NORTHERN VISIT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 18 November 1937, Page 3

NORTHERN VISIT

NELSONIAN IN AUCKLAND l Ml! \Y. LOCK'S IMPULSIONS ' * \ Mr \V. I .oil; v. Id i n’lvni ly i i-tui-neil j lioiii u visil t" Auikkmd shili-il to ii rep- 1 rosi'iitutivc of "Tlio Mail," that for Home ! yiiii-.s past lii- Ims paid brief visits to! A m-U hi ml City, and hail usually given i some impressions, eoiumeuls, and intoruialiou on matter.-, lie deemed Would 1)0 ol | interest (u re.nlers of "The Mail." Among i the subjoins dealt with m the past were J |ln splendid War Museum, the SeiJdon Memorial Tei.Tiuii.al College, and the activities and seofie ol the Auekland Power Hoard. also comments on the administration of the Auekland City Council, and its progressive undertakings for the future. • lie formed the opinion that upon each successive, visit there was marked and dislinet evidence ol progress in many dileetions, and especially during the past j year .... The name ol the "Queen City of the South," given to Auckland by tin'late Albert Clover M.P. seemed justified. To Mr l.oek there appeared to he special progress in regard to buildings. Many new and up to date business places bad been creeled or were in course of erection, and besides business places being enlarged there was it large number of new and attractive dwellings in various designs, hv private people and the Government, in good localities in nearby suburbs. Among the other signs of progress were the. large crowds-of well dressed people in the streets. Retail shops had plenty of customers and apepared to he. doing good business. Places of entertainment and hotels were well patronised though lie could not say if this was an evidence ot progress or prosperity. Money seemed to be plentiful though several business people stated that there had been recently a shortage of cash, one business man attributed tins to the large amounts being expended in collection with the visit of (lie ,South African hoot hall-Team. lie did not wish to unduly boost up Auckland in legat'd to progress, hut, at the s.-iine time considered it outstanding. Regarding the population of the city and urban area according to Volume One of the-results of the .1936 population i-rnstis. the number given is 210,393 an increase of 95,M3 in the past 26 years, and .in increase of 20,170 liming the past ten years from 1926 to 1936. He thought that the great prosperity that Auckland had made was largely due to the enormous quantity of splendid grazing land. This lias been made possible by scientific manures etc. . . Rami hi had seen many years ago and whirl) was considered to be almost worthless was to-day splendid grazing or dairying land and although it appeared to he well stocked with dairy rattle sheep and pigs, they were unable to keep down the. feed. Indeed he had not seen so much feed in his life in any place, as, say, within 30 miles of the city on the Great, South Road This immense growth of grass was also milieeahle in the Waikato district.. The land about. 'lO years ago was considered of little or no value. Some years ago hi was a member of the Commerce Train parly which loured the whole of what was called I lie Winlerle.ss North, and at ;i place near Kailaia near the 90 .Mile Beach he was shown land which was formerly worthless converted to good dairy land at a cose of £7 per acre. . . Hleelrie installations and undertakings and improved harbour facilities have also bceu factors in the progress of Auckland. Un Ilia past visit, Mr l.oek had the pleasure of \ isit.ing some educational institutions including King’s College, and j the hoarding department of the Grammar School at Mount Albert and oil two oe- j casions attended luncheons at the invita-; tion of the Nelson College Old Boys Association (Auckland branch). He also visited the City Markets, the Australian Glass Manufacturing Company’s works at I’enrose, and the railway works at Otahuliu in which there were 1,700 employees. He also gained quite a lot of information from Dr K. I’. Neale I).Sc. M.A. M.Com. 1.1.8. the secretary of the Chamber of Commerce. . . Probably he would later on furnish some parti -ulars and make -cine comments on the places he had v isited. A visit to the works of the Australian Glass Manufacturers’ Glass 'Company, Limited, which arc on a very extensive scale, was of considerable interest, the company being easily the largest manufacturers of glassware in the .Southern Hemisphere, for it lias large works not ! only in New Zealand, hut also at Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, and Perth. I So far ns the New Zealand works aroj concerned, t hey cover a large area ol | ground, and arc equipped with the j latest machinery and appliances for} carrying on the manufacture of the articles of glassware which they turn out in large quantities and of excellent quality. 'I he quality must he satisfactory, when these works supply or really produce approximately 95 per cent, of New Zealand s requirements in all types of hollies and |ais, and the wages paid for the lu»l financial veal' amounted to £36,QUO. The quantity of bottles and I jars produced was approximately 21,620, OUO during the yi-ai. It was indeed interesting to watch the process ol manufacture of the various grades and kinds of bottles, from the large bottles such as beer bottles to the small medicine bottles. Some of the machines were remarkably ingenious in automatically manipulating | the bottles, the arm of one machine cleverly picking up the bottles as the moulds | are tilled with molten glass and the other j arm very carefully placing them on au ; endless conveyer, where they become j cooled. The caretul manner in which this machine was continually handling the hollies without breaking one was really wonderful. I shall not attempt to describe the va nulls processes gone through from the furnaces to the finished articles, nor the up to.date and labour sax ing machinery! that is provided for the iiiaiiutaitiire ol" tin: cardboard boxes and other articles inquired lor the safe packing of the bottles, etc. I lie largest number of men ' employed in one week was 209. Two large luriiacos are used. I hose are heal- : ed by crude oil. the temperature being approximately 2,600 deg. K. Owing to tin- peculiar nature of the industry, it is I neei-ssar) to work tin- lurnaees seven days j pel week, llim: shifts being employed I each working eight hours per day. 1 | uiidiTslauil that at lertaiii times of the I year the two furnaces are working to gut her, and with the amber glass tank I .iiuj Hie whit'- glass tank the works have j produicd over uiie million bottles pel | week. Il was interesting to learn ol tile I materials used iri the manufacture, and j where they were obtained. Thepi in i-iplc materials used tu the manufacture ! were sand, soda ash, and lime, sand, of | course, being the chief. This sand is oh ] taiiied fiotii I’arengaparenga, a few miles j from the most northern part of (lie North i Island, and hevond the Ninelv Mile

Iteach. !l is satisfactorv to learn that this sand is of excellent quality for glass manufacture, and compare* favourably with the best glass sand in the world. I am indebted to tile secretary, Mr C. L tlliott. and also to the works manager. for interesting information supplied. I might add that the glass is fed automatically into the machine and Lhe correct weight of glass is cut off, so that when blown by compressed air into the relative moulds the correct, capacity is obtained.