AFFAIRS OF COMPANY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20307, 15 July 1929, Page 7

AFFAIRS OF COMPANY.

THREE DIRECTORS RESIGN. WHITE ISLAND PRODUCTS, LTD. A division of opinion regarding proposed alterations in the policy of White Island Products, Limited, has resulted in the resignation of Mr. 0. Nicholson, chairman ot the New Zealand board of directors, and Messrs. E. R. Davis and G. H. Wilson, directors. One director, Mr. C. F. Gardner, remains. The general manager, Mr. H. Welsh, resigned recently take another appointment. and "the secretary, Mr. W. C. Young, has also resigned. At a meeting of the directors on Saturday it was decided to leave matters with Major A. A. Mercer, attorney lor the English directors. The resignations will mean that the New Zealand board of White Island Products, Limited, will have to be reconstituted. A large number of shares in White Island Products, Limited, is held in England by the New Zealand Sulphur Company, Limited. The policy advanced by tho London directors was discussed at the meeting on Saturday at which the resignations were recorded. BOBBY CALF INDUSTRY. AUCKLAND SEASON OPENS. PROFIT IN BONELESS VEAL. Originating in Taranaki four years ago, the bobby calf industry is now beginning its third season in the Auckland Province and by tho end of the current month will be in full swing. At the Horotiu Freezing Works, where the Auckland Farmers' Freezing Company handles its calves, over one hundred have been put through this week. Those were the first of the season, and from now on the numbers will increase rapidly. " The season has commenced at about the same time and on a par with last season," said an officer of the company yesterday. By the end of July last year the works were putting through 1700 a day. In the following fortnight the output increased to 3000 a day, August being the peak month. By the beginning of September the numbers had fallen off to 1500 a day and dwindled steadily until tlie season ended.

The dairy farmer no longer looks upon his calves as " worth only the value of their hides," which ho often spoiled by unskilled methods in their removal. By disposing of them through the freezing companies for export as boneless veal, ho; is relieved of a great deal of trouble and a lot of unpleasant work at a period of tho year when the greatest demands are placed upon his time, and he receives in return the value of the hide, plus that of the carcase, which, formerly, was practically a waste product. The farmer's ability with the skinningknife previously decided the value of the hide, but at the freezing works the hides are removed in a fraction of the time he required, and in a condition v.hich assures the return of the full market value, a price the farmer's product can never command.

The price received by farmers last year leveraged about 9s a head, of which the hide was responsible for about ss. From present indications it is thought that this season's prices will average about the same, although in one quarter the viewwas expressed that the greater competition which was expected this year might result in better prices for the farmer. Increased demand is not expected, but'it is thought that Great Britain can absorb all the Dominion's output without a glut of tho market. MINING IN QUEENSLAND. REPORT BY" GEOLOGIST. In a statement, on the Queensland mining industry, which he lias prepared at the request of tho Royal Commission on Mining, Dr. 11. Jensen, a former Government geologist, said that the enormous rise in wages and the price »f commodities following the war brought about tho position that, only two classes of goldmining propositions could offer any prospect of paying. These comprised large, low-grade gold-bearing deposits, which were capablo of being mined and treated by machinery on a vast scale; and very rich veins and reefs of smaller size. By drilling in geolo-gically-selected areas new payable reefs might be discovered at Gympie. At Mount Morgan, be suggested, a geophysical survey of the field, where gold was an accessory in pyritic ores, might help to restore that field. If an additional £200,000 had been spent 011 the Chillagoe plant he was convinced the smelter would have been made profitable, but the closing of the smelters had resulted in a loss to tho State. There were large copper centres in North Queensland" which were well worth revival. Tho wealth of the State in wolfram and molybdenite was also mentioned by Di. Jensen, who directed attention to the nmgnificent arsenic deposits of ' land. Those at Jmnibar he said, sur passed all others in Queensland and prob ably in Australia. A prohibitive tariff should bo placed on antimony. In order (hat an official geological suivey of the State might be made in the most thorough and economical way, there should be a division of tno State into geological districts each having 11 resident geologist, with a plant of horses and adequate assistance. The present system of sending a geologist away to remote, parts of the State was wasteful in the extreme, and would never lead to a proper geological survey of tho State's resources.