ; g6^}>y\ the' Aorangi, and. were. on! the fiinjb dfpaying^aCdeposi^/fdr'^theirltiokets

'drawn to' the-*. Gulf -Line"*- advertisement,^ •INew Mlahd/yia iKtelbWrnepo? fs&£s He; forthwith , bdqhied^paasagea pthat YwSy,>* saying £^0 fertile butfiis pride in ihe bargain, h'af'been^ somewhat .damped' siricef he learnt ,that the partylmay have to put up' in Melbourne" for several days whilst waiting for a Union, boat to take them over. The point of this anecdote please note — that the apparently trifling difference of • 20s in the fare lost the direct pteame*s thirty pas- 1 sengere and nearly £320 in /cash. " 'I Notwithstanding 1 the alleged bad times and lack of antipodeanvoyagers,lnotice that the colonial passenger brokers and commis- ! sion agents seem to be,. doing surprisingly good business. Prominent amongst the nouses connected with New Zealand is that of Ashby and Company, the agency firm piloted by the reliable and energetic Captain Wm. Ashby. The' Messrs Ashbys business has increased so materially since Mr Ashby returned from his colonial tour that they find their present offices in Clark Place neither sufficiently central nor commodious, and are going to spacious chambers on the ground floor of 22,Leadenhall-street, within a minute's walk of all the colonial shipping offices. There can be little doubt that in these quarters the firm's business will soon be doubled.

Meat Storage Vaults at Viotoria Dooks. In common with representatives of several of the London papers, I the other day received a cordial invitation from the directors of the St. Catherine's. Dock Company to inspect their new vaults for the reception of cargoes of New Zealand frozen mutton at the Victoria Dock. - After a hearty luncheon, afc which a fore-quarter of capital lamb (selected from one of the carcases per British King) played a prominent part, we set off by train from Fenchurchstreefc, and half-an-hour later reached Woolwich and alighted at the familiar CustomHouse Station. The engineer of the refrigerator and two other gentlemen were waiting here, and after greeting our party courteously, led the way to the Victoria Dock. The most strikjn buildings in the neighbourhood are the tobacco warehouses, where, at the present moment, crops of cigars to the value of more than a million sterling are said to be stored. I should very much have liked to peep in here, but nobody proposed it, so we passed on. Arrived at the new docks, I looked round curiously for some sign of the refrigerator buildings, but nothing was to be seen. Presently, however, the engineer reached a small hut, and unlocking the door, let us down a spacious flight of "steps j underground. The fact is, the chambers | have been formed by excavating one of the ] largest jetties stretching out into the dock, j and dividing it into about five and thirty compartments, each of which will accommodate upwards of 200 carcases. The machinery consists of four refrigerators, and occupies two chambers, the blast being carried into the various divisions by large pipes. I really forgot to ask whether the machines are Haslam's patent, but I feel pretty sure that such is the case. The cold generated in these underground caverns feels Arctic in its severity. We snugged into our overcoats and stamped our feet to keep warm. Mr Engineer explained the freezing process (tolerably familiar by now to New Zealanders) to the party, and we then inspected a fine lot of frozen lamb ex British King. Everyone remarked how clean and tempting they looked sewn up in their linen shrouds and powdered with hoar frost. Lamb, we learnt, is particularly brittle when frozen, so special care has to be taken when moving it about. Mr Engineer also volunteered the information that the taste and flavour of frozen meat is greatly influenced by the manner in which you thaw it. To retain perfect freshness and delicacy the process should be gradual ; a sudden thaw often leaves the mutton tough and sodden. The temperature kept up in the Victoria Dock Chamber (when frozen) is about 20 degrees Fahr. Mr Engineer disapproves of extreme degrees of cold on the ground that it dries up the meat unnecessarily. After inspecting all the compartments and complimenting the directors on the efficiency and cleanliness of everything, we hiu'ried back into the sun above ground, and trotted round to have a look at the British King loading for her outward passage. I ought to say, by the way, that the charge made by the Dock Company for storing meat and freezing it till required for the market is one-eighth of a penny per lb., or about 8£ per carcase. Since .writing the foregoing, the " Pall Mall Gazette" has published an article on our visit to the vault at the Victoria Docks, and I forward it to you herewith.

The Sculling Championship. Ao Hanlan is in your part of the world just now, I daresay it will interest you to know that his old and oft-defeated rival, Ross, has just beaten the much-talked-of English sculling champion, Bubear. The latter, it was fondly hoped, would wipe away the reproach from English sculling and show himself a foeman worthy of Hanlan's consideration by knocking Ross into the proverbial "cocked bat." Alas ! the result was quite the other way. In his triumphs over Gibson, Godwin, Pack, Largin, and Lardlly Elliott, Bubear showed great "staying" powers, but on the present occasion Ross gave him ten seconds' start, and collared him at Hammersmith Bridge, after which he won all the way, eventually passing the judge 15 lengths ahead. Clearly Hanlan is still incomparably the greatest of living sculling champions.

Jealousy Regarding New Zealand Mutton. The nominal reason given by the Commissioners of the Health Exhibition for declining to sanction the frozen meat dinners was want of space. It has> however, transpired that the refreshment contractors, Messrs Bertram and Roberts, protested against such an invasion of their rights. Fresh influence was, I am happy to add, brought to bear upon the Commissioners, and the upshot is that the refreshment contractors have agreed to take charge of the "New Zealand sixpenny dinners." For sixpence an excellent grill of frozen mutton will be supplied ; and as I remarked when proposing this innovation some time ago, it is certain to have a wonderful effect in popularising the meat products of your colony.

Improved Refrigerating Machinery, A refrigerating machine on an improved principle, which the Messrs Chambers are making for New Zealand, is going to be set up and carefully tried at the St. Catherine's Dock. I will let you know the result.

Mr Vesey Stewart and his Schemes. , Mr Vesey Stewart; seems rather at a loose end just at present. He is not able to do a great deal in the way of getting passengers for Messrs Shaw, SavilPs boats, and he cannot persuade capitalists to look favourably on his railway schemes* The fact is, I believe, , that the Land Company which he started when he came Home a few years -ago did not turn out very well, and has damaged his prestige as a promoter. It is now, I jvas told the other day, being wound up. ,

Two Leoturers for. the , Colonies , , Bound. . vt . „ " r ►j, ' Mr - Stahnus . Jones^ who^ igised.', jto "{be.,,B^, well-knowri; in, North? ]$e\f^ : Zealt^^ijii^i,, after flitting hither arid^thjtlif^feutj'wie: Cbhtin<e|it, trying

Oscar Wilde ie^ettine Hffl-ambrpsial ..curls - grow Hong ;again^ and^,re6ultivatiftg i I^®; u uttorly-utter cpnsummat&^ -^o"?t^b '" ; de : ; portment. ' -" -^"?"' ;;/ '; -*\ /f'-~C -'"' -*"

Auokland _ and High-Class' Muslo., The '-" Academy h * / of Saturday;' last I announces'(as if it were the topsfeßurprlsin^, thing in the world) that,, a musical/; gooiety for the performance '.of high;claes music, lias; been started in Auckland. 1 VThe7tpne"of the paragraph is negatively insulting ■ "The f musical savants of London and: Paris are evidently, dumbfounded to discover that yon utter barbarians at the antipodes' are capable of appreciating Wagner, Spotir, and Gade.