BAKER'S HILL COMPANY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 51, 13 January 1872, Page 5

BAKER'S HILL COMPANY.

After some delay, and a little activity in, hunting up shareholders, a quorum was raised, and the general meeting of the above company, which had fallen through ou two previous occasions, was brought to a practical issue on Wednesday night at Donnecker's Hotel. Mr Baird occupied the chair. After the usual preliminary business the bepobt of the directors for the past half year was read and adopted. The following facts are gleaned from the document:—Little has been done beyond continuing the lower drive, now in 485 feet, the latter portion of this having been let in contracts of 50 feet each. The receipts for the half year has been £166 16s 4d, of which a balance of £5 19s 4d remains in hand. The expenditure for the same period has been £167 17s 2d. The liabilities up to Ist December, 1871, are £54 19s 5d as against assets to the amount of £lsl 18s Id. The report regrets that the crushing which took place at Makara was not a fair one, and that in consequence the directors decided that a water wheel should be erected for the purpose of driving the machinery now on the ground, so that any further crushings would be under the immediate supervision of the company. The wheel was erected at a cost of £3O, and one crushing has taken place, another being now in progress, the stuff having on the recommendation of a practical miner been previously burnt. While regretting the ungratifying nature of the report, the directors are still hopeful that the claim will ultimately be a financial success, as they have had various tests made of samples of the stone, all of an encouraging nature. Shareholders in arrears are reminded of the difficulty of carrying on the necessary work ir> the unflourishing state of the finances of the company, and requested to pay up. Since the original report was drawn up, and from which the above is gathered, the directors have supplemented it with the following information : —The process of burning the stone before crushing hai not improved the prospect in any way, as the yield was exactly in the same proportion as that obtained by the Makara crushing. In order to dispel any doubts that this might raise as to the value of the stone, samples were taken from different parts of the drive and subjected to severe tests by Mr Shaw, a gentleman in every way competent to decide such a matter, and he reports the presence of gold in considerable quantity in each of the samples. Acting on the experience already derived, the directors conclude by recommending that for sometime attention should be chiefly directed to devising the best means of saving the gold, instead of prospecting the ground any furthar. A report from Mr Skey, giving an analysis, of the different metallic substances contained in a parcel submitted to him, was also read. This showed that notwithstanding the presence of zinc, lead, copper, silver, and metallic iron, there was a yield of 44.96 per cent of gold. The yield was equal to 4 dwts 21 grs from about 24 cwt of stone. This being much inferior to the yield of previous trials was accounted for on the ground that although taken from the same leader, it was much poorer in quality. A long and desultory discussion ensued over the appointment of Mr Lees to superintend the crushing, a duty which several of the shareholders considered he was utterly unqualified to perform, and attributed the unsatistory result of the crushing to that fact. It appeared from the explanations which were elicited concerning the transaction that it was partly owing to a misunderstanding between some of the directors and Mr Bennett, who had previously promised to lend what assistance he could to have the crushing performed in a satisfactory manner. It had been intendtd to secure the services of Mr Moslem, but as he injured his hand some other person had to be found. This irregular discussion was brought to a close by the chairman moving the adoption of the report, which was carried unanimously. Messrs E.Hunter, Baird, and Bennett, who were retiring directors, having borne the brunt of the business since the formation of the company, declined to serve any longer. The following gentlemen were then nominated and elected unanimously:—Messrs I. Plimmer, Crease, and M'Carthy. A hearty vote of thanks was then passed to the retiring directors for their past services. Messrs Tringham and Pilcher were appointed auditors for the ensuing 12 months. A vote of thanks to the Chairman concluded the meeting.