MINING NEWS.

Evening Star, Issue 11657, 18 September 1901, Page 6

MINING NEWS.

The Waikaka United report last week 540z sdwt amalgam for 125 hours, equal to 24oz'of tlold. The Enfield report ,6oz 6dwt for the week ended 13th inst. The dredge will be shut down for a fortnight for relipping buckets and effecting some other repairs. A meeting of shareholders in the Leaning Rock Company was held last night, when the resolutions authorising the. amalgamation with the Dunstan Pioneer Company were unanimously adopted.' The -dredge-master of the Dunback dredge writes on the I,6th- September:— "The wash is looking ;well,■-and should give a fair return this week'. The ground is about 12ft deep, with a soft reef bottom. The wash was very, drifty at one side of the cut last week, and that accounts for the small return. I had to' work it to keep the river in with the cut. I. am well

through it, and it is improving right across the cut. I shall be able to work the lower flat without the elevator. The "dredge is running well and gjves no trouble." ' u The Leviathan dredge-master wires:—.. " Struck- old tunnel 2> o clock this morning (17th). emptying paddock. Dredge aground. New dam Wall washed away. -A later message says:—" Got dredge afloat last night. Wyfie examined her this morning. Everything right; no injuries. '- .Won't start dredging this week," The Ahaura River dredge-master wires: —!-" Still raining. River falling slightly. Cannot bottom yet." The Rankleburn amalgamated companies' dredge-master writes on the 14th:—" 1 have to report having got the tables finished, and am ready to start to shift on to the claim. I have got everything" in fair working order now, and hope to have a fair run.' '" ' I The representative of the Dunedin Exchange at Alexandra wired at nine o'clock this .morning :—"River 4ft 6in above normal; weather fine." The dredge-master of the Sixteen-mile Beach, writing on the 16th inst., reports: —" Have -worked across the river four or five times, then pulled ahead 10ft at foui different times, but always got the sami result:. hard reef, with nothing on it. Where I am now there is a little golo Showing on top mat, but not enough to pay expenses. On Tuesday I. intend to pull ahead again, and try the top end of the claim. Regarding coaling, where J should like to get coal to is the bottom end of your claim, as this is the best <>i it, but until a road is formed I cannot work there, as it is impossible to boat the coal down." A general meeting of shareholders in,the Gibb's. Beach Gold Dredging Company was convened last night to confer with ih> directors and dredge-master future'policy of the company. Seventeei. persons attended the meeting, which wapresided over by Mr W. T. Talboys. Aftei the chairman and the dredge-master htu given a history of the claim'and its prospects, Mr Anderson moved that a levy -j. Is per share be made, as suggested. Mi Anderson expressed his appreciation of thi work done by the directors, and of the manner in which they and the dredgemaster had gone mto the position of th> company. The motion was carried, and it was decided also that the shareholders at. vancing money should be refunded from the funds of the company the sum of 2s toi the Is levied. This, the chairman said, was only fair. It was an advantage which those who put up their money deserved to get over those who did not. The monej levied would be kept for expenses. They would get the proper lines immediately. THE MARKET. DT/NEDIN EXCHANGE/ Sales were effected at the following price? yesterday afternoon:—Bendigo, 9/; Four-teen-mile Beach, 19/3 and 19/; Junctior E'.eclric, 29/; Leviathan, 9/; Manuherikia. 36/; Vincent Extended, -7/; Waimumu Ce: - tral, 12/3. This morning's transactions (the highest of the corresponding day of last week being shown in parentheses) were: Ahaura. River, 3/, 3/1; Bendigo, 9/9 (12/); B U darv Creek, 3/9 (4/); Fourteen-mi'.i Bouse 14/6 ; Monte Christ -, 33/, 33/ (36 9)'. V.i.ce.,t Ixtcnded, 7/9, 8/3, 8/6 (7/). OTAGO EXCHAN'OK,. Tl.e f 1 own:; s le* we e ffacted :—Yesterday afternoon : Hartley and Riley, 64/6. And this morning: Boundary Creek, 4/d.; Halfwav House, 14/9; Kelly and Casev, 7/6. ■* EQUITABLE EXCHANGE report the fol"owing sales:—Galvanic, 6/6; Fourlean-mi!e Beach, 18/. Quotations: Ahaura River—Buy 3/, sel 3/6. A'p'nc Consn>—Buy 19/, sel 25/. A pine No. 2—Sel 28/. B :.d go—S:'.l 12/. Bour.darv (.'rek—Buv 4/, sel 6/6. C ntral Chtrlton—Buy 10/, sel 12/6. Electric—But 36/, sel 40/.E trrpri c—Buv 50/. Evans's Fht—Sel 17/6. Fint Ch-ince—Buv 9/, sel 13/. Fori's C'eek—Sc-1 10/. F.urtten-mi'e B ach—Buy 18/, sel 20/. Galvanic—Buv 4/, sel 8/. Gentle .Annie—Sel 2-0/. Go d Queer—Buy 5/6, sel 8/. Go d n River—Buv 4/3, sel 5/. Golden Treasure—Buy 40/. Gieat Central—Sel 10/. Grev River—Buy 10/, sel 15/. H-'lfway Hou'tj—Buy 13/, sel 16/. Har ley and Riley—Buy 62/, sel 65/. Junction Electric—Buy 28/, sel 30/. - Luning Rock—Buv 10/, sel 13/. L ng Valey—Sel 20/. Lower Enfbld—Sel 20/. Magnetic—Sel 12/6. Manuherikia—Buv 34/, sel 37/. Meg and Annie—Buy 22/6, sel 27/6. Moknia—Sel 17/. Nel on Cr-ck—Buy 56/, sel 60/. Orwell Cie k—Sel 10/. Otago—Buy 14/, sel 16/. Reyes's Proprietary—Buy 14/, sel 16/. Rise and Shine— S?l 15/. Second Magnetic—Sel 10/6. ■ Teviot—Buy 6/6, sel 10/. , Spec Gully—Sel 21/. Upper Waipori—Sel 20/. Waimumu—Sel 24/. Waimumu Central—Sel 15/. STOCK EXCHANGE NOTES. The market appeared to. lift itself gently this morning, and then subsided to its normal condition; but if anything the tone might be described as more encouraging. Ahaura opened the ball with sales at 3s and 3s Id. One buyer took' the lot, and as he knows this part' of the country (the Coast) it may be assumed he knows what *he is buying. At all events, as things go, they are not dear at that price. Finishing quote, 3s Id; sellers, 3s 3d. Alpine Consols and No. 2 don't budge, from which it may be inferred they are lifting something more than £old. In the case of No. 2, what, about that soft bottom they had touched ? Bendigo : No business. Buyers, 9s; sellefrs, 9s 9d; getting close. Boundary Creeks receded agaiu. Sale at 3s 9d, and further sellers at tne same. Several large parcels of preference shares (£1 paid) were sold at 5s 6d. This looks like "a philanthropic scheme to benefit anyone who will buy. ouch a claim and dredge to be sacrificed for one-quarter the mortgage mone<- —provided nothing else is involved—seems a certain "cinch" for those with pluck and capital. Charlton Creek : Buyers, 225; sellers, 275. They will do business at an early date. Cromwell,: Sellers weakened, coming down to 63s<; best buyers, 58s 6d. This stock is reasonable at about 60s on present prospects. Electric saw inquiries up to 37s % sellers, 38s 6d. Extended show still a wide margin—buyers, 10s 9d; sellers,' 16s. Fourteen-mile: Sales at 17s 9d, 17s 6d, and 17s 6d, with a seller (who a moment before was full at 17s) at 16s 6d; buyers, 15s 6d. Holders will do well to keep their scrip in the strong room, and burn it rather than throw it away at this figure. Golden River, in sympathy, weakened—buyers, 3s; sellers, 4s 6d. Half-way-House: Buyers, 13s 9d; sellers, 14s 6d, with a sale at the latter figure. We want to hear from this dredge soon. Hartley are evidently still off the wash. Sellers, 635, with several deals at that figure. Junction Electric: Sellers, 29s;' and should be one of the best things at the price. Leaning Rocks showed no change—buyers, 12s 9d: sellers, 13s 6d. -Leviathan, with thendredge afloat again all safe, were asked for at 8s; sellers want 10s 3d. Majestic, a good little companv, saw buyers at 15s 6d • sellers,' par. Should be worth the money. Manuherikia: Buyers, 35s 9d; sellers, 37s 6d. This stock is coming down to a reasonable commercially-calculated price. Monte Christo : Sales at 335; further sellers at 335. Won't see much change. Nelson Creek: 52s buyers, 57s sellers; quite high enough Buyers of Olrig (6s 6d), Otago (13s 6d), and Pactolus (7s 6d) will have to rise to do business. Vincent Extended caused a mild flutter, sales taking place at 7s 9d, 8s 3d, and 8s 6d, with more to quit at 8s 6d.' Others as they were. What looked like a "breeze" occurred on Change this morning through what appeared to be an attempt to flatten out Four-teen-mile Beach. A member who was a seller at heart, in order to ascertain the feelmir of the market, started operations by offering to buy fifty or one hundred, at 17s Another bluer entered the lists at i/sod and, much to'the surprise of No. 1, the latter got his order filled:; No. 1 was on the tab e at 17s, and he was promptly landed with the one hundred asked for.' vThen, seeing Che„stock was weak, he offered'to sell down to 16s the whole parceL The thing

iraSM palpable that fered, and charged him with "knocking" the stock. about. This sqrt/of is b.v no means arid a ; man if "he intends to "bear" should not, for his own credit,' make the thing an open book to the whole world. Wo shall always have much in chronicling incidents', of this yluud, in 'the hope that the necessity will some day,; cease to exist:'".' " : ; Private reports from' •Waunumu. district ■ >tate that the deadlock over the water diffi* eulty is bung acutely felt;; and unless some settlement is speedily arrived at all the rredges in that locality will close, down indefinitely in November. One company there cquld pay a dividend to-morrow, but on account of this difficulty. the directors consider it advisable to hold v back. • It is hard to understand why such a policy should be pers'sted in. If the Waimumu held is shut down it will spell misfortune, if not di;a ter, to a..number of people. Alogether the position is neither a consistent nor a dignified one. and it is strange'that in a country so allegedly enlightened and progressive such a condition of things *h' uld be permitted - An extraordinary general meeting of the Dunstan P oneer Investment Gold Dredging Company was held at the registered office, Water street, yesterday evening. Mr Joseph Hatton (chairman" of directors) was m the chair. A resolution was confirmed voluntarily, winding up the coinpanv, in order to effect an amalgamation of the «ame with the Leading Rock Gold Dredging Company. , Mr George F. jeffery was appoint d liquidator. .... ' The Success dredge (Nevis), which 'sunk ,at her .moorings pbout ten days ago, has, o we are informed, been successfully refloated. No damage was done by the immersion. It is not the director who commits dredging companies to contracts greater than tli ir cipital account, and takes his regular f -es—on- guinea a sitting—for talking on the progress of t'me payments for dredges; it is not the. nijnble secretary, who h3s ar"cu'.ty for combhvng broking with his office Wiev and'rake. «ff a commission on business orders, l and draws .his monthly sa'arv without a blush, and < generally attends car-fully to his companies' interests; it is not the grizzled .dredge-master, who' naces nis quarter deck in the' midnight watches, armed with a ,Colt's army revolver to'keep poachers away from the golddust, and occasio- ally rams his machine 'gainst a boulder and loses his buckets by 'he board, and breaks his* bottom tumbler ' now and again; nor is it the men who work ,our dredging flee,t, and are angrily accused by some of annexing gold from the tobies, who are perpetrating any real injustice, committing any d'abo'ical wickedness, or are con spiring to defraud shareholders.. The denlincrs of the above are cl an and stra'gbtfnnvard, and always have been, compared to those individuals who are stabbing the un'ortunate investors in iome. companies, ind under the cloak of friendship extend •he helping hand. These are the false beacons, wreckers, ; beachcombers', and •urates in disguise who lure the unsuspecting company along with the jingle of monea sis'ance. Some miserable dredge, perhaps, with a first-class claim, starts, like nio t of them do,- short of capitals .After -trugg'ing convulsively for a few we<ks .-phvfc the ris';ng river and a paddockful of Silt, the small funds give out. Direc'ors know p' rfectly the cla : m has not had a fair trial, and they are loth to shut down. Then comfs the auspicious moment for the harpies to s'ep in. With reassuring accents—when business seems likelv 'Viev ienify their willingness to advance the necessary money, tak'ng a mortgage "ver the dredge and' property. "The deed : s done. .Henceforth, till the advance is exhausted in a vain attempt to strike paynbl" wash bv dodging the "rapids" or hiirrow : ng into an' impossible bar.k, the emmnv merely oxi t. Liquidation is the onlv refuge., and the mor gagee steps in and seizes his prey. Ard it may be tr-ken for -r nt'djie what to do with it whpn hj gfts if; that wrs fores-en. He probably k nws vrhere parable <iold can be found in the clam, otherwise he removes the drrdge to an adjo-'ning one. This is a danger nt the present day, and shareholders will r'o well to ilook to their in'erests and examine c'oely anv tid ; ncr-over scheme. If anv for alarm exists it is in this direction. The promoting and. broking bogey empared to this is a very small circumtnnce. GOLDfiN/FALLS GOLD DREDGING COMPANY. An extraordinary general meeting of the G Men Falls Gold Dredging Company was held last evening. Mr F. 'Wilkinson occup el the chair, and th"re were about twentyfiv shareholders present. The object of the me ting was the discussion of a scheme of r construction, of which the main features were as foilow : " A new company to be formed with the same name as the existing company, aiid with a capital of £8,090,-divided into 8.000 shares of £1 each. The objects'of the company to include the objects of the present company, and also full power to acquire the business, property, and assets of the present company. The new company to take over and remove the liabilities of the old company, and, further, to allot to every member of the existing company one' fully paid-up share of £1 each in the new company in respect of every two £1 Fhares in i he existing company held by such member. The paid up shares to allotted' to members of the existing company will absorb 3 750 shares of £1 each in the capita', of the new company. The-remaining 4,250 shares of £1 each sha'.l be taken up as sub-s-r'b'ng shares, s making the total capital £B.OOO. It is proposed to isrue the said 4,250 shares on the following 2s 6d per share on application, 2s' 6d per share on allotment, and„the balance in calls not exceeding 2s od per month. The said 4,250 shares to be issued with a preferential right to dividends until 5s has been returned to each holder of one £1 share. The reconstruction to be carried out under section 222 of the Companies Act, 1882." The Chairman said that the shares sapplied for up to date did not reach the number required to make the formation of the new company possible, and as that was the case the meeting could not pass any resoluI tion to reconstruct. They would be obliged to submit the scheme to shareholders once' more by circular, and call another meeting to pass it. But the directors wished to know the views of the shareholders, and the scheme was open to discussion, and suggest'ons for amendment? wou'.d be gladly received. He expressed the opinion that it would be a deplorable thing if tfie company were to close down at the present stage, not only on account of the weakness of the market, but on account of the value of their claim, which he was convinced was a good one. They had surmounted the chief d : mculties attached to starting ,work in primarily getting the dredge .down to the claim, and also having got 'their pontoons built. They had now to consider the question, of motor power—a matter which would came up for consideration later on. Thejr present liabilities were about £2,600. A long discussion followed, after which Mr D. Stevenson moved—"That the remuneration provided for preference share- , holders in the scheme (ss) be increased to •' £l.' This motion met with unanimous support, and being seconded by Mr Irvine, was I carried.—Mr Forrester submitted the scheme I proposed to be followed by the Golden Standard Company, whereby., the vendors j give up three-fourths of their shares and the contributing shareholders one-half of tl.eir holding, 3,C00 of the shares thus ga'ned being distributed pro-rata amongst those | who take- up debentures, and claimed that it j would be better for the company.—The Chairman proclaimed himself hostile to the scheme, and favored that first put before the meeting.—Mr Forrester wanted % the provisional directors to be ejected at the meeting when the new company was formed, but his motion to that effect was supported Only by himself and his seconder (Mr Mackenzie), and the clause was allowed to read : " That the existing directors be the provisional directors of the uegr comr , pany." • ' " -Ihe meeting then devoted itself to.a consideration of the merits of oil engines and oil fu. 1 as compared with steam engines and coal'fuel. The (Jjhairmap, speaking as u layman who had devoted some time to a study of the question, favored, the scheme for cither an oil engine or qjl»fuel, either of which would be cheaper than steam power produced by coal. Mr Knowstub mentioned that the Miller's Flat -Electric" Company

were about to instal an oil .engine in their plant, and they would soon have evidence oh the question. Several shareholders urged the others to take up shares in the new company, and announced their"faith in the claim; : and after some further discussion the meeting closed w.ith a vote of thanks to the chairman. VINCENT,,EXTENDLJ COMPANY. An extraordinary meeting of the above was held last evening a> consider whether the company should go into liquidation. -Mr H. Adam (chairman of directors) presided, and there was.a fair representation of shareholders present. * The Chairman explained that' at the last meeting it was decided to issue debentures <to the extent of £1,500, bearing interest at the rate of 20 per cent. Of the 213 shareholders on the register only sixty-five had applied for them, amounting to £1,020, which would just about meet the liabilities, the debts (including everything) amounting to £1,033. It was for the shareholders to now decide whether they would take up the remainder of the debentures or go into liquidation. He thought they had now turned the corner, for* last week the return was 330z. and there was every prospect of returns remaining as good. They had a telegram from the man in charge of the dredge, who said that the prospects were good, but that the drift was a little troublesome, and the oredge-master was present, and would probably give some information. They had been bothered the whole winter through with a high-river, and had they known three months ago what.they knew .now they would have shut down the dredge. tThey could, however, never foresee these things. The dredge-master said he was on a different quality of gold, and thought it was lead gold. The" week before last he had got some 13oz in the last two or three days, and he was on a soft pug bottom. The dredge was dredging; about 50ft. That was over 40ft of stuff to lift and pass through the machine ; so that it was by no means child's play. She was turning "over 100 tons per hour, which meant over 2,000 tonß a day, or 12,000 tons a week. The dredge was a capable one, and all they wanted was to get gold, and, as he had said, they had now got round the corner. It was, therefore, for shareholders to rally round and take up the balance of the "debentures. If shareholders would send £5 cney would be putting down £5 to save £SO; but they seemed utterly indifferent wheiuer the company sank or swam. . ,' Mr Von Haast, the dredge-master, said that he still thought the claim would pay handsomely. The whole trouble had been the tremendous depth of the ground, and they had not been able to get over a deal of the bottom. The dredge was mulling splendidly, arid he did not think that there was a dredge on the river that had had less, breakages. He did not think that there had been a stoppage for more than iwo consecutive hours. He. had been supported by a good crew. He proceeded to c> plain that the dredge first started some 200 yds from the bottom of tne claim, and then went on to describe subsequent workings. Floods had interfered greatly with the successful working of the dredge. He had got 30oz in twenty-four hours once, but he had had to Siuft up because he found he could not bottom. Where the bottom was soft he got splendid returns, but in most instances the bottom was hard. ,He went on averaging 12oz a week, but this was nearly always got in about two days. ' Last week, the gold began to get finer, but the prospects had been pretty steady, and the return was 330z. This week' he did n< t think they would get as much, but le thought they ought to get over 20oz, and if tlie_weatner kept favorable he did not see why they should get less than 30oz in the future. He was only working half Ue width of the river, because if he went ri-'"at across to the other side the paddock became silted. •j iUl ames °*id not suppose that tie idea to wind up the company was' seriously 1 enter ed.. If such a large number of shai (.holders had lost confidence in the claim perlaps thev might reconstruct the company and leave these shareholders out altogether. If that suggestion was not a fias'ble one a committee mi:rht be appohved to interview shareholders and endeavor to ger the balance of the debentures taken in It would be no use to float debentures unless they had sufficient capital in hand to prevent them coming back again immediately to borrow. The debentures now taken u t would just pay the debts, and leave ,io ■vvorkintf capital. Mr Wilson did not think that there shonul ocaa"? difficulty in raising the additional £SOO if the matter were properly put before shareholders. During.the discussion that followed several more debentures were taken up, and at the conclusion of the meeting the chairman" announced that there only remained £IOO worth unapplied for, which was further reduced after the close of the meeting. ' It was agreed that Messrs A. James and A. Sligo be appointed to act with the directors in getting off the balance of the debentures. ALDINGA GOLD DREDGING COMPANY. An extraordinary general meeting' of the above was held last night, Mr J. H. Nimmo in the chair. The Chairman explained that the directors had discovered that they would hj» short in the amount needed to carry on the erection of machinery and other expenses. The directors therefore thought it necessary to call the meeting, and give an opportunity to the shareholders of learning what paymen 's had been made, and give any information desired as to where the money had gone and why 'aey required an extra £1,500. He believed that they had one of the best claims on the West Coast, if reports were worth anything, but the direcdid not think they should go on till they knew where the money was to come from, and they were adverse to issuing any preference shares. They had gone fully into the matter, and reckoned if they could get debentures taken up it was the preferable course to pursue, and from the report of what the claim would be it was to the shareholders' interests to take up their quota. They would be short from £1,600 to £1,650, and it was a question whether they should try to raise £1,750 instead of £1,500, as suggested in the circular. Another thing was the rate of interest the debentures should bear. The circular issued did not state how they wished the money applied. They'were not actually requiring, the fund just now, but thought if they could get 25 per cent, on application and 25 per cent, on allotm n nt thev would not call in the balance till required. He believed he was right in saying the vendors would take up their fu'jl quota, and the directors had agreed to take lip as much as they possibly could. Th-re would be no difficulty in getting rid of the debentures if they went outside the share holders, but that would be a pity. On the engineer's' estimates they would be £l5O short with the debentures, and he thought they should be increased to £1,750. "It was decided that dfb'ntures be issued to the ? mount of £1.750, the debentures to be of £l, £R and £lO each, the rate of interest to be 15 percent, and that the currency be t;wo years, redefmnble by drawings by at such times as may be decided bv the f'ir'ctors, the debentures to be made payable 25 per cent, on deposit, 25 p?r cent, on allotment, and the balance in calls as required. Messrs R. M. Ho?g and R. Vanes were anpo'ited trustees for the d'benture-hold'rs. Venrly £6oo' worth of debentures was applied for in the room.