Jan. 2, 1899.] THE TKOPICAI. 
pass through one of the most fertile and productive 
districts iu the whole of tropical Africa. Tlis car- 
riage of the kolanut from the coast to the interior 
would alooe go far towards providing a dividend on 
such a railway. Oa one occasion I met a native 
caravan consiating about a thousand m^'n, together 
with a laige number of donkeys, carrying kolanuts 
uj :owarfis Kano. The value of the nu s in the 
ciravan, which was only one out of several that 
annually come to Kano for the same purpose, was 
little less than a hundred thousand pounds sterling. 
The whole of this immense trade is at present in the 
hands of natives, as the course of the Niger is not 
such as to allow of the kolas being carried by water 
any part of the way. 
MADRA.S SCHOOL OF ARTS, 
THE ALUMINIUM INDUSTRY. 
Tlieir Excellencies the Governor and Lady 
Havelock, HCcoiiipanied by Captain W M Camp- 
bell, A.D.C, paid a visit yesterday afternoon to 
the Madras School of Arts. Their Excellencies 
on alighting at the School were received hy Mr. 
W D Forterfield., Superintendent of the School, 
and Mr. A Chai^erton, B. Sc., who is in charge 
of the Al nrniuiii Department. The Governor 
and Lady Havelock first visited the Aluminium 
Department where an extensive stock of aluminium 
vessels was laid out for inspection. The intro- 
duction of aluminium into the School of Arts for 
the purpose of making it into vessels for house- 
hold purposes is comparatively new, having been 
started only a year ago. The metal-working 
classes in the School were put to the work, and 
it was soon found that good articles could be 
turned out and sold at a slightly higher price 
than the copper and brass utensils now in vogue. 
The ves.sels thus turned out have been used both 
iu European and Native households and gradu- 
ally the inaustry has reached fairly satisfactory 
dimensions. Skilled workmen have been engaged 
and Mr. Chatterton is confident that with the 
judicious com'iinatiun of machine and hand woi k 
tiie aniclfs lumed out will be of a high class and 
eminently satisfactory in the matter of price. 
The special object of the visit was to inspect this 
epartmenc of the School of Arts, as the deve- 
opment of tint industry is now under the con- 
sideration of Government. This industry has com- 
pletely outgrown the resources of the School and 
Government is considering what steps should be 
taken to carry out the indu-^try in future. His 
Excellency suggested that it was not the function 
of Government to undertake any commercial en 
terprise, but theexceptional conditions under which 
aluminium had been brought into the country 
rendered it extremely desirable that Government 
should, in some \vay, actively support the move- 
ment, which is likely in the immediate future 
to nive rise to a new and impoi tant industry in 
this Presidency. His Excellency inspected the 
Workshops and was particularly stiuck by the 
various equipments which are now being made for 
the Military authorities, especially for the Medical 
Department. Just at the present time the alu- 
minium industry in the School of Arts is attrac^ 
i' ig a great de.il of j.tteutiou, and there is likely 
to be a giieat extension of operations at the 
beginning of next year. His Excellency was then 
taken to tiie Art Department, where the designs, 
chased aud in relict, on the jugs and plates were 
of an artistic ciririicter. After an inspection of the 
carpet- weaving ri;oms. and the other Art Depart- 
ments, Tlieir Excellencies brought their visit to a 
c\ois.—M. MaU, Dec. 7. 
AaRICULTUEIST. m 
PRODUCE AND PLANTING. 
Candid Friendship. — The uses of adversity are not 
always sweet, but thej' teach some useful lessons One 
of them is that friends becciinc unusually candid when 
fortune is unkind. " If my advice had been followed," 
or ''If he had not made the mistake of," &c. We 
all know and resent the cackle which is offered us 
by way of comfori, if we have made a mistake or are 
the victims of citcumstauces, although there may be 
unpalatable truth concealed somewhere about it. 
Those engaged iu the tea industry must not ex- 
pect to escape the plain speaking of those candid 
friends who feel compelled to tell them why tea 
is under a cloud. Planters are becoming used 
to the statement that over production is the cause 
of all the trouble, and that the exchange question 
has little or notoing to do with it. If any doubt 
exists about this it should now be dispelled, for 
a trade paper, the I'roduce Marhets Eevicv:, joins 
the chorus of accusers, and takes the opportunity 
of referring to one or two additsual shortcomings 
in connection with tea which it is its duty as a 
candid fried to point out. Possibly the trade autho- 
rity who writes in the Produce JIarlccts Itevitf feels 
that he ought in the intere&ts of the tea trade to 
say all this on the better-late-than never principle. 
Any way, he does not hesitate to shoot, and whether 
he hits the mark those who are aimed at must 
decide. He says : " A telegram in a recent Tiiiies 
shows that the Darjeeling planters consider one of 
their chief grievances to 1)8 the artificial raising of 
the rupee to about Is 4d, which has been caused by 
the closing of the Indian mints by Government. 
As the Loudon Economist, however, points out, the 
less favourable exchanges would not affect planters, 
were it not that the supplies of fea had been iu 
excess of the demand. i'hey would, had the re- 
verse been the case, simply have recouped them- 
selves by raising prices. Nor is there much iu the 
contention that the growers in China benefit to the 
extent of something like 3d iu the rupee's worth, 
or, say, Ijd on each pound of tea, owing to their 
having the benefit of a natural exchange. Un- 
happily as some people think, happily as the Indian 
planters thought, China tea counts for little here, 
for the coarser Indian and Ceylon teas have nearly 
driven it out of use, except among the faithful, who 
either like delicacy of flavour or dread too much 
tannin. Wild suggestions are made in India, such 
as calling upon the home Government to coun- 
tervail the bounty which the exchange gives to 
foreign growers by putting a much higher duty on 
foreign-grown tea, or by levying duty on foreign tea 
only, jjuch remedies are cot only impracticable as 
being contrary to our settled financial policy, but 
they would be useless, because no appreciable quantity 
of foreign-grown tea is used here." 
Tnr. Wuv and the Whebefore. — " Here again 
appears the surprising increase of 8,782,000 lb over the 
delivery of Indian tea in 1897, eclipsing all former 
records, and confirming, in a striking degree, the 
'stronger demand' that, so far back as last spring, 
was looked forward to with well-grounded confidence 
by both importers and dealers. It should, however, 
be explained that a portion of the augmentation in 
the above clearances is due to the larger quantities 
taken for exportation from the United Kingdom this 
year, which, as officially returned, have equalled 
5,984,8501b, as compared with 4,235,7501b iu the ten 
monius of 1897, and '2,901,950lb in the previous year. 
The separate entries of the same kind of tea lor 
home consumption from January 1 to October iil 
aggr^-gated 108..)0G,200ib, iu lieu of 102, 5157, 350. b aud 
99,732,10 'lb lespcotively in 1897 anJ 189ti. As we 
hivo ri-pjati-.dly observed in our mark^H reports, 
th djuia.ul h-is run chiefly upon the common and 
low mcuium leafy sorts, from 5id ti 8d per lb, 
teas ' for piico ' being, more thau ever, a 
prominent feature of the season. At its commence- 
ment quotations were at a moderate level, and ou 
comparing thejii with those for similar gradt's of 
Ceylon, it w.is at once seen iha. Indimi, leas olfered 
decidedly better value foi money. Ih^ larttev there 
