OUR INDUSTRIES.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 69, 27 August 1879, Page 2

OUR INDUSTRIES.

NO. TIMBER TRADE. As we prpceed vvrith our task of collecting information respecting thp timber trade, we cannot help being stiuck wit hi fch|» rapid expansion ot' %i;the' saw -milling industry, r \rhjicli took nlaqd somewhat mpra than two years ago; when ;thp trade with the ' South was at iti height, and various -mills had carteblanche ro send any amount of wliite pine to that market; The impetus given to saw milling'.b j.; tlie opening' Up: of a market for wliite pip«^-r-a wood -wMtjli?TprevlOiisly~ bad been regarded as an encumbrance only, and fit r f or nothing but the fire— wos something astonishing. Mills sprang up m every direction with marvellous rapidity, and everything seemed to betoken a season "of unexampled prosperity. But bow short was its ''duration'!' With an infatuation unaccountable,. for only on the supposition of the truth of the apcient belief, " Tuos Deus vult perire prius dementat," which may ; be freelytranslatedr—" Those who are doomed to perish, are first deprived of reason," the Grey ' Ministry deliberately dealt theideatliTblow to this promising industry by throwing open our ports; to the of cheap, grown , American timber. They thus produced a stagnation which has been felt from one end of the Island to the other. -There is one consolation, however, and that is, that this very actchus materially aided jn bringing about the .present fc pblitical crisis, and works its own remedy by the re-iniposition of the duty. Should this hope be realised we may - expe'ci/'"to see the saw milling industry yet ;aß'sume -vaster proportions m a district than which, by common consent, a finer . does not exist on the face of the earth. With these ieWj remarks, we continue our notices of the Various mills m the Manawatu District. ' " ..'.'' , THE iIAKHTO MIXI/. ■ . " Abovita mile from tl>e Makino Station, and situate on the creek bearing the same name we. come to another; •'-Makinp Mill," the property of Messrs. (Nicholas, Tarrent and v Co. 'We are not going to decide whether" Messrs. Malcolm and Co. or Messrs'.' Nicholas, Tarrent and Co. have the .better* cla|m to title, but it is unfortunate there should be two mills having the same designations, as it is likely to lead " to confusion m certain cases. "'The mill is not yet twelve months old, -since it was- first put up improvements have constantly been made, but ' all those intended ura ppt yet completed, as will be, readily imagined, when we state that thp process of " breaking down " is still performed by hand labor. This, however, will shortly be altered, as arrangements* have been made for a nine-foot vertical- The shed' is 84 i 46, iriclusive of the engine house, arid it is fitted with flitching and ripping benches, having saws of fpur feet and three feet diameter respectively. The engine is a verjr fine double cylinder one, made by Huston and Procter expressly for the Colony, with enlarged fire-box. It is sixteen-horse .power, and fitted with all the most recent- . improvement's. ' At the present time the out-put is about 27,000 feet per week,,b.ut when m full working order, the proprietors expect to be able to turn out abput 40,000. There is a splendid tonguing and grooving machine m connection with the mill with all the. lest improvements, capable of planing boards two feet wide, and tonguiug and grooving up to fourteen inches. r This machine will dress with ease 8000 per day. ' Messrs.' Nicholas and' Co. havp 200 acres of. leasehold land, nnd the right of cutting over ldpp apres of splendid bush. It made one's heart ache to notice a belt of magnificent white pine, straight as a gun barrel, of imniense heightj and- upwards of four; fept through at the butt, and to think that sijch timber c^uld not be utilised, owing to the suicidal policy' of an incompetent Government. iFortunately the white pine does not bear an unfair proportion to the otlior woods, there being- also targe belts of first-class totara, riin'u, and mataf. The four proprietors, who are all practical hands from the Sound, assured bur representative tliat the bush there could not for a'nipment hold comparison with splendid forests of this district. There are: m all eighteen hands employed, living m ten cottages, and twelve bullocks are constantly at work. There are three miles of tramway m connection with the mill, and the cost of the plant, .including all,'*3oo.