INDUSTRIES COMMITTEE

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXVII, Issue LXXVII, 23 May 1919, Page 7

INDUSTRIES COMMITTEE

DOMINION ANALYST'S VIEWS.

(BT TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION.) WELLINGTON, May 23. At the sitting of the Industries Committee to-day Dr. J. S. M^Laurin, Do- | minion Analyst, gave evidence regard- | ing the distillation of alcohol in New Zealand. He said that there \y-as not sufficient molasses produced in the | country to warrant the Government [ taking up the matter. It would appear that the only way >by which large quantities of alcohol could be produced would be from timber and sawdust. The j system had been tried in America with considerable success. Dr. MacLaurin considered that it would be advisable to send a specimen of our timber to other countries for examination by experts. In. Germany practically all alcohol was obtained from potatoes, especially grown,* but he would not favor such a scheme in New Zealand. Large quantities of waste material from flaxmills could be used for the distillation of alcohol. It would be a wise step to get an expert from abroad to visit New Zealand and make a careful investigation of the possibilities of the production of alcohol, provided the right man could be secured! Witness said that the ironsands of Tai-anaki were not as good as usually supposed to be. He favored a suggestion, made to the committee, that the Government should obtain an expert from England or America to mate a more comprehensive report on the ironsand deposits.of the Dominion. The making of coal briquettes had been abandoned in New Zealand because the men objected to working with pitch. He believed that it was not possible to bind slack coal without the use of pitch. This was being done in Germany, and there w.-as no reason why some" otW form of binder should not be found in New Zealand. Referring to the prospect of a discovery of oil in the peat swamps in the / north, Dr. MacLaurin expressed the opinion that a comprehensive survey of the swamps would be necessary.