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THE PUMJOM MINING COMPANY, LIMITED:
The third ordinary general meeting of the above Company was held at No: 9, Praya Cen- tral, at noon on the 14th inst. There were pre- sent Messrs. D. Gillies (in the chair), J. H. Lewis, Thomas Howard, T. Hough. Hart Buck. G. T. Veitch. Hölenke, Terry, E. Kelly, D. W. Craddook and W. H. Gaskell (Seorotary)..
The CHAIRMAN said-Gentlemen, the state ment of accounts and report of the working of the company for the year 1899 were sent to shareholders on the 26th of last month, and as I expect they have been carefully perused, with your permission, I propose to take them as read. The report, I think, touches upon all the points of our position necessary to lay before you, and I hardly know of anything to add except by way of amplification. The result of the working for the past year, as you will have seen, shows an additional debit balance of about $52,000, which is very disappointing, and the more so, because we entered upon the year full of hope that our new Manager, Mr. Bailey, would be able to develop our property to an extent not before reached. To do that prospecting was necessary and prospecting was what we desired, but for reasons unknown to us little has been accomplished. However, under the manage- ment of our co-director Mr. Hughes, I am pleased to tell you that prospecting is now being carried on with-a vigour creditable alike to our mining staff and to Mr. Hughes. As stated in the report, new out crops of gold-bearing quartz have been found not far distant from the mill, in the Bakit Balan Kladi section of our property, which yielded, according to our Miner's report, something over one ounce to a tou. I suppose further trials must have been equally satis factory, for by recent advices, we are informed that adits are being driven, shafts sunk, and a line of rails laid between them and the Mill. I am also pleased to tell you that attention is again being given to our Jalis Mine, or as Mr. Hughes puts it, to the South Jalis hill, where leaders have been found, the ore of which on crashing gave a result of fifteen pennyweights of gold to the ton. This is the more gratifying because it was from the Jalis Mine that our best results in the past were obtained. It will be remembered that it was from the Jalis Mine that monthly crushings of about 1,000 tons of ore yielded 400 to 500 ounces of gold; and if the fifteen pennyweights already mentioned be looked upon as a fair indication of future working, we may hope for a like result in the not distant future, One thing more remains to be touched upon, aud that is, the bursting of the embankment of the rese
We have had a report on the subject by a of engineers, in Singapore, and they advise that a new damn be construoted, and sub mitted a tender for the work. But your Direc- tors deemed it advisable to have the work carried out under the superintendence of our own Engineer, and with that end in view engaged the service of a Mr. Terry who had surperinten- ded similar work for the Baub Company, but most unfortunately we lost the services of this gentlemen through a very sad and deplorable event which is doubless well known to all of you; therefore I need not refer to it further. In the meantime meisures have been taken to divert a portion of the water from the dam into the fume, so that we may be able to get enough for the battery. The necessary steps, however, for the construction of a new dam are in hand and operations will be commenced as soon as possible. As it may be some little time before the Board have the opportunity of meeting the shareholders, and again conmunicating to the a the fullest informatiau possible with regard to our prospects at the mines. I think it well that
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
Mr.: VEITCH prop sed and Mr. CRADDOCK seconded the re-election of Messrs. D. Gillies and J, H. Lewis, the retiring directors.
Carried unanimously.
Mr. HART BUCK proposed and Mr. VEITCH seconded the re-election of Mr. Fullerton Hen- derson as auditor for the ensuing year.
Carried unanimously.
[April 21, 1900.
this compuy will surpass the most sanguine by the rapidly disappearing godowns in hopes. but to obtain this success it will parts of the colony This scarcity of accommo- require great attention, energy and determina-dation is the natural result of land being utilised tion on the part of those intrusted with the for trades which yield more profitable resulte management, and also a greater outlay for pro- than the warehousing of goods. It is one specting than has ever yet been made," Mr. the inevitable conditions of a thriving commerce Phillips says. "I am a thorough believer in Pun- and an expanding city that land in central posi- jou and have always maintained and do still. tions becomes too valuable for the warehouse, that Punjom developed c in be made to pay good which has therefore to give way for the factory dividends." Gentlemen, these are unbiassed the shop, the dwelling, and the office. It is this statements and will I trust go a long way to commercial evolution, the growth of industrial restore the hopes and confidence of shareholders, activity, which is driving the Hongkong ware- in our property. I may also inform you that house further afield and in which, it may be safely during the time the mill has been stopped both predicted, lies the future of the Wharf Co. And machinery and plant have been overhauled and for the reason that on account of the large ares- put in order; therefore with water power avail- of ground owned by the Company ut Kowloon, able and an abandant supply of good ore for the which must in the future. become a central mill I trust that our long sustained efforts to part of the colony, we shall be in a position to make this company a good dividend paying con- eroot warehouses worthy in size of the colony's corn will be crowned with success. Before pro- future trade, and these warehouses, unlike pri- posing the adoption of the report and statement vate godowns scattered here and everywhere, of the accounts, I will be pleased to give further will possess a permanency of situation which information or answer any questions if desired. cannot fail to favourably affect the Com- There being no questious, the CHAIRMAN pany's prosperity. The Wharf Company's proposed and Mr. VEITCH seconded the adoption history from the date of its inception has been of the report and accounts, and the motion was a continuous fight against difficulties, and our carried.
greatest trouble during the past three years has been, and is to-day, the want of sufficient go- down room. The matter has been referred to. at the last two annual meetings of shareholders and bids fair to become a chronic complaint, for no sooner is a new godown completed than it is at once filled, and enquiries for our space have lately been so numerous that we have been compelled to hire godowns, and even then have found it necessary to refuse profitable storage. Another and very lucrative manner in which our land can be utilised is in the erection of Chinese houses for which there is an increasing demand at Kowloon, and the Company's property being near the ferry offers exceptional
The expendi advantages in that respect. ture ou new tugs and lighters, amounting to $123,8:5, denotes a growth of that branch of work which strictly speaking does not come within the scope of a wharfinger and Warehouse- man's business. It is a branch of work, how- ever, that is not only very necessary but which On the 18th inst. at noon, an extraordinary provides a valuable source of revenue aud one general meeting of the shareholder's in the Hong- that is capable of considerable development. kong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company, Formerly we were to a large extent, dependent Limited, was held at the Company's Offices, for upon native cargo beats, but, owing to the un- the purpose of passing resolutions relative to reasoning extortiou of the lightermen together
Hoa. increasing the capital of the Company.
with what appeared to resemble à combination. J. J. Keswick presided and the other gentle- on their purt with our opponents in the same men presen: were-Hon. C. P. Chater, C.M G,, line of business, we found it positively neces Messrs D. M. Moses, N. A. Siebs, J. A. Mac-sary, if we were to retain the business we had kay. A. Haupt, P. Sachse (Directors), R C. wrested from these opponents, to be as far as Wilcox, E. Georg, R. K. Leigh, C. H. Thom. possible independent of native craft. And it is son. C, S. Sharp, E. S. Joseph (shareholders), well we realised this in time, for had we not at and 2. Osborne (Secretary).
once proceeded with the building of lighters I bear we should have lost much valuable bus- iness. Our experience of the native lighterman teaches us that we cannot afford to be dependent upon him, and we much therefore continue to build our own boats as a measure of self-preser vation and to keep pace with the business. Under these circumstances, therefore, your Directors deem it prudentt to repay existing debts by the issue of fresh capital, and, by thus strengthening the Company's credit, place it in a position to take full advantage of any further expansion which it may become necessary to provide for. I now beg to propose the following resolutions :-
The CHAIRMAN then said:-Mr. Hughes writes under date of 22nd March last: It is my intention to go on crushing from the 2nd Apri. continuously, night and day, all the ore available, estimated at fully 1,000 tons, this will rug I believe closely upon 6 dwts. per ton." After he had added a few remarks, the meeting terminated.
THE HONGKONG AND KOWLOON WHARF AND. GODOWN CO.,
LIMITED.
The CHAIRMAN said-Gentlemen, this meet- ing-has been convened for the purpose of asking your consent to an increase of the Company's capital to meet the outlays we have made in the purchase of additional land, in the erection of new buildings, and in the construction of lighters, lanaches and other requirements of the business which have been rendered necessary in cousequence of the large expansion that has characterised the Wharf Company's operations during recent years, and also with a view to provide for future developments. During the nine years since our debentures were issued, i.e. from 1891 to 1899, we have expended $571,366 in the extensious referred to and the whole of this was borrowed with the exception of $54, 193, which was set aside from profits. Interest the money borrowed, which in the case of new buildings might be fairly debited to their first cost, has been paid for entirely out of earnings, so that when these extensions are placed upon the list of productive assets the Company's profits should improve by, at least, the present sunnal charge for interest.
on
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1.-That the capital of the Company be increased from $1,00,000 to $1,500,000 by the creation of. 10,000 new shares of $50 each.
2. That such new shares be issued at the premium of $5 per share and be allotted to the shareholders of the Company in the propor- shares tion of one new share for every two now held by them.
3. That the amonat due for the new shares be called up as follows viz :~$50 per share on the 1st July, 1900, to rank for six mouths 1900, and per share the remaining $25 p October, 1900, -
you should know what Mr. Hughes, cur present | A proportion of the ontlay, vi. $187,430 has | dividend out of the profits of the the 1st
Manager, and Mr. Phillips, a past Manager at alis, have to say with regard to the future of the Company's property, more particularly as they both speak from personal expe ience. I shall therefore read to you an extract from a recent letter received from Mr. Hughes, which runs as "I am happy to say that we are near- the end of the unprofitable period and shall working and earning something to- enormous expenditure, which has voidable if the company is to go on aud I hold the opinion that the future of
blows
This
been spent in the acquisition of land adjoining the Company's premises at Kowloon. land was bought before the recent rise in the value of property there, and though at the moment unproductive, it stands in the books at less than its market value to-day and may therefore be said to have already benefited the Company's financial position by the amount of the unearned increment. By acquiring this additional land the Company is in a position to meet the demand for godown accommodation on the Kowloon side of the Harbour caused
Mr. WILCOX seconded, and the resolutions were unanimously adopted.
The CHAIRMAN-Gentlemen, that is all the business of the meeting. The announcement of the coufirmatory meeting which will be
necessary will be published.
Sir Henry and Lady Blake have been paying a visit to Ningpo, from which they returned to Shanghai by the Peking on the 13th inst.
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