THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 1881.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3830, 7 April 1881, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 1881.

Our contemporary the Herald publishes in its yesterday's issue a copy of a prospectus received by Mr v Stodarfc, of Auckland, from London, and which professes to describe the property of a company situated at the Thames. This prospectus has been printed in the Standard and other London papers, and no doubt many people have been by this time gulled, as it is scarcely neceesary to inform our readers that the affair is one, of the most egregious and clever swindles ever attempted. There is no such property here as described in the prospectus, all the ground being taken up right to the foreshore; but, with the aid of a bogus plan, which slightly , alters the topography of: this district^ ! the promoters of "The Haven G.M. C 0.," for such it is called, manage to neatly fit their valuable lease in between the Caledonian and the Imperial Crown grounds. We have made inquiries of the Mining Inspector, and find there is not the slightest foundation to the many lying statements in the prospectus. On ascertaining this the proprietor of this journal at once communicated with the Minister of Mines, showing the swindle that was being worked, and suggesting that the authorities should immediately cable to the Home Government to take steps to punish the fraud. While feeling the deepest indignation at a fraud which will damage the credit of this district in England, we cannot help admiring the skill of the roguish promoters, their prospectus containing just sufficient truth to give a colour to it. Here is one extract:—

Mr H. E. Bice, late J.P. of New Zealand and Resident Mine Proprietor »\t the Thames Goldfield*, reports that the property acquired by the company is surrounded by mince from which the richeßt gold-bearing quartz ever discovered has been taken, and is actually within '0 yards of the boundary of the celebrated Caledonian mine, which, as the Government returns ebow, paid dividends of £572,000 sterling in a little over a year.

During the past 10 years we do not remember of any one of that name being here, and certainly not as "a resident mine proprietor." After referring to the grand yields from the Caledonian, Manukau, &c, and the collossal fortunes made from them, the prospectus goes on to say :— ,

That the yield from the Manakau Claim has been from four to five ounces per ton, and from the Golden Crown Claim (which separatee the Manakau Claim from the Haven Claim) six to eight ounces, thus showing that the reef increases in value aa it approaches the Haven Claim, thereby direct evidence of the existence of rich gold-bearing quartz in the property of the Company.

" Professor W. Vaflie Simons, late chief magistrate of . Sandhurst, Victoria,'' appears to be one of the corner stones of the organisation, he being reported to have kindly promised "to join the Board as Managing Director on his return from India, in March next, and in the meantime has left instructions for the procuring of the machinery for the commencement of operations." That this "late magistrate of Sandhurst, Victoria " is a ;personage whose opinions *are worth something is apparent from the fact that it is stated that he reports " the Golden Crown and the Manakau Claims, immediately adjacent to the Company's property, returned in about twelve months upwards of £500,000; and the Mulligan and Moanatairi Claims, also adjacent, have yielded large fortunes to their proprietors" The mining rights are said to be held on lease at a nominal rent of £40 per annum, the documents relating to the lease being registered in "the Native Lauds Court, Auckland." [Quex'y: What on earth could the Native Lands Court at Auckland have, to do with sueti a matter?] The extreme 'cuteness of the promoters of the swindle is testified by the following extract. Mark how unblushiugly and glibly the name of the Whau Company—situated fully one and a half miles away —is introduced :^—

Mr Bice further states that within 500 yards from the boundary of the Haven Claim, is the celebrated Long Drive Claim, which has made enormous returns and to the norh is Hunt's Claim, from the working of which, in one year, its four proprietors realised £280,000, or £70;0Q0 eac > That to the south les the Queen of Beauty Claim, almost equally rich in gold-bearing quartz, and to the east the Whau Claim of which Mr M'Laren, Inspector of Mines, in a report dated April, 1880, to the TTnder-Secretary for Goldßelis, says:—" In the first 20 feet that that this winzfi was sunk, 20 loads of quartz were taken out, whioh on being^ crushed, yielded 1281ozs. of Gold" (equal to abou'64ozs. to the ton). . . . . Mr Rica concludes his li-port. by saying :— "As the .main re?f has already been proved to be within an inconsiderable distance from the surface, the mine can, in avry s'lort period, be got into full and profitable operation, and with careful and judicious expenditure of capital, I- have no doubt that a return will be secured equal to that of any other Mine in the district." Professor Simon's opinion is amusing:— " Taking into consideration the rapid inoreuss in the richness of the reefs as they approach the Haven property, together with the fxcfc of the discoveries that have been made upon the property itself, I am certainly inclined to 'believe that the estate presents a field for mining enterprise which is very rarely suffered to escape from the dands of the immediate discoverers." The beautiful disinterestedness of the concluding portion of his opinion is worthy of being handed down to an admiring posterity— . As a proof, if needed, of my strong opinion as to the great value of this property, I may ; state that 1 am prepared to take an active park in the management of the company which has been formed to work it, accepting for my remuneration 10 per cent, upon the divisible profits, payable only after the whole of the capital invested in the undertaking has been'returned to the shareholders. Such is the gist of the prospectus of one of fclie cleverest swindles by means

of bogus companies we have heard of for some time. This is is the concluding comment of the Herald on the matter:—

It will be thus seen that money is waiting investment, and if a iona fide scheme were placed'on the London market for the development, of some promising mines, or possibly the development of the lower levels of the the goldfield, the probabilities are greatly in favour of it being successful. When this brazen attempt to gull the London capitalists attracts so much attention, surely a legitimate venture, backed by the best possible authorities should prove successfull. But this device of .the Haveu Company is very iugenioos, for the returns of the richest mines which hate been produced on the Thames are quoted in connection therewith, and the statistics are undeniable.