BAY OF ISLANDS COAL COMPANY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6310, 7 February 1882, Page 3

BAY OF ISLANDS COAL COMPANY.

«. HALF-YEARLY MEETING. The half-yearly meeting of shareholders of tho Bay of Islands Coal Company was held yesterday in the Insurance Buildiugs,—Mr. J. C. Firth, chairman of directors, in the chair. The minutes of the previous halfyearly meeting were read and confirmed. The Secretary (Mr. H. Gilfillan, jun.) read the report of the directors of the company. The balance-sheet, copies of which were distributed, was taken as read. The following is the report of the directors :— Half-yearly report of the directors of the Bay of Islands Coal Company (Limited) for the half-year ending 31st December, IS3l:—The directors have to sales for tho half-vcar just ended have exceeded those of the previous half-year by nearly 1000 tons. With [ your directors think that still larger sales may be expected during the current six months. A considerable quantity of plate-laying has been done on the third section of the railway, and the terminal wharf is in a forward state. It is hoped that the whole of the work will be finished within contract time—viz., next June. The accounts for tho six months show an available balance of £2625 14s 3d. From this sum the directors recommend that a dividend for the half-year be paid at tbo rate of 10 per cent, per annum, making the dividend for the year SI per cent. This will amount to £1500, leaving a balance of £1125 Us 3d to be carried forward to the current half-year. The directors retiring by rotation are Mr. Firth and Dr. Campbell, who, being eligible, oiFer themselves for re-election. Two auditors will also require to be elected for the current year.—For tho directors, J. C. Firth, Chairman. Auckland, 2Sth Jinuary, ISS2. The accounts showed as follows :— Balance-sheet.—Atsets : Property held by the company, £25,277 17s lid; permanent works £9231 0s Dd; cash in bank, £309 6s 5d ; ca,h in hand and bills receivable, £02 10s; debts due to the company, £SU!)O Is 3d ; oflicc furniture, £147 Bs 3d ; goode in siore. £S«4 JSs; coal in hulk, £U0; total, £41,512 17s ad. Liabilities: Capital, £30,000 ; reserve fund, £2'JOO ; unpresonted orders, amount due for royalty and debts due by the company, £OSS7 3s; balance being profit, £282") 14s 3d ; total, £41,512 I7s 3d.

I'r.oKix Aso Loss Account—Or • Ualance from laat half year (less dividend paid), £1112 as 7d ; sales of 23,720 tons coal, rent, and other items £14 555 18s Id; total, £15,0G7 18s;8d. Dr.: Winning, barge service, railway, and other expenses (including depreciation, .eiVGS 10a Sd) £13,01* 4s r>d ; balance, £2025 143 Sd; total, £15,067 ISs Sd.—The accounts wore duly certified by Messrs. John Batger and T. L. "White, auditors.

Mr. Firth said : In moving the adoption of the report very little remains to be said. I have to congratulate the shareholders on the fair prosperity which the mine has secured during the past half-year under difficulties of au extraordinary character. Had it not been for the quarantine regulations, which very materially decreased the trade between this port and the port of Sydney, our deliveries of coal would have been very considerably in excess of the figures we have had to submit to you. Even with that extremely uufortunate circumstance our sales of coal for the half-year surpassed those of the previous half-year by something over a thousand tons. Then, again, during the half-year we have had to contend with the extremely low prices at which the Newcastle coal was sold in the Australian markets. Recent intelligence has come to hand to the effect that an advance of 2s per ton had been established in Newcastle. This, again, will improve our prospects, because I think it follows that, if we have beeu able to do the trade we have done against an Ss Newcastle rate, we shall not do less when there is a 10s Newcastle price, which I believe is the present rate. With regard to the railway, your directors were naturally anxious for the completion of the railway and the efficiency of the rolling stock provided for it. Now it appears that the Government is as anxious, or almost as anxious, as your directors to supply this very necessary want. The directors, I believe, have undergone, or caused Mr. Hall to undergo, one of those rather unpleasant affairs known as an interview. I am not quite certain that Mr. Hall has given them any answer but the stock one, "That the representations of the directors will be taken into consideration," but we hope the representations of the Board will not be without effect, and that the Government wijl . «ll LUC wuiplcrlUU Ul LUIS VCiy lmpOrtaut work, so that it can become available and advantageous not only to the company, but to the colony at large. During the halfyear, your directors thought it advisable, in the interests of the company, to purchase one of the diamond drills—l beliere the only one in this colony. This diamond drill was introduced at very considerable expense by the Government, and has been leased out to diti'ereut companies with more or less success. An opportunity having occurred for opening negotiations fer its purchase, I may briefly inform the shareholders that the purchase was completed, and the drill is now at work. They have bored down a considerable distance, but owing to the extreme hard nature of the ground, and the crevices here and there, the progress has not been so great as we would like to have seen. We believe a very important instrument has been secured to enable the directors to prosecute the search for the true bed of coal with much les3 expense than would have been incurred under any other syetem. From time to time we have had opportunities of sending over coal to new markets. Recently we have had the opportunity of supplying coal for the French market at Tahiti. Should this coal which has been sent as a sample prore Satisfactory, it may possibly lead to additional trade in that direction. I am glad to congratulate the shareholders ou the high character the Bay of Islands coal has borne in the past, and am glad to find that the opinions of eminent engineers still tend in the same direction. The last case is that of the engineer of H.I.G.M. Habicht, who speaks highly of the coal. It says a good deal for our general manager (Mr. Moody), that though the operations for this half-year have been exceptionally difficult in consequence of the " faults " met with, the expenses of winning the coal have been somewhat lower than those of the last half-year. It is a great pleasure to me to have to congratulate the shareholders on the fact that the directors are in a position to declare what I must consider a very handsome dividend of 10 per cent, for the half-year, making a dividend for the year of Si per cent. At the same time, I think it quite right, that notwithstanding our good management and the general economy and carefulness the Board endeavours to display in conducting the affairs of the company, it is only right that I should point out to the shareholders that from the beginning of this enterprise we have been winning coal under great difficulties. It has been frequently my duty to mention from this chair that we have been contending with what is technically known as "faults" in the seam —that the seam, instead of being one regular one, has been broken —as, indeed, may be expected in a country which lias been more or less under volcanic influence such as this one. I regret to say our operations are still conducted under this difliculty. We are still not clear of the "faults." I would only be too happy to congratulate you on their disappearance, and were we so free, I think and say we should have a property second to none in importance in the colony, so far as paying dividends, and for stability. At present the shareholders must understand that we are engaged winning coal from a district so broken. The more a district is broken the greater the expense of winning the coal. Still, in spite of these difficulties, the directors, with the able assistance of Mr. Moody, have been able to keep down the expense to a very satisfactory figure, and able to declare, which they shortly will, a dividend to the amount I have already indicated, besides carrying forward a very handsome sum to the new account. It is perhaps unnecessary that I should inform

the shareholders that the directors have deducted a very handsome amount for depreciation—in fact a very much larger amount has now been written off than the total paid-up capital. With these remarks, gentlemen, I do not think it is accessary I should do more than move the adoption of the leport, and the accounts a» already read.

Mr. T. Peacock, M.H.R., said fee had much pleasure iu seconding the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, but after the remarks of the chairman, it was unnecessary to say much further. In the course of some remarks, Mr. Peacock said the manager stated, in his report, that in one of the levels the reef had thickened from eighteen inches to five ; feet in the face, and it was most excellent coal.

Tho report and balance-sheet were unanimously adopted. On the motion of Mr. R. Keesixg, seconded by Mr. W. Dowdejt, the retiring directors, Mr. J. C. Firth and Dr. Campbell, were re-elected.

On the motion of Mr. H. Hartnoll, seconded by Mr. G. P. Pierce, the auditors of the company, Messrs. J. Batger and T. L. White, were reappointed. The Chairman announced that the dividend wonld be payable at the office of the company to-day. The report of the manager of the mine was on the table, and if any of the shareholders wished to see it, they could do so.

A vote of thanks was unanimously passed to the directors and the officers of the company. The Chairman said he had to express the thanks of the directors and officers for the compliment. The opening of a mine was an operation attended with difficulty at any time, but more especially in a country which had been subjected to the strong volcanic energy which seemed to have been displayed iu this part of the island. The directors had done their beat, and could not do more, and would do in the future as they had done in the past. They had been very ably supported by their mine manager, Mr. Moody, by the manful, energetic, skilful, scientific, and economic way in which he had conducted operations which were excessively difficult. Ou behalf of the Board, and of the various officers of the company, he returned the shareholders their sincere thanks for the compliment the shareholders had paid them.