TARANAKI PETROLEUM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 253, 4 March 1911, Page 2

TARANAKI PETROLEUM.

PRESENTATION TO MR. HENRY. , IMPORTANT REMARKS. j Yesterday morning a pleasant function took place at the Taranaki Petroleum Company's office, when Mr. J. D. Henry, the British oil expert, was presented by the directors of the company with a memento,of his visit to New Plymouth, the memento taking the form of a photograph of the recipient, the Governor, and the directors, taken at the works recently, the photo being framed in honeysuckle wood, and suitably inscribed. Mr. 0. Carter, chairman of directors, made the presentation, and in doing so referred to the honor done the district and the benelits that must accrue to it by the visit of one holding such an important and influential position in the world of petroleum and London finance as Mr. Henry, whom they had all learned to appreciate and respect. There had been a certain amount of restraint in their relations with him, but that, of course, was inseparable from the conduct of negotiations of the kind they had been engaged in, but Mr. Henry could rest assured that he carried away with him the very best wishes of the whole of the directors, who would be glad to see him return in the near future, when, he hoped, the industry in which they were all so interested would be greatly developed. To one who was brought closely in touch with the other oil fields of the world, the industry here would probably seem a small thing; yet its development meant a great deal to them. They felt all the more honored that Mr. Henry had come all the way out from London and interested himself in the field, and that he intended to publish his impressions and conclusions in the book he was about to bring out on the oil fields of New Zealand.

Mr. J. B. Boy, as one who had been connected with the Petroleum Company almost from its inception, endorsed the words of the chairman, adding that the directors did not pretend to be experts in petroleum matters. They did not enter upon the work for personal gain, but wished to do all they could to attain the success that had been denied to others. They hdd given the industry the same attention, if not more, than they had their own affairs, and no one more so than Mr. Carter, who had sacrificed a great deal of his tinie to the interests of the company. They were only novices in regard to oil. Therefore Mr. Henry's visit had come at a happy time indeed. They appreciated very much the courtesy and kindness extended to them by Mr. Henry. There had been restraint on either side, but that was natural. They had all the highest appreciation of Mr. Henry's skill and ability, and could understund now how his name had come out with so much commendation as a petroleum authority, lie hoped he would come out again, and that he would find

the industry in a more prosperous state than existed at present. Mr. Henry feelingly replied. This was the last, the busiest and most pleasant (lay of his visit to New Plymouth. A report, he went on, had got round New Plymouth that he was a man incapable of showing nervousness, but on the present occasion he really felt nervous. References had been made to the possible usefulness of his visit to Taranaki. When lie left the Old Country he had to decide, as far as the people behind him were concerned, whether to go to NewZealand or South Africa. "1 miroscrved-

ly chose New Zealand, because I had put on record for three or four years that it was one of the coming colonies in the production of oil, so fur as the Empire was concerned. I did not, however, expect to find here such extensive prospecting fields as 1 have found. I did not expert, either, to make a one-eighth part of the friends I have made since coming here. My movements have been fairly rapid since 1 have been in Xew Zealand, but you will have noticed that fully half of my time has been given to the Taranaki field. At the end of my visit here, my opinion is—and it has been strengthened during the past twelve hours—that Taranaki is the Held that I

desire to support in any possible way I can in the Old Country* ] am prepared to

BACK TARAXAKI against the other fields of the Dominion to do what I and other experts think it | capable of doing." .Mr. Henry proceeded to say that he had read, since he hao] arrived, a great mass of material bearing upon oil that had been prepared for him, more perhaps than he ought to have done, considering that he had come here almost exclusively for linancial reasons. It had come as a revelation to him to find the statements made twenty-live years ago, and since, borne out by his personal examination. .Some of the statements hit off perfectly the mineral possibilities of Taranaki. He hoped to have the pleasure of embodying extracts from these statements in the book lie was bringing out, and that the publication would j not only possess the element of novelty but contain useful views and information of service to the people of the Dominion, who should know more of the industry than they did. It was not necessary to say that his own FAITH JX THE IXDUSTRY had grown more during the last twentyfour hours tan in the four years he had taken an interest in the Dominion. He was not only a believer in ; the future of Taranaki, but with some pretensions as a man who had done something as a petroleum pioneer, he felt an obligation was placed upon him to make i use of every bit of information about Xew Zealand, both in his books and reports. Every detail given to him would be intelligently and, he hoped, influentially sot forth to do all the good it could among the people of the Old Conntry. "I am prepared," he said, "to devote a percentage of my time and professional service to forward the interests of the oil fields of Xew Zealand, and particularly those of Xew Plymouth." (Applause.) It had been his great fortune to make good friends wherever he had gone, amongst all classes of people, from the uncultivated Armenian to oil magnates, but the people, of Taranaki had cut in right between them, and no power on earth would eliminate them from his affections. He wished to thank them for the exceedingly kind way in which they had treated Mrs. Henry.' The kindness and hospitality that had been , shown by the people of Taranaki had gone right to the hearts of both.