OUR INDUSTRIES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 117, 11 February 1919, Page 6

OUR INDUSTRIES

MINERALS; OIL, PAINT AND S ROOFING-SLATES <.' ti POSSIBILITIES OF WOOD ll Si FURTHER INTERESTING EVIDENCE t t ' l The Industries Committee of Parliauent, presided over by Mr. C. A. "Wil- si inson, yesterday continued its inquiry fr nto matters tending to benefit and en- c om-ago the industries of the Dominion. Mr. Frank Reed, Inspecting Engineer of „ lines, appeared before the committee for | ho second time, in order to supplement 1 videnco which he had given last week. ? ,I'r. Reed said that before ho went on to r ny ti-esh matters he would like to make t further explanation in connection with lis estimate of the cost of the production ] f pig-iron in New Zealand. "In making ny very approximate estimate of XG per ; oil for the production of pig-iron from j'arapara ore and XG 10s. from Taranaki « re " -aid the witness, "I made provision > or' loss of time owing to tho furnace I ,nly producing one grade of pig-iron, J i-1-ereas five grades are at present used ] n New Zealand. The capacity of the furlace at Tunnaki is 30 tons a day, which ' ppresents about 11,000 tons of pig-iron J ,er annum, working full time. Iho de- i nand for pig-iron in New Zealand has lever exceeded 11,551 tons per annum. So t -would be necessary for the furnace t Taranaki to supply the whole ot tho ' lemand of New Zealand, and produce ive grades, whereas it only produces one 'his showed that there would be a great oss of .time and a consequent increase ] n the working cost. Should the demand { riual the production, tnen the cost, that . s- my estimated cost, could oe well re- , lucedby at least 25 per cent. Mr. Luke , ■sked if our requirements in steel rails ( rere ' obtained from - New Zealand, ( vhether that would warrant a furnace , ,eing employed full time. Tiie steel rail j mportation for 1011 .1 believe «. the , richest on -record. It was 21,064 tons. ( therefore if the New Zealand turaaee , any New Zealand furnace) could -.-upplj j ron suitable for steel rail manufacture, , nd it obtained the whole of the New Zea- , and demand of 21,564 tons, then, previa- ■ nfthe cost was satisfactory, the furnace , veuld be warrantable, and steel works , nuld be warrantable, to supply, say, , 1,000 tons of pig-iron per annum ana 1 11,000 tons W steel rails. ... • 1 , 1B ,»"- i laces, if they are not working full time, • vill throw out of work a number of ex- ( iert men to be idle who will require to £ paid during that idle period, thus r.rircasing the cost per ton. ■ Mr. Reed repeated his assertion (pubished tho other day) that even if the \ T cw Zealand manufacturers got the vhole demand of New Zealand thej vould not find it a paying Proposition-to •ompetc in pig-iron with the imported , irtiele at pre-war prices. Oil from Brown Coal. Mr Reed next went on to speak of the nossibility of distilling crude oil and ilher by-products from- brown coal 'slack" in New Zealand. Ho said that n Now* Zealand there was a total catimitcd amount of 728,000,000 tons of brown ml in sight. Of the output 33 per cent, vas "s'ack " Brown coal was very largely "ed in Germany for producing mdo oil and by-products Lc ;!■;„! ten gallons of erode- • oil ■fcr lon of coal was considered sulhjient to warrant, oil working, iho resent tests of New Zealand brown, coal w-" an excess over ten gallons, varying up to fifteen gallons of crude oil per on . ,f brown coal. At tho present time the "slack" from the brown coal mines m New Zealand was sold a a loss by all themincs-at a considerable loss on tlie cost of productiou-and was sometimes thrown away on the "slack" heaps Iho difficulty in -the matter was that the brown coal deposits were large y held by private companies, and for the utilisation of the "slack" produced at such collieries it would be necessary to mstal works in a central position, the owner of such works entering into _an agreement with the colliery companies to provide their slack of brown coal. The oilrequirements of New, Zealand could to a certain extent be supplied from such so" 1 ' 009 - , , ~ L l\ on. The witness suggested that the State should uudcrtako laboratory research work in the above matter, to show whether it would be advisable to otter a bonus for commercial production on the lines indicated. Dolomite Deposits. The existence of dolomite deposits ill New Zealand was another subject that j Mr. Reed touched upon. He ? aid Unit j it a deposit of dolomite were ouKoveral ; ■in New Zealand it would materially de- s crease tho cost of steel production, there | was evidence that such a mineral aid oc-! cur in the Dominion, in the Uimigwooa I district. It had been reported upon by j Sir James Hector, but the exact spot at, which it was to be four.ti was not known.Witness suggested that tr.e Geological. Survey might be directed wards tie , search for o deposit c,f dclowiw., ower-; wise known as magnesiau limestone, it ; a good quality-of dolomite were tov.r,d-in ; New Zealand, it could be exported ex- j teusiveiy to Australia. j Mr. Heed explained that when Sir | Jcmrs Hector many years nga discovered . evidence d a deposit he ko.ct no practi-1 cal reason for noting precisely the spot, j as the u» of dolomite in tiie-toaic pro-j cess of steel manufacture had not tnen j been discovered. : ' Other Minerals. ] Dr. Newman asked whether tlie phos- j phatic rocks of New Zealand wsrc rich | enough to work on a commercial scale, j Was there any ehauce of developing a I new industry out of phosphatio rows j in New Zealand? , Mr'. Reed said that the only mlorma-1 tion he had or: the subject was second-, hand. He understood that there was a| small quantity of phosphatic rock in Otago, in tin: Milburn district, and that it was marketable. He knew that the annual output was declining. Asked about the ;chep.lite industry in New Zealand, Air. Reed said that it was not improving or increasing. This was probably due to a shortage of known j supplies. j Questioned as to molybdenite, the wit-1 ness said that it existed in such small j I quantities in New Zealand that it would j ! probably lake years to get a ton. of it. , 11 was very valuable for hardening steel. | Local Paint Industry. . Mr. 10. J. Guiness, chief' clerk of stores, Railway Department, was invited to answer questions in regard to the extent of the support given by his Department to local mir.'iiii'acturers of paints. He paid that in general his -.Department went to a good deal oi trouble in order to ascertain what local industries could supply it with its requirements. ' In 1913 a special schedule. ras drawn up favouring local industry, and the Department had been using locally-made articles as far as they could be supplied. Locallymade paint was not in 1013 included in Iho schedule, because at the timo the Department was not satisfied that the paint was sufficiently high-grade to satisfy the Department's requirements. The Department was continually testing paints, and was at the moment testing locally-produced paints. Tho chairman:' But how long will it lake you to test them nut?—"Wo are going into the matter of rebuilding our schedule next June, and the matter of all locally-manufactured paints will then bo considered." In reply to a question from Mr. Craigic'viil.ness said tint if there were works established in .Nelson (hat. could turn out a haematite equal to the uitl haematite Unit tlu-y us'd !o produce there, the Department would put it on .Uio schedule. The chairman: In the event cf a local manufacturer of paint coming to you and saying. "We've a good paint, and we are prepared tn back it. and in the event of its nut staling I he lest wc- wil; under a bond repay the loss,", would you consider the proposition?—"\Vu certainly would consider that aspect of il. It has never been suggested to us before, but wc would not say 'no' right away lo that." r T , , . , ' Mr. Sidey: Can I take it that wc have an assurance (hat in the matter of all I local productions the Department will give reasonable preference to purchasing

locally-made goods in future?- That is the settled policy of the Department. The chairman: We recognise just as well as anybody that the Hallway Department cannot buy unsuitable goods or bad goods; but we do strong y urge that where a local product can bo purchiwd that will give satisfaction, and (he price is reasonable, the Department should be a little more active and a little more energetic, so that they can establish the industries that the country so badly needs.

Asbestos Slates. John Hutchesou, representing tho Dominion Ferrolith Company, waited upon the committee to voice complaints against (he manner in which the Government Departments were, as he alleged, "sitting on the company's back.' His company did not want spoon-feeding of any sort, but it was handicapped at present to a tremendous extent by Government charges, such as railway freights. The witness alleged, incidentally, that the company had been exploited by gentlemen who canio from the prisons to see the processes used. Before the company heard anything of the matter, and without any "by-your-leavc," they were making some of the same articles as tho com. pany in the prison institutions of Canterb'uiT and Southland. With regard to tho existence of asbestos in New Zealand the witness observed:— "I am thoroughly convinced that there aro deposits of asbestos in sufficiency in New Zealand, and that the Government of the country could very well bring the material to the market much lower in price and much better in quality than tho material at present being obtained from Canada." v Mr. Hutcheson suggested that his products ought to be in tho same freight class as Now Zealand-made earthenware tiles. He thought he had grounds for saying that the New Zealand-made tiles and New Zealand-made asbestos slates should be in t'ho same class, and that the latteT should not have to pay much larger freights than the former paid. Trees for Wood-Pulp. E. Phillips-Turner, in charge of the Forestry Department, gave ovidenco regarding tho native trees of New Zealand and the possibility of using them for pulp-making. He said that it seemed improbable that the pulping of tho native trees in New Zealand could bo carried on successfully. Ninety per cent, of the timber used nil over the world for pulping was spruce, and judging by the rate of growths in other countries it would, take 57 years to produce in New Zealand a spruce nine inches in diameter. Nino inches was the. diameter that would be required in a tree for wood-nulping. Tho witness thought that the first aim in New Zealand should therefore be to produce timber, before any attempt was made to make wood-pulp for home consumption. It was highly desirable that tests of pinusviiisignis should bo made to I see whether it was suitable for pulping, If it proved to be suitable,. and pinus ineignis were planted for pulping, it would probably bo ready in about twenty years. Wood Alcohol. The chairman asked about the production of commercial alcohol from timber waste. Mr. Turner said that a high authority had estimated that the world's supplies of oil, at the present rate of consumption, would be exhausted in about twonty years. It had also been stated that the motive power of tho future would be alcohol. The witness thought that as improved methods were found for tho production of alcohol from wood-pulp, it would be a profitable business. At present alcohol cost 7d. to. 10d. per gallon to make from timber in the United States. „ . L Referring to tho State forests, tho witness said that the country should ho much more particular in regard to fires in them. Tho regulations needed to be enforced, and to fome extent amplified. To Mr. Hornsby: Twenty thousands of acres had been planted in tho vicinity of Rotorua, and the land had proved to bo "particularly suitable for tree growth, "i view of the fino climate, the well-distri-buted rainfall, and the eminently favourable soil. . , In answer to an inquiry whether it was advisable to offer a bonus for the production in New Zealand of creosote (rscd to increase the durability of wood), Mr. Phillips-Turner said that he would suggest a Government bonus of 2d. per gallon. Tho committee adjourned till this morning.