CHANGING HANDS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1849, 8 September 1913, Page 8

CHANGING HANDS.

s A NOTED FIRM. .. MESSRS. LUKE & CO. SELL OUT. A very well-known Wellington business has just changed hands. Messrs. S. Luke nnd Co., Ltd., to-day announco that they have disposed i,f their iron foundry to Messrs. J. J. Nivon, Ltd., the bin Hawke's Da.y iron firm, and the y. liolo of the business will be conducted in -future by tlio new proprietors. 1 Messrs. Luko and Co. first acquired t their iron foundry in Wellington thirty- 1 four years ago by the purchase of the f interests of Messrs. Gilchrist and £ Waters, who three years previously, in j 1870, had commenced business in a , portion of the sito now occupied by the j firm. From comparatively small be- ( gainings the works have developed until , they are to-day one of the largest in I tlio Dominion. The firm has undor- , taken many important pieces of work during the last thirty years. One , notable achievement was the building of the Matai, of 300 tons register, one of , the largest steamships that has been J built in the Dominion. Luko and Co. have turned out many small vessels of ' from fifty to one hundred tons, and | have manufactured steam cranes for . the Government and hydraulic cranes ' for the Wellington Harbour Board. The ; specialties of the firm have been marine engineering, hydraulic machinery, and dairying plant, and it holds a patent also for cooking-ranges. The original members of the firm of Luke and ,Co. were Mr. Samuel Luke, sen., and four sons. The survivors are two of the sons, Sir. J. P. Luko (Mayor of Wellington), and the Hon. C. JI. Luke, M.L'.C. The family hails from Cornwall. Mr. S. Luke, sen., and bis family left their native land for Now Zealand in 1874. In its early days the firm of Luke and Co. had a hard struggle for existence, work being scarce and trade dull, but in a few years affairs a brighter tone. A general improvement in trade, the opening of coal mines on the West Coast, and tlio introduction of freezing machinery banished trade depression from' the country, and conditions in Wellington improved rapidly. Openings for profitable enterprise appeared which tlio firm duly improved to its profit. Tile business rapidly expanded as steamers began to replaco the sailing coasters which previously had carried most of the sea-borne merchandise. In-1883 the firm built, engined, finished, and launched, with steam up, tho Weka, which is still in service. From the beginning of the contract to tlio launching for tho Napier trade, the time did not exceed ninety days, and most of the plates had to bo brought from Australia. Two yearß later tho Lukes had another large marine task, an order from Captain Williams to build tho first -steel, steamer of this country, the s.s. Matai. The vessel took shape on To Aro foreshore, before tho reclamation, and was launched with steamup, ready for duty. Tlio Wakatu, now trading between Wellington and Lytteltob, was lengthened 30 feet by the Lukes, and also had a new boiler fitted and the hull raised two feet; tho Maua, also well known to Wellington people of the present generation, had 25 feet added by the same firm, which did a great variety of marina work. • Tho dredging boom gave the Lukes another lift, and various other activities served to keep them briskly employed. Messrs. Niven and Go. intend, it is reported, to transfer their headquarters from Napier to Wellington, with Mr. Georgo Nelson as resident manager. Messrs. A. C. Mitchcll, G. M'Gregor, and L. Nelson, and most of the office staff, will bo transferred to Wellington, and Mr. R. M. Chadivick will remain in charge of tho Napier works.