LOCAL INDUSTRY.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1856, 17 July 1874, Page 2

LOCAL INDUSTRY.

We see our townsmen Messrs Rae and Sewell are determined, tpproyide pur coal companies, quartz- mines,;, alluvial workings, deep drainings, saw mills, steam boats, &c.,, &c, with everything in their business,' comprising iron' and brass castings, general; blacksmith work, turned and screwed shafting, &c, without the tedious process of sending to Melbourne or elsewhere for.,- the .requirements, of, this and surrounding districts. They have fitted up : jlarge r premises at the junction of Chapel and Herbert streets, where every description; of the above work-is being carried on, and, we understand, at Melbourne prices, and the quality of the work turned out has hitherto given universal satisfaction. Amongst a few of the things they have turned' out lately we may nien- ; i tion an American -self-feeding -circular bench, to take in. a 6ft , saw, a vertical saw; frame for an Bft saw, and a Chilian mill; and they have ordersforap^ grooving machine, to plane 2ft wide, .the first that has been made in New Zealand. We bad the.pleasure, the other day, of a walk through their establishment, and amongst the various buildings and offices we find the machine shop, two-storeys, ,46ft x 40ft, consisting of five turning lathes, the largest made to take in pulleys and turn the same, if 20ft in diameter, plate bending machine, small planing machine, Chilian mill, drilling 'machine, punching and shearing machine to cut | : in ; plate, and the engine and .boiler driving them ; the blacksmiths' shop, 40x30, containing two forges and the; usual tools for carrying on a large business ; the pattern shop,. fitted with circular saw and turning lafihe; <|c ; the moulders' shop, 40x35,; generally turns out two tons of iron castings per week, but as soon as their new furnace, or cupola, is erected, they will double this quantity, with a great' saving of fuel and labor: : With' the foundry is cniinected a brick and irod core stove, 12ft square, for drying the various cores for pipes and columns, and a large brass air furnace for this description, of. castings ; over head in the foundry is a powerful crane for removing the; melted iron" and castings to any part of the shop. We understand the work on hand consists of, a couple ot hundred cast iron tram wheels,' two 6ft pit-head pullies and winding gear for the Greymouth Coal Company ; 6ft pully and 6iri wajier pipes for the Energetic Company j turned shafts and brasses for tlje Caledouia^ater- wheel j winding gear, (}ft spur wheel, and $in pipes for the Orwell Creek plat Gold Mining Co. ; engine and boiler for the Argus office, the extension of our business now requiring steam power; wire rope pully, •and waterwheel segment for the Wealth of Nations ; shafts and fittings for Messrs Kilgcur and Peretti ; tram wheel*, sash weights, and other castings for our local ironmongers and builders ;..„ stamper shanks, false bottoms, and shoes} for five or six companies at the Lvell arid Reefton - K heavy firerday crnsherfor tb&Brim- ! ner mine ; castings for the Dispatch and Titan, and ■aumorous other orders of a

similar description. No doubt this industry is a great boon to the district, and a. mutual benefit has arisen from the energy displayed, aud amount of capital ' invested. The business is so fast increasing that more tools have to be added to the shops. Their steam hammer is landed, aud^they^are^pnljr^aijjing for more machinery; ;to fit- up -their-- new engine and bbiler-T-their-present,one being now. too small for the amount of work tKey'lvave^^ tb ? *do; ThereHg- -alstf^n the way oqt from England an iron planing machine to -take-in 10f tx 3ft 6in,-as-no machine of this size is, to. be had in Victoria or New Zealand. They have to plane for the Brunner Railway suspension bridge, two plates, each 3ft square ; so this work must stand over till the arrival of the planer. Thereisalso, on the way. qut^a'-boit and nut screwing machine, and a moulding machine which will decrease -the,.amount;qf. patterns required to be kept on hand. We believe, this: machine moulds wheels of the, various patterns from jfrin. in ; diameter.' They' hav6 a'largejstqcjc of patterns on hand in iron and wbod^'ljut as nearly every, job requires' a'^new: pattern, this' 'machine will materially '-lessen the expense of 'patterns,' [which will be a great advantage to their 'CustbraersjcfriFor conveying heavy boilers and machinery they have j just made .a : carriage ; capable of ■ carrying 25> f tons— the ■ locombtive landed the; other day: for Hhe -Brunner Railway, waa , taken "to 1 the > locomotive shed without any difficulty^. If ; this carriage had not beenreatl^ fjtir it 'would have been a'teqious ' ! and ".Expensive aftair to remoye it f on"r6iierßT ' Ifhere are now employed at these workSj 2^men and boys, . comprisirigrriroh turners, fitters,, , ; boiiermakers, " blacksmiths, moulders, and pattern makers, but as we • have? said, mere men, have been sent for to keep pace with the work. on hand. Now .since we have had the.iocomotive for the railway, and the raUs^layingiqrjthe^Corporatioh, we expect' "^fco see Greynjputh going ahead, and as sopn f ,a%^ha harborworks are completed, we wifli take the position:.- of the ■ first i coal^xporting harbor in the southern hemisphere.fi?: ;This, coupled; with .the;^steady increase of the yields from the various quartz-reefs, should place the Greymputh district in the position that it is entitled to from its wealthy mineral deposits. ' . "; |