BIG BUSINESS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 108, 28 July 1927, Page 15

BIG BUSINESS

BY A REPUTABLE FIRM NEW ZEALAND INTERESTS A world-wide organisation, which had its birth in South Australia, is represened at the Winter Show among the exhibits of work associated with this growing concrete age. It would probably be correct to say that the Hume Pipe Co., Ltd., is the largest concrete pipe concern in the world, for its operations extend to all countries and are intensely concentrated in the British Empire. Its big contract services in New Zealand are known to all Government departments and local bodies. Huge jobs well done are the basis of success of this constructive institution, which exhibits within a limited space at the show a few samples of its daily work. Patented cenrifugally-spun materials, which give the concrete a superdensity and non-porous texture to withstand all usage and conditions, are features of Hume pipes in which New Zealand Star Brand Portland cement is used. Strong steel reinforcement is another important buttressing element of their power. Nineteen branches in Australia and six in New Zealand, with headquarters in Auckland and works at Penrose, stand behind the big contracts which this reputable firm undertakes. At the present time pipes are being laid down for the Hauraki Plains -water supply, involving nine miles of pipe carriage. Besides other Public Works Department jobs, the firm supplies pipes for the Auckland City Council and Drainage Board and various boroLiglis. Jobs on an extensive scale for Christchurch Drainage Board (which involved about 100 miles of pipes of varying sizes) and for bodies in all the provinces are always being carried out. It is also interesting to know that this firm’s compressed pavement slabs have been used for a portion of Queen Street, for footpaths at Broadway, Newmarket, and for hundreds of private residences. Similar slabs are features of the streets of Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. Huge national developments are part and parcel of the Hume Pipe Company’s activities. The firm specialises in the making and installation of reinforced telephone-box cabinets, street lamp-posts, and tele-graph-poles. The last-mentioned is a line which might be used to great advantage throughout New Zealand.