A VISITOR FROM GERMANY.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 7 August 1913, Page 4

A VISITOR FROM GERMANY.

A most interesting personal ity is Mr Doeken, of anothei group. He is a well-knowi; engineer, being the inventor ol the Corona sisal dressing machine. Though born at Cologne, on the Rhine, he is ;i British subject, a graduate oj the Royal University of Ireland, and a past student oi Blackrock College, Dublin. Besides being a manufacturer of colonial machinery, he is connected with two of the biggest spinning mills in Germany. "I came here," he said, "bocause the New Zealand millers pushed on probably by the big prices, are, by reducing the quality, ruining their reputation abroad. Quite GO per cent of the hemp that reaches the merchants is wasted and turned into tow during the process of spinning through the faulty dressing here. There are some varieties of the Phnrmium plant which, like that in j Hawke's Bay, give a brilliant- [ lv white fibre of' uniform length ««/! „i i.l. mi i 11

mm strength. Ihese should bo imecnmitfed and the others eliminated. Another trou bio is the accumulation of gum, vegetation and liquid, winch now pollute your rivers to a great extent." j ."W° have had lawsuits over this," observed the reporter. "Your Premier, Mr Massev," continued Mr Boeken, "told me that if' I can cure this trouble it will be a great help to him, j because he is_ afraid he may j h ,,,ve handicap the millers, as he has also to protect the interests of the riverside settlors." What is your process for dealing with the vegetation?" the reporter asked. "Practically the same as that is use for sisal refuse in East Africa, where 119W the vegetation is prepared-for use as fuel and the water from the liquid matters for the oilers." Mr Boeken does not believe that bacteria play any part in the bleaching process' "The bacteria of the paddocks," lie says 'are most likely to do more harm than good. In the paddocks you rely 011 the sun dryin/? the impurities and the wind blowing them away. He belives he can adapt the sisal process fo obviate the paddocking entirely.