AUCKLAND CHEMICAL WORKS.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1256, 28 March 1878, Page 3

AUCKLAND CHEMICAL WORKS.

[“New Zealand Herald.”]

Until lately very little attention was given in the colony to chemical manufactures. The reason is obvious —the plant required for carrying on extensive operations of this character is expensive, the highest clues of skilled labor and direction are required to make such undertakings profitable, and for a long time it was believed, on account of the repeated statements of Dr, Hector to that effect, that, although the North Island of New Zealand was essentially volcanic in its character, there was not sufficient deposits of sulphur to be found to justify the outlay necessary for the requisite plant for chemical manufacturing purposes. White Island, an active volcano in the Bay of Plenty, was known to possess quantities of sulphur in various parts of it, but, being an active volcano, it had the disadvantage of emitting flames now and again, and flames coming in contact with earths rich in sulphur would set it on fire, and the whole deposit would soon be destroyed. Latterly, however, this island has been leased for the purpose of working the sulphur deposits to be found upon it. But it is not on that island that the proprietors of the Auckland chemical works are to depend for their supply of crude material which will be required. Whale Island, not far from White Island, was, some twelve or eighteen months ago, offered for sale; and as it has been reported that sulphur in a crude state had been found upon it, Messrs J. A. Pond and J. M. Tunny, both expert analytical chemists and skilled mineralogists, visited the island, and having satisfied themselves that upon that island were to be found tens of thousands of tons of sulphur, the purchase of the island was at once completed. An examination of the place showed them that it would be more conducive to the largo manufacturing interest which would soon be established, to erect the manufactory near to Auckland, and ship the crude material from Whale Island to the works. A site was at length chosen, and terms as to price, &c., having been arranged, a block of five acres of land on the eastern side of Stokes Point was purchased. Since the necessary preliminaries have been successfully arranged, the proprietors have gone vigorously to work to get everything into working order. A substantial wharf has been built and carried seaward a distance of 350 ft., and at the end a half T has been erected, having sufficient accommodation for a good-sized brig to be berthed alongside. On land various works are in progress, and for others contracts have just been let. The store for the crude material measures 20 feet by 20 feet, and there is now on the ground over 20 tons of this stuff. The sulphur shed, or store for the refined sulphur, measures 20 feet by 18 feet. Behind this building will be constructed the subliming chamber, where the retorts will be fitted up, and the crude sulphur converted into flowers of sulphur, or roll brimstone, as may he desired. The contract for this chamber has just been lot. The bricks are on the ground, the sand for the mortar, &o. This chamber will have massive brick walls 3 feet 6 inches thick, hud in hydraulic lime. It will measure 20 feet long by 15 feet wide inside, and 21 feet high. The retorts leading into it will each bo 15 feet 6 inches long, capable of receiving a charge of half a ton of crude sulphur, and the smoke stack will bo 37 feet high from the surface of the ground. A short distance from the subliming chamber another building has been erected, which will be used as a workshop, a laboratory, and a balance room. The buildings now erected are of wood and covered with galvanised iron, and yesterday, about 300 feet from the works, the first of the workmen’s cottages was being erected. A piece of ground will be allowed to each cottage for garden purposes. Already the proprietors have expended about £2OOO upon the purchase of land, erection of buildings, construction of wharves, tramways, and other works at Whale Island, &c., and the contracts now in hand will be finished in the course of six or seven weeks, and it is anticipated that within eight or ten weeks from the present time the works will be in full swing. At first operations will be restricted to the refining of sulphur, but as soon as the trade in that is established, preparations will be made for manufacturing sulphuric acid, which will be the basis of all the chemical manures which our farms will require. At present a large trade can be done in flowers of sulphur and roll brimstone. About 200 tons of sulphur are annually used in the colony, which, at £2l per ton, represents a trade worth more than £4OOO per annum. Then there is the trade of Australia, which is about equal to that of New Zealand. This also Messrs Pond and Tunny will endeavour to secure, as no sulphur deposits are known to exist in Australia. The preparation of sulphuric acid at a cheap rate will inaugurate a new era in Auckland farming, and we hope that very shortly these spirited pioneers in this kind of manufacture will see their way to extend the works for the manufacture of mineral acids, and the preparation of superior manures at a cheap rate, and thus lift the agriculture of the province to the position it ought to occupy.