THE CULLIFORD COMPANY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 171, 22 July 1870, Page 2

THE CULLIFORD COMPANY.

To the Editor of the Nelson Evexikg Mail. Sir—Considerable dissatisfaction' has been expressed with regard to the action takeu by the directors of the Culliford Company iu ordering for the mine a small battery consisting of only four head of stampers, and I eonfess that hitherto I have been among those who considered that in commencing the work on so small a scale they were not displaying that amount of judgment and foresight which we should wish to find in a body of men to whose charge was committed the interests of so numerous a section of the community as is comprised in the list of shareholders in this company. This opinion however has been considerably shaken by conversations I have recently had with those who have had better opportunities than myself of becoming acquainted with the pros and cons of the case, and I am now quite disposed to allow that there is much to be said in favor of the course about to be pursued by the directors who, it appears, have been largely influenced in arriving at the determination which has given rise to so much dissatisfaction by the fact that it would be next to impossible in the present state of the roads to convey to the ground machinery..of such size and power as a large' number of the shareholders would like to'see erected.: Put as briefly as possible, the arguments in favor of the small battery, which the Directors have.determined toobtain are as follows :—The difficulties and attendant upon'getting.on toihe ground a battery of say twelve or fifteen head of stampers would, under existing. circura-; stances, be enormous, if indeed it were practicable, ibr in such a machine; there would'be some portions weighing at least 30cwt to be conveyed . over the now almost impassable roadsj whereas with the smaller one no one piece will exceed 4cwt. But while it.is proposed to obtain but a small machine, it is not. intended to carry out the necessary woj-ks in projiorUpn to the size pf the battery, for instance the tunneVwiil be as,large, and. the tramway as capable of conveying to the crushing ground large quantities of stone as if they were erected in connection with ajbattery four times the size of the one ordered. If, therefore, the reef should turn out as rich and as extensive as is anticipated, the only change that will be rendered necessary will be that a new machine .must be obtained. which will be taken on to the ground under far more favorable circumstances than exist at presen,, because the Government will then, be fully justified in laying outa large sum of money on the road to Wangapeka, an expenditure which I conceive they have no right to incur until it has been clearly proved that the district is auriferous to such an extent as to lead to the-'erection of machinery on a large scale. Should the claim prove as rich as we,all,hope it will, ther.e can be no doubt that other payable reefs'will be found in; thedisirict, and consequently other com-; pani.es .will dq; doubt-be formed- who will only be too glad to purchase, from thei Culliford Company their small battery; which, in the meantime, will have crushed out sufficient gold to pay for a larger and; more powerful one-, th-us 1 precluding the

necessity of making heavy calls upon the shareholders. lam quite aware that many objections will be raised to the course about to be adopted by the directors, but I think I have shown that they have some arguments in their favor, and that they are not actiog iu so unreasonable a manner as many, who have not looked at both sides of the question, are disposed to believe. With many apologies for trespassing so largely on your valuable space. I am, &c, A Shareholder.