Page 1 Advertisements Column 3

Evening Post, Issue 142, 22 July 1865, Page 1

PROSPECTUS OF A JOINT-STOCK COMPANY TO BE ! FORMED FOR THE PURCHASE OF THE UNIVERSAL BOND, DUNEDIN. CAPITAL £10,000, IN ONE HUNDRED SHARES AT £100 EACH. THE present Proprietors of the Universal Bond invite the mercantile community of Dunedin to take up this enterprise at the original cost of the Stores and Plant, £10,000, The object for disposing of the property in this manner is to secure a large custom, by means of a numerous proprietary of merchants, storekeepers, &c. The ground is a Leasehold from the Government, terminating anno 1963, and consists of the entire Blocks No. 9, 10, 11, and 12, being an area of 136 feet by 81 feet. The Stores, which are most substantially built and faithfully constructed, occupy the whole area, and consist of— Cellar, 122 x 78 x 8 ; groundfloor, 122 x 78 x 11, divided by a 12 feet passage for drays ; and an upper flat, 134x71x16. The ground floor is divided into a Public Store 82 x 78, and two Private Stores 20 x7B each. Of the total Public Store-room 41 x 78 on the ground floor is at present used as Free Stares, all the rest as Bonded Stores. From the above dimensions it is calculated that the building is capable of holding 8000 tons, which, after making the usual allowance of one-fourth for working room and gangways, leaves Store room for 6000 tons, viz. :— 650 tons Free Goods, and 5350 tons Bonded Goods. This is exclusive of the two Private Stores, which might be let at a rental of £200 per annum each. With a proprietary including almost every merchant in Dunedin, it may be taken for granted that the Stores will generally be full. Estimating the average quantity of Goods on ritorage at 4000 tons Bonded Goods, at Sixpence per ton, and 4000 tons free goods, at Threepence per ton, there would be a weekly rent of £105, Or £5460 per annum. This, with the rent for the Private Stores, would make a yearly income from rent of £5860. In a storing business of such magnitude, it may be calculated that all expenses for management, labour, ground rent, &c, would be paid by the charges made for receiving and delivery, and consequently the receipts for rent would be so much nett profit, and would cover the whole cost of the shares in something like two years. In fact, in the hands of a Joint Stock Proprietary, this speculation is one of the most lucrative that could well be imagined. A further advantage of this Joint-Stock Bond would be that the benefit of a very low rate of storage, which is now enjoyed exclusively by the first importer, could here also be allowed to subsequent holders. This would make a material difference to the mercantile community in general — for whereas in the present state many people hesitate purchasing a parcel of Bonded Goods on account of the rent which will accumulate before they want to clear the Goods ; such consideration would hold no purchaser back as soon as it were known that the rent would amount to a mere nominal item. And further, if every trader were an owner, he would have the stisfaction of knowing that whatever he paid for Bond rent would come back to him in the shape of dividend on his Shares. As soon as the requisite number of shares is subscribed for, a call will be made for the full amount, leaving it optional with the