Page 3 Advertisements Column 3

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3799, 8 May 1873, Page 3

-vr o T i o E. " THE NEW ZEALAND CUSTOMS GUIDE " Will be ready shortly. PEIOE — 203 PER COPY A splendid advertising medium. A few pages still reserved. Terms— Whole page, £2 2s ; half-page, £1 10s ; fourth page, £1. FERGUSSON & MITCHELL, Publishers, Manufacturing Stationer?, &c, DUNEDIN. PROSPECTUS op the ALBION COAL COMPANY (limited). Situated at Ngakawau River, on the West Coast of New Zealand. To be incorporated under the Joint Stock Companies Act, 1860. CAPITAL, £60,000, in 6,000 Shaves of £10 each. Deposit on Application, 5s per share, and 5s on allotment. Calls not to exceed 5s per month. Peoyisional Dieectoes : J. DransOeld, Esq. John Henderson, Esq W. B. Rhodes, Esq Joseph Howard, Esq Walter Turnbull, Esq Acton Adams, Esq S. Thorpe, E?q, M.D. Managing JDirbotob, : Albert Beetham, Esq This Company is being formed for the purpose of Working that portion of the coal seams of the Mount Rochfort district, on the West Coast of New Zealand, the natural outlet of which is at the Ngakawau River, with the object of supplying lo New Zealand, from her own soil, a coal at once superior in quality and lower in price than can be obtained from New South Wales. The rapid increase of population, and the unprecedented development of the resources of this country, urgently require that the increasing demand for coal should be met at once by an adequate home supply. This supply exists unequalled in quality, and to a practically unlimited extent, in the above district, the development of which should be regarded in the light of a great national undertaking. Numerous scientific and practical reports from the most competent authorities have been obtained on the quality of this cool. They concur in describing it for either steam, gas, or coke purposes superior to any coal, local or foreign, that has been hitherto in goneral use in this country — having no unpleasant smell, forming a compact coke, being unusually free from clinker, and giving out comparatively little smoke. Its evaporating pewer is considerably higher than Grey River coal, which has up to the present been considered the best available coal in New Zealand ; it is likewise superior to it for gas and coke purposes. Tested against the average New South Wales coal delivered in this country, it possesses 25 per cent more evaporative power, rendering it consequently of one-fourth more value, which, in addition to the saving of labor and space, is for ocean steamers a great consideration, A drive has been put into this coal seam, where it outcrops on the Ngakawau River, to a distance of 190 feet. The seam measured 16 feet in thickness ; it has now increased to 19 feet 10 inches, lying also at a considerably reduced angle, which is estimated to have largely increased the value of this property— the entrance to the mine being about three quarters of a mile up from the mouth of the river and thirty feet above high-water mark. A lease of 400 acres, comprising the only readily available outlet from the district, has been obtained, and the whole of this ground is believed to contain coal. A larger area, extending into Mount Frederic, has been applied for in order that ihe operations of the Company may be conducted on a scale commensurate with its national importance. The coal in the district may be regarded as practically inexhaustible, a. thickness of seam from 10 to 30 feet covering the country to an extent the limits of which have as yet been but imperfectly defined. Four schemes for the working of this coal have been under consideration : — 1 By a tug boat and berges conveying the coal from the Ngakawau to the Buller River. 2. By a coal tramway to the Buller. 3- By the employment of a traction engine on the hard sandy shore. 4. By the construction of a pier head and other harbor works at the Ngakawau. Either plan may be adopted and coal delivered on board ship at about 15s per ton ; but it is proposed that the question be decided by the Board of Directors, with the aid of engineering experience. At preeent the p.s. Result is supplying Westport with coal from this mine, and small craft are carrying away coal from the pit's mouth at 10s per ton. Comparatively inexpensive harbor works will render the river available for vessels drawing 10 feet of water j bub it may be improved indefinitely. A reserve for a Coal Depot has been ao-quix-ed on the Buller River, at which it is proposed to keep 2,000 tons always on hand for vessels unable to enter the Ngakawau. It is contemplated to utilise all the slack by erecting coke ovens on the ground ; and an engine for drawing and lifting purposes will be required, but for many years, probably, not for pumping. A mine possessing these advantages can at once eecure a ready market, both in this oountry and in Victoria; the quantity of New South Wales coal alone consumed last year in this country exceeded 100,000 tons, and a demand for Ngakawau coal having already sprung up in Melbourne. Th« cost of this property to the Company is not to exceed £4,000, part to bo paid in cash and part, in shares, and this will cover all expenses of formation. Applications for shares, upon the Form enclosed, may be addressed to — R. Garlick, Exchange, Auckland ; Messrs Morrison, Sclundere, & Co, Nelson ; J. Dranefield, Wellington ; or to Measra Taylor and Watt, Wanganui j who have consented to act as temporary agents of the Company. Prospectuses and forms of application may be obtained of the agents or of any of the directors. npO CONTRACTORS. The Telegraph Commissioner is prepared to receive Tenders for the supply and delivery of fifteen thousand (.15,000) TELEGRAPH ARM; 3. Specifications and patterns can be seen, and further particulars obtained at the Telegraph Offioe, Wellington, and the Telegraph Office, Greytown. Tenders addressed " The General Manager New Zealand Telegraph, Wellington," and endorsed " Tenders for Telegraph Arms," to be sent in not later than the 14th May, 1873. By order of the Telegraph Commissioner, O. LEMON, General Manager. New Zealand Telegraph, Wellington, sth May, 1873.