AN IMPORTANT LOCAL INDUSTRY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1589, 20 October 1905, Page 3

AN IMPORTANT LOCAL INDUSTRY.

LYNDA SOAP WORKS, KAITI.

At the present time Gisborne is furnishing numorous evidences of active progress I and development, its citizens displaying a zealous and sterling enterprise that bids I fair to make it one of the most ’important I provincial oentres of New Zealand, if, indeed, it has not already a Btrong claim to Ibe considered as such. While many old I business promises are disappearing, and substantial brick structuies are being I ereoted in their stead, it is pleasing to note that our looal industries embracing great variety of manufactures, are io full {swing, and are steadily increasing. Among the j chief of theso are the Lynda Boap works, I owned by Messrs Williams and Kimbel, I and situated in Kaiti. That such a disI tinotive industry should be started at this comparatively early stage of Gisborne’s commercial and industrial oareer, is undoubtedly highly creditable to the enter-1 prising proprietors, ,and just as un-*| doubtedly, the publio of Gisborne and its [ far-reaohing surroundings should accord I their unanimous and substantial support I to the enterprise, for the successful I development of every suoh industry bo-1 comes a benefaction, since, either with a I progressive or fully established power of I produotion, it provides an adequate supply I for a large demand by whioh the wealth I of a distriot is enhanoed, and farther re-1 souroes are oreated, necessitating an ins I 'creased employment of labor. Visiting J the works in question, our representative I was courteously received by,the proprietors, I and an inspection of tho entire plant, with I all its needful accessories, showed that a | large amount of capital has been invested, I and as the works now Btand, in this, the I initial stage of their development, they I are capable of turning out sixty tons of I soap per week. Ihe engine, steam | pumps, pipes, soap vats, moulding boxes, j and all other accessories upstairs and | down, are all of the most approved I modern models, and bespeak- the I thoroughness of Messrs Williams and f Kimbel in establishing a soap factory! worthy of even a larger place than Gis- J borne, and capable, as it now stands, of I supplying a large demand for export. We | were also shown through the box-making I department where the boxes, are ex j peditiously made in which the Lynda soap I is packed for transit, and also through the | storage rooms where stood boxes of the I finished article ready for despatch. Close | adjoining were six massive iron frames I each made to contain a huge block of j soap half a ton in weight, and one of I which was filled with the Lydna pro- J duct, that gaye out a very fragrant aroma, I preparatory to its being fashioned into a | finished model of the Captain Cook I memorial in readiness for the forthcoming | Exhibition. The Lynda article was shown I to us in various stages of manufacture | from its first formation in the vats to the | finished bars, and the visitor could not I but be deeply impressed with the fact that | the soap manufactured here is in every j respect fully equal to anything of the kind J that is imported from England or else- I where, whether required for rough scrub | bing or washing for the cleansing of deli' I cate fabrics, or the refined uses of a lady’s I toilette. It is certainly a tribute to the I skill of Messrs Williams and Kimbel that I these facts have been borne witness to j by those who have already tested the I quality of the Lynda product, and we feel I assured that it only needs a fair trial at I the hands of our thrifty-housewives to secure an appreciative, widespread patron- I age. It is, unfortunately, too much the I fashion to belaud anything that comes to j us with the English hall-mark upon it, j simply because it comes from'England, j while our own home products, very often I superior in quality to the English made I article, are belittled and neglected. If| Messrs Williams and Kimbel had started I their works in England they would no doubt by this time have had several hundred hands employed, and wouid have secured a large buying constituency in New Zealand. If this fair land of ours is to prosper and flourish, our people will needs have to divest themselves of all unreasonable prejudice against their own local industries and give them instant encouragement and unstinted support, remembering that patronage, like charity, begins —or should begin—at home, Victorian tweeds, when first produced, were laughed at because they were made outside of England, now they are reputed to be the best tweeds in the world, realising a high price in England itself. Perhaps the like happy result may yet occur to Lynda soap ! At ail events, this industry deserves the hearty support of the pubiic