GLEN AFTON COLLIERIES

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4591, 27 July 1923, Page 2

GLEN AFTON COLLIERIES

OFFICIAL OPENING. N.Z. DAIRY CO’S. VENTURE. On Wednesday last the official opening of the N.Z. Co-operative Dairy Company’s, Glen Afton coal mines took place,, and that day will, be recorded as a “red letter” day in the company’s history. Leaving Frankton Junction by two special trains, over two thousand suppliers. their friends, and visitors journeyed to Huntly. On arrival there they were met by officials of the company and conducted to the Huntly Miners’ Hall, where ample provisions were prpvided for all. At noon the first special train left Huntly for the company’s coalfields at. Glen Afton, .some two mfies beyond Pukemiro. The first train comprised some 16 carriages, three covered trucks, and two locomotives. The second special train followed the first one about half an hour later. On le-tving the Huntly station, .and after crossing over to the Pukemiro branch lines, the first point of interest met with was the Waikato River, whicn was crossed immediately on leaving Hnnt’y. At this juncture the river is nearly halt a mile wide. Proceeding up the line the township of Riotowaro hove into sight. A. short stop was made at the station, and the lengthy train was viewed by a number of interested inhabitants. The Rctcwaro coal mine is a mile and a lr?lf back in the hills from the rail way station. After leaving Rotowaro the scenery en route is pie-lir-esque. Beautiful native bush ?s to be seen on either side of the line, while on the western side, far below the level of the railway line—which, for the most part, is cut out of the hills—a very pretty stream winds its way down through the narrow gorgeSeveral waterfalls were noticed op the journey. On arrival at Pukemiro Junction a most enthusiastic reception was met with. Although the Pukemiro collieries and township are situated about a mile from the railway junction, a large crpwd of people assembled to cheer the special train as ’it went through. A lot of goodnatured barracking was indulged in between the rival factions of the two coal mines, and the Pukemiro company were enterprising enough to circulate hundreds of cards; extolling the merits of. the Pukemiro coal through the carriages of the visitors to Glen Afton. These cards caused a .lot of amusement, and were to be seen sticking in some of the trucks of coal emerging from the pithead of the Glen Afton mine. To not a few these cards were very misleading, until it was explained that the rival company had done it, for a'joke. z On leaving Pukemiro Junction the distance covered to Glen Afton /was the new railway line which had been constructed by the , N;Z. . Dairy Co. under the supervision of the Public Works Department. The line had only just been completed, and the special trains on Wednesday last were - the first to pass over that section. A great demonstr'ation of welcome greeted the visitors on arrival at Glen Afton. The various buildings on the surface works were gaily decora’ cd, with greenery, and flags we e flown from the chimney stack of t,ha powerhouse and the highest portion of '■ the fan room and bins buildings. The greetings from the miners, their wives and families, were most cordial. The passengers quickly detrained a - the Glen Afton siding and were soon swarming over the surface workings and inspecting the hundreds ■>( different objects of interest. “Entree” was the order of tjie day. Nd places were out of bounds, and people roamed round at their will. The mine manager,'Mr P. Hunter, and his staff did their utmost to explain the many details of. mining operations,, and were most courteous, and obliging in every way. Nothing was too much trouble, to them. ’

After ,a careful tour of the mine and the many other points of interest had been completed (vide the report in the last issue of the “Gazette), the powerhouse whistle sounded and some two thousand persons gathered on the railway siding to hear Mr J. A. Young, M.P., declare the mine open. - ,

The first speaker was Mr W. C. Motion, chairman of directors of the N.Z. Co-op. Dairy Co., who briefly welcomed the people gathered there that day. Apologies for absence were read from the Prime Minister,, the Hen, J. G. Coates, the Hon. J. R. Bollard, Messrs F. F. Hockley and S. Lye, M’s.P., and Mr Ashley Hunter. . Mr Motion -said he would like to say. a few words regarding the history of -the company’s ownership of the mine, as well as its subsequent development. Mr Hetherington, of Ngaruawahia, was the man who first submitted the proposition to Mr Good; fellow with'the idea of getting him personally to join in as one of a syndicate to develop the property. As soon as Mr Goodfellow went into the retails of the matter .he could see the tremendous advantage it would be to the Dairy Company to own such a mine, and accordingly in June, 1919, he put the matter before the directors, who, owing to the great ilifTiculties'that then-existed in securing coal for the factories, thought it would be advisable to acquire an option and have an engineering survey made of the property. After making inquiries as to the most suitable person to undertake this work Mr N. D. Cochrane was recommended to the board on account of having surveyed the adjoining property for the Government and having a fairly good knowledge of the coal bearing area of the locality. He was accordingly entrusted with the survey work. The report furnished to the board by him was so satisfactory that the board immediately decided to have a more definite survey- made, so as to thoroughly test the 1209 acres. Mr Cochrane accordingly made a more detailed examination of the whole property and submitted a full report to the board. On the strength of that re-, port, which included a detailed statement as to the bearing of the different seams and an outline of the most economical methods . and plans by

which the mine might be worked, board decided to purchase the perty, consisting of both the freehold? and leasehold sections. The originally laid down by Mr Cochrane* in his report had been fully followed in the subsequent development work and had proved eminently satisfactory. He would like to take the opportunity, Mr Motion declared, of officially stating, for the benefit of those . who might have - heard rumours that Mr W. Goodfellow had some interest in the property, that Mr Goodfellow had never personally owned a single , blade of grass on the property ed by the dairy company. Statements ■ to that effect had., been actively circulated by certain opposition canvassers, but they were inspired only with the desire to spreadamongst the dairy company s , supto prevent progress , and development. There was not a vestigb of truth in these statements. - After acquisition of the property had been continued Mr Motion, the next-matter was to en ? | deavour to get the Public Works Department to push on the railway which had' already been surveyed through to the property. As soon as-. an assurance had been given by authorities that this work would be proceeded with Mr Ashley Hunter was appointed to undertake the engineering connected with the railway sidings and the erection of the necessary plant and machinery. His designs had been very well thought out, and would prove very economical and practical in operation. At this stage , the company was fortunate in securing Mr Peter Hunter as' mine manager, because it was under his energetic supervision that the development of the mine was pushed on so rapidly as to put them in the position that day of being able to produce coal. There was no doubt that had it not been for the energv displayed by Mr Peter Hunter the opening would not then be taking place. The greatest difficulty they had had to contend with had been the railway work. To facilitate the progress -j.f _ that • work they had been obliged to take over a contract from the Public Works Department and push the * work on. This had been carried under the supervision of Mr Hunter* and the energy brought to bear had been the means of their having railway access at. least 12 months sooner than otherwise would have been the case. All difficulties in the development of the mine had now been overcome, and they were now in the proud position of facing the future with an assured supply of coal won from their own mine. Just ..what this meant, to the company possibly..few even yet fully realised. The consumption of coal in'the thirteen big butter factories owned by the company, the sixteen cheese factories,; the three milk powder factories, and the numerous creameries and bulking stations, was, now on a very large 'scale indeed, placing their yearly consumption on a basis requiring many tens of thous- * sands of tons. TO reduce the cost of this big item, as will n»w be done, meant a corresponding increase in the amounts payable to suppliers on a • butter-fat . basis. This venture, of ■ which ’they saw the official opening th?t day, definitely constituted a remarkable economy in th manufactur* ing charges of the company, and w< uld undoubtedly give it a very .big advantage for the future. With this venture reaching a profitable stage they could say that the final big economy in manufacturing charges had been reached, and'that henceforth their mamnufacturing -costs would be on a bedrock basis. The directors, concluded Mr Motion had many difficulties to contend wi:-i ; in proceeding with the development of the mine, and at some times they had not had that co operation on the part of suppliers that they thought they might have had. That was why they were so desirous of having ai < official opening, < so; that suppliers themselves could come and see just ; what had been done with the money that they had found for the development of the mine, and also realise what a big asset it would be to themselves as owners and shareholders in the company.' Hhe was very glad to ,see such a large attendance, ancTfe'--su>-e that they would be more than 4 satisfied with what they would see of the mine. ' Mr.W. Goodfellow, managing director of the company, said that; with Mr Motion, he, too was very proud to attend such a memorable gathering that day. He said that the Glen Afton collieries bore the distinction of being the first, coal mines owned arid developed by a co-operative dairy company in the world. He paid a tribute to the loyalty of the suppliers in sticking to their company and helping to bring the venture to such a successful issue. Mr Goodfellpw stated that the capital cost of the coal mine to date was £BB,OOO, and the whole cost had been met by the suppliers by means'of deductions of one farthing per lb ,buter-fat, which deductions were spread over a period of three years. There are to be no further deductions from suppliers' cheques for the coal mine, although--new suppliers coming into the company will be required to contribute one farthing to put them on an equal footing With the other suppliers. The money collected in this way would be used for further development of the mine. The speaker said that the coal output at present was 200 tons per day and by September it was hoped that the output would be increased to 500 or 600 tons a day. The company was very fortunate in securing the services of Mr Rich-White as secretary of the collieries. He was a man of unique experience in coal matters,, and through his knowledge and experience agencies had been established in Wairarapa, Manawatu, and Taranaki, and the company had a big depot of its. own. at Mt. Eden. There was absolutely no doubt as to j the quality of the coal produced. Although the Glen Afton mine was situated close to the Pukemirq collieries the analysis of the coal bad shown it was of different composition to coal from the neighbouring mines. The ! Dairy Company had ever in mind the

best way to reduce the cost of manufacture of its products, consistent With maintaining the high standard of its goods. By owning their own coal fields the costs would be considerably reduced., . Mr, Goodfellow said that he felt very confident of success in the further development of byproducts, such as canned milkj dried milk, and casein, rather tnan butter and cheese. The company had at die present; time, continued Mr Goodfellow, a representative travelling through the Orient, establishing markets for the company’s products. This representative had been successful in securing £IB,OOO- worth of orders ii ' Manilla, , and was now on his way to Hongkong. With the advent of reduced freights and cheaper coal enormous business would be possible in the East. Up ;to the present the United States had supplied the Hast with most of the dairy products consumed. It had been considered that the cost of production in the Unite ! States was higher than in any other part of the. world. He was of the opinion that the- scope of markets for the products of the company was unlimited, and prospects were particularly bright for the .future. The company, continued the speaker, had not. overlooked the comfort and welfare of the miners. They intended to provide them with good homes, and good wages, and everything possible would be done to improve their positions and make them happy and contented. • By this means the best In each man would be cheerfully given in the company’s service. M” Goodfellow welcomed the visitors to the mine, and trusted that what they had seen and been told that dav would reaffirm their faith in the directors of the company, and that they would agree that the venture was to be bne of their greatest assets. In introducing Mr J. A. Young, to the gathering, Mr Motion asked Mr Young to accept a miniature silver miner’s pick, suitably inscribed, bn behalf of the N.Z. Dairy C 0.,, and asked him to formally declare the mine open.

On taking the platform Mr Young was received, with applause. He said he wished to heartily congratulate the directors, management, and staif cm the success of their venture. He felt convinced, after what he had seen that day, and after having heard ' the addresses of Messrs Goodfellow and Motion, that the suppliers were to be congratulated on the* enviable position they had attained in securing for their vast operations a definite and adequate supply of coal, and that the low cost of production of that article would considerably reduce the cost of manufacture of the dairy products. The farmers of the Soutn Auckland province were fortunate in . having such capable and clear-vision-ed men-.at the head of their affairs. The coal mine was second to none in the Dominion, and the machinery and plant was of the latest design. He trusted that the- few suppliers who hal been inclined to "kick” against - the deduction of one farthing per lb- - butter-fat from their cheques in the pa t would, now realise the asset they had in developing and owning their own coalfields. He counselled the suppliers, as units in the great dairying. industry, to have confidence In and hack up the directors of the fe. company, and to keep in touch with the management dnd not "stand outside and grouse.” Mr Young endorsed .Mr Goodfellow’s, remark that it was necessary to provide decent and adequate accommodation for the min-ers-hnd families, and he thought that there wouldjbe nothing to complain of in that respect. lump of coal was then handed to Mr Young, who, with-his pick, broke it and declared the Glen Afton mine duly open. He wished the company every possible success, and prosperity. At. the conclusion hearty cheers were given for the ladies of Glen , Afton, the management, and Mr Young. ~ The party was then- hospitably entertained’to afternoon tea by the ladies of Glen- Afton, who woi-ked . most assiduously for the comfort and welfare of the. visiters. The train arrangements forked excellently, and the first, train was despatched, on the homeward journey shortly before four o’clock.