THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 1875.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2014, 18 June 1875, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 1875.

It may be of interest to remark upon certain aspects of the goldmining industry irhich suggest themselves to all thinking people in a district where gold is the chief, indeed the only product, and, therefore, that upon which its vitality depends. There are many mines on the field at the present time which are looked upon as non-productive. Some have been abandoned; others are being worked with capital derived from a system of making calls upon the shareholders. At first sight it might appear nonsensical to ask the question, •• Why does such a mine not pay," and in some cases the reasoning, ascribed to tho weaker sex— namely, " because it doesn't," might undoubtedly be taken as sound; but there are exceptional instances in which other causes might be assigned, and causes, moreover, which should not bo permitted to exist. It very often occurs that the management of the practical working of a company is cemplex, directors being permitted to control the operations in a.mine, for instance. A mine manager is appointed by the directors, and is elected as a man upon, whose practical knowledge of mining depends tho" development of the mine entrusted to his care; consequently it must be admitted that the direction of tho work should be left in his hands. If the directors are competent to. do the work which an experienced miner is paid to do, then it may fairly be asked, why are mine managers appointed: an ordinary minor

could carry out the instructions of directors, and the salary of a well-paid manager be saved. But the necessity of au expert does exist, and ho should be capable of working the mine entrusted to him without the interference of anyone, and of working it to the best possible advantage. He is, however, too often prevented from doing his duty properly ! by reason of the interference of a set of men who have no knowledge of mining whatever, and whose power to dictate, under such circumstances, is very harmful. A master tinker may, by the chance of fortune, become director in a company, and thus be placed in a position to control and direct the progress of operations in the company's mine, and trammel with his supreme ignorance the hands of the manager. In some cases, directors work in the mine with other men, and are paid the standard wages by the manager on behalf of the company. The result is that the working directors order in one direction, and the manager in. another; and it must be remembered that the working directors have had a hand in electing the manager, at the same time that, .they ostensibly occupy an insubordinate position in the mine, and he i has therefore to please them unless i he is sufficiently independent to assert his right to the supreme direction of the affairs of the mine. Too often, and espepecially when mining as at present is dull, the mine manager is not in a position to : act in antagonism with those ho is supposed to please, and the consequences are that several different theories as to the system of reefs and their value are held. Such pernicious meddling cannot be too strongly condemned; but, inasmuch as the election, of directors devolves upon the shareholder*, tho decision as to whether they shall work in the mine , rests with them also, and they are to blame if they permit it. One case of the kind we could point out; and the mine up to the present has not paid, simply for the reason above stated, namely, that it has been worked in ■a. most eccentric fashion. The opinion of the manager as to the occurrence or nature of the. reefs being ignored, first one has been tried and then the other, and instead of expending what capital is in hand and what may be obtained from calls on taking out a sufficient quantity of quartz from one reef to pay, for the working and leave a moderate' balance in hand," it is squandered in carrying out the fancy, notions of the directors ; otherwise in prospectingifor reefs which, according to the opinion of the manager, have no existence. Such a state of things is radically bad, and cannot too strongly be deprecated. It has been asserted by many men whose authority to judge is not to be questioned that much of the non-success attending some of the minor companies is due to the inefficient manner in which those mines have been worked; and iHs with a viewof endeavouring to show bae ortwo of the causes which may militate' against the successful working, that we broach tho present subject. -

In concluding an article on the Tairua cases our/ contemporary said, in yesterday's issuer-" Thei/settlement; must^ we think, be taken to be decisive on the point that the pegs of- a claim must bo of the size which the Act states they must be. A latitude cannot be allowed in judging of precise measurements. If an allowance of half an inch is made.why not go as far as an inch ? Where is the line to be drawn? Thefact. is thatthe Act draws the line precisely and simply. With the provisions of theiAct all persons desiring to take up ground must comply." We cannot see on what grounds, the writer has taken up this position. There is nothing in the agreement come to between the late contending parties which leads to the conclusion that the Tairua Prospectors made the concession they did because their pegs were too small; neither the Advertiser nor any one else has a right to assume that the fact of one peg being found a fraction too small would have entailed forfeiture. The tendency of the Act all through is to give security to claim holders —not to encourage jumpers ; the penal clauses provide for fine —forfeituro only after warning. The settlement of the. case, we think, shows that tho Prospectors had less of' the Heathen Chinee about them than their opponents ; fewer of the " ways that are dark and the tricks that are mean." The persons to whom was entrusted the duty of perfec'.ing the Prospecters' title according to tho Act bungled; and their shortcomings were immediately taken advantage of by men who live upon the ignorance and weaknesses of their fellow men. Being in such a position, the shareholders of tho Tairua claim thought: it best to settle the case and end the litigation ; but in so doing they made no admission that the pegs were too small, neither did the case as far as it proceeded warrant the Advertiser in setting up the 'precedent which has been attempted ; to be formed regarding the result of this case or the question of consequences should the distinguishing pegs of any claim bp found to be a fraction under regulation size.

The members oftho Naval Brigade and Band met for monthly inspection in the hall last night. Tho attendance was excellent. After inspection by the Major, a meeting was held at which several recruits were enrolled, and a resolution was passed according tho patronage of the company to the performance to be held this evening in aid of the Grahamstovrn Volunteer Fire Brigade.

A meeting of shareholders in the Independent (Bergin's) ground was held to-day, for the purpose of forming a I company. We understand that the number of shares is to be six thousand. To-dat—lßth June —is the sixtieth anniversary .of the Battle of Waterloo, which was fought on the 18th June, 1815, and was for a long time called the greatest battle of the nineteenth century. Becent conflicts have, however, somewhat?? put Waterloo in the shade. . The Miners' Eights Enquiry was opened at Ohinemuri yesterday, and several witnesses examined. The Enquiry was to be continued torday.. The,,eyir dence is being taken with closed doors. The monthly meeting of the ; Banner of Ulster Lodge, Loyal Orange Institution, will be held at the Odd Fellows' Hall, Kichmond-street, this evening, at half-past seven o'clock.

We have been informed that there is no truth in' the statement published in the Advertiser, that the reef had been struck in the. tunnel in the Tairua Prospectors' claim. The trace of gold has been seen in the drive, but when work was discontinued no signs of the reef were met with. In the shaft the reef was looking splendid. From a bucket of stuff, taken out just before the work was stopped, an ounce of loose gold was washed, besides fourteen or fifteen pounds of rich specimen stone, but thfunatter,, was kept is quiet' as" possible in order that ; the cupidity of the Clampers might not be excited to an inordinate extent. We are requested to intimate that Mr John Leydon, who has recently taken out an auctioneer's license, will hold his first sale at Smale's Buildings to-morrow; when several horses, saddles and harness will be submitted.- Mr Leydoa is not entirely new to the business of: auctioneering, having followed the calling on this field years ago, and on other goldfields of the Australian Colonies. So far as we have proceeded in the present winter, it (the winter) has been very mild —unusually so. Yesterday and to-day the atmosphere was very warnr, almost hot. The effect of this geniality has been to force the fruit trees —of cer* tain kinds at- least, -and especially; with regard to peach. The peach trees in the Thames Hospital ground are in blossom while yet .the yellow, leaves are .hanging on the branches.' Are the trees amenable: to the influence' of medical treatment ? is a question which might be asked; but the early blossoming must be due rather to the unusual warmth, of the winter. ;

The accumulation of mulloek^and rock on various'parts of the beach on the Tararußoad is very great, and at some time will, no doubt, be utilised for reclamation purposes. At the Moauatairi Battery a work of * reclamation for a-icon? siderable distance Ground is- gradually progressing. In the immediate vicinity of the werks the tailings deposited have nearly reached the road level, "and the accumulation of stuff from the Kuranui tunnel at the different tips along the line of tramway is something enormous! Without any other expense than that of labor, a large portion of the Kuranui bend could be reclaimed at once. At the . Shdftland end of. the town again the se^, is encroaching, there being nothing to stop its wearing influence on a soft and shelly soil. -V>..' '-p ■ .■"..;. The New' Zealai^l .Herald publishes the following letter of condolence which was received by Mrs Williamson, widow of the late Superintendent, last mail:-r " 87, Gloucester Place, Portman Square!, 16th April, 1875. My dear Mrs William!--son.—ln the presence of such a loss as you hare sustained, the sympathy of friend's has at -first- ilittle fllleviating influencq. •Still, I cannot refrain from writing to you how shocked and grieved I am to learn the sad intelligence of Mr Williamson's death. I lose in him one whose friendship I valued, and the colony loses one of; its oldest and most friendsV In time it will be some consolation to you tb think how much he is regretted, and no one more sincerely sympathises, with you in your great grief than I do.—l am, my dear Mrs Williamson, most sincerely yours, Julius Vogel." . , ... ; ;- \-

The following paragraph was communicated to the" Bay of Plenty Times :-4One day last week a pheasant was shot in the neighbourhood of a field of green oats infested with caterpillars. On opening the crop of this-bird.no less than 155 caterpillars we're counted,- also' some crickets and grasshoppers. What an enormous number of insects would be destroyed by a dozen of these birds in ten months ! When it is remembered that there are only two months of the year in which pheasants can. do any mischief at all—that is, sowing and reaping times; they may be a nuisance, but they really do a great deal more good than harm to the farmer. -

To those who play billiards the following particulars of a match played in England will be interesting :—" On 23rd March last the undermentioned match was played in London by Stanley and Richards, the player recently defeated by Cook for the Pyramid Championship. Stanley, who is yet quite a youngster, gave his opponent 150 points in 500. .Richards made 6, and at the very first break Stanley got up to the top of the table, made 54 spot-strokes, caught and passed, him—Stanley, .169 ; Richards, 156. Richards went up to 3 69, and tl-en Stanley v in another break, this time of only 42, reached' 198. With a fine double in the middle pocket, Richards played up to 182, and then again Stanley went ahead, this time with an all-round spin of 71—Stanley; 269 ;- Richards, 186. Once more the former got into; position, lost it; recovered it, and lost it again, only to play round the table, and again got up to the top, so that in a grand break of 230, with 69 spot-strokes he ran right' a winner by 314 points in the astonishing time of 30. minutes. Being requested to continue his break, he went on and made .33 other winning hazards; in rthe ; corner pockets, completing a break of the large number of 330; with,' in all,! 103 spots, a performance; only second to that of the champion himself. Stanley, indeed, finished the game in four breaks, not counting the usual misses ; the 600 less One only taking 35 minutes: The performance was one of the most astonishing pf the season." " • ": " :