CITY IMPROVEMENTS.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10333, 29 April 1899, Page 10

CITY IMPROVEMENTS.

MESSRS W. STRANGE 1 AND CO.'S NEW

FURNITURE FACTORY. -' ' During the last few years the firm of Messrs W. btrange and C 0.., comprising Mr W. Strange" and-»lr TV G'overdale, has established a record for enterprise and energy in connection with their extensive business, not only so iar as Christehurch is concerned, but also lor • the "colony. The additions. and impiovements made in Victoria House, the neadquariers of the firm, entitling it to take , first mnk amongst dr-peiy estabnshmwits in New, Zealand; the erection of the new sub-stantial-.steain fumicure factory, which' is described in this-article, and the building , now in course of erection at the corner or High and.Lichfield streets, are all evidences < that the charauer gained •by the turn • of ' being most thoroughly up to date is deserved. Solos time back Messrs Strange and Wo.' decided to go into the furniture manufacturing, | and a very; suitable sate for a factory, front- ■ ing- Manchester street and the South Town Belt, formerly occupied by the Walter A. : Wood Company, - was secured 1 . Upon this] has been, bout a substantial and thoroughly equipped iurniture nialdng factory, which contains al-o, as will be noticed, a , number of adjuncts,- making it one of the most. complete in the colony of its kind. .iWnen ail vhe' machinery which is intended ,tb place in it -_-> arrived, it will, in this respect, vie with, any other factory of a siii-aar character. The buildiiigs, which are "described below, stand upon an acre of ground. ' Fronting ou Manchester street and >vie. {South belt is thewhoiesale export and stock room, a spacious apartment wnere - the goods "are.stocked in white before being polished. It is splendidly lighted by three' circular headed windows on the belt and four on Manchester street. The frontage on Alanche_terstreet is oi" Oamaru stone, the factory .portion being of brick, and the devotion ■presents a veiy handsome appearance. The stock room, as well us the otuer departments upstairs over it, is cut off from toe factory porrion'by sliding iron doors, thus ininimising the'risk of damage by fire. Passing through the door access is gained by a broad, flight of stairs to the upholstery department, winch is airy, well lignted, and fatted with every convenience for carrying on the .work.. 'Round the walls are large bins in which the kapok, &c., used for -tuffling the various articles.- of furniture is kept. Here, at the time of the visit, a number of upholsterers were busy at work on vari6us articles of furniture,, such'as sofas, lounges, &c. At one end of this department is an ingenious laboursaving device in the shape of a carpet sewing machine.' The carpet is stretched with the end to be sown upwards, and a machine, i-esembling a miniature sewing machine, rims rapidly along, doing the work in iar less time and witn far less trouble than by the old-fashioned method of 'hand sewing. Off this department is a pleasant, weiilighted room which is devoted' to the uphoisteresses and for. keeping the reserve stock' of bedding. This latter is kept in large cupboards placed along the walls. In,this de-, partment are several sewing machines used itt Upholstery work, &c. Returning to the ground floor, at the-entrance to the factory is, the office and ironmongery store. This "is half glassed all round, commanding a view of,the lactory.' Beyond this again is the 'polishing, room, where the furniture is polished., and attached to this is an air tight .chamber used as a fumigating room. In tnis the\ oak furniture, &c, manufactured is placed, and exposed to the fumes of ammonia. This brings out the beautiful dark colour of the wood, .as before going into the chamber • the articles of oak furniture are quite white., "Here,;' says Mr Orr, who acts as our pmlo-opher; and iriend during the visit, "you ■shall see the devil." We have already an extensive acquaintance With the "printer's devil," but a-furniture ditto is a-new experience, and one waits 5 for the introduction .with interest. The door of a small room is thrown open, and the noise of a machine at highspeed is .heard, whilst what can be seen' is like a thick fall of snow flakes. Mr Orr explains that this is the "teasing" room, and that the Vdevil" to which he has alluded is' a series of "iron fingers which tear to pieces the' thick strands of kapok-put into it, converting it into the down like substance which '-the* rapidly moving, machine ejects in "a. stream. i,Next to tnis is the • engine room, where .is' placed "a Marshall horizontal, en-, 'gine; of sixteen horse power actual. ' By *a , clever contrivance the water is heated to ; boiling point before passing into the boitar, -so a considerable saving •oi fuel is effected. This, engine supplies all the power tor running the inachinfery and lifting the water to the'higli tanks for the water-supply, which' is abundant. At the western end ot the fac-' tory are -two departments which it may .be" convenient to, describe before dealing with the factory proper. These are the carpet beating" ■ and -wire mattress making departine'nts."- The. old-fashioned method of carpet heating was to hang it over a line or place it on a,green and beat it with*sticks.' Resides being inefficient, this ■ was also a lengthy and cumbrous process. Now machinery, which has'entered+so largely into our'industrial life, ihas altered all this.. The machine has in front rollers, upon wnich the. carpet is Placed, and above tliese .ore fixed brushes.. The carpet is placed on the rollers and fed into the interior, the brushes rc■movingihe outside dust as the carpet passes. In the drum-like interior are a number of beaters going at high speed, and these most , effectually, with flail-like strokes, beat out all the dust. The dust is taken by a fan into a small chamber at the back of the machine/ Here, when steann is turned on , to it, the dust settles to the'floor and is re- ' moved. In the wire mattress inaking depart- ' mentis the most quaintly interesting., little -, machine, that used in plaiting the wire for I the mattresses.' The bright. silver wire is ] wound on to a spindle, and from thence led » to a little machme placed at the end of a table, .upon which are the strands of wire, intended to be plaited.' As one looks a bright , stream of wire shoots, out, darting like a sprite through the loops till the end of the strand is reached, when it is deftly cut off by the boy in charge. There is somethingahnost uncanny in the wriggling, darting Siece- of wire, which seems all alive as it ashes through the different plaits. Quite a large industry 'has been developed in this department. Another industry "which has grown greatly of late is also represented here. This is bamnboo furniture. The firm, which is the only one in the line in New Zealand, smanufacture all kinds of,fancy furniture iin bamboo, and have now stopped the im-portation-of this particular line, the locally made article nc* only being quite as good, but far stronger in construction. All kinds of'furniture and ornamental drawing-room nic-nacs are to be _sen here in course of construction. From these two departments one passes into the' cabinet-making factory proper. This in -a large; light and airyl room, fitted with'the most; up-to-date machinery, j The light haaa'southernaspect,'so that it is | always even in character throughout the day. There are twelve benches of the German pat- i tern in the factory, but it is intended to increase t»hls number shortly to twenty. The German bench is an improvement on'the old cumbrous, carpenter's bench. It has a screw at the back, doing away with the necessity I for the use of the ordinary iron clamps, and is fitted with a number of laibbur-savlng devices. .In, the- factory is a cross-cut and ripping s*iw bench, a boring machine, band saw machine, and a planing machine. A very ingenious contrivance is a swing cross-cut s*i.w. which comes out from the wall above the bench.'and can be adjusted to any desired position by the operator. There is an automatic grinding machine for the planing knives. The knives are placed on the machine at the required angle, and they are then automatically ground. Amongst the specialities in machines are those for run-nin-2 -mouldings, and rabbiting and dovetailing. Tho latter is a most ingenious I ' machine, as it dies in three minutes what it would take a man an hour by the oldfashioned method. The two pieces to be | dovetailed are clamped on to a moveable ' clamp,- which swings over a rapidly revolvine cuttine spindle. This cuts and dovetails the sides and front of the drawer at the I same fane. There is a large table filled with j steam for heating joints and for veneering work, and also a steim beating apparatus for the glue used. Outride tbe factory is the bedding rcom, where, the bedding is made and kept, and the perches and drying sheds for the timber., When the timber is received from the mills it-is placed on the drying perches for five months, then put' through the planina machine and left in the drying shed" for eighteen months before it is used in making furniture; thus ensuring it being perfectly seasoned. All the machinery belting is under cover. There is simple ventilation and light, and as a whole tbe factory is most compact, complete and well fitted.