THE MINES OF NEW ZEALAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2785, 31 July 1907, Page 38

THE MINES OF NEW ZEALAND.

MINISTER'S ANNUAL STATEMENT. SATISFACTORY PROGRESS. (Fwac Om Own Coomsspondeht.) WEIXTNOTON- .TnW •*_ The gross value of ail minerals proauced during 1906 amounted to £3,871,811, being £249,025 in excess of the amount produced in 1905. The Mines .Statement states that the colony has now the distinction of possessing in the W-aidii Gold Mining Company and the Westport Coal Company •the most productive jfofd-mining and the third most productive colliery company in Australasia. The quantity of gold entered for exportation through the Customs for the year 1906 was as follows: — Auckland, 295,4170z. i Nelson 29440z. West Coast 104,7430z. Otago and Southland, 160,7390z. Total, 563,8430z. The total output was valued at ' £2,270,904. In the Mines Department's annual report it is stated in regard to quartz mining that ac developments proceed satisfactory promise of the future prosperity of the quartz mining industry is -obtained. At ths Waihi mine, the Martha and other reefs are maintaining their values. At tbe Talisman mine 1500 ft vertical has been proved on the vein, and the dividends declared are increasing in value. On the Thames -field payable gold has been obtained in the May Queen •mine at a _ depth of 720 ft, and at the Waiotahi mine development work at the lower levels is meeting: with succees. At Reefton a depth of 1700 ft has been attained, and dividends are still forthcoming at one mine after 33 years' successful operations. In the State of Victoria, .reef mining is now being carried out profitably at a depth of 4175 ft, and from the evidence the above mines supply it may reasonably be anticipated that the strong quartz veins of this country will prove as .permanent as those now worked in Victoria, Operations at the State coal mines have been extended, sand depots are now established at Wellington, Christchurch, and Wajiganud for the sale of the coal to the public. The insult of T.rospectinpr on the coal reserve in the vicinity of the Point Elizabeth oolliery has disclosed valuable seams of ooal of a highly bituminous nature. The proftte of both State mines durmif? the financial year amounted to £8460. The increase in the kauri gum export continues. The total export had at the end ef 1906 ireaohed 275.319 tone (value £13,#43,017), and about 5000 diggers are engaged on the pumfielde of the colony. The Mines Statement contains the following: remarks regarding hydraulic and alluvial mining: — "Tiheee systems of mining: are confirmed to the goldfielde of the South Island, the principal centres in the Nelson, Westland, and Otapo provinces, wfhere, it is to be regretted, a diminishinsr output of gold annually takes place. This is due to the exhaustion of the shallow deposits by *fih.e large fleet of dredges built a few years »g© and by extensive hydraulio sluicing •operations, also to the absence of water in the more remote auriferous localities. The Uamaffci Gold Mining Company, which received a subsidy from the Government, has introduced a novel principle of workine auriferous gravels. The water is raised from the Tuapeka River to a height of 30 feet by means t>f a dam, and from that elevation operates a turbine and pump, giving a discharge of five heads on the terrace 150 feet above bhe river level. The waste water beinjr returned to the Tuapeka River. This com-pa-ra.tivelv inexpensive and efficient system of obtaining 1 power for hydraulic sluicing miffht b© advflntaqf-eonsly applied in other parts of the colony. The future of alluvial mining depends upon the ■working of the lower grade and the more inaccessible deposits, which have been neglected or overlooked by the earlier miners, or else riave defied them by reason of the conlitions under which they occur." | "Dredge mining is thus referred to: — ' The most extensive drrdffinir fields are ntuated in Otoco and Southland, where, ilthough a small Falling off in the output las to be recorded for 1906. the ror.tinuince of successful operations for some •ears i-o come is assured. On the "West "Joßit drrdov TrHivrifr cannot W> considered o be in a flourishing- state, the working of ' lats havinor often proved a failure o\vins ; o the difficulties encountered in* working, ; >r t.ho absence of parable pold. The lumber of di«eds:e<3 at work at the end of .906 was 167 — a d-ecrea*^ of 13 as com- ' >ared winh those operating at the corre- ' ponding- period of the preceding year. Phesum of £103.722 was paid in dividends >y 57 dredges, the property of r©fri»te-rcd omplßinies. The products of privately- j ►wned drods^s are considerable, aa these j lumber 110, but the amount paid by } hem is not available." The Minister of Min^s. in his annual x tatem<»nt, makes th-a Wlowinjar remarks j esardinsr petroleum : — " Xo further die- ] overies of pefcroloum have been recorded c inee. that at Moturqa, near New Ply- i louth, referred to in tnv last annua/1 \ ta-tement. Several companies have h^en f ■>rmed, and horinsr operations are being: a crively carried out, but up +0 the prewnt t sine no eon^irlerablp sunulv of hi«-h- f ressure oil hae been proved, although ihe C ualrty of that flowinc at the prospecting 4 ornpany's well is satisfactory Prospect- a lg operation* are also being carried on ait t lotuku. near Lake Brunner, ou the Weet ' fcaefc of th© South leland." 1

{ MEETING Of €REDITD*S. 1 Ik ~Re John Robebtsok, Hotelkkbper. A meeting of creditors in the estate of John Robertson, late iotelkeeper of Alexandra, now of RcsJyn, was held 4>efcire Mr C. C. Graham, official assignee, on July 25. JZhere were no securad creditors, and the unsecured creditors represented £575 13s, while the assets consisted of £2 IRs 4d cash in the bank, and furniture £17 10s, held at credit -by Messrs Hall, Stoui, end liillicrap, Bolicitors, Invercargill;—total, £30 8s 4d; deficit £566 4s Bd. Tbe creditors of over £10 were as follow — Briscoc .and Co., £20 0s ad ; D.1.C.. £25 1b sd ; Gregg and Co. . £19 17s lOd ; P. Hayman and Co., JQ6 3s. Rattray and Son, £14 13s; W. Sneeston (Alexandra), £10 18s lOd; Scouiar and Co., £39 to; Theyers and Sons (Alexandra.), £105 19s fid; Thomson and Beattie (Invercargill), £27 14s; Neill and -Co. (lita.), £12 9s 4d; B. Wilson and Co., £58 13s 4d; Strachan and Co., -£12 ; executors "W. J. Wood (Milton), £J0; Samuel Welsford (Clyde), £19-; Marslin and Hastings (Alexandra), £23; W. Lewis and Co. (Invercargill), £10; James B. Briggs, £13 10s ; Mackerras and Hazlett, dane. and Co., and Shnp®qn and Hart (deficit of realisation of security), ifia 6s 6d; M'G*vin and Co., £13. Mr Bundle appeared dor :the I bankrupt, Mar iloore for Tiioiiison and I Beattie, 'Mr i. T. Burnard (instructed by I Messrs Mondy and Stephens) for ~8. Wilsem and/ Co. and eight other creditors, and Mr Brtigh for the late secured creditors. A number oT the large creditors were present. Bankrupt's statement was -as "follows: — •' " In order to give you a statement aa to bow 1 I so signally -failed in "my business undertaking in Alexandra it -will be necessary for ;me to go back and give you 4 a short Tesume of the past few years. "When 1 entered into possession of the Wallacetown Junction Hotel some nine or ten years *go I was .indebted to Mr G. Xiow, who lent .me the money to .go in. Besides my indebtedness to .him I owed money to Mitchell and Co., firiggs, D.1.C., J.GWard and Co., IT. Hyams, and several others. The latter debts were incurred in the Stony Creek Hotel, near Gore. I paid all .iho*e debts in ful', and was in a fair way of doing well when I had the misfortune to have my stables burned. Although the sta-bles themselves were insured, the contents were uninsured, and I suffered a loss of irom at .least £100 to £150. In spite of this. 1 was again beginning to make headway, when tie hotel caught fire, and it -was also burned to the ground. This was by far the mare severe loss of the two, for although the hotel and furniture were insured, none of our personal belongings were. The children were carried out in their nightgowns, and we had to take refuge in a neighbour's house. To make matters worse, the hotel was only insured for .£6OO, and the price of timber nad risen to such an extent that it would take moTe than twice the money to replace the buMing. My landlord, to my astonishment, informed me that he intended compelling me to iebui2d. Tenders were called, < the lowest tender tor a hotel similar to the one burned being €1300, the second (in brick) £1350, «nd the third £1750. I chose the second (£1350), and thus made myself liable for the sum of £750 You can easily imagine how ikis wouM tend to cripple me- To make matters worse, the bona, fide traveller was done away with, and my takings reduced by at least £10 to .£l2 per week. When prohibition was carried in Invercargill and not in Awarua I came to the conclusion, after due deliberation, that it would "be only fair to the interests of my creditors to sell out if I got a good price, and, by paying them, protect them from the chance of my loas. I sold out for £3400— viz. £1800 goodwill and £600 for stock and ■furniture. A great many of my creditors- have naturally come to the eonc.usion that 1 started business in Alexandra with the above amount, but that that is erroneous I can -easily show you. After -paying »U my debta all that remained to me was £1100. I attribute my losses m the goldfields to the following causes :— The Tsnt and expenses of maintaining the hotel were muca too large for the weekly takings. The amount charged ior board was so small that it cou'd, only be run at a loss. The profit made in the bars (leaving out -beer) was considerably below what i» made in town: (1) The carriage on goods was very heavy; (2) the amount of soda and Wai-rongoa along with spirits; (3) the amount of thieving _gome on Of one thing I can assure you: I bad no intention of 'filing, and W I -received what I paid to get in my would have been paid in full. During our tost two or three months' stay in Alexandra . "both my wife and I were far trom weJ. and of course the business was not so well attended io. On several occa-sions I tried to sell out without success. Then I began to realise my position. Shortly after this tbe mortgagees took possession, and from what J. can understand, they did all in their power to find a suitable buyer. In conolnsioa, I oeg to inform my creditors iibat I am extremely sorry for my inability to pa,y them. I acknowledge the iuEitdce of their clwims, and thank them for the leniency they have shown me all along. In the future, if it should so happen that I am in a position to pay them, I shall endeavour to do so. I may state that wuen I left Alexandra in May I had about £45 cash. I came to Dttnedin to look round to ccc if I could get someone fo finance me in taking a fresh hotel, but have been unable so far to do so. I bad to stay with my family &t the Terminus Hotel for a week before I could get a house, and I am absolutely without funds at tjie prepent time. All the fuxnitur© in our house, the va'ue of whioih ftltopether is, I should think, not more than £25, belongs to my wife. I find I have omitted to state that when I wen* into possession of ■&» Criterion Club Hotel a<t Alexandra, I found it necessary to purchase fully £300 wortk of furniture and household linen, crockery, «tc., 1 and this proved too heavy a drain on me." j Mr Bundle said bankrupt first gat into difficulties in Alexandra, where be was sold up by the mortgagees. The Assignee : How much wag the mortgage? Mr Burgh : Tt waos originally for £1000 at 7 per cent., and covered trade advances. The Assignee Apparently if the bankrupt had got as much for t>he house when be went out b.s he paid t-o go in he would have bean able to pay bis creditors in full and leave himself bare. How does the bankrupt account for tbe depreciation in the property? Bankrupt' Public rumour probably. The district was gwinp back, and it was hard to sell a hotel there. An attempt had been made to sell a house in this district by auction in Dun-edin a few days ago, and no bid had baen forthcoming. The Assignee . T 6V> not suppose it was sold for its value, but it locks as though you gave more than its value eight months ago. What books did you keep? Mr Bundle said no full statement of the receipts and expenditure had been kept dwing th« -time bankrupt was in Alexandra. Mr Robertson informed him that all money re■eived was paid in-to the bank account weekly, ah-ough not regularly. All payments made K-pre by cheque with the exception of a few or petty expanses The assignee was in poslesaion of the bank book 1 ?, which showed all he- payments made. As mentioned in the datement at t'c-e ulme bankrupt went into the ?riterion Club Hctsl he bad to spend about ' '300 u\ purchasing furniture, hneu, etc. He •* ilso gave two bills for £109 and JEIO2 respecnrely 'or the balance of the purchase money, ' vhich were payable in three and four months. rtie-^e bills were m-etj and these amount*, ,

7 together with what he had, paid for furaisiuqg, I etc., crippled him for ready cash. The Aseignee: WJiat were the bills givM for? Mt Bnndle-: They were given for tbebalaßflß of -the purchase money. The Assignee : S» had £1078 when ie -Mull to Alexandra, and he raised JBIWD. Mt Bundle said that although JBlo7fi «l standing to the credit of -the Wadlaocttowx Junction Settlement, bankrupt did not t&> to Alexandra with ih«t amount. -During "the ia»> terval Mr Robertson was.away m Australia for -some little time. He went to 'Jake 3>o6*ot< sion xxf the Criterion Glub .with about JB9OO. Bankrupt, -examined, .-said lie had only In^t one account book, a ledger, which .showed iEa amounts due 'by boaxders and others. Helwpil no cash book or record of receipts send 'expenditure. He was in -the habit of paying -»U ! bia takings into the -Dank once a week or 'thsxe* aboms, -with the «xoeption -of small petty jwy* meats. The Assignee : Of oouree it is impossible for me to compile a -statement -of accounts waM expenditure from the bank book merely. By Mr Moore: He -went into the WalUa^ town Hotel some nine or 10 years s*go, an 9 sold -out on July last, taking away £1073. E« bad incurred £500 woijth. <£ debts In *igiS maa*6bs. He found he was going back -tcbmrtt two^ months "before he left "Alexandra. At -ifaa same time he Tthonght lie had any -amorovt/oi money to -meet has debts if it cams to a -sale. . On one occasion he paid 1 his wife 90s per -week, but those- payments were Bet "for more than m month. Some of the jewellery <norn by him wife 'lie had given -her some time ago. Hn .' had lost Borne of his jewellery, hut ihe was met in 'the habit of wearing much. He newr^wera more '.than -one ring in his .life. H» made aa , presents xd -jewellery to Mtts Itobwteon in Alexandra. The day book did not show lh«i petty sums he had paid out "He lad abao* lutely nothing else left. By Mr Burnard : He bad been -Qrcee n i nil» on J the other -aide. He 'had only £900 clear when he went s to Alexandra. Mr Burnard: 'That m«»ns that yon spent £179 in the- intervening month. How Sid 70a spend it? Bankrupt said the money was part of .wih«tt he .made out of the Wallacetown transaction and -had nothing -to do with Aim. He spent .£172 on the ether side. He had giv^n none of the money} to his wife, .and she held .no freehold ipropftrty. The jewellery he had purchased for his wife was not woEth £50. He could not say what «tt her jewellery was worth. He .kept -the jhm kind of booka at Wallacetown. and paid faia takings into the bank in She same -way. <H« was in the -habit of taking the small disbursements out' of the takings. Taese payments were mostly for vegetables. He <jx»w .cheques for personal expenditure Mr Burnard : Then there is wiAhing £0 indicate what the profits were, or what yon used for yourself .and family ? Bankrupt : JSo. He knew.be should have kept books. He put the first few sentences in hia statement, because a large number of people thought he left Wallaoetown with a larger amount than he really did. Mr Moot* : A lot -of -people do think so. BEr Burnard: Twenty-two and six would pay expect- to make in the Criterion Club? Bankrupt said the hotel had not paid. Tbeea was a loss on the .boarding. He averaged 30 boarders, whom he charged 15s and 33s 6d. Mr Burnard : Twanty-two -and six would pajf all ijght. Bankrupt (emphatically) : No it does not. The Assignee : Why .did you .keep .them xm? Bankrupt 'said tbe other houses kept them", and he would lose custom if lie did not 'follow suit. Boarders did not pay in Alexandra. under 25s to 30s a week. -Bankrupt gave m statement as to bis weekly expenses, baft could say nothing as to the liquor ptnrohnae3< He added -that the hotel was a -noted place " for people getting away with grog." Mar Barnard : "We cannot get any further. -I think it ia a case to take before the -HupxetMl Court, and iiave the bankrupt examined. The Assignee said Mr Justice Willwnns hadf already -intimated thwt rt was a waste of femtt " to thresh the matter out before him. Mr Buroard «aid it was quite -clear at alt events thwt it me not being timahed vat Mr Moore said it seemed io him that JOW was unaccounted -for, and the caeeEtorß -wtam entitled to «om» oorplaiwtian. He thougHt bankrupt Should snake some MasonaKe dobt to i>& creditors, and they should gwe bint time to make one or that he should -be oalkcl upon to apply for his discharge, and Hob should he opposed until he mad© «oan« reason»bie compromise with .his oreditors. Mr Bundle suggested that a statement should be made up from the bank book, ancl this was a .matter for an accountant io go into. They had the bank "book and £ba "vouchers. Robertson wa« absolutely wif3u>ix£ funds, and was sot in a position io jn*l» any offer. Mt Fea, repiesemting Gregg and Co., said bankrupt appeared to have uraddled bis buainess, and the -further it was gone into thw bigger the muddle. He thought a man who bought on credit^ and failed to keep books should be sent up before the judge. It jwas finally jeso-lved — " IThstt tbe question, of a prosecution for not .having kept propeE books of account be submitted in the übowl way -to tbe Crown Prosecutor for a certificate,"' and. the jQiesting adjourned sine die.