INDUSTRIAL NOTES.

Patea Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 1027, 27 April 1883, Page 2

INDUSTRIAL NOTES.

In this column we intend to notice industrial works which may be in progress from time to time in different parts of the Colon}'. Our hope is that some day we may stumble across something, .the production of which settlers would think suitable to Paten, and possibly an industry might be established. This column will be open for the free discussion of industrial topics, and correspondence is invited :

Some new railway carriages are now being built at Addington, and having had the benefit of the American carriages imported, experience has enabled the department to improve upon their models by making such alterations in the relative strengths of various parts as will render the locally built carriages much more lasting than those imported. The large variety of beautiful New Zealand woods, suitable for interior decorations, has been utilised very effectively. Oamam now possesses two establishments turn out barbed wire. The manufactures of the Oamaru Barbed Wire Company are already well known ; the other is a new venture. The North Otago Times says of the new wire : —“ The latest addition to the market is a barbed wire invented some time ago by Mr Woodcock of this town, and now being manufactured in considerable quantity by Messrs Woodcock and West at their ‘ Excelsior’ factory in Tyne street. This wire strikes one as being perhaps the most simple in appearance of any used, and in its manufacture the simplicity is no less apparent. The wire used is a single strand of No. 8, and the four-pronged barbs are cut from No. 13 size. The process of barbing is all done by hand,, twenty boys being employed at the factory. The small-sized wire is but by a machine into the required lengths, the cut of the machine pointing it at both ends ; the operator takes two of these lengths in a pair of pliers and holds them in position, while with a turn or two of an iron key he twists them round the wire, stretched horizontally from end to end of the factory, the operation occupying a few seconds. On an average one boy turns out a complete coil of barbed wire in a day, and the factory is at present turnout between three and four tons per week." Mr E. Ford, of Russell, importer, has hit upon a new idea (says the N.Z, Herald) which is not only novel, but profitable. He has had manufactured to his order, at the establishment of Mr Waters, confectioner, a ton of Maori conversation lollies. These have been disposed of immediately, and now the Kaipara and East Coast natives are clamoring for samples of the Maori conversation lozenge, which betokens that the Maori is making another giant stride in the march of civilisation. The Anchor Foundry at Nelson, we learn from the Colonist , is now busy upon new machinery for the steamer Charles Edward, of the Anchor Line. At present a paddle steamer,the Charles Edward is to be converted into a twin-screw steamer, with two pairs of compound condensing engines of 24 h.p. each, nominal, the highpressure cylinders of each pair being 12in, and the low pressure 24in in diameter, the. stroke being 14in. The boiler will be 10ft in diameter and 10ft long, with 106 tubes. The screws will be sft in diameter, and have a pitch of 9ft. The whole of the work, from the drawing of the designs, will be done in Nelson, except that two blocks for the crank shaft were obtained from Dunedin. . A branch of the Canterbury Industrial Association is likely to be established in Wellington. At the last meeting of the Association a letter was read from the Wellington Town Clerk, stating that the Council was anxious to contribute in whatever way possible to the objects of the Association. Mr Jenkins suggested that the receipt of the letter be_ acknowledged, and a copy of the Association’s rules sent, with whatever pamphlets there were which might be of use to them. This was agreed to. At the same meeting the sub-committee appointed to enquire as to advising the Government re binding twine, reported that as retted flax fit for making such twine was selling at from £6O to £IOO, delivered in London, it was unlikely it would be used in large quantities ; further, that a Russian hemp was imported to New Zealand, and could be sold for less than £BO per ton. It had been proved that twine could bo made from phormium tenax of a suitable quality, and at a much cheaper rate, and, as the committee understood that several firms would be in a position to supply this twine by next season, they recommended that the Government be requested to offer a bonus- of not less than £SOO, for the first fifty tons of suitable binding twine made from fibre grown in this colony. The manufacture of carpets has been commenced at Christchurch by a Mr Mitchell, a gentleman who gained his experience in the great workshops of the well known British manufacturers Messrs Crossley of Halifax. Seven looms have been set up, and each is capable of turning out 60 yards of stuff per week, or 420 in all. The following brief account of the process is from a southern paper :—First of all the various coloured threads of woollen yarn that are needed for the pattern are reeled off a host of bobbins on to what is termed the “warping mill.” The warp goes to the loom, and is there stretched tightly over a cylinder. Above the loom frame is hung the pattern to be worked, punched out by means of a machine of peculiar construction, in slips of millboard, which are strung together by the aid of what is known as the “ lacing machine.” To give a thoroughly comprehensible idea of the

way in which the loom performs its work, would necessitate long descriptions, and could hardly be made perfectly clear without diagrams. We _ will simply say that the-piece of unfinished carpet upon the loom at the time the visit of inspection was made by the Mayor and and party, was strikingly good, both iai quality and design. Mr Mitchell as yet imports his yarns. This, of course, he will shortly cease to do, and spin them himself. No great amount of quality is necessary in the wool that is suitable for working into carpet yarn. Locks and pieces, sold here at 3d the pound, will do perfectly well ; indeed, with such as is easily procurable in Canterbury, Mr Mitchell declares bis ability to manufacture Kidderminster or Scotch carpets second to none that are imported. Kidderminsters, it will be recollected, are durability itself. They will wear down to nothing almost, for they are hand-made. Many efforts have been made by Messrs Crossley to apply steam power to the description of loom used by Mr Mitchell, but to no purpose. Thousands of pounds have been spent upon the attempt with no beneficial result. But we have not quitetraced the carpet or rug through the stages of its growth to full beauty. Finished as far as weaving goes, it is taken to the “ cropping macnine.” This in appearance almost exactly resembles a long lawn mower. Its work, too, is very similar, in fact almost identical with that done by the familiar garden machine. It cuts off the long superfluous “ nap,” and leaves a surface upon the article much improved, and far glossier than that which it had before being submitted to its refining influence. This is the last stage, but it is repeated several timci, in order to obtain the full effect of an even velvety surface, and the wares are then fit for market. Not on'y is Mr Mitchell prepared to produce things of his own in this way, but he is also able to match any-’ thing that may' be sent him. This his skill as a dyer and designer puts him in a position to do. The Wellington Meat Export Company confidently look forward to being m a position to ship a cargo of meat, frozen at their works, which are now in course of erection, in August next. W q (Times)are informed that the applications fofspace are very numerous, and, that no effort would he required to load three or four vessels in rapid succession. ,' ■ / A meeting of settlers was held at Wanganui at Mr F. R. Jackson’s rooms yesterday afternoon to consider the establishment of a dairy factory in the district. There were over 20 gentlemen present, and Mr J. Morgan was voted to thu chaiii.? Mr Purnell gave some interesting inforrtia- : tion regarding the working of the Ashburton factory, and on the motion of Mr Sommerville, seconded by Mr T. Higgie, . it was resolved, “That it is desirable that A dairy factory be inaugurated in Wanganui.” A committee consisting of Messrs Morgan, Wilson, Higgie, Laird, Craig, McGregor, Lingard, Shield, Purnell, and the mover, .; was appointed to inquire and report upon a site for the factory, what capital would be necessary, where and how the supply of milk would be procured, and other vital matters, the report to be brought up to another public meeting a fortnight hence. The committee subsequently agreed to meet at Okoia (as a central position in the district) on Thursday morning next, at 11 o’clock, to make the; necessary inquiries.