The South Pacific Petroleum Company.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume IX, Issue 977, 10 September 1881, Page 2

The South Pacific Petroleum Company.

So much has been said and written about the Oil and Paraffin Companies of Poverty Bay 'that it is a matter of some difficulty, in the light (or darkness) of their, almost, standstill attitude, to say o< write anything fresh, or, at any rate so fresh as to create a new interest in the. ,9u&ds...Qf .shareholders, or our readers generally. But, having bein ©(/courteously entertained .by the., ©ver-alert.. Managing Director of the Southern Cross Company in our recent visit to the Botokju’tuku HFopterty ■; and, with a view to dispeh ihef hiwertG, rather too current Accusations of bias or prejudice in “ buttering ” one Company at the expense of the other, We decided to despatch our special reporter to th© Mangatu Springs* and* from personal observation* to statethe exact state of affairs. the day our representative arrived at the springs, was the day of rest. the real day of rest; for the wicked had ceased from troubling, and the weary (those wh<s’ had gone. through two shif ts a day—whatever that may mean) were where they ought to be —in therf bunks, no churches nor parsons troubling them in those parts. But let our reporter speak for Mineelf. Our party arrived about 11 r®.Hi., and were welepmedi by Mr. Wright, the mine manager, who courteously showed ,us over The first spot visited was the old well on the I top of the hill, and which I had not seen for some years. There, w v ,ljttle to be seen there now, except the evidences of former folly. The shaft bad done what many persons areobliged to do world —“caved in,” and there was hardly anything to denote its former greatness. We next 1 visited the scene of present operations, and certainly we cannot but compliment Mr. Wright, Mr. Berry, and all concerned, dqi the efficient state in /Which everythiftgappeared to be. Of course, as L have said,, being Sunday, the working gear was at a standstill, iso we had not the advantage of seeing the modus operandi ; blit we saw sufficient to convince ire that nothing is wanting in the shape of in tel li gene© and ingenuity to test the the ground.: Everything was in apple-pie order ; the and in its Sunday garb, while the general appearance indicated, ty stent and order. From Mr.; Wright I learnt that the 6-in ch tubes are down 100 feet, which, on running short, were discontinued, and smaller ones sunk inside of them, which latter were then down to about 280 feet. Th© punching is very, slow at this period, owing to the extreme hardness of the stuff to be pierced, which Mr. Wright is -assured is' bed rock.. He showed us some samples brought to the surface on die previous day, and they certainly look like what has been so long expected. They-con-sisted of a kiqd of, conglomerate of extremelyharil, feocky substance, intermixed*with Yriutldldand quart®, very similaa to- what I ,<h*ve seen in gold-bearing jHin hardness of th® stuff is measured by the fact that but little over a foot is sunk in a day. Mr. Berry brought samples of the stuff down to town*, which any' person can inspect At his office. Like the Southern Cross Company, the management of th© South Pacific ! Company, are workingbqth for paraffin, and for oilthe latter being subotf- 5 dinated to the former, since the opp is an ascertained fact of an unknown quantity, and can be put into the market for the mere cost and labor of producing it. When I say subordinated,” I don’t wiah to eonyey the meaning that one industry is worked at the expense of the Other, but that, both works being prosecuted simultaneously, the anxiousness of a prospective oil supply, is very much lessened by th© presence ofi a very valuable and extensive field bf paraffin. The features of this latter, topographically speaking, is much the same as that of the Southern Cross Company. The first cropping up of the find was on the slope of a hill dipping towards a creek, the level of which. Mr. Berry 1 decided—and it would appear to be wisely so—to put ip a drive until he tapped the lead, wljich was done at a distance of about 100 feet, the width of the cutting being sufficient to oUa sihgle tram to shift the waste stuff into the creek, while the depth ef fbe driV© ia not at present more then about 20 feet.

During wet weather this work has to be discontinued ; but now that the rain season is over, it will be pushed on with renewed vigor. Mr. Wright unearthed several shovelfuls of the “ butter,? which is, bdth as regards quantity and color, precisely the same as I saw at Rotek&utuku. At the head of the drive some tons of stuff are ready for working, And from Which constant streams of petroleum ar® running to a kind of reservoir, whence as much as possible is put into a tank for future purposes. Being satisfied with the richness and abundance of the staff at the drive, our party were escorted over itf large area of the ground, during which we inspected several test holes that had been dug, and. in all of which th® - indications are similar to those I have before described in*J thfe’ hthir Company’s ground, the only .diffareupp. beipg the presence of larger and .more frequent quantities of oil,. We concluded our inspection at the shaft tvhidh is being sunk some little distance from thij drive before i This shaft is about 4 feet square, and the present depth 50 feet. Th® object of this work is the possibility*of cutting the paraffin Ipaq from the drive, as by doing which its direction will be ascertained, and, probably, much labor saved. From thfit source, also, large quantities of petroleum are saved, and moreover, much is lost. A windsail is provided now, as Mr.’ Wright found it impossible-to work in the shaft, owing to the stupefying effects of the gaseous vapors. In some ot the oil cups in which the oil has been exposed for some time, it was interesting to notice tjbe formation’ of paraffin from phfrttleum. Exposure to the air cannot be an element in the process, since “ better,” and other fatty substances are found embedded in tne earth ; but on the surface of the oils themselves, the formation pi oleaginous deposits was clearly discernible. Not being a scientist, I cannot attempt tenWpßin this further ; but it would appear from this fact, and the discoveries before ms, that Nature is constantly at work in this direction, and that while the earth yields its fUTness into the hands of her children, she is silently and continually providing a fresh supply. Beyond stating these factii perßoual observation, I regret my inability to do more. That the quantities both ,of oil and paraffin, are “ all there,” there is no doubt; while the pellucid state, and comparative freedom from water of the oil, and the unctuous fattiness of the paraffin, indicate quality , we have a Surety, wherethqn, does the company halt ? Or, if not halting, vfrhy this crirhfnal waste of time ? That Mr; Wright and Mr. Berry are doing their ‘‘‘level best ” iH the interests of the shareholders, I have had sufficient proof. I am not writing either to .“ rig,” “ bull,” or “ bear T ’ the sharemarket. My desire is to put a plain, unbiassed, narration of; facts before the Standard’s readers, therefore I give my opinion of both sides of the question —as every honest writer should do—with the greater confidence. But I km bound to state that it is a riflr, an absolute mockery, a flying in the face of'an £ll-bountif ul Providence to have all this untold wealth at our feet> we so supine as ip do next to nothing, to turn it to good account..

0 n a y fo the springs we saMr A dray load of oil and? paraffin which Mr. sßfcrry ir Shipping 7 off to * England ;/, and< from - whom trh leam that ’ the Director® r ar® awaiting TepHeh from that country befor© they can determine their future course. It ia always wise to ascertain if you can sell your pork before you kill your pig ; r but, m this iniance, this seems fo b© unnecessary. In the markets of the world there is plenty of demand for our products, that is, if they are fehppW in like a business-like form ] but if the Kreetors go hesitatingly to work, uncer-tain-how to proceed, and ignorant of what, to dojjthey will -tire the patience of the people, and create distrust in the , mjnds xjf the shareholders. In expressing njy own opinion, I must say it Would have been wise to have utilised Mr. Beniek’ services while he was here, and paid him/to inspect and report on the company’s ground. Having been with that gentleman at the Rotokautuku Springs, and noting thei© resemblance to the prospects of the South Pacific, I feet confident .his report would, hav© been exactly the same. Therefore the South Pacific has. the advantage of the ©pinion of an expert, without paying for it, and ought to copy its r youuger brothac without further lefts of time.