Local Industries

Southern Cross, Volume 2, Issue 16, 21 July 1894, Page 9

Local Industries

GLADSTONE SOAP WORKS

‘ Some day,’ said an old resident of Gladstone lately, ‘ you shall see the banks of the Waihopai lined with ornamental trees, and beautified by avenues and walks.’ ‘ Well,’ said another old identity, ‘you can go in fertile picturesque as much as you like, but what T want to see is a lot of factories along the river, with vessels coming up for their products.’ ‘ Easy, now,’ said No. 1, ‘ You might as well talk of a trip to Moonland.’ ‘ Not a bit of it," was the reply, ‘ remember Glasgow and the Clyde.’ And so they argued. Our concern, however, is with the present, our duty being the pleasant one of chronicling an addition to the comparatively few local industries of which the district can boast. We refer to the soap-making business recently established by Messrs McGill Bros., whose premises are within a stone’s throw of the river, whose fnture exercised the minds of the worthies just mentioned. The venture is the outcome of a belief that as good and as cheap a soap can be locally produced as that supplied from other parts of the colony. It will easily be understood that unless the locally-made product is at least equally good, people will not favor it, eveng though it were somewhat cheaper. This is especially true of a commodity like soap, the good and bad qualities of which are quickly discovered when applied to the various fabrics of everyday wear. On this point it is satisfactory to he able to add that people need not give their patronage to McGill’s ‘ make ’ simply because it is of local manufacture. The kind—common hard soap—which they are now turning out has been tested, and pronounced good, the ‘ lather ’-raising quality, a feature which will commend itself to house wives, fbeing one of its lead ing merits. At present three boilers or soap pans are m use, and the work is carried out under the supervision of Mr Wm. T. McGill, who has made a special study of the various processes and is skilled in the effects of the alkaline and saponaceous ingredients essential to the pr®duction of a thoroughly serviceable article. On the occasion of our visit we found that several tons of soap had already been turned out, and were in*conrse of being cut into bars and stamped prior to distribution. A number of orders have already been booked, and we hope to see them flow in freely. Among the collateral advantages arising from the starting of the industry is the utilisation of native timber (white pine being used for making packing boxes) and of large quantities of tallow, supplies of which reach the factory from all parts of the district. At present the works are on a modest scale, hut the spirited proprietors contemplate early additions to the plant, and with this they may take up the manufacture of the finer grades of soap. A noticeable feature in connection with the works is the absence of the disagreeable odours sometimes associated with such businesses. Everything is kept in the best of order, and even in the building where the tallow is rendered and the boilers charged, there is nothing to offend the most sensitive olfactory nerves. The Messrs McGill

Brqs. deserve credit for ,their enterprise, and we cordially /wish jbhem success and a ready market for their “ Sylva Star ” and other brands.