SOAP FOR THE MULTITUDE

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2160, 8 April 1908, Page 4

SOAP FOR THE MULTITUDE

WHAT LOCAL INOUSTRY CAN ACCOMPLISH.

SOUK, I-'ACTS CONCERNING THIS PROGRESS OK THIS LYNDA SOAP COMPANY.

IT the average Gisborne resident had been told a lew years ago that before Ion;?; ho would bo buying Ins shaving soap, his hath snap, as well as that used lor all varieties of household purposes from a company that was solely a local institution,_ ho would have simply laughed at his-in-formant. liis mirth would have arisen largely becauso it had become an inherited'instinct with him that any article to bo of really first-class quality must bo imported, and that to patronise a local article was to lower one’s position in the social scale, this sillv prejudice which permeates many departments of trado constituted the chief obstacle to the success of the , company which undertook to nianulacture soap locally. Every condition other than tho unpatriotic attitude just referred to was favorahlo. Ihe prosenco of two local freezing works m tho town made it oossible to obtain the raw material under exceptionally .rood terms, whilst tho comparative isolation of tho town rendered the competition of outsiders less troublesome than would othonviso have been tho case. Having arranged lor a first-class plant and a stall' of experts under the well-known Dunedin soapmaker, Air. A. S. McLeod, tho company started operations. It was soon demonstrated that tho now organisation had nothing to fear from outside competitors on tho score of quality and price of tho goods turned out. Tho only dilliculty was to get into the minds o’f the public that it was actually possible for a Gisborne firm to produce soaps that wore equal to those imported. This education ot tho consumer has, therefore, been tho first object of tho management. It was quickly demonstrated to the leading grocers that tho Lynda Company had an article so good that it would, in time, sell itself, and duo credit must ho given them for tlioir assistance in tactfully, but persistently placing tho'local article before tho suspicious public. This initial movement required skill and diplomacy on the part of the salesmen, but their task was made easier by tlio universal satisfaction given to tho purchasers. Slowly but surely tho Lynda soaps liavo secured a hold on tho local market, and within tho last few mouths sales have literally jumped ahead. The latest movo has been to make a special window display of tho different varieties of soap and other articles that aro manufactured at the Kait'i works. For this purpose an arrangement has been mado with Messrs TV. J. Cox and C'o., grocers, to devote one of tlioir windows entirely to tho Lynda manufactures, and tho display that has been made will come as something of a revelation to tho passer-by. The numberless worries of the busy housewife have recently been added to by the hardness of tho To Arai water, which resists all attempts to lather with ordinary soap, and in this matter the company lias shown its up-to-dateness by manufacturing a special brand, the'“Sweet Briar,” which it is claimed will give tho utmost satisfaction on washing-day. Soft soap has been nmdo' a special study by the coinpanv’s manufacturer, Mr. .A. S. McLeod, and is specially suitable for wool-scouring purposes. It is recognised by experts that no soap, but .well-made potash mixtures, should ever "o near wool, and tho company’s article is in increasing demand for scouring purposes. Bath soaps and shaving soaps arc of very fine quality, and there are also in the display son]) extracts, medicated disinfectants, washing sodas, washing blue, axle greases,-and other lines. That, the Lyuda Company is essentially a local concern, whoso operations directly benefit the district, is emphasised ’ey the fact that from tho tallow which comprises the raw material to the wrappers in which the various articles are packed, every item employed has, wherever possible, been obtained locally. The company makes its appeal to tho public, not upon sentiment, but upon tlm quality and price of its goods, and is prepared to stand or fall on this ground. At tho samo time Air. McLeod contends that ho is fully justified in reminding Gisborneites that in buying Lynda soap they are patronising a concern which spends twenty shillings of every pound received in the town itself.