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Poverty Bay Standard, Volume IX, Issue 916, 9 February 1881, Page 3

With regard to the concluding portion of “ Petroleum’s ” letter, we feel constrained to endorse his remarks that there is “ an absolute certainty of unwarrantable expense ” going on at the South Pacific Company’s springs. It is always a source of regret for us to have the necessity forced upon us to expose “ ways that are dark, and tricks that are vainbut the present Manager, Mr. Kendall, has isolated himself so entirely from the consideration of all and every interest outside that of New South Wales, as to draw remark and hostile inferences from those who, otherwise, might be his friends. Everything is worked —or the reverse, much the reverse —in that mysterious manner; and with that careful avoidance of publicity, as would put Gvy Fawkes himself to the blush. Possibly Mr. Kendall hopes to astonish the world, some day, with the startling announcement that he has struck oil; but, if a hundredth part of what we hear of that excellent young man’s incapacity is true, the day of oil appearing is some distance off. We can only judge by results, and those, so far, such as they are, do not redound to Mr. Kendall’s credit; nor do they reflect any super-radiant effulgence on his knowledge of the work he has in hand. From the first, bungling, and ill-digested plans have been the only noticeable feature in the management of the works. Let us trace these from the start. The depth proved by the former workings showed 20Qfeet with-

out solid rock; but, in the face of this, Mr. Kendall was sure of getting on to rock at sixty feet or less—the consequence was the loss of his first column of tubes. Another well was then commenced, with only about 100 feet of tubes on hand; these being used up, four new lengths were obtained which were useless ; then the new well had to stand for about six weeks, while Mr. Kendall went to Sydney for another driblet of 80 feet! The tubes in the well during his absence got so clay-bound, owing to a discontinuance of active operations, as he had been cautioned they would do, that, while driving with all possible force, not more than five or six feet per week can be sunk, and every few days either Mr. Kendall or Mr. Parsons come to town to get some “new contrivance” for assisting the driving. The upshot of this will be that the tubes, now down about 155 feet, cannot be driven 45 feet further ; and we know that at 200 feet depth the old Company discovered no bottom, so that the collapse of the second well is only a matter of a few days. The whole of this misfortune is attributable only to the false economy of trying to obtain tubes, merely as they are wanted. An ample quantity should be obtained to start with, and when a well is commenced, they should be worked continuously, for the twenty-four hours, until bottom rock is reached; in this manner, by keeping the whole column moving, the clay or earth surrounding them, has no time to set and bind the tubes with such grip as the Manager of the S.P.P. Company finds is the case. He will learn from this experience that the “ rule of thumb ” cannot be applied to new fields; and that he must be more pliant to persons willing to volunteer any assistance that ought to be valued by the sort of Manager we require—-namely, a patient, thoughtful, arid observant, working man, with quickness of apprehension, and full of resource for any unforseen difficulty. If these qualities are not combined in the Manager of the South Pacific Company (we do not say they are not, but we have not seen them) we venture to recommend him to visit “ fresh fields and pastures new.” During the first week of Mr. Kendall’s arrival here from Sydney, after his Christmas holiday, his time was occupied by paying visits to the settlers round about, whilst the men were all ready for their work and waiting his presence. A number of ladies and gentlemen were invited to visit him at the Oil Springs, when he slipped away to town, leaving the men to. entertain his guests, and again leaving them in idleness. Again, during his absence in town, no tube-driving can be done, although it is reported that he does nothing whatever towards the work himself when at home. When Mr. Parsons is absent no work is done, so that between the absence of both, not more than two-fifths of the time and expenditure are utilized. In fact the management is held to be so gross that if the Sydney shareholders could know of the state of matters, as the shareholders here know them, the present organization would not last a single day. The foregoing may be held to be severe strictures, but they are imperatively called for at this juncture. There must be no more mincing of matters ; no more namby-pamby, Oil Spring, dilettanteism about the matter. We want men of good, sound, practical experience, and common sense, to develop the treasures that lie embedded in the bosom of our mother earth. We w r ant men ♦who are passing honest, and who will act for the general welfare of the Company; men who are not afraid to let their actions see the light of day ; men who make the shareholders their friends, instead of transforming them into unwilling enemies ; and if we do not possess them here, we must obtain them elsewhere.