WEST WANGANUI COAL MINES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5481, 21 October 1878, Page 2

WEST WANGANUI COAL MINES.

TO THE EDITOR OP THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sin, —I shall be obliged if you will insert this letter referring to the West Wanganui Coal Mine. No doubt the progress of the works is a matter affecting the shareholders in a much greater degree than it does the public; but the opening up of a coalfield iu this colony is of general importance, and the public are deeply "interested In it. Anything that will tend to diminish the enormous importation of coal from New South Wales by supplying a New Zealand coal must more or less benefit this colony. I have ventured to trouble yau with this because the recent wreck of tha |J. G. Coleson has been seized as an opportunity for referring to imaginary dangers vessels are said to’encounter in going to the West Wanganui Inlet, and those who do not know the circumstances may be misled into the belief that the wreck took place at, or near, the Inlet, instead of at a totally different part of the coast. It is now pretty well known that many persons interested iu other directions have systematically run down the mine referred to. The following assertions, all of which have been proved to he absolutely incorrect, have been made from time to time :—That the coal outcropping on the mud flats was only a patch ; that the seam was too thin to pay ; that it had run out; that the coal was inferior in quality ; that it was mixed with rubbish ; that a shaft sunk on the company's lease some years ago had been flooded out and abandoned; that tho underground flow of water was so heavy that it would be impossible to sink a shaft ; that there was not sufficient water in the inlet to float any but the smallest craft; that the bar had but a tew feet of water on it at high tide ; that the bar was very dangerous; aud that the coal was so light that when a vessel was filled with it she would not be nearly down to her load-line. All these statements were made, aud some of them most persistently. It has been proved that the seam now being worked at a depth of about 50ft. is well defined and undisturbed by faults. It is more than sft. iu thickness; the coal is of first-rate quality; the company's shaft was the first sunk on the lease ; the water in the mine is easily baled by a small portable engine with iron buckets ; there is deep water iu tho inlet ; the bar is good, and the coal is of sufficient specific gravity to give a vessel as much dead weight as she can carry. It must be admitted that a most extraordinary number of incorrect assertions have been made to the prejudice of tho mine. The time has now passed at which the property could be seriously injured by them, but nevertheless it is annoying that so good a speculation should bo decried in so many ways. Those who know most about tho mine are perfectly satisfied that

the company has a prosperous future before it. In conclusion, I may say that any shareholder who' wishes information can obtain it by applying at the company's office. —I am, &c., A Shareholder. Wellington, October 18.