BORING FOR THE OH,.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XIV, Issue 4770, 22 January 1887, Page 2

BORING FOR THE OH,.

THE OLD STORY

It has got to be unutterably wearisome to repeat the s;wne old tale times without number, but as there is no possibility of variation it has to be done once more. The visitors have returned from the "bore" exactly as wise as when they started. There seems uo have been nothing to see. A little mud impregnated with oil was pumped up, and, of course, each pumping was duly honored by a libation of whisky. At the present rate of progress oil may be got in the year A.D. 3000 or so, if tlio world should then be extant. Of course if this sort of thing going on like the brook for ever suits the shareholders no one else has muchcause to complain, and if they are happy all is well. They do not seem to be though, but they do seem either unable or unwilling to do anything. The boier has returned to town again ! The oil subject has got to be a nuisance. Some of the recent visitors use remarkably strong language about the exceedingly unsatisfac° tory position and outlook, sayin" that the present state of matters may last year after year indefinitely. Some of the shareholders would look very blue if the language used xere repeated. No good purpose could Go served probably by being emphatic about the matter, but it can certainly be said in general terms that the position is as unsatisfactory as it can well be.andthat if the shareholders could alter it, but won t, there is nothing to be said, and that if they would, but cannot, they are to be sympathised with. A very indignant corraspondent tries to relieve his feelings in the following communication, and it must be remembered that the sentiments are his— one or two strong expressions aro deleted, which will allow readers to exercise their ingenuity :— "How long is this farce to continue? And how long is the or of one-man to keep the whole community in suspense ? Six months ago wo were told omcially that a forty-barrel a day well had been struck. On receipt of this welcome news various gentlemen proceed to tho scene of operations to convince themselves of the genuineness, or otherwise, of the report, and all that was visible was a little mud partially impregnated with oil. This failed to convince, but the above named gentlemen and the community at large were told that in order to thoroughly test the bore it was necessary to obtain pumping gear, &c, from America. After a reasonable length of time had elapsed the plant commenced to arrive in driblets, and this continued ; so the other Company engaged in oil-prospecting offered a loan of a plant required to thoroughly test the bore. On the arrival at the works of all necessary plant the tanks were carefully stowed away unopened, and a 4i inch pipe was let down the bore, the " workmen managing to work the long hours of eight per diem at this critical period. Just°as the pipes were close to the bottom of the shaft a pulley broke, which necessitated a delay of nearly a fortnight. On the pulley again being put to rights our noble' borer cannot proceed unless the pipes remaining to go down are cut into shorter lengths. Again we have a week's delay, and comes the final test, as eTerybody expects. The borer, accompanied by another professional man (to whom he promises to show wonders) and some other gentlemen, proceed to the works, and after a week's work of nearly seven hours a day a quantity of mud is disclosed slightly impregnated with oil, but to obtain which the shorter lengths of pipe have not been placed in the bore. As the last delay was occasioned to allow of the pipes being cut, a rational man would conclude that they would have been used. This short narrative brings us up to the present date, and our indefatigable and tireless borer has again returned to town, this time ostensibly to get some more pipes cut, which really is nothing but a straight-out acknowledgment that the bore is an arrant failure, and that there ii no more oil to be got there than on the surface in any part of the Bay. To an uninitiated person the stuff that cornea out of the bore appears oily, but very slightly so, and by no means of the order that one would expect to see go through a refinery, and the professional man before referred to feels bound by a sort of esprit de corps from exposing the whole thing as it deserves. My final advice to all is, let the shares alone as you would a venomous insect, or you will just as surely get bitten.