A POSSIBLE INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 11 July 1907, Page 2

A POSSIBLE INDUSTRY.

WORKING OUR CLAY DEPOSITS.

Recently we reported upon the find

of kaolin or very line pottery clay at

.Smart road. .Samples of it have been submitted to several experts, and people with some knowledge of the subject have been taken to the workings on the Small road property. The stun has been submitted lo critical examination, and as yet not one has failed to be impressed with its value. Iu fact, great hopes haw been expressed concerning the possibility of commencing a. remunerative industry here. Parcels of the cay are at present being lested by pottery manufacturing lirma iu England. A trial is also being made locally. Mr S. Hill, who is interesting himself in the matter, found that Mr Wm. Jeniison, of the Prank ley road, was a potter of considerable experience both in the Oid Country and at Milton in Otago. He was taken to see the deposits, and was so taken with the stuff that he expressed his willingness to test its quality as far as he could with the limited appliances at his disposal. Accordingly, permission was obtained from Mr Johnslon, of Wailara. to use his brick-kilns for the ev.peniuenls, and.Mr Jemison entered on the work of modelling the clay. On Wednesday morning a party of local people went out to see how matters were progressing. Jfr Jemison soon had his worked clay on view in the shape of bricks, roofing tiles, blocks, a miniature chimney pot, and some pieces moulded on a butter print. On these the deshm of a bird and the wheat wisps stood out in clear relief. In fact, the sharp and well-, elmcd edges wore most noticeable mall the pieces, despite the fact that on.y tho brick specimens were made in a proper mould. "I hadn't the mould," said Mr Jemison, "so I did as I could, not as I would." As he went on to explain, it was easily seen that the old gentleman was skilled in the business, and a linn believer in the value of the hud.

Hi* bricks wore of three classes—of pure white elay, a mixture of (lie white find a yellow clay found at the same sjmt, anil of the yellow elay itself. These hit lor, Mr .lemison considered were quite the thing for making bricks, tiles, and pipes, Tim moling slates, he said, wore made in England at a cost of 2s lid n square yard, and made a permanent roof unexcelled. The chimneypot, like a rough top hat, was made to show that the elay would ••flange" well, The white clay, on which centred the greatest attention, was stated liy Mr. •Icnnson. t„ he a Wl . y fine ma (; el .j a i ; n . deed, lint porhaiw rather "fat," and likely to crack in the brick word kiln. A little plane was introduced, and the effect ol tins led him to believe tho'stuff wouldstand the lathe well. The plane gave Hie clay Idoek quite a glassy finish. Of course, he said, he did not expect great results from this trial. In the first place lie had had to dry his samples over an ordinary stove, whereas this should be done in a properly-constructed kiln; and, again, u iutek kiln, such as they were to use, was not by' any ineans a pottery kiln. Jiut lie intended to J.najje the experiment, lie would not be disappointed if the articles cracked in the kiln, for he would still lie able to judge by the results of the burn, which he could not expect to lie perfect without a proper pottery kiln. Tlie while elay he expected to burn white, the yellow would turn red iu the process. The colors, of course, could lie varied by the blending and manipulation of the differ,,,I days, Mr ■leiiiison went on to refer to, % deposits ol day, It was ~...;y of access. and, though not nmch prospecting had been attempted, enough had been" dope l» show that tlie clay was present in great quantities. The white elay had novor boon bottomed, and the yellow clay was in a seam three feet deep. This could all be used, and would thus reduce the cost of si ripping for the better material. As to life quality of the clay, lie said lie I'nunil no impurities, no foreign ; matter, its consistency was show), by the fact thut oilier clays had not been ' able to cnler the seam, and this was highly important, for foreign matters '' hud detracted from the. value of many days. In its natural state he considered ' it was just of the right consistency tor machining into tiles similar to (hose on ' llii'.New Plymouth railway station, and . he fully believed (his could be done. \'j,

Mr .remison said lie had worked in somewhat similar clay at Milton, but there lie had to eliminate sand. Here there was nothing 0 f (J lO kj,„i. The clay might be put to several uses. It would make any kind uf pottery, ornaments, perhaps china (it was superior to some china clnyi. (oilcf requisites, plasticine lor schools. It was superior to any haematite he had seen, without its sanio"uess of color. The clay, unlike most e.ays of Ibis description, instead of having a tightening ell'ect on the skin, had a solioiiiiijj tendency. For this reason he suggested sending some of the stuff to 'a soap factory for experiment.