MONTHLY SUMMARY FOR Europe and America.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 230, 28 September 1899, Page 5

MONTHLY SUMMARY FOR Europe and America.

OUR HOME LETTER

AUCKLAND, N.Z., THURSDAY, September 2-8

The final session of the present Parliament is very near its close, and before the end of the year Aye will be in the thick of the general elections. The session has seen no less than three motions of no-confidence debated, two concluding in substantial Government majorities, and the third was disposed o fat an early hour this morning and resulted in ."a Ministerial majority of five. A number of the appointments made to the Legislative Council on the recommendation of the present administration expire the 15th of October. The Opposition had been bold in expressing their determination to compel the Government, to fill these vacancies before the. general elections, the effect of which it was presumed would be to deprive the Premier of a powerful inducement to secure the support of aspirants to the vacancies and their friends. It got to be whispered about, however, that this was what the Government intended to do, and there_pori'"■t'he' tactics of the Opposition W ere altered. Captain Russell, leader of "the outs," gave notice of his intention to move as an amendment to the motion for going into Committee of Supply on Wednesday " that a respectful address be presented to His Excellency the Governor praying that His Excelleucv make no more appointments to the Legislative Council until the Parliament shortly to be elected has had an opportunity of reviewing the constitution of this branch of the legislature, such review having become in the opinion of this House an imperative necessity." The Premier accepted this as a motion of no-conh-'dence, with the result as stated above.

The Public Works statement submitted to Parliament during the session is of more, than ordinary interest, inasmuch as it embodies proposals for the extension of certain important railways, calculated to open up new country to settlement, and increase the reproductive powers of the whole of the colony's lines. To carry out this scheme it is proposed to raise a loan of one million pounds.

A comprehensive scheme of har- j hour improvements for the port, of | Auckland has been submitted to the j Auckland Harbour Board by Mr C. Napier Bell, C.E. The scheme in-1 eludes recommendations to build a nUmber of new tees, to do. extensive dredging work, to reclaim Mechanics' R^p, and to r-eclairp the foreshore ant_ih the present line of reclamationat Mechanics' Bay and Freeman's. Bay, and the estimated cost is close on half-a-million. The Harbour Board cannot in the present state of its finances carry out the scheme, but it is probable that it will be adopted as a basis of a permanent scheme of works. Mr Bell recommended works totalling a cost of about £136,000 as necessary under the category of works immediately necessary. Subsequently a joint report on the subject was submitted to the Board by Captain Duder (Harbourmaster), and Mr J. Taylor (Foreman of Works). They recommended that the Board should spend £74,000 on urgent works, which would give adequate berthing accommodation for large steamers and coastal vessels for the next ten years. These proposed works include the extension of the outer tees of the Queen street wharf, the construction of a new tee at the Queen street wharf, two tees west of Hobson street wharf, improvement of ferry wharves, new sheds, and dredging- plant, including six punts. The Board has as yet come to no definite decision on the subject, but the whole question will be discussed at a special meeting to be held on October 6.

The Auckland City Empowering Bill, which gives authority to the Auckland City Council to proceed with the Jong. talked-of electric tramways scheme, has passed through all its .stages" in the House of Representatives, and now comes before the- Uppe___w_ac„. The..City CouneiLhas; now completed arrangements with Mr Bingham, who represents a British syndicate, for the conversion of the present horse-car system in the streets Of the city and suburban boroughs to'electric' cars ; and for the extension of the present tram circuits. The system of working the tramways is to be - known as. the overhead trolley system. The City Council has given notice of its intention to apply to the fiovernor-in-Council for an order authorising the scheme. The date of the concession to the Electric Tramways Company is to be thirty years, and! the Council has power to purchase the undertaking at the end of that term.

Among the great- commercial institutions which have originated in Auckland the New Zealand.and South British Insurance Companies are the two most important that still have their head offices here. These companies hold a unique position in Australasia, competing successfully ou equal terms over a wide field with tie wealthy insurance companies of the' Old World. A new departure has just been taken by the South 'British Insurance' Company' that is worthy of public notice. This company has already added largely to its influence and premium income by purchasthe sound business of other companies in Australasia that were too circumscribed in their operations to attain any great measure of success in a form of commercial enterprise which must be broad based to ensure good results. The. direbtors,- acting .upon the recommendation-of the general manager, have now concluded anOthei pin-chase whichswillmaterially extend their already considerable and lu'eurative business in the East. The. new departure consists in the .'acquisition of the whole of the Eastern .busines of the Straits Marine Insurance Com Eany, together with- the freehold premises used as the head office of that

company at Singapore. The Straits Company was originally founded to meet Eastern requirements with respect to marine insurance, and it has established a large number of efficient agencies, which are kept in direct touch with the directors at Singapore. Its board of directors will in future act as a Board of Advice for the Eastern business of the South British Company. Possessing the advantages of local knowledge and experience, the co-operation of these gentlemen must prove very valuable to a company carrying on operations so far away from its head quarters. We understand that the purchase has been effected on terms most favourable to the South British, and we congratulate the directors and general manager of that company upon this valuable addition to their already large and flourishing business.

The gold output for the past month shows considerable increase, being about £55,000. From several of the leading mines there >vas a larger output, the one from the N.Z. Crown being a record for that mine, 3053 tons Of ore having yielded bullion worth £6138. The Waihi and Waitekauri mines maintained their, average outputs, and the Woodstock and Waihi-Silverton showed slight increases. The second return from the Alpha mine was again disappointing, jwhich may be partly attributed to the fact that the cyanide did not work as well as might have been expected. Separators are now being added to the plant to obviate this difficulty. Tributers in the Waltekauri-Jubilee mine obtained £300 worth of bullion this time, and regular returns are now looked for. The second crushing from the Whangamata Gold Corporation was more satisfactory, £1125 being obtained, and when dryer weather sets in larger yields may be looked for, as at, present the ore in this mine is very wet. which hampers its treatment. Tributers in the Moanataiari mine secured satisfactory returns, one party obtaining £289 2/0 from 22 tons. What appears to be a payable chute of ore has also been discovered where the Company's operations are going on. Satisfactory | returns were, also obtained by tributers working in the May Queen mine, and the prospects of th>vt Company are very encouraging. ;.s specimen stone is being got at every breaking down, both in the May Queen and also the recently acquired Cardigan section of the property. The returns from Coromandel show a marked increase, this month, mainly due to the fact that the first return has been obj tamed from the Kauri Freeholds Gold . Estates mines at Opitpnui, 3349 tons of ore having yielded bullion worth J £4025. Although this is only a small I average value per ton, still it is con- ; sidered payable. The fact must also not be lost sight of that this was a first crushing, and, as usual in such cases, for the first fortnight a quantity of very low grade ore that had accumulated was put through, the new battery for the purpose of sweetening it. As a matter of fact, the result from- the later crushing was over 30/ per ton, and still further improvement is looked for next time. Then, too the slimes have not been treated, and these are stated to contain a considerable percentage of the bullion. AH things consjdered, the result of the first crushing may be looked upon as auguring well for the future of this property- Scotty's mine, at Coromandel, is on rich stone, 10 tons having this month yielded £422- The returns ; from the Hauraki and Royal Oak mines also showed improvement. The ' most important feature of the month in mining matters was undoubtedly the developments in the Waihi mine, as a new reef of free milling ore 25 feet wide, and worth over £5 per ton, was met with while driving in an hitherto unexplored section of this wonderful mine. Full details appear in the manager's report, and his estimate is that the value of the property has been increased 40 per cent, by .this discovery, as the reef is an entirely new one. 700 feet away from the Martha lode, and what is still' more singular, no outcrop is known to exist on the surface. This is perhaps the most important feature, of all, as it points to vast possibilities in the shape of other valuable reefs being- hidden in properties situated in Waihi, as theauriferous area all over the district is covered with a deposit that, has hitherto baffled the old-time prospector. "

The recent important developments in the Waihi mine indicate the great possibilities of that district becoming a big mining centre in the future. Here we have an instance of a mine that since 1890 has yielded bullion to the value of £1,104,413 out of which £.436,500' has been paid, in dividends.. Within about a year the company has doubled its capital, its yield of bullion, the amount of dividends paid, its crushing power, and what is still,more significant, the market price of the. shares. Now, information is received that three hitherto unkuown reefs, one of them twenty-five feet wide arid highly payable, have been discovered in a crosscut that was driven primarily for the purpose of locating the position of a new shaft. The most significant feature of this discovery '.is the fact that, as far as is .known, at present.those reefs do not outcrop anywhere on the surface.. At Waihi there appears to be a deposit of varying depth, which has covered the auriferous ground, so tfiafc cnly the outcrops of reefs on hills have been located.

In view of this new find we are naturally led to ask how many other 'big lodes are still hidden by ihis : deposit? These reefs were cut -at a depth of about 300 feet below 'the surface, but the sandstone country is known in that neighbourhood .to be within thirty feet of the surface.- So far the bulk of the operations in adjoining properties have been directed to the ffupposed line of the Waihi lode, and except upon the properties tield by some. English companies much capital has not really been-expended. According to the recent developments it would seem as if a well sunk for public purposes in the main street at Waihi flight have resulted in the discovery •>i the reef, for at present it is'shaping n that' direction. Hitherto the fiat , <as not been looked upon as valuable ji'or mining, purposes, which just .'nlicates how little is really known of ;he resources of the district outside he actual developments in the Waihi . nine its.elf. It is fair- to assume that he Waihi Company's property cannot include all the payable, reefs in the district, and also that such large ore

bodies will extend beyond the boundaries of that company's mine. It is also safe to conclude that Waihi, as a mining district, is at present only just beginning, and that the judicious expenditure of capital will result in the discovery of other valuable reefs beneath the deposit that hitherto has so successfully guarded hidden treasures from the average prospector. No doubt an object lesson like the Waihi mine, with its vast reserves of ore, and its regular dividends, will .cause English capitalists ere long to turn their attention to other auriferous areas in the same vicinity, and that Waihi will yet become second only to Auckland in size in the North Island. Before that day arrives, however, a railway will be necessary to carry coal from the Waikato for- fuel at the mines, and, what is of equal importance, a big pump to deal with the water difficulty. It would in the end be far more economical if adrainage area were declared, and a big pump provided similar to that at the Thames, so that the companies could pay their quota of drainage contributions and thus save the expense of running a number of smaller pumps at separate shafts.