Canterbury Industry

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31167, 17 September 1966, Page 12

Canterbury Industry

and factory building in Manchester street was occupied about 1909. During the First World War the Kaiapoi factories produced large amounts of military clothing and woollen goods. Hosiery Mill In 1919 a mill was built at Radley, to manufacture hosiery and knitted garments. By this time branch warehouses had also been established in other main centres and development proceeded apace. In 1926, the Kaiapoi mill was again extended by the addition of a modern worsted combing and spinning plant for the production of all types of worsted yarns. After the set-back of the depression, development

meet the calls made on it during the war years when its mills produced vast amounts of clothing for the forces. During 1963, the company held negotiations with the well-established Wellington Woollen Company, a merger was arranged and the KaiapoiPetone company came into being. Wool Tops

A significant addition to the company’s range of products came with the installation at Kaiapoi of the first largescale wool-tops processing plant in this country. During this worsted-processing system, the long-fibred wool is treated and combed by machines which arrange the fibres in parallel formation,