MALDEN ISLAND

Evening Star, Issue 14531, 6 December 1910, Page 1

MALDEN ISLAND

HETTKR 'J'UAX A GOLD MIXE. [SI'KCIAI. -ro -jiii; .^JAR.] JXVKRC'ARUILL. Doc-nibcr 6. Captain Robertson, who during the, ]>;ist year was field otlicer in charge of th<guano export in;,' operations at Maiden Island, arrived by iho banrue Triton a I tin; liluM', and was interviewed yesterday in respect to llir jesoiines of the island. Captain Robinson, who explained thai oflicers were appointed by the lessees of the island (.Messrs Grace, Summers, and Of)., .Melbourne) for periods of Lwelve. months only, mi id that eight voxels called at the; island annually, ;unl took away approximately 'IO,OOO 'tons to Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. Maiden Island contained, fie said, 65 jx.t cenr. of genuine guano, wbieli was classed high grade, and no ]<-«,-; than 600,000 tons of this'high-grade guano had been ex]H>iled since the. lessees took over the island in 1868. "'J'hero -was never j' gold mine like ii." he ueiit on entuusiaMiCiilly. "The sititf costs the company 30j a ton to land in New Zealand, and the farmers pav about £4 15s per tori, which, on the face of it. shows a gilt-edged margin. T don't think, however, thai Maiden Island will produce much more high-gnide guano, and two years will probably see the last of it. I estimate that there are just about 20.000 tons left. However, there is any quantity of the lower-grade iiitide, possessing about 35 to 50 per cent, of guano, and there should be sufficient of that for at least forty years. It is not generally known that. Maiden Island, which is seven miles in diameter, and in 1.00? miles, to the north-east of the Cook Islands, is Jessed by the holders horn the Xew Zealand Government."