IRONSAND.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8091, 23 April 1906, Page 3

IRONSAND.

COMPANY PROSPECTUS ISSUED. CAPITAL £650,000. SUCCESS CONDITIONALLY ASSURED. Received 22, 4.47 p,m, Londox, April 22. The prospectus of (ho Ncv Zwland Iron aai Steel Cjmpiny (Parapira) with a capital of six huad.'el aud fifty thjusaul pounds, has been issuoi. Mr Witheford states th.it the sub-

sa;iption of the capital is assured, if thi Government suspend the clause of th; Mining Act giving them the right

of pre-emption. PROMOTERS INTERVIEWE D. Immediately on reocipt of the abovo cabled informatiou a Daily News reporter interviewed the New Plymouth gentlemen who have been connected with and principally responsible for Jie ironsand movement. Mr D. Berry ■vas the first seen. Upon being shown i copy of the message, he stated that it ,<raetically confirmed the letters revived by him from Home recently. " What is the meaning of the refer•uce to the suspension of the clause of the Mining Act f" asked our representative.

" Oil, that's a mistake. It refers to the lease of the |Par%para properties. Under clause 14 of the lease the Government has the right to resume possession at the end of fourteen years, not only of the land leased but all the .vorks, wharves and everything else the .ompany possesses, paying to the company an amount to be ascertained by irbitration. This is manifestly unfair, that the company should bear the heat ind burden of the day in proving the .jayablc na'urc of the undertaking, and ;hat the Government should then step in and resume possession. "Anything further on this pointr 1 " lueried the interviewer.

"Yes, you may state that this objection was anticipated, and that last year a Committee of the House reported in favor of a petition asking for -he suspension. This petition had been pr.sentedby the residents jf the Parapara district. But, is it was near the end of the session, 10 action was taken, aud the matter .vill have to remain as it is until next session. It can only be dealt with by in Act of Parliament, as the lease is .jractically such an Act, being granted iy the Parliament of New Zealand." "What properties would be controlled by the company '/" "A thousaui acres at Parapara (Nelson), a coal lease at Waiiutngaroa, near Westport, and len miles of ironiand foreshore at New Piynuuth. The rights over lronsand and coal properties have been secured at Mokau, but are not included in the options. Besides this, we have an option over land as sites for the wharf aud works at Parapara.

"You notice that the capital is £650,000, or £150,000 more than was anticipated. This will enable works to be erected at N;w Plymouth almost dmultaneously with Parapara, al.hmgh the Company is compelled by the Government's conditions to commence chore. As soon as the engineers have set things going at Parapara, they will come hero ani do likewise, so that the works at both pUces will be erected simultaneously. " Who are yoir directors at Home ?" "Well," said.'jfr Barry, "I cant tell you tint yet', but there are so.no big men am nig tin in"

"Tliis will njjju a! ig thing fur New Plymouth if the company is floated," remarked our representative. "It means that New Plymouth will grow into a city. " But" lio added, I don't waut any excit'einont. I dou't want you to cause people to start speculation in hnd until we kuow the matter is finally settled, and that will be shown by the payment of a certain sum of money from the company to myself and the exeoutors of the late Sir Alfred Cadman. Until that is done, until the cash is actually handed over to my attorney in London, there is nothing definite. That is one ot the first requirements." MrE.M, Smith, M.H.R., who has spent 35 years in proving the value of the Taranaki irons mi deposits, earning for himself tho title of "The Iron Duke," was next seen.

""-At last!'' he ejaculated. " I'll give you a little history of ivh.it ; l've don> in this matter. You'listen. First of ill,_l unhesita'iag./ declare that every article exhibited as the product <f the ironsand was made from it, without any mixing or adulteration whatever I produced sample > of pig iron from .my To .Henui .farnace.on the 23rd of Beptc:n!.. ■, 15)70. Thou 75 tons ot were made by me for Mr Anthony Oldficld, at To Honui, and

this was sold to the Auckland-One-hunga Company, and nearly fifty tons were made at Uuchunga without the slightest hitch. The samples in the possession of Mr Berry and myself prove beyond a shadow of doubt that there is absolutely no difficulty in smelting the ironsand and making a commercial article of it. I claim that

it is the very best known material in

the world for making iron or steel, and I wish to give my samples to the local

museum authorities to be held by (hem as a proof of this statement. I have spent 35 years of my life, and my partners and myself have, at one time and another, expended upwards ef £50,000 in opening the Mokau and endeavouring to establish the steel and iron trade in the colony. I have been twice to England in connection with the Taraniki ironsand and petroleum, and reference to the back numbers of your paper will show that no man on God's earth could have done more than T have done. The scientists have proved over and over again, that we have discovered the right fluxes, or substances to be employed in the reduction of the metal; and that we have discovered the right way of dealing with ironsand in order to make cast-iron, bar-iron, and steel of every high grade, practically and commercially." Mr Smith went on tp tell of the excitement caused in New Plymouth ivhen, at his furnace on the beach, the people returning homeward from church one Sunday night saw the glistening metal "running like water." How his whole life, in Parliament and out of it, had been wholly devoted to ironsand ; of his successes aud rebuffs ; of the encouragement in some quarters,

and the discouragement from the New Plymouth pessimists, who not only refused to assist-" but did all in their power to bla»t nio privately and politically."

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