MANUFACTURING.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 17, 21 January 1913, Page 18

MANUFACTURING.

BRIGHT PROSPECTS AHEAD. Not a few big manufacturers, in Wellington have ' claimed for years that Miramar and the, area to the south of EVans Bay is .destined to be the' great manufacturing portion of Wellington in the not-far-distant future. Evidences of this are already in hand. The Gas Company has completed an imposing pile (just through the tunnel) at a cost of something like £76,000. ' This, it may not be generally known, is the first step towards-the removal of the company's works from the heart of the city, and when the transfer is complete only the ordinary office business of ,the company will bo transacted in^ Courtenayplace. The existing plant at Miramar is capable of running the whole of the city's summer "load," but in the winter time, when' the demands for lighting are greater, the city service will have to be drawn upon. Meantime no manufacturing is being carried out at >the city .works'—a, fact which many citizens will not be disposed to quarrel over. , Then there are the hi*ge works which the. Union Company nas erected near the Patent' Slip, on the western shore of the- Bay. The prophet* look forward to the time when the company will have its head office at Wellington', and the greater part, of the repairing will b* done here. That may be. Certain it ft' that tha company's equipment at this port, both in office accommodation and everything else, is now of a very up-to-date character.

THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE. Before many years have sped a very large area of the shallow part of Evans Bay, to the southward, is sure to be reclaimed, and manufacturing will undoubtedly be given a great impetus. Transit facilities will be of the .befct. At a minimum of expense additional wharfage accommodation cpuld<be provided, and there are enthusiasts in the community , who will continue' to- agitate for the extension of the Te'Aro railway to the locality 'in question. The Miramar Borough Council paid £5000 towards the cost of the new wharf neat the Miramar cutting,, and an indication of its trade possibilities can' be gained , when it is stated' that 2000 tons of coal were discharged there direct during the month of December, in addition to 51; 000 superficial^feet of timber. The days oi pony racing have passed, and even "Wonderland"— that ' Mecca, of transient glory—is silent; but better' and,more useful prospects are plainly reflected in the mirror of the future. One cheerful reflection is this: the manufactures which will be established thero in the future will be in a well-defined and, circumscribed area, and 1 the; many delightful- residential qualifications of the suburb will in no way be endangered or lessened.