VALUATION OF DREDGING PROPERTIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2455, 3 April 1901, Page 21

VALUATION OF DREDGING PROPERTIES.

WELLINGTON, March 27. Mr Haussman, valuer of the County Council, takes exception to the telegrams from Hokitika re the valuation of dredging properties. He denies that any indignation is felt at the action of the Assessment Court in upholding his valuation, or that the statements attributed to him and the county chairman were made by them. HOKITIKA, March 26. Great indignation is expressed at the Assessment Court upholding the valuation of the county valuer of mining and dredging properties. The act directs that the valuation be made on the auction values of the properties. The valuer admitted that, but declared he could not follow the act and had valued according to the face value, not the saleable value, of the various companies' shares. The county chairman, in the witness box, supported the valuations, which are regarded as a serious blow to the mining industry and amounting to blackmailing. DREDGING v. FARMING. (From Otjb Own Cobbespondent.) GORE, March 28. A writ has been served on the Waimumu Queen Company, at the instance of Messrs Mackenzie Bros., landholders on the creek, claiming £100 damages, and calling on the company to desist polluting the "Waimumu Stream, otherwise an injunction of the Supreme Court restricting the company's operations •would be applied for. Messrs Kenyon and Hosking are acting for Messrs Mackenzie Bros., and the company (for which Mr Bowler is acting) intends defending the action. The case will probably be heard at next sitting of the Invercargill Supreme Court. SEARCHING FOR DEEP LEADS. AUCKLAND, March 31. The Government have decided to assist in boring operations along the foreshore at the Thames to discover if the Caledonian and other lodes tending seaward can be intercepted at a deuth. The boring plant is to be lent free of charge by the Government, who also grant a subsidy of 10s for every pound expended by the Victoria Gold Mining Company, who own the claim. The total Government contribution is not to exceed £1000. LEES FERRY GOLD DREDGING COMPATTY. The first annual general meeting of shareholders m the Lees Ferry Gold Dredging Company (Limited) was held at the registered office of the company, 17 High street, Dunedm, on the 26th ult. Eight shareholders wero present. The Chairman of Directors (Mr W. G. Somerville) presided. Mr Leijon sent an apology for non-attendance, being at present away from Dunedin. . The directors' report was published in our columns on the 18th inst. The balance sheet showed that during the year the preliminary expenses (including brokerage, £134 7s 6d) were. £212 11s 3d, salaries, £68 15s; and directors' fees, £63, other charges bringing the total expenditure up to £383 13s lid. The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the report and balance sheet, said the directors did not think it was advisable to go on with the building of a dredge until the Grey River had proved itself to be a payable dredgingarea. Mr Leijon visited the claim towards the end of last year, and on his return said he considered it was desirable the company should proceed by putting down bores in the claim to see if it was payably auriferous, and to find out to what depth it would be necessary t3 dredge. By an oversight Mr Chester's report on the boring was not printed along with the annual report, but it had Appeared in full in the press. (Mr Chester's report appeared in these columns last week. In answer to Mr W. Howes, tlie Chairman said the cost of the boring operations conducted by Mr Chester was £73 13s 3d. There was also a sum of £8 for hire of plant. The depths of the bores were • No. 1, 30ft Bin; No. 2, 16ft, when a large boulder was encountered; No. 3, 32ft llin; No. 4, 30ft 2m. Mr Howes also asked when Mr Easton was elected a director, and was informed by the Chairman that it was oil the 11th March last.

On the motion of Mr Howes, seconded by Mr iCasto'i, the leport wa-? amended to show that Mr Easton was elected a director on that date TLe leport as amended was then adopted, and the balance sheet was. adopted without amendment. Mi Howes moved that Mr Martin Pearce and himself be elected directois. He moved m this direction at tnc rcque=t of a large number of people who had sent proxies to him. They thought the suggestion to liquidate the company v, as "too previous." It it did rot turn out favourably, however, then the step now proposed shou'd be taken. Ihe motion was seconded. Mr iiaston proposed the ie-election as a director of Mr Somerville. If the company uas to be wound up this step would save expe.i'-e. Mr Hoisted, secretaiy, seconded the motion. The Chanm-ui pioposed the j.e-elcction oi Mi Easton es a directo:. Mr Hoisted second the motion. Mr Easton .°a,d he would like the public to know that if electee! he was pieparcd to give his services to the company giatuilously. A \ otc was taken, resulting in Me«sis Howes and Peaice being elected directors. The voting was Howes, 3985 votes, Fearce, 3985, E?ston, 300 , Somerville, 300. Mr Howes said it was not his wish to seek a seat on the directorate, but it had been pointed out to him that the company's affairs should not be m the hands of people who had predestined it oo death and bunal. Mr Easton But the longer jou keep a sick man living the longer the doctor's bill is. Mr Howes There is no proof yet that he is sick. Mr T. Chalmer was re-elected auditor. Mr Easton said he wished to lodge a protest. This company was floated by Messrs Cook and Gray in March last. The prospectus described the claim as a good dredging area, and the public w?re recommended with confidence to invest their money in it. Mr Chester, who had just inspected it, and who was for many years in the employment of Mr "W. R. Cook, condemned the area, and said it was absolutely valueless as a dredgmg claim. That was the position of affairs at the end of twelve months. On behalf of himself and other shareholders he wished to enter a strong protest against thb charges made for nursing the company for a period of twelve months, at the end of which time they were told the claim was absolutely useless as a dredging area. In the faoe of that report, it was the duty of the shareholders to make a united stand, and ask thi late directors — Messrs Leijon, Cook, and Somerville — to return half their fees, the secretary half hissalary, and Mr Cook half of the biokerage. No one would ha-"c objected to the charges m the balance sheet if there had been any actual work done to further the interests of the shareholders. He might a.di that if the company was not liquidated, it was his intention to go to Wellington and place the whole of the correspondence, together with the deed of sale from one Mr Taylor to Mr Cook, before thd Hon. J. G. Ward and the Minister of Mines. Mr Howes said Mr Easton was not an original shareholder in the company, and was therefore not influenced by the prospectus m taking an interest in the company. He was on the Coast. He saw the claims, no doubt, and had eyeiy opportunity of getting information, and, presumably, m consequence of his information he bought into the company, thinking that the Grey River was bound to be a success, and that as outside people would be coming in to get shares he would reap a, profit. It was true that Mr Chester was employed by Mr Cook practically as a prospector, but certainly not as a man who was able to work a boring plant. He (Mr Howes) had been mixed up with Mr Chester in mining matters, and anyone who , knew him in that capacity would not class him as an expert in boring operations. Mr Easton was actuated by personal motives in the matter, j and he (Mr Howes) objected to the company being used as a shuttlecock to further his personal end 3. Mr Easton asked by whose instructions Mr Chester did the boring. The Chairman said when he visited the Coast a short time ago it was left to him to have the ground bored, and he arranged with Mr Chester to do it. Mr Easton said Mr Howes was not correct in his assertion that h.e (Mr Easton) had any personal motives m this matter. He had no personal animosity against either Mr Cook or his office, and he would take that opportunity of remarking that during the short period he had known Messrs Cook and Gray's office he had never experienced other than courtesy and civility at the hands of the secretary, Mr Hoisted. He became a shareholder m the com- ' pany on Mr Cook's recommendation that the shares were well held and taken up by the most infhiential people in Dunedin He not only took up shares himself, but recommended parties m London to buy into the company. His intention was not to take the shares for speculation. At the time he was buying paid-up s-hares, and he would have been prepared to pay up the 250 shares he held and keep them as an investment. With respect to Mr Chester, he wished to say he had a letter in his possession from the secretary of another company, the directors of which, on the strength of bores and tests made by Mr Chester, had decided to. liquidate the concern. That showed that Mr Chester was regarded by those gentlemen as somewhat of a mining expert. Th Chairman said he would like to explain why Mr Chester v>as asked to bore the claim. Some two years ago Mr Cook recommended Mr Chester to him as a prospector of very considerable experience, and he employed him to undertake some work xn connection with syndicates. In somp casi3 Mr Cl-ester condemned the claims, and m others he recommended that dredges should be procured. When he (the speaker) was on the Coast Mr Chester was available, and he gave him the work to do. He made these remarks in defence of Mr Chester. Mr Easton explained that he had not been able to get a sight of the document relating to the sale of the claim from Mr Taylor to Mr Cook The secretary told him that it was in the hands of Mr Holmes, the solicitor, and on going, m company with Mr W. C. MacGregor, solicitor, to Mr Holmes' s office for it, he was informed by Mr Holmes that Tie could not see his way clear to produce it without a written order from the secretary. Were not all the documents open to shareholders for inspection on payment of a fee? Mr Holm»s said he followed tho t sual course of not producing a document belonging to another person without an order from that person. He took it the document did not belong to the company. Mr Easton contended that the document formed part of the deed of sale. The prospectus stated that it could be seen at the ofHce of the company. Mr Holme 3 repeated that it was not the company's property. Mr Howes referred to a special meeting of the directors, held a few days ago, when a transfer of shares was refused by the two directors who attended. They took advantage of the clauseas they had a right to do — in the articles of association which allowed them to refuse to pass transfers without giving reasons to the persons interested. Would the directors now assign reasons for their ruling? The Chairman said that, as Mr Howes stated, the directors were quite within their rights in what they did. They considered that as the company would probably go into liquidation it would be advisable not to pass transfers. Mr Easton said he would not have passed a transfer for any person. He would not have done it for his own brother,.

Tho Chairn>an said he would like to add, befoio rhe discussio.i closed, that if the diie;tors of the company when iirst appointed iiad qov.e to the e::pe>-se of ordeiii'3 a dredge, theieby iiicuiriuK hajre liabilities, the position 01 the shaiebolders to-da/ woiild h.i\ c been r.incli nioi c serous thaa it actually ws. The shareholders, he thought, had something to be thankful for in that lespect The protect en'eied by Mr Esoton against the management oi the company was lccoidcd on the minutes. An extraordinary geneial meeting of the company was then he'd to consider the following lesoiutior. —"That the company be wound up \oluutanlv under the provisions of 'The Companies Act, 1832,' and its amendments." In moving the motion, the Chamnan laid befoie the meeting Mr Chester's leport on the le-nlt of his borin-j opeuitions He said he had received a letter from Mr Chester, who was lepo'.ting on .n.othcr company m the wciuity of the Le;3 Fern, to the effect tlirt the t^aim wps pait of a large bsrien belt on the Grey River which had bepn prospected by himself r.nd othci mining experts. It had proved to bs valueless foi gold diedging piupcse". Further, the directors coi sidered that to woik giound to the depth that was reported by Hi Chester, about 30ft, a much heavier dredge would be required th m any now in use on the Grey River, and as far as the directors could judge sufficient capital had not been allowed for m the contributing capital of the company. Mr Howes asked if it was not the fact that the belt the chairman referred to included a large number of claims upon which experts had leported favourably 9 His objec in asking the question was to bring out that Mr Chester was making statements contrary to the statements of a number of well-known mining experts. Of course, Mr Chester might be right and the others wrong. The Chairman said that Mr Chester stated in his letter that these claims wrEhm the belt had been bored by himself, Shgo brothers, and other well-known experts. The belt contained no registered claims. Mr Easton said that if Mr Howard Jackson or Mr Barney had been employed two months after the formation of the company to test the ground they would not have been m the position in which they now found themselves. He complained that the management did not employ the proper men. The motion wag seconded by Mr Easton. Mr Howes asked if the directors had submitted Mr Chester's report to Mr Don, and asked him hew it was he had made a. favourable report on the claim ? The Chairman said they had not. Mi Howes mcved as an amendment — " That ihe directors submit Mr Chester's report to Mr Don, who originally reported on the claam, and ask him to report to them if he has altered in his opinion on the claim cince making his report, and in case he is still satisfied that the claim is a good one that they take further steps to have the claim proved. That if, on the contrary, he reports against the claim, another meeting be called for the purpose of considering the position of the company." In reply to Mr Easton, the Chairman said the following were the names of the vendors, together with the shares they held —Joseph Taylor, 520, C. T. A. Broad, 120, O. Kay, 120; W. R. Cook, 240, John Gill, 200, W. R. Cook, 800;— total, 2000. Mr Howes thought Mr Cook was holding some of the shares m trust. Mr Martin Pearce seconded the amendment. Seeing there was a great diversity of opinion on the matter, he thought the meeting might adopt the amendment unanimously. The amendment was carried. A vote of 'hanks to the chairman concluded the business. GROGAN'S POINT DREDGING COMPANY. An extraordinary meeting of shareholders in tha Grogan's Point Dredging Company was held in the board room of the Agricultural Hall on the 26th mst. A bare quorum of seven was present, and Mr J. H. Hancock occupied the chair. The meeting was called to receive a statement as to the results of boring the claim, and to consider the future position of the company. The Chairman explained that immediately after the directors first met Mr J. P. Smith was asked to bore the claim and report. The following is a summary of Mr Smith's report on the claim, which includes about one mile of the Upper Cardrona Creek, and consists of three small flats, separated from each other by narrower portions of the river bed-— The depth and nature of the ground and bottom as proved by each bore are as follow. No 1 bore. Surface, 4ft 6in above river; 18ft 2m deep, including lft 6m into soft rock bottom , no gold. No. 2 bore • Surface, 3ft 6in above creek; depth, 12ft, including 2ft 6m into soft rock bottom; prospect, one colour. No. 3 bore Surface, 2ft 6m above creek; depth, 3ft 6m, to pipe clay bottom ; bored 22ft 6m into bottom— total depth, 26ft, no gold. No. 4 bore. Surface, 3ft above creek; depth, 4ft 6in to pipe clay bottom ; 12ft 6m into bottomtotal, 17ft; no gold. No. 5 bore Surface, 2ft 6in above creek depth; 7ft 6m to. pipe clay bottom , prospect, one colour. No. 6 bore Surface, lft 6in above creek ; depth, Bft to hard rock bottom, no gold. No. 7 bore Surface, 3ft above creek , Bft to pipe clay bottom , prospect, two colours. No. 8 bore Surface. 2ft above creek; depth 7ft to pipe clay bottom , no gold. No. 9 bore Surface, 4ft 6m above creek; depth 7ft 9m to soft rock bottom, prospect, one colour. There is little or no m> worked ground in the claim that could be dredged. It will be seen that m Nos. 3 and 4 bores the rods were put down 22ft 6m and 12ft 6m lespectively into the coal measures. These bores were in a tough clay all the way except where a two-inch seam of lignite was passed through in No. 3. The pipes could not be driven further into tins material without incurring the danger of losing some; and had wash been found underlying the proved thickness of clay (over 20ft), the nature of the stripping would offer a serious drawback to its been diedged. The nearly horizontal coal measures rest unconformably upon the schist rock, which dips at an angle of 75 degrees fiom the horizontal. The lock contains numerous quartz bands, and where undecomposed would be difficult to clean up with a dredge bucket. The prospects resulting from the nine bores (only five small colours) prove that the worked ground does not contain sufficient gold to be again profitably worked by any known method. I regret to say that it is therefore my unpleasant duty to inform you that the claim is worthless

I The Chan man said the question rs to --ia\ should be done with the company new a^osc? It had been suggest?. 1 by Mr TSciV, ihe ™ere- ! tary, that they should find another claim. °o at | to save the coat of flotation, and this v->s a I mattei foi the consideriho i of the nueet.^t,. I Mr Sipdeberg suggested thnt the best thing would be to wind up The Chairman said Mr Neill had put m * letter, which was as fo'lcv/s — "After reading the report on. the above claim furnished by Mr J P. Smith, I requested Mr TV A. Cutten, of Cutten Bros , to examine the claim and let me know if he agreed with Mi 1 Smith. Mr Cutten has informed me that ho has visited the claim as requeued, and, b S far as lie can see and from what he can learn from peop'e in the district (who should knov), he (Mr Cutten) is satisfied that most of the ground has been worked, and the balance of the giound ] would not pay for the expense of placing a, ] dredge on the claim. I therefore im satisfied, 1 after two such expert opinions, that it would" I be a waste of money to cany out our contract I as far as this claim is ccrcerned Seeing your ! company have been put to a very large expense ! m this matter, and m order to save your shareholders from a loss which they must =ustam if the company is put into liquidation, I have spared neither time or expense m trying to secure a property th?t would turn out not only remunerative to the company but would put the shares to a p emmm as soon as the value of the property thoroughly piospected was made known. I enclose some particulars ci the property I propose to offer, which 13 known as the Saxton Extended. I have examined this property, and am so satisfied thst it is very rich in gold that I am prepared to bear the cost of any prospecting you may require ths>t you may be convinced as to its value. Enclosed you will find ar plan of the claim showing its local situation^jtod also reports of prospecting done by the of the claim (Mr Beverley). I can also refer you to Mr James Bradley, of Westport, who can give you any information you may require.'" The Chpirman said this letter was presented at the last meeting of the directors, but they had no opinion to offer upon it. Mr Courtis considered it would be ?. pity to rush into liquidation. The money m the application, allotment, and the first call would all be absorbed in this process, and there would be a loss to shareholders ; and the public, among whom might be some of the shareholders in the company, would have to find tho capital to float a company to work the new claim, and it was not going to cost them any more, as Mr Neill was going to prove thi3 claim. He was not prepared to say anything about the Saxton claim, but he thought it would be a. pity for them to go into liquidation right away under the circumstances. He was rather in favour of accepting Mr Neill's offer, and if the new claim turned otit to be no good they wero in no worse position than they were at present. He would move that Mr Neill's offer to substitute the Saxtoa Extended claim for the claim that had been condemned be accepted in terms of Mr Neill's letter, and if prospecting proved the claim to be valuable th?t the directors be recommended to secure it if the terms did not exceed the amount in the prospectus — namely, 1600 vendors' shares. Mr Neill would not like to say anything to influence shareholders either one way or the other. Speaking as a vendor of the claim he had told the absolute truth when he said he had any trouble over the company. He had selected the Saxton claim out of about 50, and; it contained about 50 acres, and was bought by Mr Beverley at £8 per acre. He had examined: the ground right out to the sea coast, and it all seemed to be of the same nature. It was composed of a sort of gravelly sand, and there was gold from the very surface. A pound weight of the stuff could not be handled without gold being found, and it was suitable in every way for dredging. There were no stones bigger than, a man's fist, and tho stuff was very easily treated. The proportion of sand was about one-fourth of the gravel. The property was situated right alongside the railway line, anH there was a geod road to the claim, and it was in every way suitable for economical working. He proposed to put through 5001b of stuff and give it a thorough test. Mr Ferguson seconded the motion. The Chairman said that personally he was not in favour of taking up this West Coast claim. If ihis cla-im were as good on Mr Neill said it was there would be no difficulty m floating a company to work it, and it should be worked by an entirely new set of shareholders. He would oppose taking up the West Coast claim, being strongly in favour of liquidation. He thought they should have liquidated before this. He would move an amendment that the company go into liquidation forthwith Mr Marks seconded the amendment, wh^ch, on. being put, was lost. The Chairman then said he thought the meeting should be adioumed for a larger attendance of shareholders, pointing out that the.'c iveie the i present three independent shareholders, and amcrg ths rest were the secretaiy and his clerk. The present meeting should hay? bee-i called a.t least five months ago, and he had tirre after time requested that it should be called. If a number of shareholders I wished to carry on the company let them do it, but many of them said they wanted it wound up. Mr Neill thought it rather unfair that the chairman should have made the remarks he had. He had to pay Ins calls, and his clerk had to do the same. The Chairman I am not reflecting upon either you or Mr Cossei s — not at all. Mr Neill said he was acting m what he believed to be the best interests of the shareholders, and if ho had thought liquidatioi the best course he would have voted accordmgiv. As far as the venders' shares were concerned! he wou'd not be he'ding one. Tho Chairman then put the motion, which, was carried, the chairman and Mr Marks voting against it. TUCKER FLAT GOLD DREDGING COMPANY. The annual meeting of the Tucker Flat Gn'd Dredging Company (Limited) was held at {he company's office (Messrs Cook and Grey's) last Wednesday. A quorum of shareholder being present, the chan was taken by Mr Y\\ G. Somcrville, and th following business wa trirsactcd — The annual rcpoi t submitted stated, inter alia — "In pr-»sf>ntii'sj the bianco sheet for the { pcuoa ending 23th Febiuary, 1091, vom directois I beg to repcrt that, upon taking ofice, they con-

eidered it advisable to have the claim bored end prospected — the boring being necessary in order to find out the class of dredge and length cf ladder required Mr Chester, mining expert, lhad the boring done under his own supervision, nnd reported an average yield of 20gr per cubic ward from the various bora holes put down, the depth being 27ft to 28ft. Mr Chester recornjnended v, very strong dredge to be put on, stating ' It would be very inadvisable that such a, good claim as this should be starved by putting on a light dredge.' During the year one of the directors (Mr Leijon) has visited the claim, and, as already advised you by circular, confirms the opinion of Mr Chester. The engineers (Messrs Cutten Bros.) also recommend m, strong dredge, and have estimated the cost of X suitable dredge at nearly JE9OOO. Under these circumstances your directors consider it necessary to increase the capital of the company t>y the issue of additional shares, and with a •■view to this ha\e issued herewith notices for an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders ito decide upon what course to pursue, as the present capital of the company is insufficient to provide a thoroughly suitable dredge." The Chairman, in moviffg T&e adoption of the report and balance sheet, said he considered at right to read to the meeting the reports which had been received from Mr Chester and Mr Appleton. Mr J. t±. Chester reported as iollows ■ — " I have the honour to forward to you my report re boring on the Tucker Flat Gold Dredgine Company's claim near Hokitika. Acting -under instructions from W. R. Cook, Esq., I -visited your claim at Tucker Flat in company -with Messrs Cook and P. J. Perry. I indicated an my opinion where the bore should be put, down to Mr Appleton, who had charge of the -"boring operations. On June 28 I>«ceived a Better from Mr Appleton that he b.«jtettomed. D[ went down to Tucker Flat, saw W^ko bores called by Mr Appleton No. 1 ar.d No. 2, measured the depth of bores, and received the jresultant debris from the bores. After questioning Mr Appleton about the depth of the (different strata and their strike (thesatfbores ibeing about one and a-half chains apart, and She strike of strata being towards the terrace), 1 (deemed it advisable to have another bore put tfown about eight chains nearer the terrace, and after consulting Messrs Wild and Perry, who were with me, I gave instructioas to Mr Appleton to put down such bore. On August 1 I again went to Tucker Flat to receive Mr Appleton' s report, which you willj&nd attached, measured the bores, although Mr Appleton has Dnly reported on one bore, called by him No. J. The boring of No. 3 was not satisfactory, is it was not bottomed (vide Appleton's report), fcut from data gathered on the ground the fcottom would be 36ft, and your dredge must be capable of working to that depth. The opinion t expressed when first visiting the claim,was that •the ground would be richer and most probably deeper under the high terrace. The gravel deposits on the claim are very hard and compact, -with a much larger percentage of stones than in any claim I have seen in the Grey Valley, except Moonlight Creek ; hence it will be absolutely necessary that a very strong dredge be put on the ground, and the buckets should not Ise of less capacity than six cubic feet, on account of the heaviness of the water. It would "be inadvisable that such a good claim as this is should be starved by putting on a light dredge. I cannot hold myself responsible ie any way for the partial non-success of boring operations, &s I was instructed only to indicate where the tore should be put .down, and to report on the jesult of boring " P.S.— Attached are the results of boringBore No. 1, 21ft 6in dee t 3; bore No. 2, 25ft deep, equal 46ft Gin, yield of gold Hgr. This equals 17.743gr of gold per cubic yard. Bore -No. 3, 24ft deep, yield of gold 2gr. This equals 55.887gr oi gold per cubic yard. I may add that practical experience teaches me that I may *afely add 20 per cent, to the yield of gold got by boring." • Mr E. Appleton, m charge of the boring plant, reported as follows • — "Re Boring at Tucker Flat.— l beg to report as f ollows : — No. 1 bore, 10ft gravel wash, lft 6in fine sand, 10ft heavy stony wash, then .bottom (soft sandstone) ; — total depth, 21ft 6in {No. 2 bore near creek, 7ft surface gravel, wash Bft, sedimentary grave! with small stones, 9ft moderately hea\ y. wash, then lft in bottom ; — •total, 25ft Concentrates from No. 1 and No. 2 (bores contained in parcel marked No. 1. No. 3 ■bore 7ft surface stony gravel. 12ft hard sedimentary gravel, sft heavy wasl with very hard stones;— total, 24ft, but did not bottom as at ithis depth I had to abandon the bore on account of failure of the leading pipe. Concen-^ trates from this enclosed in parcel No. 2. " I beg to submit the following detail report of work done by me in connection with boring «t Tucker Flat. I started on June 5 with three anen, and after getting the plant on the ground ■I sunk shaft 6ft from the bottom of where I •commenced my first bore, and after sinking tthis'l3ft through hard, stony wash I had to ■withdraw my pipes, as the shoe of the leading pipe collapsed. I then repaired it without loss •of time, and started to bore again from bottom •of same shaft, getting down 27ft Gin from suriace on to the sandstone bottom, and let the qaipes remain temporarily as instructed. This 'is referred to as bore No. 1. I then started ibore No. "2 ne?r creek, wliich I put dowfi 25ft, -«nd bottomed without any special difficulties, 'jexcept the quantity and hardness of the stones in the lower wash. This is referred to as bore No. 2, and was measured "by you on June 30. July 2 and, 3 were occupied in raising the pipes 4rom these bores; on the 4th removed plant and started to bore on the site indicated getting dowwn 23ft r 4ft being in very hard stones. At rthis depth the leading pipe failed, so I had to -withdraw them. I then started another bore near the same site, but only succeeded in putting it down 24ft, when the leading pipe broke •away from the shoe and flattened m, so that I ■was obliged to withdraw the pipes without being able to get bottom. In conclusion, I may stat? ithat the Tucker Flat ground is exceptionally "difficult to bore on account of the quantity aiul 'hardness of the stones, more on account of their size, as I met with none in the boros more than 2ft through. Trusting you will see in this statement a satisfactory explanption of the time occupied and expense incurred." The Chairman also mentioned that he had Teceived from Mr "Wild, of Hokitika, a letter dated 21st of March, stating that from information lately received the writer was prepared to vouch for their being no less than Bft of gravel, going about 4dwt to the yard, underlying the .present workings in the property, and reniaricdng that it was this layer of gold-bearing wash that had brought up the results of the bore". It was also right that he (the chairman) should etate that Mr lieijon, who had visited the property, was well satisfied with it. Mr W. Howes seconded the adoption of the report, and the motion was carried without dissent. Messrs S. Brent and W. Howes were elected directors, and Mr T. Chalmer was re-elected cuditor. At the close of the general meeting an extraordinary meeting Was held for the purpose of .considering a proposal to increase the capital of the company. The Chairman said that after the results of the prospecting, which had been made known to them at the preceding meeting, he had no hesitation whatever m proposing a resolution to increase the capital of the company. The engineers had supplied them with estimates for two dredges, one to cost £7750 and the other to ccsi £9000, but recommended the company to lake the stronger dredge It became necessary, therefore, rs they all knew, to luaeaae the

capital of the company, and he mo\ i. — " That the capital of the company be increased £5000 by the creation of 5000 new shares oT £J each." Mr Brent seconded the lesolution, -v 'nch was unanimously adopted, but vail requ.re confirmation rt a subsequent meeting to be io.vened for that purpose. THE RATEABLE VALUE OF A DREDGING CLAIM. At a sitting of the Mining Assessment Court for the Tuapeka County at Lawrence on Monday the Gold Queen Dredging Compiry objected to the valuation (£5000) placed on their claim by the valuer. Mr Percy Jhicassey (instructed by Mr J. White) appealed m support of the objection, and Mr Crooke for the valuer. On behalf of the company it was stated that the last >ear was only assessed at £2000. The company's dredge commenced operations in July last, and for the 31 weeks during which she had been at work had won 5570z, an average of 16ioz, ay 1 the working expenses had averaged 13i oz per neck The company had not paid i d.vidcaJ Nothing had happened since the asfesfm- t c c the pievious year to warrant the increase Ihe -\ alue of shares in the company had fallen from £2 2s 6d to 275. Mr J. J. Gibso. 1 , the valuer for Tuapeka County Council, deposed that when he made his valuation in Januj.iv shares in the company were quoted on the Stock E -- change at 32s 6d, and taking into account that the capital was £10,000, he considered iS i £5000 was a fair valuation. He valued the claim with the dredge on it as a going concern. Had the dredge not been at work he would have assessed the value at £2000 (the amount paid to the vendors). Mr Macassey argued that the fact that the dredge was on the claim should not be taken into consideration. The cl&im must be valued according to the gold won from the ground. Mr Crooke, in reply, contended that the assessor was entitled to take into consideration the fact that a dredge was on the claim, which greatly enhanced its value. "Warden Stratford s«id he upheld the principle on which the valuer had based hip assessment. The value of a claim must naturally increase or decrease according to the quantity of auriferous ore extracted from it within a given period. This could not be done without tools, and as a dredge was the means employed to extract the gold from such claim as the one assessed he hejd that its presence enhanced the value of 'th"c claim. It proved the value of the ground from time to time. The valuer acted as an independent person, and had no right to consider what was best for the local body, but what was fair as between the owner of the property and his employers. He agreed with the valuer that the value of the shares of a company on the Stock Exchange was also an element which should be taken into consideration in assessing the value of a mining property. Taking the value of the shares of the Gold Queen Company at 32a during the month of January and the return of gold won, he failed to get the same valuation as Mr Gibson. His figures worked out to £3003, and he would accordingly reduce the valuation to that amount. WICKLOW GOLD DREDGING COMPANY. The annual meeting of the Wicklow Gold Dredging Company was held in the office of Messrs Cook and Gray, High street, on Thursday afternoon, and was atetnded by some 12 shareholders. Mr W. G. Somerville presided. As soon as the proceedings commenced, Mr Howes asked whether a shareholder was entitled to be accompanied by his legal adviser. This had reference to the fact th«t Mr W. C. MacGregor had entered the room and taken a seat near to Mr Herbert Easton. Mr Easton said lie had never heard such an objection taken before. He had many times attended meetings in London, accompanied by a solicitor, and the point had not to his knowledge ever been previously raised. The Chairman thought that Mr Easton was perfectly within his rights to bring with him a solicitor to represent his interests. Mr Howes desired to know if that might also be done at a meeting of directors. The Chairman thought that it could be, and said that Mr MacGregor had been present at the meeting of the board of directors that morning at the request of the board. Mr Howes : And you allowed him to remain ? The Chairman . Mr MacGregor has been appointed solicitor to the company. He was so appointed this morning. Mr Howes: Personally I have no objection to Mr MacGregor being present, but I think it is highly improper. The minutes of the first annual meeting were then read, and the meeting asked to confirm them. Mr Howes objected to the minutes on the ground that they were incomplete. He had moved that Mr Holmes be the solicitor for the company, and that did not appear on the minutes. Mr Holmes had previously acted, and his name had appeared on the prospectus of the company. The Chairman believed the minutes to be correct, and said that he should confirm them on the vote of the meeting. Mr Howes might have his protest minuted. At this stage Mr Holmes entered the room, under the impression that he was attending as solicitor for the company. When asked if he remembered being proposed* as solicitor, he replied- "I have not the slightest lecollection." On learning that during the course of the morning Mr W. C. MacGregor had been appointed solicitor to the company Mr Holmes was about to retire, saying there was no need for his attendance, but was urged to remain as a share? holder of the company, and consented, but took no part whatever in the proceedings ; nor did Mr MacGregor; but Mr Howes expressed himself in a few words strongly against the action of the directors vn appointing a solicitor two or three hours before the annual meeting. The report was as follows • " Your directors beg to submit balance sheet for period ending 28th February, 1901. Your directors when appointed considered that as the Grey River was not pioved as regards dredging, they deemed it advisable not to take steps to hftve a dredge constructed until some of the adjoining claims had shown payable results. During the year your directors visited the Coast, and arrangements have been made with an expert to have the claim prospected by boring, and your directors hope to be able to lay his report before the shareholders at the forthcoming general meeting. During the year Mr W. R Cook retired from the directorate, and Mr H. E. Easton was elected in his place. Messrs Somerville and Leijon are the retiring directors ; the auditor, Mr T. Chalmer, also retires. AH being eligible, offer themselves for re-election." Mr Somerville then moved the adoption of tha report, and m doing so said that the recommendation to the directors at the last meeting had been not to proceed with the dredge until the other dredges had proved the river. After the other dredges had started with very good results it became known that the class of dredge placed on the river was too light, and that the ladders did not reach the bottom. The directors thought it necessary that the claims that had been floated by Messrs Cook and Gray should be bored to enable them to find if they were auriferous. Mr Chester had been entrusted with the boring. That had been done by himself as chairman, with the authority of the board. They had hoped to lay a report before the shareholders at" this meeting, but, uii fortunately, the report was not to hand. They would see thnt during the last month Mr H E Easton had been elected to the boaid — (Mr Howes "On what date?") On the 11th of March. The contributing capital of tjie comp-

any amounted to £5030, and he was \oicing ihe opinion of the directors when he said that they would either have to call up more capita.l or allow the company to go into liquidation. A meeting of the directors liad been held that jro-.nm;, at winch Mr W C MacGicgor had ': -n pppoiiitcd solicitor to the company, and S. T M'rarns had been appointed its secie- ,-, m place of Mr W. Hoisted, of Messrs Cook and Gray. Mi Howes asked the reason for these changes ? Mr Somerville replied that it was the unanimous opinion of the direclois that they should bo made, and that they had been made in the interests of the shareholders. Mr Howes said the directors held 350 shares amongst them. Mr Somervillo remarked that as directors they had acted as trustees for the whole of the shareho'deis. Mr Easton said he much preferred to ask questions concerning people who were present, but in this instance he had to make inquiries concerning an absent shareholder. It was, howc\ er, at the request of a number of shareholders that he asked how many meetings of directors Mr W. R. Cook had attended, and what proportion of the directors' fees, amounting in all to £63, Mr Cook had received. It was ascei tamed and stated that Mr Cook had attended one meeting (the first), and that he had been paid the same fees as the other directors, there had been no deduction from the fees on account of his non-attendance. Mr Howes said that Mr Cook had been looking after the interests of the company in many other directions. The duties of a director did not by any means consist of merely attending meetings j"d drawing the ' screw. ' Mr Easto.i said a good many shareholders had expres.=ed very strong opinions upon this matter. He knew there might be exceptional cases in which a, dnector who could not attend meeting? rmaht we!! be entitled to fees, but this was not such a casr. Mr Cook had attended but one meeting during the yea-r, and he considered it wrong that shareholders' money should be devoted to the payment of fees to anyone who did not discharge the duties of his office. A Shareholder expressed the opinion that quite possibly Mr Cook had been of service to the company though he had not been present at the meetings of directors. It was often the case that local directors were appointed who could not possibly attend meetings. Mr Somerville remarked that local directors supplied monthly reports, and were appointed for that, purpose, but Mr Cook had not been appointed in that capacity. Mr Easton was inclined to move that Mr Cook be requested to refund the fees he had received, but two shareholders urged that such a motion was inadvisable, and it was not moved. Mr Howes moved that the date of Mr Easton's appointment be inserted m the annual report. No objection was raised to this, and, the addition being made, the report as amended was adopted. On the question of the election of directors coming up, Mr N. Y. A. Wales said that whilst he had nothing whatever but good to say respecting Mr Miram3, who had been appointed secretary of the company, he strongly objected to the way the appointment had been made, on the eve of the annual meeting. An officer should not have been so appointed. It might be necessary to wind up the company, and an officer at a lower salary, and one not having an agreement for a year, might have been preferable. Mr Howes thought the directors merited a vote of censure for their action in this matter, and expressed the hope that they would not be re-elected. Mr Somerville maintained that the directors had acted m the best interests of the shareholders, and mentioned that they had arranged, in the event of the company being wound up, that Mr Mirams should only bo paid fairly for the services rendered the company, and should not claim the full year's salary. Mr Wales then proposed Mr Howes as a director ; Mr Howes pioposed Mr Wales; Mr Easton Mr Leijon ; and Mr Leijon proposed Mr Somerville. A ballot was taken, and the result was as follows:— W. Howes. 2175; N. Y. A. Wales, 1925; W. G. Somerville, 350; Leijon, 300. Messrs Howes and Wales were therefore duly elected Mr T. Chalmer was reappointed auditor, and the proceedings terminated. THE NGAHERE GOLD DREDGING COMPANY. Mi Jas. 11. Chester reported as follows to the secretary of the Ngahere Gold Dredging Company undei date, December 4 — I have the honour to submit to your diiectors the following report re boring on your claim at the mouth of Nelson Creek. I received instructions from Messrs Cook and Scott, directors of your company, to put down one bore on your claim, more, with the view of finding the depth of ground than anything else, at least that is what I understood at the time. I put down the bore — depth, 27ft lOin ; bottom, sandstone. I got a little gold in the top sft of gravel, yielding less than one-eighth of a grain of gold. The remainder of the bore was entirely barren, not even the finest colour of gold being obtained. After the first sft of gravel was gone through, the remainder was a tight stony wash, very hard to boie. As I have tested several other claims immediately adjoining your claim, by boring, and have found them as valueless as your claim, I most decidedly should not think of testing your claim further, unless 1 had received instructions from Messrs Cook and Scott to do so. I do not feel justified m recommending any further prospecting of your claim, as your claim iorms a portion of a large area of barren ground in the vicinity. This is all the information I can give about the claim. Mr Joseph Scott, a director, reported on March 1 — In accordance with my promise in my last letter, I have now to report on the work done and results obtained — No. 1 shaft, half a chain to the north of Chestei's bore hole, was sunk 12ft, and gave from three to five colours to the dish all the way down. Our trouble was owing to the water in the bottom, which we had to bail, and al c o use asm spear pump, but still it overcame us. We then decided to put down No. 2 shaft (at the site indicated on plan), but after getting down 7ft we had to abandon it owing to cutting a bed of quick-sand, f=o that practically we could not say what was obtainable from it. All shafts were sunk 3ft by sft, and on an average we obtained 10 grains to the load, which meant about one-half of what was in the ground. We then went out on to the beach (marked 3 on the plan), where we could get 16 colours on a long-handled shovel on the surface. W T e prospected here for three days, and from what we obtained I feel quite justified in recommending the erection of a dredge to work the property, as, in my opinion, it will be a dividend-paying concern. I might also inform you that the other claims adjoining (as shown on plan) have also, m prospecting by boring, given excellent results. I enclose acquittance sheet for work performed, having paid the men myself, also plan. Kindly put my views before my co-directors, and let us get to work of putting on a dredge at once, as I believe there is a big future before us in this particular claim. In foi warding the reports to shareholders the Chairman states that the directors, after duly ■ considering the reports, deem it advisable, in view of the results and the insufficient capital of the company, that a meeting of shareholders be convened so that a course oi action may be

decided upon. A motion to wind up the compai'y will be proposed at the meeting. BONANZA GOLD DREDGING COMPANY. The first animal meeting of the Bonanza Gold Dredging Company was held in Mr D. Lamach's office, Colonial Mutual Buildings, on Friday e\emng, and was attended by some 15 shareholder. Mr A. James presided. The annual leport was as follows — " Shareholders are aware that owing to the default of the \ endor in not furnishing a claim of the area stated m the prospectus, an extraordinary general meeting was held on the 12th day of December last, and it was resolved to abandon the claim on Branch Creek, Cardrona, and that the directois should endeavour to get a good claim, and submit the same to a futuie meeting. The directors have under consideration various offers of claims, and are now taking steps to get an independent report upon what they believe will be a suitable claim. The directors hope very soon to be able to recojimend to the shareholders a claim which will offer good prospects of success. Two of the directors — Messrs Ilhngworth and Wiffen — retire, as also does the auditor, Mr William Reid. Mr Reid offers himself for re-election." The Chan man said there was little to add to the report. The position was not satisfactory, but the circumstances had been quite beyond the control of the directors. There had unfortunately been difficulty, with the vendor, who had been unable to complete his contract. That matter had been brought before the shareholders, who had lesolved to abandon the claim and ask the directors to look out for another claim. Numerous offers of claims had been received, and out of thefae there was one which the directors thought might meet the views of the company, and that steps ought to be taken to obtain independent reports upon it. As the annual meeting was clo c c at hand, however, the directors thought jfc well to bring the matter befoie tlie shaieholders befoie incuiring expeiisc, with the view of getting an expression of opinion. If it was deemed advisable to get another claim the expense of flotation would be saved, but if the shareholders thought it better to wind up the company at the present stage, of course the matter was entirely in their hands. It was for the majority to decide. Should they decide to get another claim the directors would do all they could to avoid getting a bad claim and to secure a good one. Some shareholders had written protesting against the company going on, and others had written complaining of the yeaTs expenditure. As to the expen.=es, the directors were not responsible for the preliminary expenses, and he thought it must be admitted that the lav/ and other charges vv? r e i mos:, reasonable The directors had had a great dsal of woik to do, and a very anxious time, and had taken much trouble in connection with offeis of claims which they iia-d received from various localities, exterduig from the West Coast to the Bluff. Mr W. H Futh, who represented the Oamarvi shareholders, complained thaht information had not b?en afforded them, and said that the Os,maru people were much dissatisfied with the balance sh^et. There was a feeling that httic hid been done, and the fees should not have Itt' charged. The country shareholders would like to know how long it was since the dnectors <3i=eo\ ered that the claim was not what it had been represented to be by the vendor, the first intimation of which fact had been given them in the balance sheet for th<* year. The Chairman remarked that the last statenisßV was inccirect, since a circular setting forth the facts had been itsned to shareholders on the 28th of November. Mr Frith admitted he had overlooked that fact, but said it had been nearly 12 months before the facts had been made known. He thought so much time should not have been slowed to elapse before steps were taken either to liquidate the company or to improve its position. The Oamaru shareholders now peiitxored to have the company liquidated. Mr M. Coughlan explained* that the directois had found it necessary to act cautiously and dehbera-tely, and by so doing had protected the interests of the shareholders and their own interests, which were identical. He thought they were much indebted to Mr James for the way he had helped them out of their difficulties, an« pointed with satisfaction to the fact that the legal expenses, which might have been most serious, weie almost nominal. For his own part, he had 200 contributing share 3, and not one farthing's worth of interest in the company outside those shares, and yet people with 10 or 15 shares abused him and other directors on the assumption that they were not acting in the interests of the shareholders, and were anxious to string matters on for the sake of leceivmg 5s a week as directors' fees. The suggestion that such fees were profitable to business men was utterly ridiculous. The only thing the directors desired was to protect and advance the interests of the company. Mr Easton thought it quite unreasonable and unusual to object to the payment of fees or expenses to directors who attended to the business of the company, but quite otherwise when (though this did not apply in this case) they failed to do so. The adoption of the report was carried nem. con., and also without dissent. Messrs Wiffeu and Fiith (Oamaru) were elected directors, and Mr Wm. Reid auditor. Mr George Sievwright expressed to the meeting his regret that the Bonanza claim had fallen shoit in area, mentioning the circumstances which had misled the company. He now mentioned that he was almost — but not absolutely — in a position to offer as a substitute a claim on the Kawarau. The plans and reports on this claim he laid before the meeting, and gave particulars of the terms, which he believed tha

vendors would accept. Several shareholders expressed confidence m the directors and apprcnal of the terms offered, and the diiectorsi weie authorised to enter into a contract acquiring the claim on the lines indicated by Mr Sievwright. The resolution was carried nem. con., and the chairman, after stating that the desire of the directois was simply to do what was best in the interests of the shareholders, intimated that if it was deemed advisable the directora would call the shareholders together again before concluding any agreement. A vote of thanks to Mr James for presiding brought the meeting to a close THE GUNTON'S BEACH GOLD DREDGING COMPANY. The first annual meeting of shaieholders of the above company was held on the 30th ult., and as the shareholders of the Blue Bell Company also had the right to vote (amalgamation, of the c e companies having been effected), considerable interest was evinced in the election: of directors, which lesulted as follows — Messr3 J. 11. Roy (chairman), H. White, Isaac M'Farlane, Rcbert Hay, George Gunton, and John C union The title is now the Gunton's Beach Amalgamated Gold Dredging Company (Limited). The following is the annual leport submitted — " In submitting their first annual statement of accounts and progress for the year ended' 28th Februaiy, your directors have to report that immediit"°l}'on taking office they appointed Mr E. C. Robert? their engineer, giving him, instructions to place, at the earliest possible date, a suitable dredge on the ground. Plans were forthwith prepared, and the machinery contract (£5300) let to Messrs Cossens and Black; constiuction of pontoons (,£1100) to Messrs Kmwstubb Bros.; Maishalls engine" ai.d boiler (£615). All these contracts to ba completed by June, 1901. After contracts were aH let and work put in hand by contractors, a requisition was sent in to the directors by the Blue Bell Gold Dredging Company, accom-pai-ied by one fiom a poition of the Gunton' a Beach pliaieh curlers, suggesting an amalgamation ot both companies' claims. The poss.bihties of both properties were very carefully and cvwiifctivel/ entered into, both claims being Lv"<ied end piospecied by practical miners imeips w <;cl m both companies, and f. f ter various meetings held under the direction of the company's solicitor Calvcit) the co.icnisioni a rived at was, that it would be advantageous to both companies that amalgamation should ba effected!, wh-cH consummation, as you are swsie, has been attained. A ni)rnb3r of your directors .vir.ited the clsims, end, in addition to the ■\arimi3 hciing t^t? rtnde by exprrU, had the claims 'uoopc •tej s^ e»rry fate r.v<ui3 ■■>!?, and srt; «-i-'i:i,-ie I ih'i t'i» pma'gamated con.Uany ha^ a piouerty p\-ce l li'd by few, if any, i\i tha district. In purvoancp of the agreement with, iht Bine Beil" Company, the whole of the uirectors — namVy, Messrs Roy, Cameron. Mnson, Robcrtsoi, And Gunton retire, but are eligible lor le-e'ccticn. Mr A T. Finch also retires as vu'di'er. but i-» eligible Tor re-election." The Sec*ts>-y (Mr S. T. Miramsi read the following reiDoit of the progrc-ts of the venous contract 3, which he had received fiom Mr E. Robert 3, the company's engineer — " The pon-. tcons have bstr. launched and the upper framing is nearly all in position. The contractor expects to complete within the nex; foitnighfc oi three weeks. "SVire ropes have been procured and forwirded to the claim. Machinery: Ladder together ready for riveting ; e'evator Logether re.idy for meting; elevator buckets being riveted ; elevator links forged and partly bored; elevator rollers all finished; mam buckets blocked out aaid put together, mam upper tumbler finished; condenser nearly finished ; screen. rollers and brackets finished, winches all put together and. nfarly finished; first and second motion shafts fijmbod; all gearing, pulleys, plummer blockafunabcd, air, fcjcl, and bilge* pumps finished; fair leads un^er way; ele\ator lower tumbler fli'shed; link finished, and aaveall bara fin'shed. The contractor s f ates that he will be finished within contract tirue. Tenders should now be called for cartage." DAY LAWN GOLD DREDGING COMPANY. An txt.-f,o'(.' 1!'1 !'- l ary general meeting of the Day ])r*-'i G-o'd Dredging Company was held on Thursday evening. There was a fair attendance. The Chairman (Mr Somtrville) laid before the meeting the following resolutions .—(1) "That the capital of the company be ncreased to £7850 by the creation of 850 new shares of £1 each." "(2) "That anything in icgula^ion No. 27 of table A to ' The Companies Act, 18S2, to the contrary notwithstanding, the directors are hereby autnorised to issue such 850 new shares as fully paid-up shares, together with the 400 shares remaining unissued of the original capital of the company also as fully paid-up shares, in satisfaction pro tanto of the purchase money for any dredge which the directors may purchase for the companj'. ' Before the resolutions were put, a discussion ensued. The chairman was requested to read Mr Roberts' s report on the claim, and one of the shareholders desired an explanation as to why they dispensed with his services,- seeing that he was appointed as engineer to the company. Was it because hegave f»n unfavourable Teport on the claim 9 The only reason tendered was that they did not get the cons.deration they were entitled to. A shareholder of the Nugget Company's cla'rn commenced to give a glowing account of that claim, and advised the Day Dawn directors to take it over. According to the^sreakei, the Nugget was a second Hartley and Riley. One of the Day Dawn shareholders asked if the claim was so good, why not keep it 9 and if it would only take £500 to put the dredge in a.

position to bottom their claim, surely they could manage to raise that. The shareholders present eeemed to favour the company being wound up, and a committee was appointed to confer with the directors and discuss the position. After ]two hours of lively discussion, the meeting -Stood adjourned until that day two weeks.