Poverty Bay Standard. Published Every Evening. GISBORNE: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1882.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume X, Issue 1193, 4 November 1882, Page 2

Poverty Bay Standard. Published Every Evening. GISBORNE: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1882.

i The Oil Springs of Poverty Bay have long i been a subject of intense interest for the Colony generally, and not for New Zealand alone ; from Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, • and Brisbane we daily see and hear remarks I passed, and questions asked, regarding the ■ progress and future prospects of the oil shafts ; now being put down by the South Pacific and ■ Southern Cross Petroleum Companies, and ■ many and discrepant arc the various views ' expressed regarding them. As with all mini eral deposits lying deep beneath the earth’s ' surface and requiring the outlay of large j sums of money, and the employment of skilli ed labour for the development of the reality j of the subterranean deposits as pointed to by ' surface indications, these oil works have had, ' and have still, their partizans and their de- ' tractors ; some of whom have pinned their , entire faith in the future Jfr/r results from the enterprise as probably yielding a ; nobly remunerative return for capital and labour expended in their development, while others (these certainly the less thinking portion of the community) have condemned the concerns wholesale as futilley and fraudulently speculative. It is to these latter whom we would particularly address the substance of the remarks which follow, and which are j not the result or outcome of hearsay, and j Club or hotel talk, but that of patient and i laborious investigation made by personal observation, and which we hope will have the 1 desired effect of putting an end, not to criti- > cism or argument, but to the false, malicious and cavilling misstatements which have been so industriously circulated by the, for some reason utterly inexplicable to us, determined enemies and opponents of the valuable local industries here referred to. For the present occasion we shall only allude tn the Southern Cross Petroleum Company, to whose workings, at the earnest request of several gentlemen interested therein as share holders, we have recently paid a'visit; the result of which fully confirms the report . made a short time back, upon the company's works and their prospects, by Mr W. 11. Lance in the columns of the “ Lyttletoa Times.” To the works of the South Pacific Petroleum Company we propose very shortly as requested by shareholders, to pay a visit, with a view of laying before the public a similar report, in extenso, of their present workings and future prospects. The utterances of Sir Charles McMaoon regarding the Southern Cross Petroleum Company must yet be fresh in the minds of our readers. As the representative, or alleging himself to be so, of a large number of shareholders resident in Australia, that gentleman, accompanied by Messrs Jack and Benies, paid a flying visit of so-called inspection to the Company’s ground at Rautokotuku, and subsequently expressed his opinion concerning the matter in very unmistakeable terms. Strange to say, Sir Charles McMahon, after proceeding on this “ visit of inspection ” as far a 1 uparoa, as place distant from the Company’s workings about 11 miles, wished to t. urn back prosecuting the object ' • s an A was only with the greatest difficulty persuaded to go on to Rautokotuku, where, having eventually arrived, he only remained half an hour ; obstinately refusing to look at anything that was shewn or pointed out to him, and evidently determined to believe nothing, see nothing, and hear nothing which might tend in any way to substantiate the bona Ji de value of the Company’s property. Determinedly and wilfully shutting his senses to the many indications of the presence of oil, the quantity of paraffin butter, and the general richness of the claim as indicated by all reasonable , surface show. Sir Charles McMahon, ac-

I companicd by his colleagues, or satellites, or whatever they were, turned his back upon R-.tttokojuku, a id announced to the public that he bad inspected the Company’s g oind at that place, and as a result of * such inspection pronounced the whole concern a fraud Untruthful and mischievous as those statemen ri were, and although they were not suffeied long to remain lucontradicted, they nevertheless inflicted incalculable, although only temporary, injury to the Company’s int'-re-rts : 'shares, ’ hich 1 dl -en hitherto reasonably firm in the market falling to almost z.io, uni a general leeiiug 4 ui distrust and insecurity being generated. From North and South of New Z.Jand from all parts of Australia, came dcßuiog enquiries as to the genuineness of the Southern Cross Company, and many and ill-meaning were the uncomplimentary remarks passed upon the Direc torate, who, however, manfully battled against the tide of ill-feeling and distrust which was thus created by the miserably spiteful expressions used by Sir Charles McMahon, regarding the results from his wisely so-called “ visit of inspection.” It appears to us that the object ot that visi was by no means to secure a fair and unbiasssed report of affairs as they really stood, but by a pre-arranged report detrimental to the Company's interests to condemn the cj.i- -| corn wholesale, and so create a fall in shares which wo nd leave * n f illy ac t ie mercy of speculators who were ready to step in and purchase with a view to making the Com>any a Melbourne one, and transferring it lirectorr.te tn that city. This little schenv was frustrated by the vigorous action of cer tain directors and shareholders in Gisborne ind Napier, who justly and energetically resented such attempts to depreciate the value of a property which they knew to be genuine and real. There was no airy prospect on paper laid before the public. ” There was the genuine material, petroleum oil and paraffin butter, existent on the surface at Rotokautuku. For acres and acres any one, i perfect stranger to the place, may walk in any direction, and, putting a spade into the ground at any point he chooses, will turn up paraffin butter. In countless little surface indentations he will see the oil floating on the top of the water, and the gas bubbling through it. By applying a match to any om of these gas jets flame is instantly obtained ; and all this remember in no confined space, hut extending over a large area of ground. All this was pointed out to Sir Charles McMahon, but he persistently refused to see or acknowledge it, and in the face of it pronounced the concern a FRAUD, and, the funniest part of the whole thing, forfeited somewhere about £l,BOO or £2,000 worth of shares in the Company ; a proceeding which, considering that at the very lowest price then ruling he could have obtained a sum of cer tainly not less than £lOO for them, fills us with astonishment and admiration. Had the consequent result been that the present Company was smashed up, Sir Charles would most probably have been one of the largest proprietors in a new Company formed with a Melbourne Directorate, the management of which would have been entrusted to Mr. Benies, whose reports made to the Southern Cross Directorate on the occasion of his first visit, were amply sufficient to induce some trouble and expense on the part of corner men towards working the concern into their own hands by bringing into play their intimate knowledge of the mysteries of “ bulling and bearing.” Sir Charles McMahon had actually purchased land and was erecting an Oil Refining Factory at Footscray for" the manipulation of the product of Rotokautuku, and these works were actually in the course of construction when Sir Charles was endeavoring by his wild and silly utterances to ruin the prospects of an industry regarding which he alleged that he had selected by foreign shareholders to give a faithful and honest report, and in which he personally I was largely interested. However, the hopes : of the speculators were, as we have said, l blighted by the judicious and energetic action | of the Poverty Bay and Napier shareholders, ( who steadfastly declined to believe a word i of Sir Charles McMahon’s statements, ami gave a flat contradiction to them in public print the Southern share?.o’ \ts then selected Mr. W. H. Lance, of the “ Lyttelton Times,” a gentleman whose acquaintance with the oil fields of America is extensive, to report on the prospects of the Company. He came to Gisborne, and proceeded to Rotokautuku, and on his return expressed himself satis fled that the statements made by Sir Charles McMahon were false ; th at" that gentleman’s visit had not been one of cona fide inspection, and that the Company’s statement regarding the value of their property and their future prospects were true and reasonable, and not in the least exag gerated. Mr Lance’s valuable report will be 1 found re-printed in our columns of July 4 I 1882. It was then made a special re- | ques to the Editor of this paper that he i would personally visit Rotokautuku, and lay ! before the public a full and unbiassed report ' of the Company’s workings and propects. ' This he undertook > do, and hence the following remarks, which are compiled from ' notes taken on the Company’s property, ; which is situate at Rautokautuku, about ten . miles to the northward and westward of Awanui, and four miles inland of the Waiapu j river, which by the way, is one of the i worst rivers in New Zealand to cross in a fresh, bein bottomed by large papa boulders, i waterworn quite smooth and round, which ! render a horse’s footing very precarious and unsafe. When we arrived within about a mile of the Company’s works we could i easily distinguish the derrick, which is 70 ' feet high, in the distance ; from the hills it i can be seen from very fur off. On arriving ‘ at the works we were received most cordially by the manager, Mr G. P. Hilton, and his I assistant Mr Knox, who took us over the i works, explaining the various matters to us as - we went. Wc can only say we were liter- ! ally astonished at the prospect we saw palj pablv before us. No chimerical visions of i possibilities, but hard material realities, which to all reasonable probability would indicate the possession by this Company of ! one ot the richest properties in the colonies, if not in the known world, and which in ’ themselves give a flat contradiction to the ! malicious and false reports some time ago i industriously circulated regarding the oil interests of the Company. Mr Hilton called our attention to a 400 gallon tank, which was full to within eight inches of the top of ! petroleum oil. which had been baled out of 1 the shaft from day to dav ; and which was . somewhat of the colour of pale brandy, and comparatively clear. At the time of our 1 visit the works were stopped owing to the supply of curbs (which are large iron bands ! of 3 inch angle iron, oft 6 in diameter) being ■ exhausted ; a fresh supply being then daily I expected to arrive at Awanui by the schooner i i Minnie Hare. Steam, consequently was ' down, but the manager ordered it to be got ; up in order that we might be lowered ■ down the shaft, which is a round one, sft. Gin. in diameter, and was then down to a ! depth of 157 ft. Gin. Mr Hilton showed ! us a frame containing small square block ■ specimens of the various strata passed through in each day’s sinking, a guide which 1 we should think would prove, most valuable in future sinkings, for it must be remembered that this present sh ift must be considered as a prospecting shaft only. There will, without a doubt, in the course of a few months, be manj’ other sinkings and borings in f”’i w ,rk upon this property. There is ample room for very many J them, and the indications tend to almost a cer- : tainty of an ample supply of oil when the , deposit is fairly tapped by the boring tools. Steam having been reported up by the

whistle, we proceeded to the shaft, where ; we found a large iron bucket suspended by i a 7-inch water laid hawser rove througn a sheave at the head of the derrick plumbing r the centre of the shaft, the fall working’ 1 round a drum of about two feet in diameter, ( and worked by a steamjengine of about 16 t ■lorsepower. the mrnufact i -c?s of which are ] Messrs. Maudslay, awaiting our advent, i I'he Manager stood upon the edge i of the bucket, holding on to the hawser, but ] we, thinking discretion the better part of < valour, and iecognizing the fact that giddi- < ness is very often attendant upon such des- < ce lts when the head is unused to them, got i carefully into the bucket, and had a life line i passed round us, holding on the while to a i becket spliced into the hawser. The Manager : gave the word to lower and down we went : •wettyfast; on arriving at the bottom we found “Jim ” there, who signalled the engine by a vigorous pull of a rope attached to a | signal “bell” on the derrick, tostnp, and we | got out, and the bucket ascended the shaft I tor our “ coinpagnon de voyage,” Mr A. G. • ■ Croll, who presently came down in like man- ; ter to ourse.ves. Ac the bottom of the well ■ we found about 2 feet of oil which Mr. Hilton informed us was the accumulation of two days, the well not having been baled out for . hat period. We could plainly see the oil uid gis bubling upto the surface. Previous to going down the shaft we had been invested with a sou’ wester hat and an old coat, in order that our clothes might escape soiling from the oil, or the water dripping from the sides of the shaft. Underneath the accumulation of oil in the shaft there would probably be about ' 6 or 8 inches of water from these drippings. ' I’he quality of the oil seemed to be very superior, and we were informed that it would not ignite at a less temperature than 130 3 Fahrenheit, most of the known petroleum nls igniting as low as 110'. The shaft is slabbed from head to foot and the slabs se-

cured by iron curbs of 3in. angle iron weighing respectively 1081bs and 1351b5, placed at intervals of about 5 feet; yet uotwithstand- • u<? the apparent strength of such work the pressure of the earth has on occasions twisted diem and twined tnem as though they were <traw. Some few days back a violent upheaval of earth took place in the shaft, and the soft papa clay kept, as it were, “ spueimz un” in the shaft. In two cubic yards of sinking, by shaft measurement, the Manager issured us tha. he removed forty-eight dray loads of papa clay, and had to keep the men it work day and night to effect such removal. The strong iron bands were twisted and contorted out of all shape by this extraordinary action of the earth. Some of them, which he had taken out and replaced by new ones, being actually forced into the shape of the letter S. The shaft is supplied with air by an air pipe of about 12 inches by 10 inches, at the top of which is a fan driven by a small I’angye engine, forcing the air down to the bottom of the shaft. Only Davy Lamps are allowed in this shaft. The printed rules for the working of which are suspended in a conspicuous place in the shaft house, which is boarded in. Two young ladies—Miss Sutton, the niece of Mr Creek, the schoolmaster at Wai-o-matatini, and Miss Stewart, dmghter of Mr R. O. Stewart, of Tologa Bay—had made the descent of the shaft a week previous to our visit, and the shaftmen speak in terms of high admiration for the pluck they evinced in descending. They are the only ’nHips w hn have ns vet been down the shaft. The Manager, MrG.|P. Ili'.ton, expresses an earnest wish that more visitors will come from all parts in order that they may see for themselves how gratuitously false the detrimental statements previously referred to, which have been so in lus riously circulated concerning the Company really are and to this end he intends putting up a visitors’ room for their special accommodation, which will enable people to remain on the ground a night or two without being forced to return to Wai-o-maattini or Awanui hurriedly. The timber for the Manage?' - house had arrived

on the ground, but he lias been compelled to forgo the use of it, and devote it to other more pressing A further supply was daily expected ex “Gisborne” and “ Minnie Hare,” as also a fresh supply of curbs. Light can be flashed from head to foot of the shaft hy means of reflectors, something on the principle of the heliograph. The Manager intended to sink the shaft to a depth of 200 feet, and then start with the i boring tools, as he expects to be on more solid rock at that depth. After spending about half an hour below ground we again took our place in the bucket, and wee drawn to the surface, and proceeded with Mr Hilton to Mr Knox’s house for tea. Mr Hilton informed us that he allows no alcoholic liquor of any kind to be brought on the ground, having seen 4 00 many acciden‘B result from its use in othe' 1 places. Hitherto this shaft has been very fortunate, no acciden’s having occurred. Still, we think the manager i should he supplied with a medicine chest, i and spirits and bandages, which his own j knowledge would enable him to apply, in | the absence of a medical man, in case of | sickness or possible accident. There is only i one medical mm resident on the coast, and I he probably might be two or three days ride distant when his services were required ; and as there are always 14 or 15 men employed on these works, we certainly think the supply of a medicine chest and its surroundings would be a desideratum. We had a good look round the store shed and blacksmith’s shop, engine-rooin, fuel stacks (of which there are about 150 cords), &c., and felt that our journey was amply repaid by what we saw. Eve”vthing seemed in firstclass working order. The plant is undeniably good and valuable, and the Manager seems to have left nothing undone that, could en- ■ hance its value. The prospects of the Company are, we say most, unhesitatingly, magnificent ; in fact we doubt very much if, in the course of a very short time, when the oil deposit is fairly t-ippe«l by the boring tools, as must inevitably be the case, whether this Comp my will not assume proportions of which its most ardent supporters have h irdly dreamed. The assertions made by its detractors are false and valueless, and we fearlessly predi :t for it a future that : will make its name ring not only through the Colonies, but throughout all Europe and America as a petroleum supply, ! and an example of what energy and perse- ! vcrance can effect in the teeth of evil and I false report. For ourselves we do not hesitate to pronounce those reports to be wicked ' and malicious falsehoods. Let any person of average sense and knowledge pay a visit I to the ground, and we guarantee that their opinion will corroborate onr own expression I regarding the bona fl !ph of the Southern ' Cross Petroleum Companv, and the almost incalculable value of their property. Let us add that we hope and firmly believe that the day is not far distant when on the oil grounds of Poverty Bay we shall not only ' see two, but two hundred or twenty hundred shafts in full working order, and every shaft giving its due return to those whose energy and perseverance have established them. , The manager of the South Pacific Company, , an experienced oil miner, says that he has never seen on the American oil fields indi a- ; tions of such rich promise as he has seen here. We firmly believe that his words will be verified at no distant period by incontrovertable facts in the shape of a large and remunerative export from the oil springs of Poverty Bay.