Wellington Independent. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1889. THE TREATMENT OF BALES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 281, 24 September 1889, Page 2

Wellington Independent. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1889. THE TREATMENT OF BALES.

■ . ■"_ '.- -l—_ — * : "' Owing to the interest neoessarily displayed by millers as to the treatment their bales of fibre meets with in Wellington, we communicated with the the Harbour Board, Mr William Kerguson, and obtained the following information from him. The bales when dumped are generally placed two together, and in r the same position ao thoy leave the mill press, and the second one, over it, so that after dumping the bale is of the same length and beadthas at first. The bales we never pressed end on end. At times more than two bales are dumped together, sometimes there being three, or in the case of .very smad bales, four put together, but this is done ht the request of the stevedores for special purposes, and to fit into special parts of the ship. The woights of the bald, as sent away from the mil, is recommended to be three hundredweight, the v an Francisco service requiring that no dump shall exoeed six hundredw ignt, and the London merchants are also desirous of this being the weight..^ „_.-, Mf -Ferguson assorts that/ it is very desirable that there should be :a! standard: for the length of all bales, as at pres nt they vary from under three te«»t'to over four feet six inches, and much waste of space re-iitflh 'it&nn& sfilpß in Hkntsequence and a large ba c ryni the risk of being shut out, where a small bale would be taken in If the bales were made two and a half hundred-

weight they wtMcl ! j$ I tdpkoiill, I iietis Juried fogfttfo* iftj the >vedsr6B/ migh|; probabl j£ . require at tltey 1» clumped in trebles jif jut they wcwJd lie always uh_hro% i y _M not s^uar., rior would they b# easily stowed; Mr Fergusop., Jo6liov.S ttlat If till bales were made of an uniform size and Weight, Jihey^ would possibly "be'dujiped c_umpeiT than they are at present, which wotild represent a consequent saving to the miller. , ,-^fl^_yp»_iß} we _iave De^-jtesniedr ■ that care is always ta^en to keeping brands on the outside of the dump* as they have to be delivered by the Harbour- Board to the sMpsoy $he marks f_ie Board have already given for the bales to either the coast* ing vessels', or, the iMtfAy. £he safest mark is tidi y^t .determined, but some buyers are requiring wooden labels, as the pre-" sent square .calico , label is often pulled m. Hdwever, Mr Ferguson admits that th. witoden. _als& are just as likely to slip out when tHe bands are removed fiom the dump at the'port of delivery/ and to avoid this he suggests a. Hole being drilled through the batten. . Our own 1 idea is that & long calico label w'bW * bb' far better, as the three bands round the bale would ho d it well in its place, and when the dump is loosed there Would be no fear of its slipping. The present label having only an inch fidid to twd tads is twddiitrtedrri,-*.

Be tll6i:_4S__{_ii_l^ tflbeites;tli^_' - 6' id tttf questidn as to the band_ .t^tte tteed. Mr FergiiSdn Says that rough flax Girdle bdtldfl arte the' I.estj , &$ , wire is so Very awkwttrct #Mt thS bstle'S afje' dumped, tends to tear the nieii'S h nds and clothes, and adds to the difficulties i;f stowage in the vessels owing; tb it batching and interlocking. In reply td dur enquiry as to the attviaabWn.s- Hi Mrmtlg iti. Bait* with a light -cloth, Mr PergUsdh holds entirely with it, and he believes it would more than repa} 7 its outlay by the better condition in Which the material would arrive at its market. He states that tt large number of the Auckland hales are so covered, and believes that partly accounts for the higher price of the Auckland fibre. It Would in rto wa-? interfere with the dumping, though it might interfere with tbe Wellington merchants examining the quality We believe that this information will be usoful to ouv readers, aud we take the opportunity to thank Mr Ferguson for the courtesy and promptness with whioh he has responded $0 our enquiries. Millers can not again fail to notioe how w^nt of unity prevents their saving money, as size of bales, and oven weights, are wished for. - 1 11 Sg-BB I