THE WAIHI COMPANY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2929, 4 May 1910, Page 28

THE WAIHI COMPANY.

THE WAIHI COMPANY. THE DECLINE IN SHARES. WAIHI, April 29. The Waihi Gold Mining Company for a broken period, owing to the flood, crushed and treated 30,490 tons ore for a- return of bullion valued at £66,501. The crushing mills ran for 21 days instead of the usual period of 24 days, consequently the return is less proportionately. Regarding the drop in Waihi shares, it is understood that this is aoco>u.nted for by the fact that while the published reports from the mine have shown that at the No. 9 level the assays along the drive' east and west and the main cross-cut through the Martha lode have been satisfactory, those in the cross-cuts put in at each 50ft along the lode have disclosed a considerably lower range of values than occurred previously in the reef immediately oven-head at No. 8 level. The change, it would appear, was first met with at the beginning of this year, and is stated . to have continued since, a considerable quantity of ore met with being oracticallv worthless. AUCKLAND, April 30. The steadv decline in. the price of shares in the Waihi Gold Mining Company has caused considerable uneasiness in_ the minds of shareholders. When it is remembered, that in about three months these shares have fallen from £lO 2s to £B-35,, it will be manifest that there was some reason for the uneasiness displayed by holdere of what were always looked upon more as an. investment than a speculation in mining shares. At the neon call of the Exchange to-day Mr F. Hull remarked that the Stock Exchange was supposed to exist to some ex-

tent for the purpose of protecting- the interests, of-shareholders. -The members ha<l already taken exception to news from mines reaching the market after the shares had fallen in price, and in some oases companies had been struck off the list. Ho believed that, there should be no difference made in that respect between, a big company and a small one.— (Applause.) They, had read that morning a reason, given l why the shares in the Waihi Gold Mining Company had fallen. Even now he was not aware whether it was from an official source. Still, that was the first news they had received during the time that the shares had fallen from £lO to £8 3s. Now to his mind, it seemed that some of the people who sold those sha.res. knew something about the news that had just been made puhlic property, and probably those who sold could better afford to lose than the poor widows and otherss who were still holding shares because tho news was not made public earlier. Ho considered that it was the duty of the Exchange to draw attention to this matter.— (Hear, hear.) Ho considered that this was a most serious matter, if the facts published were true, for he must admit that he was as much in the dark about the matter as the bulk of the general public. People went to those who should know if anything was wrong in the mine, and they were told that there was no reason for the decline in the price of shares, and still the fall continued, and to-day £8 3s had 'been touched, and that morning they were given some news, hut did not yet know whether it was official or not. Of course, it was hard to say whether anyone in authority connected with the Waihi Company had sold his shares. He could not say whether they had or not, and would not like it to he thought ho insinuated that such a thing h;«l been dene. Still, he did wish to make it clear that if any such person in authority had taken advantage of news that was not made public to dispose of his scares, and the Exchange could prove that such a thing had been done, they would not he doing their duty to the public unless they showed them ud. —(Hear, hear.) The "Chairman (Mr G. A. Buttle) remarked : Without some motion there is no business before us, and we must proceed with the call, Mr F. Whittaker said that had it been a twopenny-halfpenny company's stock this had occurred in there would have been a howl from all over the room. He had been, informed by his clients that they had been up to the office within the last fortnight, and were sriven to understand that everything was all right in the mine. It had also been currently reported that the drop was the result of market rigging by the brokers. The Exchange must notice this matter, as it affected p?oplo throuerhout the Dominion right up from the Bluff. The Chairman said he did not like the drop in Waihi shares any more than the previous speakers, hut before taking any action they required to go very carefully. He would like to know of any shareholder that, had been to the office and n-oeivedi misleading information. Could anyone tell him of a shareholder jvho, in answer to recent inquiries, had been told that nothing was wrong? The gradual drop in shares had been goinc on for a lone time. The cross-cuts through the reef, which, it) •was now reported, had proved that, the values were not so good at No. 9 level, could not, have been made in a day. While the work wa.s proceeding assays must have been taken at intervals, and now, as it were, three months after that date, came the news that tho cross-cuts showed _ poor values in the reef. If it were true, this information must have been known to somebody at least two months ago, but. of coun=e. he could not state that those who knew had taken advanteoe of that knowledge to part with their shares. It was all very well to give, prompt news when it was good news, but they wanted it equally promptly if tho news was bad. Mr Hull said he wished it to be clearly understood that he made no cha-rge arainst anvone. but, he thou.srht. the thins- should be inquired into, and they should find out who had been selling shares. The discussion clospd without anything •definite beinfr decided, the Chairman Remarking that it was hard.lv wise to _r»nn<" such an* important matter forward without notice and on a short day. DEVELOPMENT WORK. ONLY TEMPO'" * wv DISAPPOINTMENTS. (From Our Own Ccvrbespondent.l PITRtRI. April 00. The in the Waihi Geld Minin<r Companv may in a measure be attributed to the fact that development work to date at the "Tinoft level has disclosed a lonorer stretch of lowgrade ore on the Martha reef than a* tho JpveJ overhead. It may. however be said that as a. rrreat amount of work -"et remains to be done on this reef and the various other Wles before a <renpra.l comparison of levels can be made, there appears to be no sound 'eason whv shave, prices should show such a. marked fall. Meanwhile in othe" leve's +he results in certain sections of the mine have not, up to expectations at times, but so far these temporary duwTvnointanenta have been more than Aompen>=i<it«d for by improvements elsewhere, and the levels when thoroughly' tested have opened up well. FALL IN WAT.HI SHARES. EXPLAN A TTON ASKED FOR. WELLINGTON, Mav ?. The Wellington Stock Exchange Passed th« following resolution after the 10 a.m. call to-day: That this Exchange is of ooinion tent it. i« essential that t.rw» atto"nev of th** Waihi' Cnmonnv should be to make an official statement a« fchv? _ nresen*--state of affairs at t.h*» Waihi mine, ar.d that the ehairrrvan of thw* AucMand Stock Exchange be askerf t.r> act in the matter. AUCKLAND, Ma- ">. Th.'v Stock Exchan<™ naesed a. resolution nrmointinisr »• "onmif'"". with to •omplov a solicitor, and the transfer books of the Waihi Comnany. ana! ascertain who have disnorapd of shares ctur- . intf. the .past three months, also to . .yjr'te asking the attornev of the company )' f . he can trive any explanation of the sudden drop in shares. FURTHER DISCUSSION IN AUCKLAND. AUCKLAND, May 2. Another discussion took place at the neon

call of the Auckland Stock Exchange to- ] day regarding the sharp decline that has takem place in the price of Waihi shares. Mr F. Hull (vice-president) again raised the question at the close of the oall, asking the chairman if he did not think it Would be well to set up a committee to (investigate matters connected with the sudden drop. The Chairman (Mr G. A. Buttle): What do you propose to do? Have you any motion to make? Mr Hull then moved that a committee of two or-three be appointed to go through the register of the company for the purpose of seeing what shares had been transferred during the last two months, and by whom. Mr Whittaker seconded the motion. Mr Masfen: Why not make it three Jnontbs? Mr Hull: I am quite agreeable to that. Mr Masfen: It is just as well to start, at the beginning and ascertain who have been selling during the last three months. Mr D. M'Donald said he knew ther» were a number _of outside shareholders who wanted the matter investigated. The Stcck Exchange was looked upon as the proper (body to make the inquiry and to report to the public the result of such investigation. No doubt every assistance would be given for such an investigation, as the officers of the Waihi Company were in a sense also the servants of the public, who held the shares. He suggested that the chairman, _ secretary, and Mr Hull form the committee. Mr W. Colbeck said he considered it would be more dignified if the chairman of the Exchange first wrote to the attorney of the Waihi Company for official information regarding the mine. It was possible that after all this was only a huge scare. They did not know the true position, and therefore they should inquire at the head before investigating the register. Mr Hull said that, scare or no scare, tho shares were falling seriously in price. These shares had been sojd by hundreds and hundreds to people who did r.ot know 'but that the mine was looking as well as ever. Thousands of innocent people had bought these shares, and for anything he knew the shares might also have been sold by equally innocent persons; but when the price dropped from £lO to £7 15s it was fair to aoiime that there was something wrong at the mine. If such was the case he contended that shareholders had as much right to know the facts as the officials of the company had. Mr Greenslade supported Mr Gclbeek's suggestion about writing to the attorney. He objected to taking any action in the matter till the attorney of tho company had been asked for official information. A few weeks ago very reassuring news was published, and that was supposed to come from the attorney ; still, they wrro not tore that it had. until they had communicated with the gentleman. Once that was done they would have something to go u cot; . • Uruar supported the motion, as he considered that it would be well to ascertain if certain persons had been selling heavily upon private information which should have been available to every shareholder' in the company. The Chairman said he agreed with Mr Colbeck as to writing to the attorney of the company first. Supposing- the Exchange set up a committee to investigate, the attorney of the company might-fairly claim that they had nothing to do with the matter. Of course, they could claim to examine the register by paying the fee, but if that was to be done thoroughly they should employ a competent man, whom they could trust to do the work; Personally, he was quite 'satisfied thai. something serious was wrong to oawsc the stock to drop so much during the last few weeks. He thought they should first write to the attorney and ask if he could give any official explanation for the fall in shares, and upon receiving his reply the exchange could further consid3r the matter. The "motion was then put and adopted, and on the suggestion of Mr R. Frater it was decided that the committee be empowered to employ a solicitor to make the eearch of the registers. On tho motion of Mr Colbeck it was agreed that the chairman write to the attorney of the company to ask for some official information to enlighten the etcok exchange regarding the serious drop in the price of Waihi shares from £lO to £7 15s. Mr Hull suggested that the attorney should also be asked by the 'committee if the statement was official three weeks ago that everything about the mine was rosy. If it was not official it was just as well that the public should lenow the true position officially. That also was agreed to. At the afternoon call the Chairman stated that when the Exchange adjourned at the .noon call he found that Mr C. Rhodes (attorney for the company) had called to see him twice, and he received a telegram from the Wellington Exchange asking him to see Mr Rhodes and get an explanation. He accordingly saw Mr Rhodes, and explained to him what had occurred at the noon call. "Mr Rhodes in reply informed me," proceeded Mr Buttle, " that _ nothingfresh had occurred at the mine since the publication of the last report. These reports, as they came along, he said, were handed' to the press, and were regularly published, and he said that any shareholder or sharebroker on inquiry at the company's ' office would have been shown reports from the mine superintendent which disclosed all there was to disclose. He stated that in the drive east and w*t on the hanging wall of the lode the values were satisfactory, ibut that in the crosscuts from the drive, each one of which goes through to the footwall. the values are low. and in some cases are actually nil. ' This is all I can tell you.' he so.id. 'I know no more than that myself-' He said a similar experience ->.va.s met with in No. 8 level, and' No. 8 level disclosed barren ouartz in about the same position, the only different feature about the present experience at No. 9 level bein'O- that it is spread over a wider airea of country ; but he pointed out that at No. _ 8 level thev had extensive developments in hand not only on the Martha but also on the' Royal Empire and Edward lodes, and that the Edward lode went up to £lO per j. 'Then.' he said, referring to No. 9 4' "] < y,*Ko Is' to "sav what there is in the Ground 'theve as yet undiscovered?' Mr Tf lxodes *aid that he was not responsible £ what was said outside, and that so far 11 the examination of the company s register ™J oon«n-ned the Exchange was auite welcome tn examine it at. any time.

t„ voferenoe to the fall in Waihi shares the ohirim" of th. Dunlin Stock ExStnSe Unt the foVownwr wire on Satuv- £:-*' Attorney, Waihi Company, Aiiok-

land.—Shareholders here are concerned regarding fall in shanes; various damaging' rumours current. Is there anything in mine development to warrant the fall.' A reply was received from the attorney yesterday morning, as follows:—" As already published development Martha reef. No 9 level, for 500 ft shows low grace ore; if this condition persists, will ultimately affect mine output; meantime one and ahalf million tons in ore reserve.