THE TALISMAN MINE. (From Our Own Correspondent.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 29

THE TALISMAN MINE. (From Our Ow n Cor respondent.)

WELLINGTON, August 24: Dr "Parendergast Knight has received from his colleague on the local committee of c the Talisman Consolidated (Mr T. Shaker Weston), who is now at the mine, the, following telegram: — "If it comes to" the'worat,' it only means a temporary stoppage. v . The ,new plant enables developments ind ifferent parts of the mine- to he •materially increased. Hence the occurtrence is 'a blessing in disguise. The prospects more than justify the expenditure. We cannot -tell whether the water will be stopped at fine- 12th level as yet. Shareholders would be foolish to quit." NEW BIG RIVER MINE. ; REEFTON, August 22. The manager of tie new Big River ipepoxte on ~ toe faces as follows : — No. 4 stope: The -branch block has carried into the eastern block. No. 5 etope: In the branch block the. reef is 3ft wide. We are , stop ing - blank ground between the branch and the new western blooke. No. 5 block: The stone in the eastern blook reef is 10ft wide. No. 6: The stope in the eastern block is 3ft wide. No. 7-. The etope is -being raised in blank ground. No. 9: In the level south we encountered 2ft of - reef formation running at r^ght angles to tho drive. For a few feet it elbows good walls. In No. 9 -winze' the reef is the full size of the winze, with tihe xeef on the foot wall side. Tihe hanging wall side is solid etone, without any sign of the wall. In No. 1 intermediate, in the rise the reef has pinched now verysmall. One hundred and forty tons -were iraieed, and the battery w>as running full dime. BROKEN HILL COMPANY. : -"' SYDNEY, August 22. The report . to .be presented at the halfyearly meeting- of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company shows that the depreciation in silver and lead had reduced the profits from - £137,462 to £22,776, which is "equivalent- to a fall in profit on eaoh ton f ore from 8e 9d to Is &d. HARTLEY AND KILEY COMPANY. Eleventh Annual Meeting Th« elflwnth annual meeting of the Hartley and Riley Beach Dredging Company was h»»ld at th»- company's office on JFriday afternoon. " The Hon. T. Fergus, chairman of directors, presided. The following is a copy of tihe annual report submitted to the meeting: — During the year si dividend of 2s per ehaare was paid, absorbing £650. Tour directors express regret that the condition of the liver during the present season lias proved very unfavourable for dredging; and so far ■we have only been ab!« la work 321 hours, during -which, time, however, we have ol>tained 950z of gold. This we have no doubt, und«r the circumstances, shareholders will consider satisfactory. We regret to say that we- have suffered a serious loss by the death of - our respected dredgemaster, Captain George M'Lay, through an untoward accident. He was -with us since the dredge started, and in season and out was always at "his post — a worthy servant of the company, and resourceful in every emergency. His name is associated with gold dredging since -its inception, -and he had no superior n ' the river. We sympathise with his be-T-eaVed family, and that sympathy is shared by 'the whole of our shareholders. Mr I?. Scott, a qualified dredgemaster and engineer of leTge experience, has been appointed" to the charge of the dredge, and we trust that •under Jiis management success will result. Messrs James Whitbourn and A. J. Shaw are the retiring -directors, and Mr A. G. Fenwick retires as auditor. All are eligible for reelection, and offer themselves accordingly. The principal items of expenditure stated :n ttie profit and loss acoou-4, which showed a credit balance of £247 18s 2d, were wages, £849 2s 4-d; dividend (2?), £650; coal, £369 0s 9d; and renairs and maintenance, £300 15s Id. During tho >ear £500 bad been transferred from the re-

ee.rv« fund, and over 5590z of gold> valued at £2163 8s 6d had been obtained. In moving the adoption of the report and balance sheet, the Chairman referred at some length to the past career of the company, and expressed regret that the directors had not a more favourable balance sheet for the year ended 30th of June last to place before shaTetoldets. Thd fifO-ld won was considerably short of the amount obtained the previous year, the- result, doubtless, of the unsatisfactory season experienced by Otago dredging companies generally. He was pleased, however, to be able that day to inform the shareholders present that there seemed to be life in the old Hartley yet, for the board had just received a wire from the manager announcing a return of 112oz - Bdwt for 95 hours' dredging. Mo- Fergus explained that this return brought the total since the accounte under review were closed to 2340z sdwt 16gr, valued at about £890, and the result of 551 hours' dredging. He inferred feelingly to the loss the company had sustained through, the death of their late dredgemaster. Captain George M'Lay, and testified to the sympathy that he felt quite sure the shareholder s and members of the board extended to the deceased's family. He 6poke in complimentary terms of Mr Scott, who is now in charge of the dredge as manager and engineer, expressing- the belief that in him the company had an intelligent and capable officer. The motion for- tihe adoption of the re--port was seconded by Mt A. A. Finch, and carried unanimously. The retiring directors, Messrs James Whitbourn and A. J. Shaw, were reelected, and Mr A. G. Fenwiek was again appointed auditor. Votes of thanks to the chairman and to the eorapanv's staff closed the business of tho meeting. MYSTERY FLAT GOLD DREDGING COMPANY. The following is the report of the MysteryFlat Gold Dredging Company to be submitted to th« annual meeting: — "The directors have pleasure in submitting a statement of accounts for the past financial year, and, in doing so, take the opportunity of congratulating members on the large measure of success that has attended the company's operations during that period. The yield of gold waa in excess of that of the previous year by 710oz and £2835, while the expenditure (excluding bonusuee and Income tax), was £135 less. With the exception of the bucket ledder the dredge is in excellent ord'vr, and has -one a very trood year's "work the dredging time (6016) ho'7rs having exceeded that of the previous 12 months by 176 -hours. A new bucket ladder has been in Teadiness for several months, and will bo sent forward as soon as the dredigemaater considers it advisable to ref>lace the present one. The cost of it £186) , is provided for "in the present year's accounts.' Ten dividends, amounting to 4J38 a share, were paid during- the financial year- making a total return of £3 Is a share to 30th June last. The retiring director is Mr John Christie, who offers himself for re-election, ' as does Mr James Brow^ the retiring auditor." .The profit and lose account for ithe year shows that .£10.509 14s 7d was obtained from the sale of gold. The chief items in the expenditure of the company have been dividends (£1 3s per share). £6.33« 16s; wages. £3269 9s 7d; repairs and maintenance. £534 3s; coal and cartage, £619 ]7s 6rl. Ther* is a credit balance forward of £726 18s sd.