CURRENT TOPICS

Southland Times, Issue 16841, 18 September 1911, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS

ZBON AND OIL. “From an economic standpoint,” says the annual geological report on the Mew Plymouth subdivision, “the only iron ores which require notice are the deposits of black sand. In some localities very large accumulations of almost pure magnetic iron sand occur. At many places, however, the pure'iron sand has been sorted by the action of the waves and the wind so that it forms only a thin covering to a more heterogeneous sand. It would, therefore, be advisable before any erection of smelling works is undertaken, to carry out a thorough and exhaustive sampling of the ironsand deposits. In such examination, mere surface samples should not be allowed to predominate unduly, but <the character of the sand from various depths, should be fully taken into account. Tests of iron-sand from the Patea district have been lately made fin the Dominion laboratory, with the fesult, inter alia, that 0.16 per cent, of vanadium was found to be present. It Is probable that the New Plymouth iron-sand also contains vanadium, and if so, its commercial value as a source of steel may -be notably increased, provided that not more than 50 per cent, of the vanadium Is lost in the smelting and steel working processes.” “There is no evidence of *the mode or origin of the gas and oil,” says the report, “nor are there any geological data which justify the selection of bore sites. Petrolaceous substances exist at or near the surfade in the country to the east of the New Plymouth subdivision, but . the rocks in which they appear are probably over 5000 ft below the surface. In the neighbourhood of New Plymouth oil has been found in payable quantities on the Taranaki Petroleum Company’s property. The oil horizons as disclosed by boring lie approximately 1000 ft, 2000 ft and 3000 ft below sea level near New Plymouth, but owing to the variable character of the strata are ill-defined and are at greatly varying distances from the surface in neighbouring bores. The 3000 ft horizon Is the most productive: the 1000 ft horizon is of least importance, but merits more careful prospecting than it has yet received, especially near Booth’s well. The position of oil reservoirs in the sub-division can be determined by systematic deep boring. A belt of country, about three m\les wide, In which gas vents occur, extends from the Sugarloaves in an east-south-east direction for at least fifteen miles.” The report recommends systematic boring, with the constant presence on the field of a •competent geologist to examine and record all specimens. THE BANK OP ENGLAND. Some interesting information about the inside working of the greatest financial institution in Great Britain, the Bank of' England, was given recently In a lecture by Mr F. Huth Jackson, one of the Bank’s directors. One of the features of the Bank’s note Issue Is that one rarely sees a dirty note. This Is because the Bank never re-issues a note. If one were to go Into the Bank and obtain a five-pound note in exchange for five sovereigns, and then cross to another counter and change the same note back to gold, the note would be destroyed by the Bank. This expensive system is maintained, not for the sake of cleanliness, but to make forgery more difficult. The Bank issues notes in denominations of £5, £lo,' £2O, £SO, £2OO, £SOO and £IOOO, and of these the £5 note is by far the greatest proportion, and • the . proportion is always increasing. The Bank has only eleven branches, two in London, and nine in the provinces, but the staff is very large—lo6o, of whom 840 are at the hea(| office'. Besides these there are ■SOO porters and mechanics in the employ of the Bank., The affairs of the Bank are conducted by a Governor and a Deputy-Governor, elected from twentyfour directors, who are chosen from the leading merchant and private banking firms in the city, and generally serve for life. The only serious criticism levelled ag&inst the Bank of England to-day is' that Its- gold reserve is too small. Mr Jackson admits that it would be more satisfactory if evecy note issued by the Bank were backed by gold, but such a reserve would cost £555,000 a year in lost interest. The cash reserve Is now between 40 and 50 per cent of all its liabilities. Mr Jackson pointed out that cheques, not notes, were the chief circulating medium of the country. Since 1868 the value of the cheques that pass daily through the London Clearing House has risen from £11,000,000 to £48,000,000. In the same period the average value of the bank notes in circulation has only increased from £24, 000,000 to £29,000,000, despite the enormous increase in the,wealth and business transactions of the country in the same period. AN AFPSECXATXON. In the Nineteenth Century of August last, Mr Henniker Heaton has some observations to make on the lack of attention devoted by the Imperial Conference to the question of penny postage, upon which he is considered an eminent authority. “It is very difficult,” ho writes, “to have and enjoy Imperial penny postage without making it universal from the fact that most of our letters to our colonies and dependencies pass through foreign countries. Accordingly, when Sir Joseph Ward, Prime Minister of New Zealand, inaugurated penny postage between New Zealand and Great Britain he announced that he was also looking to see It established in every civilised part of the world. To-day we have the extraordinary spectacle of letters being sent from New Zealand to Italy at Id per letter and from England to Italy at 2%d. Sir Joseph Ward informs me that he has made arrangements with France.” Later Mr Henniker Heaton publishes a telegram which that fearless Imperial leader. Sir Joseph Ward,* had sent to him eleven years ago, on the birth of the century, announcing that the penny postage had been installed. “It is,” he says, “by no means the first time New Zealand has led the way, and we shall never forget her promptitude in telegraphing her offer of a Dreadnought at a crisis in our history.” TAXIS AND CABS. As showing the development of the taxi-cab business in London the following "statistics of the London cab trade during the past seven years are interesting: 1 Motor-cabs Horsed Cabs Licensed. Licensed.

The number Ibf licensed drivers of motor-cabs has increased from 124 in 1906 to 6441 on 31st March, 1911, while at the latter date there were also 10X7 drivers licensed for both motor and horsed cabs.

Hansom & 4-wliL 1904 2 11,057 1905 19 10,931 1906 96 10,492 1907 723 9,818 1908 2805 8,475 1909 ..... 3956 3,562 1910 6397 4,724 31st March, 1911 7165 4,386