THE VICTORIAN MINT.

Tuapeka Times, Volume IV, Issue 220, 18 April 1872, Page 5

THE VICTORIAN MINT.

The Victorian Miut ia nearly completed, and the Melbourne Argus devotes three colums of the paper of ±\larcli 28 to a description of it, from which we extract the following particulars :—: —

The work was begun on the I6fch November, 18G9. The buildings are in William street The area of ground covered by the various departments is extensive. In form it ifl nearly square, the depth back from Wiliiam street being a little greater than the Jength, which extends from Latrobe street to Little Lonsdale street. Privacy being one of the chief things considered, the block is shut iv on three sides by solid brick walls, stone capped, and a strong railing erected up sn the fourth side. A roadway, 20ft. wide, runs betwe n the workshops and the outer walls. Watch box e3 are fixed at the corners, and a pavement laid down along the walls for sentries, who will have to pace constautly down the sides and across the back of the entire area. The buildings are 310 ft. long, with a depth of 332 ft. The rjar line of buildings have considerably more than their due proportion of width. Tho3e divisions which stand behind the brick walls — vix., the divisions on three sides out of four — are one story high, and of plain red brick.

From the middle of the foreground rises a structure of soiid form and large dimensions. The purity of the cement and the sharpn ss of the outline gives it a strong resemblance to freestone. Two styles of architecture have been embodied in the design. On the face of the first fctory we have the Doric, and ou the face of the second the lonic— simplicity below, elegance above. The striking feature is the portico, wifck its pair of massive columns upon each bide of the entrance, and the Koyal arms, cast in cement, above the balustrade. The eye next takes vote of the

columns along the face of the second story, with their beautiftlly-mounted capitals. These columns occur in pairs, and come forward three-fourths of their diameter from the walls. They stand, two and two, upon each side of the seven windows which illuminate the second story. The3e windows are in re~es3. They are more ornamental than the corresponding windows in the lower etory. They are arched at the top. The frieze is pierced by a series of small round windews, flattened out a little. Above all is the cornice of the lonic order, with considerable richness of embellishment, Two entranced have been provided, one [ near the northern corner, the other near the southern. The corners are occupind by the guardhouses, which, on account of the prominent post they occupy, have been made of considerable size, and stuccoed like the central block. The railings are strong ; for firmness, they are set ih bluestone foundations. The gateways are supported by massive pillars, with appropriate bases and capitals. The workmanship upon the large block of wkich each pillar consists is admirable. The finely picked, panels and the poUsked margins suggest granite rather than common-place basalt. Each block is 7ft. by 2ft. 4in., and weighs 3 tons. Royal arms, similar to those above the portico, are to be set over the gateways. The casting of the figures has been admirably executed. The interior of the hall contains the rooms in which the official business of the establishment -will be transacted, and the principal apartments are the bullion office on the ground floor and the board-room overhead. I

A hall reaches from the front to the back of the building. The length is 56ft. and the height 20ft. Piers ascend from the floors to support arches that give variety and beauty to the ceiling The bullion-room will be like the public room of a bank. It has a length of 52ft. and width of 30ft., and a ceiling of the same loftiness as the hall. Pilasters, springing from the floor, bear up the beams. A counter .teaches three parts of the way down the room, and ends in cedar fittings, which close in one corner of the room, which surround and cover over the bullion strong-room, a piece of brickwork and masonry of extreme strength. There are three strong-rooms in the whole establishment — one for each of the departments in which gold will make a temporary stay during the processes of melting and coining. It seems to defy attack The walls and roof have a thickness of 3ft. of brick. The floor is of bluestone, in large blocks, each 12in. through, and these blocks are not merely cemented, but do led and cramped into each other and the walls. A bed is thereby obtained which has the strength and firmness of one solid block of stone. The door is Chubb's patent, and it is hinged upon and bolted into masonry. The other rooms in the administrative department are capacious and lofty. The southern portion of the building has been set apart as a dwelling-place for the superintendent of the coming department. It has a private entrance at the Bide.

The operative departments are very complete, and the numerous rooms, halls, and outhouses are compactly set together. There are three great divisions, each of them covering a larger area than the stately edifice in front. For the malting department, the builder has erected the edifice which extends along Latrobe slreet. An iron railing reaches from the administrative department to the end of the wall of the melting hou^e, and prevents ingress on the part of outsiders. The general width of the house is 35ft. The first 40ft. of its length are divided into offices for the meting superintendent and his clerk*. The next 86ft. are devoted to the melting house proper ; beyond it the building widens out about 13ft., and, in a length of 66ft., has a grou . of machine rooms, laboratories, storehouses, &c, besides rooms where workmen can take their meals, bath-huutes, and other conveniences. A wall closes in the yard at the rear, and prevents persons from entering or leaving the building except by the authorised waj-s. On the opposite side of the block, along Little Lonsdale street, is an edifice of corresponding dimensions, shut in in a similar manner from the space in front of the main building. In a length of 102 ft. there are some 12 rooms for the assay department The remainder belong* to the coining department, and is connected with the coiHing-hall, which extends from north to south ajross the block, and stands behind the administrative department. The hall is capacious, and has wall-; that attain an elevation of 21ft. ; its length is 147 ft,, and its width is 42ft. The ceiling of the hall, as well as the ceiling of other large workrooms, follows the shape of the roof. The supports are iron, which give the whose an appearance of lightness, and at the same time stability. Behind this hall is a labyrinth of rooms of a plainer and rougher description, where the engines and boilers are situated, and the carpenters, fitters, and blacksmiths are provided .with appropriate quarters. This block, like the melting house, is shut in at the rear (it has only one opening in front), by high walls or iron gateways, which prevent any workman from going further than the bath-house or the meal. room.

'I he engine which drives the whole of the machinery on the premises is fixed into thick foundations of bluestone, in parts 9 feet deep, which hold the framework with the grasp of a vice, and prevent all perceptible trembling. Other places have been flagged, some covered with concrete. Where gold has to be haudled, in the melting and coining processes, the flooring consists of fluted iron plate?. Metal sweepings will, therefore, drop into hollows where the soles of the workman's boots cannot touch them, and at the eati of each day's work thoy will be collected iuto boxes below the plates. In the fitter's and carpenters' shops, where instruments are likely to be dropped, blocks of wood have been substituted for iron or stone, so that the keen edge may not be chipped by an aeiidental fall. A form of roof Las been erected, which will promote coolness of temperature in the rooms they cover, On the inside they are somewhat like the roofs of churches, but the practice of the church architect who leaves no spacs between the living boards and the slates has been carefully avoided. In the coining hall, the clear space between slates and boards is 12in. deep, in the other divisions b" in. Ventilators occur at regular intervals ; the coining hall is further improved by means of a cupola. Most of the windows ha\c been tilled in with rough plate-glass which dulls the light and prevents glare. There arc covered ways across the op-n ground enclosed by the buildings, but enough spa.c has been left for a green or garden. Each guardhouse is a dwelling, and lias its kitchens, cellars, and outhouses, but a wall rounds them all in, aud their presence would not be suspected. In the same way, the superintendent's quarters, in the central block, are provided with the requisite appurtenances, yet so aptly have they been placed, that they do not iv any way disfigure the appearance of the premises. As regards the three chimneys, the principal shaft rises from the back of the coining hall, and carries off the smoke from the boiler, f nrnaces, and blacksmith's fires. Its height from the ground is 12Cft., and from the foundations 137 ft. The other two are each 85ft. high. The one on the south side bears away the fumes from the assay furnaces ; the other, on the north side, is connected with the melting house, where there is a long range of fireplaces. They have been costly works th^so three shafts, and no small pains have been bestowed upon them. The report rendered is that they are built as true as workmanship can make tyejg.

The plans for the whole establishment were prepared in the Public Works department. The cost has been L 70,000.