The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 1877.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 8, 27 April 1877, Page 2

The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 1877.

Some facts have recently cojge to light which leave no, possible rppva, to donbt tha,t for, a very long time past something approaching a^ wholesale, system of amalgam stealing has beenperpetrated in this district;. The circumstances relating more immediately tp the theft of amalgam, from one particular battery have been known, for soaie. time past, but have bgen held in guarded secres^ in tho hope, tha.t some J conclusive evidence, migh, b$ obtained in order to ftx t\e guilt of the larceny directly upon the. suspected, person or persons, A chain, of ciijcams^antial, evidence has beeja woven wnjieh pointy pretty cleanly to the wal, and, aftual perpejtrators of at least ope ipbbenrb* , the. fitind alludpd, to, but m *> present time the vigilance r,l H>.e police an^ those instructing them, has failed to ca,ri;y the investigation, beyond this point, ty has been ascertiained that large quantities of am^ig^n, naye been, sold, to on© of, the Nelson, Banks, and- further that a Dunedin Be^s. h^s . also purchased amalgam, under circumstances which leavo little room, to doubt > that it came fr,om the Inangabua. Of course the great difficulty experienced by those following up the inquiry has been the almost impossibility, in the , absence of direct evidence of the robbery, bringing the offender or

offenders to justice. The fact qf one or more person^ who have been employed on this field, presenting amalgam for sale to the Banks in Nelspn, Dunedjq, and elsewhere, may be in itself suspicions and carry with it a strong presumption, but there, unhappily, we are told, the matter ends. XJnder these circumstances, then, no good purpose ccs be seryed by plrfjiug the fact under concealment any longer. To what extent this robbery has been earned on, \t js impossible to say, and of that probably nqthing more definite will ever be known, bi^t so fa? as the inquiries have gone the circumstances point to the Westland battery as the gcene of these depredations. It will be recollected that for a considerable time a feeling of great dissatisfaction preyailed, amongst claim holders regarding the results of crushings obtained from that particular battery. This dissatisfaction was more particularly manifest in the case of the crush* ings of the Victoria, Phoenix, and oolden Treasure Companies, the yield of the last Phoenix crushing hays ing been strangely disappointing. The stone as \t passed to ttje mill was estU mated by expert? to run at the very least loz per ton, when in fact the quantity of amalgam given as the resultdid not average more than a fevy pennyweights per ton. This, however, may or may not be more thanmere barren hypothesis, but in the face of the facts disclosed the verdict will unquestionably go that the proceeds were surreptitiously plundered. This matter becomes one of very serious importance, when we consider what result pasi crushmgs at the battery in question haye had. upon the subsequent conduct of a large number of mining veutujef in that particular neighborhood,. At $11 events th.c result, whether traceable to dishonesty or not, had the effect of causing 'a, temporary suspension of operations in the majority of mines, and gave rise to a feeling of distrust; which yery largely influenced the after action of those Companies. It is important then that this disclosure should be made not less in the interest of the companies named than that greater precautions may be taken in future to guard against what we feel justified in designating a repetition of this form of robbery. We very much regret that we are unable to deal with the subject so as to prevent the possibility of suspicion being carried further than is intended, but the difficulty of doing so can he readily understood. This, however, we feel constrained, to say, that so far as inquiry has yet gone nothing has been ascer* tamed, so far as we are aware, to cr mpromise the honesty or integrity of any of battery hand^ at present epgaged in, the district. The matter is, however, of t9O greaj importance to* all, persons interested in the field to be lightly treated, and we trust that the service we do in laying the matter before the public will not be lost sight of, but that all proper precautions will be henceforth taken to guard, against anything of the kind in the future.