The Driving Power of the Future.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 43333, 4 June 1908, Page 2

The Driving Power of the Future.

We are quoting scientific authority in stating that it is the mountainous districts which are to become the manufacturing centres of the future. One gr.'ut feature of this development is that although coal fields may in time be worked out, and so the motive power derived there maybe exhausted, the heavens which furnish the mountains with their

water-supply arc inexhaustible. For ourselves we have only to look at our electrical installation to realize something of what the mountain means to us from a purely practical and industrial standpoint. And then again, with regard to the direct application of hydraulic power to the manufacturer’s machinery we would remind our readers of what is being achieved in Mr Wallace’s Coach Factory and Shoe-

ing Forgo. Hero you have a factory capable of turning out the lightest buggies and the largest coaches required by our coach proprietors (a specimen of which we have just seen in the coach built for one of the local stables) and all by means of machinery driven entirely by hydraulic power. , The water is forced through a A inch nozzle, and has a pressure of one hundred and twenty five pounds to the square inch 5 We had the pleasure of seeing through this factory recently, and observing for ourselves the many kinds of machinery in use, and

also some of the kinds of work turned ont by Mr Wallace. A description of the machinery as we saw it will give some idea of the effect with which hydraulic power is here employed. In passing we may say that the shoeing forgo, and the tiring plant, where heat is required for the expansion of the tires, are the only parts of the factory where coal is employed. In the forge may be seen

three huge fires, each with its own separate chimney. It takes one truck of coal per month to supply these fires and the furnace connected with the tiring plant. The draught necessary for the fires is generated by an automatic fan. This fan consists of a wheel with eighteen hundred revolutions per minute, which produces a draught sufficient to keep all the fires going. The draught is conveyed to the flues by means of a zinc pipe, and is regulated by a damper. When it is turned on you do not stand too near, for fear of the perfect hail of sparks and small cinders which the fire gives off. The fan is hydraulically worked.

The Double Emery Grinder performs the function of sharpening discs and knives for agricultural machinery, while the punching and shearing machine will punch holes into iron at the required size, or snip off lengths of the same metal much as an ordinary pair of scissors

would snip off a length of tape. (It is somewhat awesome to see it do it.) Again you have a drilling machine, for chilling holes in iron, also a screwcutting machine for putting a thread on pipes, nuts, and bulbs. Or you may watch the heavy power hammer at work, with its terrible thud, which by the way, may be regulated. But when you reflect that it is still iron with winch you are dealing you will realize that the blow requires some force. Here are band and circular saws, also a woodwork machine for wheel-making and general woodwork. Lastly, as a refinement of machinery, you are introduced to an appliance for clipping horses. It consists of two steel saws, or curry-combs, with very businesslike teeth. The one set is finer than the other, and one is played across the other as the machine is taken over the horse’s coat. We were given to understand that this little machine is not at all particular, and will cut human hair as readily as any other —that is if one wants it done.

The tiring plant is amoug the most interesting things in the factory. Here you have a brick enclosure which reminds you of a baker’s oven. In it is the fire, by means of which the tire is heated tc the required expansion. "When this has been done the tire is removed and placed round the wheel. The wheel is then laid on the trying plate. This consists of a round concreted depression in the floor of the

factory. That is to say it is something of the shape of a saucer, only absolutely flat, and absolutely true at the bottom. The wheel being hammered down here cannot get a warp. Mr Wallace is therefore able to turn out wheels which are in carpentering phreseology “deadtrue,”

Buggies, coaches, cream waggons, drays, etc., are manufactured in this factory. The appliance by means of which they aro hoisted into the upper story of' the building is a very large lift. This lift is worked by means of endless chain blocks and not by hydraulic power. It is capable of elevating a load of three tons, so that a dray of any weight can bo negotiated by it. A separate room is set apart for painting and varnishing the buggies and drays. It is shut off from the other part of the factory by

folding-doors so as to keep out all dust. Altogether one finds throughout the factory a convincing exposition of what may be achieved by a proprietor who makes his machinery his hobby, as Mr Wallace undoubtedly does. By the aid of this machinery work can be done which without it would require three times the amount of manual labour now employed. As Mr Wallace himself points out, one great factor in the success of a business such as this is the keeping in touch with the up-to-date magazines. By means of these (American and Australian papers) the latest patterns of buggies and coaches with working plans may be consulted. So that when the customer has made his

selection from the patterns placed before him, the manufacturer can go to work at once from the plan, instead of having the labour of working out his own plan. The utility of this is obvious. Of course, at the present stage, in the development of l the town water supply a f drought such as we experienced last season is a matter of considerable inconvenience in a factory like Mr Wallace s. During the last drought the factory was without power for fourteen days at a stretch. In the adjacent Bacon Factory | also the water supply had to be reduced, which of course meant a reduced power in

the huge boiler. In prospect of the greater industrial development actually pending, and also in view of that which may naturally be I expected to arise, it is impossible to • attach too much importance to the Borough Council’s intention of increasing the reservoir accommodation to conserve the waters of the mountain. For Te Aroha’s future as a manufacturing and

industrial centre has been very liberally J provided for, in that her motive power has been lodged in her own yard as it were, that is to say there is no difficulty in the way, such as would be the case with towns situated further from the base of such a water supply. It will be necessary also to keep a jealous eye upon any accident which may occur 1 to disturb the cloud-attracting power of the hill, such for instance as the burning-off of the bush. The town’s Electrical Installation has already proved inadequate, therefore in addition to the .£5,000 expended upon it

the Borough Council have decided extend it at a cost of an additionalL The machinery for this purpose is We repeat that Nature ..lnitiifti liberal to us in that we .^ the power she lias laid . without the necessity of con fJJJthat hither, and it is stimulating to todtiw the residents are prepared t 0 - ipa iity selves of all the power the municipal! y can sell them.