A PROGRESSIVE INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 249, 22 October 1901, Page 2

A PROGRESSIVE INDUSTRY.

, J -• > THE EGMONT BOOT FACTORY. . If the word progressive may properly Jbe applied to any industry, and we . j think it rightly may, then to none I would the term more fittingly pertain ~ f than to the manufacture of boots, withs out which most people's progress would be hlow indeed. To most men and women the matter of being properly] [ shod is one of importance, while to many it is an ever present source of] . pride, hence the varieties of daintily shaped shoes wherein often pride is t painful. Few people trouble to inquire from whence the leather-ware they use | I comes; tiny are content with a comfortable and fairly enduriog article, | k and if this cannot be obtained at one shop tbey try another, and so on, till [ they are satisfied. But, of course, in these days, all the vast- piles of the shoemakers art to be seen in the ret tail depot?, are made at factories, and,' , therefore, it may interest not a few of [ our readers if we give them a glimpse . of an up-to-date boot factory, such as i that which bears tbe name of "Egmont," the proprietor of which is } Mr Hal G odacre. Most of the townspeople know of the existence of this factory, fcr it has a bell which not only . acts as ja signal fir the opening and i closing hours of work, but on occasions k of lvjoicings does its part in giv-' iog tongue to the exuberant; feel- ; ings of the hour. Few, however,' have any conception of the busy hivej of workers, who, with the aid of a | . variety of machinery, turn out thousands of boots and shoes during the yar. Under the able guidance of Mr Hal Goodacre, a Daily News repre- , senUtiva recently inspected the factory with a view to making known the importance of the industry, which , affords employment to many of both , sexes, and helps to add to the repute of the district One of the first things to strike the attention of the visitor is the ample provision of light, veotilat ion and air space. Bach of these cs6entials was made a special matter of consideration when the building was erected, and one could not help fte'ing i that work under such favourable con- ' fditiotg must bs far more pleasant for j the employees than is often the case. ' |ln the clicking room only hand '

labour is employed, is being found that this is the only wav to avoid imperfections. Here a small army of experts is engaged in cutting out uppers for all sizos of feet, and tba skill which is exhibited in this branch of the work is a groat factor in the sucioss of the finished article. Passing onward to the machine room, the next; department, there are two long rows of sewing machines, manipulated but nos operated by women.. The working power is furnished by belting from the the general machine force, which is supplied by a 13 h.p. Tangye gas engine. Each of the sawing machines has a patent transmitter, by which the speed of the machine can be regulated easily by slight loo>, pressure, so that the operators' hands are free to guido the work. This is all tha more nesessary as the number of stitches p?r minute is' between two and throe thousand. In. this room will be found some of the most j up-to-date machines in the trade, two

being fitted with an apparatus for beat-' ing the wax, tbrougL which the sewing string passes, and is kept warm up to the time of leaving the needle, eo that ] the stitches ensure the uppers being j perfectly watertight. There is a very ingenious eyelet and punching machine j wbich simultaneously combines both g operations, this being the concluding 8 work on the uppers, which are then a passed into the press room. Here the 5 sole leather is cut and everything pre- £ pared ready for putting together. For ( cutting the soles a large press is used, e having two circular stamp bed", under j which the ranges of leather and the various sized knives are phced, and the soles rapidly cut out, the waste t being very small. These soles are j sorted according to size and quality, a and carefully arranged ready for imme- \ diate use wbn required, piles of inner t and middle outer soles being rapidly ] accumulated and absorbed. Olose by | are massive machine rollers for operat- j ing on sole leather, also for compress- ] ing and conEolidating heavy leather, j which under the old manual system ] was laboriously hammered. The next j department is what may be called the , builders' room, where the boots and ( shoes are made up. Here are to be seen a large number of maohines, some , of very high speed and mostly of an in- j tricate and expensive character, by | means of which the high finish of the present day boot is put on. One need j only look at the stands whereon some t of the complete articles are ranged to ' see the pitch of perfection which, has j been attained, from the light and ele- i gant g'ace kid for ladies' wear to the ; heavy, serviceable workiogman's boat, | while some of the chrome goods are ] exceptionally takiog in appearance. ■ Whilst looking at this wonderful array ■ there is one class of boots that catches the eye at once by reason of its j novel and unique appearance. It is ( the latest improvement in working boots, and is called the "Easy , ssamless boat." Its special features ( are that it requires no " breaking in;" it is much more watertight thsr boo's : with seams, it is comfortable for tender j feet, is made of first-class material, and fits well, being made on the best j shaped lasts. For farmers, labourers, j bushmen and all who do much walking on he ivy land it should prove a veritable boon. Already it has obtained a , phenomenally large sale, and era leng ( will doubtless be eigerly sought for all | over the colony. For fixing the sole i to the upper a pa'ent standard screw machine is used. This is a powerful, . ingenious and expensive machine, having bean specially imported for the purpose and being one of the finest machines ever invented. Another machine which does particularly good work, and one moreover that is rarely B=>eQ except in a thoroughly up-to-date factory, is the Keate's sole sewer, which is fitted with all the latest improvements. Here is also a marvellously ingenious channelling machine for preparing the soles for sewing, and olose by is a Blake sole sewer, wbich rapidly and petfeotly unites the uppers to tb« soles, Passing to the next department, the finishing room, it is seen ihat tha work in its previous stages is brought forward for completion by j means of travelling racks, which are run from one bench to another, col-1 lecting the work for the final touches.' The first part of a boot or shoe to be' finished off is the heel, which, after beiDg submitted to a " breaster," is pared by a Union Smith heel trimmer I running at very high velocity, then the edges are attended to by a Bustle edge trimmer, another high speed maohine. After this the boot is passed on 'o a heel scourer fitted with revolving sand paper, whereby the surface is finely smeotheJ. It would be thought that working these latter machines, throwing off as they do such fine particles of , leather, the opera'ors would suffer in , health, but to such a pitoh of perfection has this machinery been brought! that all the chips and parings are by! means of fans drawn into tubes and ejected outside the building. The next j

operation after inking is to " s >t" the eigeo of the soles so as to improve the j wear and keep out the wet. Tois' operation gives the edges that highlyi polished appearance that most people imagine is applied for appetraßCti sake, yet that is not the fact, fori jit is necessary for the purpose above mentioned. The heels are then fin-1 ished on a machine containing rotary I ) pa-?s and brushes. The f oles are then finished off by a sandpapering machine,' a superfine finish beirg obtained by I means of a Naumkeag machine whereby that fi-e face is obtained which is! only seen on factory made articles, the! advantage g lined by this machine being' that the leather is only jus" skinned and cleaned withou 1 ; detracting from I the thickness. The finish of boots intended for sale is, of cou r se, most important, as it means either attraction of buyers or otherwise, and therefore i great attention is paid, not only to the' actual finishing touches, bu* towards turning out boots and shoes to suit the' various f incie? of buyers as to colour,' I appearance, etc. Before bring packed, all goois are polished and given thit spic and spin asp.ct associated with' new article?. A visit to the stockroom raveals p les on piles of uppers pertainiug to all nHionaliti s and em-' bracing, about 40 different colonial brands. Toere ar-i als-) innumenMe rolls of l*ather, iiing*, barrels of pegs, i and an i minensi variity of grindery! and otbev necessaries used inthi in- j dustry.

It is about sixteen years since the Egroont Boot F>ctory was stired in a small way with half a doz n hands, and now there are s>mewhere near six y etnployfd. From a msans of meeting local r. quirem«i>ts, tbe industry has grown to oufc!yi->g districts, inc'udint; Napier and the West Coast, and at the present time, owing to the success of the new seamless boots, amngemen's are baing made to extend the supply to all parts of the colony. There is ample space for extension of the factory when needed, and as every industry which emanates from Taranaki adds to thi credit and prospeiity of the district it is to bo hoped that the time is not far d : stant when through t,he entarprisi of Mr. Goodacre, the Egmout brand of boots will be well and favourably known throughout the colony.