West Coast Times. THURSDAY, JULY 15, 1897. MINING COMPANY PROMOTING.

West Coast Times, Issue 10531, 15 July 1897, Page 2

West Coast Times. THURSDAY, JULY 15, 1897. MINING COMPANY PROMOTING.

It is reported that the gold promotion companies in London have come to some i general agreement that in future the consideration to be given for mining properlies floated in the London market shall be 1 paid-up shares and not cash and shares as formerly was the case. This is not a hard i and fast rule to be made applicable to alb ! and especially ■to mines which have reached an advanced stage of development and are already worked with profit, but is to apply generally to tho'ss mining proper- | tics on which -the original owners have | done little beyond obtaining a grant, and roughly tracing such deposits as are outcropping on the surface. There have been i tendencies in this direction for some true j past, but the flotation people have discovered that the Boilers, in many cases, regarded the cash paid as the outside value of the property and were getting mnch more than it was worth. Hence the departure. In future owners must be content to see what money is provided devoted to the testing and development of the mine, and look for their profits from the working. As the promotion people in London load the properties with shares out of all proportion with reasonable prospects of profit, the paid-up shares given for purchase caii rarely bo regarded as approaching their face value. "Why the promoters should always insist on this excessive loading is one of the mysteries we have not yet been able to solve. We would have thought it bettor to have fifty thousand shares worth their face value than a hundred thousand at fifty per cent discount, but our views arc not those of the people in London, who believe in big nominal values, whether such values are ' fictitious are not. Another singular feature in .connection with London company promoting is the preference exhibited for working mines. They may have been in work for many years and the principal portion worked, but that fact enters but little into thair calculations. The mines are sold on their reputation and the expectations formed on their flotation are seldom realised. The great difficulty the gold mining industry has to contend with is the failure of those concerned in it to treat each ventures on strict commercial and industrial lines. lv nine oases out of ten a gold mine is regarded as thing to gamble with and shares are bought and sold as a speculation and not with a view to probable dividends on the money invested. It must be obvious that the industry will never be in a prosperous condition until it .reaches Jts proper level and ia not for ever made subject to alternate periods of inflation and depression. An industry that should be the the most stable, because its produce has a fixed value, is madajjthe sport of every adventurer who seeks to display his talent for gambling and who chooses thisimethod of making money from other people.

The danco given by the Hokitika Fire Brigade to those who assisted in the Bazaar, took place in the Drill Shed last evening and proved a very successful and enjoyable function. The hall was prettily decorated, many t,£ the decorations of the Jubilee ball being left. Music was provided by Messrs Bremond and Heppell, and Mr H. Breeze had charge of the floor. The Hall was well filled, though not unpleasantly crowded, and all present seemed to enjoy themselves. The death of Mr Fowler necessitates the breakingup of his estate, and one «f the first steps of the executors is to cause a Monster Clearing Sale of the lavge and varied stock now held at West of England House. The announcement of the Sale is made to-day, and for a period great bargains in all the leading lines of drapci y , 'clothing, millinery, &c. will bo offeree). Ifc is a genuine forced salo, and is of course for cash, the intention being to realise on the i'ull stock in ordnr to windup the estate. Under these circumstances it is safe to anticipates a record in the way of Clearing Fhlos. A settler in the Olif den (Otago) township reports, says the Southland Times, th.at through the ravages of wild pigs in I his part of tho district his percentage of lambs has beeu exceedingly small— in fact, he wry unable to make any profit out of the natural incraase of his flock. It is now evident (writes a Southern correspondent of the Dunedin Star) that the area of land to be sown with grain throughout the Middle Island will be enormou 3 , and with a favorable season New Zealand will put up a record in grain industries in 1898. The general idea is that oats Avill be dear before nest harvest, as enormous quantities will be required for seed and feed, owing to so much land being prepared for grain this year. Mrs Stevenson, mother of the lite Robert Louis Stevenson, the novelist, who died at her residence in Edinburgh on 14th May, of pneumonia, was about 70 years of age. She survived by jiibt two years and a-half her famous son, whom she was visiting at the time of his sudden death. The critics of novelists who write about their mothers may still wish that they knew more about Mrs Stevenson f rom her son's account of her. But what he |ias told is not much. It was to her, however, we know, that the novelist conlidod his feelings of revolt against the wishes of his father to devote him to an engineer's career. " Mother," he said, after returning from one of the lectures to which he had been sent by his father, " Jenkin was lecturing about strains upon a bridge. I don't want to know what a strain upou a bridge is ; I like something with human interest." Long before that he brought to her his first attempt at bookmaking, a boyish history of Mo?es, with illustrations representing the Israelites consoling themselves in the wilderness with tobacco pipes. This was when the novelist was 6 years of age. As far back in his life as the mother could remember bis child confidences, her son had an ambition to be a writer of romance. i In Western Australia the leading batiks have initiated a change Avhich will in al! probability extend to the other colonies. The West Australian banks as from the i Ist inst., make a charge of 10s 6d for opening current accounts, and a further charge of 10s Gd is to be made at the end of each halE-year for continuing to keep tho accounts. These charges, however, will nnt affect dope' tow whose accounts do net fall below £50. Those who have opened accounts before tho Ist July arc also to be subject to a conditional halfyear charge o£ 10.s Qdns from Ist October. The Perth Mining Gerald says the object is to mitigate to some extent the large amount of labour involved in keeping potty acconuts, and also to secure some proiit on a branch of banking business which at present is wholly uuremuncrative. It stato.s that the business of current accounts in Western A ustralia is altogether overdone by a class of customers who, scraping together £5, opon an account, draw small cheques, create a nuisance to the business community, which it would be well to have checked, or, at any rate, paid for by those to whom it is a service , for such business, it affirms, is not profitable to the bank and often leads to fraud. > A contemporary gives tho following extract from Hume Nisbet's book " The Swampers "—the sale o£ which has been inhibited in the colo iy— as affording some idea of the writer's views on a section of the population of Now South Wales :—": — " The fourth generation of Cornstalks are weeds who have grown up with wkise corpuscles iv their blood, instead of red; lustful, yet lacking stamina; malignant and sceptical ot if.ll that tends to raise humanity ; devoted to pleasure, and regardless of the responsibilities of morality- Intrigue and wickedness arc to them tho necessities of existence. Jibing and mockery aud cold-blooded , jests at all which the old.er generations reyerencad are the ordinary subjects of conversations ; cyude, indecent, and viperish, without a spark of true hunzor and kindly instinct. They don't eai-e iov friends, nor do they consider a benefactor; they don't know what truth means, and as for faith or trust, they are sounds to laugh at. As for work or sticking to a fmndj they couldn't sec it and don't know what it means , they don't believe in God they have no country to believe in, and no traditions to uphold.'-' A syndicate is willing to .lay down an electric lighting plant in Paeroa if a concession for 75 years is given. Another syndicate has offered to erecb a gasworks in the township. The Mayor of Auckland (Mr P. Dignan) has refused to accept an addition of £200 to his salary in order to recoup himself for the expenses which he bore during tho Record Reign week. The Mokoia Domain Board, up Taranaki way, which T?as snuffed out by Act of Parliament two sessions ago, has handed over to the Treasury £400, representing the accumulation of rents from the reserve after providing for all necessary improvements. The Haweia Star remarks that v a more unjust filching of a district reserve has sddoni been perpetrated in the history of the colony," and adds that nicst people regard it as another instance of petty revenge on an electorate for being of the " wrong color." The Blenheim Borough Council has communicated with the owners of property through which the Taylor river and its tributaries flow, with a view of obtaining their consent to the planting of trees, shrubs, &c, aud the placing of other obstructions therein, so tnat the current in flood time may be lessened, and the bearing of shiuglo stopped as far as possible.

It has turned out that tho .donor of the cheque for £25,000, received by the Lord i Mayor of London for the Princess of Wales's dinner fund for the poor, was Mr Lipton, the mammoth provision shopkeeper. Lipton is said to be a bit of a mystery. He is a bachelor of about 45 ; is absolutely wrapped up in his business ; has no ideas, tastes, or pleasures outside ifc. They tried to get him into politics and public life awhile back, but he didn't " train on." In the provision trade the story is that his n^t profits are £100,000 a year ; and that is his own estimate giveu the other day to Mr Ernest Terah Hooley and Martin Rucker (the latter a millionaire product" of the Eunlop tyre), who went to him with a proposal to turn his business into'a limited company. Lipton had no objection, but said they must accept his own figures, said ho would allew no accountant to examine his books. Tho secret of Lipton's success is his knowledge of character, Avhich enables him to choose the nght men as managers of his countless shops A young Now /'ealanders' Patriotic Association composed of persons under the voting age has been formed at Christchurch under the auspicoa of the National Association. A shunt given in the Duuedin yard to a train was so severe that several lamps were broken, persons capsized, and one man thrown through a window, being severely out about tho face. A new significance of the letters ,P.C." s furnished by the Sydney Bulletin. A lull-paged cartoon represent* the Premier )f New South Waie3, in all the glory of 3ourt dress, explaining mattFrs to an urchin, who has put the question to him, 'What do tho letters 'PC., stand for, Scorge V" Dr the Right Hon. G. Houston Reid, P. 0., 0.C.L., replies thus : '• Well, they stand for (amongst other things) ' Prudent Compromise.' A P. 0., my child, is a politician who travels on the democratic ticket and so isn't game to take a knighthood." The mismanagement of tho education reserves has b3en the frequent theme of Parliamentary oratory, and the Council of the Otago University and its control of the Barowood estate have been made tho subject of Ministerial commcab and censure. As mentioned by the Vice-Chan-cellor at a meeting of the Council, reported in tho Otago Daily Times, they were charged with downright neglect of duty, and it was urged that if the run were cut up into small pastoral areas the land would be eagerly taken up at good prices and profitably occupied. The advice so confidently given has been acted upon . The land was cut up it a cost of £100 and of the sections only ono was taken up. For this section of 500 acres a rental c jual to lOd per acre was given ; but its payment has fallen, into arrears, and the solitary, and apparently misguided tenant lias had to approach the Council with a statement as to tha serious cost of destroying rabbits and a declaration of his inability to retain the land on the terms upon which it was acquired. A funny story comes from Blackburn in connection with tho use of a popular phrase. A c uiplo of operatives wore being married, ami as hu produced the ring, the bridegroom exclaimed, triumphantly, " Now, wo shan't be long." The officiating clergyman promptly retorted, '' You are mistaken : you will be. at least, a week," and, breaking off the service, | abruptly loft the chopf alien bridegroom; with an intimation- that the couple might present themselves a week later if the man had learned to behave himself in the meantime. Wo clip the following important tesimonial from the " Illawarra Mercury," (N.S, W-) on tho 30th "Vfareh. It needs no comment : — Mr John Lovctlay, of the Bull mouutams, writes to us that after suffering for four years with acute gravel, he has experienced almost complete relief by using Sander and Sons' Eucalypti Extract. He says seeing the said Extract advertised in tho " Illawarra Mercury," his intense suffering induced him to obtain a bottle of the medicine from MrHosking, chemist, of this town, and that the use of it gave him great relief at once. He states that between the 10th March instant, when lie obtained the first bottle of the extractand on the 19th, the use of that medicine continued to afford him relief, to which he had been a stranger for four years. Mr Loveday writes also that lie has found the Eucalypti Extract a cure for rheumatism as well as gravel. He requests us to publish this information through the "Mercury." Wo have much pleasure^ hi complying with Mr Loveday's request, whose word cannot bs doubted and who can have oio object in view other t.ian a purs desire to benefit suffering h umanity." — Ad vi Messrs Webley & Sou, Pianoforte and Organ Tuners, and Repairers are now in Hokitika and will take the earliest opportunity of calling ou their customers. — Address, Red Lion Hotel. — Advt. For Blankets, Jackets, nats, Clothiug, Gloves and Flannel you can not do bettor thai?, go to H. Schroder and Son, as great reductions are now made by that firm in prices to effect a clearance. — Advt. Tho Southern Standard, April 3, 1891, says: — "Mr W. Gawuo's Worcester Sauce. — This is a Dunediu manufacture, and after having tried it, we are free to confess that we could not tell it from the imported Lea and Perrin's. This being the case, it is clearly the duty of colonists jbo support an important local industry. Tho day £or imported sauces is clearly drawing to- a close." A cough is ouly worth eighteen-pence, for the simple reason that if you invest that sum in a bottle of Woods' Great Peppermint Cure for coughs and colds, you can got rid of it straight away — it never fails — every grocer and chemist in the town keeps it. • Wholesale agents — All merchants and drug firms. — Advt. Misses Maher, Scientific Dressmaker from one of the Leading Houses in Australia, have commenced business in Tancred street. Evening dresses a specialty. Pit and stylo guarraiiteed. — Advfi. "Be comfortable for the Winter." — It is a well-known fact that the best value in Blankets, Wools and Clothing H. Schroder ami Sou take the palm. Their motto ip to give articles that will give satisfaction. Visitors from the country would do well to take note of this. — H. Schroder and .Sou. — Advt Clarke's Worl-famed Blood Mix tore is a.guarnteed cure for] all Blood an i kin Diseases It is the most sear chingblood cleanser ever discovered, and it will free the system from all impurities frqm whatevercause arising. For Scrofula, Scury, Eczema- j Bad Legs, Pimples and Sores of all kinds, its effects are marvellous. Thousands of wouderf ul cun s have been effected by its Sold everywhere, at 2s 9d ?er bottle I Vcware of worthless imitations..