HAS IT BURST? A SPECIAL telegram from Dunedin to the Christchurch Press says :— " The mining business is now in a very., bad way in Dunedin. Twelve months ago the boom was at i U height — caused in a great measure by the Hartley and Riley Company's big returns. Claims were being floated every day! anoJ ' ne business of the promoter and broker was in a flourishing condition. Men in good positions,. teachers, public officials, among others, thtew up their appointments ■to get on to the sharebroking business. Now there are three stock exchanges here, with a total of nearly a hundred membeis. Alas, however, for the worldly prospects of these members, the boom has burst, and now many brokers are in a very bad way. Clients had over-purchased at top prices, ' in the hope of a further rise, and being unable to hold, the shares have in many cases fallen back on the hands of brokers, the result heing that soroeof them now hold more stock in various companies than they can conveniently stagger under. Very little business is being done now, and it seems certain that many flash brass plates which serve to show where sharebrokers' offices are will have tocome down soon, and the place that now knows them will know them no more.* For some of our brokers who were latest in the field,, and who were not iv time to get a share of the fat things goiug at the commencement and height of the boom the outlook is none too promising, and the look orvtheir faces every morning when there is no sigu of the market im proving seems to imply that they realise the position too well. The general belief is that the boom has gone never to return, and that the gambler's time is past never toreturn, but there is hope that the legiti mate investor will have plenty of scope vet. So long as we get returns of gold such as were reported during the last week or -two, there is no fear of the mining industry as a legitimate field of investment.
