THE OIL AND THE OOF.

NZ Truth, Issue 58, 28 July 1906, Page 5

THE OIL AND THE OOF.

TRICKY TACTICS IN TARANAKL

The Petroleum Pelf-Pinching Push.

A Warning to Intending Purchasers of Oil Shares.

The oil boom in Taranaki has apparently subsided amb petroleum just now is about as flat as the proverbial pancake. The reason isn't far to seek, for the clever cusses who are* ever seeking an opportunity to gulL the credulous crowd have, in this.instance played the game altogether-' too strong and by their audacious antics killed the goose»that, by/ more skilful treatment, might have laid., many a golden egg* Oil is "off 1 ' ! The public, having indulged in. one mad speculative fling,, and sent 1 . Moturoa shares up to a. .giddy height.from whence they, wilt probably topple gradually over, has sat down to<: await events. And as events, in the* shape of< something a. little more staple as regards Taifanaki's reputed'; enormous oil fields than we have hadt at present, don't seem in a hurry, to happen along-, there is a slump in matters -pertaining to oil -accordingly « v "Truth"' would be. only, too. glad to substantiate alb 1 the- glowing, accountsof THE MINERAL' . WEALTH hidden away in the bowels of Mother Earth in Taranaki if there were sufficient proof, for so doing. But this, paper, while" giving pride of place tQno one in wishing well of anythingfor the country's good, will not sit. down and let Maorilanders be gulled by pelf-pinching pushes who would' work on the credulity; of colonials for their, own ends. And. this is what seems likely- to happen as far as^ Taranaki petroleum prospects are con* ceraed. Directly, the Moturoa bore produced a good flow of oil and the^ company's £1 shares bounded up toabove £60, certain individuals laid their heads together to propound some scheme by which they, too, could line their pockets with golden "googies?' by means of Taran&ki's much-vaunted petroleum product. In a short Space of time their deliberations took the form of innocently worded prospectuses announcing the formation of various companies for the purpose of securing land adjacent to "the successful Moturoa well, in order to prospect for oil. Various high-sounding titles were attached to these embryo .companies, and similarlv high sums were fixed as "capital" for THESE PRECIOUS CONCERNS. But, smartly as were these schemes conceived, they do not appear to;---have been smart enough to catch< the oil boom at its ebb. As we have mentioned, oil is "off," for the present at any rate, and the wildcat schemes devised for inducing unthinkinf people to pour their money down variously located bore-holes on ttefair face of Taranaki seem destined to failure. The promoters of these concerns have done their best to foist the products of their fertile brains on to the public, and wholesale advertising, including many inspired paragraphs drawing lurid pictures of untold wealth, have-appeared day alter day in the papers throughout the colony. But, sad to relate, the public hasn't taken' to the idea to any extent worth mentioning and it appears as though the majority of these MUCHLY-BOOMED BOUNCE BUSI-; NESSES are desttaed to go bung- for lack ot financial support. This is as it^ should be. If speculators honestly think there is oil to be found in any particular portion of the Taranaki province, let them form a small private concern to do the prospecting. It is a pure gamble, and if their venture prove successful, they may rest assured the. public wall very readily come along and, as in the case of the Moturoa well, repay them handsomely for their efforts. But to attempt to draw the general public (into such agamble, is, to the last degree, contemptible, and requires the strongestcondemnation. One company in particular has been brought under the notice of this paper, fro wit, the Taranaki Oil and Freehold Company, Ltd. This concern, which includes among its interim directors William Thomas Jennings, M.H.Rt for Egmont, and Francis Peacock Corkill, Solicitor and Notary Public, two well-known public men, is promoted to acquire land at Tironga, about two miles from New Plymouth, primarily for the purpose of boring for oil. The area to be acquired, is according to the prospectus, 10 acres, and,, also according to the prospectus, THE PRICE TOBE PAID to the present owners of the land, Messrs G. W. Henderson and T. A. Low, is fixed at Four Thousand Pounds (£4,000) to be paid in cashWe mak& no comment on the probabilities Or improbabilities of finding oil on this site. It is situated directly inland from the Moturoa well, and. m may -or may not possess special features from an oil-boring expert's point of view. What we would pertinently ask the directors of this company is whether they have any right to ask the public to subscribe to a company which proposes to pay Messrs 'Henderson and Low £4,000 for land, which, at its utmost value is not worth more than £150 per acre, or £1,500 for the whole site ? Do , these directors, as hard-headed men of business, think they have the right to pay away a sum exceeding twice its nominal value for land, on the supposition that it may possibly, after some years, be found to eontain a payable oil well ; while remembering that, as is far more likely, it may never furnish a gallon of payable oil. Such gambling should be left to private speculators, and we contend that no attempt should be made to get credulous shareholders from the outside public to put their money into a venture of such a kind. As a matter of fact, Taranaki petroleum, much as we would like to think otherwise for the good of the colony in general, is altogether overrated. Mr Fair, borer at Moturoa well, which has .caused all the flutter, struck oil. What did he do ? He didn't let it flow for ? a couple of 1 weeks, prepared to stariS the loss occasioned bv so doine; in order to demonstrate the presence of j oil in great quantity. No ! He found I

the oil pressure sufficient for his pur* pose, and then turned the tap off and! ; made tracks post haste to Wellington in order to arrange for the promo-« tion of a large company. When he* returned he allowed a few, newspapers, men to stand by f whilst he turned on< ■ the tap a little-way,* and when tha , oil squirted up to- the ceiling the/ pressmen were very- much impressed; and wrote LONG, LAUDATORY NOTICES to their papers all over the colony about the genuineness of. the^well., We read that since the "find" to the; present time 16,000 gallons of oilil have beeii obtained from, the Birth- . day -well at Moturoa ; which proves? - nothing, because to be of any com-' : mercial value a yield of not thous" ands op l - but of hundreds of millionsof gallons must be assured. , Can Mq. -, Fair, of Moturoa, .or any living^ -^ soul, be he the> greatest acknowledged!? expert in the business, guarantee »■ that Moturoa or any other well ire, ; the New. Plymouth distriot will yield- ! to any payable extent ? We doubt it H The fact remains that the" oil-bearing- ; district lies within a triangle formed; ', .'bv three extinct volcanoes— Egmont. ; Sugar, Loaf and another some two>> \ miles out to sea from - Waftara* What iis more probable then that in/-, past ages, : this land, has again and. [ again-been rent; asunder Try* seismic dis- ■ v turbances and ; what oil it possesses^ j is' but contained in small pockets*. ; having no regularity or capacity., .Even admitting for the moment thafcf oil in- payable quantities is to ba : found in Taranaki, what then ? Whenir locals capital has. been spent to excess, <in bringing s THE OIL? INDUSTRY .- into actual being a gentleman named Rockefeller, of Yankeeland, if he be, alive, and his successors if he be dead, will probably inquire the price. . for the lot as a going concern and' pay the cash up, and shut the wells down. The Standard Oil Octopus has played the ,game so often that it realhr won't hesitate in this case to. 1 preserve its monopoly, even in God's Own Coiintry. Having shown just how visionary] a thine the Taranaki oil game really, is. even in the case of the Moturoa Company who have actually, after years of heart-br.eaking perseverance, struck oil, -we revert again to the impudent attempt of the Taranaki Oil and Freehold Companv. Ltd., to raise £15.000 capital to exploit ten .acres of land at -Tironga, between Vogeltown and the Carrington Road. Happily this audacious bunkum seems doomed to failure, but it might have succeeded, and shareholders would have whistled to, doomsday for anyi return for their money. New Plymouth people, thos'e, that is, who are not interested in the success of the bubble, openly aver that ths i; one and only object of the fidtatioh l the Taranaki Oil and Freehold .Co., Ltd., was to sell those ten acres : of land, which until a short' time ago belonged to Richard Cock, ex-Mayor of New Plymouth, but of which Georere Wvndham Henderson, of Wei- , lincton. and Thomas Alexander Low, of Wanganui, are now the ownersThis land, without the chance of finding oil, is worth, at a fair valuation, not a penny more than' £1500, vet the prospectus boldly aunouncea I that the owners are to receive > £4,000 IN CASH for it. That is the shareholders are asked to "av £2,500 on the- oS chance of the land containing oil. IU will, of course, be -contended that thej 'area shows special signs of being saturated, with oil underneath ; but, just how far below even this audacious prospectus hasn't got nerve en* ough to say. We leave our readersto judge, by the years of struggle* and disappointment experienced byj the- Moturoa Co., with its conseqweniiexpenditure of thousands of pounds* just what sort of a run for their, mone^- they are likely to obtain by\ investing in the recently conceived^ Taranaki Oil and Freehold Co., Ltd., Whether Mr William Thomas Jen-> nings. M.H.R., is entirely cognisant! of the manner of the enterprise tot which he has lent his name we are? inclined to doubt. As for Mr Francis Peacock Corkill, Notary Public, he; should be competent to judge, for it} was but a few years ago that he wag prominently connected with a com-* pany, formed with a capital off 1 £30,000 or £40.000, mostly English' money, to exploit. Taranaki oil and! .ironsand, which , has not up to thet present returned, and is hardly likely) in the future to return, any profit to its shareholders. Anyhow, we ''Tfto^c*-* "Truth's" searchlight sfoeti on thej ' methods of- petroleum aelf-pursuing? persons round New Plymouth district^ * will be the means Of iritendispi ( shareholders from mjhing in J;a<spe"ndi their cash until they, ' have 'made them* selves thoroughly /acquainted wittf the prospects.