Local Industries

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 50, 10 March 1894, Page 7

Local Industries

MAT AURA PAPER MILLS

There are two paper-making mills in the colony, and one of these is located at Mataura. It as owned by Messrs Coulls, Culling and t 0., who have recently given unmistakeable proof of their enterprise and of their faith in the future of the colony by the erection of new and extensive premises and the importation of plant and machinery of _ the very latest pattern. These will supplement rather than supersede the old plant and buildings, which have done, and will continue to do, good service. The process of paper-making is one of the most interesting that could be well witnessed. To describe it in detail is not, however, our purpose on tliis occasion, but rather to correct some inaccuracies into which a correspondent who recently described the works was unfortunately betrayed. The mills lie on the right bank of the Mataura, whose waters have been pressed into service, and find their way, by means of weir and race, from the raver into every part of the establishment.

We were fortunate in meeting- Mr Culling, who was good enough to show us over the buildings. u We will begin,” he said, “ with the old mill, then take the new one, so that you can say you have looked on this picture and then on that.” Agreed, and off we go, beginning with the office, where a bulky visitors’ book, with many names, testifies to the interest taken in the works by holidaymakers and others. Grouped about here are a number of out-buildings — a chemical store containing the various compounds used in the manufacture of wrapping paper, a building occupied by a complete set of fire extinction appliances, and a shed in which a number of boys are busily engaged in sorting out the bales of waste paper, rags, and other raw material, each article of like colour and texture being brought together. There is also a well fitted mechanics’ shop in connection with the mills. Quantities of tiax, tow, bags, etc., are also lying about, showing that almost anything that can be reduced to pulp is acceptable. After being sifted—and, in the case of bagging and suchlike, chopped- —the raw material is placed in two large boilers one revolving, the other stationary. It emerges from these looking very much like heaps of gravel. The fuel used is lignite ; hematite, obtained ■from the neighbouring hills, is utilised in some cases for colouring matter, so that apart from its splendid water supply, the district is in other inspects well adapted for such works as those under notice. From the boilers the stuff goes to the beaters, where the process of disintegration is completed ; then into vats where the pulp is kept in a state of consistency by means of agitators. From these vats the pulp is pumped into a stuff box, whence it flows over sand traps on to the paper-making- machine. It Teaches this as puljr, and passes over an endless travelling wire, losing on its way a considerable amount of the water with which it was mixed. The process of completely drawing oft' the water is very effective, drawn as it is by a vacuum pump as the wire passes over two air-tight boxes. This is the first point at which paper is visible. Passing then between couch rolls, it becomes comparatively strong. By means of felts revolving on rollers it i« conveyed to and over the drying cylinders (7 in number), emerging paper —crisp), clean, and serviceable. It is next wound into reels by means of a patent friction-pmlley, and after being cut to requii’ed sizes by means of an intricate-looking machine called the “cutter” is ready to be packed in reams or bales. Passing on, the visitor finds himself in the paper bag making- room a welllighted place in wliicli a number of young women are working .machines, each of which turns out forty-five bags per minute. The products of the mills, which comprise nine or tea varieties

of wrapping paper, are in demand all over the colony, and as we left the room a dray was backed up to the door to take an order for Grey mouth to the railway station. There is scarcely any stock in hand the demand is such that it hasn’t time to aecum ulate.

The old mill lies lengthwise to the Mataura. The new one, consisting of two large corrugated iron structures, with cast iron pillars, is end on to the river, in which a great deal has been done in connection with the weir, races, and watergates, necessary to direct and regulate the supply. In the new race the water is made to flow at a higher level than the old one ; and here, too, may be seen one of the teatu'cs of the nerv works—a turbine of 610 b.p., by means of which the “ wheels go round ” everywhere except in the case of the paper-mak-ing machine, which is driven by a lb b.p. engine. The new paper-making room is 105 ft. \ 40ft., and is splendidly lighted v. ith roiled plate glass, five feet deep on either side, it contains a complete set of paper-making machinery and appliances from the establishment of Messrs Masson, Scott and Co., London. The plant includes a number of super calenders for turning out fine gdazed paper, and comprises every device and improvement essential to first-class work. This room also contains the “cutter” for cutting the p i per into sheets, and the “ ripper and winder ” which slits the web into the number of widths required, and winds them on to a, spindle at the other end, so that each width becomes a separate hard, tightly-wound roll. A great part of the floor is concrete—the stuff vats rest on pillars 14ft. high. A very large quantity of cement has been used for the foundations —over 650 barrels—for, as Mr Culling puts it, “We have gone down to the bed-rock with everything.” Next we enter the room containing the beaters. Here also is a tank with a capacity of 7,000 gallons, which quantity of water can be pumped into it when necessary in ten minutes. Room is also found for huge boilers wherein the raw material takes its first stage on the way to pulphood. There is an ingeniouslycontrived hoisting system for the conveyance of the stuff to and from the boilers, thence to the beaters, and onward through the connecting pipes to the paper-making machine. This is of much greater capacity than the old one. It will turn out a sheet 85 inches wide as against the old one’s 48 inches, and it is fitted with nine drying’ cylinders, or two more than the other. There has been a corresponding increase of Avorking power throughout, and whereas the output has hitherto been from 15 to 18 tons per Aveek, the mills Avill uoav be able to turn out from 40 to 50 tons.

The buildings are lighted by electricity, a powerful dynamo, occupying a strongly - built room on the ground floor, serving- to give a most efficient system of lighting, two arc lamps, each of 1000 candle power, being in the machine room alone. Outside, a massive chimney, restingon a bed of concrete 10ft. deep, rears itself 60ft. high. Close by is the boiler-house, containing- a Lancashire boiler of 80 h.p., which supplies steam for the engine driving the paper-mak-ing machine, drying cylinders, ragboilers, etc. The boiler is of the latest design, and is fitted with one of Green’s economisers, being a network of 72 tubes, by means of which every fraction of heat is utilised. This concludes our survey, necessarily incomplete, of the new paper mills. They were set going on the 2Sth ult., and by the time this appears in print will be in full swing. At present they give work to from 30 to 40 employes, but we hope ere long to see this number augmented. Then® is every reason to believe that such will be the case. The article sent from the mills is of first-class quality —in fact it has already driven out several imported lines—and with a new- and extensive plant there is practically no limit to, the development of the business, which has so far prospered well under the manage-

merit of its spirited proprietors. We take leave of our “ guide, philosopher, and friend ” of the afternoon—who, by the way, has played no small part, in company with Mr Wyllie, most capable of managers, in getting things into working order—impressed with the extent, completeness, and solidity of the works. They are built literally upon a rock, and are in keeping with their foundations. There is nothing of the temporary or gimcrack order to be seen. Everything about them indicates permanence, and they may be regarded as an earnest of the future that awaits Mataura as a manufacturing centre. With Messrs Coulls, Culling and Co.’s paper-mills, the extensive works of the Southland Frozen Meat Co., and a thriving dairy factory in full operation, the future of the district is assured.