COMMERCIAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2435, 8 December 1892, Page 4

COMMERCIAL.

THE TIMARU WOOL SALES.

The first sale of the season was held in the Assembly Rooms on Tuesday, commencing at 10.80 a.m. There was a full attendance of buyers, local men showing well to the front. Both the Timaru and Oamaru woollen factories purchased freely. As usual farmers and wool growers mustered in strong force. The bidding throughout was very spirited, and as a consequence very few lots were passed in. Compared with the opening sale last year crossbreds ruled \d to f d lower, while merino, pieces, and locks were about on par. Five catalogues were submitted, viz.:— Bales. Canterbury Farmers' Co-opera-tive Association 134 G Guinness & LeCren 1229 National Mortage and Agency Co., and H. B. Webster &Co 479 N.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency Co 396 Miles, Archer and Co 181 Total ... 3G31 The following were the ruling prices for the day :—Halfbreds, 6M to 9d; three-quarterbreds, 6d to 8d; crossbreds. 5d to 7|d ; merino, to 6|d; pieces, to The National Mortgage and Agency Company, in conjunction with Messrs H. B. Webster & Co., report having held their first wool sale on the 6th inst. The attendance of foreign and local buyers was good and prices obtained were fairly satisfactory. Competition throughout was keen and bidding brisk. A catalogue of about 500 bales was submitted, and we disposed of nearly every lot either at the sale or privately immediately after the sale. Fine halfbred wool was as usual in best demand and sold at 7f d to 9d per ib, fine crossbred realised from 7-£d to B|d, lower grades at from 6|d to merino wool was neglected at from 5d to G£d. Messrs Miles, Archer & Co., report as follows :—We submitted a catalogue comprising 171 bales, besides bags. There was a good attendance of buyers and very fair competition, the prices realised being quite to those obtained at the late Christehurc.V sales.

MONETARY AND COMMERCIAL

London, December 3. The Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company in their annual report show a surplus of £IBO,OOO. The direct freight earnings have been reduced by £50,000. and the revenue derived from passenger traffic.', £IO,OOO. The latter loss has been sustained in the Australian trade. December 4. Tallow, medium mutton, 26s Gd; beef, 25s od. The total quantity of wool catalogued up to date is 98,000 bales, of which 1)0,-100 have been sold. New Zealand rabbit skins, Is Si-d. December 5. The Times predicts a sharp fall in silver when it is realised that the conference will be a failure. The real interest of the majority of the countries concerned demands an ample reduction in the excessive supply of sil/er. The Mercantile Bank of India, with a capital of £1,500,000 lias been established. Owing to the improvement in the condition of affairs reported from South Africa many mining and land companies have been registered to operate in that country. Silver, os 2§d per oz. It was the beef shipped on board the Qtarama at Townsville, in Queensland,

that turned putrid. Only about onethird of that consignment was effected. Medium combing wools have declined 5 per cent. Competition is weaker all round. Australian is quoted at to 9d. December 6. The Times has published a long article on Australian produce in the English markets, giving the history and present dimensions of the butter, fruit, and mutton trade, which, it says, is doing more to bind the colonies to Britain than any Imperial Federation scheme yet projected. Brussels, Dec. 4. The committee of the Monetary Conference recommend the European States to purchase 3,000,0000zs of silver yearly, on condition that America continues the present output, allowing the British Indies and Mexico unlimited coinage. The Bimetallic League have petitioned for a fixed rate of exchange between gold and silver. Sydney, Dec. 6. The wheat harvest is expected to reach 7,176,000 bushels, with an average of bushels to the acre, the highest on record. It is estimated that 7,250,000 bushels will be required for consumption, and 620,000 bushels for seed purposes. There has been a heavy fall in silver shares. The Proprietary dropped 15s and Block 10, 12s 6d.

Suicide.—The body of John McMarty. a lumper, who has been missing Bince the 28th November, was found in the water at Port Chalmers on Tuesday morning. Deceased, who was 32 years of age and a native of Ireland, had complained of pains in the head, and of sleeplessness. He had told his neighbour that he might do away with himself. The coroner's jury returned a verdict of suicide while temporarily insane. Holloway's Pills. —Changes of temperature and weather frequently upset persons who are most careful of their health and particular in their diet. These corrective, purifying, and gentle aperient Pills are the best remedy for all defective action of the digestive organs. They augment the appetite, strengthen the stomach, correct biliousness, and carry off all that is noxious from the system. Holloway's Pills are composed of rare balsams, unmixed with baser matter, and on that account are peculiarly well adapted for the young, delicate, and aged. As this peerless medicine has gained fame in the past, so will it preserve it in the future by its renovating and invigorating qualities, and the im possibility of its doing- harm.