The Price of Meat.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3500, 2 May 1890, Page 2

The Price of Meat.

The butchers of Wellington bare carried out their intention of raising the price.of meat, and yesterday many of the shops were filled with joints,... and cuts ticketed with tho new prirajjr There is considerable agitation over the increase in household expenses which the rise means, and from what we hear the popular indignation is likely to find Yent in some practical shape, The Committee appointed at. the meeting of hotelkeepers and restaurant proprietors held on Wednesday night should at once invite the general publio to join in their proposed co-operative company, for if left to fheraselves th.ey wi|l cerfninly bo unable to enrol sufficient shareholders to ensure success. Tho butchers, as might be expected, are endeavoring to make out a case for. themselves. A letter elsewhere from a retail butcher quotes figures to prove that our statement injast night's article, were .\incorrect,' and that the rise, instead of 50 per cent (we said warty 50, per cent), is not 20 por cent. Howcsn this be maintained when forequarters of mutton have gone up from 2d to 3d, legs from 3d to and corned briskets of beef from 8d to 3d& These are the commonest sort of sold,'and;these all show a.rise of exactly 50 per cent. On carefnlly examining the new list of prices tas average increase will be found to.be about 40 per cent. This, we say' again, is not warranted by the whole sale market. At ..Freeman'Ja'oks.pn and Co.'s sale yesterday there was e rush for the few;sheep that were [yarded, and a big price obtained, but 'sudden advances of this'kind have occurred before and been counter-, balanced [at the.next salo. On thVlr 28rd April the same auctioneer in his v * report (forcattle) wa . r brisk, but the extreme ;rates ,oi last ; week; we{9 pot uuheldj {fee mm

cloiod .firmly . t nt, quotations: %vhi.:} exceed those'of; tho corresponding' snh last year by,3s 6d tho lOOlbs. '■ 'Owint to various mishaps only a small pro. portion of tho sheep advertised eami to/hand," This illustrates at onc< tho unreliability of tho quotations o aiiy one salo, It is worthy of note that in spite of tho 3a (id increase or last-year's rates, the prico of bcof ii .•' quoted iu tho same report at 16a pei f± 9wt. The butchers appear to 113 tc have arranged tkeir-new tariff in t very clumsy way. .A moderate risi was perhaps justified, but they have exceeded all bounds. We would caution them against being toe greody. The prinoiplo of co-operation has been rendered lately very attrao tive by such books as " Lookins Backward," and though Mr Bellamj in his very clever story pushes his theory to what most practical pcoplt think absurd lengths, tho book is certain to havo an appreciable effeol ton public opinion. Tradesmen wouk do well to be satisfied with fair profit* or they may find thoy havo killed th( goose that lays the golden ogg.-Post Terrible Experiences in the Ice The experiences of quite a numbei of steamers from England to Americi show that icefields of immense lengtl iifcj icebergs most numerous, havi been met witb, causing most serious , detention to vessels. A despatel L ' from Canada, dated tho 6th February reports that the steamer Stockkolu City, from London, was twenty-fivi days in getting to Halifax. She wai bound to Boston, but running shori of coal, she had to put into Halifax At one time the vessel refused t< auswer her belm, and was forced ii the trough of tho sea.- Hero tin waves dashed over tlia vessel, am the obief officer, Mr Beard, wai injured, Vast ice fields were me with. Thesteamer Washington City for Philadelphia, had fearful weather The ohief officer, Mr Livingston, wai washed overboard, The poor fellov gave up all hope, but another wavi carried him on board again. Thougl injured be was saved, but he couli leave his cabin for eleven days ■ l? His oscapo was miraculous. Foi twenty-four hours the steamer was ir the trough of tho sea, and it wai thought she would turn over. Tin steamer was about a weekin the ice sometimes getting clear, and thet

running into another field of it, •£ Whilst going through the loose ico h bergs were passed. One of these monsters was about 800 feet high and about a quarter, of a mile long. . With its pointed peak it looked like a floating castle, The steamer had also to put into Halifax short of coal. The steamer Ontario had a rough passage, and passed tough immense fields of ice, scudded here end there with large and small icebergs. Tho steamer Oolina, from Glasgow, was fast in the ice for eight hours. The cold at one time was so intense that overling about tho vessel was encased in ico, the vessel being a veritable ice ship. The Oolina reached Halifax on the Ist inst. The oil tanked steamer Ocean had the most prolonged passage, and all her coal was consumed before she could reach a port. She was going to New York from Rotterdam, but'the ice and the heavy weather so delayed her that she was thirty-five days in Halifax, and the last 300 of the journev she wa3 towed by the steamer Circe from Glasgow. If The Circe fell in with the Ocean \ about 800 miles east of Halifax, and towed her into port, The Ocean was not damaged, but simply ran short of coal owing to the length of the , voyage, The owners of the Circo laid i a claim for salvage, The case was '. brought before the Vice-Admiralty Court at Halifax, The claim of tho owners of the Circe was alleged to bo excessive, and tho other steamer had to be bailed for £40,000, .

Dra Boy and Spratt yesterday performed an operation on a lad who had been brought to the Greytown Hospital with his fincgers crushed. He had been working at the Kahautara Flix-mill. Amputation had to be resorted to, we understand, Tired father:" I might as well talk to the wind as with you." Indifferent son: "Well, you always are fond of airing your views," Landlady: You liavn't eaten your soup, Mr Eoberti). Is there anything in it?" Boarder: "I don't think / there is; I couldn't taste anything." that the boy has just brought, -HJFwhat shall I do wid'emtokill "cm?" Mistress, utterly unpractical; " Oh, the poor things. Why, they must be alive, Get a bucket of water and drown them. I've heard that drowning causes less suffering than any other way of killing." "Ma," said Willie, who had been to the Missionary Sewing Society with his mother, "I feel very sorry for the poor little heathen," " That's right, Willie. I'm glad to see you possess such a spirit." "I'es'in, I'd feel sorry for anybody that had to wear tho clothes that you people were making to-day." _Mr J.J.Lester,in English geologist and naturalist, ipho has for some time past been employed in soientifio researches in the Tongan Group and , adjacent islands, is now in Auckland on his way to England.