The Daily News. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1901. IRONSAND PROSPECTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 41, 22 February 1904, Page 2

The Daily News. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1901. IRONSAND PROSPECTS.

Mr Farmer King, wlio is to be enu-r----tained at <i 'trammel here to-moK'i'otv evening, received a similar compliment at Wellington on Friday uigilil, and in the course of his remarks in response to the toast of liis health made some statements tbat must prose very gratifying to the people of Taranaki, especially to those gentlemen who have laboured so long and indeiatigaUly to bring the ironsand industry to t'l*.- front. Wc,iuimi' : the. following from the ivp.ort ap- I pouring in the New Zealand Times :

"Mr King said they were aware his business hero was of a purely commercial character, a ml on that account lie- ajipi'cciu,ted all Hit more the kind attention shown Win by s* many friends. Ua hud, in t.ho seven or tight weeks (lit) hud bivu here, seen only a part of the colony, tut |he had seen sullicient to convince him that the possibilities were very grenl. lie fhifettly. eouijuenileil flhe "spatie work," to use a Kosehei'ia.ll phrase, thai had been done by the pioneers ; the foundations of a (Treat prosperity had been laid, and a nolilo superstructure would he raised on Hie excellent basis li*'d down. Tliere was only one necessary condition— there must Ue no "strikes" or bickerings—amd if thai Mure complied with, no one need fear about the result. lie had come to New 'Zealand to inquire more espeeiully into the ironsand of Tai'anaki, the hematite ore of I'uraparn, and certain coal .deposits at West purl. With regard to the TuAvnaki. ironsand, there was an impression at Home Unit the statements made about it were perhaps exivggeated, and that impression had been to some extent strengfiienod by inl'ormalion that was seiil from this country. Well, he had spent several days examining these deposits in the neighbourhood of New J'Jymouth, and had uiaiile a number of borings along,, the beach. In every case' he had to stop boring on account of tho water. lie got down through the sand for six oreif+H feel, and found tlicie was scill greater depth of sand. There were, he found, aboul ten mih-s of Ifench of this character; and he was satisfied that tliere was more ironsand in that locality than ajiy manufacturing concern could use in the next hundred years. He was also satisfied thai these ironsand deposits could bo worked at a very fair remuneration. With regaid to the I'arapara ironstone, he believed they would hear more al iout il in the course of the next six months. There was a large deposit of hematite ore there, but it ivus not for him to say more on the subject, at present. He would not be prepared to recommend that Hie ironsand deposits should be dealt with separately by his company, o,r by any oilier ; but, taken in conjunction with I'arapara, there was no reason why the combination should not Ireeome a vtry. great commercial success. When, in addition to this, there was considered the coal they had at Westport, he was aide to go back to London feeling coulidence in supporting tii u scheme iie hud come to iuvestrgtite. Outside of the iron industry, there was a laijge neld for the development of minerals throughout, Ke.w Zealand. He instanced the Duller district, where lie had spent considerable time, and w.here he had obtained samples of nearly every metal known to geologists. Tliere were gold, scheelite, tin, iron, coal, and many other profitable minerals that are found in various parts of tihe world." Mr King then referred to the expenditure of £loo,Ouo per annum by the Tourist Department, and suggested that if the Uoverjiment spent one.half of that amount in one omy, in inviting, say, twenty representative business men and capitalists to go through Hie country, excellent results would be achieved in tuo interests of New Zealand, for more would be done in ten years' lime to advance the matidial' welfare of the country than would be done by a hundred years' expenditure on ordinury tourists. The toast of the "Mining Industry" was responded to My the Hon. .J. Meti-ow-an, who said "that in no country of the same population had so much b.-eu done as had been done by the Ciovernineiit of New Zealand to assist in developing natural resources. After referring to the wealth of Waihi, he said there were indications that Hie industry „f K „|,| „,j„ing would prove practically flveriasting ill this country. ()„ the peninsula stretching northward from Te l'uke for forty-live miles .there was e/blmdanre of nearly all the minerals mentioned ',.y Mr King. Every mineral country required capUal for its development. Since he j m ,| | jWn ir , polities In. had kept clear of in'ining S|H'Ciilation ; lie coiild, therefore.

with purfi'ct. fivudom fxpn-ss his i<m-vii-tioii that the northern gokllieltls of Xfvv Zciland hml enormous possibilities ; iIJHf ll(| Wil M oll|y w.)|'j-v Unit Mr Kiiiff had not t inn. , m |,| s present visit lo iift.-.jre inlo the g„],|_ mining industry. With regard to wlsit liiKl been said about 1 lit- e\pcnditiiro of Iho Tourist liopnrt.n.eiu. lie pointed out that, indirectly thlis did it lunge lUiioinrl of good lo tin., country, lor tourists went about Willi their eyes open, und saw uuuiy tltitkgs beside* Uiv scenery. The jh-o-ple who Kent Mr King i,,,,,, London illicit haul Hi'-ir doubts about the mineral «<■<(]( I) of thi.s country; but when ho told them w'imt lip had si*n with liifS own eyes they would he. )ximi<l to believe lilm.'*