THE SUCCESS DREDGE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 15 March 1913, Page 3

THE SUCCESS DREDGE.

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT. The following report was presented fiy Mr John Hessey, the sole <lu tor, at the annual meeting of shareholders in the Success Gold dredging Company, held in Masfcerton last night: — The Balance-Sheet of the Oompany as at 31st January, 1913, and the statement of profit and loss account have already >l>eon forwarded to the memlbers, and I now beg to submit ! my third annual report. Accompanied with Mr D. J. Cameron, of Alastert-on, Mr ■ K. 0. Reid, secretary, a.nd Mr George Pettigrew, supevisor, I visited the Company's dredge and claim early this week, and made a thorough inspection of the machinery, and-an examination of- the workings for the past year. A wave of misfortune seems to have pa,ss?d over the whole of the West Coast diredging areas since Ist of January of this year. Nearly every dredge lias been stopped owing to breakages, and the Success Company has 'had more than its luck, the result being thai the Company is much in the .same position as it was twelve months ago. Towards tho end of last year, just when better ground was reached, considerable trouble was caused by the breaking of the lower tumbler shaft. A parall:] shaft (that, is one net rurr«! down at tho ends) of nine inch diameter renlaer-d the old shaft, which was turned clown to <six inches at the -wis. To take in the bearings for the heavier shaft to work in, it was n:ces-'arv to alter the ord of -the 'aiU'.T : this vas done si'vl th:- result is saH-foctT*. The new shaft and the bottom tumbler at ore-sent- in use were made by the Disnateh Foundry. T)reelriin.fi w.t« resvmrd on 12tb T)eoenibeT. ar' 1 the ran until the stoppage for the Christinas and New Year holidays. At th;s time, the Comoany'ii troubles seemed to be at an end. arcl T was in great hopes of getting an unbroken run as soon is work recommenced. T felt sure a. substantial reserve would Ik- aecumu r nted before the elate of the Annual Meeting, and that possibly isome of the debenture would be redeemed. (In. resuming work after the holidays, tho dredgemnsf" l ", however, only got one r.etr'ra of 35 ozs. wlim. on January 14th, tho ton tumbler shaft gave out, owing to a'bad fracture in the pa"t. running in the bearing. This tumbler was ft solid forged one, made Hv Messrs. ard Cook, Port Chalmers, the shaft geing nine : ncbes in diameter. Nothing could be done but to orocure a new one. and as th"- local foundry is not able to manufacture tumblers of this class, an order had to be placed with Messrs. Stevenson and Cook for a new tumbler made from solid ingot of steel. The second breakage caused ar. unavoidable delay of five weeks,, but whib waiting the Dredgetnaiter Tlo \l t'hc file! hr.nblrr ta'ieu out and everything got ready for the new ,ont>, and'any parts of the meter; requiring attention were overhauled. Dredging was again resumed on Wednesday, 19th February, and after a week's run of 130 hours the wash-up resulted in a return of 33 ozs. 17dwts. flad this -second misfortune not taken place, we should have had at least five more returns, and my anticipations of last year would have been realised.

In my last report X referred to the shallow ground being dropped, indications showing that the deep ground was widening out, and this I am happy to say, has proved correct. At present the deep ground extends right across the face, the depth being between 30. and 40 feet. For the whole width, however, the ground is very hard and extremely difficult to work, but I expect very shortly that a face of between eight and ten. chains will be opened, and aa> the dredge proceeds up the claim I anticipate- the" ground will become, much easier to work, and feel sure tho returns will steadily improve. So that shareholders may have \some idea of the workings, I . again append a rough sketch of the claim, from which one can easily see that the dredge -is facing up stream. About two chains of the bend in the south corner has been dropped, owing to the very hard nature of the ground, which yields very little over actual expenses. The upper part of the claim is decidedly the best, and -.there are many years of work ahead of us, all of which I am sure, will prove more than payable. One lias only to look at the sketch to see how small an area of surface ground has been turned over, and if my hopes are realised, that the ground will become more free and easier to dredge, the returns must improve.. I estimate the life of the claim to be at feast ten years, so shareholders may rest .assured the Company's property is a good one.-

I have already reported, that the dredge is the strongest on the West Coast, and apart from the unfortunate breakages, which have now been replaced, everything is again in good working order. There are 39 buckets in the string, and the Dredge-master lias three spare ones; they are all in good order. The original manganese plates and ripples supplied I\v Messrs. Haclfields, Birmingham, are still in use, and although a little worn, will last some time yet. The Company lias six spare plates as well as several other duplicate parts of machinery. Mr Richard Speed is still In charge of the dredge and carries out his duties to my entire satisfaction, and my thanks are due to him, as well as to the memb?rs of the crew, all of whom I have found thoroughly reliable and conscientious workmen. I have also to record with satisfaction and appreciation the very valuable services rendered to the Company -by the Supervisor, Mr George Petti grew. In accordance with the 'Articles of Association, Mr James Brown, the Company's Auditor, retires from office but being eligible, offers himself for sre-election. JOHN TTESSEY. Sole Director.