HOCHSTETTER CLAIMS

Greymouth Evening Star, 30 July 1929, Page 2

HOCHSTETTER CLAIMS

FORFEITURE REFUSED. WARDEN IMPOSES £lO FINE. Exercising his discretion under the provisions of the Mining Act, and its amendments, the Warden (Mr W. Meldrum) to-day refused to decree the forfeiture of the mining properties in the Ahaura district, known as the Hochstetter claims, but in lieu of forfeiture, he imposed a nominal fine of £lO. The Act provides tor a.fine not exceeding £lOO, in cases where it is considered that the circumstances do not justify forfeiture. The plaintiff in the suit was William Clayton, farmer, of Ahaura, and the defendants were Vivian James Rundell Miles, barrister, of Sydney, and John Wilson, miner, who for the past three or four years has been iesiding on the property. At the sitting of the Court on July 2, the proceedings were adjourned until to-day, in consequence of an application being made to join Wilson as co-defendant, the property having been transferred from Miles to Wilson. . Mr H. * • Doogan appeared for plaintiff, and Mi W. J. Joyce for the defendants _ Mr. Doogan stated that the plaintiff alleged that the properties had been unused, unoccupied, and neglected toi a continuous period of over twelve months. When the original company, the Lake Hochstetter Goldfields, Ltd., ceased operations, the properties were taken over by the debenture holders, who were represented by Miles. The rights were protected tor six or seven years, but no bona fide mining work had been done, and the protection expired fourteen or fifteen months ago. Plaintiff claimed that that fact brought them under the provisions of the Mining' Act and i endei - ed them liable to forfeiture. In. the course of his evidence, Clayton traced the history of the ill-fated company, which went into liquidation, the debenture holders taking over the rights about seven years ago. Since that time, he said, no work had been done on the property, except the cleaning out of the gold left in the tailrace, which had been done by Wilson during the past three or four years. When the company ceased work, the manager estimated that from 100 ozs. to 150 ozs. of gold was left in the race. Wilson had clone no other work on the claim, and the face was overgrown with scrub. It would cost thousands of pounds to put the property in order for mining.

Mr. Doogan: Has thhre been any bona fide mining carried on there for the past five or six years?—None whatever.

AN EL DORADO!

Mr. Joyce also referred to the history Of • the Hochstetter Company, and quoted from the original prospectus and reports, one of which was made by plaintiff, who was also one of the vendors of prospecting areas to the company. According to the reports made on the country, it was of fabulous wealth, and was the El Dorado of New Zealand!

“It was supposed to be,” said Clayton, “but I did not prospect it. I was one of the syndicate.” He added that the company could not pay their men’s wages, and the shareholders and debenture holders had to “dub up,” a deficiency of about £70,000 having to be paid. Mr Joyce said that gold to the value of £6400 w'as secured from the claim, but plaintiff said that the company did not pay its way, and no one got anything' out of it except the wages men.

“Yet you and others talked in the prospectus about the wonderful El Dorado you had!” commented Mr. Joyce. Clayton, in reply to further questions, said he never heard that Miles had appointed Wilson. He handed the keys of the property over to Wilson when the latter arrived from Sydney, as he was instructed to hand them over by the company’s solicitor, Mr. Kitchingham. Wilson had been living in the hut on the residence site, on the other side of the river from tho claims. He had worked only on the tail race, in which it was estimated by the company’s manager that 100 ozs. to 150 ozs. of gold had been left. “Good management,” said Mr. Joyce, but Clayton stated that they could not touch the tail race after the rights were taken over by the debenture holders.

Mr. Joyce: What do you intend to do with this property?—l might go on with the mining proposition, or I might not.

Mr. Joyce pointed out that some freehold land owned by Clayton formed the tailing site, and Clayton had given ’Wilson notice that no tailings must be put upon his land. The plant, machinery, and buildings on the properties had cost the company £42,000. Plaintiff agreed that it was a fullyequipped sluicing claim, and added that an electric generator had disappeared since Wilson arrived. He said he knew that Wilson had made an application for a resumption of portion of the freehold land, for use as a tailing site, but he had not gone to plaintiff about it; instead, he used “back door” methods, and went to the Minister. Plaintiff denied that he had commenced the suit for forfeiture as a result of Wilson’s application to have the freehold land resumed.

Mr. Joyce: What are you making this application for?—That is my own business. I might go on with the sluicing claim. “You have made no arrangements so far,” said Mr. Joyce. “You are just going to please yourself!” George Linklater, farmer, of Waitaha, and until four years ago a mining man, said he had lost about £lOOO in the Hochstetter Company. He paid cash for the shares, and still had a fine swag of them in his safe at home. He visited the properties on Sunday last, for the first time since the company ceased operations, and found that the tail race had been pulled up It would cost well over £lOOO to put the race in order. The properties had an abandoned look, and there was no sign of any work having been done since the company closed down. Mr. Doogan: From your experience ol mining, would you say there is any evidence of bona fide mining work having been done on these rights ? —On those I inspected, I could not see any evidence. " To Mi. Joyce: The only place where ton’T? TK b ° de P° sited was Clayton s freehold ground, which must be ® before the Property could be worked economically. The Mining Registrar, L. W Louis son gave details of the periods of protection on the properties, and said

that the last application was dated May 8, 1928. It was adjourned six times, and then. lapsed. The report of the Inspector of Mines, J. F. Downey, dated May 12, recommended that no further protection be given, as no bona fide work had been done on the property for six or seven years. FREEHOLD THE KEY In the course of a lengthy address, Mr. Joyce submitted that, taking all the circumstances into consideration, it was really a case for a fine, in lieu of forfeiture. The Warden was given power to exercise his discretion in that direction by the amended Act. He quoted several cases in support of his plea. for a fine. The freehold land held by Clayton was really the key to the position in that locality, so far as sluicing was concerned. In the reports secured by the Hochstetter company, it was stated that the country was particularly suitable for mining purposes. Unfortunately, the overseeing and supervision had not seemed to be of the best, and financial troubles struck the company after the war. Wilson had really been the caretaker in charge since the company closed down. The Government was now negotiating with Wilson, and he had great hopes that the freehold land would be resumed. He was an experienced miner, and should be given a chance to develop the country. One could read between the lines, and see that Clayton did not want any mining in the neighbourhood at all. On the other hand, Wilson was prepared to carry on mining work. If it turned out anything at all like the reports in the prospectus of the original company, it would be a big thing *for the country. Wilson was quite sure it was a good proposition, and he only wanted a chance to develop it. John Wilson, in the course of his evidence, said that he had secured as much as six ounces of gold per day out of the tail race. He secured an option to purchase the race from Miles for £lO,OOO. His personal opinion was that the ground was good, if properly worked. He had made arrangements for raising £5OOO as workingcapital straight away, but did not think it would require that much. He was working on the properties six or eight months ago, but Clayton notified him in writing that if he put tailings on his (Clayton’s) land, he would apply for forfeiture. He sent the letter to Miles, who asked him not to put any tailings on the land until the freehold was resumed. Witness had since been negotiating with the Mines Department, and accompanied an Inspector to the site yesterday. The Inspector estimated that the ground was worth two shillings per yard. Witness had.been told by the management of the old company that the ground was not worth one penny per yard.

In reply to Mr Doogan, Wilson said that he had put the pipe-line in order. He had permission to clean the gold out of the tail race. He got ready for sluicing again, but was’ prevented by Clayton.

Had you any right to put tailings ou Clayton’s freehold?—No. Wilson stated that he could raise sufficient money at any time, at Greymouth or elsewhere, provided he had a tailing site. The lack of such a site had kept him back. In reply to Mr Joyce, the Warden said that lie did not wish to hear any further evidence. “I do not think this is a case for forfeiture,” he said. There appeared to be. an honest attempt being made to restart the claim. A certain amount of encouragement should be given to defendants, to enable them to bring to fruition what they had been trying for a long time to do in the face of adverse circumstances. With the prospect of getting a tailing race to work in connection with the ground, he thought there was every chance of them getting the work going again. They had lost very heavily in the past, and it was not the policy — At this stage, Mr Doogan commenced to speak, but was stopped by the Warden. “I don’t want to be interrupted, Mr Doogan,” he said. “Will you be quiet?” It was not the policy of the Mining Act, continued Mr Meldrum, to discourage the introduction of capital for the working of claims which required new capital. It appeared to him, on the evidence that had been given by Wilson, that a genuine attempt was made now to get the thing on a payable footing. It was the Warden’s duty, in such circumstances, not Io discourage such efforts, but to encourage them. He would therefore inflict a merely nominal fine of £lO. Court costs and two witnesses’ expenses were allowed plaintiff, also £3 3/- solicitor’s fee.