OIL IN NEW BRITAIN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 268, 22 April 1915, Page 7

OIL IN NEW BRITAIN.

GERMANS' GUARDED SECRET. '; WAR STOPPED DEVELOPMENT. e * f The Matanga, which recently arrived !i at Sydney from Rabaul, brought an in■l te'resting story regarding petroleum deD posits in New Britain. This item of ,i news is vouched for, and, according to s all accounts, the British authorities will ii sopn.be searching for the spot where tlm .- oil is bubbling out of the earth. The s stoiy is to the effect that about a year e before the war, a small party of Gerr mans, while cruising along the coast of - New Britain, went into a small bay. o They were struck by the peculiar color e of the'sea surface. Close examination 'i showed that oil was the cause of what - in the distance appeared a phenomenon. The water was distinctly oily. Curiosity being aroused, the Germans made a ) thorough survey, and came across a bubI bling oil fountain. Petroleum was rushj ing up from the earth and being wasted . all round'. , The find was kept secret and samples' scut to Germany for analysis. It was i proved that the 'petroleum was of the I highest grade, and the Imperial German ( Government at once declared the spot a j special Government reserve. ( J "Petroleum of a fine quality exists in '- j German New Guinea, whereas in Papua "lit is hlit problematical," said one of ''; the passengers, and continuing his story, ;: said: I "So satisfied were the German * : authorities about the discovery that '' , steps [were taken to lay a concrete pipe track- from the petroleum geyser to the ' beach, and it was also planned to erect huge reservoirs for storing the oil. i Then,'' lie said, "the war came, and all "; this preparation ceased, and the where- ' j iibouts of the spot is not yet known to ! the British. But when ' the news is | officially received, you may be sure that

' no time will be lost in making a survey ', ', of the coast line." | ; It is understood that one of the Ger- ■ man prisoners now in Sydney is in pos- ' session of first-hand information on tlie' ■ unbjett.