OAMARU STONE COMPANY.

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 541, 25 January 1878, Page 2

OAMARU STONE COMPANY.

The Melbourne Daily Telegraph publishes the following report of the meeting recently held in Melbourne with reference to the Oamaru Stone Company :

" A meeting of promoters, and others interested in the Oamaru Stone Quarrying and Export Company, was held at the Union Club Hotel yesterday afternoon. There was a considerable gathering, and

"Mr. J. E. Rawlinson, C.E., was called to the chair. He said iie regarded the present meeting as of very considerable importance. The difficulty of getting uitable stone for our more important - f was one of longstanding. The Milestone of the Oniony, so largely was a. dark, somlire, unsightly stone, and .10 hard that any attempt at ornanvntaHon was an impossibility with it, He had •rmie carefully through t'i" reports of men • if high standing in New Zealand, as c>n'ainpd in the pamphlet he held in his 'and. and he was much impressed with the evident reliability and trustworthiness of those reports. The Oamaru stone was ■i soft stone, ranking with the well-known oolites of France, which had stood for cp.ntnries, and the evidence to his mind as to the durability' and beauty of the Oamaru stone, and its adaptability for better class buildings, was quite satisfactory. From an educational point of view, he regarded our street architecture as of some importance. Highly ornate structures, the'-embodiment of taste and culture, were of no small consequence in forming the minds of the young, and he thought the present project, so far as he could judge, highly deserving of the support both of the profession and of the community at large. " Mr. J. K. Brown, agent for the company,, stated that he was pleased to see so many parties interested in the building trade present, and the meeting, he war sure, would have been much larger but for the opening of the Portland Railway. In visiting Oamaru, nearly two years ago, the great beauty of the Oamaru stone at once struck him, and having had some experience of the difficulty of obtaining any suitable building stone in Melbourne, at. a reasonable price, he came to the conclusion that the Oamaru stone would prove a solution to the problem. The completion of the Government railways, and the Oamaru Breakwater, removed the difficulties in the way of shipment, and the present company proposed three things to itself :—lst. That the stone should be supplied in quantity. 2nd. That it should be supplied of the best quality; and 3rd,'that it should be supplied at a dieap rate. AH this they would substantially guarantee, and ■ with an abundant supply of the best quality at a low rate, he was informed by architects at the head of the profession in Melbourne that in a very short time it would be the only ; stone used in Melbourne. This was most encouraging, and he was in a position to state that if a fair proportion of the capital for working the Gompany wm found in Melbourne, the Oamaru shareholders would be only too glad to make such arrangements as-would enable the Melbourne shareholders to participate in the management. Since coming to Melbourne he had printed a pamphlet containing very valuable ■ reports from the most eminent professional

men in Otago, and he further read the evidence of Mr. Munro, sculptor; Mr. Ballantyne, quarryman; Mr. M'Leod, C.E.; Mr. Johnston, architect; Mr. Doak, quarryman ; and Mr. Glass, architect, testifying to the value of the stone. It was needless for him to attempt to supplement such evidence, for there seemed to be no difference of opinion as to the merit of the stone, and it only remained for the shareholders to make it the commeroial success which it deserved to become. The question was, he thought, interesting to all who preferred i beauty to ugliness, ornamentation to plainness, and when added to such recommendations there was also durability and cheapness, he thought there was no room' for any difference of opinion. The speaker having replied to a large number of questions, which were answered to the •satisfaction of the meeting, "Dr. Qrouke said he had much pleasure in anticipating a change for the better in our public edifices and street iichitectnre. The Oamaru stone was extremely beautiful, Liet them look at the pulpit of the Sootoji Church, as well as i lie Imperial Insurances offices and the Bank of Australasia. These showed what could be done with this really beautiful stone.

" Mr. Dickson moved, < That in the opinion of this meeting, the proposal to rurin'a company for the Oamaru stone leservea the support of the community of Melbourne.'

" This was seconded by Mr. T. W. Mason, and carried unanimously. " Mr. Brown moved that the following gentlemen be appointed as provisional directors, with power to add to their number :—His Worship the Mayor, Mr. T. E. Rawlinson, C.E.; Alderman Aarons, Messrs. John Andrew, M.L.A.; Samuel Aniess, A. K. Smith, M.L.A.; T. V. Mason, T. Millar, T. Y. Anderson, and John Danks. " A vote of thanks to the Chairman closed the proceedings."