CORNISH POINT GOLD DREDGING. COMPANY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2412, 24 May 1900, Page 21

CORNISH POINT GOLD DREDGING. COMPANY.

1 The first statutory meeting of the Cornish Point Gold Dredging Company was held in the Garrison Hall on Wednesday afternoon, and was attended by about 20 shareholders. Mr T. M'Cracken v/as voted to the chair. 'i'he number of directors was fixed at five and the remuneration at COgs per annum. Messrs Julius Solomon, A. Srnaill, A. C. Bioad, J. A. Burt, and R. M. Marks were elected directors. Mr Martin Pearce was the only other person nominated. j Mr T. S. Graham "was appointed auditor at a remuneration 01 £7 7s per annum. „ THE NATURE OF THE CLAIM. Mr Harman Reeves (broker of the company) said that he would like to place some information before the shareholders, in view of the statements that had been circulated regarding ; the claim. Mr P. W. Payne (.the engineer), i who had intended being present, had sent this i letter . — " Dunedin, May 9. " Messrs Barman Reeves and Co., Dunedin. '" S rs, — I regret nay absence from" town will i prohibit my attending the first meeting of shareholders of the Cornish Point Gold Dredging , Company (Limited). Regarding the prospects of the venture, I can only confirm the report ! already given you, and which appears in the > prospectus of the companj^. I am confident j the claim can be dredged, and I have shown I my faith in it by applying for 200 contributing ! shares, which I have no intention of selling. — i 1 am, yours truly, | "P. W. Payne." He had asked Mr Kitto to attend the meeting, ■ and had received from him a reply in the fol1 lowing terms : — " Kawarau Gorge, May 13. " Messrs Harman Reeves and Co., Dunedin. ' Sirs, — I am in receipt of your letter of Bth inst., asking if it is possible for me to attend i tho first meeting of shareholders in the Cornish Point Company. I should like to attend j very much, but cannot get away. I understan.l ' there aie a number of so-called dredging exj perts mnning the property down. You need ; not, however, take any notice of these people, ; as I have caiefully gone over the property, and am confident it will be a splendid dredging i investment. I have had upwards of 16 years' I actual dredging experience, and should know I what I am speaking about, and can confirm Mr j Payne's report. — I am, yours truly, j " John 5\ Kitto." • Deeming it advisable to got some cutside infor- '■ mation to place before the shareholders, he | had written to Mr Peter M'Laren, of the j Hartley and Riley dredge, for an opinion of the ■ Cornish Point claim. Mr M'Laren was well known, and it would be conceded that his opinion was worth considering. He wrote as , follows : — "Croniwe.ll, May 11. " Messrs Hairnan Reeves and Co., Dunedin. " Sirs, — You have asked me to give you an opinion on the Cornish Point Dredging Corn- • pany's property. This lam pleased to do. i Looking at the claim from Cromwell, one : would naturally regard the claim as a most \ difficult one to woik — in fact, unworkable; but when you cross on to the claim and view it • from the top end, you can then see what a very valuable property this must be. Anywhere in three or four hundred yards at the

top end a dredge can enter from the Kswaiau side. When I ots at work en the Junction Electric claim alongside jour tcp boundary, we got our best leturns, which proves co'iclusively that the lend of gold is running into ycur claim. In fact, it is quite xsoasible that the rich lead of gold we are at present working on tho Hartley and Riiey cbim runs thioiigh Cornish Point. I have no doubj that wi.,h a large and powerful dredge the Cornish Point Company's clfim must turn out to be a splendid dredging investment. — I am, ycur titily, " Peter M'Larek, " Hartley and Biley Dredge, Cromwell." These letters, continued Mr Reaves, spoke for themselves, but if the dissatisfied shsreholdcis were still not content he suggested thai they should set up a co.minittee to Lave the cLum inspected, and his firm (Reeves and Co.) would pay half the expense of an expert report on tho property being obtained.— (Applause.) The Chahiuan ssid that leports coming fio'n such men as Mr Kitto and Mr M'Laien wcie worth something, for thes' wou'd not be hkeiy to risk prejudicing t]j.2ir positions by giving f.ilso leports. He (ihc chairman) knew the claim, and although at first sight it might appear difficult to work, it was a good dredgeable property along the foreshore — piute as good as th n .i of the Third Electric. Ho was qiuie certain, from the reports given them at that meeting, "thai the claim would be jound to be the success represented by the brokers and the gen'lemen who had reported upon it. A ShaieLolder said that while not wiah'ng to tliiow any ?lur upon Mr Payne, ho thought it would be vfll for the directors to get another engineer to \isit the claim md make a thoiou-jn lepor* upo.i it, ■:uch :epcrt to be submitted to the slipreholdo: -. It was only f.Jir to th^ shareholders that this should be done. He hud been in a good many companies, but did noi knew o[ any thet had been ltin down tbp way this had been. Some practical men from Cromwell hal gone so far, in com ersation wiln him, a..a '.. to say that the claim should neve." have been pat upon the market. He ■nould move — '"I 1 list before proceeding any further tha directors be requested to obtain the opinion of two experts as to the possibility of dredging lhe claim successfully, and to submit the report to a meeting of the company.'' Mr D. C. Canici.cn moved — '" That the offer of the bioksrs to bear half the cost of an expert report be acceptsd, and that the directors be recommended to appoint a mining engineer and a piaotical dredgemastor to inspect the claim and report upo.i it at their earliest convenience." This was seconded by Mr Smaill. The mover of the original motion accepted that of Mr Cameron, and withdrew his ovn, and Mr Cpmcion's motion was earned unanimously. Mr Fi&her, a mining engineer, said he happeiied to be m Cromwell when the Cornish Point cloiru was put upon the market, and he went and had a look at it. Viewed from Cromwell, only a face of lock is seen, but if one went round to the bottom and. &Ide of the claim a nice face of wash wp.s encountered. It was at the lop cido of the claim that the Junction Electric got her big returns, and the bottom of the claim that tho Hartley and Riley diedgo was on the rich lead. He thought the lead -.vent right through the point. Although there was undoubtedly a lather formidable lot of wash, he thought it was quite possible it could be worked by a long elevator. Mr Solomon said tha-t the face of rocks referiecl to by the previous speaker did not belong to the claim at all. The claim was behind the bluff of rocks. i'he Chairman said that 2500 of the shai'23 were held m Cromwell, and that m itself showed that the local people had confidence in tiie claim. Mr H. Reeves said that his firm would not accept any claim unless it was favourably reported on by some accepted engineer. That course was adopted in regard to the Cornish Point. After it was floated he hoard various rumours, and personally visited tho claim. He saw evidence of work-ng being carried on by miners, and one or two rri.iers who v.-eie there took prospects for him and. washed, them out at the river. Ho had seen prospects taken fiom a. good many claims, but had never seen such good prospects as he then &aw. He was quite satisfied after his visit that they had put a really good venture on the market. He wss perfectly fatisfied with the claim, snd intended h?«vi<ig 500 shares in the company before the dredge started working. He might say that the piov so^al directors had secured the right to a dam abo"\ c the claim, which would give them four or five heads of water for 24 hours every week to bring down the face of the wash for ths dredge to work. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr Reeves for the energy displayed by him in republishing the engineer's reports at a veiy critical time.