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Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1139, 5 October 1880, Page 2

PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1880. It is interesting to leavn what people, living in our midst, have to say of us when writing to others at a distance. We. take the following from a Dunedin exchange : — A gentleman at Gisborne, writing to a friend iii Wellington, says :—" We have our oil springs now started by a Sydney company, which will turn out a success if they strike good oil, aud in that case town property will go a very high price. There is a good deal of speculation just now in the company's shares (Gd. paid up), and they are selling at Is. to Is. 3d. premium. The worat of it is, nearly all the shares are ownsd by the big American capitalists inSydney, and they will not part witli them. They would only let us have 6000 out of 50,000. They think they will be able to strike oil in about six months. Things have been very dull here for a year — no money in the plaoe — but the town will look up during the coming summer." We have not " stmck oil " as yet , but we hope we are in a fah' way in the direction of a success. "We have now;, all the appliances at hand and with skilled management for developing our oil treasures. Sinking has already commenced and a few days, or a few weeks, will show the result of our, early attempts. Things are now looking brighter in Poverty Bay than have been the case for the last fcwb years. Property has not as } r et risen in value, but owners are holding back in full expectation of a speedy demand for both town and country sections. Shearing has already oomnieneedandtbe season'sclip promises to be an excellent one. There are large stores of maize held up-country only waiting for improved roads to be brought to market. The early potato crops are also looking magnificently. Ah far , as • American capitalists in Sydney holding the bulk of the shares in the Petroleum Company, that is what was bargained for. "We could not or were not inclined to invest local capita!, and so had to go to Sydney, and very fortunate have we considered ourselves that outsiders had sufficient confidence to advance money for an enterprise we were either unwilling or unable to do of ourselves. The prosperity of Poverty Bay will be greatly increased if we get at oil, but we should feel thankful that without such a resource, we shall still be independent of it so long as our splendid soil and climate are left to us. Disputed titles have many of them been settled m our Courts, and others are in a good way of being

satisfactorily completed. We have large herds of cattle, with abundant feed for those existing and those to follow by increase.;. Things are looking now quite couleurde rose and expectation of better times has infused a feeling in the community it has not experienced for many a long day past and gone.