THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 1904

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume IV, Issue 1064, 11 August 1904, Page 2

THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 1904

A CASK of interest and importance to mining company slmreholdurs has just been decided by the House ol Lords. Particulars of the case, which had passed through the Court of Appeal to the highest judicial body, are given in the latest issue of the New Zealand Mercantile Record, from which we learn that the i\ r ew Balkis Eersleling, Limited, was tho plaintiff vn\ the Ramlt (Jnld Mining Company the defendant. Under Table A of the English Companii's Act and the New Zealand Act of 1882, shares may in certain cases be forfeited for non-payment of calls, and the shares may be sold by (ho company. The defaulting owner remains liable for his unpaid calls

and the purchaser takes thorn " discharged from all calls due prior lo such purchase.'' The facts of llm case were that cerlain shares, ihe liability on which was limited lo five shillings each, were forfeited, i lMoro I'orCeituro lis -id per share had been paid up, and a call had been made for the balance of Is iSd, The I'orfeiuire was incurred by I lie nonpayment nl'this call, The company tliuu sold the shares, and a cei'lilic.iie was given lo the purchasers statin" the amount actually paid, llial Ihe balance had been called up and -vas payable by the former owners, and that the holders were " discharged from all culls duo from ll,e dad? hereof," The purchasers of theso shares would naturally conclude tlr.ii j they had puicbased fully paid-up i Vj...-: , a, ~)0- ' . w! : ch there could b'.: :no further liability. The company I then inadea new call on theeosliaies j of Is .'id per share, and the holders disputed Ihe power lo mala further I calls, The House of Lords lias now decided allirming the decision of the Court of Appeal and of th« Lower

Court that thirf call was lawfully made. The fact is that the release from tiu' calls already made only referred to llioso -piirlicnhir eallf, and had tin! dlVct merely of relieving Hit.' purchaser from paying intcn-st on the overdue, calls. The e tils ■ could, however, still b". Kcovered from him by tin? simple* process of making the call over again, and i his notwithstanding that ihe defaultnig shareholder was still liable for the call. Tli l ' consequence is that no person can purchase;! forfeited share from the company for practically a less sum than the. amount

imparl on it. It remains to notice that '[able A to our new Companies Act of IMS diil'ers in respect lo 101 feiled shares from the provision in the old Act, The.direc tors are empowered lo sell, re-allot and otherwise, dispose of forfeited shares: but the draughtsman, in view probably of Ihe decision of the Court of Appeal in the above cw omitted the provisions to the effect that the purchaser took discharge from all piior cails. The Record doubts whether this wholly gets rid of the dillleully, but it in clear that a wide discretion is by our provision given to the directors, and they can probably s u ll the shares in such a way as to leave tli" question free from doubt. Caution must, howevor still b.) ev:reiS'!.l by tli) purchasers of forfeited shares lo see thai they get what they think they are getting, and there seems to us to still remain a doubt whether such shares could be disposed of at a price lees than that which would cover, with the outstanding liability, the amount unpaid on the shares.

A preliminary announcement of the Presbyterian Church choir social appears amongst our advertisements. The limn for receiving tendors for re. moving a building from Golden Cross and re-erecting it at Wailii for tho Waihi Baptist Church has been extended till Wednesday, 17th hist. Next Saturday, on tho local range, the third round for tho Northern Steamship Company's trophy will be fired by the No, fi O.H.V'. The ranqes will be 500 and 600 yards, 10 shots at each.

Mr. T. Johns, manager of the Waihi Extended Mine, left this morning bv the 8 o'clock coach for Auckland. He is taking with him a parcel of ore to be assayed in Auckliud. Samples of oro were also sent to ho Waihi School of Mines yesterday for assay.

Tiio election of three members of tho Board of Educ■ition, which took phco on | Tties'lay, resulted in the return of two of tho retiring members—Messrs, Hoblis and llagnftll-and Mr, McKonzie in place of Mr, Dye. The voting wasas follows: J. D, MeKcnzio, 8'20; L.,!. Hugnnll, BIG; ft. Ilohbs, 772; F. Dye, 7811; G. L. I'cacoeke, 007; 1\ G. Andrew, 582, A well-attended meeting of tho combined liovors and Silver Stars football teams was held last nigM in the football shed. G. Foster was appointed seerotftty, and G. Scobio and 11, Mulling were appointed to roleol a team to play the Wuiliino trades. It was decided to ask -tin Rugby Union (or permission for tho use of tho ground on the 20th, It is tho intention of the club, after playing Waikino, to play tho junior reps.

A lotter roccived in Melbourne from Johannesburg gives a painful picture of Lord Milnor, It declares that ainco his return from England ho has aged considerably. Tho stress of tho last few months has, in fact, told upon him more than did all tho anxieties of tho Mir limo, His shouldors are bent, his hair silvered, and his gonoral appearancs care* worn. Hb has boon besought by his frionds to relax the strain which ho por sistontly places upon himself, but this' ho refuses to do,

Padorowski, in his first concert at McN bourno, moved tho Argm oritio to express hitnsolf in theao tonus:—" I liaye had a most raro vision, I havo had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was: a man is but an ass, if ho go about to expound this dream, But in tho droam were temples and palaces, laiks sinking in die blue sky, and demon voices shrieking through tho storms of midnight; lovors losi in tho rnpturo of tho moonshine, gay lords and ladies dancing amid glitter of light and jewels, and eyes brighter than cither; butlerllios Hitting amongst the llowers; bells telling tho curfew as tho sun went down; and most idvid vision of all the hosts of Poland mustering a* tho battle cry of Freedom and hurling to red slaughter thoir tyrant foes, And Padorowski and his Erard did it all, aud moro of tho samo sort,"

The Johannesburg correspondent of Tho Times says thero is undoubtedly a marked tondoncy among the natives to bo restless, and somo only is required to bring about a general or an isolated outbroak. II ippil.y, that organiser has not yet appeared; meanwhile the mutual jonlousies of tho different tribes should counteract as they havo hitherto, any nnvemont of a formidable nature. Tho Government, I bclievo, is alive lo tho seriousuoss of tho situation, and is not likely lo be caught napping. The work, however, of keeping close watch on all the nativo tribes in South Afrioa is not easy, nor will it bo simplified by the gradual reduction of tho constabulary.

Mr Moment L. Wragge, interviewed in Auckland us lo the recent earthquake, said that "although the principal earthquakes nnd seismic disturbances in New Zealand wouU occur during the minima periods of the sun -that was, when tho solar activity wits not m> active as at present—yet, nevertheless, New Zealand, being a part of llie world where the crust of this planet is weak, would experience earthquake shocks also at other limes, and particularly so when the moon 'was nearest tho earth. Yet it must he understood that such disturbances would proln ably not ho so severe as during tho solar minimum, which next came on after 100W, and would be at its worst between 1011 andliliy. lie did not uieaii to say that any serious disturbance would happen at tho timo indicated, but if increased action took plsce, as for instance, at Uolormi, it might be between the years cited, The sun would reach his maximum cuergy at the end of tflOi, or very early in 1903, mid from the maximum to the next minimum occupied 7.55 years, and from the minimum to the succeeding maximum :) 52 years- If Now Zeiilanders studied the history of their country and bore in mind the figures givon, they would find that the principal enrtliqualies and volennie dislurbnnees had occurred as the sun approached bis minimum mood The earthquake at Cheviot, and the 'IY rawcra eruption, wero good instances. Should disaster occur in the neighbourhood of Kotornii, which we could only hope would not bo tho case, it would oc* cur during the advent ot thunohir minium perwdi."

It will bo good nows to the I'comier to learn iluu in vVailn tlioro ia une woman whn hcliora in Ins doctrine tlmt tho Sirth-mtH should lie kopl up. In two years and nine months she litis presented her husband with a one ainplo and two pnire o f twins making live in all. This record for Wailii should receive acknowledge, merit at the hands of Mr. Seddon.

The secretary of tho Waihi Hockey Club received an intimation yesterday from Auckland, tlmt tlio hockey loam from that city would ho unahlo to v isit Wailii next Saturday.

'' In my pro»i'oso through llic streets of Chicago," says a correspondent, "I had a peep at tho Iroquois Thiwre- Ihe scene of tho terrible disaster 1 Tho splendid exterior of tho building, which bus not boon repaired in any way, shows no trace of the fierce conflagration, It proved, iw it claimed to be, absolutely fire proof. It was suffocation rather tiiiui Ilia lire that killed tho unfortunate spectators."