TARATU-KAITANGATA RAILWAY AND COAL COMPANY

Otago Witness, Issue 2545, 24 December 1902, Page 9

TARATU -KAITANGATA RAILWAY AND COAL COMPANY

The second accrual general meeting of , shareholders in ihe Taratu-Kaitangata Rail- ! way and' Coal Company was held in the ! D-unedin Stock Exchange on Wednesday j evening/ and was attended by . about 16 ! shareholders, Mr W. S. Barnard (chairman of directors) presiding. j The following report for the year ended ! October 31 was submitted •by the' direc- ! tons.: — " Shortly after the last general meeting it lecame apparent to your directors that the ', contractors for the construction of the com- [ pany*s" railway .were not in a position to fully ' carry out their contract in terms of the agree- j ment with the company, and the company ar- j ranged with Mr Garden "Watson to take up the contract. The, work was proceeded with, and j the mine reached about Ist September last. I Since, that date the opening up of the mine ! has, been proceeding, and about £700 worth of . coal (used, principally ior steaming purposes) haa bsen.soid, and written off mining property account.' The directors, being anxious that the best' coal should be put upon the market for household purposes, have delayed pushing the sale of coal until the mine is further developed. It;became necessary for the company to put itself in » position to purchase rails and material, and to make advances to the contractor For .that purpose your "directors arranged with : the company's bankers for an advance up to dEIp.OOO, such* ..advance being secured r by the con- • tractor depositing his debentures A3 a collateral , security, the directors -themselves being personally responsible -for the overdraft. It will be ' seen that these debentures cover the bank and -deposit account. The items appearing in the ! "balunce-sheet'under the heading of outstanding ' cheques, and the "greater --portion of sundry > creditors/- have been cleared off since compila- ' tibir-of 'balance" sheet. the yearvMessrs John "Watson, jun., and John "Wells retired from the board, and to fill the vacancies caused Mr- Andrew' Mowat, of Arthur street,. Dunedin, ! and Mr R. Hudson, -jun.," were called to the | directorate. In accordance with the articles ! of association two directors retire' annually. | Messrs -Hudson,. sen v and, Mowat therefore re- j tire, and offer themselves for re-election. The auditor, Mr S. T. -Mirams, also retires, but offers himself for re-election." J The Chairman, in moving the adoption of , the report and balance sheet, explained the various items in the balance sheet in detail, and ' went on to cay that the property, as they all knew, was a very good one. Most of the shareholders knew the property. It consisted of some 1200 acres, and there was abundance of coal, and very good coal too. Unfortunately, they had not been able to get through the soft part at first, but the works had been carried on as systematically and as energetically as possible, and it would not- be very long mow,- they hoped, before they would be able to put on the market not only a first-class coal, but have a very large sale. There was a demand springing up all over the town and suburbs, and a great many very satisfactory letters regarding the quality of the coal had been received from thoee who had been using it. . A shareholder asked what basis the directors' had for thinking they jvere likely to strike on true ' Kaitangata coal — not lignite, but .true coal. Mr'Bjadson said that before he went into the company ho had made a lot of inquiries ac to' .the experience of those who used ' the coal when it was mined many years ago (when it -was carted to Stirling and competed -with^-'the Kaitscigata ,coal),and was informed that users of it found it to give put a much^fiercer heat and to last longer than Kaitangata. He also brought samples home wfth him, and tested it tor" himself, and his experience was that it was vciy good coal, but that, owing to insufficient care being taken at the mine, inferior coal was sometimes sent out. Mr Hudson mentioned that his firm used 50 tons per week of the Taratu coal, and thought that that should be sufficient to show the good opinion he held of it. The Chairman (Mr Barnard) said that had j it not been for the press representatives ! being present, he might have given further information, with regard to those who were '< using the coal, and also information which had come to hand that day with regard to certain persons in the country who were makiner large contracts with the company. There were seven companies in the district who were about to make contracts with them for the supply of Taratu coal for the next 12 months, after having thoroughly convinced themselves that it was superior to other coals. It was mentioned by a Director that a third order had just been received from a man living north of Shag Valley. Mr Greenslade said that much of the coal that had come from the mine was damp, owing to the soakage of centuries from thisurface, but that now they were getting through this into the dry coal, which would prove to have all the good qualities claimed for it. The report and balance sheet were adopted. -• Messrs R. Hudson, jun., and A. Mowat, %he retiring directors, were re-elected, and Mr George -Blyth was appointed .auditor at a remuneration ot 20 guineas per annum. The direotors' fees were fixed at 70 guineas, a Shareholder expressing the opinion that the fees were much too small. The directors Slave so far drawn no fees, and exps«essed their intention of drawing none till the com-

The Chairman mentioned that arrangements had been .made with the Government for a private railway siding for the company, which would do away with delay in railing coal. It was suggested that as many shareholders as could ehould take a trip out to see the mine during the holidays, and several of the directors expressed their willingness to accompany tHem. A vote of thanks to the chairman and the directors closed the proceedings.