MINING NEWS.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 10996, 20 June 1901, Page 3

MINING NEWS.

Mr D. Leslie reporta/.en the dredging comrsuiios. for which he i#-'s«*cretary, ns ioliows:— Aiding*.—Pontoons itf hands ot P. A. Lyders, to l>e-nnishcd in ttnout (our months. Machinery from America; purt arriving ex 3.5. Cercda, oxpeote<-l shortly ; balance was to leave New lork last gianth. Engine and boiler and pump havp arrived- an d ft 'e in store near the / claim Duke'wf Wellington:—Pontoons finiah- ' cd. Macninefy is fairly well forward, but no-th-ins; of it h*s been sent on yet. Engine, winch, anil pump have arrival, and are in store.— Garibaldi. —Pontoons finu>h?d. Machinery is well forward, bnt none of it has been despatched yet. Arrangements have been made tor'cartagt" to the i\aiin. Engine, winch, and pump are to hand, and are in store.—Moon- . fight.—JL'untoons in hands of P. A. Lyders, to bo con.pl'.'lwi in about four months. Machinery from America : I,'art urriving ex Ccreda, expected shortly; balance to leave Now York last montb. Engine and boiler and pump have arrived, and are in store on "West Coast. Th» work of erecting iho machinery on the Red Jacks Company's dredge was commenced on Saturday. At a meeting of directors of the Waimea Creek and Flat, and the Hokitika Junction Companies, Mr C. L. Russell was appointed pi-rmar.ont secretary to both concerns.

A s!:irt was made Inst week to bore the Grey Monarch Company's claim, and up to Saturday the bore had gone down 16ft. The directors of the Grey River Extended ComiKiny aro in treaty with those oi the DoVmou No. 2 Company for the hire of their dredge, with a view of thoroughly prospecting their claim.

CANTERBURY STOCK EXCHANGE. The following are yestorda3''s quotations, subject to the ueual brokerage: — Al, rollers 2>3 Gd p<l. A'laura- River, sellers 5s p. Duller Junction, seller* 7s p. Uavis's Dend, buyers Is 9d p, sellers 3s Gd p. , Electric, buyers 48s pd, sellers 43s 6d pd. Firs; Chance, sellers 33» pd. Groat Woodstock, sellers 15s pd. Greenstone Cret-k, sellers 21s pd. Grpy Kiver, sellers 25s pd. Orpy I'ivor Extended, sellers par. Gn>y Monarch, sellers par . Ktliy nod Casey, Bellers 273 6d pd. Kr.hinoor, sellers 64 6d p. Knhinror Extended, sellers 6d p. Leviathan, buyers 2Js pd, sellers 27a pd. Nelson Creek, buyers ola pd, seller* 063 pd. New River, buyers 10s pd, sellers 10s 0d pd. Psictohis Xo. S, sellers per. Prince of Wales, sellers 4e p. It-vl Jacks, buyers- 24a pd, sellers 25a pd. S-aitwilor Creek, sellers par. Three Mile Greenstone, buyers 12s p. Waijmna, sellers 16a pd. WEST COAST RETURNS. Returns for the week ending Juno 15th, from th-5 dredges of the undermentioned West Coast gold dredging companies, are reported as follows:— 02. dwt. gr. Leviathan (113 hours) . ... ... 4.1 10 0 Grey River (120 hours) ... ... 40 1Q 0 Nelson Creek (128 hours) ... 32 0 0 Mokoia (120 hours) ... ... 30 0 0 Pactolna (117 hours) ... ... 26 U 0 Ford's Creek (IKS hours) ... 21 10 Reovcs's Proprietary (124 hobrs) 13 14 0 Greenstone Creek (U2 hours) ... 11 0 0 Wuipuna (1(50 hours) ... ... 9 0 0 Maori Queen (112 hours) ... 8 8 12 Al (107 hours) ... ... 7 0 0 Island Creek (fortnight) ... 3 5 0 Total ... '246 2 12 The dredffomaster of Erickson's Reward Company reports that there was no wash-up last week, and that he has been engaged opening out to obtain more swinging room. The secretary of the Island Creek Dredging Company' reports that the dredgo h.is been oppning out and dealing with top -stuff, nnd is mly down 14ft. No return of any corsequence is expected for a fortnight, as it will take that time to bottom.

WEST COAST XOTES. fe (SPECIAL TO "THE PRESS.") GRiiTMOUTH, June 19.

Gold dredging is dull. All th 3 dredgee on tho Grey River had to stop last night en account of tho flooded state g* the river, and will not likely resume work till "to-morrow night. The engineer informs mc that the pontoons of the Wareatea Company's. dredge aro now ccmpletctl, and will be launched in a day or two.

The contrnctor for tho Teremakau Company's pontoons received instructions' to lov.er them down to tho end of tho .ways, there to wait a freah, when it is expected they will be floated. The Teromakau River is very nigh, and it is probablo that the pontoons will be launched to-morrow. •

A start will bo made shortly with tho erection of the machinery on tho Premier (Buller River) Company's dredge, a large quantity of ■which is now on tho claim.

The Welcome Company's pontoons ai-e now finished, and a rise of 8 feet >in the Bulle* River is necessary before they can be launched. A start has been made with the erection of the pontoons for the Fairdown Company. Tho island Creek Company's dredgo is running smoothly, and should got a fair return thii week.

The erection of the machinery on the Hau Han Creek Company's dredge has been completed.' According to the predictions of old settlers of the district, the returns should be very good.

The Leviathan Company's dredge is working smoothly, and about 60oz is expected. The Waipuna Company's dredge is now out of tho boulders, and the wash is improving slightly^ indicate a good return from the Now fiiver Company's dredge.' (SPECIAL TO "TUB M«S3.") DUNEDIN, June ID. The Ahaura River Company's dredge is dredging steadily, and tho dredgemaster telegraphs that he is satisfied with, matters generally. The Ngahero Company has gone into liquidation.

The muster of the Leviathan Company's dredge telcgraphe:—"Ground much the same. The winch brake collapsed yesterday and delayed operations ten hours. All well again."

OTAGO NOTES. (SrECUX TO "THX KIES3.")

DUXEDIN, June 19. The Royal 'Maori Company's dredge has her buckets in position, and also tho winchc3.

The Uibba'e: Beach Company's drodge had a trial ou Saturday, when she struck a, fair wash.

The Central Charlton. Corcpany haa increased its capital by tho is*no of IKK) new preference shares of £1 each.

The Golden Gravel Company's dredge is now complete, and will start dredging on Friday. Mr Carew, S.M., to-aay delivered judgment in the oaao. Moonlight Dredging Coropany v. xi.. J. Taaker, of Chriatchnrch. The points in dispute were whether Messrs Sligo Bros, -vvcro authorised by the "defendant to apply for the allotment of shares, and, if so, whetther the defendant w&3 duly notified that the allotment had been made. The Majtiatratc, in tho course of his judgment, said: —-"I must take it that the defendant knew that Sligo could not allot the shares, and all he could do was to apply for allotment for him, a.»d I think it was ao intended and clearly within his authority. As io the printed signature to the notioe of allotment, tho aecrptary was authc-metl by resolution to notify iho allotment, an<l he posted the printed form GuHiciestly worded to that effecU the number of shares and the address being in writing, tho ether part, including tho secretary's name and office, in print. There can bo no doubt this was sufficient to bind tho company, although, I think the method udop-ted of printing the secretary's name to bo unbusinesslike and unsatisfactory. The object of the notice was to accept tho defendant's order to tako slinres, , and to complete the contract, and, being sufficient to bind the company, waa all that was required. I am-satisfied that tho notice oi allotment \rsts posted, and that the defendant's memory is not very reliable. Then, again, from June, 1300, to March, 1901, notices of eight different cftis were posted to kirn, and he does not dispute receiving them, but, for ail that timp, ho took the chance of the market, and made no attempt at repudiating hie being a shareholder. It looks very much lfke a struggle to get cut of a bad bargain. Judgment for plaintiff for .£33 12s -Gd. and costs." Tho Mofyneux is falling steadily, being now about 11 ieet above normal. The weather is frosty. Tho framing for tho housing is being erected on the Bendigo Company's aredg*. The screen nnd a good d*al of the main maehino-ry ia in position on the River Molyneux Company's dredge. Tha roaeter of the Central Charlton Company's dredge, in bis report to tho directors, nays:—"Judging from the appearance of the -wash, and the prospects now obtained. I think from, now oa you should have a very profitable clsim." The dredgemen of ihe> Otsgo and Southland Unions have nubmitted proposals to the various <-<rinpaniea, asking that eight hours be s, Toccgtusecl shift; that the minimum wage be 10s per shift; that all work dorm on Sundays And holidays be paid for at double rates; *nd that work done over eight hours count as overtime, to ba paid for at ordinary rates.