The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 1907.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2112, 21 June 1907, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 1907.

THE IMPERIAL CONFERENCE. It is not ofterj of late that this journul has found itself able to congratulate members of the present Administration upon their achievements, but we are glad to say that wo can honestly congratulate bir Joseph Ward upon liis representation of the colony at the Imperial Conference. No doubt ho was to a certain extent ovorshadowod by the Premiers of Canada and the Commonwealth, for both Sir Wilfred Laurier and Mr. Deakin rank high as orators, but as a plain, businesslike man Sir Joseph Ward put forward practical views which wero respected both by his colleagues at the Conference and by the public outside. Both parties in this colony we feel sure are in sympathy with the views he advanced, and will join most heartily in welcoming him home. A public man must .have many disappointments, and sometimes feel keenly the criticisms which are levelled justlv or unjustly against him, and it must therefore be all the more - gratifying when his opponents join his friends in congratulating him upon his work.

OUR OIL RESOURCES

It is now a good many months since keen interest was aroused in Poverty Bay by the flotation of the Gisborne Oil Company, with the object of thoroughly testing the district for oil. There are many old residents who remember the first attempts made in this direction, and how, although petroleum was undoubtedly found, the enterprising promoters were not rewarded with success, owing to shortage of capital and tlieir well catching fire, destroying their derrick and plant: The faith which the late Mr. William Cooper and others had t 1 «t oil coul'd be found here in marketable quantities, seems to be supported by the opinion of every expert or geologist who visits the district, yet apparently practically nothing has hepn heard of the Gisborne Oil Company beyond learned disquisitions from the chairman, in- which he gave the shareholders much interesting geological information, and told them that oil “gravitated” uphill. In the meantime the oil companies in Taranaki have beon making steady progress, and are pushing the industry forward to the general advancement of that district. It is evident that this is not a “boom” fodHilhe purpose of floating shares or selling property in the locality, for the Admiralty lias considered itself warranted already in sending, an agent there with the object of arranging a contract with the companies to supply crude petroleum for fuel for warships. The petroleum works at Moturoa are rojiorted to he at an interesting stage, as the last machinery has , arrived from Sydney. No. 2 bore is about down to the oil stratum, and No. 3 is also expected, to strike oil very shortly, and it is now down to a depth of about 2000 ft. The Omata bore of the New Plymouth Petroleum Company, although only commenced about a fortnight ago, is down to a depth of 600 ft, the gear is of the latest American pattern, and the derrick is the largest at present erected in the colony. It is not recorded whether the chairman of either of these companies give lectures upon geologv, but it cannot be denied that tliev are pushing forward the enterprise with businesslike methods and energy, and it is to be hoped that not only in the interests of the many small shareholders, but in the interest of the whole district, our local company will revive from its present moribund condition.